Gaining a better online presence using Social Media need not be expensive in time or money. Here's a really cheap and effective idea for gaining a stronger presence online without using all your time or budget.

Most companies that I talk to will cite a lack of time, budget or experience as their main reasons for not venturing into the arena. But with a little innovative thinking you'll soon find many options open to you for building a low-cost and low maintenance online presence. 

Here's a great idea from Alexandra Samuel, she's  the Director of the Social & Interactive Media Centre at Emily Carr University  and the co-founder of Social Signal.

Invite customers to submit ideas and suggestions about your products and services through an online suggestion box. Allow users to rate the ideas so that the best ideas rise to the top. It's cheap and there are many off the shelf solutions available that can be easily adapted. 

It's effective because while you're building your online presence you're also doing customer research and building your innovation pipeline. The important part of this is maintain your credibility and customer enthusiasm by implementing the top ideas.