Do some research on how media are planned, purchased, reported on and optimized. Many emerging media companies are led by people with technical backgrounds -- folks who may not know how the RFP process works, which measures matter to planners and buyers, how agencies contractually engage and what sorts of out clauses are necessary.

Even if a platform offers incredible opportunities for a brand, you need to understand that the process of planning and buying from an emerging media company needs to meet the basic parameters by which marketers and agencies make purchases. Purchasing processes in most companies are precisely defined, and deviating from those processes may take an emerging technology out of consideration immediately.

Similarly, most major brands use a third-party serving and reporting solution like DART for Publishers. Trafficking, scheduling and reporting for an emerging technology must be compatible with major platforms like DoubleClick, Atlas and Mediaplex. A lack of such compatibility will stop you in your tracks with the vast majority of brands.

In today's environment, it is not at all unusual for a buyer to be spending millions on behalf of multiple brands simultaneously. They do not have time to accommodate an emerging technology company's special needs. Further, an unfortunate reality of the digital media business is that there is still a lot of manual reporting and optimization going on. You do not want to add to that time suck with obtuse processes.