Online sharing community SlideShare launched a new service dubbed Channels which provides custom-branded microsites. Several companies including agencies Razorfish and Ogilvy have already secured their brands on the website – you might want to consider doing the same (hint, hint).

Slideshare, for years, has been a great source of visitor traffic and exposure for a lot of business professionals, and the new Channels (microsite) feature will further enable the services users’ (all 25 million monthly unique visitors) to let their brands engage more deeply with their audience. It also presents a good opportunity for businesses to sponsor (advertise on) topical channel content.

Channels are but the latest addition to SlideShare. The services other business products, including AdShare and LeadShare, compliment the custom-branded sites almost perfectly in my opinion. “Our vision is to build a new type of advertising that both community and advertisers will embrace," said Rashmi Sinha, CEO & co-founder of SlideShare. "With Channels, LeadShare and Adshare we provide integrated solutions for social media with direct business results."