Would you believe that social media usage by small businesses has doubled in the past year? According to the Small Business Success Index, sponsored by Network Solutions and the Center for Excellence at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, approximately one in every five small businesses is actively using social media for their business.

The numbers above are very exciting for small businesses, because for minimal costs and time commitments, they can compete with larger businesses and expand their reach among potential customers. Since the survey can be broken up into three major areas – Facebook, Twitter and monitoring the conversation – this will be the first of a three part series on ways to effectively utilize these spaces.
Since Facebook is the most popular of the social networking sites and garners the biggest piece of pie above, it will be the starting point Maximizing your Social Media Footprint.
