There is a conversation happening online.  More than any other marketing method in the course of history, small business has the upper hand in the arena of social networking over big corporations.

The intimate atmosphere that naturally occurs in social networking creates abundant opportunity to influence untapped markets.  The fact is that if you haven’t joined the conversation then you cannot direct the conversation towards your business and you’re still not fully understanding marketing.  The internet is today’s Main Street America.   A small business that does not have a blog, newsletter, Facebook page or twitter account is literally doing business without a storefront sign in today’s society.

Facebook has over 300 million active users with at least 150 million users logged in every single day.  In October 2009 Twitterhad more than 141 million visitors.  Out of the millions of consumers on Facebook and Twitter each day it is logical to assume that your customers and potential customers are spending their time there as well.

A recent study by GroupM Search found that, “Consumers exposed to a brand’s influenced social media and paid search are 2.8 times more likely to search for that brand’s products.”

Small businesses are no longer slaves of the once most important factor in business, “location, location, location.”  Whether your business is on Main Street America, in your home or on Corporate Lane USA the new mantra is “Google, Yahoo or Bing search-ability.”

The key to social networking influence is whether search words lead your potential customers to your branded website, blog, social media sites or to your competitors.  Small businesses in the near future that do not have a strong social networking presence, whether your business has traditionally depended on foot traffic or web traffic, will be shuttering the doors due to missed opportunity.

In a room full of small businesses and multi-million dollar corporations the most common excuse I have heard is, “we don’t have the time for small business social networking.”  With the culture of consumers changing every single day to the online community at an alarming rate every company must make the time follow their customers to the internet. The excuse that comes in a close second is, “we don’t know how to use social networking.”

There a tutorials and blogs all over the internet that will teach any company the basics of joining the online conversation.  Another method is to spend a few days on the sidelines watching some active users methods, a great example is that of Guy Kawasaki. On Facebook watch the contrast and similarities between a “personal” business page and a fan page.

When it comes to social networking it is critical that your company does not repeat the seven fatal words of a dying corporation, “we never did it like that before” and hold fast to what will be extinct businesses methods.

Editor’s note: Kayla Fioravanti, RA, is the chief formulator for Essential Wholesale, a provider of natural and organic cosmetic products.