Of course, as with everything new and shiny, there is always a level of uncertainty, distrust and maybe even fear. Even though the entry cost is low to none, this uncertainty can cause the biggest barrier to its widespread use: that of putting a dollar figure on its returns. Indeed, to some it is akin to finding ‘The Holy Grail’.

Last week, my good friend Rick posted up an interview with Scott Williams, one of Australia’s top personal trainers. In it, Scott talks about how he used Facebook to generate a $40,000+ boost to his bottom line, costing him little more than an hour of his time. You can read the interview here, and once you’re done, please feel free to let me know if you still think Facebook is “just a waste of time”!

Quick update: I caught up with Rick for a chat about this and other things last night; he told me that in the 10 days since he launched his own Facebook Fan Page, the increase in his site traffic has exceeded all his expectations and he now believes it will be a cornerstone strategy in the growth of his business.

OK, done that? Then let’s begin…

It seems everywhere you turn these days it’s Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Linked In, YouTube, Digg, Delicious… the list is almost endless. And depending on who you’re listening to, they’re either the next big thing, or are a complete waste of time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the latter are unlikely to be active users of social media. Which is a shame – particularly if they are also a small business owner. Want to know why?

1. It’s cost effective.

It’s free. You can’t get much more cost effective than that.

2. It’s got reach.

Let’s take Facebook as an example. Chances are, if you’ve got kids, or know someone who does, there’s a Facebook account there somewhere, one of the 200 million currently registered (yes, 200 million). But the number of existing accounts pales when compared to the speed of their recent growth: towards the end of March this year, Facebook revealed that in the previous 60 days, the number of people over 35 using Facebook had DOUBLED.

(Hot Tip: If that’s your target demographic, you might want to start taking notes).

3. It gets results.

Social media works: In Kirra, at the southern end of Queensland’s Gold Coast, there’s an awesome wood fired pizza joint called ‘Bread n Butter’. Located in a row of restaurants and not far from an outlet of one of the multi-national pizza companies; the owners faced an uphill struggle to establish themselves not long before the financial crisis hit the region. Recently they’ve started using Facebook to promote the business, posting updates of booking availability, feature nights and special deals. I asked the boys if using Facebook had been successful for them. This was the response I got:

Not bad eh?

So let’s have a quick recap: Using social media, you can promote your business successfully to a lot of people for free. Sounds like a win to me. (Oh, and as an added bonus, you can also test & measure your advertising almost immediately. Try doing that with an expensive TV commercial!)

Still not convinced? OK, hit me up in the comments with your the industry your business is in, and I’ll see if I can come up with a way you can use social media to get your business out there.

(Update: The day after this was posted – Facebook announced they have passed 300 million subscribers. Wow.)

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