Surprise, surprise - social media is becoming mainstream for business.
The great social media success stories David Meerman Scott, Chris Brogan and Seth Godin have shared with us in their books, blogs and videos are getting noticed, it's making sense.
In a new series of survey reports covered on Social Media Examiner, small business owners are growing their investment into social media quickly.
So you ask, how do I go about it? Here's the key...
are you ready? It's an investment.
You have to be ready to commit yourself.
It is the complete opposite of the passive art of advertising.
You have to engage, be forward-thinking, offer something of value in exchange for a more loyal clientele.
I've been there, just like you - here's what has worked for me.

• Start With a Plan - What do you want to accomplish? What role do you want to serve? How will you schedule and support your ramp-up? Know the answers and be ready to commit to it before you start down this road.
  
• Create Your Accounts with NEW Profiles - Before you sign-up with Facebook, Twitter or the social network of choice for your customers, rewrite your profile descriptions and post them the day you sign-up.
  Start by removing superfluous words in your company's boilerplate description or marketing brochure copy.
  Who are you? What defines you? What do you do for your customers that is better than anyone else? Now, put that into as few words as possible.
  Twitter only allows 160 characters for your profile...
  that's right, characters, not words.
  
• Listen and Learn - Find out what everyone is saying about your industry and even your own business by doing searches on Twitter.
  Then, follow the key players in your industry.
  Follow brands on Facebook that you find enticing.
  Notice the things that interest you - maybe it's the images, the promotions, the discussion boards.
  What are the standouts? Take notice of the chats, tweets and wall postings for great ideas for your own entry into social media.
  
• Socialize -Put a face on your profile - your face or an image that speaks to who you are.
  Start informing your contacts of your profiles and be present, don't just post it and forget it.
  Make a mention on your website of your new profiles.
  Thank people who follow you and follow them back if they're interesting to you too.
  Respond to questions, give FREE advice and ask your own questions.
  These new 'friends' you meet on social media are receptive to learning from you.
  Isn't that amazing? If you find an article that's valuable, tweet it or post it to your wall.
  You'll soon find that your customers who may find you tweeting or posting will start to appreciate you as an expert who cares - humanizing your brand.
  
• Assemble Stories - Think about your target audience's personas first.
  What matters to them.
  What humors them? What do they care about most? What about your product or company is interesting enough to be "share-able"? Publish these once a day, once a week, or whatever timeframe works best for you.
  Very important that you mix sincerity and accessibility with the promotions and announcements.
  Social media rewards those who are relaying truly relevant information to its audience - it's not a billboard that's static - it's a realtime exchange of information.
  

This is a community that's forming online.
Your competitors may already be the 1 in 5 business owners who take the time to listen, post and tell their stories.
You should not only be monitoring that, you should be part of it.
Social media allows your own ideas, stories and value to attract customers, rather than detract them like old media has.
Excellent references for this post included Melissa Galt, Joe Pulizzi, Mari Smith and Mike Johansson.