When Facebook was designed in 2004, it was available only to college students. Once developers saw
the potential, they made it available to almost anyone. Today, Facebook enjoys over 500 Million users
(almost 250 Million who log in every day) and Facebook has now registered more unique visits than Google.

Twitter is an equally inspiring story. Since the popular social site's beginnings, it has acquired over 100 million
regular users and is still growing, especially among the rich and famous as a way to keep in touch with their fans.

And don't forget YouTube. Businesses can post videos ranging from how-to's to testimonials and other
business-friendly clips. With over 2 billion daily views, YouTube is the largest social marketing vehicle in the world.

The simple fact is that social marketing is the wave of the future. Count the dwindling number of pages in the
average newspaper. Justify the exorbitant costs associated with phone book ads. Price out a broadcast campaign.
Then research businesses exceeding their marketing goals - regardless of the economy - and ask yourself what they
are doing differently. You'll find that businesses that are thriving are taking advantage of social networking, and
have merged their online marketing efforts with a regularly maintained system of social site inclusion.