There is no escaping social media these days.
Your family, your friends, and your colleagues are either on Facebook or Twitter.
You have no choice but to join in or you'll miss out on all the fun.
Facebook alone has more than half a billion registered users.
And this number is just for Facebook.
Imagine if you add to it the numbers from other media sites like Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, WordPress, Blogger and FourSquare.
We are talking about more than a billion media users here.
This equates to millions upon millions of people logging in to social media sites every single day.
This is a gold mine if you look at it on a marketer's perspective.
The availability of social media sites is one of the benefits of having an internet and online business.
Sure, you can use social media even if your business is based offline but the effect is often minimal.
The great thing about media is that it is 99% free.
The only investment you are going to make on it is the time and effort you exert using it.
That's your only sacrifice - time.
How exactly do you use social media sites to grow and build an online business, you might ask.
Let us count the ways.
Let us focus on the six biggest social sites online - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogging sites and bookmarking/sharing sites.
Facebook.
Connect your business with users of this social networking site by building a profile for you as the owner and a Page for your business.
Converse with potential customers.
Make them "Like" your business' Facebook Page.
Twitter.
Follow other users who have the same interests as you are and they'll follow you back.
This is a good way to find new customers as well as potential business partners.
LinkedIn.
This is a site for professionals.
You can use it to connect with fellow internet entrepreneurs.
YouTube.
Imagine what a video of yours can bring to your business if it happens to go viral on YouTube.
Going viral on YouTube means hundreds if not thousands of links and traffic going towards your business website.
Blogging sites like Blogger and WordPress.
Use a blog to talk about your business as well as connect with customers.
Use it to update your customers of new products or services.
Bookmarking sites like Digg and Reddit.
These social media sites if used properly can bring in substantial amounts of traffic towards your business website.