Ok, by this time you surely know about Facebook and twitter, right? Are you still riding the fence on jumping in and using these tools for your business? If so, you are falling behind and very quickly. The early adopters are gaining so much ground through social media that it is going to be hard to catch up. So now is the time get on board!

Social media has changed the direction of marketing forever. This stuff isn't a fad and here's why. Over the next few years websites are going to become even more personalized. If you shop on Amazon or use Netflix online to rate your favorite movies, you are already experiencing this personalization. Both Amazon and Netflix jumped on the whole "if you like this book (movie), then you may want to check out this book (movie)". This is great and probably doubled Amazons purchases because it is now easier to find books that similar people liked.

In the not too distant future, your website is going to need to add this type of personalization. Social media is the first step in this direction, but new tools will be rolling out and building on this idea. This is where companies are using the buyer to help create or steer the brand. Having customer feedback, suggestions and product/service requests will help companies deliver the hottest products that people want. This should help you become highly profitable.

To get a better basic understanding of how social media works, watch this video.