According to a survey conducted by Network Solutions and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, "Social Media Adoption By U.S. Small Businesses Doubles Since 2009,” the number of small businesses using social media doubled from 12%  in 2008 to 24% in 2009. ("Social Media Adoption By U.S. Small Businesses Doubles Since 2009: Small Businesses Mainly Use Social Media to Identify and Attract New Customers" Businesses believe the effort they put into social media to pay off, according to the survey, with 45% expecting that their efforts will result in profits within a year.

However, achieving profitability from social media can be difficult without a sound strategy, according to Susan Blount, founder of Silver Bridge Social Media Strategies, a consultancy that helps businesses connect to popular social media.

"It's tempting to spend too much time on a project that isn't likely to help your business," said Blount. Setting goals up front, and mapping those goals to specific social media technologies, will keep you focused.

Social media refers to a range of technologies, most accessed through the Internet, that allow people to hold conversations online. Some may be in real-time, such as with instant message tools like AOL Instant Messenger. Other conversations more closely resemble writing a journal, as in the case of blogs, where a writer posts thoughts on which others can comment.

Many social media technologies are provided to users at no cost. They require investment in time rather than money, making them especially attractive to businesses with limited funds.

Blount advises clients to build a strategy to maximize customer interactions. That means finding customers online, making it easy for customers to find you, and keeping the conversation lively once you get it started.

According to Blount, every business has customers online, but the customers aren't all in the same place. "Realtors, attorneys, headhunters, different consumer groups have different online haunts," said Blount. Finding them requires some effort if you don't have a few points of reference to get you started.

Magazines and journals related to your industry are a good bet. "They're likely to have websites, and those websites are likely to have forums where people talk to each other,” said Blount.

Trade association Web sites may not be using social media technology themselves, but may provide links to popular sites that do. “You may have to do a little digging,” said Blount, “But once you find the first hotspot of activity, you can just follow the buzz from there. People are pretty good about letting you know where they spend their time online.”

While you are searching for your customers in social media networks, make it easy for them to find you too.

This requires less effort than you might think. "You can cover most of your bases by setting up a page on two or three main Web sites," said Blount. According to Blount, once you've set up a page for your business on Facebook and LinkedIn, you've done most of the work. “There are also a few specialty sites, depending on your business’s niche,” said Blount, but once you have established a presence on the major social networking sites, you can move on to other projects.

If you have a lot to say, and you believe your customers might want to hear it, consider setting up a Twitter account. Twitter communications, called tweets, are short messages, fewer than 140 characters in length, that you broadcast to other Twitter users who have chosen to receive your messages. “Tweets need to be entertaining as well as informative,” said Blount. “It’s OK to tweet about products and services, but keep the messages interesting and don’t over-tweet.”

If your business relates to the entertainment industry, you might also consider setting up a business page on MySpace. “Most mainstream businesses won’t get much value there, but for markets relating to music, for example, MySpace is a must.”

When you and your customers know how to find each other, it’s time to join the conversation. But keep in mind that interacting through social media is an informal process. Leave the formal business communication to press releases and marketing emails.

“Surprisingly often, I have to explain that here’s your chance to be professional without being deadly dull,” said Blount of clients who are worried about taking an informal tone with customers. “Let your personal charm show through.”

As you move toward making your social media projects profitable, listening is just as important as speaking, according to Blount. “My clients love realizing that by monitoring status updates from their connections and friends, they’ll get a heads-up about major changes in people’s lives where their professional services could be helpful. New baby on the way? Hey, it’s time to look for a bigger house.  Even my local guy selling solar screens set himself up on LinkedIn to enhance his professional standing in the trendy ‘renewable and environment’ industry,” said Blount