In this new era of marketing the active buzzword is “social networking”. It is everywhere, cleverly disguised with names such as web 2.0, the new ‘net or social marketing. It’s really very simple. It’s connecting with others. If you’re a business then you hope that connection is a lead or a booking.

The methods are varied. MySpace is popular, but I find it fairly useless for business. Personally, I prefer Facebook. I also use Twitter, which is a microblogging program that’s gaining every day in use and popularity. Getting started is the hardest part, but well worth it.

The main thing is this: the real purpose of the Internet was to connect. Websites were fairly impersonal and one-sided. The new era is more of a conversation. In that spirit, I ask you… what programs do you use and how?