Yet in speaking to entrepreneurs about how to use social media and sites like Twitter I have discovered that most entrepreneurs are very confused about what social media is and how they can use it to achieve their business goals.

To help, I've answered seven of the most commonly asked questions about social media.

Q1: What is social media?

A1: Social media involves people in a conversation (many to many) rather than pushing information at people (one to many).

This can come in many forms. Sometimes the conversation takes place on a site like Facebook, where many Canadians connect with friends and family. Other times it occurs as an interaction where users rate something online, whether it be an article, product or business.

Something that businesses need to accept is the loss of control that comes with social media. Accept that you no longer control the majority of information about your company. Now that everyone has a voice, transparency is critical.

For example, when looking for a place to stay in Banff, Alberta this summer I turned to two online sources: the travel centre for my points reward website and business ratings on maps.google.ca.

Rather than hoping that a hotel lived up to what it promised on the travel website, I used the Google site to see what previous guests actually thought. This process helped me eliminate one hotel that was undergoing renovations. I ended up booking an exquisite room in a 4 star lodge in the heart of downtown Banff. The room, one of the nicest I have ever stayed at, ended up costing us an incredible $111 a night.

The hotel reviews were not stale either; in most cases they had been posted within days of my search.

Q2: How can I use social media to grow my business?

A2: There are two main ways to tap into the power of social media:

1. You can join the conversation as an active participant; and
2. You can leverage the opportunity of this new market using targeted advertising channels that let you reach the people having a conversation.

If you decide to participate, make sure that you understand the unspoken rules before you join the conversation.

It is not okay to join a site like Twitter or Facebook and blatantly promote your services. In fact, while a decade ago is was acceptable to add a small commercial for your business after posting something interesting, in most cases this is now looked at as spam.

When you participate in the conversation and make interesting contributions, this will help you build your personal brand that in turn creates credibility for your company. The important thing is to be strategically authentic. Show the real you, but remember that some aspects of your life are not things you should share with your business network.

If you decide to advertise to build your business you have many options for targeting your ads. On Facebook you can target people using a combination of factors like their age, gender, city where they live and even keywords of things they are interested in from their profile.

Q3: What is the difference between sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn?

A3: There are many networking sites, just as there are many off-line networking groups. The challenge is to determine which network is the best place to invest your time.

In terms of the conversation, Facebook is primarily a place to connect with friends and family and as such is ideally suited to B2C (businesses to consumer) oriented companies. You can create a fan page for your business, but right now the effort required to get fans may not bring a strong enough business return. Advertising into the network, which can cost pennies a click, may be your best option.

In contrast, Twitter and LinkedIn, while very different, may be better for business networking.

LinkedIn lets you build a network of contacts that you can then communicate with. Being connected will also help others find you when there is a mutual connection between your network and theirs. The important thing to ask before you spend a lot of time adding status updates is whether the people you hope to reach are actively using Linked In. If they aren't logging in on a regular basis your contacts won't see many of your updates.

Twitter is a micro-blogging site where you post short status updates. A common misconception is that updates should tell people what you are doing. The best way to use Twitter is to post useful information and follow people who do the same. When you do this you will tap into immediate information and breaking news about your area of interest.

One nice thing about both Linked In and Twitter is that they make it easy for you to stay in contact with someone after they change jobs.

Q4: I've signed up on a bunch of sites, but don't know where to get started. What should I do?

A4:Just because you can see the sky doesn't mean you have to explore it all at once. The important thing is to do some research and create a strategy.

With that being said, don't just dismiss social media because there are so many choices, either. Twitter and Linked In are both pretty safe places to experiment. Watch people you respect who have been around social media for a while and follow their lead.

Q5: Wait a minute! As a business, shouldn't I guard my special knowledge and information?

A5: One of the most interesting aspects of the Internet right now is that success seems to come to those who are willing to share. Ideas are plentiful.

Social media increases our access to information and knowledge. It lets us tap into the power of crowds or groups.

While you don't want to give away important business secrets, openness, transparency and the sharing of information can help you achieve greater success.

Q6: Aren't sites like Twitter really just a waste of time?

A6: It's no secret that a lot of useless information is posted online and some social media users post a constant stream of drivel of little use to anyone.

The fact that you need to evaluate information you receive and people you connect to does not make the breadth of available information any less valuable.

What you want to do is create and build a network of interesting people who have something to contribute. Those, fortunately, are plentiful.

Imagine tapping into news as it happens, simply because you opted to follow the right people on a site like Twitter. In the past, if you were lucky, you might see an article in the news media about a topic important to your business when new information was released. Today, on sites like Twitter, you can be guaranteed that if you follow the right people, when information relevant to your industry is published you will find out about it, possibly within minutes of its release.

You also don't need to try to read everything on social media sites, either. Think of the conversation as a river flowing by. Tune in several times during the day, scan the conversation for interesting things to investigate further and then add to it with your own unique insights. Social media offers a powerful new way to access breaking news and tap into insights from industry experts.

Q7: What does all this really mean for businesses?

A7: In the old economy, the classic middleman held all the cards. Take car sales as an example. In negotiating the best possible deal, you could never know if you had done well because you had no idea what the dealer paid for a vehicle. In this older reality, the car salesperson could manipulate buyers and was focused on selling techniques.

In new economy you can go online to find the dealer cost price in minutes. What's more you will find media and user ratings of the car along with easy-to-follow tips on how to negotiate the best price. In this new reality, the car salesperson plays a new role of a value-added partner helping you buy the car that is best for you.

The consumer - and that includes you - is now in charge of information. Both B2B and B2C businesses are affected. And the amount of information shared is only going to increase. If you have a business you have an opportunity to take part in this changing paradigm and built a stronger business brand using the new tools of social media.