– Since we often hear from people questioning social media’s value, we should mention five “surprise success stories” using Facebook and Twitter for business detailed by Rick Burnes of HubSpot His list includes an equine dentist, a manufacturer of prefabricated steel buildings, makers of specialized paint and paper and an aircraft maintenance and support company. And there are plenty more to come.

– It’s now possible to “follow” companies on LinkedIn. This new feature, quietly introduced in late April, enables users to keep up with companies, whether one is looking for a job, looking for b-to-b-opportunities or just wanting to follow business developments. It’s a primitive, one-way system compared to Twitter and Facebook, in which you can interact directly with a company. Nor can companies offer timely status updates. However, you can see the status updates of key employees as well as promotions and other company news, assuming employees and the company are updating their accounts..While LinkedIn has a lot of work ahead to keep pace with the major social networks, this is still significant step in the right direction.

–Are you a job seeker? Since we regularly work with a local jobs networking group to assist the unemployed, we thought we’d share 13 “essential tips” for finding a job using LinkedIn from author and former pro athlete Lewis Howes. Howes offers solid advice, particularly for those who are new to the business networking site. One follow-up comment: If you add your blog or Twitter feed to your LinkedIn profile — as Howes correctly suggests you should do — make darn sure what you write on those places is professional. Otherwise, you’re asking for trouble.

– We know a lot of folks — of all ages— who don’t “get” Foursquare. Many of these same people also still remain openly skeptical of Twitter (We’re trying!) While the business potential of Foursquare has barely scratched the surface, consider this: Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley told Business Insider’s Henry Blodget last week that the service is adding 15,000 users a day. Not exactly Facebook numbers, but numbers that can’t be ignored.

Then came the punch line. The job was for two hours a day, $10-$12 an hour, depending on experience.

Evidently, this “cool” company doesn’t expect much ROI (Return on Investment) from social media.

A lot of business owners I’ve met in recent months are probably not that different than whoever runs this “cool” company. Small businesses and professionals are intrigued by social media, but a) don’t have the time to get involved or b) don’t see the ROI of hiring a professional to help.

So I’m going to give you not just one, but three simple examples of ROI in social media.

1. An Atlanta executive coach (Disclosure: a client who also happens to be my wife) who works with engineering firms was in a lull in signing new clients. However, the coach recognized that LinkedIn could help her open doors. She used the Advanced Search feature of LinkedIn to identify companies that were clearly doing well during the tough economy (e.g. hiring). Working through mutual connections on the business networking site, she was introduced to executives who then contracted to work with her.

2. Charles Nelson, president of Sprinkles Cupcakes, has a company that apparently makes great cupcakes. His cupcakes are so good that he has amassed 70,000 fans on a Facebook business page. The “Beverly Hills baker to the stars” announces a secret word each day, and the first 25 or 50 people to show up with that word at any of his five stores gets a free cupcake. The ROI: A booming business and highly effective word of mouth. Nelson has not spent a dime on any other advertising or marketing in five years.

OK, you say, that’s Atlanta and LA. Those are big, highly wired cities. Well, let’s turn to:

3. The New York Times In July featured mom-and-pop shops around the country making money through Twitter. Consider just one: Silver Barn Antiques in tiny Columbus, Texas. Even before launching a Web site, the owner was able to find both suppliers and customers nationwide. “Twitter has been a real valuable tool because it’s made us national instead of a little-bitty store in a little-bitty town,”  she told The Times.

So what is the value of social media to your business? Consider your goals. What is the value of a new customer or client? You know how many leads you generally need before you attract one customer. What is the value of generating a lead for your business?

My guess is it’s worth more than $20-$24 a day. Or even 25 cupcakes.

I try to show them that people of all ages are adopters of social media. Facebook alone has had dramatic growth this year at nearly all age levels, none more pronounced than women over 50.

Now there are new numbers available on social media users. The median age of a Facebook user has now risen to 33, seven years older than in May 2008. That’s not far behind LinkedIn, the business networking site whose 50 million-plus users have a median age of 39. The median age of a Twitter user has dropped to 31, which shows that Generation Y, which was not an early adopter, is now turning to the microblogging service. There had been numerous articles earlier in the year that Gen Y thought Twitter was pointless. Apparently, that’s changing.

Facebook getting older? Twitter getting younger? What does this mean? It means the old adage is no longer true that only the young are the early adopters of technology. And new social sites designed to attract the young away from Facebook and Twitter are reportedly not having an impact. The young are willing to use the same social media now used by their parents.

So much for age creating a digital divide in social media. (Yes, MySpace remains decidedly young — a median age of 26 — but its focus has shifted to mostly music and entertainment. And it’s certainly not the dominant influence it once was.)

While we’re debunking myths, let’s burst another bubble. Remember the study which found people were becoming more socially isolated because of technology, especially mobile phones and the Internet? Not so fast, according to a new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Pew found that these technologies do not have a harmful social impact upon people.

In fact, Pew found social networking sites provide an outlet for “discussion networks that are more likely to contain people from different backgrounds.” In other words, people have digital contact with a more diverse group of people.

Boomer business owners, isn’t that one of your company goals? Don’t you want to expand your reach to new people, new contacts outside your regular sphere?

Can’t wait for the next business owner to bring up age, or dismiss the merits of social networking. I’ve got some new research to share.

There was a time when that tactic might have driven significant traffic to your Web site. Or posing a question might have actually led to a good discussion.

There may be some Groups on LinkedIn where quality discussion takes place. However, those places are few and far between. Many people tell me they no longer open e-mails from the Groups. I’m about to join them.

What’s happened? LinkedIn Groups have mostly been hijacked by self-promoters whose idea of “discussion” is to endlessly promote their “free” seminars, blogs, products and themselves. My interest, naturally, has been social media, but there is very little “discussion” in those groups. There are plenty of people, though, who want to “help” me with their pitches, which they have the gall to present as discussion.

This morning, I received an e-mail from someone obviously involved in setting up a Group, inviting me to their “free” teleseminar. The e-mail subject line said it was an “announcement” from the Group. They said to hurry, seats are filling up fast. Impressive, since just recently this same individual was spamming me with another free session, and the seats were going quickly. I have serious ethical issues with an e-mail coming from a Group with an individual using the Group name to tout his business. Where is LinkedIn on this?

Another problem with LinkedIn Groups is that it’s hard to find true discussions that are all that informative. I can only speak for social media topics, but I can tell you most of the talk there is behind the curve. I find much more valuable — and current — information on Twitter or elsewhere. Yes, there are tons of spammers on Twitter, but I have the flexibility to unfollow or block users if need be.

Sorry, LinkedIn, no disrespect. I still think there is great potential for businesses in using the social networking site to grow connections and get introductions. They’ve established clear guidelines in that section of LinkedIn and crack down on people who violate the rules. (I also still think the Advanced Search feature is a goldmine of business intelligence.) However, I can no longer recommend that business people join Groups unless their business is a rare case where the self-promoters haven’t already poisoned the atmosphere.

Small businesses and professionals, what do you think? Are LinkedIn Groups relevant any more? Do any help you in your business?

1. Super Moms.
2. The Thing. (Updates on what thing they’re into)
3. BraggaBROcious. (Male or female, they brag about their lives)
4 and 5. Emotionally Yours and Constant Contact (Obvious)
6. The Drinker/Eater (Also obvious).
7. Honored Mom/Dad (Tommy scored two goals!)

Readers added their own, including the Facebooker who never updates their status — The Observer or The Lurker. Others pointed out inept marketers who don’t know how to use the site. (Of course, one marketer couldn’t resist plugging his own site.)

Peter has inspired me to work on my own lists for Twitter and LinkedIn personality categories. Your ideas are welcome.

Here’s just a few for each site to get started. Moving forward, we’ll certainly focus on more than just the clever putdowns, even if they are more fun.

Twitter:

• The Strafer. The user who can’t resist five or more tweets at the same time. Guess they think that this is effective marketing. I call it hit the Unfollow button.
• No-Free Lunchmate. The marketer who plugs “free” things, which invariably cost something, at minimum your e-mail address.
• The Forgetful. The user who teases the same content constantly — usually their own.

LinkedIn:

• The Conversational Spammer. The user who turns every appearance in a Group, Ask A Question, or Answer A Question into a pitch for his services.
• The Expert’s Expert: The user who spends as much time calling themself an expert as he/she does communicating on the site.
• The Forgetful. See Twitter above.

Again, we’d love to hear your suggestions. Yes, you’ll find teases to this post on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but notice the lack of spam or any sales pitch.

There’s a name for that category in social media, too. It’s called: The Rarity.

The audience, mostly young and very smart, asked great questions. Several attendees hung around afterwards and asked even more questions. Someone pointed out that an employee had walked out after eating and avoided the talk. Someone else quickly added, “That’s all right. He’ll never use it [LinkedIn] anyway.”

Another professional showed similar skepticism during a talk I gave. He didn’t leave the room, but he was openly dismissive of social media. And I guess he dismissed me as well when he asked “You actually make money off this?”

Anderson Analytics’ recent research found three groups of people least likely to embrace social media — the time-starved (although Anderson says nearly half of that group will be using social media by year’s end), those concerned about computer security and, finally, Group 3, those who think social media are stupid. The research found 94% of this group will never use social media.

Both skeptics I’ve mentioned undoubtedly fall into Group 3. So there’s a 6% chance their minds can be changed. How do you reach those whose minds are made up?

First, I’ve seen too many people change their mind in the past year. In the Atlanta area, the statistics prove it. Those over 25 and even over 55 are flocking to social media, especially Facebook. We’ve previously written about that phenomenal growth, pushing Atlanta to No. 2 in registered users in the U.S., trailing only New York. My guess is that both of these skeptics have been getting — or will get — pressure from associates and friends to communicate more through social media, whether they want to or not.

Second, the business case studies are coming like a flood. Every day, you read accounts of new success stories in the media. See last Friday’s New York Times piece on Twitter and small business, for starters. Twitter is being used successfully in … Blowing Rock, N.C.? Books and studies are proliferating at a rapid rate, detailing strategies that lead to results.

In short, using social media as part of an overall strategy is a must for most professionals and small businesses. I’ll probably never know what happens with these two skeptics, but I’d wager at least one of them eventually changes his mind.

Now those are odds that I’ll take any day.