The University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business recently conducted a study on the relationship between social media and small business. The study showed that nearly one in five small business owners are integrating social media into their business practices, and 75% have a profile or fanpage on Linkedin or Facebook.

The study also goes on to show that small business owners realize the unparalleled access to potential customers through the power of social media.  For example, local businesses with a storefront can use social media resources like Yelp to engage with potential customers. Search combined with social media has provided a new realm of marketing and lead generation. Say you plan a trip to San Francisco and you want to find a good Thai food restaurant. You can simply type in “Thai Food San Francisco, CA” on LeapFish, and you will see the top 3 recommended Thai food restaurants in San Francisco.

The evolution of the real-time web has also added a new vehicle for free targeted promotion.  Twitter enables small businesses to engage with potential consumers in real-time. Small business owners use Twitter to create brand loyalty by providing value and a face to the product. You can also engage with small business professionals that share similar experiences; SmallBusinessTrends.com provides a list that acts as a directory for all small businesses Ultimate Small Business Twitter List . Joining a community of Small Business owners provides a space to discuss strategy and share incite as changes occur in your industry.

Small business owners can also capitalize on the power of free promotion by setting up a blog or content page. They now have the power to join the conversation by providing meaningful incite. “The two primary reasons people use the web are to find solutions to their problems and to be entertained” said Denise Wickman. Simply follow the three E’s: Educate, entertain and engage, and you’ll be on your way to becoming a thought leader in your industry.

However, not all small business owners have the time to blog. Setting up a content page or social hub provides another form of free promotion.  On LeapFish you can set up a profile page to include your Twitter stream, profile information from Facebook and Linkedin, blog roll, images, and videos all in one page, consider it a convenient and optimized snapshot of your business at no charge.

With minimal effort you can turn your business into a living breathing brand online. LeapFish makes it easy for your potential customers to find all of your social media content in one destination.

Real-time content changed everything. Twitter gave everyone with a computer or mobile device the power to update the world on what’s happening now in 140 characters or less. While the information produced by real-time user output alone looked like a big mess of useful and useless information, search engineers started to realize that creating algorithms to sort what’s useful in micro-blogging would be the next big thing in search.

By the end of 2009, every major search firm from Google to Microsoft and Yahoo (Bing) to LeapFish had real-time technology in place. LeapFish took this one step further by allowing users to connect to popular social media websites including facebook and twitter, enabling users to search a single source that encapsulates up-to-the -minute headlines from the most popular sites on the Internet, including breaking news, videos and conversations via a media rich real-time search experience.

The second, and perhaps biggest trend in search of 2009, was that search engineers realized “ten blue links” wasn’t cutting it anymore. The search experience was vastly behind the user experience elsewhere on the Web. With new content being added by the second, it became imperative for search to reflect the diversity and relevancy of content available. Videos, photos, blog posts, real-time opinions, news, audio, social graphs and web applications all belonged in search.

LeapFish CEO Ben Behrouzi saw this early on, telling Media Post earlier this year that ,”This is a new Internet, much different than the days when the original search engines were developed,” Behrouzi says. “The days of 1996 and 1997, when we captured the Internet with 10 blue links, are behind us. “LeapFish released its “Living Web” innovative Real-Time Social Search engine in November which offers users a multimedia search experience.

In 2009, search rivalries turned into partnerships and the popularity of search engines got a shakeup. In July, Bing swallowed Yahoo search, giving Yahoo the ability to focus its efforts outside of search and for Microsoft to be the search breadwinner in the newlywed’s battle against Google. The LeapFish Alexa rank has climbed steadily since the company’s launch in November of 2008, with Alexa’s Domestic Ranking in the US indicating that the company has passed other top search engines such as Cuil.com, MetaCrawler and many more. The site’s ranking continues on it’s growth trajectory, now at the 11,186 spot on Alexa, up hundreds in rank over the past year.

What will 2010 hold for search? Look for further innovation in multimedia and real-time from LeapFish. While 2009 turned on search’s extreme makeover, the innovation in search is far from over.

The buzz is building about LeapFish.  Here are just a few testimonials from thousands of customers and the growing base of search users.

LeapFish AdvertiserTestimonials:

Michael M. - Hawaii

“After purchasing keywords in the first couple weeks I received several phone calls, shook hands with 11 people and had many serious buyers and tons of conversions!  I not only use LeapFish as my homepage but also have told my friends and family about how easy it is to search and get great permanent advertisement.”

Jason M. - Minnesota

“I purchased 2 keywords and I am very happy with the results I’ve received so far and the quick customer support.  We are very happy to be a part of the new world’s fastest search engine and are excited at what the future holds for LeapFish”

Patricia S. - Florida

“My experience in working with Leapfish.com has been exceptional.  Very efficient, knowledgable and helpful.  It is a pleasure working with such intelligent professionals who are always available to assist me.  Thank You!”

Jan S. - Business Coach

“I started getting hits immediately and as I am the only person advertising for these keywords right now, I am getting all the traffic. It’s a win/win situation. Thanks for the opportunity Leapfish!”

LeapFish Search Engine Buzz :

Twitter is ablaze with LeapFish chatter.  LeapFish continues its steady growth as more and more adopt the worlds newest search experience.

Scott McGrew also mentions the LeapFish advertising model at the end of the segment.

Take a look at the second video from the Scobelizer interviews.  Online advertising can be easy and even have an investment component to it that can benefit the owner – You.

Ben and Robert spoke about LeapFish and also how LeapFish is not focused on the economy right now but focused on what matters – providing value in Search. Below is the Video of Ben and Robert speaking to LeapFish and search as it was years ago and how it is evolving.

This is a series of videos from the Scoble interview that we will be posting over the next week.  We broke the 16+ minute interview into bite sized pieces.

Mark Dawson wrote to LeapFish after learning he had won the Toyota Prius.

Mark wrote: I’ve had our Century 21 Real Estate office in Billings Montana since 2001.  I am proud to say we are #1 in our market for home sales, and for the past 2 years have been the #1 office in our 5-state region among Century 21 offices.  I’m proudest to say that in 2007 we raised more money for Easter Seals than any Century 21 office in the region.

Mark also stated: I am grateful for being chosen the winner in the LeapFish drawing.

Mark is the proud owner of several keywords on LeapFish.com related to Real Estate.  He has also talked about flying out from Billings to the LeapFish Headquarters in Pleasanton to pick up his car!

Again congratulations to Mark Dawson for winning the 2009 Toyota Prius.

If you would like to know more about the LeapFish advertising opportunity please call 888-860-4470 x701

For every $1000 that our LeapFish advertisers put towards securing their keywords they earned 1 entry into the drawing for the new car (up to $30,000 Value!).

Mark Dawson was the winner of a 2009 Toyota Prius!  Join us below and watch as we call Mark to let him  know he won a New Car!