I just got done working on a project and am admittedly amped on caffeine.  I thought I would post real quick about what I have been seeing in the field lately.

As an online marketer, I subscribe to a number of blogs and email lists of the true professionals in the field.  It seems as if during the past month they have all decided to jump from creating projects to help one another and move towards directly helping small business owners directly.

These are guys who are not hurting for money either.  Rather they know what the word on the street is, and it’s that there is blood in the water.

You see, these guys understand that most small business owners still do not have a credible online marketing strategy right now, and that the market is huge.  The place most of these industry leaders plan on making their next fortunes?  Main street.

Small business owners understand the importance of being online, but two things had to happen before there could really be a “Gold Rush” in the online marketing field.

First, there had to be a paradigm shift big enough in media to bring the attention of the market to it.  This paradigm shift is now the advent of both social and “as-you-please” media.  Second, there had to be a need in the market.  Online marketing is now mature enough to have universally recognized best practices, and the simple fact of the matter is that only a few small business owners are using them.

So what does this mean?  Your business is most likely out of the loop, along with a majority of your competition.  But for how long?

Generation Y (my generation) now utilizes media in a completely different manner than previous ones.  I no longer watch TV during the time its scheduled; I usually watch them a couple of days after when its most convenient.  My most important news site?  Facebook.  And the most common media player for our generation?  An iPod, Zune, or other media player.

To give you an idea of how radical this change is, consider my own personal Zune habits.  Since I first purchased it over two and a half years ago, I have used it an average of 127 minutes per day.  All of my friends have one, and my own usage is quite normal within my circle of friends.  Even more, most people use these tools while doing something else.

What’s great about this is now there is untold opportunity not only within online marketing, but with media that’s portable and accessible at any time to customers.

Now I am probably rambling a bit at this point (it is 1 am right now!), but my main point is still important enough to make any small business owner take stock of their online operations.  How many of the DHC Top 10 Online Marketing Tools does your business currently use?  How many does your competitor?  And since all of these tools are free, growing existing sales, and creating lifelong loyal customers, what’s your plan?  DO YOU HAVE ONE?