Conrad Hall believes that nearly 50% of small business owners know nothing about social media. They may be missing the biggest opportunity they have to thrive in this economy.

His latest book, Friends, Followers and Customer Evangelists, outlines concrete steps small business owners can take to get involved in social media marketing.

Some of Conrad’s advice includes making your website be the center of your online marketing universe. He has strong opinions that Facebook should not be the focal point of any online marketing campaign.

Other advice includes becoming active in the “golden trio”: Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. The goal of using these three sites should be to generate leads for your main website.

Conrad’s secret weapon is a lesser known social media site: Meetup.com. This social media services is oriented towards people interested in going to a live event somewhere in your area.

Hear the entire interview below: