We follow and learn a lot from many social media thought leaders. Usually they are focused on how major brands and big business benefits from social media. Rarely is small business mentioned.

So it was a pleasant surprise to see one of the true leading social media experts, Brian Solis, (he has over 150,000 twitter followers) turn his attention to the small business sector; the segment of the market where Social Jumpstart is fully dedicated and focused.

Brian Solis is arguably among the top social media authorities in the word. This recent article from Solis is a concise and terrific overview and totally worth your time to review. If you have watched any of our videos you will see a consistent and familiar theme about how to approach your small business social strategy. Brian is validating our exact approach to jumpstarting your business’s social presence and growth in 5 easy steps.

We’re going to break out his 5 steps from the post and dive a little deep on each.

Let’s start – naturally – with # 1, which mirrors our own – Listen.

Spending 30 minutes to search on your business, competitors, industry and geography will yield a wealth of information. But let’s move off the theory and talk practically and exactly what you should do as follows:

1) Go to Google.com and type in your business name in the search box and hit enter. What do you see? Click on the links and learn what the world’s leading search engine is saying about you. Be sure to check the Google Plus and Google Places links too.

2) Now go to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Yelp and do the same thing. Read and listen to what is being said on these key social sites. While you’re at it – take an additional 30 minutes to claim your social presence too!

These two steps are the first ones when it comes to listening and you can learn more about how to listen in social media here. Now that you’ve seen what the Internet serves up, cross check what you see online with what your customers are seeing and using too. Ask and learn about the sites they use (besides Facebook) and trust to guide them. Chances are other customers and prospects are using those social sites too.

Two easy steps and you’re on your way to social listening. And Brain Solis, we’ll be listening for more from you on small business tips too!