Can social media usage become profitable for small businesses? Yes, it can.

It’s only a natural question that small businesses would ask themselves “Does it make sense for me to get involved with social media?” It has the potential to pull you away from other work that needs to done, and sometimes it leads you down a rabbit hole.

But a new study seems to suggest that social media usage can in fact be profitable for small businesses.

Via Small Business Trends:

In June of this year, they [Network Solutions] worked with the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business to survey 500 small business owners by telephone.

According to the Small Business Success Index (download PDF report here), 20% of businesses actively use social media.  The top 3 social sites they use are Facebook (82%), LinkedIn (38%) and Twitter (30%).

Of those who use or may use social media, it’s roughly a breakeven proposition for at least half of them today.  But they have positive expectations for the near future, when 57% expect to profit from their social media activities within the next 12 months.

Here’s a graph of the expectations by these small business, in terms of what they expect social media use to result in after another 12 months.

Whether or not these profits through social media come to pass, one thing is quite clear: Social media is not going anywhere and it is not a fad. Small businesses see social media as a way to market themselves, make connections, and even make sales. And it makes sense. If social media is done properly by a small business, it is not a time suck, it costs almost no money and it can greatly expand your influence. It still has its pros and cons, but social media is something all small business should be getting involved in.