Marketing today: the internet is so much more for so much less.

• Position: How-To GUIDE

Admit it, you watched the "JK Wedding Entrance Dance" on YouTube. If not, I bet you heard about it, or you'll now look it up online. And why not? It's funny, creative and performed by ordinary people who weren't seeking fame. However, within weeks of posting their wedding dance, millions of people worldwide logged on to watch Kevin and Jill dance down the aisle. Then came the Today Show and jokes by David and Conan, which led to more viewings--more than 27 million to date.

When the long-awaited, TV wedding of Jim and Pam from "The Office" aired on NBC, the cast spoofed Kevin and Jill, and danced down the aisle. Although certainly popular, JK's dancing isn't nearly as popular as the outdated dancing of a relatively unknown comedian who has had 128 million viewings on YouTube. More than 125 million have watched Charlie bite the finger of his older brother, and 93 million have seen a cute infant laughing hysterically. YouTube has changed social media.

Yet dramatic change isn't limited to YouTube. MySpace, Facebook and Twitter have taken the world by storm. There are more than 300 million active Facebook users. Of those, 150 million logon daily and surf for a combined 6 billion minutes per day. Twitter, often thought to be mainly a teenage rage, has more active users older than 45 than it has in the 18- to 44-year-old range. There are more than 36 million more Twitter users in the 65+ category than there are in the 12- to 17-year-old category.

These internet phenomena may not seem relevant in the business world. However, when used effectively, the internet becomes a great tool to capture an audience and brand a company for a fraction of the cost of traditional media. In a day where newspapers are going extinct, TV commercials are fast forwarded, and more and more people are choosing to socialize, be informed and entertained online, it is essential for businesses to reevaluate their marketing strategies. Businesses must advertise where their target audience will get their message, and it seems that everyone is getting online. By June 2009 more than 1.66 billion people were regularly logging on. That equals 25 percent of the Earth's population. In the United States the percentage of those online jumps to nearly 75.

Most don't question if they should advertise online, they question how and who can be trusted to help create a winning strategy. "Social media and viral marketing are so new and so different from traditional advertising that most...