We’ve mentioned (repeatedly) the benefits of social media marketing for small and medium businesses… so we were happy to run across even more news items during our daily surf that back up what we’ve been saying all along.

Possibly the most interesting is the article at PRWeb about an upcoming National Small Business event and the chosen speakers. The 2011 Small Business Survival Summit (September 7-9 in Baltimore, MD) will feature former mayor Rudy Guiliani as keynote speaker, along with more than thirty business experts.

Why is this exciting? Are we big Guiliani fans over here? Meh. We find his participation slightly less interesting than some of the others who’ve been included.

The economic landscape of the United States is changing, in ways detrimental to the lifeblood of the nation – the American Small Business…

The Small Business Survival Summit is a three-day national event designed to encourage, motivate, and train small business owners to re-evaluate and refine their business practices, identify available resources, and align themselves with organizations in their community for mutually beneficial relationships.

Billed as a “call to action”, the summit will feature social media professionals Neal Schaffer, Dan Zarella, and Chris Treadaway.

A “Small Business Survival Summit” with presentations by prominent social media influencers? We love it.

Patrick Chambers, summit organizer and President of WebIXI, Inc., sums up the reason for tapping these new media experts:

For most small businesses, word of mouth is the predominant way of getting leads and finding new business…

Social media is an extension of the word of mouth platform. Social media education with practical application is the missing piece today – small businesses need to be comfortable with social media in the same way that they may have evolved from being a wallflower at a Chamber event to someone who is actively seeking to introduce themselves and engage with prospects.

We couldn’t agree more.