There is always the good, the bad and the ugly of social networking on the Internet.

"But the No. 1 risk is ignoring it," said Meredith Hauck, director of community relations for the city of Riverside, Mo.

Ms. Hauck and Erin Curtin, senior account executive at Trozzolo Communications Group, presented "Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, oh my!" at the St. Joseph Business Summit on Thursday at Missouri Western State University.

Both women talked to several companies and small business owners regarding their place in Internet space. Using social networking sites can actually prove beneficial to their marketing, the women said.

"Take advantage of the large captive audiences," Ms. Hauck said. There are about 300 million users on Facebook, with roughly eight billion minutes spent on the site in a single day.

The technological revelation was an eye-opener for many who attended the workshop. Cassie White said her employer is in the process of trying to go paperless - a little, at least.

"I'm looking to make (social networking) useful," said Ms. White, compliance officer/grant administrator for Mo-Kan, an economic and community development organization. She said there are similar organizations out there that are utilizing Facebook. "It would definitely make our presence more known," Ms. White said.

Since she has her own Facebook account, Ms. White thinks it would be relatively easy to carry over that knowledge into a professional account on the Internet site. "And the only way it works is to join, give and be social," Ms. Curtin added.

The women gave examples of using friends and family to build networking circles and using Twitter for anything from events and promotions to coupons and other discounts.

Ms. Hauck said Dell generated more than $1 million in sales from a discount circulated on its private Twitter page.

"Yet, there is an opportunity to go over the edge," she warns. "What happens online stays online forever. Think before you type."

Attendees experienced other workshops at the business summit, from energy-saving tips for making your business green to small business lending.

Steven Craig, Mary Carol Garrity and Seth Lyons were the keynote speakers at the event's lunch.

Mr. Craig is the founding partner, president and chief executive officer of Craig Realty Group in Newport Beach, Calif. His personal donation to Missouri Western State University helped create the Steven Craig School of Business at the school.

Ms. Garrity is the owner of Nell Hill's, a home furnishings emporium. She was listed as "one of the hottest little retailers" by Forbes magazine.

Mr. Lyons, a Steven Craig School of Business graduate, participated in a competition to own and operate a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Summit County, Colo. He spoke about his transition from college to entrepreneur.

The Family Investment Center and the Institute for Industrial and Applied Life Sciences presented the annual business summit.

Jennifer Hall can be reached

at jennhall@npgco.com.