This might be a workaround for small businesses that doesn't involve purchasing certificates, but the Google Sites footer will be visible on the tab - http://www.labnol.org/internet/create-custom-face... h/t Denis Baranov in DC Social Media group on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/groups/dcsocialmedia/?vie...

I also asked Brian Dresher (http://twitter.com/bdresher) of USA Today at a panel presentation how a small business with limited resources gets the most bang for their buck (buck being time) when it comes to social media. His response was very helpful and insightful. He said to not only consider the audience that is using the tool (and be sure they align with your objectives) but also the expectations for the tool. He recommended testing the waters with Twitter first (which is a tool for sending straight text based messages) and can be fairly worthwhile in a one-way format (just pushing out information). Then he said to move on to Facebook because the expectations of the audience rises - now they are looking for photos and videos and more engagement (which takes more time investment to maintain). So I would tell small businesses if they have to pick just one social media tool to start with, pick Twitter and gain experience, then graduate to Facebook. And pick up "Twitter Marketing for Dummies" of course!

I think it's also best to just think of social media as a shift in marketing/business delevelopment tactics. Hopefully all small businesses are already spending some time and money on marketing/business development in order to sustain and grow their business. So now the idea is to determine whether these new tools will help achieve those objectives better than some existing tools. I say there is a good chance of that.