If, as the "Cluetrain Gang" suggests, markets are conversations, then social software is the toolset needed to get businesses and consumers talking.

What is social software? The folks at SocialMedia.biz provide us laymen with an excellent definition.

Essentially, social software (or as they refer to it, social media) represents a new generation of tools that bring companies and users into a dynamic, ongoing conversation. They include blogs, digital stories, RSS feeds, wikis and social networks.

If some of those terms sound a bit like incantations from a Harry Potter novel, it's not so mystifying once you read what they have to say.

Markets are conversations. The internet has made it so. Therefore, smart businesses small or large need to get on board. To adapt a lyric from Cat Steven's Peace Train: "Everyone jump upon the Cluetrain. Come on now Cluetrain."

By the way, let me thank SocialMedia.biz for featuring our series on the future of blogging.