Newtek Business Services, NASDAQ: NEWT,The Small Business Authority, with a portfolio of over 100,000 business accounts, announced today the findings of itsSB Authority Market Sentiment Survey, a monthly window into the concerns of independent business owners. Based on a poll of approximately 2,200 respondents, one of the key findings from the October survey is 57 percent of business owners are using social media to attract new customers and over 58 percent are using these tools to communicate with existing customers. In addition, 55 percent of business owners state that Facebook and Twitter are significant engines of growth for their business.

The fullOctober 2011results showed the following:

Barry Sloane, Chairman, President and CEO ofThe Small Business Authoritycommented, "We appreciate the record response to our recent poll with our own customers regarding their interest in, reliance on and use of social marketing and networking. We are pleased by the popularity of social networking and marketing and its adoption by such a large proportion of the respondents. This may be based upon the fact that many business owners today tend to blend their business and personal lives into a consolidated function. It is not surprising that a large percentage of our small, independent business owner clients utilize Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media to communicate with their clients and suppliers. It is clearly the most cost effective, efficient utilization of the Internet particularly for a small, independent business owner that does not have huge resources in staff or dollars. We believe that the early adopters using this form of marketing and communication will be heavily rewarded and late participants will have more challenging entry points. The Small Business Authorityis available and ready to help small- and medium-sized businesses with their social media needs."