If you’re running a successful business today, chances are that you have a Web presence, or rely daily on the Internet. If you’re looking to launch a startup or finally dive into the creative idea you’ve been sitting on since college, you’ll need the Internet.

But just having Internet access won’t be enough – you’ll need an open Internet free from corporate gatekeepers that could make it harder and more expensive for you to reach your customers. You’ll need an Internet that allows your Web site or business to compete against more established companies. You’ll need an Internet that gives you access to the tools and research that’s vital for a new business. This means you’ll need an Internet protected by Net Neutrality rules that stop network operators like Comcast and AT&T from blocking access to Web sites or charging more for faster content delivery and priority service.

Last week, President Obama reminded the country of the importance of the open Internet to our economic recovery when he said, “I’m a big believer in Net Neutrality.” But many small-business owners already know this, and they’ve been writing in at SavetheInternet.com to tell us their personal stories about how Internet freedom has been crucial to their livelihoods.

Ed Keeter from Grand Rapids, Mich., wrote us that an open Internet has been “critical to the self-employed.” He said:

I am a self-employed small business consultant who for the past three years has assisted over 100 other individuals with starting their own small businesses as self-employed workers. In almost every case we have a very limited budget to work with and we usually rely on the internet for research, for working with vendors and most importantly for marketing their goods and services.

Any change that increases the costs or decreases the ease and availability of leveraging the Internet to support these small businesses would be a harmful, potentially fatal blow to them.

Twenty-three-year-old Ryan Peters of Halethrope, Md., used the Internet to teach himself Web development skills before he scored his job. He said:

The revolution of the Internet and its open-table has created an enormous wave of opportunity for ideas, sharing of information, and launching of millions of businesses who otherwise would have never received the exposure they have now.

Amanda Shaw is an artist and jewelry designer who sells most of her products online through her own Web site and on Etsy.com. A resident of hard-hit Flint, Mich., she says this income is helping her stay afloat. She wrote:

I could not afford to pay for whatever service the larger mass production companies would be able to in order to pull people to my site. Everything I make is handmade with all my time and effort behind it. Should I be denied the opportunity the internet offers? Stealing away Net Neutrality would take this opportunity away from myself and business owners like myself. It robs us of our own piece of the American dream.

Small-business owners and entrepreneurs take on a lot of risk when they start new companies or step out to make and sell their own products. They need an equal playing field, not a closed Internet that stifles innovation and discourages people from starting a new business.

The “open Internet” may be an abstract concept, but its impacts on our culture and economy are not. Amanda, Ryan and Ed aren’t the only ones expressing why Net Neutrality is critical to their lives and jobs. Hundreds of people are using this tool to tell their Internet story, and to show the FCC and Congress the human face of the Net Neutrality movement (of 1.7 million people).

Tell your own story today, and make sure the FCC and Congress know you’re helping our economic recovery by supporting Net Neutrality.