Jumping on the Social Media Bandwagon

A client asked me yesterday if I really thought all this "Social Media hype" was worthwhile. It can take up so much time and it's hard to see the results. I wanted to share my response with you because this is a VERY legitimate question.

I would not go out and join 10 new networking groups and spend all of my work day going to networking events. While each of the 10 groups might be good and each of the events might be good, that is just too much networking in proportion to my company size, my marketing budget and my workload.

The same thing applies to social media. Don't join LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo, ... just because they are there. Really look at their demographics and their structure to be sure it fits your overall marketing plan. If I was a rock star, I would spend a lot of time on My Space, not LinkedIn. As a business consultant, My Space offers me nothing while LinkedIn has real potential.

Work on one social media platform or type at a time. Don't try to blog, email, LinkIn, ... all at once. Choose one. Fill in your profile completely. Listen to what is going on on the Wall or in the groups. PARTICIPATE. Build some real connections. Then move on to the next one.

Set limits for your minimum participation and your maximum participation. One blog post a week. No more than 30 minutes a day on LinkedIn.

There is software to help you cross-pollinate your social media sites. Use it!  My blog post will show up on LinkedIn and as a Tweet, for example. I will add other info on LinkedIn and in tweets but each effort is used at least twice.

Social media is new. You don't have to get it perfect right now. No one has it perfect. It's NEW. This is your time to learn, experiment and even make mistakes. You can fix them and improve.

Social media is here to stay. It will change Twitter may be absorbed into another company. LinkedIn might become part of some conglomerate. But social media is here to stay. It is not optional. But how you use it is.

Be wise! Ask for help. There are plenty of classes, books, webinars and gurus to help you, including Your Computer Lady.