Social Networking and Business Expansion

Most sales and marketing articles these days will tell you to take advantage of social networking sites in order to expand your business. While this advice is great, an important question that remains unanswered in most How-To articles is just how can you use social networking websites to your advantage? The answer lies in understanding social networking etiquette and is something I personally continue to revisit to refine my own approaches as an individual in business and for my overall business.

We all know social networking websites are an excellent way to make new contacts and keep in touch with old ones. However, most people tend get put off if you use the medium to blatantly promote a product or service. A social networking marketing campaign therefore has to be carefully drafted so it doesn’t look like you are on the site only to serve your business interests. This becomes a fine balancing act, and as a business owner I need to know when enough is enough or when I need to push through. If you are uncertain where that fine line is for you and your business, then consulting with a social networking expert is a great place to begin.

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Is there such a thing as too much social networking?

This is a question I ask myself every time I read an article or see a posting about yet another social network which has been established.

From a business perspective I see the value behind social networking ... there are benefits regarding marketing and public relations contacts and introductions to prospective new clients, it allows for those who may be interested to learn about who you are as a person, you can begin to establish yourself as a professional or expert in your field etc. But how many of these is too many for one business/individual to join?

Currently I belong to the following ... Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ladies Who Launch, Blogger. They are all wonderful and fortunately I am able to 'update' and cross connect but through these connections I am learning about more social networks which are available. I question how much time in a day must I really dedicate to 'updating' all of these social networks I belong to and how much exposure needs to occur before beginning to see the rewards of these efforts?

Right now I spend about 15 minutes on each at least four days a week. We all know time is money so I am expending 5 hours a week on keeping these updated and still I feel I am not updating them enough for a real benefit to occur but knowing my personal situation of finding balance with my new son and rebuilding my clientele I feel this is all I am able to handle. I have seen an increased traffic to my blogger account over the last three weeks since becoming more active and have gotten some good feedback from my twittering but is this still enough? When does the time invested begin to return a monetary return? All these questions are churning in my mind on a daily basis.

I realize these social networks will take time for each to be established in their own way and I need to be patient and enjoy the ride - right? Well, patience is something else I am working on too but then isn't everyone?

For now I am sticking with it and have decided not to add any new one social networks until I see that I am able to be more effective with the ones I am currently using.

Each of us I believe needs to make the same decision based on our own situations. My best advise to myself and others is "it is better to do a great job on a few than a piss poor job a many."

Thanks for reading and until next time ... Embrace your inner wisdom!

Namaste,
Karen