The jury is still out on social media’s contribution to my bottom line. And tracking the tweets, updates, etc., on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Plaxo can be time consuming. Accordingly, I’ve dipped my toes in (to mix metaphors with my jury), but clearly not convinced as to value…yet.
Reading a post by Bruce Allen over on Marketing Catalyst from last week, he at least addresses part of my problem (the time part). He deals with it in a way that actually makes some sense… if one is disciplined as much as Bruce apparently is.
First, he addresses the fact that you can reach many more people through social media vs. networking in-person. Then he tells us how much time he spends attending to his online networking each day and how many people he reaches:
- Facebook – 15 minutes/140 people
- LinkedIn – 10 minutes/300
- Twitter – 20 minutes/100
Obviously, he reads faster than me. But, that is a lot of people, if they all read his updates, of course. Moreover, Bruce is not saying that you shouldn’t still network in-person, and he relates a story about running into person that follows him online. Take a read.
Clearly the social net is a very big “room.” It may just be one we all could benefit from working.