Part 1: Online Social Media De-mystified – How Much Time Should I Devote to Social Media?

How much time should I devote to social media? That’s a difficult question that only you can answer. Should you blog daily or once a week? Figure out what works best with your schedule and also base your decision on the number of blog subscribers you have and the amount of traffic your blog drives to your website. If it’s one of your top referral sources, then you’re doing something right and should consider doing more of it.

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter … how much is too much? Keeping up with all of the conversations that are taking place online can be overwhelming and time consuming. Consider setting up an RSS feed that compiles all of the conversations from the targets you’ve chosen. This will allow you to scan all conversations at once and jump into those that are appropriate for you. One suggestion to consider is the Google Reader: Google.com/reader.

Don’t just post to Twitter, respond to others’ posts once you are familiar and comfortable with the online conversation. Follow the same rule for Facebook and the Q&A and discussion forums on LinkedIn. Joining conversations is the best way to build relationships and your reputation online with your target audience. And, it does lead to sales for many, many companies. Search for quality Q&A sites and discussion forums within your industry. Listen in on the conversations to determine which ones are appropriate for you to jump into.

Here’s another rule of thumb to consider when analyzing the time you spend on social media: it’s become a staple within the marketing mix and it’s not going away. It’s cheaper than traditional media and it works. People use social media and successfully land new clients every day. How many clients or prospects have you gained from using social media? Don’t know? You should.

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