Is Social Media Worth Your Time?

Everyone - from politicians, businesses, musicians, celebrities

and many other groups of people - uses social media such as

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social networking outlets

to spread their message, build their businesses and connect with

others.



Do they know something we don't?



Networking, whether online or offline, is a great use of time

when done properly. As with anywhere you spend your time,

knowing why you are doing it, how you will measure success and

having a plan is the best approach.



With that said, I jumped in with both feet last year with the

guidance of a social media expert, and I have found clients,

joint venture partners, speaking engagements and other great

connections through various social media outlets. I am a member

of more social media outlets than I can count, but I currently

focus on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. While I am not an

expert in social media, here are five reasons to take some time

to learn the benefits of social media.



1. There Is No Cost



There is no direct cost unless you opt for an upgrade, if one is

offered. I haven't paid for an upgrade and have steadily

increased my list to include over 1000 followers between just

three social media outlets, and without much effort.



2. Build Your Business by Connecting With Peers



Are you interested in finding joint ventures, affiliates, guest

experts or other peers you can bounce ideas off of? In the last

few weeks alone, I have located one large joint venture partner

and have had several other partnership opportunities cross my

desk. Business owners just like you are using social media to

connect with others who are interested in using your articles,

hosting you as a guest expert on teleseminars, webinars and live

events, and even creating projects together!



3. Build Your Business by Following Reporters You Are Targeting



Would an article written by a certain reporter make your year?

Follow them on Twitter or Facebook and see what is of interest

to them and what they are writing about. You never know what

golden nugget you'll find by following them online that may

open the door at the right time. Follow them and invite them to

follow you as well! Or with LinkedIn you can find out how many

degrees you are from them. You may surprise yourself by being

only one or two degrees away from your target!



4. Showcase Your Expertise, Build Your Platform and Attract New

Clients



Social media is an interesting animal. While many people use it

to increase their businesses, you must be mindful about outright

promotions. Generally speaking, heavy marketing of your products

and services on these sites is a big no-no. Here's how I do it.

I'll post something like this: "Just got off the phone with

social networking guru Nancy Marmolejo. Now I'm off to finish

writing my sales page for the Business Breakthrough Series."

People who are intrigued will check you out and may end up

deciding to follow you and ... bingo! They have just entered

your world!



5. Reach Large Audiences



The world is your oyster in social media. There are only a few

businesses that are truly limited by geographic boundaries,

especially if you are in the information marketing business.

Being active on social networking sites eliminates geographic

boundaries and allows you to reach a vast number of people from

all over the world. If you have products and services that can

be purchased by anyone in the world, being active in social

media is an absolute must for you. I recently held a teleseminar

with people from over 10 countries in attendance, all from the

comfort of my home office! And my sweat pants!



So, is social media worth the time? It depends. Social media is

absolutely the wave of the future, and you will need to know

something about it at some point. However, whether you work it

into your plan for 2009 depends on your goals. If you have a

goal of increasing your reach to prospects either locally or

internationally, you can do that quite effectively through

social media. However, if you can cannot and will not commit to

learning how to "tweet" on Twitter or communicate on Facebook

or use your connections on LinkedIn, it will not be worth your

time.



My advice to clients when they are just starting out is to

select one social media outlet, whether it's Facebook, LinkedIn

or Twitter, and master it before jumping into every outlet

possible. You obviously need to schedule time for connecting, so

select the social networking outlets that will benefit you the

most.



Now that I am experiencing the financial results of my online

efforts, I understand why this is such a great use of my time

and I'm hooked!

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Meredith Liepelt, President of Rich Life Marketing, offers a

free report called "101 Ways to Attract Ideal Clients, Build

Your List and Raise Your Profile," which can be downloaded

immediately at http://www.RichLifeMarketing.com .