Is Social Media Effective???

Below is a response that I posted regarding the link below about the ineffectiveness of social media and why it is  a waste of time.. I will be curious if the author of the article will post my comment or will they edit it or not post it at all.  Regardless, here is my response…

I would welcome your comments…

This is the link to the original article… http://blog.entrepreneur.com/2009/08/whats-your-online-networking-roi.php

 

Carol,

I find your blog post interesting, but I think that the point of social media is being missed by the article. 

“I think many owners are doing lots of online marketing not because it’s effective, but because it’s so much easier than picking up the phone or putting yourself out there in the flesh” – Social media is not about replacing face-to-face interaction, it is about enhacing your effectiveness in your downtime and adding to your marketing, not replacing it.

“when I talk to business owners about social-media marketing, it seems like more of a timewaster for most than a useful business tool” – I would suggest that the majority of these business owners don’t know what to do with social media.  It’s like asking a trumpet player to play an ovation earning performance on a violin… It takes time.

Twitter and facebook are very different than traditional media.  I would recommend contacting Matt Astifan @ www.nirvanacanada.com (@MattsMedia on twitter) for a follow up interview on how to make social media work for you.  He has helped me enormously in my business and I saw direct results within days of talking to him.

“You can’t be an expert on something you don’t study”.  Social Media is a tremendous tool that I am using and it is a key piece of my business development strategy.  I would suggest that before giving up on social media, that those who wish to use it as an effective tool, spend some more time learning how to be effective rather than claiming that social media is ineffective…

Follow me on twitter @InsureVancouver

or http://dstrokon.wordpress.com/

Regards,

Derek