Since social media has been reaching front page news for the past year (see Newsweek and Ad Age for examples), many professionals are trying to jump on the bandwagon of those who have had incredible success.

Before breaking into any detail- I will lead with the age old saying “anything worth having, is worth working for.”
Social media (blogging, podcasting, video, virtual communities) is not without work.

Consistency is not easy. There are literally hundreds of free social media tools available. Some example of the most common services are Wordpress, Youtube, Blogger, Myspace, Linkedin, and Facebook. Anyone can “jump in” and start using any of those services for FREE. Controlling workload and practicing good time management skills is essential to both create and measure a return on the effort placed into a social media campaign.

Traffic takes time to build and understand. Social media is about a community of users. If you compare social media to a normal social party, you must understand how factions within a social group operate. There are networks within networks, and also networks that reach into other networks that you may not know about. Developing an understanding of how a social network operates before introducing yourself to the group is a far more efficient strategy (ever walked up to a group you didn’t know and absolutely stick your foot in your mouth?

You get what you pay for, but knowing where the true deals are is always nice. The technology of social media is generally free or low cost. Unfortunately the low barrier to entry creates a horde of users who do not understand how the actual tools work. Out of every thousand users of social media, I would fear that only one actually took the time to leverage half the benefits available to them.

The conclusion: Self-control, education, and discipline in applying new strategies and tactics is where any business effort “breaks down”, if you are looking for a “quick fix” or “magic bullet” social media will not provide it.

On the other hand, social media can provide you with amazing tools that are changing on a daily basis. It can offer access to thousands of niche communities that are thriving and evolving, where your business message and professional experience can be shared with a common benefit to both your business, and the proper communities of users who are looking for information about your industry.