The survey didn't get any clearcut answers such as, "I doubled my home business due to participating in social networking sites," OR "I invested hours deliberately trying to promote my business through social networking and I have nothing to show for it." I had also hoped for five responses, which I didn't quite get (although Ben from the Instigator Blog also stopped by to comment).
In return for sharing their opinions, I promised to reprint some of the reader comments and link to their blogs. As promised, here are some of those responses:
Randa Clay, who blogs at Randa Clay Design, left this comment:
"I agree with you. I think way too much time is wasted on this stuff. It's not that it's worthless, but we all have limited time, so we have to choose wisely where that time goes. Creating great content for a blog is far more important than gathering friends on Facebook!"
Mary Emma Allen, who blogs at Home Biz Notes, left this thought:
"I've signed up on a couple of these social sites but I simply don't have time to participate and get everything else done. It's overwhelming simply handling all my e-mail (and I'm not talking about spam, just the business e-mail). However, if someone is mainly building their business online, it probably will be imperative that they become involved in some of the social networks, perhaps choosing just one or two. I've been involved in a number of online writers' groups for years and they've been very instrumental in networking among colleagues and helping one another. So I suppose participating in these newer groups is a matter of taking networking one or two or three steps forward into the current, and future, cyberworld."
Calvin Warr, who blogs at calvinwarr.com, commented:
"I would like to add that the very concept of a social network implies a level of interaction and shared common values, likes or viewpoints. When we approach social media as a means to an end (traffic?), we essentially lose the essence of it. THAT is why it is so hard to "keep up" with them "all". Think of this, do you feel stressed keeping up with the neighborhood gossip, the grapevine at the club, the latest "news" at the water cooler or the chatter of your aunts? So, why are we struggling to keep up with a few "social networks"? Could it be that we simply didn't belong in the first place?"
The readers have given me some food for thought. Thank-you to everyone who left a comment.
Let's keep the discussion going. What's your opinon about this?
sorry - this is unrelated, but I'm going to email you about something - I have a question based on your experience but it's a bit personal. Is that ok?
Posted by: rachel | August 27, 2007 2:00 PM | Permalink to Comment