Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

January 22, 2008

Time to Check Social Media Return on Investment

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 11:59 am

Infinite Room Is NOT Infinite Time

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We live in a world of Social Media, where we can choose from a seemingly unending list of new universes — places where any small group suddenly finds we can join up to be our own majority. Like-minded thinking is one of the pleasures of getting together on any social site.

Don’t like how I think?
Click on.
No harm. No foul.

The infinite Internet has room for everyone.
It’s not hard to find like-minded thinkers anymore. As the number of Social Media sites grows, we can’t keep adding to our lists.

We don’t have infinite time to spend.
We need to know that time we’re spending is time well invested.

Time to Check Social Media Return on Investment

It’s easy to get comfortable on a social media site, especially if we’ve never fit so well anywhere before. But, now that the choices are so many, maybe we should check to be sure that the time we’re spending is time is adding something, not wasting away.

Here are five values to check the return on your time investment. Maybe you’ll find some time to save.

  1. What’s the big idea? What do people do there? Do they exchange information, look for jobs, act like schoolkids? Is that focus important to you? Do you look forward to time spent there?

  2. Who’s there? Are the people there friends, fans, or contacts? Are they there for relationships or information or votes? Are there people to learn from and people you aspire to be more like? Can you see them? Can they see you?

  3. What are they saying? What do you take from the conversation? What ideas are on offer? What ideas directly apply to what you do? How often do you see real value?

  4. What’s the time/goal orientation? What do the people focus on? Do they come to achieve; then leave? Do they hang out for conversation? Are their goals in line with yours?

  5. What is the payoff? Is this site redundant with another place you visit? Can you accomplish the same thing in a better way? Would more time here return more value? Would more time somewhere else make this site a non-starter? What do you get there that you can’t get anywhere else?

I quit visiting certain places, got back that time, and have suffered no loss. Well, actually, I’ve gained. The folks I interacted with in those places are in all of the other places I’ve still visit. So I’m trimming my social media portfolio to only those that work for me and my business.

What about you? Time to rethink your Social Media Investments?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!





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15 Comments to “Time to Check Social Media Return on Investment”

  1. January 22nd, 2008 at 3:20 pm
    laura said

    With all of the social media out there, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Thanks for writing these guidelines.

  2. January 22nd, 2008 at 6:50 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Thank you, Laura!
    I feel overwhelmed by all of it on a regular basis. I can’t believe more folks aren’t declaring Social Media Bankruptcy . . . maybe they’re still too caught up being social. :)

  3. January 23rd, 2008 at 2:20 am
    Alina Popescu said

    Hi Liz,
    Less than 2 years ago, I simply had to check out everything there was. I stopped visiting most places. Right now, I have time for blogging and some for LinkedIn and Stubmle. I find these three work great for me, at least for now and I am not inclined to test new ones. Unless they get some pretty good reviews and, by comparison, they seem to be a better choice.

  4. January 23rd, 2008 at 6:57 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Alina!
    I checked out so many I can’t remember all of them. Most have only served to have taken time . . . I suppose that might change at some point in the future.

    Few had the power to get folks to “stick and stay.” Without people social media isn’t very social. :)

  5. January 23rd, 2008 at 10:20 am
    Mike DeWitt said

    Hi Liz,

    I like the ‘less is more’ philosophy. I’ve been using some of your guidelines, but I really like how your set seems complete. Thanks!

    Mike

  6. January 23rd, 2008 at 11:48 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Mike!
    I’m starting to use more of my own guidelines and liking it even better. :)

  7. January 23rd, 2008 at 12:11 pm
    Mike DeWitt said

    It’s funny how that works, isn’t it? ;-)

  8. January 23rd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Yeah, saying things out loud, or writing them down has a powerful motivational response. :)

  9. January 24th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
    Scott said

    Are there other social media sites than Stumbleupon? ;-)

  10. January 24th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
    Web Content Thursdays: Social Media - Is the Party Over? said

    [...] Strauss’s post, A Time to Check Social Media Return On Investment, captured my attention this [...]

  11. January 24th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Scott!
    I’ve heard of a couple, stumbled over one or two more of them. :)

  12. January 25th, 2008 at 8:45 am
    --Deb said

    It’s a hard line to draw–figuring out what’s worth your precious minutes of time and what’s not . . . and WHY it’s worth the effort–to build traffic? To make friends? To just plain have fun? I love the idea of Social Networking and have been participating in the old-school message boards for years, but still . . . there are only so many minutes in the day!

  13. January 25th, 2008 at 9:32 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Deb!
    That’s it exactly! If we know why we’re doing something, then our time is invested and not just spent. :)

  14. January 27th, 2008 at 12:13 am
    Antman said

    Liz,

    Great list, I think I would add one thing however, how does the Social Network respond? Networks are filled with all types of people, if go looking for something it may or may not return it’s self unless the person looking displays the same behavior. If folks want to have good dialog, then they need to be engaging folks in that manner and posting engaging information. If they are looking for friends, then they need to be open and friendly to everyone. Social Media is a “give to get” environment that can often be forgotten. Nice post, thanks!

  15. January 27th, 2008 at 8:50 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Great point, Antman!
    Welcome and thanks for bringing that up.

    It’s the old “garbage in, garbage out,” isn’t it?

    If we want to make something of a social network, we have to be prepared to invest quality time to get a quality result. I’m so with you there.
    You’re not a stranger anymore. :)

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