You can use social media strategically, automate a lot of it, and get rid of the time wasters but what you can’t or should not do is give up the conversation. The trick is framing your conversation within your niche. Believe it or not, answering questions, and giving away information free on social media networks like LinkedIn on there “answers” area can go a long way toward creating good will, which can lead to clients who want you enough to pay the rates you’re asking, or site visitors who are already primed to buy what you recommend. By giving of yourself it happens almost magically.

Automation is great for ending time wasting tasks of posting new blog posts, new articles, and outside information. It frees up your time so that you can have a real conversation with potential clients in all of your social networks whether it is Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or a forum you enjoy. Spending time having real conversations and answering questions will establish you as an expert, bring traffic to your blog, and provide you with valuable information and connection to your target market.

If you want to make social media truly useful so that it provides a return on investment (ROI) then you have to join in the conversation. If everyone automates everything and only applications and Virtual Assistants are participating in the media then it loses the social aspects and eventually the value will plummet. No one who can make decisions or offer value will be watching if it’s all automated.

The best person to communicate your vision to the world is you. The myth of the four hour work week is that you don’t have to participate at all. It’s true you probably can outsource your entire life, but where is the joy in that? You might save time, but ultimately you lose connection to the people you wanted to connect with in the first place when you started your business. Certainly you had a goal that involved connecting with someone or helping someone. Never forget why you started your business in the first place.

Useful Media Tools:

Analyzing Social Media Networks with NodeXL: Insights from a Connected World

Businesses, entrepreneurs, individuals, and government agencies alike are looking to social network analysis (SNA) tools for insight into trends, c... Read More >

Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks)The secret to successful word-of-mouthmarketing on the social web is easy: BE LIKEABLE. A friend‘s recommendation is more powerful than any advertis... Read More >

Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives -- How Your Friends' Friends' Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think, and DoRenowned scientists Christakis and Fowler present compelling evidence for our profound influence on one another's tastes, health, wealth, happiness, beliefs, even weight, as they explain how social networks form and how they operate.