Is Social Networking a Waste of Time?

Source: Rainmaker Best Practices

In recent months, you've probably read dozens of articles about the potential business benefits of social networking using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other tools. In a recent blog post, Patrick McEvoy offered a contrasting view. What's McEvoy's opinion of the argument that social networking has great business potential? One word: “Bull****!!!!” The problem, he says, is that “You will never market something to people that you know nothing about.” McEvoy says he'll stick with “proven stuff that works like real conversations with real prospects and things like demographics and lists and that wastes a lot less of my time and money.”

Many people are bound to disagree with McEvoy's view. But the fact that we're having this debate highlights the fact that the value of social networking as a business development tool has yet to be proven, and firms should invest in it cautiously.

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From Rainmaker Best Practices, www.rainmakerbestpractices.com, August 31, 2009, “Twitter Is For Dummies. The ‘Non-Dummy Guide to Networking'.”