NY Times article with good advice about content;
Social media is easier than you  think.

7 ways to measure social media ROI.

I am nowhere near as involved as I should be, but unfortunately, I see that this is not going away.

I have major issues with business promotion through these methods. I think it should take some effort to promote someone, because then only those who deserve to be promoted will be. It seems, however, that the savvy will outpace the noobs, whether they deserve the praise or not.

These articles may help.

Tom,

Ive said it before and I will say it again, those social networking sites are  all the bullcrap. You will spend alot of time on that crap and only get a few jobs.

If you link to them, you will get addys from Ho's wanting to spread thier legs for money. See Craigslist if you dont believe me.

Yeah I agree with you, it isnt going away, but its all hype, smoke and mirrors and bullcrap! Dont believe the freaking hype! The puter  geeks are promoting this, its a way they can make money on seminars and webinars, preserve thier jobs and guarantee thier existence in a down economy and the sites can make alot money.

For example..I post here. and I post some crazy crap! No one cares about the patents, the products Ive developed or factories Ive built!  But with me its all word of mouth advertising. I never got 1 job off my website (which I deleted). The  companies all  want to hire the eccentric genius who drinks snake wine and dances around the world like a demented butterfly on steroids!

And none of that came from U tube, face freaking book, or any of that other young and dumb boy bullcrap!

It  was a little bit from Andys site, and mostly by word of mouth!
 
To quote and old Bogart movie  "We dont need no stinking social networking sites"!

"Word of mouth" already happens a lot on Facebook, etc, and as the generation that grew up with it matures into your customer base, it will be a very important way that consumers share information. My guess is that it would be easy to put too much time and money into it, but I think you'd ignore it at your own peril.

You know, Lenny, I'd bet most people would think that line originated with Blazing Saddles, but Treasure of Sierra Madre for the win!
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I think that social marketing will be a self-fulfilling prophecy for many folks who embrace it, like Sterling, as other similar minded folks will have also invested time and effort into it as well.

I hope that, as Randy alluded to, folks will be talking about the great countertops they just got from us. Same as at the water cooler at work. That would be the most pure form of advancement on a social network. Unsolicited recommendations.

I have dipped my toes in the water, but I don't see being able to put the effort into it that I think a pro-active campaign would require.

This brought to mind that a Facebook friend recently used her "status" to request recommendations for a dentist locally. She has 152 Facebook friends, and got 6 positive recommendations plus one "stay away from" suggestion. Just an example.

Tom and Randy,

Point well taken. However I have a bone to pick with the Inet, although it’s a wonderful tool, people get deluded into thinking its real.

For example, many years ago, I taught tai Chi and kung fu classes for Sifu Goh, a full contact fighter from China, and later opened my own school. The internet was new then, and I had a student, an older lady who was fascinated by the Inet. She was talking about that and said, last night I visited China, Thailand, India, etc. etc., talking about the Inet. I laughed and said that’s good, but really your large butt was sitting in front of an electronic box! You went nowhere.

I know this may seem an incredulous point of view being posted on a website. Im sure there are several levels of irony in that! But the difference is with this site, Ive actually met Norm, Andy, Kelsey, Joe, and a lot of these people on here in the flesh. So to me this is like email, but its backed up with real life experience.

I guess what I am trying to say is we met in real life first, and then talked in this site later. The social networking thing has to be reverse engineered. You meet in a site, and then try to make that reality in life. That’s the trick, and its very arduous to accomplish.

Hi Jon,

No I nixxed wy website. I dont have one anymore, I guess that makes me a bad person

I dont do social networking either, I guess the young puter dweebs think Im an idiot!

But Im old school rock and roll mafia!  I have people beating down my door for biz!

I dont need the  freaking money, I have enough to live the rest of my life (unless I live for a millenium). I just do this stuff because Im freaking bored and have a good work ethic!

Plus I like to live in the shadows. Check my most recent post out in the swamp. Now if that was on a website and not buried in the swamp Id have some newbie CIA dweebs wanting to cause me a problem, Ming bai ma? (Chinese for is it clear). Then Id have to make a phone call to a da ren (big guy) and quash that crap!

I guess what Im trying to say is that I dont want to be famous! With my lifestyle fame can get you killed. I am content to be famous with the solid surface and E stone manufacturers here, and with the great Jon, the worlds greatest thermoformer, and my good freinds like the astute Tom M, fabricator company owner par excellant, (French spelling but I forgot that slash thingee over the word) Andy, Norm, David from Alaska, and the fine Kelsey Crisp and all the other fine people here.

Can you understand my position?

Only one thing is certain, in ten years, these sites probably won't exist. I could be wrong but doubt it.

The dentist recommendation requires no participation from the dentist. It only requires friends recommending your company. The way I see it, treat your customers beyond their expectations and they will do the social networking for you.