Hi Alex,

Thanks for your comment,

I totally agree that Social Capital can be key to beginning to understand the ROI of Social Media for corporate clients.

Mike

Great post

I also agree with you both that putting the time and effort into a new business venture will pay dividends. It's really not that difficult - you get out what you put in, always has been, always will be. There is nothing better than hard work and passion - without these most businesses will fail.

I would also add that creating 'buzz' is now as important as 'who you know' or what you've achieved before.

Couldn't agree more with your comment that "at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether or not you have “buzz,” if your product is junk."

I think that if you wait 1, 2 to 3 years for a *credible* education program, then you will have missed the opportunity. Sure there are people jumping on the bandwagon but that's the way of the world.

The organisations that will, and are, benefitting from Social Media are the ones that are willing to try new options without having the requirement for a full blown training program. The whole notion of social media is that it is instant, now and then gone. If you wait, you miss out.

How do you think the first web design companies established themselves without a track record. The beauty of the Internet is that evolves instantly and the skills required today may be needed tomorrow, but most likely won't.

Get trained now, implement now, benefit now and then go through the whole cycle again when the next marketing opportunity presents itself.

Just some thoughts.

Social media activities, like any marketing, need to be coordinated but in this instance I woould say that a full time position is not needed. Rather, I would either take an existing employee and train them to use social media in a planned and cordinated manner, or hire an external agency to do all this on behalf of the County on a part time basis.