Are you thinking of jumping on the social media bandwagon but can’t decide where to begin?

Are you already using social media but having trouble keeping up with the information flow?

Do you wonder if it’s ethical to have someone else post to social media as you?

Are you wondering why you have to do this stuff in the first place?

First, the answer to last question – you need to be present in the social media world because that is where the people are. That’s it. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Google+ puts butts in the seats. Facebook alone has 800 million users; that’s right, 800 million. And it’s still growing. When even one of your status updates on FB is shared, your potential audience grows by 17,000 users within a couple of days. Those numbers simply can’t be ignored.

Second, as a business owner, you simply don’t have the time to do everything yourself. That’s why you hire employees, right? For example, you may have a customer service department because you can’t handle all the phone calls yourself. Those people “speak” with your voice. There’s nothing unethical about that is there? Posting updates and tweets falls into the same category. Where it crosses the line (I think) is when you have people posting personal things about you. Like – “Just had pancakes!” or… “Off to Disneyland!” Things like that. You still want to maintain your own online social life, but things like posting interesting business articles, taking excerpts from your blog posts, etc. – those things are just fine.

Third, tracking the flow of updates and tweets from a really active business site can be mind boggling, not to mention time consuming. Having someone put that information into a format you can handle more easily would be the same as your accountant handing you a monthly P & L. It makes the mountain of information manageable, which allows you to take effective action without spinning your wheels.

Fourth, you simply must be there. Your competition is, or will be soon, so you must be present in the social network. As mentioned above, Facebook has about 800 million members; Twitter has about 450 million; LinkedIn has about 135 million; YouTube has about 600 million users; and Google+ will reach 100 million this year. That means that fully 1/3 of the entire planet’s population, or 2.1 billion people are members of the social network. Are you still wondering if you need to be there?

Since maintaining a social media presence has become critical to successful business, and since doing so takes valuable time, hiring a social media specialist makes a great deal of sense; just as hiring an accountant, or attorney, or any other business specialist does. The only thing you will need to do is interject your personal posts ever once in a while. A Social media manager can maintain your business presence; you let the Twitter-verse know what you had for breakfast every once in a while, and then you can move on with your day. Boom, done.