Personally I think there is a lot of opportunity with Social Media, but business managers and owners need to think about what’s best for them and their business. I thought you might like to see some of the recent articles that we’ve written on the subject:

http://features.bizmore.com/blog/ceo-solutions/7-ways-business-owners-can-use-twitter

http://features.bizmore.com/blog/must-read/social-media-musts-before-you-begin

I enjoyed your post and I agree with most of what you have to say. However companies concerned over “brand safety and control” will probably find their success in social media limited.

Past, current and prospective customers are already talking about these companies in uncontrolled environments; to think that they don’t is naive. Furthermore, created a “walled environment” to manage these conversations is a challenging prospect for any company, let alone a smaller business with limited resources.

You hit the nail on the head when you stated that “you get what you pay for.” In my opinion, smaller companies should develop a plan;use appropriate free/low cost tools and then invest the time necessary to develop relationships with their target market. Sure, the tools can be free, but social media cannot be successfully pursued without an investment in time.

Nothing is FREE – it may not cost “money”, but it does cost time, and to a small business owner, time is often just as valuable in and short supply as money.

Please, take the advice of the author and make sure you have a strategy in place with specified goals. Otherwise the social media monster can begin to dominate your time and cost you more than you bargained for.

The public sites are where the action is and many businesses are having great success when they interact correctly. Behave online exactly the way you act offline. Don’t spam!

Interact, be professional and be there!