Let’s continue with another 10 reasons professionals have told me they don’t bother using social media for social networking. Here are their reasons with my response. Yesterday, I called those reasons “excuses” they cannot afford to make.

Excuse: But there’s no true ROI in social media.
Response: Not true. ROI can be measured if the right metrics are tracked upon measureable goals. However, ROI means more than Return on Investment in social media. There is also a Return on Influence. That is harder to measure, but points to your growing influence as a thought leader or business owner. And those benefits may far outweigh traditional ROI.

Excuse: Social media is just a passing fad.
Response: Not true. Growth remains strong across all demographic groups. All signs point to your online social profile serving as the basis for how sites will serve you content and advertising in the future. Our economy is increasingly based upon online social interactions. Also, see Tuesday’s blog: Your future depends on social media.

Excuse: No point learning this stuff. Something else is coming along and will replace it.
Response: There is no doubt that technology changes rapidly. However, research indicates that online social profiles will only increase in importance, not lessen.

Excuse: Isn’t Facebook really meant just for social interaction with friends?
Response: For the most part, yes, but if used in conjunction with other tools, it can be a pleasant bonus in growing your brand. Be careful about selling yourself to your friends, though.

Excuse: But how does Facebook grow my business?
Response: Fan pages work in some cases. Using their Living Social tools (without overdoing them) can also help. The bigger benefit is in making connections or reconnecting with old acquaintances. Keeping in touch builds social awareness, which never hurts in business. You can never have too many friends.

Excuse: How can you communicate anything meaningful on Twitter in 140 characters?
Response: People convey a lot of information or links to good information in that space. Link-shortening services also enable you to reduce long URLs to a few characters.

Excuse: Why do I need to use LinkedIn? It’s only for people trying to find a job.
Response: If you want to establish yourself as an authority in any business, you should use LinkedIn to share information through its numerous Groups and also Q and As. If you are looking for new business contacts, LinkedIn offers great market research and introduction possibilities.

Excuse: Isn’t there risk in using social media?
Response: Possibly. Use common sense in what you post and don’t overdo self-promotion.

Excuse: Isn’t it possible that a connection can use social media to hurt my business?
Response: Yes. But that would be true whether you are using social media or not. If you already are, you have a chance of minimizing damage.

Excuse: I still think this is a waste of time. Why should I care?
Response: Our culture is moving rapidly away from advertising and one-way marketing to the consumer or client. The power has shifted to the customer. Business and business leaders are more accountable than ever through social media. Ignore at your own peril.

Those are enough excuses for now. We’ll go deeper in explaining some of the responses incoming days. Have a question? Comment or e-mail jay@jayknowsnetworking.com.