I regularly hear lots of skepticism from busy professionals on why they don’t want to get involved in social media as part of their business strategy. Some would say they have reservations. Forgive my passion, but I think they’re really making excuses and likely resistant to change.

Responsible professionals and small businesses cannot afford to avoid social media if they know their customers or clients are already there. There are precious few professions in which that’s not the case. Over the next two days, we’re going to examine 20 “excuses” I’ve heard from professionals as to why they’ve resisted social media with my response. Today, the first 10:

Excuse: I’m too busy.
Response: Positive results can be seen from using social media as little as 20 min./day M-F. You really can’t find 20 minutes on weekdays?

Excuse: I don’t want to read what people are having for breakfast.
Response: You can control who you Connect With, Follow, Friend, etc. on social media. While there is undoubtedly lots of clutter out there, you can filter most of it out. Truth is, great conversations and information sharing take place, and there is not as much breakfast chat as you would think.

Excuse: It’s too frivolous and distracts from my personal brand.
Response: Used properly, social media enhance your brand and establish you as expert in your field. CEOs, scientists, authors, members of Congress, pastors and others aren’t afraid to use the tools.

Excuse: They adversely affect my credibility.
Response: Countless professionals, small businesses and corporations report enhanced trust from customers and clients through blogging and social media.

Excuse: Social media take too much time.
Response: You can save time with thought and planning. Tools also exist to help manage time. They enable you to communicate across multiple platforms. Tools can schedule when your communications go live.

Excuse: There are too many social platforms from which to choose.
Response: Only use the ones that make sense for you. If your clients aren’t on Facebook and not likely to be, then don’t use it. However, make sure you know that to be true; don’t assume.

Excuse: It’s all one more thing to deal with.
Response: Yes, it is, but you can actually use social media in some instances to communicate faster and save time. And billions of people are “dealing with it.”

Excuse: There’s no proven benefit.
Response: There are countless examples of growth in customers, revenues and influence for individuals, small businesses and corporations using social media.

Excuse: But you can’t prove success.
Response: Proving success comes from setting measureable goals and using the appropriate metrics to track them.

Excuse: But can you really track goals in social media?
Response: Yes, you can. Some measurements are obvious — new friends or followers. Others are trickier, but tools are improving each day on measuring the demographics and psychographics of social media users.

On Thursday, we’ll feature 10 more “excuses” and explain why you shouldn’t buy them.

Maybe now you’re a little closer to exploring social media, but just have a few questions. Feel free to comment or e-mail me at jay@jayknowsnetworking.com.