A Matter of Managing and Balancing Time

It is a matter of managing and balancing time.

Yesterday, I was at the New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility Spring Conference in Concord, New Hampshire and during a lunch breakout session I participated in the discussion of Social Networking and more specifically on-line social networking. A common concern among the 9 of us was the potential for the time drain on already tapped resources. I certainly can relate to this concern and at times find myself overwhelmed with this form of networking on top of everything else. The discussion got me to thinking about the time drain and my analytical thinking mind decided to run a little analysis.

The three tools of social networking that were discussed around the table were Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook as the most common tools used in the group. I don't recall anyone at the table using all three tools. As most of you know, I currently utilize Linkedin and Twitter and I'm growing my network truly organically rather than with genetically modified sources. I looked at the last 5 months of my traditional networking (conferences, events and meetings) activities and compared them with my social networking time.

I went through my calendar and determined the number of traditional networking opportunities I have gone to year to date. I estimated how many total people were at each of those events based on my memory and how many one-on-one conversations I had at the events. I calculated my total time and assigned a dollar value of this time, including travel and event costs.

Estimated Total People = 1250 Estimate Total Conversations = 218 Total Costs = $6,760

Based on these estimates it means that each one-on-one conversation I had cost me about $31 per conversation. In my opinion, an excellent value and opportunity to meet great people.

Next, I looked at my Twitter and Linkedin profiles and my organically growing network and the estimated time I spent each week networking on in these avenues.

Estimated Total People = 518,687 Estimate Total Conversations = 198 Total Costs = $9375

Based on these estimates it means that each on-line conversation I had cost me about $47 per conversation. Again, I think an excellent value and opportunity to connect with great people.

I have to admit, I was actually surprised at the results because I thought the on-line tools would reap much more of a lower cost. All of my traditional networking to date has been local so that is one reason for the lower cost. I would not give up either ways to network because each adds value in different ways. The on-line has given me the opportunity to connect with people I would not have met before. The traditional way of networking is how I have grown some of my best on-line connections first. Both include learning opportunities just in different mediums.

We are social beings to begin with and that will not change. For business both are necessary and one form will not replace the other. Like everything else it is a matter of managing and balancing time.

Thanks for reading