What results have you gotten out of all this time and effort you are putting into this (Social Networking)? I get asked this question a lot. As I mentioned in my previous post, people are concerned that Social Networking will divert much of their time and produce little in terms of results.

I’ve learned that results in Social Networking are not linear. What I mean by this is that you don’t get from a to z in a straight line. For example, in the old paradigm of direct sales you could count on sending a certain number of direct mail pieces and getting a certain number of responses. That process was linear and predictable. Social Networking is not.

The way information travels through networks is very dynamic. It goes all over the place. In doesn’t follow a particular path. Which is why you need to be patient. You also need to plant a lot of seeds to see which ones grow.

A blog post by itself will probably do very little. However there may come a time when you have built your visibility and your credibility through multiple conversations and relationships, that one post can have a huge impact in the results you will get.

To date I have published several blogs, have a podcast series and I’m just about finished writing an eBook. What is happening is that I’m getting connections and conversations through these various efforts that probably would not have happened if I had only done one.

Remember this concept when you are evaluating your ROI for Social Networking.

I recently became active in another Social Networking site called Ecademy. Part of what I’m doing is research to be able to share with readers of this blog and other clients about different sites and the benefits they offer.

While connecting with different people on the site, I ran across this blog post that I thought gave a good metaphor for the various SN sites out there. Do you have a favorite SN site? Why is that site your favorite?