Soup Up Your Social Sales Channels

"We get it. You're already juggling scads of operational, sales, tech, administrative and marketing tasks, and you're not totally sold on the value of social networking spaces. Are they gigantic time wasters or strong brand-building sales drivers? Multiple experts opine on the benefits (or lack thereof) of social networking portals like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook with gusto, and if you take a poll of your peers, you are likely to gather ardent differing opinions as well. Before you invest any time or money in social networking platforms or campaigns, here's what you should know.

Fact one: There are fabulous success stories of intrepid entrepreneurs who have immersed themselves in one or more of these venues. Take, for example, Massachusetts-based Laura Fitton--aka Pistachio on Twitter--a single mom who went from obscurity to being quoted in The Wall Street Journal and meeting with Google gurus as a result of her creative and insightful tweets on life and social media use."