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Getting involved in networking online may seem like a daunting task of immense time wasting. And it can be, if you aren’t careful about where and when you do network. Joining every networking site there is on the internet is not practical for any business, nor are they all appropriate for recruiting the ideal target audience for your service or product.

Consider a site like Facebook. It can be a great way to promote your business, but it can easily turn into something personal instead of business. If you create a profile for your business, keep it that way. Avoid adding ‘friends’ that are just that. Keep it for business contacts and business information. Keep personal data off your profile.

Now look at a site like LinkedIn, which is designed for professionals. It doesn’t ask for your age or marital status. It offers ways to connect with other groups of professionals to promote your business.

So, once you decide which sites to network on, how do you determine the necessary time to devote to produce a positive result for your business? That’s a tough call as it can vary significantly between businesses. One way that I reduce my time in networking is saving a copy of my profiles for when I join a new site. That way, it’s more of a cut and paste than rewrite, which can save a lot of time from duplicating the same information. I also set aside a timeframe each week for networking and stick to that alone. I don’t allow myself to spend time every day, as it can turn into a ever-growing time commitment.

Once I have been networking on a site for a while, I track my time and results to ensure the site is a positive marketing tool for my business. If I have been on a site for quite a while with little or no result, I reduce or eliminate my time on that tool and move on. Finding marketing that works for you may seem a bit like ‘trial and error.’ And that’s ok, that’s what marketing is: finding your target audience and drawing them in to your business.

When it comes to tracking the effectiveness of a marketing tool, I use a simple spreadsheet similar to this:

Note: For multiple networking sites, I detail the results of each individual site to ensure all my efforts are effective.

It is critical that you are aware that networking does take time. As mentioned previously, it can take someone 9+ times to hear about your business before he/she makes contact or a purchase. So, it can take several months.

Tracking where your customers are coming from is also critical in helping determine the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Simply asking where they heard of you can make all the difference in understanding what works for your business and what doesn’t.