It is imperative to follow the trends and keep abreast with the changing landscapes. Social Media is one such paradigm shift. Started off as Friendship, Networking, Professional Networking sites, Social Media started gaining lot of attention for Business Opportunities. And why not, if it is a zero or low cost investment, it is not a bad proposition at all, even if it is a slow lead generator.

Social Media has its own pros and cons. While it is lucrative, it can be distracting, time consuming and addictive. It is a great tool for word of mouth publicity and instant feedback.  There is always scope of negative comments and criticism. Revoking of free publishing rights of 5000,000 fans on Versace page of Facebook, after the criticism on their sand blast jeans, is a popular example.

Any trend soon becomes a race. With the community sites offering bigger publishing opportunities favorable for businesses, the SEO and SMO experts make it sound exigent to the business owners to be in that space. Which is correct. But running for sheer numbers and ranking is not what one should look for.  For that matter, there are still a huge number of Business Owners who skip social media and yet thrive.  A survey by Hiscox shows 50% of the respondents using no social media at all, while only a meagre 12% find it a must.