Some thoughts on social networking and revenue creation...
Social networking is nothing more then another visibility tool for an initial dialog. The ability to to be available and engage an individual when and how they choose to engage is the issue. Opt in community (another word for social networking) to qualify who and why they should be in dialog with you to solve a problem is really no different then asking a neighbor about a lawn care service or a friend at the Chamber of Commerce meeting about a business attorney recommendation. The question of monetization for the business is really no different then evaluating that effort (hard/soft costs) for social activity vs. conversion - resulting revenue. Revenue for most is not a click through event, what I am referring to is the actual generation of core service or product revenue. Advertising and product placement in social sites is the same as yellow pages or search engine marketing. If that is where the buyer is, then engage them in the way they want to dialog. For customer support, social networking just provides another portal to engage and support, mainstreaming into all other forms of contact - i.e., call, email, chat...I would really look closely at both hard and soft costs as well as competitive position in use of social networking before investing a substantial amount of resources.
