Through experience, I have gained clients at my facility through this simple tactic. For example on “dailymile.com”, I have been a registered user, met members at my facility and gained outside clients for personal training. Putting “plugs” on blast on a website will not get the job done though. Remember, this industry is customer service oriented and our clients need to be able to trust you with the most important thing to them—their health. You build rapport on a social media website with the users, just like you build rapport with a client in a personal training consult, group fitness class or any other health promotion program you may be running. It is important to not come off to users of these websites as a director copying and pasting blasts, but as someone who cares and is using an alternate way of reaching out to their clients. Here are some keys to effectively using social media for your fitness facility.

Get Some Friends!

If you’re using Twitter, for example, follow users who you notice tweet a lot about their fitness routines. Hash tags on Twitter make this even easier. #fitmke is a hash tag that people in the Metropolitan Milwaukee area use to connect with other fitness enthusiasts in the community. By me being a fellow “twitterer” who is active with #fitmke, I get to know what my community and direct market are doing and also what they are interested in when it comes to health and fitness. Tracy Gessner from fitmilwaukee.com told me “The hashtag specifically has been helpful for us in finding and connecting with more people in the fitness community. (This goes not only for businesses and organizations but also “regular” people tweeting about their latest run.) It’s always fun when I come across new people using the tag and I get into a conversation with them. It’s nice to see people take something that started in a small circle of friends and make it their own.”

Sub groups are created of people who set up runs or workouts together weekly. On the other hand, if I see a need, I can reach out and offer what my facility has to meet their need. If I notice “fitmom23” tweets that she has been struggling with her routine and could really use an extra push, I am on that like white on rice! I feel completely comfortable reaching out to her and asking if she’s familiar with the personal training program or group fitness program at my facility. Hopefully since I am an active user, she will have seen my tweets in the past and already be familiar with my username and comfortable discussing this with me further. When you add friends, chances are they’ll add you back.
Talk to people about them – Nothing is sweeter to hear than someone’s own name!

Sparkpeople.com is a website where fitness enthusiasts or people trying to change their lifestyle can go to track their fitness and diets. This website can be used in two different ways:

The sparkpeople.com Community Message Boards are literally a gold mine! Not to say it’s stalking (but it’s stalking), take some time to read through those and reach out to people who really need the help. Respond in ways that “spark” an interest in you as a trainer, instructor, and director and show that you share that mutual “spark” in an interest of their health needs. Since their message boards are hard to navigate according to the area you live, it is better research and a good way, as a fitness professional, to keep up on top of what our clients are looking for.
Monitoring clients is another effective way to use sparkpeople.com and similar websites. Have your clients set up an account and pass their username and password onto you. Weekly, check their fitness and diet journals and make notes back to them. If you notice a client ate 6 Cliff Bars in one week, kindly say “Next week Kelly, let’s limit your intake of Cliff Bars to only 4!” Small goals such as this are a good way to slowly transform a client’s diet. Instead of limiting their calorie intake and telling them only to eat fruits and vegetables, you are slightly altering weekly what they already do.

Connect with People Outside of the Fitness Industry – Corporate work out too!

Using outside businesses is important for increasing your Corporate Wellness program as well as cross marketing and building legitimate connections. LinkedIn is the “Corporate Facebook” and a great place to market your Corporate Wellness program directly to companies. Inviting companies who you already work with or who are future potential clients will allow them to see what your facility is offering to its corporate clients. Sending out messages about your upcoming “Lunch and Learn” is easy enough! This is also a great spot to start discussions and observe where the conversation goes with clients and what they wish their Corporate Wellness Program offered to its employees.

Phillyfit.com is a website that is “Connecting you to the Local Fitness Scene” in Philly. You can find everything from information on the “Philly Fit Bash” to tips on keeping your pets healthy. Outside of all of the great information the community can find, the “ADVERTISER’S LIST” blasts all companies in the area that are affiliated with phillyfit.com. Jami Appenzeller, Owner/Publisher of PhillyFIT Magazine suggested, “I always find ways that both businesses can benefit, then, FOLLOW THROUGH and always give a little more to them than I get from them . . . makes them quite happy . . . and I am ok with that.” In a community that holds their health so important, working with a company that feels the same is at times a requirement.

At the end of the day, social media is taking over the marketing world and the fitness industry needs to keep up, if not lead the movement. In a world where people are only looking for support, taking on a new goal to enhance your health seems so much easier when there are millions of others out there in the cyber world doing the same. Whether you use it for your own health, connecting with others in your industry, or outreach your own health promotion programs, remember to make the person on the other end of the screen feel comfortable. The goal is to eliminate the computer and create the next connection, face to face!

Social media is your world, ladies. Women make up the majority of Internet users. Over 100 million women are on-line, where they search blogs for information on everything from business to fashion to car repairs. Women cultivate personal relationships and professional networks as the majority Facebook and Twitter users. More and more big brands spend increased time and money courting women on-line. Women have the strongest presence on-line, yet we still don’t have the strongest influence and voice.

It’s (Still) A Man’s World
Check out lists of the most influential people on the Web and they are almost all men. Yet, social media is intimate, conversational, and built on relationships—all characteristics that are traditionally gendered female.
There are innumerable opportunities for women to increase their power and influence using social media, from entrepreneurial ventures to thought leadership to celebrity. Here are three such opportunities you don’t want to miss.

Personal Branding
As men and women increasingly turn to the Internet for research and information, it is time to think of yourself as a business. Whether it is for personal or professional life, the first thing people do before or after they meet you is Google you. Don’t miss this opportunity to show your best through a strong personal brand.

Your on-line brand is 100% controllable by you through LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs, and more. In a way, having a strong on-line brand levels the playing field for young women by taking more superficial judgments out of the equation. Content is the most valued and sought after currency in social media. It is what you have say that is scrutinized, not your clothes, tone of voice, or work experience. Invest a lot of time and energy strengthening your on-line brand because first impressions still count, virtually and face to face.

Think you can get away without an online brand? Not anymore. People expect you to have one. Think of it like this. In the past, people didn’t care if a business had a fax machine. Shortly after, people didn’t care whether or not a business had a website. Now they care. A lot. If you’re not on-line, you’re not in the game.

Networking
Yes, jobs and opportunities are still found the old-fashioned way—through networks. Access to information and networks is one of the key reasons women tend not to rise as high as men in organizations (see my blog post Why Men Tend to Rise Higher Than Women). The good news here is that technology has made networking a whole lot easier. Find the first conversation the hardest? Now you can do it over email. And, if you’ve got your strong on-line brand in place, all the better.

Key tools for building your network are LinkedIn, BrazenCareerist, Facebook, and KODA. LinkedIn is certainly the place to be and if you aren’t there or haven’t taken the time to complete your profile, it is time. LinkedIn can be used to target companies, secure informational interviews, and develop a strong image of your professional experience, capabilities, and trajectory. You can also use LinkedIn to form your own professional interest groups, another opportunity to show your leadership abilities.

Visibility
Remember that stellar task force report you wrote for your boss? You know, the one he got all the praise for at the board meeting? Oh, and remember all that time you spent patching up relationships between task force committee members? Social media can help make this kind of “invisible work” visible.

“Invisible work” has been a complicated problem for women in work and leadership. Relational practice—associated with listening, mutuality, and reciprocity—underlies Web 2.0 and social media cultural values. What’s more, the work is now measurable by community size, page views, connections, links and other easily tracked metrics. Community building, in fact, is highly visible and valued by big brands now as they seek to connect and engage with consumers (especially women). Demonstrating your ability to build and lead communities on-line is a great way to increase your value to employers and build influence and power.

You can also share examples of your work on highly networked platforms like SlideShare, Webinars, blogs, and other on-line commentary.

Remember, content is the key currency in social media. Sharing your work adds value to everyone in the immediate term. In the long term, sharing work on-line provides women the opportunity to establish themselves as thought leaders in their field.

Social Media Builds Power and Influence
Social media is a welcoming and fun world, but it should also be used to build women’s influence and power through personal branding, networking, and visibility. Read more here at the Think Big project.

Fortunately, if you’re in the healthcare field, customer service or the food industry, things are looking “up”. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, these are projected to be the largest growing jobs from 2008-2018: Registered nurses are estimated to spike 22.2 %. Home health aides will increase by 50%. Customer Service representatives—17.7% and food preparations and service—14.6%. Between 2008 and 2018, personal and home care aides will increase 46%.

But maybe you don’t fit into any of these categories, have any of these expertise, or plan on learning these trades.

Maybe the time to chose your path is behind you. You’ve got a liberal arts degree, or some business degree . . . anything at all. Think two words: Social Media.

Businesses of all kinds, big and small, are surfacing in social mediums. Websites, such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WordPress, and LinkedIn are helping businesses become multi-platform and building their online presence. That’s where you come in.

“It works in all industries and verticals,” Steve Goldner, or Social Steve says. Goldner is the founder, principal, and social media visionary at Opt-In.

It’s obvious why businesses today are turning to these sites. Tweet about the latest product, blog about the inspiration for it, post insider videos, invite anyone to become a fan—hook your consumers on all levels.

According to Twitter, users can quickly share information and get feedback. It is also a useful tool for market research.

LinkedIn, a site where professionals post a profile and connect to other professionals, gives companies the opportunity to connect with potential clients.

These are just two of the many examples. Each site has a slightly different function that businesses thrive from.

So you want the job?
It seems like all you need is an interest in technology and social media and an understanding of HTML. According to an article on MediaBistro.com, author Chris Nerney describes important attributes of a social media manager. He or she must be a people person, be curious, both intellectually and emotionally, be thoughtful, work strategically, and be a team player within the company.

Tammy Tibbetts of Hearst Digital Media explains the role as a “jack-of-all-trades,” She emphasizes an understanding of social media, blogging, video production, and scripting.

Although at Hearst, the social media falls into the laps of the current employees, other companies are hiring specifically for this position. In a job listing for a Yahoo Social Media Editor, the post read, “The editor is expected to flag trends and be aware of new social media sites on the horizon. Relationships in the social media community are a plus.”

Websites like USAintern.com and Ed2010.com, list internships in social media within a variety of fields across the country. Public relations firms, non-profit organizations, agricultural or software companies, and print and online magazine—just to name a few—have recently sought social media interns.

Telecommute?
Even though social media updating can be done from anywhere, both Tibbetts and Goldner agree that these tasks are best carried out in the office setting. “There is a lot of value having face-to-face interaction with staff,” Tibbetts says.

Goldner says social media has to work in conjunction with other business functions and departments.

“Conversations are happening within the industries of every business,” Goldner says, “Isn’t it better to ‘influence’ the conversation than to just leave it to luck?”

xoxo

From the internet, IM and MP3s to handheld video games, mobile phones and texting, you came of age in the era of tactile, instant and constant communication. You’re what the older crowd calls, “digital natives.” And it appears that “digital natives” expect to stay “plugged in” whether at home, on the go, or at work.

According to recent surveys by online recruitment agency Brill Street + Company and GfK Custom Research North America, the most important workplace perks for Gen Y include opportunities for advancement, generous health benefits, tuition reimbursement, ample vacation days, flextime, and . . . access to social media.

But what really happens when you land a job in the real (read: not-entirely-virtual-yet) world? Can you remain focused and productive despite your native instincts to touch, text, connect, and stay in the loop on Facebook or Twitter?

And what’s your Baby Boomer (aka “workaholic generation”) boss to make of all this techno/social media mania? Born between 1946 and 1965, the defining “technological” devices of the Baby Boomers’ formative years were the color television and electric guitar. The youngest members of the Boomer bunch were already in their 20’s or 30’s when the first Apple Macintosh computer was introduced in 1984. The Baby Boomers have gone from listening to Jimi Hendrix in the 60′s to debating their best options for long term health care insurance in the 00s. SRSLY, that’s no small generational gap.

That’s not to say Baby Boomers don’t “get it.”
A 2009 report from Forrester Research revealed more than 60% of Baby Boomers are avid users of social media, like blogs, forums, podcasts, and online videos. They’re the fastest growing age segment on social networking sites like Facebook, and as consumers, they show the highest intent to purchase technological gadgets among any age group (per a 2009 technology study by AARP and Microsoft).

The difference is Baby Boomers are crazy about these new technologies for learning, leisure and creativity—not for work. A 2008 “LexisNexis® Technology Gap Survey” of white collar professions found that while all age groups and levels of workers use and value technology in the workplace, many Baby Boomers perceive the use of personal technologies (laptops, mobile phones, gaming programs, social networking websites, etc.) to be impolite, inefficient, and inappropriate in the office.

Some key findings:

• Over two thirds (68%) of all Boomers agree that PDAs and mobile phones contribute to a decline in proper workplace etiquette; less than half (46%) of Gen Y workers think so.

• Only 38% of Boomers think it’s appropriate to befriend a colleague on a social networking site; over three quarters 76% of Gen Y workers it is.

Far from just statistics, the results of the LexisNexis technology survey reveal vast discrepancies in workplace personalities and processes among the generations. And these discrepancies have the potential to create office drama—even harm teamwork and productivity.

According to Human Resource Management consultant Linda Gravett (co-author of Bridging the Generation Gap: How to Get Radio Babies, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Gen Yers to Work Together and Achieve More), 58% of conflicts in the workplace are sparked by generational issues, which are “largely due to differing perspectives on work ethic and work-life balance.”

All in all, Gen Y workers report spending an average of 10.6 hours of every work day accessing social networking web sites, news web sites, blogs, Internet forums and multimedia sharing web sites (versus 5.6 hours reported by Boomers). And no, these are not all strictly work-related: 39% of Gen Y workers report using gaming programs at work, as well (ahem).

But as Dr. Larry Rose, author of TechnoStress: Coping with Technology @Work, @Home, @Play, explains, for Gen Y, “Technology just is. It’s part of every aspect of their lives.” And that means the lines between professional time and personal time can get a little fuzzy.

Contrast that to Baby Boomers who have spent their careers “climbing ladders” and “paying dues” without so much as a smartphone. For them, the workplace has far and wide been one that’s focused on Face Time (meetings, meetings and more meetings), not Facebook. So while your Boomer boss and co-workers may “get” and appreciate your techno gadgetry know-how, they may not appreciate your awe-inspiring ability to master a myriad of devices, programs, and apps and do your job and text the “20” for after-hours cocktails and construct a horse stable in FarmVille . . . concurrently.

And guess what? Half of the Gen Y workers in the LexisNexis survey can admit it: the Internet, personal devices, programs, and apps do encourage too much multi-tasking, and yes, they can decrease workplace productivity.

“The results of the Technology Gap Survey suggest a real wake-up call for today’s senior management—the Boomer generation,” says Mike Walsh, CEO of LexisNexis U.S. Legal Markets. “In today’s evolving professional world, Boomers need to acknowledge a technology gap among generations exists, and they must find ways to maximize effective workflow solutions and integrated resources that address the challenges they face.”

Gravett agrees: “There’s a huge potential for miscommunication, low morale, and poor productivity unless the generations learn to handle conflict successfully.” So what are employers and employees doing to bridge the technology gap and remain productive?

Switching it up to maintain Gen Y productivity
Putting Up Firewalls: When IT is not your “friend,” they block company computer access to everything from YouTube to Yahoo! Mail. (In all fairness, employers in the financial and healthcare sectors may have to go this route due to legitimate concerns about security, confidentiality and liability.) Some companies also ban personal text messaging during the workday. Is there less time wasted and less conflict reported in a closed technology workplace? Perhaps, but only because it’s not likely many Gen Yers work here.

Opening Access and Writing Social Media Policies: Kraft Foods Inc. recently opened access to personal networking sites and video sharing sites during the workday; the caveat being that personal use be reasonable and not interfere with job performance. At companies where social media is accessible, you may be bound to a formal social media policy, otherwise known as the “official rules of engagement” for your online identity. At The Coca-Cola Company, all associates are encouraged “to explore and engage in social media communities at a level at which they feel comfortable,” but “anything you post that can potentially tarnish the Company’s image will ultimately be your responsibility.”

Providing Orientation Programs and Seminars: There are now four distinct generations of workers in the workforce, and that means H.R. is now in the business of teaching everyone how to get along. At Ernst & Young, summer interns are greeted with an orientation meeting that includes “Strategies to Connect with Baby Boomers.” Arrow Electronics offers a seminar titled, “Generations in the Workplace,” and at Aflac it’s called “Generational Differences.”

Encouraging Reverse Mentoring: What if Gen Y and Boomers could swap intel? Formally or informally, many companies are now asking Gen Y to mentor their Baby Boomer counterparts. At Time Warner, The Digital Reverse Mentoring Program matches college students with senior-level executives for one-on-one meetings about Web 2.0 technologies. At public relations firm Edelman, the Rotnem (mentor, spelled backwards) program, pairs young employees with older colleagues who need tutoring on text messaging, navigating Facebook and Twitter, or using iTunes. These programs give Gen Yers a chance to shine and rub shoulders with higher-ups who otherwise may have been inaccessible.

Building Internal Social Networks: Yes, social networking has gone corporate. Hundreds of companies worldwide—including Booz Allen Hamilton, Saturn and Smart Car—are harnessing the technology made popular by MySpace and LinkedIn to create private, employee-only networks. The purpose: to improve productivity, communication, and collaboration across generations and locations. At Booz Allen’s hello.bah.com, employees can post blogs, search for colleagues with similar interests, and participate in wikis. And according to workforce expert Tammy Erickson, author of Plugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work, “the train has left the station. Social media is on track to become an integral part of the way we work—a core tool for serious business.”

How so? Turns out new technology is not only about hyper-socializing, frivolous fun, and brain drain. It can also be about working faster and better. Asking questions. Imparting knowledge. And perhaps most importantly, breaking down generational hierarchies and making the office a more friendly, collaborative, interesting, and yes, productive place.

But Gen Y, you already knew all that.

Problem is, the rest of the working world may not be adapting to new technology and social media in what you consider “real time.” There’s always going to be some resistance to change—and it’s probably pretty easy for the “older and wiser” to forget that before iPhones and Facebook there was chitchat around the water cooler, smoke breaks, notepad doodling, and Kit Kat bars.

Just like the Baby Boomers and every other generation to come before you, Gen Y is tenaciously shaping the workplace (and the world) of the future. And sometimes you just need a break. Now go harvest your chicken coop in FarmVille.

These four words have revolutionized social media as we know it.

Twitter has taken the Internet by storm, but in this current craze are people tweeting (posting a message that’s 140 characters or less) at inappropriate times? Whether it’s a financial analyst during a meeting or a pro-basketball player during half-time, is it OK to tweet while you’re on the clock?

Daniel A. Schwartz, author of “Twittering in the Workplace” and attorney at Pullman & Comley, says it depends on one’s work environment.

“In some places, it might be expected,” Schwartz says. “But in others, it is definitely frowned upon. It’s also a bit of a generational thing too. The thing to remember is that not everyone is alike and you should definitely know your audience before breaking out the phone or BlackBerry.”

Tamera Kremer, author of the slideshow “Leveraging Twitter in the Workplace” and Founder of Wildfire Strategic Marketing and SustainabilityCamp.org, says, “The same etiquette applies for tweeting in a meeting as would apply for taking a call or using your BlackBerry.”

“It would be considered rude to the others in the room,” Kremer says. “The one caveat with Twitter is if you’re in a meeting with fellow ‘tweeple’ (people using the service), and the expectation is that everyone is tweeting.”

Schwartz says look to your boss for meeting protocol, “If your boss is breaking out the BlackBerry during a meeting, that’s probably a sign that it is OK to look at yours once in a while. But if no one else is looking at it, just keep your phone or mobile device in your pocket.”

Tweets while working?
And how common is this practice of people tweeting in a work-related function? Schwartz says it depends of the type of job environment you’re in.

“For example, among lawyers, Twitter is still a bit of a novelty,” Schwartz says. “But among media types, it’s almost second nature. Regardless, Twitter use in the workplace ought to be work-connected. If you’re using it in a meeting to keep up with what time a movie is you’re seeing that night, that’s probably not a good use and is rude to your meeting participants.”

Meghan Gonyo, New Business Development Executive for Hudson Yards, a visual communication company, says your tweets should be of worth. She says if you’re tweeting on your personal twitter during a meeting saying, “in a meeting,” that’s not useful information.

Kremer has a similar viewpoint to Gonyo. In Kremer’s slideshow she says, “the only hard and fast rules of Twitter interactions are:

Gonyo says the most important thing is to be specific about the use of your Twitter. Is your page going to be personal or for business? You have to decide and separate the two.

“Your personal account could turn off someone who could be a good connection,” Gonyo says.

After you sign up for Twitter (after the workdays over, of course), decide what you want to use it for, and begin typing your very first tweet, you find yourself going over the 140 character limit.

You thought you’d be fine, since the limit on text messages is 160 characters and you usually don’t go over that (especially when texting your latest crush) because you want to ensure your text won’t be cut short when received. Oh, how you could really use those extra 20 characters right about now.

So with each tweet limited to 140 characters, is the way we communicate being affected?

Natalie Gontcharova, Managing Editor of Ins&Outs Magazine, doesn’t think Twitter’s character limit is hindering people.
“There’s a school of thought that claims Twitter has begun to dumb down our generation because of the character limit,” Gontcharova says.

“I don’t think people are going to ‘unlearn’ how to read and write anything soon just because there is now an express way to communicate,” Gontcharova says.

Gonyo says the 140 character limit is encouraging people who write well. With Twitter, people have to say something interesting and engaging quickly, Gonyo says.

“People respond better to people who write without code words and acronyms,” Gonyo says. “And to do that in 140 characters . . . that’s well done!”

Schwartz’s response to the character restriction is complementary to Gonyo’s.

“People who use Twitter seem more direct with their communications,” Schwartz says. “It forces you to get your point across quickly and without lots of extraneous stuff. It’s a good lesson that brevity works. On the other hand, avoid the acronyms and shortcuts. It’s just not professional to use ROFL or WTF in your correspondence.”

So, what are you doing?

There is a “learning curve” with new technology explains business etiquette expert Barbara Pachter.

According to Pachter, author of NewRules@Work: 79 Etiquette Tips, Tools, and Techniques to Get Ahead and Stay Ahead (Prentice Hall Press), she rarely has to remind people anymore to turn off their cell phones in meetings, avoid all caps in an email, or speak slowly when leaving their phone number on voicemail. These technologies have been around for a while.

Yet, she says, when new ways of connecting appear in the workplace, like Facebook, Twitter, or even the BlackBerry since it can connect you to social media, people make all sorts of mistakes when using them that can affect their jobs or careers.

It is only over time, Pachter adds, as etiquette experts weigh in and people learn from their mistakes that professionals start using these new tools more effectively and politely. In the meantime she suggests avoiding these 7 costly blunders:

1. Criticizing your employer. One woman recently posted on her Facebook page, “Attending another stupid work meeting. Can’t wait to get to the bars!” People are still posting negative comments about their company or boss on social networking sites. You can get reprimanded or fired because of it. Why would you bite the hand that feeds you?

2. Posting offensive photos and videos on Facebook or YouTube. Recently two Domino’s employees lost their jobs after posting a video of themselves doing unmentionable things to a pizza.

3. Not having a strategy if you don’t want to accept a friend request from a client or boss on Facebook. You don’t want to offend someone by denying their request. Think about the person and what would be the best way to say “no.” You can explain that you are saving Facebook for your family and friends and ask them to please join you on LinkedIn. You can ignore their request on Facebook and just send them a LinkedIn request. You can also accept the invitation and use the privacy controls to limit which sections of your profile they can see.

4. Using your BlackBerry under the table. People think you are ignoring them and there can be consequences. One company lost a large contract because their vice president played with his BlackBerry during a meeting with the potential client.

5. Sending ludicrous tweets on Twitter. I don’t need to read what you ate for dinner. Do I care? Be helpful to people so they want to hear what you have to say.

6. Placing your Blackberry or iphone on the table when meeting with someone. You are so ready to drop them and connect with someone else!

7. Not participating in Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. You are missing out. If you do not participate, you will never know how social media can help you and your business.

Barbara Pachter is a speaker, coach and author of numerous business books, including The Power of Positive Confrontation ($14.95, paperback, Marlowe & Co.) and When the Little Things Count ($13.95, paperback, Marlowe & Co.).

She specializes in business etiquette and communication for companies worldwide. Her client list features major organizations, including Microsoft, Pfizer, Chrysler, Cisco and Genentech.

Take an example that many of us have experienced. How many times in a work day does an email pop up from a social networking site? You stop working to see who is communicating with you. Someone “commented” something really funny about your status on Facebook. You stop the project you are working on to quickly comment back. After all it only takes a minute! But then you log on, and OH, my friend posted new pictures from the weekend, I HAVE to look at them quickly. Twenty minutes later you finally get back to that project. These little breaks add up quickly and cost you more productivity than you realize.

The Good
However, there are some professional advantages to having access to social networking sites. There have been studies in Europe that actually show an increase in efficiency when using social networking. There are professions that use these sites to connect faster with other professionals. Recruiters and sales people can make the argument that they use social networking sites as an innovative, efficient way to connect with prospects.

Business owners can use social networking sites to get their name into the market place. An example would be a “friend” on Facebook that posts his bar’s specials daily. This is an efficient, cost free marketing strategy that reaches a large network. Twitter is another popular site. A connection may update their status that they are looking to connect with a local architect. This reaches everyone in their network, who then leverages their network and within minutes they send back a recommendation for an Architect.

The Bad
Business leaders in Milwaukee have mixed opinions on this subject. Small business owners see this as a vital tool. However, they are not sure how much their employees are using it for professional versus personal use. What a business owner will monitor is overall productivity. If your work is suffering or is not at the level it could be because you are spending too much time on these sites, they will notice. Although they may not be able to tie it back to social networking, it could be detrimental to your career.

The Ugly
Larger organizations have the ability to track your internet usage and see exactly how much time you spend on each website. A large, well known Milwaukee organization recently had to give out written warning in regards to overuse of Facebook. Another violation would lead to termination. Imagine having to explain that in an interview for your next job!

The first step to overcoming the threat of wasting away valuable work time to social networking is to not connect these sites to your work email. It is difficult for many professionals to concentrate on a report they are working on, or sales calls they need to make when they see the email pop up that someone, most likely in their personal life, is looking to connect about something that could quite possibly be more entertaining than the job they are doing.

Even if you take it off your work email, and make the switch to your personal email, there is still your cell phone. It is relatively easy to connect your social networking sites to your cell phone. This makes it even more difficult to stray away from social networking distractions. Unless you absolutely need to be connected because of your job, find a way to disconnect during the day. If this presents a problem that you could miss important calls, I would suggest taking the applications off completely. You have your personal time to get caught up. Again, this is only if you do not need these sites to be efficient in your role.

Social networking sites are powerful and can have a very positive impact on business. Everyone has to take responsibility for how they use these tools. If you know what your network of friends and acquaintances are doing on an hourly basis, you are abusing your ability to use these sites at work and it is time to cut the cord to social networking during work hours. Your performance is constantly being measured and that is arguably more important than knowing the exact minute your best friend from grade school joined a new fan group. Use these sites to your advantage to make yourself more efficient and do not become reliant on these sites as entertainment to get you through your day. And, by the way, if your job isn’t holding your interest enough to stay away from social networking, it may be time for a career change.