Head to head: Join the chat and make money

John Dobbin, principal, Nexus

Social media, especially Twitter, is a positive addition to research, marketing and customer service functions when done properly. Like anything, success comes from good execution. For social media, this means integrating it into your everyday practice. It is a conversation. No, it is multiple conversations - like at a party.

And to get anything out of it you must be willing to jump in and out of conversations and make a contribution several times a day. A lot of people are not very good at this. They come across like robots on Twitter, and when nobody talks back to them they give up.

For those who can let down their barriers, be real and have a chat, the rewards are great. You meet like-minded people from all over the world who will share an interesting link, make introductions or pass on a referral. It is of course fundamentally another networking forum, but a networking forum that is constantly going on and with lot more people than can fit into a function room.

Bruce Rasmussen, principal, Carpe Diem Consulting