Over at Small Biz Mentor I wrote Social Media ROI - Real Life Lessons From Small Business Owners. I asked

• Do you know of Social Media ROI (Return on Investment) (or other) social media success stories?
• If you are a small business owner wanting to try social media, what do you see as the main stumbling blocks?

Karen Swim of Words For Hire summed up the social media counterpoint of dilemma and opportunity beautifully, with her comment on my post -

Yvonne, I believe one of the perceived obstacles to utilizing social media in small business is resources. People believe it will be time intensive with little to no return. Another issue arises with the sometimes narrow definition of social media. Social media is not simply twitter, FaceBook or a blog.
Every business of every size can gain value from creating a community around their products and services. The methods and tools may vary but in that regard all share the same end goal.
Brad Shorr sparked an interesting discussion on return on investment for social media and business blogging in particular at his blog, WordSell. Check the comment thread for some informative insights.
Whether for your own social media explorations or when speaking with clients, let’s throw this around.
Let’s add two more questions to those above.

• What is social media success and how do you measure it?
• What are the social media stumbling blocks you have or clients talk about and how do you approach or address these?

Over to you. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Grab a chair, some yummy food and let’s talk!