From www.jobsighter.com

Complete post at http://www.jobsighter.com/2008/08/using-social-me.html

I’ve found social media an effective outlet for accomplishing two initiatives: recruiting talent and developing new business accounts. Both are primary functions of my role at Vivus, and though my strategies aren’t perfect,
I've seen social media provide a
return on investment as I've used the tools correctly.

As I was performing this exercise, I decided to focus on tangible and easily tracible financial returns.

My Current Social Media Utilities

• LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogging,
  Facebook

Social Utility	Primary Uses	ROI	Usage
	- finding candidates with specific talent - identifying companies that fit our offerings - identifying key biz dev contacts (clients, partners) - inmails instead of cold calls (warmer)	- candidate placements - new clients ROI: (tens of thousands)	8 mo. intensive use
	- remaining in touch with connections - learning from my network - dispensing my message	ROI: (none yet)	2 mo. use
	- developing my personal brand - establishing an expertise	ROI: (none yet)	2 mo. use
	- finding candidates with specific talent - transforming professional connections into personal	ROI: (none yet)	8 mo. occasional use

As you can see, I'm still early in my social media investments. LinkedIn has been by far my highest used utility, with a fairly strong ROI. Though none of the other three have provided measurable ROI, I am receiving evidence
and feedback indicating that they soon will. I believe LinkedIn will continue to
lead the pack, with Twitter, Blogging, and Facebook following (in that order).

Two points then I'm finished. First, learning to use the social media utilities takes experience and time. Don't expect them to yield return right away. Second, realize that the compounding effect of social utilities is where
the true power lies. As your network of connections grow, so will the return.
And growth will happen exponentially not linearly.