With the buzz around social media, it’s easy to get caught up in the popularity race for more fans, followers, hits, traffic, whatever.  While a larger audience may be more beneficial for getting your message out, what if none of the people in that audience are a prospective customer?

Even if you do have the right people in your audience, how well are you connecting with them?  Are you taking the time to connect personally with people?  To provide useful information?  To build relationships?

Is what you’re doing online helping your business? Spending your time in the right places with the right message to build the right relationships can help your business.  But spinning your wheels without an overall plan can just be a waste of time.

By taking a few minutes to think about how social media and your website can help you reach business goals, you’ll be able to justify the time and resources necessary for an effective online presence.  By building quality relationships with the right people instead of getting caught up in the quality popularity contest, you’ll be helping to build and grow your business.

(photo by Gray Eminence @ Flickr CC)

This is a guest post by Sarah Worsham, CEO & Web Strategist at Sazbean Consulting and blogging at Sazbean.com. Sarah is passionate about creating Internet strategies to help companies reach their business goals. Sarah provides guidance through Internet Marketing, Strategy & Business consulting. Connect with her on Twitter, Facebook or the Sazbean Facebook Page.