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When considering hiring a social media consultant there are a few things that you should keep in mind. As I have mentioned before, and as others have said as well, social media is like a cocktail party. You can't just grab a drink and interrupt a conversation, social media a a complex thing. A consultant can help make the introductions for you, smooth the initial awkwardness and ensure success.

New social media applications are popping up every week and each has it’s own values and pitfalls. Bottom line? There are NO experts and there is no one answer for every company.

A consultant can help guide you on the appropriate tools that will meet the specific needs for your company. A consultant will coach and train you on how to use the tools so that you will have a better understanding of what is involved and why you want to use one tool over another.

Even if you hire a consultant to use the tool for you (which is a common practice) you should never, ever trust a consultant who tells you that that they will create the content for you. You should control what you are saying about you! Your voice and your brand are your essence and the risk is too great to put that into someone else's hands.

However, you can hire a consultant who is familiar with the social media application to publish your content for you.

So two key considerations when hiring a social media consultant. First, be careful if someone claims to be a social media expert - there aren't any. And secondly, remember, you keep control of your biggest asset...you.

You don't have to do everything. It may feel like it sometimes. Particularly when people ask, "are you on such-and-such?" and you answer no and you get the face. You know the one I am talking about!

Be choosy, select the social media tools that make sense for you and your business. Choose a few and do them well, rather than spreading yourself thin and too many platforms and networks.

Over-exposure is never a good thing.

People often lament the ROI of social media. This really is a dated statement and yet I still hear it. A better way to look at ROI is not as "return on investment" but rather Risk of Inaction!

Perfection does not exist! And people are very forgiving when they know you are giving an honest effort to try something new. So your blog design isn't perfect, so what? So what if you accidentally "poked" the wrong people of Facebook? And no one is going to flame you if the first time you "Re-tweet" something, you do wrong! Just get out there and do it...where it is appropriate. If you are waiting to have "all your ducks in a row" you could miss an opportunity.

Also don't worry so much about your numbers. You do not need thousands of followers, you need a few influencers. Don't wait to do something because you don't think you have enough traffic. Do it anyway, you may get the right one or two visitors who can make your business explode. It takes awhile to build up a community. You need to do it slow and steady like any relationship. The very foundation of social media is the community or relationship aspect.

Lastly, these days there are tools to measure traffic and performance so you can get an idea of response to your efforts. Analytics can give you valuable insight from a small group of customers in a matter of hours. Your most enthusiastic customers become word-of-mouth agents, spreading the word about your business or your product for free.

Free....that's pretty good ROI....

How do I get started social media?  This is a question that is often asked of me. The answer is simple, you start by listening.

May people have described social media as a cocktail party. Like most cocktail parties where you only know a few people, or maybe no one at all, it can be awkward at first. But if you grab a drink and sit back and listen as you make a tour of the room you might find a conversation that you'd like to join.

Listen some more and introduce yourself.  Add in your appropriate two cents worth and see where it leads. Once you figure out where your conversations make sense you can join the community and contribute. It is as simple as that to start.