Yesterday we visited Cedar Falls for the second leg of our Summer 2009 Road Trip social media seminar series. The room was packed and, as usual, the crowd had lots of great questions. One of those questions (and one we get often) was: “How much time should I spend on my company’s social media initiatives?” People want to hear percentages of time broken out over hours/days, but the simple answer is: A lot.

Good, effective social media initiatives are hard work. They take time. Lots of effort. Lots of responsiveness. Lots of follow-up. Marketers and business communicators simply can’t afford to be lazy anymore. Below are some video highlights from the road trip, the “speed-dating” networking activity before the seminar, and some final thoughts on the time question.

We are having a blast on our summer tour and really appreciate everyone who has attended so far. Next Thursday we’ll be in Council Bluffs — hope to see you there!