Online Social Networking is a necessity in staying competitive in today's marketplace.  On-going maintenance can be very demanding, and many executives are left wondering about the best option for their company.  Here, we've uncovered some pros and cons to help you decide.

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Internal Employee
Sometimes an internal employee is interested in taking on the challenge of learning and maintaining their company’s online social network.  This was the case for Dunkin Dave who now manages the Dunkin Donuts social network full time.  You can find him each day drifting from conversation to conversation with internal employees, those who just finished their morning DD coffee or even MC Hammer.  (See twitter.com/dunkindonuts)  To many companies, hiring an internal employee to manage their campaign seems like an obvious choice, but adding the OSN campaign to a current list of responsibilities can many times be too overwhelming and unsustainable.  When hiring an internal employee to handle your OSN campaign, find a dependable individual who can understand the technology, be trusted as your company’s online representative and can actively focus on maintenance.  If you’re spending time and resources to build a community online, you don’t want to lose your identity.  This is the main reason why interns are not the ideal choice for this position.

Freelancer
With the number of unemployed holding strong, there are plenty of self-proclaimed social networking “experts” out there who would be happy to maintain your network.  Although this can be a cost-effective option, hiring a freelancer can be risky if he or she will only be available until they find another job.  You may not even be informed of this situation.  Your community will develop a relationship with your freelancer.  Your twitters will follow his or her tweets for months and then all of a sudden, he or she is gone.  So, the community you've spent time and resources building begins to slowly unfollow you as they don't identify with the new freelancer.  Basically, with freelancers and interns, you don't have the reliability you'd have when outsourcing to an established company.

PR Firm
By hiring a PR firm, you will most likely get the reliability, the professionalism and a significant price tag to go with it.  This may seem like the best option if you're a large corporation with a considerable budget for PR services.  Keep in mind, not all PR firms handle online social networking maintenance.  They may set up a strategy for your OSN and expect that you’ll find a solution for on-going maintenance.  In many cases, PR firms may enlist the assistance of freelancers or social networking firms to manage the client’s account.

Java Social Networking (JSN) is a Social Networking Firm.
JSN was built with small to mid-sized businesses in mind.   Social Networking demands a considerable amount of time, yet maintaining appearances online is necessary in today’s competitive marketplace.  JSN saw a void in the current options for Social Networking maintenance, and therefore developed a system that incorporates everything necessary in OSN management while providing an approachable and cost-effective solution ideal for small to mid-sized businesses.  At the end of the day, JSN sets itself apart from the competition by providing personal attention, competitive strategies, low pricing and physical results.  This ensures each client is drawing more traffic to their websites and ultimately profiting from their Social Networking campaign.

For more information: http://www.javasocialnetworking.com or email info@jsncafe.com