The Merovingian, the stylish antagonist in the Matrix Reloaded, responds to Neo and group after they rebuff his invitation to sit and relax with a drink: “Ah, yes, but who has time?  But if we don’t make the time, then we won’t have time.”

And therein lies the rub when facing social media.  With the temptation and promises offered by LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to drive leads and sales for your business, you wonder how much of a commitment will it take?  It can seem like an all or nothing proposition. So, depending on how much time you have to dedicate, these books promise a crash course and shorter daily route:

Hey buddy, have an hour a day?

If the idea of starting a social media marketing campaign overwhelms you, the author of Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day "will introduce you to the basics, demonstrate how to manage details and describe how to track results.  Case studies, checklists, step-by-step guides etc., will help you execute a social media marketing campaign in just one hour a day! In addition, learn how to integrate social metrics with traditional media measurements and how to leverage blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts, and user-generated content sharing sites like YouTube."

But maybe all those shiny bells and whistles are splintering your efforts.

Maybe you should be a specialist, and focus that golden one hour hour per day on just YouTube, Twitter or Facebook, with these books:

But then again, who has a WHOLE HOUR these days?

If all you can spare is 30 minutes, then maybe the 30-Minute Social Media Marketing: Step-by-step Techniques to Spread the Word About Your Business is for you.

And if 30 minutes is still too much?

Then maybe draw a bath, pour a cup of tea and read The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way by Shama Kabani.

Or, just give us a call and we’ll discuss how to put these tools to use for your use case.  OMMM.

*image Courtesy Warner Bros Pictures