Dean DeLisle, founder and CEO of Forward Progress, Inc. says, “most of us using social media for business networking aren’t actually going anywhere.” He reports that he does. He reports having “helped over 4,000 clients connect with over 25 million leads and close to over a billion dollars in sales by helping them make connections that count.” So he said last night at the Business Networking Chicago (BNC) event.

We all have traditional business and social networks where we make/maintain friends, attempt to make money, or campaign for a cause. These include professional associations, alumni groups, chambers of commerce, political associations, choirs, clubs, hobby groups, neighborhood associations, our houses of worship, and so on. Sometimes these networks prove useful for friendship, money, or improving our world; sometimes they don’t, and we are all more or less skilled at getting what we need from these associations. We know much less about how to use the new social media for the same ends.

Dean’s focus is on how we use cloud 2 social media for productive business relationships: finding an employee or business partner, finding an employer or technical resource, and finding customers. I think that we are equally ignorant about how to use these resources for the rest of our lives—the more important parts. Neither do we understand whether they can be useful at all for friendships and improving the larger environment within which we live and work.

The most exciting tidbit he offered Tuesday night was that in using this for business purposes, most of us should be spending no more than twenty (20!) minutes per day in social media business related interactions. Wow! If I could get productive business connections out of social media and only spend twenty minutes a day, that’s exciting. I am assuming that that requires a very focused targeted approach with a clear idea about why one is involved in this endeavor. I hope to learn more next week.

Dean teaches people the skill sets, parameters, and protocols for using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, WordPress, and other social media for productive business purposes. After Tuesday night’s presentation, I registered for his workshop May 7th, “Wonders of Intentional Networking.” I’ll let you know what I learn and what tips will be useful for the nonprofit community in which I work. How might they best use intentional social networking for the good that they are trying to create? It is the hot topic. Everyone is experimenting…

I think Dean may have been on this road a bit longer than some of the rest of us, and I look forward to hearing more.