Are social media and an online marketing strategy a good investment of time and money?

It should come as no surprise that the proliferation of social media has turned social networking into an important business tool. And with each year that passes, more and more social networking sites have cropped up, each with unique opportunities to market a business or product. The problem is: you only need to master them.  No big deal, right? (I’m kidding).

Is it possible these days to grow an online business without an online marketing strategy –including all the liking, blogging, sharing and tweeting?  After all, it’s time consuming!

Every once in a while, someone comes up with an idea that allows us to kill a TREMENDOUS amount of time.

When my Dad was a kid, back in the late 60’s and early 70’s (sorry for that Dad), they had comic books and GI JOE’s. Today, for better or worse, we’ve made our way from the “life-like hair” of the GI JOE, and “Captain America’s shield” to FarmVille and Twitter feeds.

But my own time waster of choice is StumbleUpon.

Given the brevity that the clock’s ticking; it is crucial that we maximize our time on Earth.  There’s no denying the finitude, the temporality of this life; no matter whether someone is an atheist, or a devout believer; whether they’re Alaskan natives like Sarah Palin, or they’re from Mozambique . Even those that believe in an afterlife, accept the concurrent hurdle towards that future, as but a momentary passage and recognize the briefness of a lifetime.