In today’s Wall Street Journal, there’s an interesting article on small business utilization of social media. And (hey Mom!), Red Square Agency got a tiny mention. The focus is on entrepreneurs hiring agencies or consultants to handle social media on their behalf–and the cost/benefit of doing so.

Here’s what we think about the cost of social media: time is money.

Social media is not “cheap.” Sure, you are not going to outlay the kind of production dollars associated with traditional media, but once you start incorporating social media into your routine, you will notice that in order to get any benefit you will have to devote a good deal of time keeping content fresh and taking part in conversations.

You may manufacture and sell widgets for a living, but now you are in the content providing business. Serving up fresh content (content that builds a real fan-base) takes time. And that’s time away from making and selling those widgets.

We integrate social media into a larger branding strategy and keep the voice consistent across all media. That’s what we do, so you can keep running the widget factory.