As a business owner, it's natural to want to be involved in every aspect of your business. To be able to see and know everything that's going on gives a sense of control when there are so many things that are out of an owner's control. In needing this sense of involvement, business owners often overextend themselves especially when it comes to social media.

Social media is the most rapidly growing form of marketing. If a business is not utilizing it to its full potential, they are likely to be left in the dust from other businesses zooming ahead as they take advantage of this continuously growing tool. Now, one may think that because they are "on Facebook" that they can in turn market their business successfully through these channels. If you are commenting on friends' photos and "liking" this and that then it can't be that much different, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case. Mastering social media is not as easy or as pretty as it may seem. Social media is no longer simply for socializing. It is the new word-of-mouth, an important and integral tool in marketing your business, and it is paramount to leveraging your business.

Imagine as a business owner that you are balancing spinning plates. You are working to balance all aspects of your business, and though you are working twice as hard as your other employees, it's a lot to hold on to. Imagine adding yet another set of spinning plates to the set that you are already trying to balance. A little scary, right?

For someone other than a Social Media Marketing pro, being able to effectively keep up with all the platforms of social media (and knowing how to best utilize them), the current trends, and the newest developments is like adding an additional 40-hour-a-week job to your already busy schedule of trying to run your business! Your first instinct may be to add the social media duties to another employee's job description or to hire a young, just-out-of-college social media "expert." Someone just out of school without much work or life experience is not the right candidate to take on your social media marketing. A solid understanding of business and marketing is essential. Maturity and experience are important. A current employee isn't the best choice to take on this level of responsibility either, as they already have their own specific job duties and probably do not have the experience to strategically grow your business through social media.

Hiring a professional company well-versed in Social Media is an investment in your business' future, and an investment in your future. Social media is results-driven, and companies with a strong understanding of this know how to get the results that they are looking for. There is a reason for the saying "a business owner doesn't need to know everything if they surround themselves with people who are experts in their own field," and hiring an agency to handle the social media aspect of your business falls in line with adage. Below are some important points to consider before you decide to take on the magnitude of social media by yourself.

• Experience matters. A social media company (or a company with a dedicated department to this), has multiple clients and knows what works and what doesn't. Chances are, they have tried just about everything and know what strategy will bring in the results you are looking for.

• Cheaper isn't better. The old saying "you get what you pay for" comes into play here. Putting money towards this kind of investment will yield the best return on your investment. Sure, you could do it yourself for smaller overhead cost, but you may not get the results that a professional could deliver.

• Time is money. There is not a business owner on the planet who isn't closely watching their bottom-line. The time you spend trying to understand and leverage your business through social media is time spent away from other important tasks that only you, as the business owner, are able to. Being able to delegate tasks to those who are experts in their field gives you time to be the expert in yours.

• Get a fresh set of eyes on your community. Things change quickly on social media and response time is of the essence. It could mean the difference between gaining a new customer, and losing out to a competitor. Having a team dedicated to managing your accounts full-time means there will always be someone on-hand to make your followers feel appreciated.

• Built-in customer service. Social media is increasingly used as a customer service tool. Customers find raising queries or airing their views (good or bad!) through social media much easier than speaking to someone in person. A customer is more likely to send a message to a business on Facebook asking about their Happy Hour or hours of operation than call the business directly. With a dedicated team, you always have someone on hand to field these inquiries.

• Make better sense of the numbers. If you're not in the trenches of social media, every day it can be really easy to lose focus on the metrics that matter. Rather than concerning yourself with the number of followers you have from day to day, or the amount of comments on any one post, a social media agency can keep you clued in to the overall success of your social media efforts, and help with new ideas on how to keep your strategy evolving.

• Strategize, strategize, strategize. You now have a team solely dedicated to your social media effort who will take the necessary steps to lay out the perfect strategy for your business. This is their area of expertise and they will craft the perfect plan to get you, as the business owner, the exact kinds of results that you are looking for.

So leave it to the professionals and get back to the business that you love while the team at Alternative Strategies gives you one less thing to worry about!