Twitter, as you probably know, is free to use.

So is Facebook. In fact, every significant social media platform is and always has been free. There is no cost barrier to entry. Everyone can join, and everyone is welcome to use these tools to raise awareness of their brand, product and services, boost website traffic and drive sales.

But there are no guarantees. And nobody ever said it was going to be easy.

Posting text, photos, videos and comments, blogging, research, curation, engaging, listening and analytics… all of these things come with a huge cost, and it isn’t financial. It’s effort. It’s resources. And it’s time.

Your time.

This infographic provides a generic social media workflow for a typical forty-hour week. How does your effort compare?

(Source: Social Media Explorer. Social media image via Shutterstock.)