Recently I took my family to dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant.

While we were waiting to be served, my wife was busy checking fabric samples on her mobile (she is a home stager).

My older son was engaged with some app on his new iPhone.

My younger son was busy listening to music on his iPod.

I, not possessing any of these devices, was left with no one to talk with, twiddling my thumbs — alone for all practical purposes, despite the 3 other people at my table.

What an odd digital world we live in.

I just came back from a colonoscopy.

So I’m too zonked out from the general anesthesia to blog coherently on a marketing topic.

But I did learn a few things from the procedure:

1–Any day you are not at the doctor’s office is a good day.

2–Any day you are in good health is a good day.

3–I can drink 64 ounces of Gatorade with Miralax in an hour — but I sure don’t want to do it again.

4–Have your medical tests on time. I was 2 years late with my colonoscopy, which gave me reason to be nervous about the results (though I really wasn’t; but why take chances?).

5–Food never tastes as good as when you’ve been fasting — suggesting that taking a break from things can help you enjoy them more.

This week’s post is not my commentary. It is a plea for help, a request for information, from you my blog reader.

My problem is I have to write a column on measuring return from social media — and, I am ashamed to admit, I don’t know squat about how to do it.

Are you an active social media user on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, or other, more targeted sites?

If so, do you track ROI? How?

If you do not measure social networking ROI, why do you spend time doing it?

I’m also curious how many hours a week you spend marketing yourself with social media.

I really want to know, and my readers do too, I believe.

Thanks!

Do you have a dozen different projects going on all at once?

According to MaryEllen Tribby, that may be an awful mistake.

Example: An entrepreneur is selling health information. Her first product is a special report on vitamin C.

Then she reads something interesting about vitamin D. And starts to write a vitamin D report, too.

Before you know it, she has four or five information products in various stages of completion.

You know how much money a project in progress makes you? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Zip.

MaryEllen says it?s far better than to start and finish one project, and get it out into the marketplace.

That way, you can start earning revenues that fund the development of project number two while keeping your cash flow positive.

How about you? Are you good at completing and launching products and projects? Or do you just keep starting more and more without ever finishing any of them?