Chick Tip: Leverage your profiles & other connectivity tools

So, I recommended LinkedIn...Now what? Over the next several weeks, I will focus on social media networking and HOW to make it WORK for you. Please feel free to ask questions along the way. In addition, my team will be creating profiles for Dave and MPS groups and extending an invitation to them to each of you. To increase exposure for both MPS and each of you, please accept these invitations!

Tips for LinkedIn and other social sites as we move forward:

*Update your connections with new projects you are working on, new services you may offer, changes in the industry, etc. This gives others the opportunity to ask questions or call you for more information

*Advance your understanding of relationships between the people you are linked to. I.e. A financial planner may be linked to a nursing home administrator

*Connect with former colleagues from past relationships – you never know where those former relationships can take you and your business

*Use social marketing sites, such as LinkedIN, to understand more about your prospects. Look at where they used to work and where they went to school. What’s in it for them? Look at profiles to see if there is something in it for them by way of an introduction or even an opportunity for you to share your knowledge. Are they a discharge planner? Are they a social worker? How can you help them?

*Be generous with your contacts and make an introduction. It will come back to you :-)

*Use LinkedIN with google alerts (www.google.com/alerts) which is a great business tool. I.e. Do you want to reach someone at a nursing home chain? Do a LinkedIN search on the company name and you will likely come up with a couple of names that you can now speak to. Set up a google alert on these people. This kind of intelligence will tell you what he/she cares about, is interested in, etc. What is more flattering than a message saying congratulations on a promotion or offering your knowledge to further them on a paper or project.

*When you spot a “cluster” of people who all know each other and are accomplished in the same arena, that’s a special thing on social sites. To you – that means you have a listening audience that is intelligent and full of opportunity! Reach out to 1 or 2 of them and express your interest in their topic. Offer to provide answers for them – ideas or a question or two. What you are doing, is tapping into the rich repository of information on a social site and it can be highly beneficial for you.

I realize that social marketing is time consuming. Don’t let it take over you! It is about time management – similar to your email and your listserv monitoring and activity. Check on social sites, email, listserv frequently – but not too frequently. Make them work for you - Don’t fall into working for them! If it is NOT in your comfort zone or interest, consider asking someone on your team – a younger generation to initiate and manage your social sites. No matter how you look at it, it IS the wave of the future and it DOES have proven statistics of success.

~all the best, Serena