Wondering where you can find your next new client or professional referral source? Familiarize yourself with Social Networking, starting with this popular one: LinkedIn.
Go to: www.linkedin.com and complete your profile. Then, invite your co-workers, business acquaintances, friends and others to link to you. Using the "six degrees of separation" concept, you benefit by gaining potential access to hundreds or thousands of contacts as your LinkedIn network grows.
Don’t think it is for you? Check out who and how quickly the legal community adopted it: tons of law firms – go ahead and search for them. How about, LexisNexis, the parent company of Martindale-Hubbell? They have a partnership with LinkedIn that displays a small blue LinkedIn icon for firms active in both services. LinkedIn members who visit the Martindale site can view common connections with a listed attorney if they allow Martindale to search their LinkedIn account.
Why should you join LinkedIn?
• it’s a free way to expand your marketing efforts
• it increases your search engine visibility because it is so focused on bringing people together online
• It provides you an increased potential to develop new business by identifying mutual connections and requesting introductions
• It will improve and allow you to demonstrate your internet savvy and technical mastery
a failure to network online today will only leave you with a competitive disadvantage in the near future
LinkedIn features "groups" of people with common interests, similar to a listserv. There are several active LinkedIn legal groups including legal blogging group, business start up group, patent law group, etc. Search and find your groups or start one of your own.
Other features? So long as you are careful to conform to your bar guidelines, you can also volunteer to answer questions in your area of expertise. If you publish a blog, you can easily display your blog posts as part of your LinkedIn profile. It is a free technique to extend the reach of your online communications, helping you employ a broader range of dissemination techniques.
There are other options, too. Honestly, although I have had my profile for some time, I personally have not used it to its fullest capacity...YET. One thing it has accomplished, however, is the organic placement of my name and company in a search engine search. Invite me once you set up your profile and together we can maximize this social network!
~serena
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1 comment:
thanks for such an informative post.
Its a very nice and interesting blog, i must say.
I have read many of the blogs over social networking and affiliated marketing, but this was the most profitable.
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