Are you LinkedIn? Why not? I have found consulting work and met new clients through LinkedIn. Have you? If you are like me, the prospect of cold call marketing leaves you a little…cold. How can you market yourself to potential clients in a professional manner without being intrusive? How can you find clients that need the particular service you have to offer? How can you find like-minded individuals who can introduce you to individual attorneys and law firms all around the globe?

The answer is LinkedIn, the world’s premier business marketing network.

Through my webinar, Reaching Out with LinkedIn, you will learn how to create and maintain a profile that is essentially an online c.v., resume and marketing tool. Edit your profile as often as you like, at no charge. Join groups that are likely to have members who can utilize your services and add them to your personal connections. You can link to your personal website, blog or any Internet-based enterprise that you want to promote.

Do you want to be seen as an authority in your area of expertise? Set up your profile so that new discussions and questions from your group come into your email as they arise. Too much email? Change your preferences to group this data on a daily or weekly basis.

Facebook and Twitter are wonderful social media tools, but too often the communication is of a personal nature that is not well suited to making serious business connections. However…LinkedIn is designed to work with all major social media markets. Tweet a news article and benefit from both markets.

With LinkedIn, you can update all your connections effortlessly about your professional achievements. If you have a blog elsewhere on the web, there’s an application for that – use BlogLink so that new entries automatically appear on your profile page. Are you teaching or attending a seminar? Post this as a discussion so that all will know instantly what you are up to. Do you have a networking event for your association that would interest your contacts? Announce that event and your contact information under Discussions. Have you read an interesting article on a medical condition, a relevant jury decision or a change in the law? Post it.

Use LinkedIn to find expert witnesses in any area – medical, dental, nursing, environmental, engineering – there is one (and usually more) specialty group for any expertise.

Instead of emailing your resume and achievements to new prospects, send them a link to your profile. Some folks predict that CVs will be obsolete in a few years. We’ll use our social media profiles to share information.
Have you done exceptionally good work for an attorney or other referral source? Ask them for a recommendation that will be publicly posted on your profile. Accordingly, make a recommendation for that person – this benefits both of your practices.

Would you like to know when your contacts change jobs or move to a different firm? LinkedIn will tell you automatically. Have they announced a favorable decision in court, written a compelling blog or article, voiced opinions on topics that you can relate to – think of the opportunities you are missing without even knowing it.

Marketing is so much more than telling people about you. Frankly, they would rather hear you talk about them. Instead of asking bland and blind questions, read someone’s profile and background. Communicate to them that you have invested time in them as individuals, and make the contact count by jumpstarting conversations with personal knowledge.

Joining LinkedIn, creating a profile, and growing your network is free. A nominal monthly fee will give you invaluable access to connections, groups, in-mail messages and introductions. As new nurses to the business world, we often ask ourselves, “How can I afford to (have business cards, get another phone line, buy copiers, printers, scanners, fax machines, send out brochures) start this new business of mine? With LinkedIn, the only question is, “How can you afford not to?”

Join Alice Adams for a detailed examination of LinkedIn as one of the webinar sessions in our all new Marketing Course. Save by purchasing the course before January 2 Join us at 8 PM Eastern on February 17th, 2011, and learn how to reach out with LinkedIn.