So you have a linked In account and a Plaxo account. Now what? There are several strategies to explore but we are going to stick with a basic practice that can qualify prospects and generate clients.

Experts say that for social media to be effective, you need to spend about an hour a day on it. There are several companies around that can service your account for you at a cost. But there are ways you can get your feet wet by yourself.

One practice that will serve you well is the advanced search function. Let’s use Linked in as an example. Log in to your account and go to the search in the top right of the page. Change the word “people” to “Answers” in the drop down, then click advanced. Now type in keywords that have to do with your product or service. If your company sells cell phones, it might be “blackberry” or “battery issues”. I usually check “questions only” and all categories and then do a search. Then provide honest and helpful answers to the questions posted.

In this way you build trust and qualify a prospect who has shown that they have a need. Once you have done this for a while, you will build enough relationships to form your own group. You can then invite people you have helped to join. Now you are seen as an expert, you have found an audience in need and you have a way to contact each one.

This is one way to get your name out and build a reputation. But be careful. Don’t try to hard sell, censor comments or post false information. And especially don’t use it as a way to spam - you’ll drive people away.

Now get out there and look good!

Chris Motley
Motley Creations

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