Social Networking—The Why and the How

Source: Services Insider Blog

Articles on social networking have been popular in recent literature. Here are some excerpts from one of the best.

Mike Schulz (see below) writes: “If your buyers, influencers, referral sources, staff, and other stakeholders are using LinkedIn and the like, then you should strongly consider doing so yourself.”

Here is an example of how one CPA firm, Wolf & Company, uses social networking:

Why are they doing it?

1. To create more avenues to drive traffic to their website
2. To support recruitment

How are they using social media to network?

Facebook—Wolf & Co. intends to use their Facebook page to support recruiting efforts. For example, they will create events with feeds viewable by friends, post info to entice recruits such as social activities (holiday party), photos, and professional networking opportunities.

LinkedIn—The firm created a company profile and an Employee/Alumni group. Their LinkedIn profile and group will be used to communicate with potential referral sources. They’ve already seen some proposals (from existing contacts) come in through LinkedIn. After sending just one email to employees and alumni, they received 100 requests to join the group.

Twitter—The firm created a company account (@@Wolfandco) and within one week had three financial institutions (members of their target audience) following them. They will use the Twitter account to share news and information and hope to generate website traffic as a result.

For the complete blog entry, click here.

For specific advice and ideas on social networking see Networking for Professional Services on RainToday.com. (Free for members. If you’re not a member, you can sign up for a free trial and then download a copy.)

Pick up a copy of Mike Schultz’s book Professional Services Marketing (Wiley, 2009) on Amazon.com, http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470438991.

From Services Insider Blog, February 23, 2009, “Should I Network on LinkedIn and the rest,” http://www.whillsgroup.com.

This blog is written by Mike Schultz, president of Wellesley Hills Group. Mike is world-renowned as a consultant and expert in services marketing, branding, and rainmaking.