Volume 14, Issue 1
You may have noticed I haven’t published The Maraia Minutes Newsletter for several months. I’ve received several requests and questions about why I haven’t been writing the newsletter. Rest assured I will continue to write the newsletter, but I may not publish it as frequently because I now also have a blog.
Both serve a worthy purpose. The two media are very complementary and allow me to focus on different perspectives on topics that are important to both audiences. I think my newsletter readers can gain a lot from reading my blog and vice versa. Until more of you start using RSS feeds to follow my blog I will include some of my best blog posts in future newsletters.
So, here is the first Maraia Minutes Newsletter for 2011!
In future newsletter issues, I’ll tell you about my adventures in blogging, but right now I want to focus, once again, on LinkedIn. As you know, my last three newsletters were about how to get onto LinkedIn and how to use it effectively.
My readers also want to know why they should use LinkedIn. So, let’s address why LinkedIn makes sense. Think of it this way. We’ve gone from the telegraph to the telephone to the fax machine to the cell phone to email and now to LinkedIn. Would you consider doing business without a cell phone or email? I hope not. People who refuse to get on LinkedIn today are like those who resisted the use of email back in the mid 90’s. It’s that important to businesses in 2011.
LinkedIn is the ONLY form of social media that I’m suggesting to ALL my clients. The next closest form of social media that lawyers and other professionals should be using is blogs. However, in my estimation only 20-30% of you should be using that social media tool.
Just look at the numbers:
- LinkedIn has amassed over 100 million business people
- 118,000 lawyers currently use LinkedIn
- LinkedIn welcomes 65 million unique users each month.
Still think LinkedIn isn’t potentially valuable for you?
The main reason I am such an advocate for LinkedIn is its pure business focus. Unlike Facebook and Twitter and the majority of blogs, LinkedIn was created to be a communication medium for professional people. And they have really succeeded at that.
Take a look at the some of the practical uses of LinkedIn:
- Use LinkedIn as a research tool – I have a client who is an IP litigator who complained that he didn’t know enough in-house lawyers. I sent him to LinkedIn and he found more than 300 within 10 miles of his zip code.
- Use LinkedIn to follow up after conferences – I go onto LinkedIn in the evening in my hotel room to find people I’ve met and enjoyed during the previous day at a conference. I invite them to connect on LinkedIn. Before we had LinkedIn it was much harder to keep that connection going!
- Use LinkedIn to join meaningful conversations – You can track business topics of interest right on LinkedIn. If you can’t find an ongoing conversation that interests you-then start one!
- Use LinkedIn to stay current with people – This is the only business directory where the people in the directory keep their information current. They do the heavy lifting for you!
- Use LinkedIn to create your own directory – Ask everyone in your rolodex to join you on LinkedIn. If you invite one person a day, you’ll have a massive directory in no time at all.
I’m still new to the social media milieu, but I’ve found great value in LinkedIn myself and I know you’ll agree after you start using it. Don’t worry if you aren’t polished in your use of these new media right away. They take practice. You just need to jump in. If you do join LinkedIn, please send me an invitation that makes reference to this newsletter