Why should you use social media for marketing a LNC practice? Stripped apart, the term “social media” has two different pieces you’ll need to understand: the social aspect, and the media aspect.
Most people know that the term social refers to interaction with others, including developing relationships and cultivating new connections. The term media, in this instance, refers to the way social information is exchanged.
There are quite literally hundreds of networks out there. You could spend a lifetime developing profiles and engaging with connections both old and new on these networks. You need social media in order to present yourself in a certain way to legal professionals, as well as to help you make connections that allow you to succeed in your industry.
Who Can Use Social Media?
Whether or not you’re currently using social media in a personal capacity, or you are trying to make a legal nurse consulting business profile, there’s no better time than the present to jump on the bandwagon. You can rest assured that your competitors have already considered the importance of networking, and may have already created profiles on various networks.
The longer you wait to create profiles and begin to develop business connections, the more “behind the times” you’ll find yourself. It’s important to utilize social media because it’s 100% free, far-reaching and effective in developing a stronger client base. You’ll see the value of social media once you learn to effectively brand yourself professionally.
How Can Social Media Benefit Your Business?
Other forms of digital or print marketing may cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars to execute, while pretty much 100% of the basic functions of any social media network come at no cost. Social media can serve as incredibly effective, cheap marketing for your legal nurse consulting business.
Social media also allows you to reach a new audience like never before. While your ambitions may not include interacting with professionals in other countries, social media gives you the ability to do so if you desire. Using this type of marketing, you’re able to reach out to folks who would’ve been impossible to connect with 20 years ago. Plus, you have the capacity to vastly increase your network within your own country, or even local area.
Just a few hours a day using tools will result in connections you never thought possible. Regardless of whether or not those connections are down the street or across the globe, you never know who you’re going to meet, or what effect your new connections will have on your legal professional networking.
Direct Marketing
What about the things social media can’t do? Many people using social media make the mistake of expecting direct marketing relationships or sales to result. Direct marketing is a way to reach customers that will result directly in a sale. Many people expect that they’re going to go out, create profiles, and begin selling their products or services immediately online.
Unfortunately, marketing isn’t a direct sales marketing technique. If you’re becoming involved in social media, patience should be your first virtue. Social media marketing is all about establishing relationships and developing connections with potential clients.
For you, this means networking is going to serve as a way for people seeking your services to find out more about you, learn about the services you offer and what your business is like, and even see testimonials or interactions with previous legal professionals who have been happy with your services.
You’re not necessarily looking for a lawyer to view your profiles or Facebook business page, and get so excited about what you do that he or she contacts you and immediately engages you in business. In an ideal world, this would be the result – but unfortunately, social media doesn’t work that way.
What you are looking for is efficient and low-cost branding that will make you look like you know what you’re doing. If a profile seems too simplistic a method of displaying that information, you’re not really thinking about social media the right way. There are particular methods in which you can make profiles extremely effective advertisements for your business, and we’re going to teach you those methods in this book. It’s important to learn how to develop that sort of on-point advertising for yourself without expecting a direct sale.
Patricia Iyer MSN RN LNCC is president of LegalNurseBusiness.com and has been tweeting, blogging, using Facebook, connecting on LinkedIn and posting Youtube videos since 2009. Learn how you can benefit from using social media in your business by checking out Social Media for Legal Professionals.