Archive for the ‘Business Social Networking’ Category

Therapists Need to Use Internet Marketing

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

Marketing for Therapists of all distinctions has long been heavily dependent on word-of-mouth. With the Internet community growing faster than ever, this is not going to change, but simply migrate from physical interaction to word-of-mouth via the Web.

When a patient can’t find your phone number or they want to pass you along to a friend, it’s pretty powerful if that client can simply say, “Just Google their name.”

When you want to grow your practice and attract qualified patients looking for your specific expertise, multiple online profiles are key to spreading your name.

When you want to project a professional image, hiring experts to build and manage profiles is an inexpensive solution with extremely valuable results.

Therapists

Business Social Networking service Social Harbor gives you and your practice an IMMEDIATE professional online presence. It helps new customers find you without the expenses and headaches of building a web site. Social Harbor profiles include a map to your office, phone numbers, office hours, practice areas, anything YOU want! The most valuable part? Their experts help you choose which key search terms you want to be found for! They do the research, they do the building, they do the managing, you focus on your practice.

It doesn’t just stop at physically building and optimizing all those profiles however. Social Harbor continues their services to help you navigate the waters of Business Social Networking and using Social Media to help grow your business. Read more about it here.

Internet Marketing for Attorneys and Law Firms

Monday, March 9th, 2009

“Our firm needs to get on the web.”

It’s an obvious next step, but not so easy to execute.

Most lawyers and law firms have a website, and that’s a great start. But how successful can that website be in converting leads if people can’t find it? Creating multiple avenues to your firm’s site is the most concrete way to spread it throughout the search engines.

Expand Your Reach

By creating several third party profiles which showcase your practice and team members, you can effectively expand your reach throughout the web. Think in terms of your headquarters and satellite offices. The main website is your firm’s internet headquarters, the hub, and great at attracting clients around the area. Now, the credible and professional profiles that you create around the web are the firm’s satellite offices, reaching more clients through new avenues… expanding your reach.

Drive More Traffic

Drive More Traffic Through Google

If your website looks pretty, that’s a plus for prospective clients. However, Google thinks of it like your parents taught you, it’s whats on the inside that counts! The search engines read algorithmic language to find your website. Social Harbor writes your profiles to specifically appeal to this language. You get several well dressed professional profiles built from the ground up, built to speak to Google in their language. These are new avenues that are visually appealing to prospective clients, AND contextually appealing to the search engines, effectively driving more traffic to your firm’s website.

The Results

You get credible outlets that are promoting your firm and individual attorneys, outlets that drive prospective clients to your website. The whole idea is that someone searches Google for a person of your expertise, the results are several professional profiles which all promote the same strong message from you and your firm. When a person searches for you right now, what comes up? A Social Harbor client is assured their prospective customer doing preliminary research will find great things about them, with quick and easy ways to get in touch.

Ready to get started? Have more questions?  Contact us today!

I Already Have a Job, Why be on LinkedIn?

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

“Why would I want to be all over the Internet if I’m not looking for a job?”

This question comes up all the time, and it’s not a bad one, but…

To me that’s like saying. “I already know some people, why would I go out and meet more?”

If you are any kind of business person, you know the key to business is connections. Whether you follow the old adage ‘It’s not what you know, but who you know’, or you just realize the benefit of having people talk about your business, Social Media is the next sure step.

For starters, there is no cheaper or faster way to spread the word about your company, brand, message, whatever, than via the world wide web.

So if you’ve got any kind of product or service you are trying to sell, getting yourself out there in such places like LinkedIn can be extremely beneficial. Make connections at the highest levels for things like partnerships, all the way down to making connections with potential or current customers. If you are selling something, you want to be found, and online profiles like LinkedIn really spread your business across the web.

More People

OK, you’re not selling a physical product or service necessarily. I have a family member who is a stock broker. On average this person deals with folks aged well out of any web generation, and besides, who picks someone to manage their money just by going online? Good point, so why be on LinkedIn? Well I learned a long time ago that word-of-mouth is the best promotion (or demotion) a business could ever receive, and word-of-mouth is more prevalent on the web today than anywhere else. Here’s a very plausible everyday situation:

“Hey Bill, it’s pretty obvious everyone is losing some money in this economy, but I’m just not confident in my stock broker anymore. Seems to me he’s making some bad decisions with my money. Do you know anyone who I might be happier with?”

“Well Frank, I handle mine personally, but a few of the guys at the club rave about their brokers at XYZ Firm. Not sure who they use exactly, or if they would be able to help you out, but that’s all I know.”

So Frank goes home and checks out XYZ Firm’s website. No broker profiles, or even individual contact information. Enter LinkedIn. Frank can either browse XYZ Firm’s LinkedIn Company profile, looking through all the brokers who work there, or he can find individual brokers’ profiles. All of your information is there for Frank to make his intial selections. The most valuable part? Recommendations. Frank can read what other people have to say about you, without ever meeting them!

“I’m not selling anything, and I don’t want any new clients, so what’s the point?”

Portable Equity.

Sure, you’ve got a job now, but can you really be certain about anything going forward in these trying times? Even if you are not expecting to ever move from that desk, it is important that you are always ready.

There is absolutely no harm in having a presence online (especially if it is professionally built and managed), it can only help you. Why? Because it is your personal brand that you can take with you wherever you go. If nothing else, at it’s bare bones you can utilize LinkedIn as a electronic Rolodex.

You meet a lot of people at your current secure job right? Wouldn’t it be nice to always have those people litterally one click away should you ever need anything? It’s quite powerful.

Power of Being Found

Friday, February 6th, 2009

As businesses of all kinds continue move forward into our Internet age, it cannot be stressed enough that being found on the web is of the utmost importance.

This has been reiterated, along with other valuable bits, by Linkedin themselves. One of their bloggers, Adam Nash, recently published a few terrific pointers that EVERYONE needs to read. The whole article is worthy of your spare five minutes, but I will highlight his three most important steps, as they should really hit home with you.

Excerpt:

Be found. It’s almost criminal to leave your LinkedIn profile unfinished. Think of it as search optimization, but not for a website - for you. The more positions you list, education you cite, and skills you highlight, the more likely it is that the right people will find you. It’s not hard - in fact, if you have a resume handy from your last job search, you can fill in a profile typically with a few minutes of cut & paste. Most people are shocked to find out how many great opportunities find them once they fill out their professional profile.

Bring your network online. Your network is one of your most valuable assets, but it does little good for you offline. Upload your Address Book, invite the people you want to connect with, and get connected. Most people don’t realize that having your network online means that you can now use it as a personalized search engine for both who and what you know. That’s exactly you only want to connect with people you actually know.  It’s no good finding out you are one degree away from the company of your dreams, if that connection doesn’t know you from Adam (pardon the expression). Worse, that false connection can even “crowd out” a real connection to that company in the LinkedIn search engine. Your relationships are the heart of social relevance - use them.

Search! You’d think that after a decade of search engines people would get this, but it’s amazing to watch the light go on once they search for something other than a name. Interested in working for clean tech? Try searching for it. Search the company directory on LinkedIn. Find companies in your favorite industry, in your favorite city. Then search your network (”People Search”) for that company name. If you’ve done steps 1 & 2, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what a small world it is. If you are looking for a job, and you aren’t spending hours a day on LinkedIn, chances are it’s because you haven’t discovered the power of people search.

The power that Business Social Networking gives to individuals, and their companies, in flat out immense. It’s impact on your business moving forward is clear, you need to spread your credibility across the web, before you fall behind.

Chief Officers Being Hired via Linkedin

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

If you ever find yourself doubting, even for a moment, the power of Social Media and Business Social Networking, go check out Linkedin’s blog. Why? Here’s the type of thing you’ll find.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau hired their new Chief Administrative Officer (CFO + COO), through Linkedin!

President and CEO, Randall Rothenberg, turned to his Linkedin network first when looking for a new Chief Officer. He posted the job on Linkedin, and began filtering candidates that way.

“I realized … the place to go to begin that search was going to be my LinkedIn network,” Randall told Linkedin. “If anyone can lead me to the kind of person with the kinds of capabilities I was looking for, it’s this set of people.”

Randall estimates he saved up to $150,000 by using Business Social Networks for this and another senior placement. Pretty easy to see why this is becoming an emerging trend!

Oh by the way, this all went down in 2007! Which means you absolutely NEED to have a presence on Business Social Networks for 2009. If you’re falling behind, let Social Harbor help.

via: Liknedin

Layoffs Continue, Jobless Claims Increase, Social Harbor to the Rescue

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

If you have been laid off recently, there is one thing for certain, you are not alone.

Yet another scary story has been published in the national news. USA Today recently ran a story chronicling the “Wave of Layoffs…

You can find similar stories throughout several publications just about every day now. But enough of the bad news!

Time for the good news!

One of the major reasons Social Harbor was founded is to give these newly unemployed business professionals a tool to fight back, and climb back into the game. The most obvious ramifications of these mass layoffs is an increasingly limited and competitive job market. Social Harbor has created a package just for these individuals.

Unemployed Businessman

Our experts are well versed in what it takes to be found online, and more importantly to look credible all across the Internet. Social Harbor Career gets you a Professional Online Profile at Linkedin.com (the largest business social network in existence), Naymz.com (reputation management), and right here at Social Harbor. We also build your resume on leading job search sites Career Builder and Monster.

The Social Harbor team optimizes all of these profiles, making sure you are found. We give you the tools to compete in an online job search, making this the perfect cost-effective solution to aid your career transition. The career package also includes Google AdWords to drive potential employers to your Social Harbor profile.

The best part is, the Social Harbor service keeps working for you after you land a job. We update your Social Harbor profile to feature your new position and company. Not only will that new employer be undoubtedly impressed by your web presence, all of your search engine optimized profiles will continue to drive traffic and generate business for you and your new company.

2009 CORPORATE CUTBACKS
Here is a list of some of the recently announced reductions in jobs. In some cases, totals include previously announced layoffs.
Date Company
Layoffs
%. of workforce
Tuesday Corning
3,500
13%
Monday Caterpillar
20,000
18%
Pfizer
19,500
15%
Sprint Nextel
8,000
14%
Home Depot
7,000
2%
Texas Instruments
1,800
12%
Friday Harley-Davidson
1,100
11%
Thursday Microsoft
5,000
5%
Wednesday Sun Microsystems
1,300
15%-18%
Eaton
5,200
10%
Ericsson
5,000
6%
Jan. 20 Bose
1,000
10%
Clear Channel
1,850
9%
ConocoPhillips
1,300
4%
Jan. 16 Circuit City
30,000
100%
Hertz Global
4,000
13%
MeadWestvaco
2,000
10%
Motorola
4,000
6%
Saks
1,100
9%
Jan. 14 Seagate
2,950
6%
Jan. 12 Cessna
2,000
15%
Jan. 9 Boeing
4,500
7%
Freightliner
2,137
10%
Jan. 8 AK Steel
1,500
21%
EMC
2,400
6%
Lenovo
2,500
10%
ON Semiconductor
1,500
10%
Walgreen
1,000
9%*
Jan. 7 Alcoa
13,500
12%
Jan. 5 Cigna
1,100
4%
Unisys
1,300
4%
* — corporate and support staff
Sources: Vault.com, USA TODAY research

Linkedin Applications Experiment

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

With so much rapid growth amongst every Business Social Network out there, it can be tough to keep up! And even tougher to comb though the stuff worth spending time on.

Well today we’re bringing it to you, no need to search. There has been a lot of buzz about all these new Linkedin applications, so we’re going through each one to bring you the important stuff!

Welcome to the spotlight, “Polls by Linkedin

This one is going to be huge. It’s simple, informative, and most importantly, effective. Setting up a Poll is a breeze, enter any multiple choice question (can be as simple as Yes or No), then enter in the response choices, and pick your target audience. That’s it. Now sit back and collect the results.

Example: One of our Social Media experts recently posted a Poll inquiring, “How many Business Social Networks are you currently on?” Within one hour the poll had collected over 25 responses! There are a lot of great market research tools out there, but it’s hard to argue against simplicity and ease which results like that! You can even filter the results by several different demographic categories.

(in case you were wondering, 43% of those who answered are only on Linkedin!)

It’s time for you to get ahead of the curve!

Social Networking for Older Adults

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

As the USA Today reports social networking is attracting new — and older — devotees, according to a Pew Research Center analysis released Wednesday, January 14.

Baby Boomer Surfing the Web

Baby Boomer Surfing the Web

Pew finds that 35% of adult Internet users now have a profile on at least one social networking site. And among online adults ages 35-44, 30% have a profile.

The number for adults 55-64 is only 10% having an online profile. This is one reason Social Harbor was created. If someone is 55 years old, they can and will very likely work for 10 or 20 more years. By having a strong, branded, online presence, they are going to be more marketing, more findable, and have a stronger network to help them achieve their long term employment goals.

Social Harbor builds online profiles for professionals - and especially older adults who are too busy to bother with it. How many baby boomers will begin to outsource the social networking profiles to companies like Social Harbor? Only time will tell. Until then, the leading edge boomers can benefit by signing up and getting on the digital bus!

CNBC Teams Up With Linkedin

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Well if Business Social Networking was not on your radar before, it definitely should be now. Business industry giant CNBC has established a relationship with the world’s largest business social network, Linkedin.

Linkedin CEO Dan Nye outlined a few broad implications the CNBC-Linkedin callaboration will have on you:

1. On LinkedIn: LinkedIn’s rapidly growing user base of over 27 million professionals now have an opportunity to both consume as well as share with their professional network, breaking business news & content from CNBC that ranges from articles and blogs to financial data and video content.

2. On CNBC.com: As a regular CNBC.com user, you’ll start seeing LinkedIn’s community and networking functionality integrated on CNBC.com (for e.g. sharing CNBC articles with your professional network on LinkedIn or finding out who in your network connects you to the companies you read about).

3. On CNBC: Community-generated content from LinkedIn will also be broadcast on CNBC programs. These include survey results and on-air Q&A with CNBC anchors, reporters and guests.

Hopefully the involvement of business powerhouse CNBC in Business Social Networking helps convey the utmost importance for such business practice in today’s world.

In just a short time every business person you meet will be taking advantage of social networking. Stay a step ahead with Social Harbor, before the next industry giant joins in and blows the lid off this emerging marketing tool.

Social Harbor Wins New Client in Bank of Ann Arbor

Monday, December 8th, 2008

Ann Arbor, MI December 8, 2008 - Ingenex, a Michigan-based digital marketing firm, was hired to build business social networking profiles for Bank of Ann Arbor, as part of it’s new service and web site http://SocialHarbor.com

Social Harbor is a service that builds business social networking profiles for companies and their employees. All Social Harbor profiles are optimized for Google and Yahoo! search engines, and help the companies present a professional image online.

Ingenex takes the hard work out of building and updating your online profiles, and works to teach companies how to use social networks (like Linkedin with over 30 million users) to grow their business.

Bank of Ann Arbor is using Social Harbor to help its employees increase online business development and business social networking.

“To stay connected in town, it’s important that our mortgage team make use of all the tools available today,” says Rhonda Foxworth, Assistant Vice President and Marketing Manager at Bank of Ann Arbor, “But as busy professionals, it’s hard for them to find the time to do that. The Social Harbor service quickly gave our mortgage team online profiles that were professional and credible, so our mortgage team could keep selling. And the Ingenex experts are training our team on how to use LinkedIn and other business social networks to connect with potential clients and grow our business.”

About Ingenex Digital Marketing:

Michigan based Ingenex is a Digital Marketing firm that provides a full suite of Digital Marketing services including Interactive Branding™, web site design, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click management (PPC), optimized PR, social media marketing, podcasting and blogging. To learn how Ingenex can help you connect with your customers, contact us at 734.272.4698.

For more information visit the Ingenex Digital Marketing web site or visit SocialHarbor.com