business development Archives - Nelida Ruiz Consulting

Posting Original Content: Advanced Social Media Post Ideas for Professionals

If you’re already active on social media, liking and sharing others’ content, it’s time to bump up your social media activity with these advanced tips for posting original content.

One of the most intimidating aspects of social media marketing, networking and business development is posting original content. That’s why I left this tip for last in this series of social media tip posts. Many people find it tough to write comments and posts-nevermind (gasp!) original articles and content. But posting original content can make your profile stand out.

Why You Should Post Original Content

First, original content gives your followers and connections an opportunity to get to know your voice. You can also establish and highlight your knowledge and expertise on a topic important to you and your career. And third, you can help others who may be at a different point on the same path.

What Content You Should Post

Do you specialize in a particular type of work? Have you recently completed a project? Try drafting a post giving some insights you learned along the way or explain one aspect of the work in depth. You can focus on answering questions you’re frequently asked on the topic. How do you think I came up with this series of social media tips for business professionals? Ask and you shall receive.

Do you have a presentation coming up? One of the easiest ways to develop original content is to leverage your speaking opportunities on social media. As outlined in my previous tips, you can post in advance of the event, sharing the event details and, if appropriate, registration information. Tag the event organizer/host. During the event, ask someone to get a photo of you speaking, and post that photo along with a point of note from your presentation.

Then take it a step further, and develop content around the topic you spoke about. If there was a question and answer portion of your presentation, recap one or two questions you answered. Provide a summary of your presentation and who the information was for. The best part of this approach is, the hard work is already done in preparing and presenting. Now you just have to keep that momentum going with a social media post or two that could lead to additional speaking opportunities and additional work related to your topic.

What If You’re Not a Writer or Don’t Have the Time

Not a writer or short on time? Outline your thoughts and work with a writer to flesh out your ideas. But don’t miss out on the opportunity to showcase your knowledge on social media. People will appreciate learning from your experience and getting a more three-dimensional view of your work!

What Else You Can Do

And my final tip in this series is to endorse clients and colleagues you work with on LinkedIn. They’ll appreciate the nod and may even return the gesture. It’s a great way to let people know you appreciate their skills, and LinkedIn makes it quick and easy to do. (Follow the previous link for the exact steps to follow.)

Do you have any social media networking and business development questions or tips I haven’t covered in this or the following related posts? If so, please share in the comments!

Take Your LinkedIn Professional Networking to the Next Level

Are you looking to take your social media professional networking or business development to another level? Building on my previous article, Three Essential Social Media Tips for Attorneys, CPAs, and Other Professionals, this article provides simple steps you can take to go from a basic LinkedIn profile to using LinkedIn or other social media for business development and professional networking.

Note: the links in the following tips take you to additional content on LinkedIn for help with the tips mentioned. Use the Help feature in Twitter and Facebook for help with those applications.

Follow the organizations you support.

1. Most people support organizations with monetary donations, volunteering, or sitting on boards. Simply following these organizations on LinkedIn or other social media channels can beef up your LinkedIn profile and professional networking. And you’ll become more aware of the organizations’ activities by following them on social media, opening up opportunities to do more. Reshare their content and like their posts–at least the ones you find most of interest. Your connections will get a feel for who you are beyond your resume. And you never know where that could lead. You may inspire someone else to support the same organization or meet others with similar interests.

Follow industry peers and referral sources.

2. You likely know many people within your industry. Perhaps you attended a conference where someone you know and respect spoke. Be sure to connect with those you exchange business cards and have meaningful conversations with. Congratulate others on their achievements. Like and reshare their content when appropriate. In the legal field, conflicts may bar an attorney from taking on a matter with some frequency. Maintaining connections on LinkedIn can provide two-way referral sources. And down the road, you never know where your career path will take you. Those connections can prove very valuable over the years as a source of business or even a new career.

Follow thought leaders, content producers, and organizations in the areas you rely on for information and expertise.

3. Most of us rely on information from industry sources to stay current in our fields. Whether you rely on information from business publications like Forbes or Harvard Business Review or more specialized content like JD Supra or Corporate Counsel, be sure to follow these sources on LinkedIn. When you find an article or post that is helpful or thought-provoking to you, you can quickly reshare, like, and comment on their content. That activity will then appear in the feeds of those you’re connected to, and those who view your profile will see it as well.

Get out in the community.

4. Are you attending a charity auction or fundraiser, walking or running in an event to raise funds for a nonprofit, or volunteering for a cause close to your heart? Share a post or two about the event. Most event programs also include a hashtag to use for the event. Don’t forget to tag the organization, using @ and the organization name. Just be sure your tag is the organization’s official account. Share details of the event in advance to help boost registration. At the event, take a photo of something of interest, like speakers, sponsorship signage or you with other attendees, and post during or immediately after the event. Again, you never know who you might inspire and the organization and event organizers will likely take note of and appreciate you spreading the word among your connections.

In my next article, I’ll share more tips on how to continue to amp up your social media networking and business development. Sign up to subscribe to all the tips.

Business Development Tips: Save Your Contacts

Taking 30 seconds to add each new contact you work with to your contact list can save you oodles of time in the long run.

Synopsis: One simple step can amplify your business development efforts and save you tons of time in the long run. Save your contacts. This article explains why and how.

Time is precious. And so is building your business. One piece of advice I give every attorney, professional and business owner I work with involves an everyday habit with email. Do you save your contacts? Your best marketing and business development tool is hiding in your inbox. It’s your contacts’ email addresses.

Your Email Inbox Isn’t Designed to Efficiently Store Contacts

Too many of us, simply rely on our email inboxes to store and find email addresses and phone numbers of contacts when we need them. That works well for contacts you’ve worked with over the past couple of weeks or month. But beyond that, it can take too much time to search your email to find the contact details for someone you worked with six months ago.

You might have to guess at part of his email address and hope it auto-populates, you might have to search your email to find an email exchange that includes your contact’s phone number in the email footer, or you may have to ask a colleague to provide the contact details. Worse, if emails at your firm or business are archived or deleted after a period of time, you might lose those details altogether. Yet, simply taking 30 seconds to add each new contact you work with to your contact list can save you oodles of time in the long run.

How to Save Contacts in Outlook

Start today. Follow these simple Outlook instructions for each person you email today. Hint: just click on the person’s email address, and select Add to Contacts. Keep it up as you work; if you find yourself searching your email for someone’s contact details, be sure to save that someone as a contact. You’ll thank yourself later.

Give Contacts to Marketing

And if you’ve already developed this habit, don’t forget to provide appropriate contacts to your marketing department as well. They can ensure your contacts are receiving thought leadership content and invitations to seminars.

You can’t rely on your clients searching out information they might need or don’t know they need. Provide valuable content at regular intervals. And to do that, email addresses are one of your most valuable marketing tools.