Is it possible to find prospects using social media? Yes! Social media is definitely misunderstood when it comes to utilizing Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to reach potential clients. I have been using social media to reach prospects for about nine months, and I can testify that it works.
However, it does take work to make it work. I spend about an hour each day in three different websites to create a response with social media. It's delicate and requires a social etiquette to handle it responsibly.
The social media expert I went to for help is Geoffrey Grider. He has a website that generates more than 35 million views per month, with more than 1.5 million monthly unique visitors. He spends about three hours per day generating that kind of traffic.
Our small practices don't need nearly that kind of effort to get great results. My first effort on my newest website for my practice has already paid dividends, and it has only been up for one month.
Geoffrey says that social media efforts are ongoing. You must stay with it every day. I can attest to that. I let mine go for a while, and activity dropped dramatically.
See also: How's your pipeline?
Is it all right to promote your business? Sure it is, as long as you are nice about it and don't offend. Don't directly ask for business. Just supply timely information that can be helpful in your friends' daily lives.
My practice is all about long-term care planning. My blogs for social media give good information that would be helpful for retirees so they can save money and keep what they have saved. Recently, I reposted an article about advance directives and why they should be accessible for emergencies. The article was well received, and my social media friends liked the information. With social media, it's all about activity and quality of content. High activity with good content is not offensive.
