Presentation for therapists in private practice on using social networking tools for information and expertise sharing, visibility and marketing.

1. Can you tweet your way to
private practice success?
A practitioner’s introduction to using social networking tools
Scott Brown, Social Information Group, in partnership with 1TherapyPlace.com – May 1, 2009
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2. Agenda
About me

Social networking tools: What are we talking

about?
Introduction and overview

The ones you should know: LinkedIn, Ning, Blogs,

Twitter, RSS feeds
Which is best for you?

Q&A

May 1, 2009
socialinformationgroup.com
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3. Your guide today: Scott Brown
Background

Information specialist,

trainer, counseling
student
Experience

Personal and

professional use of
social tools
My use of these tools:

linkedin.com/in/scottrbrown

scottbrown.typepad.com

twitter.com/scbrown5

socialinformationgroup.com

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4. The Social Networking jumble
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5. What do they have in common?
Sharing
Connecting
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6. The ones you should know about
LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com

Ning – http://www.ning.com

Blogs

WordPress – http://www.wordpress.com

TypePad – http://www.typepad.com

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com

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7. LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com
Online professional/business profile and

What is it?
 networking tool
“Resume or CV on steroids”

Free to sign up for and use

Why and
 Create a dynamic and easily searchable

how to use profile
it? Participate in groups, connect with peers,

demonstrate your expertise by answering
questions
Learn from others and other groups

Where do I

http://www.linkedin.com

find it?
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9. Reading list
incorporated into
LinkedIn profile
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10. Groups
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11. Ning – http://www.ning.com
Easy tool to create online networks

What is it?

Free to sign up for and use

Many existing groups

Why and

Easy to create new groups

how to use Lots of tools integrated into it: blogs,

it? photo sharing, etc.
Create interest subgroups

Where do I
 http://www.ning.com

find it?
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12. My main page
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14. Blog posts
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15. Subgroups
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16. Blogs
Online journals – a place to share

What are
 information, thoughts, etc.
they? “Personal publishing”

Free to sign up for and use at a basic level

Why and Potentially less “work” than articles, but
 
more in-depth than Twitter
how to use Share about yourself:

them?  Personal
 Professional /Expertise
 Interests
Where do I http://www.wordpress.com
 
find them? http://www.typepad.com

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19. Twitter – http://www.twitter.com
“Microblogging” tool

What is it?

Short, 140-character messages: “What are

you doing?”
Free to sign up for and use

Why and
 Find and “follow” peers, thought leaders

how to use Communicate (both ways)

it? Share your own expertise

Create connections, market yourself

Repurpose your established web presence

(1TherapyPlace article, blog posting,
websites, etc.)
Where do I
 http://www.twitter.com

find it?
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23. Which is best for you?
LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com

To give greater visibility to your profile, specialties,

contact information, interests, groups and
professional networks
Ning – http://www.ning.com

To participate in communities of interest – or in

communities you’re interested in reaching
Blogs

To share your writing, personality and expertise

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com

To share your expertise, and pointers to other

information that’s important to you or your work
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24. Good rules for sharing
Be brief

Make it useful

Make it personal

Make it fresh

Relate it to your business

Thanks to Chris Brogan:

http://www.chrisbrogan.com

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25. Challenges with these tools
Privacy and confidentiality

Adoption and usage

Multiple tools

Making the time/wasting the time

Technology issues

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26. Opportunities with these tools
Anyone can have visibility

These tools are changing how people interact

and find information
Do one thing, share in multiple places

Blog about your articles

“Tweet” about your articles and your blog entries

Feed your Twitter streams into your blog

Feed your blog entries into your LinkedIn profile

Etc., etc. etc.

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27. What to avoid
Sharing specific client information!

“I’m having coffee now…mmm”

“Over-tweeting”

Coverage too broad

Simply pointing to other information

http://www.litmanlive.co.uk/category/twitter/
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28. Suggestions
Experiment and play around with these tools

See what works for you

Have fun!

Invite and involve others

People who are already using these technologies

expect to be invited
You never know what might happen!

Don’t use social tools as your ONLY marketing

tool
Complementary to what you’re already doing

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29. Scott Brown and Social Information Group
Enhance your online visibility and

expertise using the best social
networking tools
Tailored to your specific needs – from

beginner to expert
Free initial consultation

We are also expert researchers: literature

searches, topic research, etc.
Contact me:
scott@socialinformationgroup.com

http://www.socialinformationgroup.com

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30. Thank you!
Can you tweet your way to private practice success? : A practitioner’s introduction to using social
networking tools
Scott Brown, Social Information Group in partnership with 1TherapyPlace.com – May 1, 2009
30 socialinformationgroup.com May 1, 2009