Brian Horn

I’d like to share a conversation I had with Brian Horn, a social media expert, on the importance of participating in social media as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. One important point Brian makes is that you can participate in social media in a meaningful way without taking too much time away from your legal nurse consulting business. Enjoy the video.

Success Is Inside!

Attorneys are flocking to Twitter. So are over 4,000,000 other people who have signed up for this site along with your technologically-advanced potential attorney-clients.

What Is Twitter?

Twitter is the fastest growing social media site on the web today. It is taking the Internet by storm with about 10,000 new users per day signing up to participate in this Internet revolution.

Twitter is best described as a micro-blogging platform. You are limited to 140 characters each time you do an update, which initially, may seem a small amount. However, as you become an experienced Twitterer, it’s amazing what you can fit into 140 characters.

That said, Twitter is like one huge chat room with as many people as you choose to connect with…in your case, I’d focus on attorneys and other Certified Legal Nurse Consultants.

So let’s get started and set up your Twitter account.

How to Set Up

There are a few things that you should be aware of when organizing your legal nurse consulting account. Even if you have an existing account, consider these tips to improve your Twitter experience.

Go to http://www.twitter.com. If you don’t have an account, then you will need to register, otherwise login as you usually do.

Registration

The Twitter screen will ask you for your full name.

The next box asks you for a username. This is where you need to give some thought to how you are going to represent yourself and your legal nurse consulting business on Twitter. Using your name or business name is up to you.

It isn’t critical that you register your own name, but I would advise you to if you can, particularly if your name is an unusual one. I’m sure the last thing you want is someone else impersonating you or your CLNC^® business on Twitter, or anywhere else for that matter.

If you wish to register your business name, then you can do that also. Just make sure you use your own name in the sign up process so you are identifiable and connected with the business name you register.

You are now asked for your email address. Email addresses are linked to accounts and you will only be able to use your email address once. For every Twitter account you register, you will need a different email address.

Be sure to fill in the Captcha letters you see and click Create My Account.

The next screen asks if you want to add any of your email contacts. You can skip this step, or Twitter will search your email address book to find all your friends and business contacts who are already on Twitter.

If you opt to have Twitter search your contacts, then the next screen presents those contacts who already Twitter and asks if you would like to follow any of them. Choose some if you like, but be selective. Social media sites like Twitter can consume a lot of your valuable time.

When you click Finish, you will see your very own Twitter account. You are logged in and ready to go!

Your Settings

On Twitter it’s important to fill out your Settings. You’ll find the access to this at the top right of the screen, fourth link from the left.

On this page you will notice there are some tabs across the top. We’ll cover each tab in detail.

Account Tab

The information you entered when you set up your account shows on this screen, but now it’s time to enhance it so people can find you and your legal nurse consulting business on Twitter and you also make yourself an interesting person to be followed.

People will use the information you enter here to make that decision. Beware that much of what is entered is searchable on Twitter and through various third-party applications.

One thing to note is that you can change your username at any time on this screen. You just have to enter your password to do so. Although it can be done, it can confuse your follower base, so I wouldn’t recommend doing it on a weekly basis.

First select the correct time zone.

Then add your website in the “More Info URL” box. Make sure to include the http:// prefix.

Now fill out your “One Line Bio” box. You have 160 characters here to “sell” yourself as a CLNC^® consultant. Take some time and include your USP.

Add your location so people can search and find you if you are in their same area.

English is the default language in the language box.

Then you’ll see a check box titled, “Protect updates.” This is included if you want to have a private account and you wish to approve followers. NEVER turn this on if you intend to use Twitter to meet new attorney-clients. They won’t bother to request permission to follow you unless they know you personally.

You can now save your settings, but note here that there is also a link to delete your account should you ever wish to do so.

Password

This tab lets you change your password if you want.

Devices

You can enter your mobile phone number here if you want Twitter to send updates to your phone. Personally, I can’t think of anything worse, particularly when you get close to a thousand followers.

Notices

You can have Twitter “nudge” you with a text to your mobile phone if you haven’t updated in 24 hours. What a pain!

The Replies function is an interesting one and will determine what tweets you see that are prefixed with the @ symbol. This is how you direct a tweet to a particular individual or your attorney-client. Read the great help-screen explanation on this, before you make your decision.

The rest of the notices are self explanatory.

If you are new to Twitter and you are following someone and they are following you, Direct Messages can be sent that won’t appear in the Twitter timeline. They are private messages between you and the other person only.

If you are an infrequent user of Twitter, it may be worthwhile to switch on receiving notifications by email so you can respond. Otherwise leave it off as it will just fill up your email inbox with more clutter.

Likewise, the notifications that you have a new follower also clog your email and I would leave it off unless you like the buzz of knowing someone new is following you.

Picture Tab

This is really important. When you open this page you will see the small avatar on the screen which is the default for Twitter.

Add a professional photo of yourself to stand out for a good first impression. This is often more important than your name when people are scanning Tweets.

Design Tab

Here you can change your Twitter page background from the default. Select from the options Twitter provides or you can upload your own background.

You can also change all the colors if you wish. Again, the point is to change it to demonstrate you have taken some time setting up your account.

A note here worth mentioning is that with the plethora of Twitter client applications out there, many people don’t even look at your Twitter page anymore. Still, it is one component of your presence on Twitter and is worth doing well.

Just make sure you save your changes, and you’re done!

Well, that’s it for the setup. The last thing to do now is to click on Home at the top of the screen and send your first Tweet. Something like, “Hi, I’ve just joined Twitter and am looking forward to meeting interesting people” is a good first one to send. Just type it in and click the Update button.

You are up and running! You now have the official “cool factor” of being a CLNC^® consultant who is up-to-date with this social media site.

Guest Blogger Profile

Brian Horn is an Internet marketing consultant who specializes in search engine marketing, site optimization, social media marketing, link building and web data analytics. Brian has consulted with Vickie Milazzo Institute for over three years.

Brian also speaks at seminars and conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada on how to use the Internet to improve business.

First off, if you have not yet heard of Facebook, thanks for exiting your cave. I’d like to heartily welcome you to the Internet. I think you’ll like it here.

But seriously, here are some quick stats on Facebook which should be of interest to you as a CLNC^® business owner.

1. There are more than 150 million active Facebook users.
2. The number of active users has doubled in the last year.
3. About 34% of users work as professionals. This includes attorneys, sales people, executives, educators and techies.
4. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook consists of users 25 and older.

Though Facebook started in the student demographic, it’s quickly grown out of it. So, my guess is that at least a few of those 150 million active users (active users spend about 20 minutes a day on the site) are prospective attorney-clients for your legal nurse consulting business. The question is, what do you do about it?

All you have to do is sign up for an account…then start joining relevant Facebook groups to find attorney-clients for your CLNC^® business.

While you are signing up, you’ll have many options to customize and flesh out your CLNC^® profile page. Include as many details about your CLNC^® business as possible…and don’t forget all your business contact information (you want to make it easy for the attorneys to contact you).

Joining Facebook Groups

Joining Facebook Groups is easy. Simply log in to your Facebook account, and on the left tab, you will see a list of applications.

Click Groups, and once you are there, you will see two tabs, one indicating groups recently joined by your friends and the other indicating your recently updated groups.

Browse the groups and you will find more than a thousand groups available.

There is no limit to the number of groups that you can join. The more groups you join, the bigger your social network becomes.

While browsing through the groups, you can find the name of the group, its population, its type or category, the latest number of new members, the latest number of members who left the group and any updates to the group.

Even though you can offer your CLNC^® services across the country, let’s start by narrowing your focus to find local attorneys. All you need to do to find local groups is to click the Search for Groups box, enter your city (or state, if you are in a small town) and the word attorney or lawyer. Hit Enter and Facebook will give you a list of local Facebook groups for attorneys.

If you see a group name that looks interesting, view the group and read the information about it. If you feel you want to join the group, look for the Join This Group button. You automatically become a member of the group if it is a public group. If it is a private group, you’ll have to wait to be approved by the group’s admin.

Join as many groups as you can that are relevant to your quest to find more attorney-clients for your CLNC^® business.

Once you become a member of a group, you have the option to upload photos and videos for the group, write on The Wall and join discussions in the discussion board or perhaps start your own topic. Joining these different Facebook groups is not only fun but it expands your network, giving you more opportunities to market your expertise.

After you join a group, you should post a comment on their wall. Do not…I repeat…DO NOT promote yourself at this time. Simply compliment their group and thank them for creating it. Then invite the group’s admin to be your Friend.

Try to interact with others in the group by participating in the conversation on The Wall, commenting on pictures/videos and joining discussions in the discussion board. Once you interact with another member, feel free to invite them to become your Friend. When someone makes an interesting post, send that person a “Friend invitation” mentioning that you enjoyed what they had to say on the topic.

As a member of a group, you can see a list of all the group’s members. You can also send Friend invitations to people who haven’t participated, just as you did with the people who have participated. These connections won’t be as powerful as ones with people you’ve had a dialogue with, but they’ll still be your target market.

Once you have a few key people in the group as Friends, feel free to start adding a promotion to their wall every now and then.

A Word of Caution

Don’t get too gung ho about inviting every attorney you can find in your area to join your group on day one.

Facebook has a limit of how many new invitations you can send in a given day or week. The exact number isn’t posted anywhere, but if you exceed this amount you can get a warning and could get cut off from Facebook. If you stick to no more than twenty invitations a day you should be safe.

When you are sending invitations, don’t copy and paste a standard message. This can lead to a warning from Facebook. Be sure to customize each invitation you send.

Don’t Just Limit Yourself to Connecting with Attorneys

Connect with your high school, college and nursing friends also. You never know where you’ll find an attorney-prospect. I got three clients off Facebook from old high school friends…without even trying.

I think you’ll have fun with it also!

Guest Blogger Profile

Brian Horn is an Internet marketing consultant who specializes in search engine marketing, site optimization, social media marketing, link building and web data analytics. Brian has consulted with Vickie Milazzo Institute for over three years.

Brian also speaks at seminars and conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada on how to use the Internet to improve business.

To protect your identity, reputation and even your savings account, as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, you need to strongly manage your online passwords.

Very often people make one, or both, of these critical errors:

1. They pick a password that is easy for someone to guess.
2. They use the same password for many different websites.

Let’s look at each error in more detail.

Easy to Guess Passwords

When I was an IT director at a large company in Houston, this was one of the most common issues I ran into. If I knew just a few personal details about someone, I could guess their password more often than not.

If they had pictures of their kids all over their office, they most likely used some form of their kid’s name. If they had Notre Dame stuff on their desk and walls, their password usually was related to the Fighting Irish football team.

Here are the most common bad password ideas:

1. Words that one can find in a dictionary (nurse, hospital, attorney, etc).
2. Sequential sets of numbers or letters such as “asdfghj” and “123456.” These are sequences of letters/numbers that are next to each other on the keyboard.
3. The same letter repeated over and over again (nnnnnn or 111111).
4. Your pet’s name.
5. Your own name.
6. Your spouse’s name.
7. Your child’s name.
8. Your grandchild’s name.
9. Your favorite hobby, sports team or recording artist.
10. Your birthday or anniversary.

Using the Same Passwords Across All Websites

Let’s say you have a great password that no one could ever guess. In fact, it’s so good, you use it for all your website accounts.

One day, you have an issue with one of the sites, and call their technical support. They ask you for your password to walk you through the issue. You give it to the tech support rep.

Now there’s another person out there in the world that can access all of your personal accounts, change the password and contact information on your account and wipe you out. Most companies have some security in place to help prevent bad things like this from happening, but you should make it as difficult as possible for the bad guys.

The Solution

I use a site called PassPack to help manage my passwords.

You can store all your passwords securely, generate hard-to-crack passwords, and automatically log on to websites that you have stored passwords with…and it is totally FREE. Go here to sign up.

Although, everything is pretty much self explanatory, and you should have no problems signing up or using the site, you can find detailed instructions, and plenty of articles in their knowledge base to walk you through any issues.

Passpack can also suggest passwords for you. Just click the “Suggest” button when filling out the entry details for a particular site. You’ll need to make sure you update the site with this new password.

I have had no issues with PassPack so far. I have changed all my passwords and manage all of them through this site. However, I do recommend that you print out each password and store it in a safe place (like a home file system, or safe), in case PassPack disappears one day, you still have your passwords in one place.

Seinfeld fans probably remember the classic episode where Kramer guesses George’s ATM code…just by knowing a little bit of personal information about him. It’s a funny scene, and not too far off from how people can really guess your password.

P.S. Have you ever had a password problem or had an account hacked? Share your story in the comments to help other CLNC^® consultants prevent a similar thing happening to them.

Guest Blogger Profile

Brian Horn is an Internet marketing consultant who specializes in search engine marketing, site optimization, social media marketing, link building and web data analytics. Brian has consulted with Vickie Milazzo Institute for over three years.

Brian also speaks at seminars and conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada on how to use the Internet to improve business.

Much of the software out there is so ridiculously expensive that it makes it nearly impossible for most people to get started with even basic computer tasks. Take for example an RN starting a part-time business as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. Purchasing MS Office, antivirus software and basic graphic editing tools can easily exceed a $1,000 price tag.

I’m going to show you how you can get by on a zero dollar budget and still have access to amazingly powerful tools.

Office Suite

The most popular suite is Microsoft^® Office and not surprisingly it is also the most expensive. We have several free alternatives here. The most powerful in my opinion are the free online office tools from Google^TM known as Google Documents. Google Doc’s gives you access to word processing, spreadsheets and presentations (in essence replacing Word, Excel^® and PowerPoint^®). My next favorite office suite of applications is another freebie known as OpenOffice. It completely replaces Microsoft^® Office and will save you hundreds of dollars.

Email

Email is a big one. I hate seeing people use the email addresses their web service providers give them. Surely most don’t know better but the reason they are given those addresses is so that they cannot cancel their Internet service (or change it) without losing that email address. Anyone who has changed their phone number or email address in the past knows how big a hassle this is. So go to Gmail^TM and get an account. They usually have better spam filtering and antivirus tools than your Internet provider. You can also incorporate Google Calendar to manage your schedule.

To manage your emails, you should download Thunderbird. This will act like MS Outlook^® and let you download and manage your emails when not connected to the Internet (like when on a flight or out of a wireless network range).

AntiVirus

Norton and McAfee^® are very expensive but unfortunately, there is no way to avoid anti-virus software. Fortunately there is a free alternative known as AVGFree from a company called GriSoft. I have no problems with it and it runs just as well as Norton and McAfee^® in my opinion.

Graphic Editor

Checkout a free online piece of software called SplashUp. It is a highly stripped down version of Photoshop^® (and based on flash) but it allows for some fairly advanced photo manipulation including blending effects, layering and filters. It even ties into some of the online photo storage databases like Flickr^® and Picasa^TM. You can also find free stock images to use for your website or other marketing materials at Bad Neighborhood.

Pretty cool, right? Well…at least to the people who haven’t already shelled out $1,000 for the software they now know how to get for free.

Guest Blogger Profile

Brian Horn is an Internet marketing consultant who specializes in search engine marketing, site optimization, social media marketing, link building and web data analytics. Brian has consulted with Vickie Milazzo Institute for over three years.

Brian also speaks at seminars and conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada on how to use the Internet to improve business.

Entrepreneurs are using the newest Internet trend to meet and collaborate with colleagues worldwide. Professional social networks such as LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter and Facebook, can provide legal nurse consultants another way to promote and expand their CLNC^® business.

Social media marketing is the systematic approach to using social networks and other “Web 2.0″ and “Web 3.0″ technologies as a part of an all inclusive marketing plan.

Step One: Define your goals, then match the network tool to your goal.

Goals vary from business-to-business and professional-to-professional, but the identification of goals is key to determining what characteristics are needed in a social network.

Step Two: Set boundaries and budgets that govern the efforts expended in social networking.

Most professional social networks offer a free, and one or more “premium,” membership. In most or all of those with “premium” memberships, it is possible to “earn” free premium upgrades by recruiting new members to the network platform. With these incentives, it is only necessary to spend money on professional social network membership if a specific paid premium membership function or service is needed to achieve the goals set in Step One. This does not mean that social networking is free. Most successful business social networkers agree that success requires a minimum of 40 hours per month spent building the network and communicating with network members and online contacts.

The biggest area of budget bloat for online networking is time. Time has a definite value in real dollars and time spent on social media marketing must provide a real and measurable return on investment.

It is all too easy to spend endless hours enjoying the many “features” of social networking sites. Whether answering posted questions and earning the tag “Expert” or racking up endorsements and testimonials, every minute spent online must have a purpose, must contribute to achieving your legal nurse consulting goals and must provide a return.

Step Three: Begin networking.

Once your goals, budgets and boundaries are set, it is time to begin networking. Whether online or in person, the most important tool of the social networker is dialogue. Online networking must include direct and individual communications with every member of the network.

Every time a new member joins your network, that new contact must receive a personalized email welcoming them to the network. This mandates that the new contact’s network profile be read and the contact’s interests be made the focus of the email.

The process of customizing the welcome to the new contact has a side benefit to the business because it forces the business to define its relevance to an ever expanding and ever deepening market demographic described by the online social network.

Step Four: Communicate and connect, don’t just collect.

The object of the entire social media marketing effort is to build a network with a personal bond and the ability to refer paying customers or become a paying customer. This means the network members must become raving fans even before they make a buy or referral.

Those who have been networking in real life for years know this is much harder than turning a satisfied customer into a raving fan. Unlike in-person networking, online networking limits the level of interpersonal exchange and thus “likability.”

A social network makes the transition to raving fans because of the personality of the network leader. Use the regular communication with network members as a “personality conduit.”

Step Five: Attract like-minded people, then lead them.

The key to becoming a leader in a market niche is to become a gathering point for other online professionals and their respective networks. All professional social networking websites have the ability to create clubs, or groups, or collectives. By volunteering to create and manage such a group, the leader becomes the point of convergence for everyone interested in the topic.

Step Six: Make it real in real life.

Depending on the local culture and networking traditions as well as the subculture of the online network, a traditional “dinner and drinks” networking event may be in order, but a “picnic in the park” or a “burgers and baseball” format may be more appropriate. The key is not the surroundings, but the opportunity for people who have built an online, but nonetheless real relationship, to put a handshake, or a hug, to the profile and prose.

Guest Blogger Profile

Brian Horn is an Internet marketing consultant who specializes in search engine marketing, site optimization, social media marketing, link building and web data analytics. Brian has consulted with Vickie Milazzo Institute for over three years.

Brian also speaks at seminars and conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada on how to use the Internet to improve business.

I know that many of you readers come here, read what you want, make use of the information you want and go about your day without ever leaving a comment. One of the main benefits of a blog is the ability to start a conversation directly with Vickie and the other legal nurse consulting readers.

So, if you have been a silent reader of this blog and want to know the benefits of leaving comments, let me give you some tips on why you should be doing it.

1. You’re Alerting Vickie to Who You Are.

If you regularly leave comments on this blog, Vickie will start to recognize your name. Don’t forget the other regular contributors and hundreds of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants who read it daily. They will start to recognize you also.

If you leave some really interesting comments, Vickie may even ask you to “guest blog” some day.

2. You’re Building a Strong Legal Nurse Consulting Community.

A CLNC^® community is built around CLNC^® consultants and their views. Leaving comments is a way of showing that you care and want to share your opinion with others, including Vickie. The comments can be a suggestion, feedback, appreciation or even constructive criticism. Just be sure they aren’t spammy or abusive.

So, even if you are just stopping by, make that little effort and write a comment, even if it’s just a line.

3. You’re Getting What You Want.

You should leave a comment because that’s how Vickie judges what her legal nurse consultants want. Also this is how you can get your questions answered rapidly.

4. You’re Adding Traffic to Your Site.

When you leave a comment, your name will link to your website. People click your link to see what other interesting stuff you write about. Obvious but true. You might get some CLNC^® subcontracting out of it.

5. You’re Connecting with Nurses and Potential Clients That also Read This Blog.

It’s well known that Vickie is the nation’s most recognized expert on legal nurse consulting. Doesn’t it make sense that some attorneys may subscribe also? An attorney searching for information on a particular subject in Google can easily stumble on one of these blog posts. Then they will see your insightful comments, determine you are an expert and give you a call.

I actually had one new client find me through a blog comment. I ended up billing this contact more than $100,000 over the next year. The people who read the same blog post as I did, but didn’t leave a comment that day, didn’t get the business.

Blogging is not only about the author saying her piece, it is also about going out and joining the conversation where it is happening. It’s about reaching out to people and exposing yourself to new ideas.

There is no greater way to brand yourself as a legal nurse consulting expert than to leave insightful and regular comments on a blog like this one…you may even get some new business out of it.

So, let’s start today…everyone leave a comment and introduce yourself to all the other blog readers.

Guest Blogger Profile

Brian Horn is an Internet marketing consultant who specializes in search engine marketing, site optimization, social media marketing, link building and web data analytics. Brian has consulted with Vickie Milazzo Institute for over three years.

Brian also speaks at seminars and conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada on how to use the Internet to improve business.

As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, if you read even one blog regularly, using Google Reader is for you. It will save you time, I promise.

This article is written for any legal nurse consultant who is new to reading blogs. Here’s how to save 30 minutes a day by learning how to subscribe to one. If you are already a regular blog reader and comfortable with RSS, you can think of this post as a review.

If you have no idea about how to use RSS (or even what it is), follow these instructions and you will be subscribed to your favorite blogs (like this one) and already saving time by the end of this article.

What Is RSS and Why Is It Worthwhile?

The acronym RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.”

RSS is a technology that allows you to subscribe to any website that has the RSS logo or words such as, “RSS Feed” in the address bar. RSS allows you to track every site you’re subscribed to without having to go to each individual site.

If you’re like me, there is more than one website that you love to read. Without RSS, I would be accessing these sites one at a time to see if there was anything new to read. With RSS, I never again have to go to a site that has no new material. By subscribing to the sites I enjoy, I am updated every time they post something new.

Why I’m Focusing on Google Reader

In order to get you subscribed, we have to pick one FeedReader to show you how to use it. (“FeedReaders” are the programs used to collect and manage RSS subscriptions.)

I’ve chosen Google Reader for 3 reasons:

1. It’s free and available to everyone no matter what computer or browser you use.
2. It is by far the most popular FeedReader.
3. It’s really easy to use, so let’s get started.

Setting Up Google Reader

1. Create a Google account.
2. Go to Google Reader and make sure you’re signed in.

Adding a subscription in Google Reader.

1. Select “Add a subscription” from the left column.
2. Type in “http://legalnurse.com/VickiesBlog/” and click “Add” as shown below.

Adding a subscription from elsewhere online.

1. When you are visiting a site that you want to subscribe to, click the orange icon on the site.



2. When you see a page like this, select Google as the Reader for your subscription.



3. On the next page, click “Subscribe Now.”
4. Then click, “Add to Google Reader.”
   • Click “Home” at the top of the left column to see new, unread posts listed with just a few lines of content for each.
   • Click “All Items” just below “Home,” to see new, unread posts showing the complete posts.
   • Selecting a subscription from the list in the left column allows you to see new posts as well as scroll down through older ones. (See Google Reader Example below.)


Reading and Managing Your Subscriptions

Reading Options

Your favorite blogs will be listed in the left column of your Google Reader page. Options for reading your feeds, or subscriptions, are:





Scanning Options

In the upper right corner you will see tabs for “Expanded” view and “List” view. The Reader defaults to “Expanded” view. These views allow you to decide whether you see all content as you scroll through your feeds or just titles with the first few words.

Marking as Read

A post is marked read when you click it. Scrolling through posts will also mark them as read, although you can turn this feature off in settings if you wish. Finally, if you want to mark all your new posts as read at once, you can do so at the top of the “All Items” page.

You’re All Set!

As you poke around in Google Reader, I’m sure you’ll find more nifty ways to improve your RSSing. But for now, you have what you need to go on a wild subscription binge.

You will, of course, want to subscribe to Vickie’s Blog, if you haven’t already.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments. Happy blog reading!

Guest Blogger Profile

Brian Horn is an Internet marketing consultant who specializes in search engine marketing, site optimization, social media marketing, link building and web data analytics. Brian has consulted with Vickie Milazzo Institute for over three years.

Brian also speaks at seminars and conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada on how to use the Internet to improve business.