LinkedIn

I have posted here on the Appraiser Workshops Blog, the Appraisers Post and on the ISA Forum about the importance of social media sites such as LinkedIn.  Fortune Magazine just did a full cover story on the growing importance of LinkedIn, the growing networking capability and how companies are using it to find employees and potential employees are finding employment.  The growth in visitors is rather remarkable with now up to 17 million visitors in February and 60 million members. In the past it has been the norm to protect your contacts, that attitude is quickly changing with social networking where growth and sharing is paramount.

I wont go into all of the uses as I have mentioned them previously, but I will re-emphasize that a full marketing strategy to promote an appraisal practice should include traditional means as well as a web site, press releases site usage, blogs, and social media with LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter (also publishing in the Journal of Advanced Appraisal Studies - shameless plug). According to Hitwise, Facebook is the most searched brand on the internet, more than Amazon, more than Google.  That is a lot of people looking for information about a social media site.  We as appraisers have to stay current with technology, and social media is the new technology developing off of web 2.0. I find networking with other appraisers one strong source for new clients through referrals.

Fortune Magazine states

If you're serious about managing your career, the only social site that really matters is LinkedIn. In today's job market an invitation to "join my professional network" has become more obligatory -- and more useful -- than swapping business cards and churning out résumés.
Make the most of your LinkedIn profile

More than 60 million members have logged on to create profiles, upload their employment histories, and build connections with people they know. Visitors to the site have jumped 31% from last year to 17.6 million in February. They include your customers. Your colleagues. Your competitors. Your boss. And being on LinkedIn puts you in the company of people with impressive credentials: The average member is a college-educated 43-year-old making $107,000. More than a quarter are senior executives. Every Fortune 500 company is represented. That's why recruiters rely on the site to find even the highest-caliber executives: Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) found CFO Jeff Epstein via LinkedIn in 2008.

The reason LinkedIn works so well for professional matchmaking is that most of its members already have jobs. A cadre of happily employed people use it to research clients before sales calls, ask their connections for advice, and read up on where former colleagues are landing gigs.

To read the full Fortune article on LinkedIn, click HERE.

As fellow appraisers wish to build their contacts and networks in LinkedIn feel free to connect with me.  Sign in and search for my name. Also I manage a LinkedIn group with Brian Hiatt of Collector Pro software, it is a growing group with good news and discussions, click HERE to join. There are many appraisal related, USPAP related, and art related groups to join.  ISA has its own LinkedIn group as well. If you dont have an account, start one, build your profile, start to find contacts and join groups.

Get in on the web 2.0 action.