Social media: It's not a trend or a fad, but a collective ofonline communication channels that can help you get bettermarketing results. If you want to build brandawareness, generate more leads and grow yourbusiness, social media can help.

Social media has changed the way businesses are marketing todayand they are integrating these online networks as a core element oftheir overall marketing efforts. Among financial advisors, it hasbecome an important business tool and many firms using social mediareport it has increased their marketing effectiveness.

One of the most effective social media platforms for advisorsis LinkedIn. It's the most popular social networkfor professionals with over 347 million users. This platform can bea great source for building an online community, connecting withclients, prospects, and colleagues and researching businesses.

It can also help you generate leads. If you're not doing muchwith your LinkedIn profile, you're ignoring aproductive marketing channel that could help you increasebusiness.

Where do you start? Here is a five step action plan to get youstarted.

Keep your profile current

LinkedIn is an entirely different site from your firm's website.It's a chance to establish rapport with your connections, potentialclients, and prospects. Consider updating your profile every 60 –90 days to freshen up your content. Add new skills you've developedor educational conferences or courses you've attended aswell. LinkedIn rewards users that stay active.When you update your profile, you show up in your connections newsfeed as well as the weekly digest email. This keeps your name andcompany at the top of your connection's minds.

Post updates

Your followers are active on LinkedIn because they want to besuccessful professionals. If you have an informative blog or ifyou're thinking of writing one, LinkedIn is a great place to pushyour content out to your connections and provide a status update.You can also post industry insights or company news as well aslinks to interesting financial or business articles. These updatesare sent automatically to every connection in your network. Just make sure you run yourcontent by your compliance department for approval. Remember, keepthe content relevant, lighthearted and social. DO NOT give salespitches, but be helpful and transparent when you share onLinkedIn.

Manage your time

Posting updates and viewing your connections can eat up your dayif you're not managing your time. Be disciplined about usingLinkedIn to ensure your social networking time is used effectivelyand efficiently. Manage your inbox for unread messages andinvitations to connect on a daily basis. Invite new contacts toyour LinkedIn community and browse through the group discussionsand contribute your financial expertise on a weekly basis. Considersetting aside and hour or two a week to work on LinkedIn.

Join groups or create your own industrygroup

LinkedIn is a terrific way to find and connect with professionalgroups. Therefore, you should consider joining a few groups. Thetrick is not to join the obvious groups in your industry, butto join groups outside your industry. Forexample, if you're targeting attorneys as clients, you could jointhe American Bar Association or one of your local attorney groups.This will give you access to many attorneys.

Review the search function

If you're looking to expand your prospect list, LinkedIn'ssearch and advanced search function can help you jump-start theprocess. This search engine allows you to search forprospects by location, profession, company, or industry. However,the search limits you to 100 names unless you pay for the premiummembership. But 100 leads should more than keep you busy.