Are you a member of Facebook, MySpace or other networking sites such as LinkedIn or Plaxo? If not, you may be missing a good opportunity to grow your business and the buzz surrounding it.

  

I actually belong to a number of these sites and am just now starting to get the swing of them. Take Facebook for example. What I like about it is that you can give your friends and contacts quick updates on what you are doing, send them online "gifts", start or join groups that match your interests and have a little bit of fun. I actually started a group for my new spa recently and in one day 14 people had joined it. That means that my group is listed on all of their pages and seen by all of their friends! We've also added a link for people to join the Inspire Skin & Body group on our spa's web site, www.InspireSkinAndBody.com to encourage more group additions.

Click here to visit my profile page on Facebook if you are already a member and learn firsthand about how I am using this site. Feel free to add me as one of your friends If you aren't a member, joining is free and easy!

Click here to visit my professional profile on Linked In and "add me to your network."

Visit my page and add me as a connection on Plaxo by clicking here.

I can't promise that joining any of these will bring in tons of new clients to your practice. What it can do though is give you a free way to stay connected with people you already know, announce new education or services, and add a level of credibility (in some cases) to your career.

One word to the wise - don't write anything on your page(s) that you would be embarassed to show your mother. The Internet has an incredible memory and portability! So be careful what thoughts, pictures and comments you put out into cyberspace.