Editor's Note: This article is the first of a two-part series on how firms are leveraging social media to win new business. Click here to read part two.

FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, Ning, YouTube, blogs and who knows what might come next under the broad banner of "Social Media." The array can be dizzying and lots of consultants simply dismiss social media out of hand. "Kids stuff," they say. "It's a way for teens and college students to feed their incessant need to always be in touch and live their lives publicly."

No more.

Smart consultants and professionals have tuned into social media to build and maintain their professional relationships, increase awareness among potential clients, encourage feedback, and both generate and receive referrals.

Every successful business owner recognizes the value of building relationships by participating in association meetings and tradeshows as well as staying current by reading the trade literature. Social media are just technological extensions of those proven vehicles—with the added benefit of immediacy that meetings and literature lack. This is to say nothing of the lower cost in terms of time and travel.

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