To become a successful professional today, bet on social media tools that will pay off for your business. 

If you’re an independent consultant, advisor, or other professional service provider, it’s necessary to have a social media presence but the number of possible platforms grows daily. As a business professional, you can't use every available platform out there today -- so you need to make a bet on the best tools where you can get the most marketing bang for your investment. At the same time, you should avoid a social media time suck that could otherwise kill your productivity. 

While Facebook is the leading social media platform with over a billon users, it’s not yet for the serious business professional. Sure, lots of large corporations have a Facebook presence and will continue to invest there. But for projecting a professional image and managing client interactions, you’re best bet is the professional’s social media network trifecta: Twitter, LinkedIn, and a Brainsy ECN account. Here’s what you get with each…   

Twitter:  A media platform for short messages and an ability to identify trending topics with those that have similar interests. Twitter can be your indiscriminate network whereby you can connect to anyone and everyone but use MUTE on users to de-clutter your timeline.  With this feature, another person’s Tweets and re-tweets will no longer be visible in your timeline. 

LinkedIn: Access to nearly 400 million business professionals around the world and LinkedIn’s. LinkedIn is the established leader and a must-have for establishing your baseline credentials. Warning: Use it cautiously and only connect to those you know -- as many fake accounts and fraudulent marketing schemes take place by those trying to exploit this powerful platform.

Brainsy ECN: As part of an Expert Calling Network (ECN), you can get paid for phone calls with new or existing clients.  Carefully manage existing and prospective clients by using a range of personal media platform tools and pick up unexpected new clients. Warning: An ECN is better for quality, not quantity, interactions but you can leverage the ECN InCall tool to bridge your ECN account with other social media properties  - such as your LinkedIn account (see image below).

Not everyone is authorized or invited to participate in an Expert Calling Network (ECN) but anyone can get access the ECN Incall feature by subscribing to an ECN Incall account which will convert your existing social media profiles into transactional, revenue-generating, platforms. 

Also, to see an actual ECN Incall badge live on a LinkedIn member's profile, you can visit one of several LinkedIn profiles deploying the badge (but you must be signed into LinkedIn and not using a mobile device): Example #1: (Brian Christie) https://www.linkedin.com/in/bpchristie Example #2: (Tom McKeown) https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommmckeown

There are hundreds of other social media platforms available for other uses and don't ignore them if you think they would be helpful to your business. But for the business professional seeking to strengthen or expand a network, the social media trifecta of LinkedIn, Twitter, and Brainsy ECN is your best initial bet.