Google Alerts: Free intel on you, your clients, competition

I use "Google Alerts," their free, automated service, to notify me when anything appears in their database about me, my web sites, or subjects I'm interested in. You should, too.

Find out if someone mentions your name or your firm name in a web page or blog post.

Keep track of news in your practice areas.

Stay abreast of items that mention your clients or prospects, by name, or their industry. Show them you care about them by judiciously forwarding links to that information.

Another way to use Google Alerts is to track information about key people with whom you want to network. You might make a list of key vendors, suppliers, or professional advisors to the types of clients you target. Alerts will allow you to follow what they are doing. For example, if a consultant publishes a new article or gets an award, you can write and congratulate them, offer comments on their article, or propose a joint marketing effort.

The possibilities are endless.

For more information on Google Alerts, go to http://www.google.com/alerts

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