Helping my sister embrace the use of social media tools

My sister who I lovingly call the "Camster" retired about a year ago from the FDIC  as a compliance examiner.  Now, she's helping banks in western Texas, New Mexico and Colorado with pre-audit consulting services.   I just helped her write a marketing letter to send to prospective customers, but now she wants a newsletter.

The problem with newsletters, to me, is that they get lost in the mail, so I am going to change her focus to blogging and social media.  As many of us in the blogosphere already have realized, a good blog can get loyal readers and followers.

So, my recommendation for my sister is:
1)  Set up a Linkedin  profile that tells people what you do for a living.   I'll share the profiles of clients like Brian Massey and Andy Meadows as solid examples of people who clearly communicate their expertise in their chosen fields.
2)  Get a Twitter  account and start following  people who comment on FDIC and bank regulations.
3)  Search the blogosphere to find those who are already blogging on the topic.
4)  Create a blog that connects other social media correspondents on this topic with her.
5)  Use Budurl .com as a way to track her responses.  It's one of the unique social media tools that will amaze her.


(Full disclosure:  I provide public relations to the management team for Budurl, but even so, it's one of the coolest tools for 2009.)