We get a lot of questions about whether or not its worthwhile to participate in social networks such as LinkedIn. Our advice is always, “Yes, Do it, do it now“.

Proof that it works. We’re in LA this week speaking about marketing effectiveness and best practices in marketing at an annual meeting of a national law firm network. I met a corporate lawyer who got a $70 million international transaction from LinkedIn. He expects to bill six figures in fees.

Here’s how it worked:

The international client did a Google search for an LA corporate lawyer with experience with mergers and acquisitions for companies which have operations in Asia.

The lawyer’s LinkedIn profile showed-up in the search results.

The client reviewed the lawyer’s profile and found out everything he needs to know about the lawyer to hire him.

The lawyer runs three LinkedIn groups, participates in other industry related groups. He also has his blog linked to his LinkedIn account, updates his status and asks for and makes recommendations… consistently. This raised his rankings on Google for the search terms the Asia-based client used

So, is it worthwhile to participate in social networks such as LinkedIn? Yes. Do it, do it now.