Social Networking For Lawyers Webinar

Social Networking for Lawyers Law Firm Internet Marketing in the Era of Web 2.0

How Social Networking applies Legal Professionals
How to use social media tools to maximize professional benefits
Best practice knowledge and planning guide for using social media in the legal profession
Any questions – we’re using #sm4law on Twitter

Why should you care?
Conversation will happen if you are there or not
It’s not about your Law Firm website anymore. Doug Jasinski*: “ Your web presence has to move beyond the firm website. “
Direct channel to your current/future customers
Virtual networks are today’s digital business environments
Doug Jasinski in Social Media for Lawyers presentation http://www.skunkworks.ca/pdfs/SocialMediaForLaw.ppt

N (CC) = 449 N (PP) =224
More than 65% of lawyers who are between 25-35 years of age belong to a social network
Networks for Counsel Study April 2008 Lawyers Are Using Online Networking Too

N (CC) = 449
This question was asked only of Corporate Counsel
Lawyers Clearly See the Benefits of Online Networking Networks for Counsel Study April 2008

Expand your network
Build your Reputation/Brand
Comment on legal issues and trends
Listen (to the customer, to competitors)
Learn (from industry leaders, your customers, competitors)
Channel (opinions, image, perceptions)
Promote, Communicate (to your audience)
Key Professional Networking Activities for Lawyers

How do you merge safely into social media traffic?

3 Golden Rules for success in social media world
Pick and choose what’s right for you – you don’t have to read, write and participate in EVERYTHING
Nothing happens overnight
The more you give, the more you receive

Your Profile
At the core of social networking is your profile
= How people
perceive you
online

Basics first…
“ Write your profile for the future” (Chris Brogan):
First impression counts
Summary: “write from the mindset of the prospective employer or client“
Ratings/Recommendations very important
Photo – who is behind the profile?
Showcase expertise – YOUR expertise
People do business with people they like, know and trust

Not just the resume
Expertise – link to blog
Keywords
Status/what you are working on..
Drive traffic to your blog and presentations
Articles you’ve written
Organizations and committees
Pro bono
Professional Profiles

Be reachable and accessible
Effective photo and contact information
Expertise and area of practice is clear and well defined
Credible authority established
Link to all community posts – showcase expertise
Links to others = well connected
Interests give personal feeling
Activity and frequency of use establishes commitment
Lawyer Profiles

Profile Best Practices
Be Honest and transparent
Personal and Professional – know your boundaries
Spread your profile – in the right places
Be responsive & trustworthy
Finish what you start
Value and create thought leadership
Remember: All other media and company policies apply

Online Networking
Listen, collaborate, participate - build a strong network
just like you don’t do business following a 2 min introductory meeting, you need to invest in online connections to make it happen

Factors for Choosing a Professional Network
Brand: Seek sites with a strong industry footprints to ensure longevity
Safety and security:
Participate in networks that you trust, and which provide sufficient security and authentication to make professional users feel safe
This is a key benefit to private, members-only and legal-focused networks
Global membership: One of the great benefits of online networking is its global reach. Seek out international communities for business
Diversity of features: Your Law 2.0 needs will change over time. Find a network that offers many different ways to participate
Richness of conversation : As knowledge sharing is key to the success of a professional network, look for active discussions and comments that offer idea exchange.
Size: Look for a critical mass of members in your specialty to achieve your networking goals

Use Suggested Connections Suggested connections help lawyers find lawyers with shared backgrounds.

The Network Effect: Source Trusted Referrals Find a trusted colleague who knows the lawyer you’re researching.

Connecting Online - Best practices
“ the Virtual Handshake ”
Asking permission
Individually decide if it is appropriate to initiate a connection
Write a personal email
Do not chase
Thank people
it’s OK to decline or ignore

Maintain relationship – What are your connections up to? Automated news feeds on your connections and communities can reveal actionable information

Using Groups to Segment Your Audience
Find “Relevant” Colleagues
Common interests
Narrow peer groups into smaller, more focused clusters
Enables “deep dives” into subject matter with trusted colleagues
Groups are Focused & Intimate
Introduce yourself to the group and offer brief background
Participate frequently and offer ideas, questions and insights
Be helpful and pro-active

Blog
Showcase expertise
Write about something you enjoy, that you find interesting
Write frequently
Engage your audience

“ How Do I Use Social Media to Increase Professional Credibility & Raise Visibility?”
Be a Thought Leader and share your POV
Through social media the opportunity is there for the taking!
Professional networks offer MANY opportunities to showcase your knowledge
Participation is key to using social media successfully
IT is yours for the taking
Discuss IT, blog IT, answer IT, poll IT, comment on IT, podcast IT
Use the tools of social media to take charge of IT

So how do you control and follow all of this info?

How to use RSS
Click on the orange button
Copy the link at top of the page
Page it into an RSS reader:
Google Reader
Netvibes/Pageflakes

Top 10 Uses for law firms *
Current awareness
Firm marketing
RSS republishing
Feed mixing & filtering for subject collections
Client press
Vanity feeds
Internal research collections
Feeding on marketing content for KM
Case law & legislative changes
Aggregated tagging
*Source: Vancouver Law Librarian Blog
http://vancouverlawlib.blogspot.com/2006/09/top-10-uses-for-rss-in-law-firms.html

Reputation Management
Listen - What are people saying about you, your service, your industry, you competitors?
Respond - If you find yourself quoted, mentioned or commented about on a blog or article, use comments area to respond – right away
http:// www.google.com /alerts

More can be found on: http://twitter.com/downloads

Tweet: Link to interesting news/articles
Contribute Value to the Community
ReTweet: recognize other’s Tweets
From Chris Brogan’s 50 ideas of using Twitter for Business:
When promoting a blog post, ask a question or explain what’s coming next, instead of just dumping a link.
Ask questions. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions.
Commenting on others’ tweets, and retweeting what others have posted is a great way to build community.

Confidentiality and Ethics rules apply
Be honest
Don’t tweet anything that could make you feel awkward later on
Don’t spam

Twellow.com – optimise your Bio area for the right categorization in Twitter Yellow Pages
Wefollow.com – register yourself in a ‘Tags-based’ Directory
Seach key words in people’s bios http:// www.tweepsearch.com
Follow one or two people that interest you and follow those they follow
Tap into TweetScoop and #hashtags

Each has around 500 followers
Plus my followers
Webinar info was sent to….. 6000 people in 10 seconds with zero cost
Credit to Doug Jasinski for this helpful use case structure!

Other Useful Guidelines and Tips
‘ Tags’ and ‘keywords’ analysis guide http://www.briansolis.com/2008/03/discovering-and-listening-to.html
Chris Brogan: How to Do Business on Twitter: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-business/
How do other brands do Twitter:
http://mashable.com/2009/01/21/best-twitter-brands/
“ Twitter Tips in 140 characters and more”
http://www.twitip.com/
@ atsakala offer a great Social Media Guidelines document – tweet him to ask for a copy
Read Blogs of Lawyers on Twitter – all have posts with great advice on Twitter for Lawyers

8 Minute Social Media Game Plan
For an effective Social Media-savvy lawyer...
Spends 5 minutes a day scanning RSS feeds, blogs and emails
1 second to check reputation alert, topic or company key word alert
5 minutes to respond-- if need be -- to a blog post or social media entry
Send email to author of great article – invites to connect if she responds
Logs into professional network every few days for about 8-10 minutes
Connects to 1-3 people every few visits
Writes a personalized email to 1-2 connections
Scans forums or blogs
Comments briefly or posts a message
Once or twice a month (at least) – writes or co-writes a blog entry
Twitters new blog post
Posts blog on network profile
RSS sends blog entry automatically to all subscribers
Responds to comments

Thanks!
Twitter: @alinwagnerlahmy
Linkedin.com/alinwagnerlahmy

Additional Information followed by Q&A session
Information on BabyBoomers and online: http://www.martindale.com/blog/BlogComments.aspx?bid=35228&tid=213&ct=15 and warmly recommend following @ carloshernandez
Personal and professional, great post by Doug Cornelius http://www.compliancebuilding.com/2009/04/13/the-4-ps-of-the-social-internet/

Social Networking For Lawyers Webinar

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