Thanks to Colin O’Keefe and the entire LXBN TV crew for the interviews and coverage of Avvocating 2012. Check out the complete LexBlog Avvocating Wrap Up (including 25 video interviews). Of all the interviews, here is the one my mom likes the best:
Be sure to visit the LXBN wrap-up page. It is chocked full of excellent content. Those guys did some serious work between Thursday and Monday morning.
Time to open up Evernote and give you a rundown of all the happenings of Day 2 at the 2012 Avvocating Conference. It’s hard to know where to being. The amount of information that was disseminated today will likely take a while to digest. The quality of speakers and presenters at the conference (sans myself) was nothing other than top notch. I am really impressed with the people that Avvo brought in for this particular conference. So, without further adieu, here are some of my notes from today’s proceedings.
Josh King (@joshuamking) is General Counsel for Avvo. Of all the presenters, I think Josh did the most to assuage concerns that lawyers have about using social media as marketing tools. The key take away from Josh’s presentation was “Attorney advertising rules apply to advertising, not to posts or information about attorneys.” Josh pointed out four areas of potential concern: (1) testimonials; (2) client solicitation; (3) promising results; and (4) bureaucratic requirements. Testimonials are in their early stages and various bar organizations are trying to figure out how to deal with them. Bottom line, you really don’t need to worry about them (unless you have a specific bar rule prohibiting them). But client solicitation was an interesting discussion.
Josh and I spoke after his presentation and I agree with him–the in-person solicitation rules are designed to prevent lawyers from pitching clients on the spot–essentially, situations where the potential client has no choice but to respond. Since us crafty and charismatic lawyers work all sorts of magic, obviously in-person solicitation is problematic because no one can resist us. I agree that bar organizations will have a hard time applying these “in-person” solicitation rules to social media discussions. After all, the potential client can simply stop participating in the conversation. Our wily ways don’t work over the Interwebs. A few other tips from a presentation designed to make lawyers more comfortable with social media and the review process:
Follow these tips and it is unlikely that you will ever have any problem with your local bar. If you do, call Josh (and he’ll solve it haha). Always remember that clients can say whatever they want–a client testimonial is not an advertisement.
Sachia Bhatia (@sachbhat), Director of Product Management at Avvo, discussed four basic things that every Avvo user should do and then identified three new opportunities to take advantage of. First, the four necessities: (1) Keep your profile up to date–there are few things worse than an outdated, stale profile. (2) Solicit reviews from current and past clients–these reviews are important to your Avvo ranking and also have impact in search engine results. (3) Build out your endorsement network. Find attorneys you can legitimately endorse and request legitimate endorsements in return–the “I endorse this lawyer” line simply doesn’t cut it anymore. Endorsements need to be detailed and descriptive. (4) Answer questions to showcase expertise. Again, answering questions on Avvo helps your Avvo score and it also increases your exposure by exponential factors. Not all of us can be level 20 contributors (some of us have to actually bill hours after all–I’m only a level 10 contributor and no, I don’t have an Avvo rating of 10–who can fix that for me?). But answer questions when you can. Subscribe to immediate email updates for questions in your practice areas and your localities so that you can be a first responder. This will be more important as Avvo rolls out some new features.
Sachia also discussed three “new” opportunities that more Avvo lawyers should be using: (1) Avvo on the go–start getting Avvo updates wherever you are (see the discussion above about “immediate” subscriptions to questions); (2) Bring Avvo Home–make sure that all of the work you do on Avvo and other sites, such as answering questions or publishing guides, pushes users back to your Core Web Presence. Use Avvo to help bring your potential clients to your home turf; and (3) Bring answers back to your site. This is something I plan on implementing immediately. When you answer a question on Avvo, publish that question and answer on your own site. Increase your footprint and show the visitors to your homepage the knowledge you have (and hopefully answer some of their questions along the way).
Panel Discussion: Kelly H. Zinser (@kellyzinser), Linda M. Callahan (@DUIAttyCallahan), Peter Gonzalez (linkedin.com/in/peterjgonzales), Rich Sierra (businesslawyer.biz). As was the case yesterday, it was hard to take notes on the panel discussion–to much conversation going back and forth. The panel continued on the theme established by Sachia and discussed how to best use Avvo and how it was working in their respective practices. I hope the panel discussions make their way onto a Avvo / Lawyernomics video post. The information exchanged in the panels was invaluable.
Ari Kaplan (@AriKaplan), President/Owner of Ari Kaplan Advisors. Ari’s presentation was one of my favorites. His creativity in building networks and a working referral base is unmatched. He spent most of his time focusing on how you should be making efforts to help your network increase their personal business and success. For example, Ari scours the web, including sites such as http://www.helpareporterout.com, and then forwards links to those in his network to follow up on. “Self promotion has very little to do with promoting yourself. It really has to do with helping to promote others.” Absolutely brilliant.
He is creating an extremely loyal network by helping his network succeed. His focus is on his connections, not himself. And my personal favorite tip was to do quick video interviews with “important” people as an icebreaker or a way to open that networking door. I was really impressed by this idea. I think it is brilliant. So I went “Ari” on “Ari” and here is the result (it will play upright, I promise):
Thanks for the interview Ari. Hopefully it will be the first of many more. For whatever reason, this really resonated with me. What a great way to build a network, especially with those who otherwise might not give you the time of day. I was so impressed, I got Ari’s book.
Vanessa Fox (@vanessafox) is a search guru. While her presentation was entitled “Marketing in the Age of Google,” it quickly became apparent that the subject de jure was “How do I convince people to hire me.” According to Vanessa, “Search is valuable for figuring out what people really want.” And figuring out what people want is extremely important because these three steps are necessary to convince people to hire you:
Figure out what your audience is searching for and make sure that you are found there. Speak their language. Enough with the “Environmental Remediation Litigation Specialist.” How about “environmental cleanup lawyer” or some other layman term that might actually get searched. “Remember to talk about things in the same way that your audience talks about them.” Also remember that SEO “is about solving people’s problems.”
Two bits of invaluable advice: (1) Every page of your site is the home page–you never know where a user is going to land so make sure your important information is available on all of your pages; (2) How to rank well in search engines: Have great content that people love.
Mark Kelly (@chair10 / @mkelly7777), President and Founder of Chair 10 Marketing. I am going to be honest here. Mark gave one of the best PPC presentations I have seen (and I have seen a lot). I’ve requested his slides and I am going to do a full post on PPC once I have a chance to distill all that information. If you missed Mark, you missed out. (I was also fortunate to have Mark help critique my “elevator pitch” at the Avvo social hour on Thursday night.) This is one bright, bright guy. A quick tip for now (and plenty to come later): “Make sure your page headings match your PPC or search terms; when someone searches a key phrase, they want to see that key phrase listed in the page’s title so that they know that clicking the link will likely get them the information they want and need.”
Duane Forrester (@duaneforrester / web: http://www.bing.com/webmaster). Look, when your web address is “Bing Webmaster,” I’m pretty sure you are going to have some important things to say. Similar to Mike Blumenthal’s presentation from Day 1, Duane presented explicit details about the Bing algorithm, particularly how Bing includes social media in its search rankings and results. It is too complex for me to describe here but how about some statistics:
CPL (Cost Per Lead)
How much is each of your clients worth? Does the worth of your client justify the amount of money you are spending on obtaining leads that actually turn into clients? Although there is much, much more to Stephen’s presentations (including a multi-day seminar put on by The Rainmaker Institute), here are some final parting thoughts on lead conversion:
Five stages of conversion:
Here is a quick wrap up of some things I took away from the first day of Avvo‘s 2012 Avvocating Conference. First and foremost, Seattle is rainy. Second, there are a lot of people here who are a lot smarter than me. Here is a quick run down (and yes, for those of you who listened to my panel, I am using my jottings in Evernote to flesh this out):
Rich Barton (@Rich_Barton) is somewhat visionary. Consumers are empowered these days. They are also impatient and demanding. ”42% of consumers surveyed indicated they would contact another service provider if they have not heard back within one hour.” Not only are consumers empowered, they are using that power to review and rate nearly everything, including you, your abilities, your service, and your law firm. “If it can be reviewed, it will be reviewed.” Rich’s vision is obvious from has past and current endeavors: Expedia, Zillow, Glassdoor.com, Trover, Netflix, Nextdoor, Avvo, etc.
Mark Britton (@mark_britton) is extremely (extremely) impressive. Founder, CEO, and President of Avvo. Here are some highlights. Target three things: (1) your audience; (2) your time; and (3) and your spend. Having a strong Core Web Presence (“CWP”) is essential. It doesn’t have to be a $10,000 website–it can be a strong Avvo profile or a solid blog (like this one haha). But your CWP is imperative to your marketing efforts and ultimately your success. Everything should link back to your CWP. Looking forward, three things that are changing: (1) the social media opportunity; (2) the video opportunity; and (3) the mobile opportunity. “Video is changing everything” and, if you are forward thinking, you should be optimizing your web platforms for mobile devices. My favorite tidbits: (1) don’t get wrapped around the “risk axle” and avoid potential opportunities. Write down all of the opportunities before you start looking for the risks and/or negatives; and (2) be proactive on Twitter–don’t wait for consumers to come to you, go out and find there groups and become a part of their community.
Carolyn Elefant (@carolynelefant), author of MyShingle.com. Carolyn really hammered home the point of hyper-local practices and marketing. She is an expert (through experience) on developing a niche practice (and even a niche within that niche). When it comes to social media, offer things of value–things that other people value to the extent that they want to pass them along to their friends. She also suggests making basic legal forms free to your clients as a business development tool. The information is out there. Consumers will find it. They might as well get it from you so that you can offer up some value-added services to these same consumers.
Matt Homann (@MattHomann), founder of LexThink and the NonBillableHour.com blog spoke on retaining existing clients. Advice: just because you write it, tweet it, blog it, or post it, it doesn’t mean that it matters or your clients care. Lawyers need to spend more time on improving their clients’ service experience. Think about the stages of the “service experience.” (What does the client see? What does the client hear? What does the client wonder? What will the client tell others?) Breed client loyalty by making your client smarter, more successful, and sexier. In my mind, the most valuable point he made is that you need to focus on your clients’ “influencers.” In other words, who (or what) influences your clients and their actions? Hone in on them and utilize them. Maybe this is where to target some of your marketing dollars. After all, these are the people that are really driving your clients’ decisions.
Panel Discussion Moderated by Matt Homann: Mischelle Davis (@MischelleDavis), Kelly Phillips Erb (@taxgirl), Tyson B. Snow (yours truly, @tysonESQ), and Tim Flynn (@clarkstonlegal). Candidly, I was having too much fun participating in the panel presentation to provide much insight here. All of the panelists were great. Mischelle has me more interested in Facebook as a marketing platform. Kelly is simply brilliant, both in her approach to blogging and social media, as well as in life in general. Tim is a real world guy who is implementing all of these techniques and doing it successfully. His advice to “always remember you are a lawyer first” should not be ignored. I learned a lot from all of them. And Matt did a great job of moderating. For whoever was watching, feel free to give a panel summary in the comments.
Mike Blumenthal (@mblumenthal) is a Google / search engine guru. Mike is simply brilliant. I consider (or like to consider) myself a tech nerd. After all, I did pay my way through law school by running PPC search engines (back in the day of ah-ha! and Overture–even before Google Ads had hit the scene). But Mike blew me away with his presentation. I feel like I need copies of his slides so that I can study them for hours (in order to properly understand them). This guy knows search. His understanding is so deep that it can be difficult to comprehend. Google’s search algorithm is extremely complex–Mike seems to know all about it. Follow this guy and you will learn a lot. A lot.
Now, two general observations. I am really, really impressed with Mark Britton. Whatever he is selling, I am buying. He is innovative, thoughtful, and quite charismatic. He cares about his product (Avvo) but he cares more about the users of Avvo and whether the product is resulting in success stories. Meeting and speaking at length with Mark will definitely be one of the highlights of this trip. He is one good guy.
Matt Homann is one of the best presenters I have ever seen. That guy is nails on stage. The combination of humor, entertainment, and quality content mixed with his presentation style and skills went unmatched. I would recommend him to any firm or organization looking for a consultant or a speaker for any event. This guy is legit. I can’t wait to see him present again.
Finally, let me add that it was awesome to be associated with a group of so prominent, so successful people. I look up to and admire all of these people and it was a pleasure to share the stage with each of them. It was also fun to talk with Kevin O’Keefe off-stage (at length). Kevin and I have been Twitter friends for a long, long time.
Great first day. My apologies if I missed anything important. Feel free to contact me with any additions you think are warranted. Having written this up, I’m even more excited for Day 2!
Thanks Avvo for the opportunity and for putting on such a great presentation. As I come across other summaries, I will add links so you can get perspectives from others in attendance.
Here is a brief interview I did in anticipation of Avvo’s 2012 Avvocating Conference, which is coming up next week. I look pretty goofy on camera:
My thanks to Colin O’Keefe of LexBlog / LXBN TV for conducting the interview. I am looking forward to the conference and hope to see some of my readers there.
In a world where social media “experts” are a dime a dozen and everyone is a marketing “professional” (or even better, a Twitter / Social Media / Technology ”evangelist” — I love the evangelists) it is nice to come across actual useful tips that are easily implemented and yield results. (The only question is whether and why I would want to give these tips away haha.) Even better, how about something that is free.
I recently listensed to a presentation by Stephen Fairley, founder of the Rainmaker Institute (someone who actually is a “professional” and successful marketer) and picked up a tip on Facebook Pages and vanity URLs. The tip was, essentially, “if you don’t have one, get one. In fact, get more than one.”
I’ve never been a big fan of using Facebook as a marketing tool; of all the major social media outlets, it tended to fall towards the bottom of my list. But, after listening to Stephen’s emphatic plea, I decided to give it a shot. I setup a page for “Utah Employment Lawyer”. At first, it was just a random page with a random URL with basically no content. But once you get enough likes (25 or 30), Facebook will allow you to choose a “vanity” URL (assuming the URL you pick is available). And that is when you can really start to make things happen.
Back to the story. So, I invited a bunch of my friends, reached the “like” threshold, and chose “utahemploymentlawyer” as my vanity URL. In other words, http://facebook.com/utahemploymentlawyer will now take you to my fan page.
The search engine results, especially on Google, were almost immediate–and somewhat shocking. As you can see from the screenshot below, my Facebook page is an organic result on Google’s first page for searches for “Utah Employment Lawyer”. While there are several paid listings and SEO’ed sites ahead of mine, I am still on the first page, within days, for free–and by visiting my page, you will notice that I have done very little work (which will now change given my search engine positioning). Here is the proof:
Now, I am sure we all recognize that when someone is searching for a lawyer, they might not be interested in going to a Facebook page (as opposed to a law firm website). But people are also willing to click a few different links. And if your fan page contains adequate content and links back to your firm’s website, you have built another “connection” to your practice. In this case, the result is very clear: “Utah Employment Lawyer” in big blue (or purple if you have visited the site) letters, on the first page of Google’s results for a set of terms that are likely to be searched by someone who is looking for a utah employment lawyer. Plus, this is a great way of reminding your friends that you are someone that might be able to help them out if they need some legal advice.
So get to it. Just visit http://www.facebook.com/page and take a couple of minutes to setup a page. I am sure there is plenty you can do to dress up your fan pages (feel free to give me some suggestions in the comments). Suddenly, you have a new, free, marketing resource that took $0.00 out of your budget. And since you will be on Facebook anyway, feel free to like my Facebook Fan Pages:
http://www.facebook.com/utahemploymentlawyer
http://www.facebook.com/utahattorney
http://www.facebook.com/socialmediaesq
For what it is worth, in the time it took to write this post, I setup a Fan Page for Social Media Esq., sent out ”like” requests to all my friends (I wasn’t shy about it) and received numerous “likes” within minutes. I then sent out a request over Twitter. From there, it only took an hour or two to get to the number of likes I needed to claim http://www.facebook.com/socialmediaesq
This is something you can do and you can do it quickly and easily. Regardless of what business you are in, I suggest you take a little time and do this. One of the best free marketing tips out there. Enjoy!
I tweeted about this fantastic resource earlier but I think it warrants its own blog entry. Many of you may not be familiar with JDSupra:
I am a big fan of the site and try to contribute frequently. (You can see my profile at: http://www.jdsupra.com/profile/tysonsnow/.) For those who are unfamiliar with this legal-specific social media / sharing site, you should definitely check it out. Among the numerous features available, the site will incorporate directly with LinkedIn so you can share your documents and newsletters across both platforms with nothing more than a click.
Even more valuable are the numerous RSS feeds, specifically tailored to practice areas. If nothing else, you need to check out the RSS feeds / Twitter lists that are available. The immense amount of legal information (from some of the biggest, most respected law firms in the world, as well as solo practitioners who are consistently proving the effectiveness of their tactics). Fire up Google Reader or your favorite RSS Aggregator and start getting timely, frequent updates and basically any practice area you can imagine.
Ultimately, however, this post focuses on a resource I stumbled across as a result of Adrian Lurssen, a JDSupra co-founder, and a friend of mine since JDSupra launched. (You should definitely follow him at @AdrianLurssen.)
But here is what you really need to be aware of:
JDSupra’s Small Business Report, published on April 10/11, 2012. The focus of this issue is: “Social Media in the Workplace: Lawyers Weigh In…” Go ahead and bookmark this now. Seriously. It is one of the best resources regarding the intersection of social media and employment law. This Report includes cites to numerous publications, all of which contain great information. A sampling:
eWorkplace Policies – Social-Media, Privacy & Internet-Security (Fenwick & West): Impressive, 129-page publication covering workplace technology issues of the day: “Given the mobility of electronic information, the stakes keep getting higher. Employees have access to, and are the gatekeepers of, trade secrets and other sensitive and confidential information. There are now many more ways that key information can be compromised, lost or stolen…” Read on>>
Federal Courts Determine That Social Networking Accounts Can Contain Trade Secrets (Wilson Sonsini): “As more businesses take advantage of social networking sites to build their brands and expand their marketing efforts, the question arises: can such promotional tools include protectable trade secrets? In at least some circumstances they can, according to two federal courts considering misappropriation cases involving MySpace and Twitter accounts…” Read on>>
Socially Aware: The Social Media Law Update — Vol. 3, Issue 2 April 2012 (Morrison & Foerster): “The FTC has not yet publicly addressed this issue, but we think that it could challenge an advertiser’s failure to disclose the consideration received in exchange for an endorsement conveyed by a ‘like.’ Any disclosure that the FTC would seek to prescribe in connection with “likes” displayed within the Facebook platform would most likely have to be built into Facebook’s “like” feature itself – something that is not within advertisers’ direct control…” Read on>>
Employers Must Update Their Social Media Policies (White & Case): “One of the main points underscored by the second [NLRB] report is that ‘[e]mployer policies should not be so sweeping that they prohibit the kinds of activity protected by federal labor law, such as the discussion of wages or working conditions among employees.’ The NLRA permits union and non-union employees who are not “supervisors” to engage in concerted action for their mutual aid and protection, including discussing their terms and conditions of employment. Such discussions are increasingly taking place on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and the like…” Read on>>
Second Verse: Worse Than the First! (McNees Wallace & Nurick): “We have discussed this many times before in the last year, but it is worth repeating: now is the time to review and narrowly tailor your policies to ensure compliance with rapidly-developing [NLRB] case law. With carefully crafted policies, you can still protect the your organization’s reputation and intellectual property; enforce attendance and harassment policies; and do so, without infringing on employees’ right to engage in protected concerted activity…” Read on>>
Regulate Employee Technology Use Without Becoming a Target (Lane Powell): “Contrary to popular belief, private sector employees do not have a constitutional right to ‘free speech’ in the workplace. Many employees do, however, have the right under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to engage in ‘concerted activities for the purpose of … mutual aid or protection.’ While the NLRA does not protect actions taken solely on an employee’s own behalf, it does protect actions taken with or on behalf of at least one other employee, or on the authority of other employees, when those activities relate to the terms and conditions of their employment…” Read on>>
Password Protected – Proposed Social Media Privacy Legislation (Sheppard Mullin): “…a handful of states have drafted legislation seeking to outlaw what some consider to be an invasion of privacy. Lawmakers in Illinois, Maryland, and California have proposed legislation that would prohibit employers from requiring that current or prospective employees provide or disclose any user names, passwords, or other ways of accessing a personal online account. State lawmakers from Connecticut and New Jersey are considering drafting similar legislation, as is the United States Senate…” Read on>>
If you are an employment lawyer, general counsel, an employer, or just someone who is interested in the impact that social media is having on the workplace, you need to check out this compendium. In a relatively short period of time, you will be well versed in nearly all significant social media issues as they relate to employment law and employees.
The only negative about the Report is that there is nothing from me included in it (haha). I’ll forgive Adrian for that. But seriously, check this out. It is well worth your time. Feel free to browse my profile and the articles / posts I have uploaded in order to familiarize yourself with the site; big firms are using it, small firms and solos are using it, and you should be too. This Social Media in the Workplace Report is a perfect example of why:
Of the “social” resources available to lawyers, this is one of the best. I’ve been using it since it launched and will continue to do so in the future. And I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences with the site and how it has helped your practice, your marketing, and your overall success. It can be a little overwhelming at first but check out the Report (for social media issues) and check out the site for whatever needs you may have.
(For what it is worth, I do not receive any special benefits or perks from JDSupra; my opinions are based on the fact that this site rocks.)
Let me cordially invite all of you to join me for Avvo’s 2012 Avvocating Conference on May 3-4 in Seattle, WA. The conference is themed: Legal Marketing in the Era of Social Media and I have been asked to participate in a panel discussion on, of course, Social Media for Lawyers.
In addition to the invaluable information I will be offering up (haha), Avvo has put together an amazing agenda of speakers, topics, and events. The opening keynote address will be by Rich Barton (Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Zillow and Founder, Expedia). The closing keynote will be by Stephen Fairley (Founder & CEO of The Rainmaker Institute) and the agenda includes topics such as:
Add in the opportunity to network with some of the most insightful and experienced legal minds and marketers, and this is basically a can’t-miss event. If you still aren’t convinced, check the agenda and the lineup of speakers.
And if you want some icing for that cake, Avvocating will be held at the beautiful Bell Harbor Conference Center, which is located right on the waterfront in Seattle:
See you all there!
(Slickdeals Note: Visit my friend Stephen Fairley’s website, The Rainmaker Blog, for a promo code to save you some cash.)
A while back, I wrote an article about marketing my new firm, Mumford West & Snow LLC, despite the fact that we didn’t have a “real” website. (I’m not sure Mumford West & Snow LLC has a real website at this point–but that is nothing more than an aside.)
Just recently, my partners and I got together with the partners of two other firms in Salt Lake City. After several discussions, we reached a conclusion: merger. In an anouncement of sorts, Rawson & Goff and Wasatch Advocates have merged with Mumford West & Snow to form: Mumford Rawson & Bates LLC. (And don’t worry, I’m still a partner–and I founding one at that–I just don’t get my name on the letterhead.)
But suddenly I face the same dilemma that confronted me when we started up Mumford West & Snow LLC. We are in the process of getting a website up and running but, in the meantime, how should I start marketing the new/merged firm? This question reminded me of a post I made back when Mumford West was just out of the incubator. Here are some refresher tips that I plan on implementing over the next few days (while we wait for our awesome new site to hit the Interwebs).
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Beginning in January (more or less), we started Mumford West & Snow, LLC. Now, if you visit the link to our website, you’ll quickly notice that we really don’t have one. On the priority list of starting a new firm, I guess the firm website ended up fairly low.
Side Note: This was probably a poor decision.
But the past is the past. The point of this post is to discuss how I have been able to market the new firm without a website. Initially, a good firm website is essential to all firms. It provides clients and potential clients with information they need to evaluate whether your background and experience fits their needs and whether it is worth contacting you. This is particularly true when it comes to referrals, and even more true when referrals are given multiple firms / lawyers to evaluate.
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While my new firm has been “settling in” (finalizing the firm name, marketing materials, logos, looking at bringing in some other attorneys, etc.), we have been waiting on creating a website. A lot goes into making a quality site and it isn’t something you want to have to repeat several times.
But we’re not completely in the dark. First of all, the firms that merged with us still have their websites up and running (as do we) and with phone numbers ported over, we (hopefully) are not missing many calls / inquiries. More important, at least for my practice, is my presence on Avvo.com, LinkedIn and Twitter (as well as Martindale and Facebook). Those “social” sites have picked up a lot of the marketing slack that normally would result from starting a firm without any place to send potential clients. For example, I can still point potential clients to publications and areas of expertise (even if they aren’t listed on my “firm” website):
http://www.socialmediaesq.com/about-2/
Ah yes, the power of the independent blog.I have been able to market myself and my firm through LinkedIn connections and a network of people that were willing to recommend both my abilities and me. I can point to my Twitter presence as an illustration of my efforts and my knowledge of the current state of the law and my ability to stay on top of the latest developments, particularly developments that may affect clients’ businesses or lawsuits.
One of my favorite sites (disclaimer: I am a guest blogger for them) is Avvo.com. As you can tell, I spend a lot of time managing my reputation on that site and contributing to the community:
The take-away: Have a website. Make it good. Update it frequently. That is where your potential clients are going to go first. But don’t assume that spending thousands of dollars on a killer website is the only solution. Content, connections, and a big footprint among the legal community (and the consumers associated with that community) are an important solution. This blog, my Avvo / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook accounts, and long-time presence in the social media world are proof of that. I have continued to successfully market and build a firm without the traditional “key” marketing component of a website. As the Washington Post recently pointed out, more and more, practitioners are seeing social media as a client development tool.
Make sure you are using all the tools that are available to you! How have you used social media as an alternative to your website marketing?
Wow. Great article over at the ALM Press Room today: 4 in 10 Law Firms Report landing New Clients by Using Social Media, According to ALM Legal Intelligence Special Report.”
According to the ALM Legal Intelligence survey, 49% of U.S. law firms report that blogging and social media have resulted in lead generation and, even more surprising, 41% report that blogging and social media have helped them land actual work. That is a pretty good conversion / closing ratio if you ask me.
The survey was conducted in December 2011 and January 2012 with a sample of “180 law firm partners, marketing professionals and administrators.” Granted, the sample size could have been bigger and there may be some inherent bias in the reports from the marketing professionals, but the results are still impressive.
According to Kevin Iredell, Vice President of Research and Continuing Education at ALM:
The skepticism of a decade ago has given way to a growing appreciation for the ways that blogs and various other social media and networking tools can be deployed to help build the reputation of individual lawyers and practice groups, as well as enhance law firms’ overall marketing efforts.
Hear, hear Mr. Iredell. Hear hear! I have long been a champion of using blogs and social media to help lawyers establish credibility, hone their skills and expertise, and network with other professionals. It is great to see some objective data supporting the idea that blogging and social media engagement is netting positive results (for the record, I don’t consider blogging to be “social media” — blogging doesn’t involve interaction the same way social media does — blogging is like publishing a newsletter, only faster and easier). I always figured the results would start showing up; now they are.
If I were to guess, I would say that the “new work” is likely coming from blogs or LinkedIn. I still don’t see Twitter or Facebook as particularly good business development tools (although they are great for reputation management, keeping up on legal issues, creating a professional following, and spreading your name across the Interwebs). Many “big” firms have branched out and have practice-area specific blogs these days–by publicly displaying their expertise and knowledge, the firm essentially creates a scenario where potential clients come to the table knowing that the firm can fulfill their needs.
Another couple of interesting points:
Don’t underestimate the value of this last point. The value of having your name show up in the local newspaper (in a good way) or in a trade magazine cannot be measured. But trust me, it is high. Your credibility skyrockets in the community as the community begins to recognize your name and expertise in particular fields.
I recommend that all lawyers parlay their online social and blogging efforts into other arenas, whether it is the newspaper, industry blogs, seminars or webinars, or what have you. It reminds of an experience I had at my former firm. I had been interviewed for an article in Risk & Insurance about, obviously, social media risks. A week or two after the issue came out, one of the partners came down to my office and said, “How did you get quoted in Risk & Insurance–all insurance defense and insurance coverage lawyers read this.” I told him that I regularly write and tweet on the subject (he had no idea what a tweet was) and that I had done several interviews. He was impressed. Hopefully other subscribers were too.
Hopefully the ALM survey results will hit home. Legal consumers are savvier these days. They are looking up information about you, your practice, and your success. They have hundreds of options to choose from. Are you using blogs and social media to set yourself apart from the competition? If not, now is probably a good time to start.
Oh, and if you ever have an interview request, feel free to email me at tbs@mumfordwest.com. (I’m willing to risk all the spam I will receive from email address harvesters because I know that doing interviews and presentations is mutually beneficial for those involved and extends the exposure of your online presence.)
A recent survey published by SelectMinds.com found that 72% of companies are currently using some form of social media to recruit job candidates. ” The survey asked 216 executives at US firms with 3,000 or more employees to share the details of their corporate social media initiatives.”
Highlights of the survey include:
Social media has established itself as the #1 recruiting tool and the trend indicates that it will become even more widely used in the coming years. For fairly obvious reasons, LinkedIn and Facebook are the primary resources used by companies and employers in searching for job candidates. LinkedIn, with its focus on professional careers, education, and prior employment will likely continue to lead the way in social-media-based recruiting. This is important to both candidates and companies. LinkedIn and other social media sites (to a degree) have become the job-board / classified ads for those on both sides of the hiring-decision. Make sure that you are aware of and utilizing these resources for your and your business’s benefit.
Link: SelectMinds Social Media Recruiting Survey