Category Archives: Repost

Repost: Traditional Networking – Does It Still Work

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I originally posted this on July 9, 2009. Do you think it is still relevant?

As the debate over Twitter / Social Media marketing tool heats up, we should all remember that other, successful, networking and marketing strategies exist.  Nearly everyone familiar with the subject will suggest that new media combined with traditional practice marketing will lead to the best results.  Despite my strong belief in the power of Twitter and Social Media, even I acknowledge, that a successful practice cannot rely exclusively on social media marketing.

The Rainmaker Blog recently posted an article entitled: “Law Firm Marketing: 7 Tips on Finding Clients Through Formal Networking” and it is worth a read.  I’ll give you the seven tips but if you want the explanation of how to use them, why to use them, and why they are successful, you will have to go check out the Rainmaker Blog to learn the intricacies:

  1. Join the right groups
  2. Join elite groups
  3. Use an “audio logo”
  4. Remember your primary purpose
  5. Ask open-ended questions
  6. Be intentional in your follow-up
  7. Track your efforts

[Explanations Here]. I only partially agree with their suggestions.  I think #1 and #2 are definitely important.  I question #3 and its effectiveness (depending on the practice you are trying to build).  I don’t find #4-#6 as particularly helpful; they are too general.  And I agree with #7.  But each one of these points is greatly enhanced when social media is added to the mix.  Your efforts will be easier and more effective.

Ultimately, running a successful law practice is like running a business.  You can market all day and all night but if you have a product that no one in the market wants or a product that is beat out by the competition, you’re marketing efforts will all be for naught.  The best law firm marketing comes from practicing good law that helps clients achieve their goals and satisfies their needs.

 

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Repost: Employer Reviews on LinkedIn and Other Social Sites

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Current Employment recently [edit: so it isn't so recent now, but it is still applicable] ran an interesting article: “Employers: The LinkedIn Recommendation is Not for You.”  The premise of the post is that the reviews that both prior and current employers are leaving for employees on sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook.  For employment lawyers, the problem (or the benefit — depending on whose side you are on) immediately jumps out:

Employees get terminated. A lot. And a lot of those terminations are based on performance.  As a plaintiffs’ attorney, the best evidence you have of a wrongful or discriminatory termination is documentation establishing that the “pretext” for the termination (the performance problem) is false.  Suddenly LinkedIn is in play.  Since the vast majority of reviews on LinkedIn are positive, any and all employment lawyers with plaintiff clients should be scouring the site for positive reviews from the same managers that term’ed the employee for “performance” problems.

Tim Eavenson, the author of the Current Employment article sums it up quite well:

This is just the Web 2.0 version of advice that management lawyers have been giving forever – be very careful about praising your exiting employees.  I know it sounds harsh, but glowing praise (particularly where it is undeserved) can really be a problem.  If an employment case goes to trial, you will be in the uncomfortable position of having to explain to a jury what happened in the hours or days between the writing the amazing recommendation and the time you canned the employee for poor performance.

Tim then poses the question of whether the recommendation feature on LinkedIn is worth anything.  He offers several suggestions and I agree: since anyone can make a recommendation, you can get recommendations from co-workers, friends, buddies, company insiders, or anyone else who might have a foot-in-the-door.  You can also get recommendations from prominent people you may have not worked but have interacted with: committees, boards, groups, clubs, etc.

The take-away: Employers – be careful; be very careful. Employees – a good-word or a thumbs-up from a respected colleague or member of the community can be the difference between an interview and a resume sent straight to the paper shredder.

As with all social media, the feature works better when more people use it.  And I encourage you to do that. When you have a reason to leave a recommendation or describe an experience or if someone requests your assistance, take that request seriously and give some thought into what you write.  As more and more employers turn to social media sites for background information on potential employees, this accurate data becomes invaluable.

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Repost: Twitter and Employment Law Issues

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Another in my series of reposts that are still relevant. It needs no introduction:

Twitter and Employment Law Issues (May 29, 2009):

The one thing that became quite clear while I was in law school — and even more clear once I was out of school and practicing in the “real world” — was that between WiFi and required laptops, law school students are much more adept at cruising the web and integrating technology than your average esquire.

It is not surprising to find a lot of law school students on various social media sites and in various social media outlets.  Indeed, most lawyers on Twitter either know of or have heard of the infamous@rex7, the self-proclaimed social media law student and owner of the aptly named Social Media Law Student Blog.  Rex Gradeless’s blog is an excellent source of news and information about how law students and lawyers are using social media in their professional and personal lives.

I like to consider myself an employment law litigator and one of the interesting areas developing in employment law deals with how social media is being used in employment settings and potential liabilities and concerns that might result.  So, when I saw the following article, I had to see what it had to say:

The First Law School Seminar Paper on Twitter: Twitter and Employment Law Issues

The following is a seminar paper authored by Vincent Pascual on Twitter and potential Employment Law issues that employers and employees may face with regards to what users post online and how those posts may have consequences.  The paper was produced for a course entitled “Employment Law and Technology,” taught at the University of San Diego School of Law during Spring Semester 2009 by Rich Paul, Partner at Paul, Plevin, Sullivan & Connaughton LLP, whose practice focuses on employment law.

The article is surprisingly thorough.  It has a good introduction to what Twitter is, how to use it, and how it is being implemented in the world of employment and employment law.  It goes on to discuss practical applications of Twitter in the workplace and what concerns need to be thought through and addressed, including:

  • Protection of Trade Secrets
  • Privacy and Defamation
  • Use of Tweets in Hiring/Firing
  • Un-productivity
  • Medical and Personnel Records
  • Fake Profiles and Potential Identity Theft

Since it is a “law school seminar paper,” it includes numerous citations and references.  While I don’t agree with all of the conclusions (from the standpoint of an employment law attorney), I do believe that the paper is a great way for people to dig into and start understanding Twitter.  This understanding will become valuable as we all become more familiar with and visible on various social media outlets.  The conclusion is applicable to everyone (employees, employers, lawyers, law school students, etc.):

Until further rules of engagement have been developed, anybody who uses Twitter or any other social network is strongly advised to think before tweeting.  Users must consider whether whatever they tweet will be misconstrued or taken out of context.  If users tweet carelessly and without regard for potential consequences, then those users can expect possible action taken against them by an employer, prospective employer, employee, or even friend.

Only one thing is certain.  Although social media is relatively young, especially in the legal world, it will continue to be more and more prominent, in our personal and professional lives.  And you can bet that it will be law school students (both now and in the future) that will continue to drive new technology into firms.  This is the type of information that we should all be paying attention to.  Besides, when you get a discovery request asking for all ESI related to “tweets,” you really should know what you are looking for.

 

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Repost: Figuring out Twitter for Lawyers and Attorneys

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I published this on the old version of the blog back in the summer of 2009. As I have scrolled through the archives and reminisced over some of my great (haha) write-ups, I decided to see if any were still applicable in today’s rapid changing environment (and by rapid, I mean weekly, daily, and sometimes hourly). I was surprised to see how well this advice still applied:

Figuring out Twitter for Lawyers and Attorneys (May 4, 2009):

I recently came across an interesting article that purported to help people figure out how to use Twitter.  There are hundreds upon hundreds of blog posts and lists about how to figure out Twitter and how to maximize its potential, particularly in a business environment.  I link to this article, Figuring Out Twitter, because it is targeted towards lawyers and business owners. And, it provides some good information that any lawyer using social media should consider.

The two most poignant paragraphs of the article are, in my mind:

Of course, most lawyers aren’t publishers, and their interest in Twitter extends only so far as there are tangible benefits to their business (and rightly so). But I think the same principles that guide my Twitter use can apply to lawyers’ hard-nosed business use of Twitter.

Above all, you need to remember that no one reads Twitter because they care about you — they do it because they care about themselves. So talk to them, and talk about them. Give them links to news and knowledge that benefit them, no matter where these links lead (even, I’d go so far as to say, to a competitor’s website). Offer tips, pithy observations, and checklists in serial form (no one uses Twitter this way better than Matt Homann). Ask questions relevant to your practice area, and blog the results (and link to the post from Twitter, of course). Strive to make your Twitter feed an important source of knowledge to your readers.

The statement that no one follows you on Twitter because they care about you but because they care about themselves is absolutely correct. The reason people follow you is because you provide timely, relevant, and useful information to them. Whether it is business suggestions, links to recently published articles, a chuckle of laughs throughout the day, or, hopefully, all of those things, your Twitter followers are there because they have found a way to benefit from what you are saying.

This principle must be kept in mind as you are preparing your tweets and thinking about what information really needs to be broadcasted your followers. That said, don’t get too tied down in what you write about. Most of my tweets are related to employment law and IP litigation (and recent developments in those areas of law) but I do mix in personal things here and there. If you really want to build a true relationship with your followers, you should get to know each other on a level that is slightly deeper and more meaningful than a bunch of links to random articles and a description or your breakfast or commute.

The final point on the post over at Law21.ca is dead on:

Finally, don’t concern yourself with how many followers you have — it’s a meaningless statistic, not least because a lot of people are gaming the system to try to build up impressive-looking follower totals, to make themselves look more popular than they deserve or just to stroke their egos. Concentrate on quality over quantity — ten loyal readers, any of whom could bring you business any day, are worth more than a thousand followers who added you out of curiosity, reflex or politeness.

That advice should rarely be disregarded.

Update:

I have since created two twitter accounts: @tysonsnow and @tyson_esq.  @tysonsnow features the complete randomness that is my life, including a lot of legal content, funny legal stories, and the like. For people who want to know Tyson the lawyer, BYU/Jazz fan, sarcastic semi-comedian, reader, and all around good guy, this is the follow. The other account, @tyson_esq, focuses almost entirely on legal related issues (although I do mix in humor and jokes as well). This allows me to banter back and forth with friends on @tysonsnow over significantly important things such as sports while not bombarding feeds of those who are interested in my legal content. I am proud to say that many people follow both of my feeds.

You may want to consider this approach.

 

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