What are you doing to market your practice with social media? How are you telling your story? What are your objectives? Are you meeting them?
There's no doubt that social media is revolutionizing PR, marketing, and internal communications across industries, and that the legal profession finds itself directly in the mix. Are you keeping up with the changes or getting left behind? Blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and many more social networking tools are out there. Social media can no longer be considered a fad: it is the method that millions of people use to communicate via multiple channels with specific audiences.
But if the tools for communicating have changed, the rules of communication are the same as they have always been. You need a message. You need a plan. You need disciplined execution if you are going to generate value from your social media activities.
I recently participated with Mike Driehorst of Diamond Communications in a panel discussion for a group of lawyers and legal professionals at a joint Legal Marketing Association-Ohio and Association of Legal Administrators luncheon in Toledo, Ohio. Our goal was to place the basic social media and social networking concepts into the context of the legal profession, and to provide our audience with an overview of what they need to do to get started in social media. How do you think we did? Did we leave anything out? We would love your feedback on how we can make this presentation even more relevant to lawyers seeking to embrace social media. Leave us a comment. Send us an email. Track us down on Twitter. We're all ears.
Lance - It was definitely a pleasure to be part of the luncheon with you. As you know, the feedback we received was positive and that the info was worthwhile. Am definitely looking forward to see what your readers think.
ReplyDelete-Mike
I am embracing social media.
ReplyDeleteMy blog, http://www.BiziBoom.com, has a growing readership. BiziBoom helps me distill my thoughts and focus on solving my clients' problems. It also gives me additional credibility with my clients and prospective clients.
We have devoted considerable time and resources to improving my Firm's website, http://www.GFRLEGAL.com. Using SEO principles, we have gone from a score of 14 on http://www.websitegrader.com in February to a score of 85 today. BiziBoom scores an 87 after five months of blogging.
My e-book, "Ten Fatal Mistakes that Business Owners Make (And How to Avoid Them)," is published on our website at http://www.gfrlaw.net/firmpublications.aspx, where you can download a copy of the e-book or read it online. You also can read my partner's brochure on "Frequently Asked Estate Planning Questions." Traffic to our website is increasing, and we are receiving more calls from prospective clients who learn about us on the Internet.
Twitter has been a great resource. That's how I met Lance and other great friends. I've learned valuable resources from my Twitter friends, and generated some business for my Firm. I also use it to announce postings on my blog.
We are setting up a Fan Page in Facebook for Gibson Ferrin & Riggs, PLC. We have LinkedIn profiles for our attorneys and for the Firm.
We regularly post press releases on line through PR Web and 24/7. Those press releases push considerable traffic to our website.
All of the Social Media outlets serve to emphasis and restate our messages. We have lots to do as we continue to embrace Social Media and content marketing, but they provide an exciting and energizing way to market our practice.
Great Presentation Lance!
ReplyDeleteOne key social media element I noticed that is heavily used by lawyers is a version of 'forums': Groups - the ability to gather your own community (be it public or confidential) and communicate within these walls.
One of the biggest fears Legal profs usually express is the need to know "who is reading what I am writing ". Some people want to broadcast their message to the entire galaxy, some will not hit submit until they have ensured they know exactly who will be the consumer of their content. Groups addresses this need.
Groups gets rid of this fear - the ability to create mini communities and broadcast your message to a very defined audience is a very powerful tool.
Looking forward to seeing more of these presentations.
Alin