If you're like most attorneys, you probably believe that establishing a vigorous social media presence for your firm doesn't make a lot of sense.
After all, you're not running the sort of light hearted, fun business that people want as part of their daily lives.
You would be right, except for one unfortunate detail: social media is a huge part of SEO.
That makes social media a must.
Fortunately, it really can provide you with significant value beyond just SEO.
The First Rule, Don't Overextend Yourself To get value out of any social network you have to engage with it regularly.
That's very time consuming, and chances are you're not swimming in free time.
Thus, you shouldn't try to engage everywhere.
Dive in only if you can really commit, even if that means limiting yourself to one.
So which should you choose? First, choose the social network(s) you want to engage with strategically.
LinkedIn has an abundance of fellow attorneys.
Twitter has a bit of everyone and it's easy to acquire followers.
Facebook can provide you with the most substantive connections but getting likes as a law firm can be a pain.
Google+ is highly beneficial for SEO but it's smaller than Facebook.
Which one is the best? Depends on your needs.
Second, choose social networks that you actually find interesting.
It makes it far easier to maintain engagement.
If you commit to a network that you don't actually like, you're setting yourself up for failure.
Don't think exclusively about picking the "right" one.
You can get an SEO bump and referrals from any of the major social networks.
The Second Rule, Genuinely Engage The highest rule of effective social networking is "do not shill.
" That may sound a little irritating, since you're undoubtedly joining a social network for business results.
Think of social networking as normal, in-person networking.
The results can be great, but you can't aggressively sell to everyone you meet.
This is particularly true if your social audience is primarily potential clients.
Legal services are the sort of thing that people will seek out when they are ready to buy, not when you are ready to sell.
All you need to do is burnish your reputation through the network, so when people need legal help their first thought is of you.
If you are after referrals from fellow attorneys, don't self promote any more than 1/5th the time.
Generally, not even that is necessary.
Attorneys are likely to choose you as a referral based on a belief in your competence but also on a personal relationship.
Social networks are a magnificent way to start a relationship with someone you don't know well.
One of the most effective ways to use social media is as an aid to in-person networking.
If you only want the SEO benefits of social networking, just try to share interesting content.
The more engagement you get, the more Google will like you.
Questions, humor, and articles you find interesting are great ways to produce content that engages with your audience.
The Third Rule, Merge Online and Offline Social media is a great way to start an in-person relationship, but it's also a great way to continue one.
Let's say you go to a networking function.
You meet someone you like.
You even get lunch together one day.
After that, you don't really talk to each other again.
It happens all the time.
The reason why is you're both incredibly busy, and you just don't see each other enough to sustain a relationship.
If you meet someone in person and you want to deepen the relationship, get them to join you on a social network.
This grows your social presence, which in turn increases the SEO benefits.
But there's any even more basic reason to do it: this will provide the sort of day to day contact necessary to cement networking contacts.
Without somewhat regular contact, you're just wasting your time.
Thus, if you meet someone you want in your network but you don't think you'll see them regularly, connecting with them over social media is all but essential.
Used this way, social media is an incredibly time efficient way to network.
You can stay in contact with a huge number of people, and do it at your convenience.
When you ask someone out to lunch again after three months, it won't be a lightning bolt out of blue sky.
They will have seen you every day.
After all, you're not running the sort of light hearted, fun business that people want as part of their daily lives.
You would be right, except for one unfortunate detail: social media is a huge part of SEO.
That makes social media a must.
Fortunately, it really can provide you with significant value beyond just SEO.
The First Rule, Don't Overextend Yourself To get value out of any social network you have to engage with it regularly.
That's very time consuming, and chances are you're not swimming in free time.
Thus, you shouldn't try to engage everywhere.
Dive in only if you can really commit, even if that means limiting yourself to one.
So which should you choose? First, choose the social network(s) you want to engage with strategically.
LinkedIn has an abundance of fellow attorneys.
Twitter has a bit of everyone and it's easy to acquire followers.
Facebook can provide you with the most substantive connections but getting likes as a law firm can be a pain.
Google+ is highly beneficial for SEO but it's smaller than Facebook.
Which one is the best? Depends on your needs.
Second, choose social networks that you actually find interesting.
It makes it far easier to maintain engagement.
If you commit to a network that you don't actually like, you're setting yourself up for failure.
Don't think exclusively about picking the "right" one.
You can get an SEO bump and referrals from any of the major social networks.
The Second Rule, Genuinely Engage The highest rule of effective social networking is "do not shill.
" That may sound a little irritating, since you're undoubtedly joining a social network for business results.
Think of social networking as normal, in-person networking.
The results can be great, but you can't aggressively sell to everyone you meet.
This is particularly true if your social audience is primarily potential clients.
Legal services are the sort of thing that people will seek out when they are ready to buy, not when you are ready to sell.
All you need to do is burnish your reputation through the network, so when people need legal help their first thought is of you.
If you are after referrals from fellow attorneys, don't self promote any more than 1/5th the time.
Generally, not even that is necessary.
Attorneys are likely to choose you as a referral based on a belief in your competence but also on a personal relationship.
Social networks are a magnificent way to start a relationship with someone you don't know well.
One of the most effective ways to use social media is as an aid to in-person networking.
If you only want the SEO benefits of social networking, just try to share interesting content.
The more engagement you get, the more Google will like you.
Questions, humor, and articles you find interesting are great ways to produce content that engages with your audience.
The Third Rule, Merge Online and Offline Social media is a great way to start an in-person relationship, but it's also a great way to continue one.
Let's say you go to a networking function.
You meet someone you like.
You even get lunch together one day.
After that, you don't really talk to each other again.
It happens all the time.
The reason why is you're both incredibly busy, and you just don't see each other enough to sustain a relationship.
If you meet someone in person and you want to deepen the relationship, get them to join you on a social network.
This grows your social presence, which in turn increases the SEO benefits.
But there's any even more basic reason to do it: this will provide the sort of day to day contact necessary to cement networking contacts.
Without somewhat regular contact, you're just wasting your time.
Thus, if you meet someone you want in your network but you don't think you'll see them regularly, connecting with them over social media is all but essential.
Used this way, social media is an incredibly time efficient way to network.
You can stay in contact with a huge number of people, and do it at your convenience.
When you ask someone out to lunch again after three months, it won't be a lightning bolt out of blue sky.
They will have seen you every day.