I think that this endlessly fascinating conversation we're having about lawyers and social media needs perspective.
And the perspective goes like this: you went to school to be a lawyer, not an online strategist. So: be a lawyer. No one should be telling you otherwise.
Which is not to say that advice like "You are your own brand" or "Self-marketing is the key to your longterm success" or "online participation is an essential part of business development" is necessarily incorrect. (It isn't.)
Nor is it wrong to listen to the numerous intelligent marketing and biz dev professionals out there who are leading the way with their insights. Listen and read all you can.
But: one defining characteristic of the communication tools defining our contemporary online landscape is that they create a lot of noise. I fear that in the noise we too easily lose perspective.
Some of us network at cocktail parties; yet, as a consequence there has never been a requirement to learn how to tend bar or mix drinks. (That skill comes from too much time in grad school?)
Some of the best business development occurs over lunch; but that's not why we learn how to cook, or - for that matter - why some of us do time as waiters or restaurant sous chefs.
The fact is, most legal professionals don't have time for this. At least, the ones I talk to are burning the practice candle on both ends. Barely keeping their heads above water, they don't have time to turn themselves into social media strategists, or...
Perspective: at a basic level this is all about communication, just as the telephone and email is about communication. You should assimilate these new communication tools into your professional and personal life, as needed, in ways that make sense to you. No more, no less.
Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, blogs, websites, RSS, JD Supra, widgets, SEO, social media, social networking - ignore the labels and brand names for now. Start with the point of view of a legal professional with a business to run. Take from the mix what works.
- Does the tool help me to communicate with people I want (or need) to communicate with?
- Does the tool help me to show more people what I'm really good at, what I was trained to do?
- Does it help me to get meaningful attention?
- Does it make my life easier?
These are the types of questions you should ask as you vet the tools available to you.
There are of course many other questions. Hopefully readers will broaden the perspective by including them in the comments field of this post...
Well-taken points. I am a 1L and posed the question on twitter (w/ only 1 response): which do you learn first: lawyering or technology to be a more effective (or perhaps accessible) lawyer?
I think it will be different with legal professionals entering the field now and into the future, as many of us have grown up with at least some forms of online communication and years of experience with Facebook. Do you think this will help new lawyers be better lawyers, as the social media tools they use are already part of they way the communicate day-to-day? Or will it broaden the divide between those who use the tools intuitively and those who are just learning?
Great points. An investment of time in networking, whether in person or via social tools has to be evaluated in terms of cost-benefit analysis. You go to a networking event. You take a whole evening out to attend and are not sure what you are going to get out of it. You really have no ability to filter and it is a lot harder to walk away from someone at a live event than it is to 'unfollow' on Twitter or cancel a 'friend' on Facebook. Using social tools, you still have to filter. If you follow everyone, you will get a lot of noise and experience diminishing returns in the ratio of time to value. The key here, as a legal professional, is to learn how to use these social tools to take advantage of their promotional value without adding another layer of responsibility in your already busy day. To learn a bit more about how to do this, you might want to consider joining www.TotalPMA.org.
Great post Adrian. I would agree that simplifying and focusing are key. We're entering a time when the number of tools available to market a law practice are in over-drive. I suspect most lawyers would benefit from picking a couple of tools that 'they like using' and focusing on their message.
I would also add that the time one spends finding the right tool, frequently could be better spent crafting a consistent message and knowing who they want to communicate with. This goes for any professional - lawyer or non-lawyer.
Post of the year.
Ibergus, never saw your tweet -learn the law first, understand how to assess and analyze.
I have been feeling lately that there's a barrage of marketing resources and tools - it's almost created a sense of panic "am I marketing enough" ... "am I using social media effectively". Your advice to step back is spot on.
A big question I've been asking myself lately is - how much should marketing figure into the thinking of a lawyer (or other professional). Whatever this number is, it seems like it's gone up for me lately, and I have to think it's taken away from what should be the 90% of my focus: serving clients, being a great lawyer, being ethical (etc.). The two are obviously not mutually exclusive, but focus is focus and when you start focusing excessively on one thing you lose focus in another.
This focus "problem" is much bigger I think for younger lawyers and law students. My theory (take w/a grain of salt) is that while people should always be aware of their brand, people shouldn't really worry about "marketing" until they get the nuts and bolts down. Call me old fashioned, but I think it takes a couple of years (or more) to get the hang of lawyering and figure out what exactly you want to do (much less be a top notch expert). Time spent marketing during this time diverts your focus from honing your craft and is going to be largely wasted.
Every lawyer is busy (as are most professionals). We all have finite time. We should be careful that we don't spent too much time marketing at the expense of our craft (channeling SG from Simple Justice here).
In the unique position of being a lawyer and an in internet marketer, I say to the new lawyer: learn the law.
Or else when you get that job you marketed so hard to get you will fall flat on your face.
Adrian: another great post and perspective on lawyers using social media. Whether it is using Twitter to converse with clients (http://bit.ly/1j31P,) or using a blog to push information to clients interested in that information (http://bit.ly/dgMkg.) lawyers need to stop debating the merits of this or that social media tool and start using them to communicate.
Adrian,
In my opinion, the best lawyer in the world without a client, is..in a word, BROKE! Small firm lawyers, solos and even big firm lawyers need to become rainmakers in order to provide value to the business of their firm. Social media and internet technology in general use the leverage of the internet and the concept of speaking as one to many, in order to best use the lawyer's time and resources. Understood, that many lawyer's work day and night, yet they are still expected to bring in the business are they not? My point being that, used efficiently, the technologies you note in your post are actually a more efficient, more effective, use of time then possibly anything else the lawyer could do. Used incorrectly, they become an incredible time warp that degenerates into activity that becomes valueless.
Love this post, Adrian!
Here's some non-lawyer perspective for you. Part of how I spend my day as a consultant on calls and emails with lawyers that go a lot like this:
Lawyer: "I've been told by my marketing/PR/SEO/some other self-proclaimed 'expert' that I should be blogging/Twittering/Facebooking/something else I am pretty sure I don't want to do and have no time to do anyway, so I would like to hire you to do it for me."
Me: "If you have no time or desire to blog/twitter/etc then you probably should not be doing it."
Lawyer: "But I'm willing to pay you X amount of money to do this on my behalf. Don't you like me?"
PS (because I hit the post button instead of preview)
I am all in favor of lawyers blogging and using Twitter, LinkedIn, any other social media tools that fits their needs, IF it's a good fit for them. Like any kind of offline networking, the key is in using online tools wisely and in a way that actually works. But I don't see a way to have someone else do it for you. And it's a time commitment, even if it's just a few minutes of Twittering each day from the iphone... which I do plenty of myself. Sometimes choosing the RIGHT tool -- for example, Twitter over Facebook -- can make all the difference.
Great posts and great comments. Using your telephone analogy, to me, it's as simple as this -- the telephone is a communication and marketing tool; just because I don't know the ins and outs of telephony doesn't mean I shouldn't use it. Just because I don't know how to "maximize" my twitter usage doesn't mean that I shouldn't use twitter at all. (Substitute your social media tool of choice there.)
Further, just because these tools are imperfect or incomplete in what they can deliver doesn't mean they should be shunned. Sometimes the telephone goes out or there's static on the line. I don't know a single lawyer who would go without a telephone though. The same applies to social media tools.
I can relate to many of these points, both in the post and in the comments. I am relatively new to this blogging/Web 2.0 thing and have managed to make it work with more or less success. I enjoy it so it is easy to make time.
On the point of technology, until you have something to sell (i. e. a niche/expertise) don't worry about the advertising. This is basically like a company advertising for someone to buy a product that they don't make yet or is in the opening research stages: classic cart before the horse.
In law, your expertise will sell itself once you get a name out there. In short, don't try so hard to sell, just let people know you know what you are talking about and they will come.