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Social Media for Lawyers Legal Marketing Association Vancouver Chapter January 21, 2009 Vancouver, BC


Today’s Session 1. Why Social Media & Social Networking Matters 2. The Big Ones ­ overview 3. Blending


Why Social Media Matters ­ Blogs •

1 minute after taking office yesterday, Whitehouse.gov relaunched with a blog on the homepage


Why Social Media Matters ­ Twitter •Twitterer Janis Krums is on a ferry in the Hudson as US Airways flight 1549 goes down & posts this photo from his iphone.

• 34 minutes later Krums is interviewed live on MSNBC as an eyewitness


Why Social Media Matters •

LinkedIn • 30 million users, strongly business­oriented, $1 Billion+ valuation

Facebook • • •

Australia recently allowed service of court documents via FB #5 top global website per Alexa 132 million unique visitors/month

Twitter • Fastest growing social network • Recently turned down $.5 Billion buyout offer from Facebook

YouTube • Now the second leading search engine • Bigger than Yahoo • Accounts for 25% of all Google searches


Why does social media matter? Law firm web strategy historically: “Yes we have a website.”


Social Media & Law Firms •

Currently approximately 30­40% of law firms blocking access to social networking sites. • (Source: pending survey results from Stem Legal & US Law firm KM expert & attorney Doug Cornelius.)


Why does social media matter? Law firm web strategy 2009: •Database­driven CMS site(s). Blogs. RSS feeds. Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Marketing. Video. Podcasts. Online directories. Social Media (LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook), Content Portals (JD Supra),Custom Mashups (Yahoo Pipes, HP Tabbloid).


Why Social Media Matters Key takeaways: •

The rest of the world is moving onto these forums ­ quickly.

Your web presence has to move beyond the firm website.

Law firms CANNOT bury their heads in the sand for very long.


RSS •

What is RSS?

The ability to break up content and deliver it in different ways


RSS •

How do you use it? • Get a newsreader • Aka an aggreggator or feedreader • Examples: Google Reader, Bloglines, NetNewsWire


RSS •

How do you use it? • Find something you want with a feed • Hit the orange button • Copy and paste URL into your reader


RSS •

How do you use it? • Find something you want with a feed • Hit the orange button • Copy and paste URL into your reader


RSS ­ Feeds for your clients


RSS ­ Content for your firm site


RSS ­ Content for your firm site


RSS ­ Top 10 Uses for law firms • • • • • • • • • •

Current awareness Firm marketing RSS republishing Feed mixing & filtering for subject collections Client press Vanity feeds Internal research collections Feeding on marketing content for KM Case law & legislative changes Aggregated tagging

Source: Vancouver Law Librarian Blog (Steve Mathews/Stem Legal)


LinkedIn • • • • •

One of the oldest and most established social networking sites Conservative Business­oriented Good search engine visibility An easy entry­point for law firms


LinkedIn Uses: •

Historically ­ an online CV/bio

Link to firm website

An online rolodex


LinkedIn •

See connections in your network

Recent changes have made it more useful & more powerful

Business tie­in with Martindale­ Hubbell


LinkedIn •

Add in original content (presentations etc.)

Ask questions/provide answers in the “Answers” section Law & Legal category

Improved functionality of groups several legal groups exist

Suggestions of people you may know


Twitter •

“Blogging on Crack”


Twitter Key points: •

Brief text messages of 140 characters or less.

Can be done via web, via SMS on cellphone, via email, etc.

Concept: a hybrid of blogging and text messaging.

You won’t get it at first.


Twitter


LinkedIn vs. Twitter • • • •

Linkedin Connections are permission based Jasinski = member for 25 months. 46 connections

• • • •

Twitter Connections are unilateral Jasinski = member for 4.5 months. 200 followers

Twitter moves fast. See “Rex Gradeless” ­ coming up


Twitter ­ Case Study •

Remember Breck Shampoo commercials from 1970’s?

“She told two friends and they told two friends. . . “


Twitter ­ Case Study •

Announced this session on Twitter.

Time = approx 30 seconds.


Twitter ­ Case Study

4 people “ReTweeted” the announcement


Twitter ­ Case Study •

Those 4 twitterers + my own (6672 + 2253 + 363 + 623 + 199)

= 10,110 messages delivered


Twitter for Lawyers •

“I have seen the future and his name is Rex Gradeless”

3rd year tech­savvy law student.

6000+ followers on Twitter.

Joined twitter November 17, 2008!! (approx. 2 months ago)

Source: lexblog.com


Twitter for Lawyers •

Start by exploring LexTweet.com


10 Negatives 1. Twitter takes up time. 2. Twitter takes you away from other productive work. 3. Without a strategy, it’s just typing. 4. There are other ways to do this. 5. Twitter doesn’t replace customer service 6. Twitter is buggy and not enterprise­ready. 7. Twitter is just for techno­nerds. 8. Twitter is only a few million people. 9. Twitter doesn’t replace direct email marketing. 10.Twitter opens the firm up to more criticism and griping. Source: Chrisbrogan.com “50 ideas on using Twitter for Business”


10 Positives 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Twitter brings great minds together, and gives you daily opportunities to learn. Twitter can help direct people’s attention to good things. Twitter helps with business development, if your prospects are online. Twitter at events helps people build an instant backchannel. Twitter breaks news faster than other sources. Twitter works swell as an opinion poll. Twitter can augment customer service. Twitter gives businesses a glimpse at what status messaging can do for an organization. 9. Twitter gives your critics a forum, but that means you can study them. 10. Twitter helps one organize great, instant meetups (tweetups). Source: Chrisbrogan.com “50 ideas on using Twitter for Business” (re­prioritized for law)


Facebook •Another entry point •Many lawyers may/will have a facebook page for their “personal life” •Increasingly personal & professional will blend


Facebook • Facebook draws a higher % of its users from 45+ demographic than Linkedin

Source: compete.com


Facebook


Facebook

Source:Â mashable.com


Facebook ­ Pouring in Legal Documents


Facebook ­ Lawyer/Law firm page


Facebook ­ Law Firm Recruiting


Facebook ­ Law Firm Recruiting


Using Blogs as a Marketing Tool Promoting Niche Practice Areas


Using Blogs as a Marketing Tool Your blog can act as the hub of your social media strategy & enhance lawyers personal digital profile


Using Blogs as a Marketing Tool Demonstrate thought leadership and enhance offline reputation


Blend as desired


Blending ­ add your Twitter posts into your blog


Blending ­ add your Twitter posts into your facebook page


Blending ­ add your YouTube videos to your facebook page


Blending ­ add your blog posts into your LinkedIn profile


Controlling Content & Brand Management Limiting Negative PR & Bad Press: •

Establish social media policy with your authors at the outset • Resources: • IBM Social Media Policy • Doug Cornelius Law firm Blogging/Social Media policy on JD Supra • Kevin O’Keefe blog policy commentary on LexBlog


Controlling Content & Brand Management Limiting Negative PR & Bad Press: •

Moderate comments to control dialogue to extent necessary

Be prepared to live with negative feedback

Social Media can be used for proactive PR ­ ensure your message is heard and is timely


Controlling Content & Brand Management Blog PR example


Other social media for law firms MHConnect LegalOnRamp JDSupra Plaxo


Why Social Media Matters Key takeaways: •

The rest of the world is moving onto these forums ­ quickly.

Your web presence has to move beyond the firm website.

Law firms CANNOT bury their heads in the sand for very long.


Thank You Doug Jasinski, LL.B. Agency Principal 604 739 8976 doug@skunkworks.ca www.skunkworks.ca


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