Think Twitter’s for Kids? Think Again
There is a common misconception that Twitter and social media is for the younger generation. It just isn’t true. The teenagers may know how to upload pictures to Facebook- but they have no clue how to identify, qualify, and engage new clients online. These “soft skills” for lack of a better term, are much more unusual. The ability to turn a contact into a client- that takes talent.
I have always said that partners that already know how to network, and aren’t afraid to pick up the phone, have much more potential for success online than young associates. On this podcast conference call you will have the chance to meet Attorney Bob White, a shining example of an experienced partner level attorney that is landing new clients through Twitter. You can read more about Bob at the Gunster Website and you can follow his tweets at @soflatechlawyer.
Bob White aka @soflatechlawyer
Bob White doesn’t just scratch the surface on Twitter, he takes advantage of all the free tools available to engage and make his networking as effective as possible. Listen in to the recording of the call to hear:
- How Mr. White landed his first client on Twitter
- What tools he uses to save time and maximize his efforts
- How Mr. White is setting the example to the younger attorneys at Gunster
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CLICK HERE to sign up for our future calls. If you have any questions about how your firm can maximize the ROI of social media- feel free to email questions to info@adriandayton.com and we will answer the questions.
Legal Tech, Gladwell, & Changing the World #LTNY
Yesterday at Legal Tech in New York I was able to hear Malcolm Gladwell 
speak alongside of Dr. Lisa Sanders. While I loved listening to Gladwell- one of my heroes- I was most impacted by a story told by Dr. Sanders, the great mind behind the TV show House MD. The story she told holds the key to helping lawyers, business people, and really anybody to change the world.
A young 24-year-old woman walked into an emergency room complaining she wasn’t feeling well. Truth be told, she wasn’t looking well. Her skin was an unnatural yellow in color- and it was clear that she had Lyme disease among other things. Four days before she had awoken not feeling so hot, and had stayed in bed for a few days. After looking into the mirror and seeing her skin had taken on a disturbing yell0w tone- she went into the hospital. If she had waited another day or two, she wouldn’t have made it.
The hospital had no idea what to do, so they ordered a full battery of tests on this young lady. Dr. Sanders referred to this as similar to shooting her in the face with a shotgun to diagnose her illness. 48 hours later, after every test imaginable and 20 pages in reports had been created, the hospital had was no further along. They had no clue what to do next. They did know one thing with certainty however, this woman was dying.
One of the doctors decided to do what any responsible doctor would do, they called the smartest doctor they knew and asked for his advice. This doctor came in, examined the patient, read the 20 pages of tests, and was completely stumped. This new doctor had no idea what was wrong with this poor woman. Then he did something that none of the other doctors had done. He sat quietly in his office and just thought about it. He let the ideas percolate and waited for his subconscious mind to answer a question that had left dozens of doctors stumped.
A light went on in his head. A quick search of the internet, and he confirmed his suspicion. Wilson’s Disease, a rare but highly treatable illness. The only treatment was a liver transplant. The woman was rushed to surgery, received the transplant, and her life was saved.
So how does this story help you? There are many possible messages to this story, but there are a couple that stand out to me. First, you can’t always do everything yourself. Know your limitations. If the first doctor hadn’t been humble enough to ask for help, this girl would have most likely died.
Second, our intuition is incredibly powerful. I just finished reading the book 
Think and Grow Rich and although the book is almost 80-years-old, it has some similar messages to the story Dr. Sanders told. The book calls our intuition “infinite intelligence.” We all have this infinite intelligence at our disposal, but we can’t use it if we underestimate its power. The real value of the story Dr. Sanders told, and the book Think and Grow Rich is in reminding us to put our intuition to work for us.
Michael Jordon was cut from his high school basketball team, Abraham Lincoln lost his first election, and Thomas Edison failed thousands of times before really understanding the power of intuition. All of these men eventually tapped into the infinite power of their intuition- and achieved miraculous results. You can too, but the question you need to answer first is this: how do you want to change the world? Decide that, and you can let your intuition get to work.
At Legal Tech in New York the keynote speakers this year could have covered any technology imaginable in their speech. The fact that both of them were most fascinated by the power of the human brain goes to show us that our minds continue to be the most innovative gadget of all.
How can lawyers build their email lists? 5 tips for 2010
At the Marketing Partner Forum in Palm Beach, Florida, two weeks ago there was a panel that spoke about blogs, social media, and how to build up a subscriber base or “list” for your blog. I wanted to take a few moments to explain some simple proven methods for building a list that have helped me.
Let me make something clear though, there is a big difference between those who read your blog and those on your email list. Readers are pretty transient, they come and go. You may have a great article that really resonates with a lot of people, but those on your list are engaged at a higher lever. These are the people that have given you permission to market to them. This is very valuable, and here’s why: it takes 6-7 touches on average before somebody will buy your product or service. If somebody is on your list, you have easy access to them to make sure you can get in a half dozen touches or more.
With cheesy clip art!
1. Do: start a monthly or weekly newsletter. This doesn’t have to be long, and it can even use mostly information from your blog. This can be highlights, or possibly one or two additional insights. Just make sure to send it out on a regular basis.
2. Don’t: Ask people to “sign up for my newsletter.” It is all about how you sell the newsletter. People get enough email as it it, and so they generally won’t sign up for newsletters unless it is something they really think is essential to their business. A much better approach is to create a “freebie” that people can sign up for on your website in exchange for their name and email address. (And in the process they sign up for your newsletter). I recommend using Aweber, a simple and inexpensive service that helps you manage your list, build out your campaign, and track the open rates to your messages. There are free options out there, but in my experience they are harder to use and give you much few options. Feel free to post in the comments sections your experience with other services.
3. Design a great Freebie. Your great articles and blog posts will drive traffic to your site, but they won’t really help build your list- unless you offer a freebie that people can have emailed to them for free in exchange for their email address. Again, you need to really offer value, or people won’t part with their email address.
Remember, Opting in is Their Choice
Do you like giving away your email address? Most people don’t, they hold onto it as if it were a piece of gold. That’s why you need to offer a valuable freebie to get people to part with their precious contact info. I recommend something like a Whitepaper, or a guide to a certain area of law. One past client created a “Peace of Mind Checklist” to help build an estate planning list, while another created a “Warranty Checklist” for large companies that need to create warnings for their products. I give away a free chapter of my book Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition, which has been very effective to help build my list. I know what some of you are thinking, “will people still hire you if you give away all your good information?” Some will, some won’t- but all of them opting in will give you their email address so you can build your list, and have future opportunities to engage them. It is just a numbers game after that.
4. Always Use a Resource Box. Keep the great blog posts and articles coming on a regular basis, and at the end of every article use a little italicized box to explain who you are, what you do, and what freebie you have to offer with link explaining the freebie. Don’t just do this on your blog either, do it for any article you write anywhere, or even for live presentations you give. “I will give you a free copy of my whitepaper on the subject, in exchange for a business card.” This works like a charm. In presentations I will often have over half the audience come up and give me their card. These people are all joining my list. They can opt out at any time after that, but it is my experience that less than 10 percent leave my list after joining it.
5. Add business cards to your mailing list. Using a service like Aweber (one of my affiliates because I love their service) set up an automated message that says something like, “You likely gave me your business card or signed up for my list sometime in the last few weeks. I would like to add you to my mailing list, please click the link below and I will start sending you out the good stuff.” You or your secretary can set this up once, and then simply input the name and email address from each business card. It is process that takes time to set up, but is guaranteed to pay off in the future.
The final thought is this: it took Chris Brogan seven years of blogging before he had 1,000 subscribers to his blog, now he has over 25,000 subscribers with over 100,000 followers. You won’t get there over night, but you will get there- so be patient, keep at it, and don’t get discouraged.
Adrian Dayton, esq is a New York Attorney that helps large firms bring in more business through social media. Email him at info@adriandayton.com for questions about building out your own list building campaign. Or join his FREE Friday conference calls by clicking here.
UK Conference Call Roll Call
Thanks for joining us on the call! Please announce who you are in the comments section- what you do, and a link to your website and Twitter ID!
Mine would be like this:
Adrian Dayton
Professional Twitter Guy
@adriandayton on Twitter
I work with large law firms on implementation of social media strategy. http://adriandayton.com
Overcoming Awkward: A Web 2.0 Wrinkle
I remember the first day of Jr. High like it was yesterday. My new t-shirt was neatly pressed, my only pair of Girbaud jeans cleaned. I carefully walked down the canyon-like halls of Bonneville Jr. High with my red Jansport backpack carefully hung on one shoulder as my older brother had instructed me. This was a NEW experience, and as the new kid, it was completely awkward. Many professionals face a similar dilemma when it comes to getting started with social media.
It isn’t hard to convince professionals that using social media is a great idea. They get it. I have presented to attorneys all over the country, and I imagine that as they watch me shoot out messages on Twitter and engage users across the world- they feel a certain confidence that they can get home and do the same thing. Then they return to their busy lives, they start a Twitter account or a new blog, and they are confronted by something as terrifying as the first day at Bonneville Jr. High- a blank screen.
New users aren’t following anybody, nobody is following them, and more importantly, they have no clue what to write and how to get started. This really isn’t too different from your first day at a new school, with no friends and no idea where to get started – new social media users can’t help but feel completely alone, and this awkwardness usually extinguishes any enthusiasm they originally had to get started using social media.
The idea for this post came from the Managing Partner Forum in Palm Beach, Florida where Dennis Snow, an ex- Disney World Exec turned consultant and author spoke about the challenges of implementing new initiatives within an organization. Mr. Snow broke it down into 3 stages that occur over time: acceptance is the easy part, then comes a certain awkwardness that prevents many from actually succeeding and implementing, and finally with enough effort, a certain percentage will assimilate the new process. It struck me as a fitting analogy for developing good social media habits.
Stage I: Acceptance
It is the prevailing wisdom that use of social media and networking through platforms like LinkedIN or Martindale Hubble Connected is a GOOD thing. We have seen tremendous growth with millions of new users joining these platforms. One challenge the owners of social media sites face is that only a small percentage of users are engaging, really using the site. A recent statistic showed that only 10% of Twitter users post on a regular basis. This is no surprise- in fact, it is human nature. How many people raise their hands to ask questions in large lectures? How many people call in to radio shows? It is a very small percentage of the total group. The larger group, also referred to as “lurkers” online, can’t seem to get past the proverbial first base online. There is a certain shyness or awkwardness that inhibits engagement.
Stage II: Overcoming Awkward
How many of you have been in an awkward situation before? Whether it is starting at a new school, working out a gym for the first time, or even working in a new office- we all can relate to these awkward situations. It just isn’t easy starting a new habit or a new process.
This is the same trial faced by those trying to start out in social media communities. Whether they have a goal to write a blog, engage potential clients on Twitter, or even just identify prospects on LinkedIN- it takes time, and most are so discouraged by their first bad experience that they never make it back for a second try.
So how can you get past this awkward phase? Here are 3 easy steps:
1. Set measurable social media goals- groups joined, contacts added, phone conversations created. These can serve as benchmarks that will keep you motivated.
2. Make it a habit. Schedule time for social media each week. Schedule just a couple days a week at first, then ramp it up as you feel more comfortable. Social media has become part of the minutiae of my life. I check Twitter and blog posts like others check voice mail and email. As you set aside time each week or each day to do SOMETHING online- it becomes part of your routine. The more you do, the more comfortable you will feel.
3. Move conversations offline. I can’t emphasize this enough. Finding a new contact or client through social media is such a great feeling- and once you actually speak and create a real offline relationship, it gives you the feeling that you are making progress. This single item will, more than anything, help you feel like you are getting past the awkward phase.
Stage III: Assimilation
Stage three is a great feeling. For some people this happens after the first weeks of using social media, for others it takes months. The important thing is that it happens, that these social networks become a part of your routine.
I shared this idea with a Chief Marketing Officer this past week, and she asked me a very important question. “Why?” Why would she want her attorneys making social networking part of their lives?
The answer is simple, if they don’t- they are going to miss opportunities. Decision makers often go with the professional that is at the top of their mind- and social media provides an easy way to gain that status. The secret is “touch touch touch” as Allen Fuqua said this past week as part of the Social Media panel at the Marketing Partner Forum. Lawyers are too busy to make it to every dinner and cocktail party their contacts attend- but they can find time to engage a few minutes online each day. Your competitors are most likely already online, and if they aren’t- don’t you think YOU should be?
Starting my second year of Junior High was a completely different experience than my terrifying first year. I walked in with a swagger through the front door of Junior High like I owned the place. My shirt was untucked, my backpack was confidently placed on both shoulders. I felt right at home. If you don’t feel that way online, you will. It’s just a matter of time before that nauseating sense of awkwardness passes. Don’t give up before it does.
To hear how two UK Lawyers got over the awkwardness and started having success, listen in this Friday morning at 10:30 AM EST (15:30 GMT) as Brian Inkster and Chris Sherliker share their tips. CLICK HERE to sign up for Friday’s call.
