On Martindale Hubble Connected the question Priya Marwah Doornbos asked was basically, “What are the top 3 most effective social media sites for lawyers?”
This question immediately made me question, aren’t there about 100 of them? There are so many “communities” online, that it can be impossible to decipher which to join.
Here was my answer to her:
I use only 3 social media sites (in any meaningful way)
Twitter– to generate traffic to my blog, spread my message, and build my brand.
LinkedIn– to connect with people too old to understand how to use Twitter.
Facebook– for friends and family to keep connected.
As for any social network, you only get out of it what you put into it. You reap what you sew, so pick a couple of communities that work for your target market, and attack in a strategic way.
Oh yeah, it should also be fun. I love Twitter and I get great results from it, so I spend most of my time there.
Just my thoughts.
The reason I didn’t recommend any Legal networks is because I believe in what Stephen Fairley calls “contrarian marketing” which means you should market where your competitors aren’t. On a site full of lawyers, it may be harder to get attention. Don’t get me wrong, I love some of the lawyer networks, we just need to be careful how much time we spend on them.
So what about Avvo, JDSupra, LegalOnramp, LawTweet, Lextweet, and Connected? These are all great sites for lawyers. They each have great possibilities for cross marketing opportunities for lawyers, sharing information, etc. They also have a lot in common with the Bar Association cocktail parties. It is worth while to attend once in a while, but not at the risk of missing higher probability business development opportunities in the community at large.
Lawyers, just like any other professionals, have two finite resources: Time and Energy. Choose carefully your online community. Don’t stretch yourself to thin. If you try to engage with EVERY site and community- you aren’t likely to get very far.
So which social networks do you use?
Adrian Dayton is a NY Attorney, and author of the book Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition. This is a step by step guide to creating your online strategy. For free a chapter click here.
7 Comments. Leave new
I would argue that your blog is also a social media site and thus your answer should have been 4 sites…just sayin’.
Great post Adrian. I am on a lot of sites, though I only keep up with a few. Surpisingly, or not, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are the big ones. I also post docs at JDSupra and have a Posterous blog for quick hits on various things that tweak my fancy (did I really say that)! All of these are linked to my Musings blog and it to many of them.
THanks for your continued insight.
Nice post Adrian – we share the same three. I have yet to follow Chris onto JDSupra, but that would probably be my next one. Time has been a little pressed with the first three, getting our blog up and running and actually trying to practice law!
I agree with Kristina that a blog is social media inasmuch as it fosters interaction and conversation with your audience. But in terms of community, I’ve found that using ping.fm as a broadcast mechanism is a great way to use a bunch all at once. Using ping.fm I can send updates to Twitter, Indenti.ca, Facebook, Posterous, and myriad others all at once. One never knows where one’s next great connection will be made, so why self-limit?
Jay, thanks for the comment. While I think that a tool like ping.fm is very useful, it is only effective if you have taken time to build up profiles on the various platforms. Generally speaking, one knows where the next great connection will come from- it where you spend your time. I think a focused effort will yield better dividends.
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?