Posts Tagged ‘attorneys’

Having recently watched a cyber-argument between two attorney-coaching industry leaders, it occurs to me how very important managing your online reputation can be.  These particular leaders, both of whom for which I have the utmost respect, recently experienced a professional break-up and I learned a few lessons about how to handle this type of situation in today’s new ‘everything is wide open’ society.

Lesson number one:  Learn how to announce changes in your firm that aren’t exactly pleasant in an open and transparent, yet professional and courteous manner.  If, for example, you need to announce a partner’s exit, downsizing of staff, or the end of a collaborative relationship, write it just as you would if you were writing for the New York Times.  Sometimes people take the somewhat relaxed nature of social media for granted and make these announcements with veiled jabs and sarcastic comments.  You should avoid doing this for several reasons.  First, it always makes the writer appear spiteful which does not sit well with potential clients.  Who wants an attorney that may turn that not-so-well-hidden temper on you?  Second, you may just irk the other party enough to begin their own cyber-dissing campaign.  Which brings me to lesson number two…

Lesson number two:  If you have been cyber-dissed always, always respond, but do so in the most courteous manner that you can muster.  Wait 24 hours to respond if you must, but do not get into a pissing contest that will drag you both down into the mud and damage your credibility.  Absolutely nothing good can come from this!  Getting into a cat-fight online can make you look petty, mean, and even a little unstable.  This is not the picture someone wants when they think of the estate planning lawyer that is going to be there for their family if something happens to them.

The moral to this story is this: if you plan to use social media to build your brand and establish your presence as an industry leader, carefully monitor what you say online and what is being said about you (or hire a professional to do so for you).  And, If you haven’t yet set up a Google Alerts with your name and the name of your firm, do so today.

As anyone who participates in social media knows, Twitter has a great capacity to educate and influence a large amount of people on a daily basis.  Businesses have definitely picked up on the effect Twitter can have on their bottom line, and, as an estate planning attorney, you should be tweeting regularly, reaching out to your target market.

There are some tools you can use to help maximize your Twitter use, and make sure you are following relevant people, and, more importantly, to make sure your tweets are reaching your relevant audience.  Below is a list of a few you might want to check out:

• http://www.twellow.com – Industry/keyword search directory
• http://wefollow.com/ – Find new followers based on your inputted keyword
• http://justtweetit.com/ – Find other “Tweeters” with similar interests
• http://mrtweet.com/ – Get relevant followers by recommending them and discover people relevant to your current needs
• http://www.socialwhois.com/ – helps you decide whether to follow someone or not
• http://whoshouldifollow.com/ – suggests people who are similar to those you already follow

A ‘Tweetup’ is an offline meeting of people who have met and organized on Twitter.  This is a great way to find other Twitter users in your area, who share your common interests.  Here’s an HR related tweetup I found in the San Diego area on http://twtvite.com/:

http://tweetup.meetup.com/ is another good site, because it draws users from the already popular meetup.com.  These sites can be a great tool to take your networking strategies to the next level.  You could organize a Tweetup with local financial advisors to establish a referral relationship, or hold a tweetup with local parent publications for marketing purposes, for example.  The possibilities are endless!

Facebook has a new feature that allows you to repost other users’ shared items, much like the ‘retweet’ function everyone uses on Twitter. To try it, just go to a friend’s posted item in your news feed, click “share,” and you’ll see a “via [your friend’s name]” (with an option to remove it). Once shared, the item will appear on your profile, with a ‘v’ia link that points to your friend’s profile. Your friends will also see the item in their News Feeds, creating a viral loop, much like ‘re-tweeting:’

This function has many good uses: for example, if you are a fan of a page that keeps you abreast of changing estate planning laws, you could ‘share’ a relevant post of that page with all of the friends and fans of your own page, thereby educating your audience on a matter important to them.  Or, you could just repost a review of a good book or blog post someone else shared, giving your client base a chance to get to know you on a more personal level and strengthening your relationship.  Test it out and see for yourself the response you receive!

It is now easier than ever to engage in meaningful conversations in Facebook.  The newly updated Facebook Search Feature allows you to search for topics being discussed in status updates. You can use this feature to find people who are looking for estate planning services.  See example below:

By searching for the words “estate plan” I instantly found someone looking for a “good estate attorney”  (Oh, and I was sure to recommend one to her!).
You can search through posts of your friends, or choose the more global “Posts by Everyone” feature to find people outside of your current network.
It’s quick, easy, and a really great way to increase your social networking contacts.