March 2009

It’s that time of year again – time to head to the Legal Marketing Association’s Annual Conference. This year’s theme “Change…Now What?” is particularly appropriate for the challenges that we’re all facing in the current economy. According to Peter Vieth’s article in Virginia Lawyers Weekly, “the slump in the economy has led to the

Last week, Tanya Prinz, a legal marketer on Twitter, wondered whether an attorney’s time is better spent on current client development than on exploring social media. With thirty to forty percent of law firms blocking social networking sites, it’s a question I was interested in exploring further. First, I posted it to my Twitter followers. The general consensus is one I support as well, that you can and should do both. Professional Marketing Advisor, Nancy Myrland said “If you believe in marketing, then both.” She later commented that “as time goes by & usage grows, we WILL be spending time with current clients when we spend time on Social Media.” Lawyer and Vice President of Exemplar Law Partners, Steven Shapiro agreed, saying “are the two mutually exclusive? You can do customer development through social media.”

Relationship building and communication are key to successful business development, both in terms of working with current clients and attracting new ones. Social networking is simply another tool that can be used to build and maintain relationships. While it will never replace face to face contact, social media, such as Twitter, is worth exploring for lawyers. But why?

People hire lawyers they know and like: Social networking is another way for lawyers to show clients and potential clients who they are and to highlight their professional accomplishments in a way that is accessible. Along these lines, as Bob Ambrogi comments in his “Tweet 16” on why lawyers should use Twitter, social media allows you to:

“Mold your image: Those who post regularly to Twitter provide others a glimpse of their daily lives. That glimpse can help shape your public image. Do your posts paint you as a high-powered professional — now writing an appellate brief, now preparing for a deposition — or as a trivia-obsessed slacker, now breaking for lunch, now off for drinks? By thinking before you post, you can shape how others see you.”

Posting on a site like Twitter, or making your professional background transparent on LinkedIn, can make you approachable to clients and potential clients, making them more comfortable coming to you when they need help solving a problem.Continue Reading To Tweet or Not to Tweet? Why Lawyers Should Pay Attention to Twitter