If you’re still not convinced your law firm needs social media marketing, here are some interesting statistics and facts:

1. 73 Percent of Fortune 500 companies are active on Twitter

2. More than 80% of executives believe social media led to increased sales

3. Social media compliance is becoming a priority

4. In-house counsel are using social media to research industry research according to Nancy Myrland of Myrland Marketing. They often read lawyer authored blogs, check out LinkedIn profiles and research Wikipedia pages. Check out Amy Knapp’s article on how to create a Wikipedia Profile for your firm if you’re interested in creating a profile.

5. Social media produces almost double the marketing leads of trade shows, telemarketing, direct mail or PPC

6. Approximately 46% of online users count on social media when making a purchase decision according to HubSpot

The Harvard Business Review surveyed 2,100 companies and found that 79% use or plan to use social media, but a mere 12% felt they were using social media effectively. How is your law firm using social media? You better not be only tweeting law firm newsletters or articles. It’s time to start engaging with your followers. It’s called social for a reason you know!

7. 2 million blog posts are published every day!

8. There are over 200 million members on LinkedIn and a new user signs up every two seconds.

Are you still on the fence? Check out your competition online. How do they use social media? Are you missing out? Social media is a cost effective way to stay connected with your clients and potential clients. It can also increase your firm’s expert reputation online if you produce and share quality content. Don’t shy away from social media because you aren’t sure how to use it. Create a profile, do your research and get started. You won’t be sorry you did.

The post Still Not Convinced Your Law Firm Needs Social Media? appeared first on Social Media for Law Firms.

In a nutshell, LinkedIn is becoming more like Facebook and Twitter by giving LinkedIn users the ability to “mention” other LinkedIn users and LinkedIn companies in status updates. This is great for attorneys that want to target clients an companies. Mentioned people receive instant notifications as soon as you mention them as well. Hopefully, they will reciprocate the nudge as well! Here’s how to mention people and companies on LinkedIn:

How to Craft the Perfect LinkedIn Update:

1. When you want to mention a Company or LinkedIn Connection, begin typing the name of a company or connection in the status update box. You can also add the name naturally within a sentence – it doesn’t have to be at the beginning of the post!
2. Select your desired Company or LinkedIn Connection from the list of connections that appear in the drop-down box. Complete your status update.
3. The mentioned company or person will receive an instant notification informing them they have been mentioned on LinkedIn. Hopefully, they will return the favor and engage in conversation.

Check out the original blog post for more tips and tricks on how to use LinkedIn for business development.

The post The Lawyer’s Guide to the Ultimate LinkedIn Status Update appeared first on Social Media for Law Firms.

7 Important Email Lessons

1) You should definitely think twice before hitting send. Once you post, send, share content on the Internet, it’s there forever. Justin Bieber recently learned this lesson too.

2) If you are unhappy with someone’s behavior, don’t get personal. This is a tough one, I know. Calling someone an idiot will most likely generate a like response which will just get you madder. Write about the behavior in question instead of the person. You should also use phrases like, “it’s been my experience”, etc.

3) This is an important one that I’m guilty of: Tone does not translate well in email so don’t be sarcastic. This is like getting the one letter text message: “K”.

4) Anything you send in an email can and will be used against you! Emails can be forwarded to friends, bosses, CNN, you get the point.

5) NEVER USE ALL CAPITALS. I don’t need to explain that one.

6) Don’t send an email when you are angry. Emotional emails will make you look stupid and you won’t accomplish anything. Anger cancels out reason. 

7) If you feel the need to send an angry email, wait two days. I learned this lesson from my favorite HR manager. Chances are you’ll write a much nicer email after 48 hours.

I feel a bit sorry for the Delta Gamma sister as I bet she’s a nice person underneath all those capitals; however, the Internet isn’t as kind. Michael Fertik, founder of Reputation.com, said it best, “The Internet is forever. Unfortunately for her, her ‘online tattoo’  will stick with her for a long, long time — and it will likely color how peers, future employers, grad school admissions officers, etc., regard her as a person.”

Have you sent a flaming email in the past? Can you laugh about it now?

The post Do You Really Want to Send That Flaming Email? appeared first on Social Media for Law Firms.

• 78% of AmLaw 200 firms have blogs or lawyers blogging. This includes 660 publications with an average of 4 blogs per firm. This is a 71% increase since the last LexBlog report in 2010.
• Surveys confirmed clients and potential clients read lawyer blogs for hiring purposes
• There is a correlation between blogging and revenue growth and it is becoming stronger

LexBlog is kindly sharing this report for free. Set aside some time as it’s 51 pages and includes a detailed analysis of all AmLaw 200 blogs. 

Many of you are solo attorneys and part of smaller firms from across the U.S. and Canada. You might wonder if these numbers and reports are important to you and your business development activities as well. The answer is yes. Your clients and potential clients are mobile and using the Internet. Will all of these people hire you based on your law blog? No. Having a law blog is an additional tool in your marketing toolbox that may or may not matter to the people that hire you.

Before starting your firm’s very first blog, it’s important to consider the time and financial investment. Here are some additional questions to ponder:

• Who will be writing for your firm’s blog? One or multiple authors?
• Who will proofread and upload these blogs?
• What type of blogging software will you be using? Blogger, WordPress, etc.?
• How often will you publish blog posts?
• Where will you get inspiration for blog posts?
• How will you determine the success of your blog?
• How much of your marketing budget can you spend on your law blog?

The post Law Firm Blogs were Expected in 2012 appeared first on Social Media for Law Firms.

The inspiration for this post came from a blog I penned on the Canada IP Blog on November 23, 2012. 

As we all know by now, social media is no longer a fad when it comes to business development and marketing for attorneys and legal professionals. If you’re not a believer, think about this for a moment: over 200 million professionals have joined LinkedIn to date, with two members continuing to join per second. LinkedIn is the social network for professionals.

Because social media is the norm, it’s how you use social media that will set you apart from the competition. Just because everyone is using it, doesn’t mean they are using it to its full potential.

14 Social Media Etiquette Dos and Don’ts for Attorneys

Do

1. Remember reciprocity when utilizing social media for business development. For example, if someone follows you on Twitter and they’re relevant to your industry, follow them back. If someone retweets your article on Twitter, share one of their posts that your network will find useful.

2. Respond to criticism and conflicting opinions. Whatever you do, don’t delete negative comments or feedback unless they are trolls or spam. Negative feedback can actually be a good thing as it allows the public to see how you handle yourself. I’ve heard many stories of great friendships beginning in this manner. You’ll be surprised!

3. Promote the competition. When it comes to the legal industry, there are literally thousands of professionals using social media, including your competitors. Don’t shy away from the competition. Follow them on Twitter, “Like” their Facebook pages and interact with them on LinkedIn. Watch what they’re doing online and learn from them. Whatever you do, don’t attack them online!

4. Share all of the offline events that your firm is taking part in. For example, MBM Intellectual Property Law LLP, recently partnered with Global Entrepreneurship Week in Ottawa. We shared pictures from the event via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. We also interacted with GEW Canada’s Twitter account (@GEWCanada) during the event. Overall, it was a great experience to see how social media can optimize offline event attendance.

5. Take part in relevant discussions. One of my favorite places for online discussions is LinkedIn groups. Take some time to research which practice group groups you find interesting and join the discussion. Answer and ask questions. Build your expert reputation.

6. You should respond to social media comments, questions and feedback quickly. For example, if you post an update on LinkedIn as a status update and one of your colleagues “Likes” the article, respond quickly and ask for their feedback on the matter. Or, if someone comments on a blog post you’ve written, respond quickly thanking them for their feedback. Reader interaction is gold on social media, this is how relationships are built online.

7. Remember your reputation and brand on social media. Everything you do online is public knowledge. If you have a contradicting opinion you’d like to share in response to a blog post, do so in a positive manner. Remember, potential clients are reading everything you say. It’s okay to disagree, but do so in a respectful manner.

Don’t

1. Do not over-promote yourself when using social media. Social media is a wonderful venue to promote your legal services but remember, there’s a time and place for doing so. When it comes to online interaction, think about the 20/80 rule. You should be taking part in discussions and contributing valuable information 80% of the time. This leaves 20% of the time for self promotion. When you do promote yourself, make sure it’s in a respectable fashion and in the right tone.

2. Don’t jump into an online conversation without having something of value to share. For example, if two people are discussing a specific practice related rule change inside a LinkedIn group, and you have valuable insight that hasn’t already been discussed, feel free to provide your two cents. Do you have a whitepaper or blog post that’s relevant? Feel free to share the link within the discussion as well. You’ll also find that these sorts of discussions can give you great inspiration when it comes to content creation.

3. Don’t forget to link to your sources in social media posts. And don’t use pictures you don’t have rights for. This is a no-brainer for legal professionals but I had to include it anyway. If you read a blog post that inspires you to write your own piece, include a link back to the original article in your post. If you would like to add a picture to your blog post, visit a site like iStockPhoto where you can purchase pictures for reasonable prices.

4. Don’t leave your social media bio’s blank. Make sure you fill out each bio section completely. Some social media accounts require more than others, and you should have a short and long bio available. Don’t leave any section blank as this is a common newbie mistake that’s easy to fix. LinkedIn can be a bit tedious to fill out so don’t worry if it says your profile is 75% complete (my profile has never been 100%), just make sure you have your professional headline, summary, experience and education completed.

5. Don’t let your social media accounts become dormant. If you aren’t going to be consistent online, don’t create the account in the first place. Posting once a week isn’t enough. You need to stay active and treat social media as a daily task. Set aside 30 minutes each day and think of this like your “business development” time. Doing so will keep your profile fresh and will encourage people to engage with you as well.

6. Don’t boast about your praise online. If you receive praise for a particular piece of content you created online, don’t shout it from the social media rooftops. Retweeting positive comments you receive is generally frowned upon as well as “liking” your own Facebook posts. Don’t be that guy. If you receive praise online, thank the person privately or publicly recognize content they’ve created online.

7. Don’t use the same canned responses over and over again on social media. It can become very appealing to say a simple “thank you” each time someone retweets you on Twitter; however, this won’t get you very far, especially if someone heads over to your Twitter profile and sees 35 tweets saying “thank you”. Check the bio of the person who retweeted you and include their name and something you have in common in your response. Most people don’t do this online and this is a simple strategy to set you apart.

Do you have any do’s or don’ts to share when it comes to social media etiquette for attorneys? Please feel free to share them in the comments section below. I look forward to hearing from you!

If you need help with your firm’s social media strategy, please feel free to contact me at samanthataracollier@gmail.com.

The post 14 Social Media Etiquette Dos and Don’ts for Attorneys appeared first on Social Media for Law Firms.

A recent article in Business Insider says the #1 secret to growing your Twitter following is network overlap.  This means that when you see your friend follow a Twitter account, you’re likely to follow it too.  Additionally, the more you tweet and the quality of your tweets also matters.

On the other hand, being a debbie-downer is likely to slow down the number of people that follow you. You’re allowed to complain but try and keep it to a minimum.

Logically, the easiest way to get Twitter followers is to follow a lot of people and a big percentage of them will follow you back.  If you’re using this method and you find you can’t follow anymore people, it means that you’ve hit a Twitter follow limit. Twitter has imposed a follow limit to improve site performance and reliability to help make Twitter “a nice place for everyone” aka prevent fake accounts and spam.

There are other paid services such as Just Unfollow that allow you to follow people, unfollow people and copy the followers of your friends.  The lowest cost membership is $9.99 and this allows you to follow and unfollow unlimited amounts of people for two Twitter accounts. A free membership imposes follow limits. This option is good if you want to unfollow a large number of people that don’t follow you back.

Following a large amount of people at one time may hurt your reputation according to PC Mag. They say, “Following junk Twitter users can hurt your reputation. Remember that other Twitterers can see not only how many people follow you, but how many you follow and who they are. Influential Twitter users (the kind you actually want to follow you) will often check who you follow before deciding to follow. If you’re loaded with junk, they might pass you up!”

In conclusion, the best way to grow a quality Twitter following is to: 

• Follow high quality people that you are genuinely interested in. If you’re stumped, look at who your competition follows.
• Add a picture to your profile and make sure your Twitter bio is complete (and witty).
• Add a hyperlink to your profile to your website or LinkedIn profile. Add your location as well.
• Tweet and interact with other Twitter members often. This isn’t Facebook, you’re allowed to post as often as you like (as long as it’s not spam).
• Tweet about your niche 80% of the time and banter with your friends and network 20% of the time. This keeps your followers happy and also makes you look human.

If you would like help growing your Twitter following, please feel free to contact me at samanthataracollier@gmail.com or fill out this contact form. I look forward to hearing from you.

The post How Do I Get More Twitter Followers? appeared first on Social Media for Law Firms.

Then Facebook came around with its boring white background, and I wondered why anyone would ditch Myspace for it. How would I express my creativity now? That’s when I learned not to always trust my first impressions of brand new social networks. This is why I shied away from Vine, Twitter’s new video app that launched on January 24, 2013. (On a side-note, did you know Twitter uses Blogger for it’s Blog? Who knew!?)

Here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know about Vine:

• Vine is a mobile service that lets users upload short videos (6 seconds or less) that loop over and over.

• You can download Vine for free on iTunes and it’s only available on the iPhone or iPod touch.

• When you download Vine it makes you confirm that you’re over 17 as it contains age-restricted material. This confirms what Brian tweeted me last week.

• Vine has its own blog that you can follow here: www.vine.co/blog.

• The folks at Vine redesigned it three times before launching it, they are still thinking of new ways to update it.

• You can sign up for Vine using your Twitter credentials or you can sign up the old fashioned way using your email address.

• Vine doesn’t have a play button, pause button, timeline scrubber, etc. It’s supposed to be simple.

• Vine was a separate company that was bought out by Twitter. In Vine’s very first blog post, they say, “Our companies share similar values and goals; like Twitter, we want to make it easier for people to come together to share and discover what’s happening in the world. We also believe constraint inspires creativity…”.

• You can share videos on Twitter and Facebook and they will be adding new networks shortly.

• Marketers are already using Vine to showcase their products and services.

• After downloading Vine, you can follow other Vine users that use Twitter. Many of the people I follow have already downloaded Vine.

• There’s a short tutorial that shows you how to use Vine. It records video when you hold your finger down on the screen and you filme three separate videos that loop together.

After playing with Vine, and researching it on the net, I think it’s fun to use both personally and professionally. Businesses can use Vine to take advantage of consumers short attention spans and to share creative, catchy videos. Vine videos are less concerned with quality and more about the content itself according to Hubspot.

Find me on Vine at @samtaracollier. I haven’t uploaded anything yet but I’ll be experimenting!

What do you think of Vine? Do you think it has any use for law firms?

The post The Lowdown on Twitter’s New Video App Vine appeared first on Social Media for Law Firms.

Law Firm Facebook Page Tip #1 – Applications

Do you know how many applications are available on Facebook? There are literally thousands.  There are applications to sync your blog posts to post as status updates, to follow your Twitter account, to sync your Instagram account and to show off your JD Supra content.  You can even customize how these applications appear. An excellent example of law firm Facebook applications is Goodwin Procter. They have ten Facebook applications and have also personalized them to match their firm branding (you can’t personalize Photos, Videos, Maps or Likes).

Law Firm Facebook Page Tip #2 – Cover Photo & Profile Image

It’s important for your firm to pick an engaging Cover Photo for your law firm Facebook page.  Don’t use your logo (please).  I would use Goodwin again as an example because I like the fact they use people in their cover photo but I don’t want to “overuse” them. Another great example of a Cover Photo is Latham & Watkins. They have a beautiful boardroom and I like the way it looks on their Facebook Page.  All law firms Facebook Pages should use a square version of their logo for their personal profile image.  It should be readable within the square with no wording cut out.  If you don’t have a version, create one.

Law Firm Facebook Page Tip #3 – About Section

Every law firm Facebook Page should have a well written “About” section.  Use all the characters you are alloted and include a link to your website.  It’s important to use keywords in this section especially with the new Facebook Graph feature coming.  Foley & Lardner does a nice job with their “About” section.

Law Firm Facebook Page Tip #4 – Photo Albums

Every law firm across the globe holds social functions, attends charity events, speaks at conferences, etc.  Use these events to take lots of pictures and upload these as albums on your law firm Facebook page.  People trust and hire people.  Don’t create a page and expect people to follow it without adding some humanity to it.  Of course get permission before posting pictures and make sure they know they will be on Facebook. Take pictures at your Christmas party, volleyball game, etc. You’ll notice that these pictures get liked and shared more often than text status updates. Ask your employees to take pictures too. I love the way DLA Piper showed off their Habitat for Humanity pictures.

Law Firm Facebook Page Example #5 – Likes

It’s hard to get “Likes” on law firm Facebook pages, I’ll admit that.  Who really wants to like a law firm on Facebook anyway? It starts with your own connections. These can include your friends, family, colleagues, schoolmates, etc. Ask your friends to like your page and ask them to spread the word.  Encourage all of your employees and attorneys to like the page and get their friends to like the page as well.  Beware of posting too often because you will lose some of your precious “Likes” that way as well.  You can post once per day at the most.  Post a variety of content including blog posts, pictures, albums, etc. Add the “Follow us Facebook” button to your website.  When you’re at conferences, talk about your Facebook page with other attorneys – ask if they have a page you can “Like” as well.

Do you have any other Facebook page tips to share? How is your law firm liking Facebook for business development? Please feel free to share your comments below. I also shared a guide on how to create your Timeline Facebook Page in a previous post you may be interested in reading.

Also, if you need help with your law firm Facebook Page, please feel free to contact me directly at samanthataracollier@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,

Samantha Collier
Social Media Strategist
www.SocialMediaforLawFirms.com

The post 5 Elements of an Impressive Law Firm Facebook Page appeared first on Social Media for Law Firms.

This is a handy way to get all the email addresses and phone numbers of people you want to get in touch with on LinkedIn (other than looking at their profile of course).  The resulting Excel file will contain all of the contact information your LinkedIn connection has on their profile including email address, phone number, title, address, etc. You can also find these instructions on LinkedIn. Without further ado, here are the steps :

Step One

Log into your LinkedIn profile

Step Two

Click Contacts from the toolbar at the top of the screen. Select Connections from the drop-down box.

Step Three

Scroll to the bottom of the next screen and click Export Connections.

Step Four

Ensure that Micrsosoft Outlook (.CSV file) is selected as the option to export to. Click Export.

Step Five

Locate the exported file in your downloads file (this is the procedure on a PC – it may be different on a Mac) and open it.

Step Six

Save the file as an Excel File and rename it according to your saving protocol. Close the current document and open the Excel file you just created.

You will now have a file with all your LinkedIn connections and their contact information including email, phone number, address, title, etc. There is a lot of information in this file and you probably won’t need it all.  You might also be interested in how to integrate LinkedIn with Microsoft Office.  This is a neat way of seeing which of your Outlook contacts have LinkedIn profiles so you can grow your LinkedIn network.

If you have any questions on how to do this, or any other technical questions relating to LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter please email me at samanthataracollier@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to help.

Thank you,

Samantha Collier
Social Media Strategist
www.SocialMediaforLawFirms.com

The post Download Your LinkedIn Contacts Email Addresses as an Excel File appeared first on Social Media for Law Firms.

I look at a lot of law firm websites. In fact, I researched all of the US big law firm’s website’s for a project last year, and many of them didn’t cut it in my books (I’m sure some have improved since then).  There are certain features all websites should have to keep your viewers engaged and interested.  Dion Algeri of Great Jakes talks about the Ping-Pong Effect and this is what you don’t want when it comes to website design. The Ping-Pong Effect is when viewers are bounced all over a website in search of the content they want. The website isn’t easy to navigate and valuable website viewers leave not finding the information they want. Here are some tips on how to fix up your website:

1.) Your attorney bios must be one click away from the home page.  Back in 2010, Great Jakes did a study on how much website traffic goes to attorney bio pages and it was 56% (and I’m sure that number has risen). Take a look at your Google Analytics and see for yourself. Make it easy for your website viewers to find who they’re looking for. It shouldn’t take more than one click to find an attorney on your site.

2.) Your contact information should be available on every page of your website. As soon as a potential client decides they want to contact you, make it as easy as possible. Have your phone number and email address in an easy-to-see location so they don’t have to go searching for it. Don’t just have it on a contact-me page. You’ll thank me later for this. 

3.) Make it easy for your viewers to follow your social media accounts.  Many law firms are guilty of putting their social media accounts in the footer of their websites. It makes me think they’re embarrassed that they tweet or post on Facebook. It’s even funnier when they make their social buttons blend into the background. Put your social buttons on the home page of your website at the very least and put them at the top of your website.

4.) Your website must be easy to navigate. Create strong headlines and relevant sub-headlines.

5.) Your content must be professional, correct and fresh. This goes for all the content on your website including attorney bios. All of the content should flow in style and should be written by one person or team. There are many different schools of thought when it comes to updating content but make sure you keep things fresh. Update your blog often.

There are many more required features of law firm websites but these five are my personal favorites. Follow the Great Jakes Blog and the Attorney Sync Blog for great information on website design and strategy. Take a look at some of the best law firm website designs for inspiration. Do you have any tips to add? Any great websites you want to share? Feel free to share them in the comments below. If you want more information on how I can help you with your legal website, contact me at samanthataracollier@gmail.com.

Thank you,

Samantha Collier
Social Media Strategist
www.SocialMediaforLawFirms.com

The post 5 Must Have Elements of Law Firm Websites appeared first on Social Media for Law Firms.