Lawyers e-Journal
Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012
Law Practice Management Tip
Communication breakdown: The two things you can do on twitter
Everybody's telling you to 'engage' on social media, I'm sure.
And, that's good advice. Marketing a small business, like a law
practice, is different now than it used to be. It's no longer just
about publication anymore; it's more about engaging over your
published matter, and others'. But, then, I haven't told you what I
think engagement means, either. At least, not yet . . .
At least on Twitter, I think that 'engagement' falls into
one of two, admittedly broad, categories: Aggregation and
Collaboration. When you're churning out microblog posts through Twitter, you're
generally corralling your own or others' content (tags and linked
blog posts, useful articles, events of interest, etc.; even
statements, thought leadership-style posts and tips can be
classified under this head) or you're directly or indirectly
engaging another user/other users via conversations (through
replies or mentions). @ Replies and @ Mentions are the engines of
conversations on Twitter; and, RTs (retweets) are generally the mode by which
others' content may be repurposed = forwarded. But, those are
simple tools to learn; the theory is the more important
takeaway.
Many lawyers and law firms are reticent to use Twitter, because
they think it takes up too much time and/or because they have no
idea what to post. Thinking in terms of this double-barreled
approach makes it easier to formulate a plan (you can generally
identify the two sorts of posts you're going to be making, and can
line up those types easily enough = your own content pipelines, candidates for
retweet and direct post) and to save time (if you can conceive of
lining up your posts, you can use scheduling tools (like those
available through HootSuite) to release them; and, you can block
periods throughout the day, or even once a day, when you engage
directly or indirectly within the construct of Twitter conversations). Furthermore, when you
recognize the value inherent in content aggregation, where you are
also viewed as the expert because you're passing along a running
collection of vetted tips in certain categories, the idea of
'content production' becomes less daunting, because it's no longer
all on you. Twitter, then, becomes the perfect venue for promoting
your expertise (and so marketing yourself effectively), whether
through the reproduction of your own content or through the
warehousing/cataloguing of others'. And, ideally, you'll use both
methods in combination.
For more Twitter tips, you can now purchase my new American
Bar Association book, 'Twitter in One Hour for Lawyers,' at a 15
percent discount.
Tip courtesy of Jared Correia, Law Office Management Assistance
Program.
Published October 4, 2012
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To learn more about the Law Practice Management
Section, which is complimentary for all MBA members,
contact LPM Section Chair Thomas J. Barbar or Vice
Chair Cynthia E.
MacCausland.