As the entire business world has rushed headfirst into the social media craze, the legal industry has followed suit.
The trouble is for lawyers that are either solo practitioners or members of a small law firm.
Many such attorneys have attempted unsuccessfully to enter the social media arena, and many more have already deemed it useless to their businesses.
The fact is, networks such as Twitter and Facebook can be beneficial to smaller sized law practices -- if they are utilized correctly.
If you're like most attorneys that have tried to market their law practices on the internet, you've probably already dabbled in social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
You've probably also found that you didn't get any return of investment on your time messing with these popular interactive websites.
Don't worry, you're not alone.
It's not easy jumping into the latest frontier of marketing with little knowledge or experience.
The good news is that with a little guidance, it can be easy.
In this article, we're going to overview the social media basics that will help your small law firm expand it's online presence and utilize social media for a competitive business advantage.
The most important part of utilizing social media is first building a foundation, or hub, on the internet.
This should be the website of your law firm.
Think about your website as your center of communication, or as a "home base.
" Your presence on social media websites act more as an outpost for your online presence.
If you want to take full advantage of a presence across several media platforms, you need to have a strong and consistent line of communication throughout your various profiles, and this all starts with your home page.
For example, if you're posting videos on Youtube, you want your friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter to be aware of them.
Likewise, when visitors come to your website, you want to give them access to all of your various social media presences.
The better you streamline your online activity, the more benefit you'll receive from it.
After you've set up a profile page on the social media sites of your selection and have developed a solid website for your practice, the next step is to establish a following.
You can post the most intriguing legal thoughts, but if no one is there to see them, it's not going to do your law practice any good.
This is probably the most difficult part of using social media -- building an audience.
The key to building an audience for your local law firm is by starting locally.
Start by "friending" peers, whether they be the personal injury lawyer across the hall, an opposing counsel, or the county judge.
It's much easier to start a basic following by targeting legal peers than by going straight for potential clients.
What's important to remember is that the attraction of followers breeds more attraction.
It will be much easier to gain the attention of your prospective clients if they can see you are already followed by important players in your industry.
Finally, the last piece of the puzzle is content.
People are following you for a reason: because their interested in what you have to say.
For example, they want to hear your comments on the talk of legal reform, not what you ordered for lunch.
If you provide interesting content, not only will you hold the attention of your followers, but you will gain more.
That covers the basics in utilizing social media for your small law practice.
With a little perseverance, you should have a booming online presence in no time.
Best of luck.
The trouble is for lawyers that are either solo practitioners or members of a small law firm.
Many such attorneys have attempted unsuccessfully to enter the social media arena, and many more have already deemed it useless to their businesses.
The fact is, networks such as Twitter and Facebook can be beneficial to smaller sized law practices -- if they are utilized correctly.
If you're like most attorneys that have tried to market their law practices on the internet, you've probably already dabbled in social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
You've probably also found that you didn't get any return of investment on your time messing with these popular interactive websites.
Don't worry, you're not alone.
It's not easy jumping into the latest frontier of marketing with little knowledge or experience.
The good news is that with a little guidance, it can be easy.
In this article, we're going to overview the social media basics that will help your small law firm expand it's online presence and utilize social media for a competitive business advantage.
The most important part of utilizing social media is first building a foundation, or hub, on the internet.
This should be the website of your law firm.
Think about your website as your center of communication, or as a "home base.
" Your presence on social media websites act more as an outpost for your online presence.
If you want to take full advantage of a presence across several media platforms, you need to have a strong and consistent line of communication throughout your various profiles, and this all starts with your home page.
For example, if you're posting videos on Youtube, you want your friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter to be aware of them.
Likewise, when visitors come to your website, you want to give them access to all of your various social media presences.
The better you streamline your online activity, the more benefit you'll receive from it.
After you've set up a profile page on the social media sites of your selection and have developed a solid website for your practice, the next step is to establish a following.
You can post the most intriguing legal thoughts, but if no one is there to see them, it's not going to do your law practice any good.
This is probably the most difficult part of using social media -- building an audience.
The key to building an audience for your local law firm is by starting locally.
Start by "friending" peers, whether they be the personal injury lawyer across the hall, an opposing counsel, or the county judge.
It's much easier to start a basic following by targeting legal peers than by going straight for potential clients.
What's important to remember is that the attraction of followers breeds more attraction.
It will be much easier to gain the attention of your prospective clients if they can see you are already followed by important players in your industry.
Finally, the last piece of the puzzle is content.
People are following you for a reason: because their interested in what you have to say.
For example, they want to hear your comments on the talk of legal reform, not what you ordered for lunch.
If you provide interesting content, not only will you hold the attention of your followers, but you will gain more.
That covers the basics in utilizing social media for your small law practice.
With a little perseverance, you should have a booming online presence in no time.
Best of luck.
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