Law Firm Social Media Opportunity to Win New Clients

It wasn't that long ago that lawyers viewed public relations and its related disciplines with great distaste. In their view, those were things that merchants did and not practitioners of the law. Times have changed. The business of law has become highly competitive and, as such, lawyers have come to embrace public relations and marketing in general.

One area that has attracted considerable attention is social media. In essence law firm social media offers an opportunity to start conversations that can help in the never-ending quest to win new clients.

However, before embarking upon a law firm social media program, there are a number of things to consider:

*Be consistent. For your law firm social media initiative to be successful, you must approach it with an understanding that blogs are intended to initiate discussion. Being strategic about your social media initiative means you commit to a conversation that will further establish your legal expertise, while also encouraging discussion with subscribers. Making the commitment is the important first step.

*What am I going to talk about? A key ingredient for a successful law firm social media program revolves around content. Create a list of core topics that interest you, ideally connecting your clients' hot-topic interests to your practice area of expertise. Remember you want to showcase your expertise so don't stray too far into areas beyond that expertise.

*Structure and schedule. Critical to implementing a law firm social media program is the knowledge that every social media platform is different; Twitter allows for only brief 140-character exchanges, while other sites allow you to post extensive content and generate extensive conversations. For purposes of conversation-based social initiatives, a blog about hot topics might be the way to go. To generate postings that encourage discussion, ask your readers for their comments and opinions, or ask them to answer a question.

*Make it easy for clients to find you. Central to a successful law firm social media program is making it easy for clients and potential clients to find you. Set up a profile on various sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, among others. Utilize one of the blogger sites to set up your blog (e.g., WordPress is fairly easy to use) and then link them all together. In addition, a simple means for promoting your social media presence is through your email signature by simply adding lines like: Follow me on Twitter (address) or Read My Blog at (address).

*Engage in conversations. Another key to successful law firm social media programs is engaging others in conversation. Identify the most influential bloggers covering topics of interest to you or germane to your practice. Comment on things they've posted and link back to your own blog.

Successful law firm social media strategies require thoughtful planning and commitment, particularly when it comes to providing new and interesting content (there's no great social media sin than coming across a blog that hasn't been updated in quite some time). If there is any doubt, engage the services of a social media expert as he or she can save you valuable time in launching your social media presence.

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