If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do. (Attributed to Lucille Ball)

Today, everybody is busy, right? Or maybe not and we’re just disorganized so we look busy? Maybe its just a throw away excuse? Well, I’m really busy, but here I am, carving out the time to write a blog post! How did I find the time? I made the time because the task is valuable and important to me on many different levels; and hopefully for my readers!

I sympathized with someone this week who, after I chided her to get engaged in social media, commented that she is too busy for social media. She has a full time job that requires a rigorous travel schedule, she has a young family, and to top it off she has a second “full time” volunteer job as the president of a large professional association. How anyone can handle two full time jobs and a family is certainly remarkable, but is it a justifiable reason to skip social media?  Do we give her a pass?

Social Media Examined

Despite what some (self identified laggards) may have concluded: that social media is for people who have time on their hands to kill, I beg to differ. Social media is a highly influential medium that is being accessed by (very busy) business persons around the world in huge numbers.

The social web (i.e. social networks, blogs, YouTube, review sites, and more) holds the attention of CEO’s of some of the most forward-thinking organizations, the top journalists, the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches of the U.S. government, foreign governments, scientists, clergy, authors, artists, and entertainers—the thinkers and doers of our world.

This simply begs the question in my mind: Can a full-time businesswoman and volunteer leader of a geographically dispersed membership possibly afford to ignore the conversations that would help her better understand the people, issues, places, and ideas being put forth in social media by her clients, her organization’s membership (including vendors and sponsors who underwrite many of the programs), and her colleagues? What about those of her competition or the journalists who might help her promote her causes?

The answer: He/she who makes the loudest excuses, simply doesn’t see the value in doing it. When it comes to social media, be careful with those excuses because, if it hasn’t already, ignoring it will eventually set you back. I suggest you start now by putting one foot in front of the other…slowly, and move forward—to the best of your ability. (Which was exactly the businesswoman’s final agreement in response to my urgings. Kudos!)

Here are 10 tips to get up and running:

1. You’ve got to find your rhythm. Social media listening and engagement needs to become a natural part of your day or evening. It’s the same as checking email.
2. Make sure your mobile devices are “app-ed” up. Your most important social media channels should be travel ready. You can get a lot done while on the go. (Just not while you’re driving!)
3. Choose the right channels. If you’re putting in the time and not getting benefit (defined in many different ways), move on. Talk to business people you admire and who use social media, they’ll be happy to steer you in the right direction.
4. Take the time to gather the right people into your networks. It won’t take long. Start with only people you know and expand from there. Build your network before you need it. I promise it will be worth it.
5. Filter the noise. Don’t get caught up in reading every post that passes through your stream. Use precious time allotment more effectively.
1. Create lists and saved searches in Twitter.
2. Create a dashboard in iGoogle for your favorite blogs, journalists, and Google Alerts. Make it your landing page when you open your browser. Quickly scan the conversation.
3. Remove overly chatty friends from your Facebook stream by unsubscribing to their status updates. (You can still keep them as FB friends, you just won’t be bothered by their games, photos and links to canned thoughts for the day. Simply go to one of their posts in your timeline and click the little drop down arrow to the right of the status update, click unsubscribe to change your preference.)
4. Manage your FB settings to only notify you when you’ve been tagged in a post or other media like a video or photo. This is the easiest thing to do, still many don’t. It gives you a notification in your email box so you can quickly link to the mention and respond if appropriate.
5. Join only ONE group on LinkedIn and be present and accounted for.
6. Only respond when you think you can add something worthwhile, or when promoting others’ content can deepen your relationship with them. (by sharing their content). Sometimes it takes only a second to send a link or point someone in a helpful direction. Other times it takes writing a bit more. No one will judge you by the length of your response, only by the content in it. Be smart. Add a personal insight or comment to links you share. The extra minutes you spend writing it will go a long way toward your contribution to others and your credibility.
7. Load up your Internet browser’s tool bar with helpful short cuts to clipping programs like Evernote or to Twitter, link shorteners (though most networks now have onsite auto shorteners) and YouTube.
8. Practice mailbox hygiene. Email newsletters sprout like weeds. I swear I don’t remember subscribing for half of them, the other half seemed wise at the time, but do I read them? Probably not. Unsubscribe to most, keep only the ones that you really read or that have links to content within your subject matter so that you can easily access and share to Twitter, Facebook, etc. without ever having to search the web.
9. Create a paper.li –a little newspaper that you create by selecting custom subject matter. Your weekly paper.li will post to Twitter, include author Twitter handles and build followers.
10. Easy does it! You don’t have to be social 24/7. You don’t have to be social every day. But, be social…to the best of your ability. We all have off-line obligations, many are critical to our business, however, neglecting online opportunities just may hurt you more in the end.

I’m not suggesting there aren’t reasons to skip social media, there are. However, “I’m too busy” is an excuse, not a well-thought out choice. If you need help making choices, the VMO provides  practical training on social media, but only for very busy people!

Are you SURE you want to post that?

This should be the last thing you should say to yourself before hitting “Post.” I know, I know, the topic has been covered ad nauseam. But, yes, it really matters.

My two cents.

For the past three years I’ve indulged in an “unplugged” stay in Mexico—not because they do not have the infrastructure, they do—because it is a lovely country and I enjoy the people, sights, experiences, and FOOD! (and—yes, Mexican wines can be quite nice-for a price!)

Taking a clean break from my online networks and blogging gives me a well needed perspective—you should try it.

FLOOD WARNING.

This year, upon my return, I plugged back into Facebook and found my stream flooded with post after post of links to pabulum—insipid, simplistic, and frankly bland content. (How could I have missed that pre-break?) Well, this realization led me to conclude that it’s just way too easy to hit send/link/post 3^rd party opinion pieces or rehashed, divisive political dribble without adding value or anything resembling a human conversation.

News FLASH!

This does not endear me to you. This does not make me want to do business with you. This makes me think you are a puppet. This does not even want me to be your “friend” on Facebook. (Hmmm…now there’s an idea. Maybe it’s time to cull the troops.)

I admit, perhaps it is a statement about the “friends” I have. (Apologies to those FB friends who are genuinely engaging! And there are many. Family gets a pass.) Still, for the most part, I personally know all my Facebook friends. They are either professional colleagues, people I went to school with, friends of my kids, or people I know or have met in real life today. As this is the case I know that many of these insipid postings are not what we would be talking about in face-to-face conversation. Why do they post that stuff? Because they really care or they feel free, unaccountable, bored? I’m not trying to psychoanalyze, just sayin… Well, okay, I admit to sharing a video of Whitney Houston singing “The Greatest Love,” but I’m not talking about that kind of stuff. I like to know that you know we’re all sad when an artist passes. I’m talking about stuff that is not only insipid, but is also is potentially divisive and polarizing. That’s just not…well, polite.

What happened to “politics and religion are not polite” social conversation in casual relationships—which is how I categorize most of my “friends” on Facebook. Did we loose our manners in the face of Facebook?

Political musings about protesting this, that, and the other thing do nothing to lure me into a more fulfilling, or in the case of business, productive, relationship.

Note to self.

If you are at all interested in using social media to build business relationships, do not get sucked into the trap of feeling free just because its easy to click Post. EVERYTHING you post tells something about you. EVERY post you make is potentially building your professional platform, your brand and your future!

Is it okay to talk about your family, yes! Is it okay to share photos of your pets, your vacation, your best friend’s wedding, yes! Is it okay to share a link and add a comment that has the potential to add value to your network, yes! Is it okay to have fun, yes! Is it okay to broadcast controversial positions? Only you can decide. Is it okay to post something best left unsaid? As the old Microsoft slogan goes…”what do you want to do today?”

My Unsolicited Advice?

Social media has become mainstream. People will talk. Don’t give them something to talk about. It can ruin your day or your career.

Guard your reputation as if it were your life! Hey, it is your life! And, one final note, if I see you posting to Facebook a lot, like all day long, I’m going to think–hey, you need a life.

The jury is (almost) in. We do not, thankfully, anticipate a Casey-Anthony-super-sized-post-verdict outrage when the American Bar Association codifies its Commission on Ethics 20/20 proposed amendments to the Model Rules in 2012. According to the Commission’s recent proposal and report, lawyers are almost certain to avoid any new draconian restrictions on social media activity as were feared by some. We do, however, expect to see some clarifications that should make ethical conduct for lawyers using social media a bit more predictable.

BIG shout-out to the ABA Commission and it’s Co-Chairs, Jamie S. Gorelick and Michael Traynor for their hard work in sorting through the collective knowledge submitted in response to the September 2010, “Issues Paper Concerning Lawyers’ Use of Internet Based Client Development Tools.”  Their initial draft proposals in the “Lawyer’s Use of Technology and Client Development” discussion, released on June 29^th, appears to be spot on: “No new restrictions are necessary in this area.” Just clarifications.

“Technology has enabled lawyers to communicate about themselves and their services more easily and efficiently, and it has enabled the public to learn necessary information about lawyers, their credentials, and the particular legal services those lawyers provide as well as the cost of those services.”

“Lawyers, however, need to ensure that these communications satisfy existing ethical obligations. The Commission’s proposals are designed to give lawyers more guidance regarding these obligations in the context of various new client development tools.”

Clarifications.

The clarifications offered by the Commission will undoubtedly help lawyers and marketers to proceed without fear of the unknown—sort of. They’re not going to stymie your participation, but it’s still up to the individual to exercise judgment. Check out what a few bloggers have say here and here.  For readers who want a quick run down in layman’s terms, read on…Note: it took this seasoned marketing professional several readings—think double speak—to get to the practical implications, so, feel free to leave a comment if you have something to add or if you think I’ve got something wrong here. I hope this helps…

A prospective client, a potential client, and a solicitation

The distinction between communications with a “prospective client” was found needing clarification (Rule 1.18). A prospective client is one in which communications give rise to a client-lawyer relationship.

In short, the Commission identifies several precautions that lawyers should take to prevent the inadvertent creation of a “prospective” relationship and to ensure that the public does not misunderstand the consequences of communicating electronically with a lawyer.

Translation: This boils down to the what, where, when, and how disclaimers are used, for example, on a law firm’s website, email messages, blog site, or etc.  Also, a lawyer is advised to gauge their risk tolerance for being conflicted out of representing an adverse party of the “prospective” client should they chose to decline representation of the prospect–but this holds true for offline conversations as well, so nothing really earth shattering here, except that it brings the following into play….

Clarification of “prospective client” in advertising Rule 7.3

Advertising and other forms of marketing by definition are targeted to future clients—clients with whom the lawyer has had no prior contact and therefore are not technically “prospective clients.”

To avoid confusion, the Commission proposes to replace the use of “prospective” in Rule 7.3 with “potential;” a new term not yet clearly defined, but is understood to imply the universe of public persons—all possible future clients. Again, the distinction being that a “potential” client has not previously made contact with a lawyer but a “prospective” client has.

Translation: It’s okay to use social media and Internet advertisements to promote your services to future (“potential”) clients. Keeping in mind that compliance with all current aspects of advertising found in Rule 7.3 is necessary.

I have a website with a live chat line. Is that okay?

Rule 7.3 also addresses, and prohibits, most kinds of in-person, live telephone, and real time electronic solicitations, but permits other forms such as direct mail and email with a disclaimer such as “Advertising Material” clearly displayed.

Today, however, lawyers can post information on their social or professional networking pages (which function like websites) and can enter into conversations via those pages (like email) with “potential clients,” sometimes in “real-time” and sometimes not.  Ah… the complexity! To clear up the ambiguity, the Commission proposes that:

 “…a lawyer’s communications constitute a solicitation when the lawyer offers to provide, or can be reasonably understood to be offering to provide, legal services to a specific potential client.” (Emphasis added)

How this might play out: Let’s say you have a live chat option on your law firm website, the kind that pops up and asks the visitor if they have questions or would like assistance. If the visitor chooses to use the chat screen, that visitor is initiating contact with the lawyer or their agent. This may also be analogous to a “contact us” form.

It is important to note that the prohibition in Rule 7.3(a) applies only to lawyer-initiated contact. Rule 7.3 does not prohibit real-time electronic contact that is initiated by a potential client. In the instance described above, the website visitor has made the initial contact with the firm. The visitor has chosen to visit the law firm’s website, indicating that they have some interest in the website’s content. It is appropriate at this juncture for the law firm to offer the website visitor live assistance.

Practical pointer:

Of course, once assistance is offered and a conversation ensues, the potential client becomes a prospective client and all the conditions of the prospective client relationship apply, i.e. you may set yourself up to be conflicted out of working for the other party. That adverse party may, in fact, be a current client! You will need to develop a conflict check process before discussing a case with any contact that comes over the transom via your website, electronic communication, or any social media outlet—something many law firms have yet to address but would be advised to do so.

Translation: It is okay to communicate in real-time about your services with “potential” clients via social media and the Internet.  This clearly does not violate rules pertaining to solicitation: Responses to requests for information or advertisements that are not directed to specific people are not “solicitations.”

Another example found in the Commission’s report includes advertisements that are automatically generated in response to an Internet search. The Commission wishes to clarify that these are not solicitations because the “advertisements are generated in response to Internet research.” These responses are more analogous to a lawyer’s response to a request for information initiated by a potential client than an unsolicited and targeted letter to a potential client who is known to be in need of a particular legal service—which is a solicitation.

Translation:  It is okay to buy ads on search engines—it is not solicitation.

Will you recommend me?

Things get a little murky when the Commission tackles “recommendations.” Model Rule 7.2(b) essentially prohibits a lawyer from giving anything of value for recommending the lawyer’s services. While this Rule is clearly written to prohibit a lawyer to pay “runners” to engage in in-person solicitations, i.e. ambulance chasers, the commission recognizes that “a number of new forms of lead generation such as pay-per-click and pay-per-lead services have surfaced with the rise of the Internet.” Although these Internet “referrals” do not “typically use in-person solicitation or employ false or misleading communications” they do involve payment for what might be considered a recommendation. Therefore, the Commission says this Rule needs clarification because “in a limited context some fees should be permissible.”

Truly, Internet “referrals” via search engine ads, Facebook ads, or even Sponsored Twitter Search Results are not all that different than paying for the ads you run in the local press, or a magazine publication. In each of those traditional examples, paying your advertising, PR or Internet marketing agency folks to create and place those ads fall into the same bucket—and are allowed under 7.2.

Translation: It’s okay to pay for sponsored ads, Facebook campaigns and search engine key words. Unfortunately, this clarification does not resolve the most frequent question I am asked: “Can I accept recommendations on LinkedIn?” Seems that since this is not a paid referral, recommendation, or solicitation, it’s okay? Check with your State Bar for any prohibitions on client testimonials for the answer that is specific to you.

Is my Facebook promotional give-away a “recommendation” under 7.2(b)?

In regard to Rule 7.2(b), the Commission’s report included a case study of a law firm offering free branded t-shirts to Facebook Fans who would subsequently send in a photo of them wearing the shirt and that would be posted to the firm’s Facebook Company Page. In the strictest sense, the wearing of this t-shirt this may be perceived as a “recommendation.” Further, the gifting of the t-shirt compensation. Hmm. Interesting, right?

Well, the Commission smartly suggests that clarification be made to Rule 7.2(b) along the lines that the gifting of a t-shirt and a subsequent photo of a person wearing it is not inherently a recommendation of their legal services.

Translation:  Go forth and Facebook your t-shirts—well, maybe after the proposed Comments and Amendments are codified in late 2012.

Don’t make false or misleading communications on social media.

Finally, an easy one. The Commission decided that there would be no further need to develop new or different restrictions to the prohibition against false and misleading communications found in Advertising Rule 7.1.

“This Rule is readily applicable to online advertising and other forms of e-communications used to attract new clients.”

However, smart firms will include a reminder in their law firm policy to the effect that: In every thing you do or say on the Internet, by all means, do not spread false or misleading information about you or your services. For more ideas on constructing a social media policy for law firms, read this previous Virtual Marketing Officer post.

What’s ahead?

The Commission plans to release proposals with regard to other issues on its agenda no later than September 2011. The Commission will submit to the ABA House of Delegates final versions of all of the Commission’s proposals in May 2012, for the House of Delegates’ deliberation at the August 2012 ABA Annual Meeting. In the meantime, the Commission seeks and welcomes feedback on its proposals and reports to date.

Comments in response to the Initial Draft Proposals on Lawyers’ Use of Technology and Client Development are due August 31, 2011. Comments may be submitted to Senior Research Paralegal, Natalia Vera at natalia.vera@americanbar.org.

Go forth, ethically, and prosper!

Virtual Marketing Officer

The other day, I added a “new” Friend to my Facebook network, someone I see maybe once a year at a professional gathering. I thought: This is great. Can it get any easier to stay in touch and up to speed on what’s going on in her life so that the next time we meet we can immediately ease into a relevant conversation? No, it can’t. I love what Facebook brings to the flow of my professional (and personal) life.

Does anyone still use a Rolodex?

Then I thought, how much better than the previous, one-dimensional Rolodex era! As a marketing director in the era of the ROLODEX, I would sometimes suggest to lawyers that they go through their Rolodex contacts once a week and choose someone to call up just to say,

“Hello, how are you doing? I was thinking about you and thought to give you a call.”

This suggestion was more often than not met with three objections: (1) I don’t have time (2) I don’t feel comfortable doing that, and (3) what would I say after hello?

My counter objection went like this:

“But, you have to stay in touch with people who have engaged you or who can refer business your way. How else do you expect them to think of you when they DO need your services again or have been asked to recommend an attorney? Using your Rolodex to prompt a touch point is a simple method; please just try it.”

While a few adventurous souls would give my advice the old college try, most would soon revert back to opting for the chance meeting at a lunch spot or charity event. Oh well. Can’t say I didn’t try, right?

Client Relationship Management?

Then came CRM (Client Relationship Management). It promised to change the amount of work involved in keeping tabs on our contacts. It’s easy; you put contact information into the database, you time and date stamp every touch point, newsletter, or event invitation for that contact and mark it for a follow up reminder. An excellent system, only one problem, some systems are less than user friendly, adding an extra step to the attorney’s workflow. (I’m not gong to suggest a law firm doesn’t need a CRM – they do – but for other reasons, not personal networking.)

FACEBOOK for Lawyers?

Fast forward to social networking. When I first suggested that lawyers try moving their business network online to Facebook (not LinkedIn—the safe choice), I was met with three objections: (1) I don’t have time (2) I don’t feel comfortable doing that, and (3) what would I say? (Funny, same objections – what’s the pattern here?)  For most, the idea of a LinkedIn presence seemed respectable, but Facebook—isn’t that for college kids? Well, yeah, it can be for young adults with wide social circles, but that’s the beauty of it. The technology is place for developing and maintaining wide social networks and it is available for anyone to leverage!

With a little common sense, and little effort, you can post one to many communications, saving steps, letting your network know what you’re up to—and it’s totally acceptable.

PRACTICE POINTER: No one will think less of you because you are using Facebook! IN FACT, it may soon be just the opposite –

“Why aren’t you my “Friend” on Facebook yet? Why don’t we connect on Facebook? I’d love to keep in touch more frequently and since you’re a thousand miles away, this is the next best thing!”

Genius! You can hone in on the people in your network, that are otherwise so easily neglected, by commenting on one of their posts. A simple “like” is all it takes sometimes.  And, you can easily step it up to the next level with a one-to-one conversation via chat or onsite email when someone appears in your news stream that presents an opportunity to get more personal. All without leaving the site and fuddling with extra steps. (Note #1: Facebook is not the place to give legal advice – or anything resembling it. This is not the place to discuss a client’s case or a judge’s ruling – even in a private Facebook email or chat. This is strictly social!) (Note #2: Some CRM’s are integrating your social networks now, and if so, you may do well to investigate and learn how to use them.)

Privacy Settings.

Facebook is not the scary place that it was once thought to be—though there are some safe guards you MUST not ignore. By all means, don’t act like a stooge on Facebook: Only share G rated photos and don’t allow others to tag you in their photos that you do not believe represent your interests well. (If someone in your network does tag you—make sure your My Account/ Notifications settings are set to alert you to when you are tagged in a photo (see illustration)—simply go to the offending photo and remove the tag. They will not be able to add it back in even if they try.)

Also, don’t share your birth DATE (your month and day is okay if you don’t mind getting swamped with well wishes on your birthday!), lock down your profile and privacy settings to Only Friends, and don’t post controversial links to polarizing articles that may compromise future business opportunities. Be wary of third-party applications and games –you really don’t need them. AND, don’t friend judges, or others who may come back to haunt you merely by association. (More Facebook tips here.)

Bottom Line:

Treat your engagement with others on Facebook a little like you would the people you interact with socially at the country club, neighborhood, church, synagogue, or your kids’ school. Be reserved, but be personable. Otherwise, go for it! The results can be significant. I recently heard yet another story of a lawyer who picked up a VERY, VERY significant matter as a result of their activity on Facebook.

Facebook is a multidimensional Rolodex that you can fill with all the people you’ve encountered at various points and intersections of your life—you seldom know exactly where your next piece of business might come from. Make sure that your Facebook Friends are aware of your knowledge base, your accomplishments, interests, and yes, even what you were cooking on the barbeque at your Memorial Day picnic! It’s okay. People like to do business with people they know and trust.  Today, more of those relationships are budding on Facebook. What are you waiting for?

If you need help navigating social networks, drop me a note.

David Fraser (@privacylawyer) is not just a lawyer online; he’s a Canadian privacy lawyer—online.  Participating on a panel with David last Friday, it was immediately obvious that he “gets social media” when he flat out told a Canadian Bar Association group of Intellectual Property lawyers that …being a lawyer online does nothing for you. Being anything too broad; and you’re going to get lost.

I couldn’t agree more: It’s getting noisy out there—to think that only three years ago plenty of lawyers had only two things to say about social media: Me? Why? Well, the crowd has arrived.

So, what should you be doing to be present and counted for in social media today?

David had some sage words of advice that echo my own experience in coaching lawyers and share them below, paraphrased from my notes.

• Listen, listen, and listen. If you listen, you have a better opportunity to distinguish yourself from the crowd.
• Don’t dilute the message. David is a Canadian privacy lawyer and he only tweets and blogs about privacy. He doesn’t dilute his message. People who follow him are people who want to know about privacy-simple, right? The dividend is significant; it gives him quality followers and qualified leads. [Note from VMO: you may have a fairly broad practice, but you should pick the most interesting and profitable part of it to emphasize for your online practice.]
• It’s about people. People want to network (converse) with people. Following law firms is not generally helpful. (Well, maybe you should follow your own firm to get the latest news first!). Follow people. Follow the right people; those who want to talk about your subject—which by the way should be very specific….
• Be a part of the community. Once you’re online, by default you’re part of that community. Living your practice online, you have a responsibility to be a contributing member of that community. While David has gotten to know other competitors pretty well using social media, he warns about getting into battles with your competitors—it never looks good.
• Be clear about your message. You need to be clear about what you’re putting out there—it becomes part of your online presence. Know what “it’s” about before you get into anything online. Checking into a client’s office on Foursquare is a bad idea; it can breach confidentiality.
• Watch out for chilling effects. There is a LOT of user-generated content posted to social media sites receiving legal attention these days. It is never wise to enter social media without a comprehensive understanding of the liabilities—both professional and personal.  Facebook alone reported to Newsweek in January 2011 that it receives 10 to 20 requests for user account information per day or approximately 5000 email subpoenas per year. (You can view some of them at ChillingEffects.org, a watchdog, non-profit organization that catalogs lawyers’ cease and desist letters.) Canadian litigants with claims of assets-at-risk or reputations-at-risk are more likely to receive attention from social media services because there is more liability placed on the publisher in Canada. However, in the U.S., the Communications Decency Act squarely places the liability on users for what they post, not the publisher of the social media site. It’s important for everyone (not just lawyers) to know their rights and responsibilities, terms of service and conditions, and live within the boundaries.
• There is no anonymity. Everywhere you go on the Internet you leave a trail. (Dare I risk saying the obvious?) Whatever you wouldn’t do in public, you shouldn’t do online. Hot issues like John Doe Anonymity (fake profiles), protest, parody and criticism, copyright and DMCA, linking, patent and trademark/trade secret are all being vetted in consideration of new legislation specific to new media channels both in the U.S and Canada. If you are hiding behind an avatar,  a stage name handle and a disposable email address, don’t think they can’t find you if they want to.

Of course, if you’re not living your practice online, you’re less likely to be impacted by any negatives but also less likely to benefit from the positives. If you are living your practice online, you may need to do some housekeeping and tidy up your message. You can start by asking, “What does my professional title on LinkedIn say about me?” Are you Jane Smith, Attorney, Smith, Jones & Brown? Or, are you Jane Smith, Miami-based, Bi-lingual Import/Export Attorney Serving U.S and Latin American Markets?

Listen first; then post. Don’t dilute the message.  It’s about people, not push messages: Be community minded. Know your rights, responsibilities and liabilities; there is no anonymity. What else would you add to this list?

Everyone seems to be asking, what’s next for social media — we’ve got our LinkedIn profiles in place, we’re blogging, we’re posting on Facebook, we’ve got YouTube videos, podcast syndication, and we send out Tweets from both individual and law firm accounts, now what?

Try Community.

It’s time to trade the “casting-your-giant-net-hoping-something-will-swim-in-to–it” only approach to social media for an eco-system that nurtures, serves and replenishes.  Sound sort of fishy? It isn’t. And, there’s a great new book available that will give you plenty of reasons to do so, then walks you through some best practices:

Social Nation by Barry Libert.

Libert is the founder and CEO of Mzinga, a company that provides social software that manages two billion conversations a month for 15,000 communities on behalf of 300 well-known companies. He is a cutting edge thinker and doer that credits his success to the communities that he’s been so successful in building. [Note: The VMO was given a complimentary copy of Social Nation to review. It did not disappoint!]

“The online social movement is taking the business world by storm. Customers, employees and onlookers are making connections with one another and your brand in new uncharted ways. Social Nation will show you just how important those connections are and how fostering them can help you build a more successful, profitable business.” from www.socialnationbook.com

Top Take Aways:

• Libert provides a lot of white space for you to move around in. He acknowledges that change is not easy, and that “building social leadership skills” is a journey.  He suggests that the more you practice community, the easier it becomes and the more rewards it delivers. There’s even a companion “test” you can complete online to assess your Social Quotient.

• He defines four driving forces in the shift toward a more social business world and explains them in detail:

• Today’s changing workforce
• Open business models
• Emerging technologies
• Social monitoring and measuring tools.

• He confirms that Community minded companies are creating extra-ordinary value, revealing findings from a study by Wetpaint and Altimeter Group, “The World’s Most Valuable Brands. Who’s Most Engaged?” The study shows that financial performance increased by as much as 18 percent on average in one year for those companies most engaged in social media. By comparison, those companies least engaged saw an average decline of 6 percent in revenues during the same period.
• Socializing requires more than just being there — you have to interact with others, instigate discussions, and respond during conversations. Noting that:

“In the past companies and institutions have traditionally focused exclusively on the bottom line while disregarding the people and the processes by which they got there. In today’s social world, the collective voice is driving business, leading to the conclusion that to reach that bottom line successfully, businesses must understand and embrace these social models, sensibilities and processes.”

Chapter after chapter, the jewels in this book are dripping.

Culture is the Company’s DNA

Letting culture lead the way means allowing your core values to become integral to every piece of your social nation building process.

Clients want more than transactions. They want connections.

The business world is changing. The more we listen and the more we understand someone else’s needs, the more successful we can be in today’s socially connected world. The less we listen, or try to pretend we’re listening (i.e. without authenticity) the more irritated and turned off other people will become.

Technologies connect people in faster more transparent ways.

Very few people can be successful in a vacuum. When we interact with each other we have a better chance of being successful.

The insight we receive from social interactions and communications that take place among and between our customers, employees, investors and partners can be turned into action-able activities –new service ideas, better customer support, improved marketing communications, enhanced community activity, involvement, and positive sentiment.

Social Intelligence is valuable for remaining competitive.

There is the potential to gain intelligence from every communication and interaction – to improve what the firm does, sells and how it responds in real time to community requirements. Learn from your engagement with others. Use the information to do what you do better. Help you make decisions. Insights you can gather from your current clients as well as those you don’t have yet. Which new services should we offer?

Empower your clients.

The most cost effective way to stay competitive is to retain existing clients. One way to achieve this is to anticipate and understand the needs of existing clients so that you can reach them before they even realize they have an “unfulfilled need.”

“Social intelligence offers business the means to proactively seek and act: To address problems and remain competitive. It can act as a bridge between what you can do and what others can do for you. It’s a tool that links a company willing to listen with the customers who want to share and innovate.”

The bottom Line

Using Internet technology to deliver real value, increase productivity and enable interaction can give law firms, businesses, non-profits, and other professionals an edge over the competition [while its still available].  So, stop adding to the noise and start making a difference.

Read this book and learn how. Then, come back and leave a comment about what you found most helpful for building your social nation…

Thanks for stopping by!

I found this news alert from the Wall Street Journal fascinating on a couple of accounts:

“Interest in shares of Facebook is so strong that Goldman Sachs plans to stop soliciting interest from potential investors on Thursday, after the securities firm received orders worth several billion dollars.” (Link to article -subscription may be required – unlike Facebook they have to cover the overhead of producing professional content!)

I don’t know about you, but, I love the service Facebook provides and I’m glad they are doing well. It is probably the most powerful media holding on the Net – much to the surprise of many – and it may eventually become the NET – well, it is sure to be headed somewhere big with this new round of capital. The communities on Facebook are strong. There’s a lot to like about that for advertisers. And, obviously that’s not being missed by the  gold-rush investors. So I’m wondering, how are law firm marketers seeing it? Are they ready to invest boldly? Here’s how I see it.

What Make Facebook Valuable?

What makes Facebook extremely valuable is not that 500 million (or whatever the new number is) people gather there, but that those people share their information freely allowing Facebook to give advertisers the data they want and need to target their audiences. Never before has it been so easy (and so profitable) for a media company to do this.

(As an aside, in the early days of Facebook I was often unhappy about how they used my personal data without telling me, but these days anyone who uses an application within the service or shares information with EVERYONE has fair warning that their data is working in the background for Facebook’s commercial gain. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, right? We have fun sharing pics of the kids and Facebook makes boatloads of money.)

Advertising and Media.

Advertising has always paid for media —the whole kit and kaboodle; content, production, distribution, overhead and profit, for TV, magazines, newspapers, radio, etc.. But, Facebook doesn’t have content production costs; users do it for them, leaving only hard costs in making sure the “press,” so to speak, keeps running smoothly. It’s very attractive and it must be awfully lucrative for investors. What to do with all this profit –or am I missing something?

For advertisers it’s both a blessing and a curse. Sure they have access to amazing user data, sliced and diced digitally, but they now have to create the ad AND the content. That’s time intensive and expensive to do it right. (see chart below)  It takes bodies to produce and maintain quality content (reference old media) and bodies cost money. The new media, such as Facebook, is now passing along content creation costs to the advertiser leaving more profit for them. Hmmm. Very attractive for investors and advertisers don’t seem to mind as the data from Altimeter Group shows in this chart of projected corporate spend on new media in 2011. Staff and ad spend take the two top spots. Are law firms prepared to jump in?

Law Firms’ Facebook Pages.

More law firms are setting up Facebook pages – it’s tough going, right? A lot goes into creating the content and few lawyers are willing to pitch in. The burden right now is squarely on the shoulders of the marketers – many find it to be just another underfunded challenge. Worse, law firm management gives it little or no strategic value.

So, they assign the task to a marketing coordinator (Thinking….they’re Net natives, right, they know all about cool Facebook content. Hmmm… jump below***), throw up some press releases, and get employees, partners and families to “like” the firm page. Ho hum. Is that what it’s really all about? I say no. Legal marketers need to be preparing their next steps now.

I want to hear from lawyers, law firms and marketers who are taking Facebook seriously. How are you leveraging the demographic data available from FB?  Would you share with us how it is going? And, what about content creation? I’ve heard a few very large firms have added staff. What are your plans for 2011? Do you have any secret plan of attack – not asking you to share what that is, just curious to know if we’re getting closer to a truly strategic mentality about Facebook in the legal marketing profession.

Thanks in advance for your contributions to this stream of thought.

Content production and the staffing conundrum.

***I’m not implying here that entry level marketers of the Net generation aren’t entirely capable of producing good content, however, this will only happen when the law firm and the CMO empower the content builders. That takes an awful lot of trust, not to mention training so that the content builders understand and apply professional ethics and confidentiality where it is needed. The content builders must also understand the law firm’s market (whoa – big job) and what is at stake for the entity, as well as what measurements will float the boat. This, in my opinion, needs leadership. Senior leadership. Trouble is, leadership doesn’t have time to devote to something that is not directly tied to business results – generating real revenue. So, it gets pushed down. This, I think, may be where we need to rethink what we’re doing. I think the benefit of early adoption in leveraging new media, specifically Facebook, is potentially huge. What do you think?

Looking back – Looking forward.

Social media and social networking platforms open up doors to new relationships and often work well as tools for marketing – broad distribution, top of mind impact, and exposure for expertise.

However, looking back on my social media involvement during 2010, these two uses actually had the least impact on my business goals.

Interestingly, social media was most helpful to me in 2010 when I was engaging with colleagues and friends with whom I already had an off line relationship at one point or other in time.  This didn’t mean that I ONLY interacted with people I knew in the bricks and mortar world; in fact, I made several significant new connections in 2010 with people I’d only met via social media who became new clients, valuable resources, and generally great people to know. But overall, this was the exception not the rule. I received more new business from mining my known network and from using social media tools to deepen relationships with those in my network who are geographically distant.  Realizing this is helping me focus my social media activity in 2011.

Focus on content and community.

Based on my experimentation with open networking in the very large marketplace of the social web, I’ve learned that the best use of social networks, and even my blog, is to “get together” online with people I already know using smaller communities; so I intend to do more of that in 2011.

Essentially my community interaction revolves around content, i.e. status updates, reviews, ideas, suggestions, quotes, links to what’s being read, and notes about what’s going on in lives, both personal and professional.  For the most part, I care about what my established communities are talking about because I already have a sense of who they are and where they fit into my life. It gives our interactions focus. It allows me to contribute in a meaningful way. The content we share creates a sort of bond. Within this type of community we are all free to do business with one another and indeed we do. What really makes focused communities helpful to me is in knowing that being social online becomes something I want to do and not just another “marketing” chore. It’s authentic. And, when you’re doing something you like to do, the enthusiasm is noted by others and often translates to new business.

This is really important, I think, for law firms who are trying to make sense of how they can leverage social tools for the entity. Casting a wide net may have a place in the marketing mix, but finding or creating smaller communities to engage in is where they will begin to see the most meaningful activity and new business prospects.

Chris Brogan recently blogged about the importance of building your social media activity around an object of focus to stimulate content and community:

You need a campfire…you need that social setting that consists of: object of focus, group experience of that object, and then creative expression thereafter. In literal terms, the party is around a campfire. In more stretched out thinking, the party is around the creative content. It’s content, community, and marketplace, said another way.

Community intersects with business.

As more law firms (and individual lawyers) will be entering the age of social media this year they will be looking for beneficial ways to engage. I suggest you do yourself a favor, skip a couple steps and take note; human behavior doesn’t change: Humans seek connection – in both their personal and professional lives.  Whatever community you want to penetrate, reach, influence, or start, the secret to successful social media engagement is to study human behavior. Humans connect around commonalities, interests, issues, industries, questions, answers, topics, opinion, politics; you name it. Study the behavior of your clients, “friends of the firm,” referral sources, and even partners and employees in far flung offices, whoever you wish reach, because the more aware you are of the fundamental human behavior at work, the more likely your online activity or social media strategies will feel natural and be valuable on numerous levels.

A community within the very large online social marketplace is the most viable source for doing business. The best way to create business opportunities using social media is to be a member of a community where you can engage others, enable relationships, and create trust. How do you do that? I’ve said it before and will say it again…in using social media tools we’re not doing anything different, we’re just doing it differently. In life, we chose our friends based on synergies – we share a love of conversation, family, sports, literature, politics, movies, travel, wine, etc. And, we gravitate toward certain people in our workplace based on like passions for the work and other commonalities like schools, neighborhoods, or even the charities we support.

Whether you are a law firm marketer building a social media strategy or a lawyer executing on tactics, devote your premium time to interacting with people you know and converse about what it is that they, and you, care about most; if you try to force interaction or push content that is not relevant, it just won’t happen. Think about your object of focus, build on the experience of the group, and your social media activity will become meaningful, natural and beneficial no matter what the topic or focus. It’s really quite basic.  Oh, and lest I forget to mention….it’s been my experience in 2010 that engagement that leads to new business does not happen without consistent participation, i.e. work! Those who are new to social media, looking for a short cut or quick fix will be disappointed. Here’s to a great new year with social media!

And, here’s an excerpt from my recently published book, social.lawyers | Transforming Business Development, West, (2010 ed.), that tells the story of how community creates business.

Conversations in the Marketplace

In the purest sense the social Web is a very large marketplace populated by people who come and go for the purpose of engaging in conversations about things they do, make, think about, and care about, and of course to buy or sell things. The majority of your conversations in any marketplace will occur in smaller gatherings of people who share interests, ideas, or work together to solve problems and help one another. And that’s also how business gets done in this very large online marketplace, within these smaller communities.

On the social Web our conversations happen through posts. They can be blog posts, social-networking posts, or a comment post on a news article. They can be status-update posts, video or podcast posts, photos, or just about anything that makes connection and community. If your posts have an authentic voice, relevancy and value, they will enable relationships and trust; i.e. community. So, how do we find community?

Connection and Community

I learned about the role of community in business while growing up in a small Pennsylvania town where my extended family owned a modest but successful grocery store and a produce-distribution company. I vividly remember the day when my mother and father had finally scraped together enough money to buy the grocery store outright from my great-uncle. From then on, my father was the head butcher and my mother was found wherever she was needed most in the store. My grandmother worked wrapping meats and cheeses and dished up pickles from the barrel. My brothers and I counted cans on inventory days or stocked shelves, swept floors, carried out people’s groceries to their cars, and my favorite, arranged the candy shelves. Pretty much everyone my parents knew, and more, came to my family’s store at least once a week to shop for their groceries and buy meats from my dad.  What I now realize is that while groceries were vital, people came to our family store in large part because it met their need for connection. Going grocery shopping was a social event where they found a community.

There was always a fresh pot of coffee behind the butcher counter, along with a baked good or two (shoe-fly pie or sticky buns) that a customer brought in for our family or that my dad took off the shelf to share with others. The women would shop and the men would talk. The bread man, the milkman, the potato chip man and the produce-truck guy (this was before women were liberated!) were all regular fixtures, hanging around the butcher counter long after their deliveries were made. The store was small, nothing close to the mega supermarkets we know today. Still, it could take hours for a family to move through the aisles, and not just because the aisles were narrow. It was because everyone would stop and chat with their friends, neighbors, our family and our employees. Shopping at Cassel’s Food Store was community; it was an event, an experience and a place of connection, and yes, things were bought and sold.

I remember watching Dad interact with his customers, carefully explaining the special cuts of meat and how they might be prepared, or proudly pulling out a fresh piece of fish from the ice-packed display that came in that morning from the New Jersey coast. My mother would often give customers a sample of cheese or ring bologna while they watched my dad make fresh sausage with a hand meat-grinder. Customers conversed with each other about recipes they had tried or suggestions for side dishes, and before you could say Quakertown, another order of meat or fish was sold to test it out. When new products showed up on the shelves, customers would seek out the opinions of employees who had earned their trust over the years.  Arriving at the check-out register they were entertained by the very chatty and personable Mr. White—who worked that register his entire life—offering them bits of news, gossip and town history while ringing up their purchases. He’d often comment on how fresh the green beans looked that day and wouldn’t they go good with this or that, prompting the customer to take one more run to the produce department before their bill was tallied.

People came to my family’s grocery store to buy groceries, sure, but also to connect with others and learn about new things while drinking a cup of coffee and eating homemade cakes. (Think Facebook!) Occasionally, they’d drop a nickel in my hand after I’d carted their groceries to their car two blocks away on a Saturday afternoon when I would have rather been at the movies with friends. Still, I’ll never regret my frozen fingers or forget the lesson my family and friends taught me while growing up in the family business: Humans seek connection. They seek community.

As modern and hip as the Netizens of the social Web may perceive themselves to be, it is the feeling of the old-time marketplace—a valued place where people find connection and earn trust in order to buy and sell their goods and services—that brings them back again and again.[1] In that old-time marketplace, people with intersecting interests, both buyers and sellers, had conversations with each other without the filter of the media, incessant advertisements, or the shading of public relations. Likewise, uncorrupted community and connection are what most people on the social Web want today—even in the midst of our go-go modern world—as evidenced in its astounding growth. Whether bricks and mortar or digits, people want to be a part of a community. I believe, as do many others, that the social Web is growing because it meets our basic human desire for community and connection.

How important are your online communities? Are they valuable to you or are you just going through the motions? Sure, some people get business simply because they do something uniquely sought after and don’t need to build connections and community, but they are the exception not the rule. There is a connection between commonalities, relationship, and trust, and it’s vital to doing business in 2011.

The Social Network, the movie loosely documenting the development and meteoric rise of the popular social networking site Facebook, was a fine Hollywood movie; I was easily pulled into the characters and the story. While I wasn’t expecting anything deep or revelatory, there was one strong take away that the movie illustrated well. The Face Book, as it was originally called, was created as a tool to impress [girls] in real life and promote real life hook-ups. And that, essentially, is still how social networking works best — as a starting point or a touch point for real life.

I am often privileged to speak on social media and networking to groups of lawyers, law firm administrators, marketers, paralegals and others. I chat with them about how they are using the social web and try to learn more about their challenges and help them map opportunities. To my surprise, many perceive the social web as being a virtual world that is an entirely separate animal-that it’s all about the virtual connection and any off-line spill over is just an extra benefit. I assure them that nothing is farther from the truth. Nothing has changed, really…

we’re not doing anything different, we’re just doing it differently.

I like to use the analogy that Twitter is like a cocktail party­­­­­­-the handshake that starts the conversation, Facebook is the country club where business and recreation mix, LinkedIn is a calling card, rolodex or chamber of commerce networking event, and peer-to-peer networks like Martindale Connected are like the Bar association meeting. When lawyers hear this, their eyes light up and the sense that this is a foreign virtual world dissipates.

Then they ask… “But how do you develop new business virtually? Most people want to know the lawyer before they hire them.” That’s true, they do and you don’t exclusively develop new business in a virtual world. I explain that online networking and other social media tools are great for exposure, keeping in touch, and reaching a new or broader audience. The way we use these tools should work together with off-line meetings, phone calls, networking, and introductions from referrals. The fundamentals still remain…what you do with those “introductions” is no different than sending a follow up email after someone hands you their business card at a off line event, only its the other way around…”let’s get together in Houston for coffee – I’ll be in your town next week and we can talk about your company.”

Watching The Social Network really sends this message home. What you do online can be pointing you to an off-line engagement. It’s up to you to leverage the opportunity. To see how this works, here’s an oldie but goodie story about Laura Guiterrez posted by Heather Morse on her blog The Legal Watercooler.

Technorati Tags: The Social Network movie, Facebook, lawyers, Laura Guiterrez, Heather Morse,