Jayne Navarre

Best Practices, Law Firm CMO, Social Networking, StrategyJune 16, 2009<November 29, 2012

Social Networking- Successful Training for Lawyers

Many law firms are (finally) starting to take a serious look at social networking tools as an inexpensive resource for developing new business. (Note: This author points out that online social tools may be inexpensive in dollars but they are time intensive if done correctly.) To conduct training sessions they are frequently using or considering using outside consultants.

Since the ranks of self-anointed social networking experts grows daily and general law firm consultants are picking up on the basics, there are a lot more choices these days of who to hire for the job.

In my travels I have learned several things that I am happy to share and that might help you. Here are 10 things to consider when looking for outside counsel to introduce attorneys to social networking tools.

Best Practices, News, Social NetworkingJune 12, 2009<June 12, 2009

Facebook Friday – Fast Facts On UserNames

What’s in a name? A lot.

At least on June 13th starting at 12:01 a.m. (EDT). You see Facebook is hosting a name claim extravaganza. That’s right, no more url addresses with Facebook.com and a random series of numbers and digits. You will be able to select a username at http://www.facebook.com/username for your Facebook account to easily direct friends, family, and coworkers to your profile.

Law firms and the companies they counsel who are interested in getting found on Facebook will also be able to stake a claim on http://www.facebook.com/yourcompanynamehere.

Companies can (and should) preemptively protect their rights to their trademarks and block cyber-squatting by registering their mark Facebook. All you need to do is visit here. Provide your company’s name, the trademark and the federal trademark registration number, and subject to their review, Facebook will reserve the trademark and not let anyone else use it.

According to Brian Fergemann, a partner and intellectual property attorney at Chicago’s Winston & Strawn, quoted today in the National Law Journal,

“This is really a way for someone who has a distinct or famous trademark to let Facebook know that others should not be allowed to register that page. They can just say, ‘Please don’t let anyone use my registered trademark.’ ”

I agree, and even if your law firm or company is not yet on Facebook you should register your mark, NOW. The good news is, if you find that someone’s username infringes your rights, you can fill out an automated IP infringement form.

Now for the fun stuff!

Ideas, Web 2.0May 29, 2009<May 29, 2009

3 Geeks and a Law Blog publishes best of '09

Greg Lambert, 3 Geeks and a Law Blog, just posted the ’09 list of must read blog posts. Gathering suggestions from his Twitter community, this list rocks. So far there are 150 posts. And we’re only in the first half of ’09.

There’s so much great stuff here it will take me all year to read them. My plan is to read one a day for the next 145 days. (I already read 5 and the inspiration factor is off the scale. Check out The Sun, The Cave, Enterprise 2.0 and the Ah Ha Moment on Cheryl McKinnon’s blog Candy and Asprin. The 2 minute video at the end is a treat.)

Thanks Greg (@glambert) and everyone who contributed selections. This a true example of community. What did we do before the Web went 2.0? Not to worry. No looking back.

Business Development, Marketing Communications, Social NetworkingMay 27, 2009<May 27, 2009

Will Online Networking Expedite the Development of Rainmakers?

I asked Mike O’Horo, of Sales Results Inc. if he thought social networking online will expedite the development of young professionals into rainmakers. His response was so on point that I would be selfish not to share it with you.

So, I asked Mike, “Do online social networking behaviors produce rainmakers at an earlier age? Where does business development fit in?” Here’s what he said:

“That depends on the degree to which the young professionals in question recognize the difference between marketing and selling. Social networking tools emulate and magnify personal networking behaviors, and serve the same purpose: helping you to get found, presumably by those whom you most want to find you. [marketing/exposure]

Getting chosen from among those found (selling) requires a disciplined decision-management process that is entirely distinct from marketing [networking]. Therein lies the double rub re: online social networking. If you can’t sell, all the getting found (leads) in the world is just wasted opportunity. Likewise, if you can’t manage the distillation process, weeding out those who want to act vs. those who must act, you’ll exhaust your extremely limited sales-time bandwidth before you get the desired results.

The bottom line is that these tools are just a medium within which to conduct the same marketing and sales activities that have been necessary in commerce for hundreds of years. Faster, cheaper, broader? Yet bet. Sufficient? Not by a long shot. As my friend, Mark Greene, was wont to say during his decades as a premier market research wizard, “Necessary, but not sufficient.”

To Block or Not to Block the Social Web at Work.

Does blocking access to social networking sites at the office really work? Are social networking sites the only places of risk for companies and law firms on the new social Web?

Do you know that if your partners and employees can access blogs and other sites that allow commenting, reviewing, or streaming content (e.g. news videos or podcasts), via the firm Internet connection, you are, by default, giving them permission to participate in the social web.

Law firms need viable responses to the new way in which people are using the web. Shutting off access to social networking sites isn’t the last decision you’ll make.

So what should law firm leaders do? Here are a few suggestions that I recommend.

Marketing CommunicationsMay 13, 2009<May 13, 2009

Is Social Networking Mission Critical For You?

Online “social” networking isn’t the big mystery that some people think it is. It has the same elements of networking that have held up since the beginning of time. In fact, if I were to guess, the creators of the popular network, LinkedIn, probably developed the idea like this:
They recognized that they got to where they were in their professional – and personal –lives because of someone they knew, who knew someone who knew someone else who was able to help them through this or that challenge. Whether that involved getting into schools, jobs, or apartments, finding financing, mentors, business partners, or customers, a good deal, a trustworthy professional or valuable advice, their progress or success was built upon how well they were connected.

Best Practices, Law Firm Administration, Social Media PolicyMay 4, 2009<November 29, 2012

Can a social media policy be too restrictive?

You know your culture better than anyone, so use that as a filter for decision-making. Every firm is different. It certainly is the administrator’s job to look for the loopholes and the worst-case scenario, BUT if you make something a bigger deal than it is, it will become exactly that. Permission based policy works better than restrictive policy.

Blog Tips, Marketing Communications, Web sitesMay 1, 2009<November 29, 2012

A blog without Categories? What's up with that?

I just got back from a little trip around the legal blogsphere and I was pretty surprised to find that A LOT of blogs written by lawyers and law professors don’t use Categories. What’s up with that?