The Place to Network: Social Networking, The Tools of the Trade

In our last column, we reviewed the networking basics, establishing that the purpose of our efforts should be to increase our visibility and demonstrate our credibility to our target marketplace. Meeting new people and showing them what we can do is a far more practical method of securing new business than merely doing good work and hoping others notice. These objectives remain foremost whether we're engaging in physical networking, as with client events and bar association meetings, or in social networking, which refers to the multitude of gathering places that have sprouted up online. This month, let's take a closer look at one of the more popular social networking tools in use today, and how it can be used for networking purposes.

Twitter

Twitter is a micro-blogging Web site that first appeared in 2006, and it provides users the opportunity to publish, or “post,” short comments to an audience of subscribers. For those readers familiar with mobile phone text messaging, it's essentially the same concept: The author types short snippets rather than lengthy articles. Users of Facebook and other social networking sites will see the similarity between Twitter and the status update features of these other networks. And for those completely unfamiliar with the technology milieu, Twitter may best be likened to a short diary entry that's viewable by your friends and family, through which you provide updates and notes of personal interest.

Critics of social networking seem mystified by what may appear to be an unhealthy narcissistic trend: Why in the world should anyone care what I'm up to, and why should I care what you're up to? But Twitter and other social networking tools are not merely tools to peer into one's private life ' though today's youth seem quite content using it for that purpose. Twitter can be a powerful tool to establish an online presence, showcasing one's talents, interests and thought processes to a wide audience. While the vast majority of one's Twitter posts are viewed only by a user's registered audience, one appealing aspect of the site is the ease by which a happy reader may forward a favorite post to his or her own registered audience, and these readers may in turn forward the post yet again. This viral effect can turn a particularly insightful post into a sensation, giving it coverage well beyond the ability of the author to generate on her own.

You Have Control

When publishing in traditional media such as a newsletter or a newspaper, an author gravitates to those publications that target his or her desired audience. However, the author has no control over the readership, distribution and circulation, and therefore puts a lot of trust in the publisher to deliver the intended audience. With Twitter, the author relies on the readers to generate circulation, which they do by enthusiastically forwarding favorite comments to an ever-widening
circle of interested readers. The power of exponential math can be impressive: One Twitter post may be read by 50 registered readers, and if five of these readers forward the post to their own network of 50, and of these two 250 new readers perhaps if another five forward the post yet again, and again, and again, you can see how one post can quickly reach hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands and perhaps even millions of readers. And unlike traditional print media, there is no shelf life to a Twitter post. Something I authored weeks or months ago may be read and forwarded by a new reader today, giving it new life and exposure to another new audience.

So now we know that Twitter can be powerful. But it's also easy to use. Anyone who wants to join merely visits the Twitter Web site and registers, at no charge, then selects a public username (this reporter uses tcorcoran) and away we go. There is no limit to what one can post in terms of frequency, though the posts themselves are limited to 140 characters. Typing succinct and readable comments with so few characters takes some getting used to, but with practice most Twitter users catch on and find themselves mastering the art of brevity.

A Quick Example

In many cases, Twitter posts contain a link to an article along with a quick summary. For example, a reader of this reporter's blog posted the following: Good post by @tcorcoran on how law firms can win loyalty/new business by budgeting/forecasting like their clients http://bit.ly/dm3Sir. In a mere 124 characters, the Twitter post describes the content of a blog article, commends the author and provides a link. Careful readers will note that the Web site address contained in the Twitter post is a bit unusual. There are a number of translators that convert lengthy Web site addresses into shortened forms, which saves characters and improves usability, in part by reducing the instances where typing errors somewhere in the process prevents access to the site.

The above example follows a fairly standard pattern: An author publishes a blog article of interest to his target audience, perhaps publishes a summary of the article on Twitter along with a link to the article, and other readers then pass the Twitter post on to their own readers (this is called a “re-tweet”) and the article lives on. Presumably, the interested readers who click through to read the blog post include some number of prospects which may at some later point be converted to clients. In this way, Twitter can serve as yet another mechanism for increasing one's visibility and demonstrating one's credibility. But is it really so simple? Surely there must be some downsides?

The ease by which users can register as users and then post comments means that Twitter has quickly become a cacophony. And, of course, many of the comments have no business purpose, and our youth do indeed spend time sharing too much information. But Twitter is self-regulating, and in the same way that attendees at a cocktail reception quickly learn to avoid the tipsy guy with his tie askew who tends to spill his drink and knock a canap' to the floor as he rushes to hand over his business card to anyone who passes by, one learns to ignore the mindless chatter and focus on what matters.

Technology helps in this regard too. The first filter is one's subscriptions. Most users seek out the Twitter profiles of friends, acquaintances, noted authors and respected dignitaries in one's field, and “subscribes” to these users' Twitter posts. Now rather than dealing with the chatter of just anyone, one views just the commentary of one's own circle. This requires periodic updating, pruning those who have nothing to say (or too much to say), and adding others who appear to be relevant and interesting. One approach is to follow those whom your friends follow. In this way, over time, one finds the right experts that meet one's own interests.

'Twitterstreams'

A particularly useful way to find others with similar interests is to follow the commentary (known as a “Twitterstream”) attached to a conference you would have liked to attend, but for which you could find neither the time nor the budget. Perhaps one of the most powerful uses of Twitter occurs when conference attendees share their insights, in real time, with their followers. This is a fantastic way for attendees to take notes ' capturing the same kernels of wisdom that would otherwise gather dust in a notepad or in the margins of a binder that sits on a shelf ' and for these attendees' followers to look over their shoulders, gathering some of the essence of the conference without actually attending. There may be no more efficient way to generate visibility and demonstrate credibility than to serve as the on-site reporter for dozens or even hundreds of colleagues who hungrily wait for your thoughtful summaries.

Conclusion

Twitter is, like snowboarding and fine wine (and certainly snowboarding with fine wine!), something that must be tried to fully experience. It's as challenging to write about a new phenomenon as it is to understand it, so my recommendation is that you try it for a bit before making any judgment. Like all marketing and business development techniques, some will suit you and some will not. Twitter can be an impressive tool to generate exposure for those with limited time and budget. Twitter may be a valuable way to demonstrate subject matter expertise by one who's deathly afraid of speaking at a client conference but nevertheless has quite a bit to add. Still, for others, nothing replaces a firm handshake and looking someone in the eye. Managing a Twitter presence is an investment of time and energy, but it just may be the place for you.

Timothy B. Corcoran is a senior consultant with Altman Weil, Inc. Tim authors Corcoran's Law Biz Blog and is a regular speaker and writer on business development and business management issues for law firms.

In our last column, we reviewed the networking basics, establishing that the purpose of our efforts should be to increase our visibility and demonstrate our credibility to our target marketplace. Meeting new people and showing them what we can do is a far more practical method of securing new business than merely doing good work and hoping others notice. These objectives remain foremost whether we're engaging in physical networking, as with client events and bar association meetings, or in social networking, which refers to the multitude of gathering places that have sprouted up online. This month, let's take a closer look at one of the more popular social networking tools in use today, and how it can be used for networking purposes.

Twitter

Twitter is a micro-blogging Web site that first appeared in 2006, and it provides users the opportunity to publish, or “post,” short comments to an audience of subscribers. For those readers familiar with mobile phone text messaging, it's essentially the same concept: The author types short snippets rather than lengthy articles. Users of Facebook and other social networking sites will see the similarity between Twitter and the status update features of these other networks. And for those completely unfamiliar with the technology milieu, Twitter may best be likened to a short diary entry that's viewable by your friends and family, through which you provide updates and notes of personal interest.

Critics of social networking seem mystified by what may appear to be an unhealthy narcissistic trend: Why in the world should anyone care what I'm up to, and why should I care what you're up to? But Twitter and other social networking tools are not merely tools to peer into one's private life ' though today's youth seem quite content using it for that purpose. Twitter can be a powerful tool to establish an online presence, showcasing one's talents, interests and thought processes to a wide audience. While the vast majority of one's Twitter posts are viewed only by a user's registered audience, one appealing aspect of the site is the ease by which a happy reader may forward a favorite post to his or her own registered audience, and these readers may in turn forward the post yet again. This viral effect can turn a particularly insightful post into a sensation, giving it coverage well beyond the ability of the author to generate on her own.

You Have Control

When publishing in traditional media such as a newsletter or a newspaper, an author gravitates to those publications that target his or her desired audience. However, the author has no control over the readership, distribution and circulation, and therefore puts a lot of trust in the publisher to deliver the intended audience. With Twitter, the author relies on the readers to generate circulation, which they do by enthusiastically forwarding favorite comments to an ever-widening
circle of interested readers. The power of exponential math can be impressive: One Twitter post may be read by 50 registered readers, and if five of these readers forward the post to their own network of 50, and of these two 250 new readers perhaps if another five forward the post yet again, and again, and again, you can see how one post can quickly reach hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands and perhaps even millions of readers. And unlike traditional print media, there is no shelf life to a Twitter post. Something I authored weeks or months ago may be read and forwarded by a new reader today, giving it new life and exposure to another new audience.

So now we know that Twitter can be powerful. But it's also easy to use. Anyone who wants to join merely visits the Twitter Web site and registers, at no charge, then selects a public username (this reporter uses tcorcoran) and away we go. There is no limit to what one can post in terms of frequency, though the posts themselves are limited to 140 characters. Typing succinct and readable comments with so few characters takes some getting used to, but with practice most Twitter users catch on and find themselves mastering the art of brevity.

A Quick Example

In many cases, Twitter posts contain a link to an article along with a quick summary. For example, a reader of this reporter's blog posted the following: Good post by @tcorcoran on how law firms can win loyalty/new business by budgeting/forecasting like their clients http://bit.ly/dm3Sir. In a mere 124 characters, the Twitter post describes the content of a blog article, commends the author and provides a link. Careful readers will note that the Web site address contained in the Twitter post is a bit unusual. There are a number of translators that convert lengthy Web site addresses into shortened forms, which saves characters and improves usability, in part by reducing the instances where typing errors somewhere in the process prevents access to the site.

The above example follows a fairly standard pattern: An author publishes a blog article of interest to his target audience, perhaps publishes a summary of the article on Twitter along with a link to the article, and other readers then pass the Twitter post on to their own readers (this is called a “re-tweet”) and the article lives on. Presumably, the interested readers who click through to read the blog post include some number of prospects which may at some later point be converted to clients. In this way, Twitter can serve as yet another mechanism for increasing one's visibility and demonstrating one's credibility. But is it really so simple? Surely there must be some downsides?

The ease by which users can register as users and then post comments means that Twitter has quickly become a cacophony. And, of course, many of the comments have no business purpose, and our youth do indeed spend time sharing too much information. But Twitter is self-regulating, and in the same way that attendees at a cocktail reception quickly learn to avoid the tipsy guy with his tie askew who tends to spill his drink and knock a canap' to the floor as he rushes to hand over his business card to anyone who passes by, one learns to ignore the mindless chatter and focus on what matters.

Technology helps in this regard too. The first filter is one's subscriptions. Most users seek out the Twitter profiles of friends, acquaintances, noted authors and respected dignitaries in one's field, and “subscribes” to these users' Twitter posts. Now rather than dealing with the chatter of just anyone, one views just the commentary of one's own circle. This requires periodic updating, pruning those who have nothing to say (or too much to say), and adding others who appear to be relevant and interesting. One approach is to follow those whom your friends follow. In this way, over time, one finds the right experts that meet one's own interests.

'Twitterstreams'

A particularly useful way to find others with similar interests is to follow the commentary (known as a “Twitterstream”) attached to a conference you would have liked to attend, but for which you could find neither the time nor the budget. Perhaps one of the most powerful uses of Twitter occurs when conference attendees share their insights, in real time, with their followers. This is a fantastic way for attendees to take notes ' capturing the same kernels of wisdom that would otherwise gather dust in a notepad or in the margins of a binder that sits on a shelf ' and for these attendees' followers to look over their shoulders, gathering some of the essence of the conference without actually attending. There may be no more efficient way to generate visibility and demonstrate credibility than to serve as the on-site reporter for dozens or even hundreds of colleagues who hungrily wait for your thoughtful summaries.

Conclusion

Twitter is, like snowboarding and fine wine (and certainly snowboarding with fine wine!), something that must be tried to fully experience. It's as challenging to write about a new phenomenon as it is to understand it, so my recommendation is that you try it for a bit before making any judgment. Like all marketing and business development techniques, some will suit you and some will not. Twitter can be an impressive tool to generate exposure for those with limited time and budget. Twitter may be a valuable way to demonstrate subject matter expertise by one who's deathly afraid of speaking at a client conference but nevertheless has quite a bit to add. Still, for others, nothing replaces a firm handshake and looking someone in the eye. Managing a Twitter presence is an investment of time and energy, but it just may be the place for you.

Timothy B. Corcoran is a senior consultant with Altman Weil, Inc. Tim authors Corcoran's Law Biz Blog and is a regular speaker and writer on business development and business management issues for law firms.