Professional Development: Your 100-Year-Old Strategy for Using Social Media

By Darryl Cross

The Scene: The managing partner walks into the conference room wearing an expensive suit and a scowl. This meeting was one that he had to take, but he didn't consider it a productive use of his time. He has over 100 lawyers to manage and profits to grow. He certainly does not think discussing social media should be a priority, but the incessant drum-beating by his younger partners and associates have made it impossible to ignore.

The so-called experts in the room go through a description of how social networks and other forms of social media could help the firm build and maintain relationships. These visiting, non-lawyers go on to talk about how this is the direction the world is going, and the the firm could not risk being left behind. They even share best practices of other law firms that are having great results.

The managing partner is not swayed. He folds his arms and quickly comments, “This sounds dangerous to me. What if someone says something stupid? What if someone else sees it? How could the firm possibly review every comment made before it went out to the Internet? I don't think this is for us.”

The visitor pauses for a moment and then asks, “Would we have had a similar conversation about e-mail and, heaven forbid, e-mails with attached documents a few years ago?” The managing partner ponders the question for a moment and answers, “Yes, we probably would have.”

Fear of Social Media

This true story has played out in many law firms over the past few years since the phenomenon of social media entered the public marketplace. Whether it is participating in social networks, writing blogs or sending tweets, risk-averse lawyers have been reticent to use these platforms. Their fear usually stems from the fact that there is an inherent loss of control of the discussion, and the business of law is the business of what could go wrong. However, social media platforms were made for building and maintaining relationships, which makes them ideal for any professional services organization.

Facebook and Twitter evoke images of frivolity. The thought of individuals publishing their unsupervised opinions makes law firm leaders cringe. Thus, the normative environments of most law firms require establishment of some sense of comfort if they are to participate in social media.

The best approach for law firms to succeed in social media and preserve their ethical and professional standards is to use the same policies and strategies they have relied on for the past 100 years to interact with the public. They simply need to translate these principles to the online world.

The Wrong Way to Build Relationships

The Internet has allowed everyone to be highly efficient and prolific when it comes to expressing their opinions. It is also a very productive and effective way to say something stupid and make sure the entire world knows about it for all time. However, this is not a problem exclusive to the Web. What would you do if one of your lawyers discussed confidential information on a crowded airplane? What if he jumped into the middle of a group at a Chamber of Commerce event, hijacked the discussion and began passing out business cards while discussing how great he was? How would you handle a lawyer that did not know the boundaries between her professional and personal life?

Most firms have long-established policies and standards of how they expect their lawyers to behave. These standards are not up for new discussions simply because social media is shaking up the world. If anything, it means these existing standards must be more rigorously applied. If a law firm plans to immerse itself in social media, it should take great care to apply rules of relationship development that have existed long before Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg attended Harvard.

Listening

The first step in any new relationship is to listen. Social media provides an array of free and paid tools that allow any lawyer to start as a passive participant. For many, this will be as far as they will ever venture. It allows them to monitor what their clients are saying and what they think is important.

The very first thing a lawyer should do is use RSS readers and news alerts to follow his or her top five-to-10 current and prospective clients. In an age where clients demand you know their business as well as their legal issues, this is simple table stakes. By pre-selecting key topics and companies, lawyers can have relevant information sent to them via e-mail while they sleep. It should be the first thing they read in the morning.

Most companies are also posting information about what they feel is important on their Twitter feeds, Facebook pages and professional networks such as LinkedIn and Martindale-Hubbell Connected. Lawyers should “follow” their clients and see what they sharing with the market.

It is important to monitor clients' industry and related blogs to predict what their clients may be encountering in the near future. The Web is full of unofficial analysts that can provide context and insight on what may be happening next.

All of these listening tools allow a lawyer to perform due diligence on the business needs and situations of their clients. To act upon it, you must also become a participant.

Collaborating

No one likes a lurker. A lurker is defined someone who reads messages on the Internet without contributing. Even if a lawyer is the best listener in the world, he has not earned the right to act on any information until he becomes a member of the online community.

Think back to the example of one of your lawyers at a networking event. Would it be acceptable for her to just sit and listen to everyone's contributions at a table, write down copious notes and never speak? Eventually, people would stop sharing around this person for fear of what she might be doing with all of this information. Your 100-year-old policy of being an active member of the community must carry over to social networks.

When a lawyer has gained enough information from listening, he or she is ready to join the relevant groups of people online. There are many social and professional networks to join, but it takes time and attention to maintain these networks. One to two networks, one general business and one lawyer-focused, is usually the best approach. In the offline world, this is much like joining a trade association as well as the local bar.

A good place to start would be LinkedIn and a lawyers-only network such as Martindale-Hubbell Connected or other similar collections of professionals. Lawyers should then turn to their existing contacts and invite them to be part of their network and communicate with them on a regular basis. This online version of their “little black book” should start small and grow organically.

Lawyers should also seek out issue- or industry-oriented groups to join and contribute to the online discussions that are typical in most networks. Once other members see the lawyer as “one of them,” they are only then able to showcase their talents.

Showcasing

Many lawyers use social networks clumsily and skip straight to talking about their achievements and expertise. This is where people tend to say the wrong thing or share too much too early, since they do not have the context of what the social norms of the community are. If this was a client seminar, these people are frequently labeled blowhards, and you certainly wouldn't accept this as professional. So, do not be one online either.

You must be an informed participant who has a unique point of view that can help solve problems. Lawyers should showcase and discuss how they might approach a problem in a non-intrusive manner. Frequently, these discussions are not held publicly, since clients do not want to air their dirty laundry. Standards of confidentiality, even when not defined in the strict legal sense, should be respected.

Some lawyers may choose to comment on others' blog posts and discussion threads. They may also write blogs on their own about topics they have learned are important. Whatever the method, the ultimate goal is to offer insight on how problems may be addressed and encourage them to contact the lawyer directly to learn more. Over time, such a lawyer is seen as a trusted resource and adviser who has the client's best interests at heart instead of someone who is merely seeking to promote his or her accomplishments.

A Realistic, Ten-Minute
Social Media Plan

All of this may seem like it would take a great deal of time to do. However, a lawyer can let the technology do the work and make make the decision when to speak up. An effective social media-savvy lawyer should do the following every day:

Spend five minutes a day scanning RSS feeds, blogs and
e-mails;

Take a few seconds to check for reputation, topic or company keyword alerts;

Use five minutes to respond ' if need be ' to a blog post or social media entry;

Send an e-mail to the author of a great article, inviting her to connect if she responds;

Log into his or her professional networks every few days for about eight-10 minutes;

Look for changes in status (job, company affiliation, etc.);

Connect to one-three people every few visits;

Write a personalized e-mail to one-two existing connections;

Scan forums or blogs and then comment briefly or post a message;

Write an opinion or question once or twice a month;

Tweet useful information with a link back to the firm's main website;

Post article on his or her network profile; and

Respond to comments.

Conclusion

By applying the rules of relationship development and maintenance that have been in place for the past 100 years, a lawyer can avoid the pitfalls of social media and build his practice. It will never take the place of in person relationships, but social media allows lawyers to maintain them regardless of geographic distance or time spent between face-to-face interactions.

Darryl Cross is Vice President, Performance Development at LexisNexis. He consults with, and has spoken to, over 10,000 fee earners and business professionals from over 100 countries to collect and share best practices in law firm profitability and growth strategies. Additionally, he is responsible for coaching, sales training and performance development for a 1500-person national sales force.

By Darryl Cross

The Scene: The managing partner walks into the conference room wearing an expensive suit and a scowl. This meeting was one that he had to take, but he didn't consider it a productive use of his time. He has over 100 lawyers to manage and profits to grow. He certainly does not think discussing social media should be a priority, but the incessant drum-beating by his younger partners and associates have made it impossible to ignore.

The so-called experts in the room go through a description of how social networks and other forms of social media could help the firm build and maintain relationships. These visiting, non-lawyers go on to talk about how this is the direction the world is going, and the the firm could not risk being left behind. They even share best practices of other law firms that are having great results.

The managing partner is not swayed. He folds his arms and quickly comments, “This sounds dangerous to me. What if someone says something stupid? What if someone else sees it? How could the firm possibly review every comment made before it went out to the Internet? I don't think this is for us.”

The visitor pauses for a moment and then asks, “Would we have had a similar conversation about e-mail and, heaven forbid, e-mails with attached documents a few years ago?” The managing partner ponders the question for a moment and answers, “Yes, we probably would have.”

Fear of Social Media

This true story has played out in many law firms over the past few years since the phenomenon of social media entered the public marketplace. Whether it is participating in social networks, writing blogs or sending tweets, risk-averse lawyers have been reticent to use these platforms. Their fear usually stems from the fact that there is an inherent loss of control of the discussion, and the business of law is the business of what could go wrong. However, social media platforms were made for building and maintaining relationships, which makes them ideal for any professional services organization.

Facebook and Twitter evoke images of frivolity. The thought of individuals publishing their unsupervised opinions makes law firm leaders cringe. Thus, the normative environments of most law firms require establishment of some sense of comfort if they are to participate in social media.

The best approach for law firms to succeed in social media and preserve their ethical and professional standards is to use the same policies and strategies they have relied on for the past 100 years to interact with the public. They simply need to translate these principles to the online world.

The Wrong Way to Build Relationships

The Internet has allowed everyone to be highly efficient and prolific when it comes to expressing their opinions. It is also a very productive and effective way to say something stupid and make sure the entire world knows about it for all time. However, this is not a problem exclusive to the Web. What would you do if one of your lawyers discussed confidential information on a crowded airplane? What if he jumped into the middle of a group at a Chamber of Commerce event, hijacked the discussion and began passing out business cards while discussing how great he was? How would you handle a lawyer that did not know the boundaries between her professional and personal life?

Most firms have long-established policies and standards of how they expect their lawyers to behave. These standards are not up for new discussions simply because social media is shaking up the world. If anything, it means these existing standards must be more rigorously applied. If a law firm plans to immerse itself in social media, it should take great care to apply rules of relationship development that have existed long before Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg attended Harvard.

Listening

The first step in any new relationship is to listen. Social media provides an array of free and paid tools that allow any lawyer to start as a passive participant. For many, this will be as far as they will ever venture. It allows them to monitor what their clients are saying and what they think is important.

The very first thing a lawyer should do is use RSS readers and news alerts to follow his or her top five-to-10 current and prospective clients. In an age where clients demand you know their business as well as their legal issues, this is simple table stakes. By pre-selecting key topics and companies, lawyers can have relevant information sent to them via e-mail while they sleep. It should be the first thing they read in the morning.

Most companies are also posting information about what they feel is important on their Twitter feeds, Facebook pages and professional networks such as LinkedIn and Martindale-Hubbell Connected. Lawyers should “follow” their clients and see what they sharing with the market.

It is important to monitor clients' industry and related blogs to predict what their clients may be encountering in the near future. The Web is full of unofficial analysts that can provide context and insight on what may be happening next.

All of these listening tools allow a lawyer to perform due diligence on the business needs and situations of their clients. To act upon it, you must also become a participant.

Collaborating

No one likes a lurker. A lurker is defined someone who reads messages on the Internet without contributing. Even if a lawyer is the best listener in the world, he has not earned the right to act on any information until he becomes a member of the online community.

Think back to the example of one of your lawyers at a networking event. Would it be acceptable for her to just sit and listen to everyone's contributions at a table, write down copious notes and never speak? Eventually, people would stop sharing around this person for fear of what she might be doing with all of this information. Your 100-year-old policy of being an active member of the community must carry over to social networks.

When a lawyer has gained enough information from listening, he or she is ready to join the relevant groups of people online. There are many social and professional networks to join, but it takes time and attention to maintain these networks. One to two networks, one general business and one lawyer-focused, is usually the best approach. In the offline world, this is much like joining a trade association as well as the local bar.

A good place to start would be LinkedIn and a lawyers-only network such as Martindale-Hubbell Connected or other similar collections of professionals. Lawyers should then turn to their existing contacts and invite them to be part of their network and communicate with them on a regular basis. This online version of their “little black book” should start small and grow organically.

Lawyers should also seek out issue- or industry-oriented groups to join and contribute to the online discussions that are typical in most networks. Once other members see the lawyer as “one of them,” they are only then able to showcase their talents.

Showcasing

Many lawyers use social networks clumsily and skip straight to talking about their achievements and expertise. This is where people tend to say the wrong thing or share too much too early, since they do not have the context of what the social norms of the community are. If this was a client seminar, these people are frequently labeled blowhards, and you certainly wouldn't accept this as professional. So, do not be one online either.

You must be an informed participant who has a unique point of view that can help solve problems. Lawyers should showcase and discuss how they might approach a problem in a non-intrusive manner. Frequently, these discussions are not held publicly, since clients do not want to air their dirty laundry. Standards of confidentiality, even when not defined in the strict legal sense, should be respected.

Some lawyers may choose to comment on others' blog posts and discussion threads. They may also write blogs on their own about topics they have learned are important. Whatever the method, the ultimate goal is to offer insight on how problems may be addressed and encourage them to contact the lawyer directly to learn more. Over time, such a lawyer is seen as a trusted resource and adviser who has the client's best interests at heart instead of someone who is merely seeking to promote his or her accomplishments.

A Realistic, Ten-Minute
Social Media Plan

All of this may seem like it would take a great deal of time to do. However, a lawyer can let the technology do the work and make make the decision when to speak up. An effective social media-savvy lawyer should do the following every day:

Spend five minutes a day scanning RSS feeds, blogs and
e-mails;

Take a few seconds to check for reputation, topic or company keyword alerts;

Use five minutes to respond ' if need be ' to a blog post or social media entry;

Send an e-mail to the author of a great article, inviting her to connect if she responds;

Log into his or her professional networks every few days for about eight-10 minutes;

Look for changes in status (job, company affiliation, etc.);

Connect to one-three people every few visits;

Write a personalized e-mail to one-two existing connections;

Scan forums or blogs and then comment briefly or post a message;

Write an opinion or question once or twice a month;

Tweet useful information with a link back to the firm's main website;

Post article on his or her network profile; and

Respond to comments.

Conclusion

By applying the rules of relationship development and maintenance that have been in place for the past 100 years, a lawyer can avoid the pitfalls of social media and build his practice. It will never take the place of in person relationships, but social media allows lawyers to maintain them regardless of geographic distance or time spent between face-to-face interactions.

Darryl Cross is Vice President, Performance Development at LexisNexis. He consults with, and has spoken to, over 10,000 fee earners and business professionals from over 100 countries to collect and share best practices in law firm profitability and growth strategies. Additionally, he is responsible for coaching, sales training and performance development for a 1500-person national sales force.