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| Monica Zent |
As Foxx's early experiment shows, social media isn't an end to itself, but rather a means to something that businesspeople and lawyers have been doing forever: cultivating a list of potential clients and partners. The beauty of social media is that unlike Foxx's high-effort pager notifications back in the day, on social media you announce once and reach many — scalable communication at its best.
For those in the legal profession, social media has made such efforts both easier and harder. While it is easier because you no longer have to be physically present to make a connection, the ease of use also can make connections shallower, and you can risk undermining your credibility with ill-considered comments with the touch of a "send" button.
As social media proves to be an increasingly invaluable tool for the legal profession, professionals looking to build connections must have strong, smart and strategic social media presences. If you're not already on social media or are looking to turbo-charge your presence this year, here are a few tips to harness the power of social media and make it work for you.
1. Determine Your Personal Brand
Social media is a vehicle to further your personal brand, which, as a lawyer, is the key to your profession. That said, it's important to first decide what your personal brand is. Are you a crusader? A wry observer? A compassionate witness? What is your specialty? Just like a business card doesn't say everything about you, your social media presence doesn't have to reflect the deepest aspects of your identity. It's merely an image that you project that says something about how you do your job, what you know, how you approach your business.
2. Carve Out Your Niche
Being known as the expert in your area is good for business. It's best, however, to specialize in something that's not too broad or too narrow. For example, you may want to strive for being known for California tax law rather than tax law in general. Instead of intellectual property, make yourself an expert in IP related to the tech and/or entertainment industries. On social media, events in the news will offer you the opportunity to show off your knowledge. One of my colleagues, Benjamin Duranske, former chief compliance counsel for payments at Facebook, has carved out an interesting niche for himself as an expert in a unique specialty — namely, online payments and all matters of virtual currency. Ben's professional writing, speaking and social media shares consistently reflect his expertise in this area and make him a go-to expert for startups and established brands seeking advice in navigating the regulatory pitfalls associated with online payments and virtual currencies.
3. Retweet and "Like" to Build Goodwill
If someone retweets something of yours, then show them some love by clicking on Twitter's "heart" button. Retweet insights you find clever or trenchant. At the very least, make an effort to "like" posts. As we all know, social media is an online expression of ego. There's no better way to build up goodwill than to "like" a post to show your support, which can help to forge new connections and strengthen existing relationships. Social media shouldn't all be about selfies and "look at me" moments — the giving of attention is just as important as the receiving. Give your colleagues on social media feedback by liking their posts, sending a quick note or tweet and letting them know you've heard them and like what they are doing.
4. Decide On and Maintain a Consistent Output
Some people have decided to make tweeting or snapchats synonymous with breathing, logging in hundreds of thousands of posts. Others are known for being very sporadic. It's fine to lean one way or the other, but be consistent. If you like to tweet or snap, then do it every day, but try not to go overboard. If posting on social media is a chore, then force yourself to put up something every three days. But stick to the schedule. And if you do post a lot, remember that different social networks have different tolerance levels. Social media firm Buffer, for instance, recommends logging one Facebook post for every seven tweets. Sharing just the right amount of content based on the type of network you are on keeps your exposure regular without being annoying.
5. Apply Cocktail Party Rules of Judgment
At a cocktail party, we're all on our best behavior. We want to be interesting, but not provocative, curious but not probing and we should be listening more than we talk. The 24/7 nature of social media makes it hard to keep up the metaphor, but we should always aspire to the same guidelines. Avoid divisive topics like politics and religion. Bullying and rudeness have absolutely no place on social media. Be civil and positive, or at least refrain from taking cheap shots. Keep posts clean and in good taste. Unless you're Kanye West where the apparent goal is to create controversy, the importance of etiquette and sound judgment cannot be underestimated here. Every post, share, tweet, like and comment provides a window into who you are as a person. The willing observer will pick up all of that up and eventually form a perception of you. These rules might seem obvious but, unfortunately, that's not the case as lawyers still tend to break these common-sense rules of maintaining a thoughtful social media presence — especially on Twitter.
Finally, it's worth asking yourself why you're on social media in the first place and set some goals. If you're starting from scratch, then getting 1,000 Twitter followers in a year is admirable. Or maybe you just want to attract certain followers and form deep relationships. After all, it's better to have 50 ardent followers than 10,000 who are lukewarm and never read your tweets. The primary metric, though, is the effect on your business. Think of Foxx with his business cards. His ultimate goal was to pack his shows. What's yours?
—By Monica Zent, Foxwordy Inc.
Monica Zent is the founder and CEO of Foxwordy, a legal networking site.
The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the firm, its clients, or Portfolio Media Inc., or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.
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