Despite what some folks might have you believe, professional networking online is really very similar to networking offline. When you attend a professional networking event do you:
Of course not. And you shouldn't do any of this stuff online either.
I was recently asked by Avvo to conduct a webinar on using web content for professional relationship development.
One of the things that I really tried to stress was authenticity and being social.
If you poke around on the popular social networking sites (twitter, linkedin, facebook, google plus), to see what lawyers are publishing there, you'll quickly realize that most lawyers seem to think that these platforms are merely new channels for advertising.
You'll likely see a lot of keyword-rich profile names and URLs. You'll see automated posts and a lot of one-way broadcasting of marketing messages.
And this is a huge missed opportunity.
How many people do you know on Facebook that are there to receive updates about your law practice?
Okay, even if you have some people that are there specifically to follow you professionally, most of the people that you're connected with on facebook are probably connected to you because they know you somehow. And so, they're interested in seeing what's going on with you. But if all you do is auto feed blog posts into facebook, it should come as little surprise that most of those people will look for ways to filter out your posts from their feeds.
The point is that people use facebook to socialize. They're interested in seeing pictures of your kids or your latest vacation. Some people use facebook as a reminder to wish their friends happy birthday.
Does that mean that you should only use facebook to mindlessly post? Of course not.
But you should take into account the purpose of the platform and think about who you're connected with there and what people are might be interested in seeing. Guess what, it's not your marketing and advertising message... Which shouldn't be any surprise at all since they're not interested in it offline either...
Conrad and I recently joined Zack at Lawyerist to record a conversation about AI and marketing. You might think that we spend the whole time on how lawyers can use AI to publish content. You'd be wrong. While AI can certainly support publishing, there are many more interesting ways to use it in legal marketing. […]
As more legal services consumers turn to ChatGPT for local law firm recommendations, a fascinating intersection between AI, search, and maps unfolds. While Google remains the undisputed leader in local business data, ChatGPT is increasingly becoming an entry point for searchers seeking legal representation. But here’s the kicker: instead of keeping users within its ecosystem, […]
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I'm grateful for my friend, Charley Mann of Law firm Alchemy. If you're a lawyer, subscribe to his Free Email List. In a recent email, Charley calls out bad guru advice on hiring: "Trying to execute a major SEO improvement? You need to find people who will help you, instead of trying to DIY it […]
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Meh, links! All things being equal, links still tend to move the dial more than any other factor in legal SERPs. Maybe links are having a diminishing impact internet-wide. But in my experience, quality links, especially relevant links (both topically and geographically), tend to improve law firm visibility in search more than most everything else. […]
When you think of "marketing," what's the first thing that comes to mind? Ads? SEO? Social Media? What about: Helping others?Taking the lead? Rallying around your community? Need an example? Learn from Bart Siniard at Siniard Law Injury Attorneys efforts to help rebuild Mary's Pit BBQ. These efforts aren't about marketing. They're about supporting a […]
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