social media for lawyers: how to achieve your online goals without throwing away chargeable hours

Social Media for Lawyers:How to achieve your online goals without throwing away chargeable hours.

Gavin Ward

Search & Social Media Marketing ManagerMoore Legal Technology Ltd

DirectorYouBlawg Ltd

@GavWardlinkedin.com/in/gavward

#TANQsocial

www.moorelegaltechnology.co.uk/

• Top 5 reasons for lawyers and trainees to use social media• Top 7 benefits of social media for your firm • The key platforms: LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ & Blogging• Top 10 tips to help you avoid social media fatigue• Social Media and The Law Society• Questions + (More) Live Tweeting

Discussions

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Social media advertising will top £5billion by 2016

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• 4 in 10 law firms are winning new clients through social media

•    Over 60 percent of law firms noted that they have at least one law blog.

•    Nearly 85 percent of law firms are making use of social media tools including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Some other key stats (from the US)

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Top 5 reasons for lawyers and trainees to use social media

1. Become a fish: Develop your own personal brand

2. Engage with the legal profession

3. Tick the “business development” box

4. Show responsibility and trust by getting it right

5. Develop legal knowledge and increase current awareness

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1. Increase awareness of your firm and services with a targeted audience

2. Increase relevant traffic to your firm's website3. Build word of mouth reputation4. Increase search engine rankings for your website by virtue of

social media bookmarking5. Keep up-to-date with relevant news6. Develop business relationships7. Generate new business

Top 7 benefits of social media for your firm

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• LinkedIn is a fast-growing professional networking site that allows members to create business contacts, search for jobs, and find potential clients.

• Individuals have the ability to create their own professional profile that can be viewed by others in their network, and also view the profiles of their own contacts.

• Through the site, individuals can then maintain a list of known business contacts, known as Connections.

• Individuals can join groups relevant to their field to ask questions or contribute to relevant discussions

What is Linkedin?

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• More than 175 million users representing 150 industries• Over 6 million UK professionals• Millions of different company profiles• Over 60% of people looking for a professional service will use

LinkedIn as their starting point• Around 93% of job recruiters use LinkedIn to find candidates

What is Linkedin? Statistics:-

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Tip 1: Optimise your profile

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Tip 1: Optimise your profile

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Tip 2: Join Relevant Groups

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Tip 3: Engage in Group Discussions

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Tip 4: Find Relevant Contacts

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Tip 5: Connect with relevant contacts

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Tip 6: Start Recommending

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Tip 6: Start Recommending

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Tip 7: Connect your website and twitter account(s)

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Tip 8: Select a unique URL

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Tip 9: Promote your linkedin profile to your other social networks

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Tip 10: Monitor who is viewing your profile

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• build your professional network

• increased visibility online

• enhanced search engine results

• increased website traffic

• scope out competition or partners

• get more clients

What are the benefits of Linkedin?

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www.moorelegaltechnology.co.uk/

1. Think of a good username, keyword-rich or otherwise2. Follow and follow-back relevant twitter accounts3. Create lists and add relevant groups of people; and/or set up

saved searches e.g. #law or #familylaw or #ukemplaw etc. Also see other lists eg. https://twitter.com/strathdiploma/strathdiplomalawfirms

4. Recommend people or businesses especially on Friday using the #ff hashtag. @ffhelper can assist

5. Contribute more than you promote yourself or your firm6. Connect by commenting and retweeting others- stay positive  7. Don’t just rely on RSS feeds from your firm’s website8. Don’t spam eg via mentions or DMs9. Find the best time for you to tweet (see eg whentotweet.com)10.Set up a dashboard using hootsuite.com

Top Twitter Tips

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www.youblawg.com

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www.scotslawblog.com

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www.scotslawblog.com

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www.scotslawblog.com

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www.moorelegaltechnology.co.uk/

1. Plan ahead2. It’s about quality, not quantity3. Don’t be confined to the Internet4. Postpone replies where relevant5. Schedule posts when appropriate – see Bufferapp or Hootsuite6. Automate some activities – see Twitterfeed, Dlvr.it, Hootsuite7. Guest blog – see YouBlawg, DeferoLaw or JDSupra8. Invite guest bloggers9. Outsource some activities10.Take breaks

Top 10 tips to help you avoid social media fatigue

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http://www.socialblawg.com/social-media-law/top-10-tips-to-help-lawyers-others-avoid-social-media-fatigue

Law Society of Scotland social media guidance: http://www.lawscot.org.uk/socialmediaguidance

“Participating in social media can present significant personal and business benefits, and members of the legal profession should seek to engage with social media in a positive way.”

“Two key pieces of advice can be given:1) To remember that all professional responsibilities apply regardless of the medium of communication.2) For law firms and in-house legal teams to have a social media policy in place for partners and staff. Individuals considering using social media in any way related to their work should check whether a policy is in place, and, if not, may want to discuss issues in this note in advance with an appropriate manager and document that discussion.”

Social Media Professional Guidelines

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Don’t stick your head in the sand when new business is sitting waiting for you

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Conclusions

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But don’t get carried away

Parents Name Newborn Daughter 'Hashtag‘!11/27/2012

Social Media for Lawyers:How to achieve your online goals without throwing away chargeable hours.

Gavin Ward

Search & Social Media Marketing ManagerMoore Legal Technology Ltd

DirectorYouBlawg Ltd

@GavWardlinkedin.com/in/gavward

#TANQsocial