The Attorney's Office Tools Social Media
for Lawyers: Using Internet Media for Marketing, Networking and Research
John J. Cord
of care. You can embed video depositions of local nursing home administrators, helping to teach consumers about what types of nursing homes they should not pick for their loved ones. Whatever you do, you should avoid simply restating what your competitors are writing. It is important that you stand out among the blogging crowd.
Bringing in clients Clients will only visit (and stay on) your website if you offer
something they need. Focus on the typical questions clients have when they begin their search for a lawyer, or when they examine what solutions may exist for their particular problem. Te more questions you can answer through your blog and website, the more comfortable potential clients will be entrusting you with their case. Importantly, you must stand out from the crowd to establish your expertise. Clients do not care about the usual “lawyer” promises: free consultation, no settlement/no fee, or available 24-7. Tese catchphrases have been overpromised to the point where they are meaningless and expected of all lawyers. Instead, give your clients information that they can use—regardless of whether they choose to enlist your services. If you can be useful to them, they are more likely to seek your help. Using our nursing home example, you could blog to your
visitors the signs of nursing home abuse; questions to ask the staff when abuse is suspected, and how to properly document complaints to administration.
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Capturing the attention of referring lawyers In order to secure referrals from other lawyers, you must
opefully by now, you have a passing familiarity with social networking, particularly as it impacts case selection, discovery and trial. Tis article focuses on the
use of social media as a tool for marketing your business, learning strategies for your practice and keeping instantaneously up to date on changes in the law.
Blogs Blogs are valuable tools to bring in business and make
connections by establishing yourself as the guru on one particular subject. Before you start your blog, you need to know what your goals are—do you want potential clients to find you, or are you trying to establish yourself as an expert in order to get on the speaking circuit or to receive referrals from other lawyers? Your “voice” should cater to your audience. Survey the blogosphere to determine if there are any gaps
in the practice field that you can fill. For example, if you handle nursing home cases, you should search existing blogs on nursing home abuse and determine how you can meaningfully contribute to the discussion. You might provide more information on specific nursing home injuries, like bedsores and dehydration, and how they occur through failures of scheduling; or, you may choose to focus on the regulatory requirements that inform the standard
56 Trial Reporter / Spring 2010
establish yourself as a guru in your area of practice. Your blog should reflect the complexities of case selection, expert identification, trial strategy, and venue issues. Your goal is to establish yourself as knowledgeable in your practice area. Analyze appellate law and provide sample documents, including complaints and discovery. Other lawyers in your practice area will follow you, and lawyers (particularly from other states) will find you when they have a case to refer. Te key to keeping your blog going is dedication—you
should put up at least four substantive posts per week. It may take a few months before you begin to attract regular followers (which you can track using Google Analytics). Te blogosphere is a quid pro quo world—it helps to think of bloggers as a little ego-centric. Te best way to attract their attention is to give them attention. Post comments on blogs you like (including a link to your blog’s website, of course), and send e-mails to other bloggers thanking them for their input and developing your referral network.
Interacting with your audience Remember—blogs are part of the social networking platform
because they allow for two-way communication. Readers can post comments, which are then viewable (usually after your approval) to subsequent readers of the blog. Use these comments as a means
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