Professionals dissing marketing potential of MySpace out of touch

5 weeks week ago I wrote about how Pittsburgh Attorney Anicia Ogonosky had 10 prospective clients contact her within 5 days as a result of opening a MySpace account.

In the next two Blawg Reviews, weekly highlights of law blogs done by leading law blogers, what Ogonosky did at MySpace was quickly dismissed.

From David Maister, a leading law firm practice consultant, “No comment. Decide for yourself what you think about it.”

From Patent Baristas:

Kevin O’Keefe at Real Lawyers Have Blogs likes that the legallyblondepa has a cute MySpace page. He believes that there is a lot to be learned about being real and transparent on the net. Even the Pittsburgh Tribune Review’s David Conti seems smitten with bare shoulders writing that the site ‘shows a brighter side. Beside the smiling photo of her in a strapless top and information on her body type, dating status and zodiac sign (Taurus), Web surfers will find answers to questions about bankruptcy and links to a free legal consultation.’ Whatever.

Before hearing of Ogonosky I was quick to dismiss MySpace for lawyers as well. I’m now speaking with 20 to 30 year olds to learn more about MySpace for lawyer marketig. I also found out the average age of MySpace account olders was over 35.

I then ran across Guy Kawasaki’s post that traditional advertising may be dead. One of the reasons being young people’s fascination with MySpace and FaceBook.

Its easy to dismiss what you do not understand or use. But in this case, lawyers have a lot to learn from younger people.

I am not using MySpace myself for marketing nor would I feel comfortable today advising lawyers how to use MySpace. But for young lawyers in certain practice areas, I wouldn’t dismiss it.