Going with the flow is recipe for failure in getting your law firm using social media
Seth Godin writes this morning that 'Going with the flow is a euphemism for failing.' The point being that it takes pushing harder than most to accomplish the remarkable.
I wish getting law firms to use social media for client development didn't fall in the achieving the 'remarkable' category. But I'm a realist.
To those of you who have got your law firm started down the road of social media, including blogging, kudos to you. In most cases it's just a start, you have a long way to go. For those with dreams of achieving the remarkable, get ready to push - and push hard.
There's two ways you can push harder, per Seth. Stay between the lines or break out of the boundaries.
Some artists continually seek to tear down boundaries, to find new powder, new territory, new worlds to explore. They're the ones that hop the fence to get to places no one has ever been.Other artists understand that they need to see the edges of the box if they're going to create work that lasts. No fence, no art.
Can't do both at the same time.
My guess is that you're already one kind of person or the other. When people present you with an opportunity/problem, what's your first reaction? Some people immediately start looking for loopholes or weak boundaries. 'You didn't say we couldn't do xxx'. For these people, the best and most obvious solution is to completely demolish the problem and play by different rules.
Other people, some just as successful, take a hard look at the boundaries and create something that plays within, that follows the rules, but that is likely to win because of this.
In my experience, either can work, but only by someone willing to push harder than most in their push to be remarkable.
I've talked with enough legal professionals to know it can be done either way.
With a lot of hard pushing through the committees for really slow action at your law firm, some of you have got your law firm blogging and using other forms of social media. Others have said damn the torpedoes, 'I'm starting, I'll pay the costs myself, and I'll apologize later if I create any problems.'
Either way can work. But going with the flow is a recipe for failure.
Something must be in the water today. I wrote a blog today on a similar theme. It seems that some firms that do think they are "trying" social media are doing it all wrong. It turns out they are just spamming links to lists or billboards and not actually having a conversation with anyone.
http://www.sofloridaestateplanning.com/2009/11/articles/social-media/social-media-youre-doing-it-wrong/
Kevin -- I wonder if our conversation last week contributed to this post. As you recall, I called you dismayed and perplexed having just reviewed a new client firm's "blog". You wisely counseled me to be encouraged that the firm was taking a first step, and now I am centering my work on helping them understand how to turn a scrolling news feed into a valuable conversation.
But, you are oh so right. Particularly for law firms, there isn't enough competition in the area of social media innovation. Which leaves lots of room for the innovators to shine...