Real Lawyers Have Blogs : Law Blogs, Social Media, Twitter

The recent World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, co-chaired by Sheryl Sandberg, chief operation officer of Facebook, focused on the "great transformation" reshaping communities, companies and countries.

A key element to the "great transformation," per Sandberg, is how social media is changing everything everything from political protest to buying baby shoes.

In an interview with The Nation, Sandberg responded to what is the most interesting transformation that we're experiencing or about to experience?

2011 proved to be a year when social media and services like Facebook became part of the fabric of everyday life around the world. People have embraced social media in both simple ways - from the chance reunions to staying in touch with family to sharing photos of new children - and the more profound - from New Zealanders and Japanese supporting the rebuilding after devastating earthquakes, to Iceland's drafting of a new constitution online with citizens.

Social networks and social media are transforming communities and companies in a couple ways.

First, we are seeing a huge shift in the way technology is powering us as human beings. Today on the Internet, people can know who you are if you want them to. You are yourself online for the first time. This has impacted the way we share and connect as people and communities.

Second, the way we are harnessing collective wisdom is different. The internet promised to change everything about our lives, and it did change a lot - especially access to information. Being able to search the Internet through search engines moved us leaps forward, as links and rankings by crowds of people helped everyone navigate the web and access information in a different way.

But rather than relying on the wisdom of the crowds, we're now relying the wisdom of friends.

When I am in Europe for the World Economic Forum, I might find it interesting to know what the most popular restaurant is in Munich or Davos, but I am more likely to go to the restaurant my colleagues and friends recommend. This is a different way of finding information, and one that represents huge opportunities for us to get to know each other as people, as well as opportunities for businesses and developers. And we are already seeing businesses leverage this transformation to connect with their audiences and customers. We are also seeing small businesses use social media to grow, even in tough economic times.

Attorneys and services professionals ought not to dismiss the 'wisdom of friends' as limited to consumer products. Sophisticated consumers of legal services turn to people they trust for names of lawyers and professionals. For anyone under age 40, their friendships are built online.

If you don't have an internet identity online, built through social media and social networks, you're at a disadvantage in developing new business as compared to attorneys who do.

Critical for attorneys to understand is the gift they've been presented in the form of social media. Per Sandberg:

...[S]ocial technologies and authentic identity are giving everyone, no matter who they are, a powerful individual voice. It used to be that in order to have that kind of voice - to reach more than the people you could see in a day - you had to be rich, famous, powerful, own a newspaper, or be a politician or celebrity. Last year we saw that in Egypt, Wael Ghonim used his voice to help a country. Old rules no longer apply. Today new are rules being written, sometimes by people who know they are writing them but more often by people who don't.

It used to be large law firms with significant marketing and public relations budgets had an edge over smaller law firms. It used to be that you needed to be one of the anointed ones to have your articles published in leading periodicals or be given the opportunity to speak at leading conferences. It used to be you had to pay Martindale-Hubbell to get listed in a legal directory.

No more. Each of you has the opportunity to blog on niche areas of the law, strategically network via LinkedIn, nurture personal relationships with friends and close business associates on Facebook. Each of you has the the opportunity to accelerate the speed at which you network, build relationships, and enhance your word of mouth reputation. Each of you has the opportunity to develop relationships with 'friends' who trust you so you'll be the one invited to speak and be blessed with word of mouth referrals.

Business of all sizes, including attorneys, are connecting with people and developing new business via social media and social networking which has now become part of everyday life.

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During my week in New York I had the pleasure of appearing on Bloomberg Law TV in a segment hosted by Edward Adams (@edadams), Multimedia Editor at Bloomberg Law.

I was joined by my friend and colleague, New York Attorney Scott Greenfield (@scottgreenfield), to discuss whether the use of social media by lawyers and law firms is just marketing hype.

Those of you who know Greenfield, know that he's often at the opposite side of the spectrum from me. Though a great blogger at Simple Justice, Greenfield makes the case that social media is swamped by those lawyers just looking to get followers and make un-warranted name for themselves. I may be painting broadly but I'm close on Greenfield's position.

Though there's always some bad with the good, I'm of the firm belief that social media offers lawyers a ton. Both as a way to become a better lawyer and as way to get legal work the old fashioned way -- by networking to build relationships and enhance your reputation as a good lawyer.

Take a look at the Bloomberg segment. It's only nine minutes. And thanks Scott and Ed, I enjoyed myself.

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Pamela Vaughan (@pamelump), a marketing manager at HubSpot, suggests this morning that companies need social media followers who won't ever buy from the company.

The reason is reach and influence. And I am in full agreement that it's the same for law firms and attorneys who are blogging and using other social media.

It simply doesn't matter if your clients and prospective clients read your blog or follow you on other social media for you to be a client development success using social media.

It would be nice if they did follow you, and you should proactively share blog posts and mention your use of other social media to clients and prospective clients, but it's not critical to success for these folks to follow you or your blog.

Here's five points from Vaughn to which I've added a few of my comments.

• More followers means access to more followers' followers. If you can understand that some of your fans/followers might share your content with their friends and followers, now you can start understanding the impact of reach. Even if that original follower of yours never becomes a client herself, that doesn't mean one of her followers who saw your content because of her won't.
• Influencers have, well, influence. As you build up a following in social media, you'll have influencers among the bunch. While these influencers may follow but never buy from you, remember that these people are called influencers for a reason. They'll include association leaders, conference coordinators, publishers, reporters, and other bloggers. Get in front of an audience who trusts them, whether readers or conference attendees and you'll be in front of clients and prospective clients. Your clients and prospective clients will be heavily influenced by the fact that you're 'there.'
• Followers who won't ever buy can still refer you business. Indirect exposure to your followers' personal networks can be an invaluable source of business. Blogging lawyers regularly tell me they receive referrals of clients who don't know they blog from other lawyers, consultants, and the like who do read the lawyer's blog.
• Social shares impact SEO. The impact social media is having on SEO is only increasing. Search engines are taking social cues like social media shares into account when they're ranking your content, which means the more people you can get to share your content in social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn, the better.
• Who your clients are may surprise you. Building a large following in social media will expose you and your firm to people you might never have thought would be interested in your legal services. Maybe you had never thought of a Sri Lanka company as a client, but that didn't stop a Sri Lanka executive from contacting Seattle Attorney Dan Harris who publishes the China Law Blog.

When developing a strategy for social media at your law firm, certainly make a tight list of the type of clients and prospective clients you want to reach with your blog and other social media.

But, more importantly make a list of the amplifiers and influencers. It's those folks who you need to go after to make your social media program a success.

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On a day approaching national holiday status we're reminded just how far social media has become part of the fabric of our lives.

The NFL has had a social media command center in Indianapolis throughout the week so that social media, like the mainstream media can cover the event. 16 full time employees and 30 volunteers from local universities are working 15 hours a day to share, via social media, coverage of the entire week's festivities.

With so many people getting their news and information from social media, the command center services a critical need of the mainstream media to get their coverage 'out there.'

The command center also curates and shares individual's coverage of the game and their response to the festivities - whether those individual are in Indianapolis or across the world. Social media curation is a reflection of who we are and our responses to current events like the super bowl.

Expect major use of #hashtags by advertisers during the game. That way viewers can keep discussion of products and ads alive via Twitter. Heck, you can expect people with no interest in football to pick up and view ads via YouTube when they see coverage of ads via Twitter.

Advertisers will be further integrating social media with Facebook pages and YouTube videos of ads. Why pay a million dollars for another 30 second spot when it costs you nothing on the net?

Players from other times and sportswriters will be all over Twitter with their game commentary. Search for Twitter lists curating football players and sports reporters and create a column in your Twitter app to follow them.

I'll be following my son's Go-Pack-Go Twitter list to get the Packer players' and columnists' game commentary.

NBC will be providing free video streaming of the game via the net. Not everyone has a television. Just ask your college age kids and recent grads. They buy TV piecemeal and for today's game they'll get it free.

For more ideas on how to follow the Super Bowl check out the below:

• Twitter feed of those Tweeting from within one mile of Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium via advanced Twitter Search.
• Lauren Hockenson's (@lhockenson) piece on Mashable on 'How to Follow Super Bowl 2012 With Social Media.'
• Robert Scoble's (@scobleizer) piece on Google+ on things to do online during the Super Bowl.

Who's going to win this non-Packers Super Bowl? Better answered with a question. Does anyone really like the Patriots? Plus, I do like Eli and Tom Coughlin.

Giants over Pats, 38-34.

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Brian Reich, SVP and Global Editor, Edelman, (@brianreich) reports social leads the pack when it comes to trusted sources of media.

Referencing Edelman's 2012 Trust Barometer:

Social-networking, micro-blogging, and content-sharing sites (Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr) witnessed the most dramatic percentage increase as trusted sources of information about a company, rising by 88, 86, and 75 percent, respectively. Search engines and news/RSS feeds also saw a jump (18 percent together). The findings suggest that some of the trust that audiences have in social media was transferred from other media. For example, in China, Trust Barometer data showed double-digit decreases in television as a trusted source, plunging from 74 to 43 percent, and trust in Chinese newspapers fell by 20 points to 34 percent.

But trust in social media jumped: micro-blogging sites and social-networking sites in China went from virtual distrust at just one percent each to being greatly trusted by 25 percent and 21 percent, respectively. The rapid growth in social media usage within China is best exemplified by Weibo (the Twitter equivalent in China), which at the end of 2010 had 60 million users and by the end of 2011 had grown to more than 310 million users.

In addition to massive growth, major news stories, including the corruption of the Red Cross and a high-speed train crash, were first reported on Weibo, and they became central to discussion about political and other issues.

What's it mean for attorneys and law firms?

• You'll want to reassess your public relations' efforts to get mainstream media placement. Rather than go with expensive PR to get into major publications, you may better served, especially from an expense standpoint, to use social media to enhance your reputation and get the word out.
• Your content in the form of articles, newsletters, alerts etc has to be socially enabled. Storing items on your website and distribution by email will not get them the trust, let alone the distribution, as if the content is distributed buy others via social media.
• You have to blog. Long form content which is not engaging, brief, and written in a conversational style is not likely to get shared. Edeman's report is strong evidence that you need to get your insight and commentary shared (not pushed by you), for your insight to be trusted. Plus blog content is RSS enabled. RSS is the oxygen needed for syndication of content.
• Law firms and individual attorneys have to learn social to survive as a trusted authorities. And being a trusted authority is what it's all about as an attorney and law firm.

At the same time, the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer shows an overall decline in trust globally, with steep declines in the levels of trust in business. Your law firm is less likely to be trusted than ever when out in front with firm branded marketing.

Your firm is much better served strategically using social media to get the word out for you. Note again that strategically using social media does not mean using social media as bullhorn. It means establishing the trust and social media equity needed to get others sharing your content with others who trust them.

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Audiences are surprised when I tell them the most important part of social media is listening. I explain after a LinkedIn profile, the most important social media tool to use is a RSS reader.

Social media is all about networking so as to build relationships and enhance your word of mouth reputation. Networking means listening first. Your RSS reader is your ears.

Though Google Reader is the leading RSS reader, I find it clumsy to use. Adding feeds isn't always the easiest. The interface isn't the best to read from. And sharing on Facebook and Twitter what you're reading isn't the easiest.

The Financial Times' Chris Nuttall (@ftchris) has a nice piece this morning on news feeds becoming better reads with tablets and apps.

RSS readers used to be the standard way for web users to collect and consume news from different sources, but the advent of tablets has brought personalised photo-rich magazine-style experiences rather than long RSS lists of headlines.

RSS readers arguably provide better news, especially for industry professionals like lawyers, than the mainstream media can provide.

Nuttall, a reporter himself, believes with traditional journalism in decline, good RSS readers and aggregators with bots may be able to take the place of good editors by automatically providing a rich and more personalized news experience.

Nuttall goes on to provide plusses and minuses for each of 7 RSS readers/aggregators.

• Google Currents (Android and iOS)
• Flipboard (iPhone and iPad)
• Zite (iPhone and iPad)
• AOL Editions (iPad only)
• News360 (most platforms)
• Pulse (iOS, Android and Windows Phone)
• Yahoo's Livestand (iPad only)

I've tried Flipboard and Zite. Both provide a very nice user experience. The feedback I've received from lawyers on each has been very positive.

At the suggestion of my friend, Attorney Tom Mighell, I'm currently using Mr. Reader on my iPad to read my feeds. It works well for me because I've come to know well the sources and subjects I want to follow over the years. Mr. Reader also allows me to tag and star items as well as share items on Twitter and Facebook.

If you've never used an RSS Reader before or drifted away from using RSS because you thought it a headache, I'd suggest using Zite or Flipboard. I've written about Zite and Flipboard before if you want to see my thoughts on each.

No matter what RSS reader or aggregator you use, they all interface and synchronize with Google Reader. Google Reader becomes, in effect, your database of RSS feeds.

I strongly suggest getting an iPad. The apps save you time and provide a much more attractive reading environment than a laptop or desktop machine. You'll likely get addicted to reading RSS feeds once you have a an iPad.

Bottom line, if you're going to use social media effectively, you need to begin by listening. Listening requires the use of a RSS Reader. Fortunately, the use of a RSS Reader has gotten easier with tablets and apps.

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Law students are always looking for part-time work or summer clerkships at law firms. It's not only a way to gain experience, but builds relationships that can lead to employment on graduation.

Becoming a social media intern with a law firm may be a new way to get your foot in the door.

Stephen Brooks (@StephenM_Brooks) of the Michigan State University State News, reports on the job outlook growing for social media interns.

When it comes to social media interns — a relatively new position rapidly growing in popularity ­— the job involves more than sitting in front of a screen counting Twitter followers.

As more corporations and organizations increase their efforts in the social media realm, the need for knowledgeable people to oversee the various outlets has become apparent.

Per Karin Hanson (@Karinehanson), a career consultant at Michigan State:

The number of positions working with social media started to increase about a year and a half ago. These positions can include a variety of responsibilities including blogging and compiling social media strategies for other companies.......Results are everything when it comes to social media work. Being able to show employers tangible evidence of one’s work on social media... can help set prospective employees apart.

I've seen law firms hiring social media people from the ranks of journalists, public relations professionals, and marketers. A background in the law, even though still a law student, can give you a leg up -- especially if you have a background in journalism, business development, and the like.

Not only may a social media internship get you in the door as a means to landing a job as a lawyer, but it's also an in to a job in social media in a law firm.

Law degrees are valuable whether you go on to practice law or not. Law firms are going to be hiring people to work with their attorneys, business development folks, and ultimately the firm's leadership in the area of social media. Many already are.

Why not leverage your law degree and a passion for new media, if you have one?

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Attorneys and law firms have historically joined networks to collaborate, learn, and to network so as to build relationships for referrals and to enhance their reputations by speaking and writing.

Look around and you'll see them all over. LexMundi , The World's Leading Association of Independent Law Firms. TerraLex, 'Your Global Source for Business Lawyers.' MSI Global Alliance, 'Independent Legal & Accounting Firms.'

Want a list of 100 more law firm associations? Go to Martindale-Hubbell's list. Extend this list to state and local bar associations and you've got hundreds, if not thousands of associations.

Member attorneys have historically connected with each other via directories and conferences. The associations today are looking to build out Internet presences to make themselves more relevant to their members. Relevance being determined by the ease that members can build relationships with each other and the exposure members can get to the outside world (consumers of legal services), in both cases to get more legal work.

Rather than building fancy websites with the obligatory follow us on LinkedIn, like our Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter, these organizations would be best served by using existing 'layers of sociability.'

What the heck are 'layers of sociability?' It's an eloquent phrase coined by Clara Shih, CEO and founder of Hearsay Social and author of The Facebook Era, describing a concept I've been using as to custom social media solutions.

I've been advising our client associations to build on top of existing social networks. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and now, Google+. I've just not add a phrase as nice as Shih's to express the concept.

Don't try to build a shiny new hub website and tell your members and the world, "Look at us, look at our new website. Look at our new network, just for us so the bad guys don't get in."

Look how far that got LexisNexis' Martindale Connected. It's possible it may be getting Legal OnRamp somewhere, but I haven't heard many attorneys or firms talking about Legal OnRamp.

I ran across the phrase 'layers of sociability' in an article by Adweek's Erin Griffith (@griffitherin) on investors seeking niche social networks.

Some investors, knowing that no one can supplant LinkedIn for professional networking or Facebook for social networking are looking to back niche networks. The problem with niche networks is that they are niche and may not scale.

Think of all the portals we had in the early days of the net. Pets.com. Toys.com. Golf.com. Everyone thought we needed niche sites to sell and build communities. The problem was that people gravitate to hubs such as Amazon or Google. Those niche portals were wiped out or marginalized.

Look at LexisNexis' lawyers.com. It needs to run TV ads to get people to use the site and give its sales people a pitch that we run ads on TV etc. Google and social media are better places for lawyers.

Griffith nails the value of building networks on top of existing social networks.

Ironically, the one common theme with fast-growing niche social networks is their reliance on Facebook. Since the highest friction for a site is luring people to sign up, new networks must use Facebook Connect, allowing (or, in the case of Spotify, forcing) users to log in with their Facebook accounts.

It’s proof that Facebook’s primary function has moved beyond being a social network; it’s now a “layer of sociability,” according to Clara Shih, CEO and founder of Hearsay Social and author of The Facebook Era. But a Facebook layer is no guarantee of critical mass. “Facebook Connect can lower the barrier for niche networks, but they really have to offer something Facebook doesn’t already do, in a newer way,” Shih said.

The key for legal associations and networks is to leverage LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and blogs published by members. Then offer your members something these networks don't already offer them.

Look at ILN Today, published by the International Lawyers Network (ILN). The ILN is an association of 91 high-quality, full-service law firms with over 5,000 lawyers world-wide. The Network provides clients with easily accessible legal services in 66 countries on six continents.

ILN's Executive Director, Alan Griffiths, and Director of Global Relationship Management, Lindsay Griffiths, came to LexBlog asking that we design and develop a new website for them.

A new website, in large part a directory of lawyers and law firms around the world, was an expensive proposition. We challenged them to think different.

What do you really need today to become relevant to your members? To retain existing members and recruit new ones? LexBlog asked them when was the last time they were excited to pay to be in a directory.

Rather than a new website, we asked them if they were willing to allow LexBlog to come back to the ILN with what we thought they needed, as opposed to what ILN wanted. Something that may cost substantially less than a new website.

ILN agreed. We came back with a custom social media solution, ILN Today, whose backbone was existing social media and social networks. ILN member blogs, an ILN LinkedIn group, an ILN Facebook page, ILN member Tweeter feed, and original content in the from guest posts and interviews. The cost was one-third of the cost of a new website.

Launched last year, ILN Today has been very well received by ILN and its law firm members. ILN is becoming more relevant to its member law firms because of the foresight and vision of Alan Griffiths and Lindsay Griffiths. They saw the power and sense of layers of sociability.

Rather than build a new social network, when there are already more social networks than lawyers can keep up, leverage existing social networks and social media which lawyers and law firms are already using.

Make sense?

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As reported by the Los Angeles Times' Dawn Chmielewski (@DawnC331), Robert Kyncl, YouTube's vice president of global content partnerships, predicted in his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show last week that Internet video will soon account for 90% of the traffic on the Web.

Netflix, which got its start in 1998 mailing DVDs to subscribers in its trademark red envelopes, streamed 2 billion videos in the fourth quarter of 2011. Hulu now boasts 30 million monthly users. And YouTube attracts about 800 million viewers a month.......Kyncl portrayed Internet video as the next major step in the evolution of media, once dominated by three broadcast networks that together commanded 100% of television viewership in the U.S. The emergence of cable and satellite distributors made possible the fragmentation of the audience around niche programming.......By 2020, Kyncl predicted, about 75% of channels will be transmitted by the Internet.

YouTube, which should be the preferred video medium for law firms, is going to play a central role in user generated niche video. Per Kyncl, "The global reach of sites such as YouTube will allow for even more specialized channels to draw together sizable audiences of passionate enthusiasts."

Law firms have historically looked at video as an expensive production of content which promotes the firm and its attorneys. The majority of law firms, esepcially large ones, have shunned YouTube as too amateur.

Video need not not be a big production for law firms. A HD video camera and external microphones which LexBlog's LXBN TV uses to conduct interviews at conferences costs less than a thousand dollars. LXBN TV's interviews of prominent lawyers on timely legal matters are done via Skype, the same platform CNN and ESPN use for many of their interviews.

All of LXBN's video goes on YouTube and so should yours. YouTube is not only is a brand Internet users trust, but it's also the number two search engine in the world, trailing only Google. Internet users also know how to share YouTube videos via social media.

The content of law firm videos ought be focused on niche areas of the law and be of value to the firm's target audience. Rather than on the firm's website, videos ought be run on niche focused blogs. That way the videos will be viewed as valuable insight and commentary, as opposed to marketing.

You'll want to pull the embed code directly from YouTube to place your video on your blogs. That way readers know how to share the video whether in social media, blog posts, or presentations.

Bottom line. law firms need to start getting comfortable with video. And to start getting comfortable with video personally, as opposed to farming out video at significant time and expense.

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