Layers of sociability the future for legal networks and associations

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?