128 million Americans use Facebook every day. Are you as a lawyer?
Per U.S. metrics released by Facebook last week, more than 128 million users log into Facebook each day. That’s more than 40% of all Americans.
Nearly 33% of Americans, or 101 million, use Facebook on a mobile device every day.
Facebook is not just for kids either. Almost half of Facebook users are over age 35. The fastest growing group on Facebook are seniors.
Lawyers ignoring the value of Facebook for business development do so at their peril. As anyone doing business development can tell you, you need to go where the people are. Today, that’s Facebook.
Best of all for good lawyers who get their best work by virtue of a strong word of mouth reputation and relationships, Facebook is all about building trust and relationships.
Don’t look at Facebook as an a opportunity to draw attention to yourself or your law firm. No one joins Facebook to receive content from a lawyer or to like a law firm’s Facebook page.
Look at Facebook as a place to hangout and to be yourself. A place to exchange pleasantries with your friends and acquaintances. Comment on news, pictures, and stories shared by friends. Share some of your own.
A lot of my friends on Facebook are business associates and clients. It’s a great place for us to get to know each other at a human level and to bond in a real and meaningful way. And just because there is bonding does not preclude frank discussion and conflict.
Perhaps there’s an industry group or bar association Facebook group where you can share your insight with others. I participate in one on legal marketing where I learn, share, and get to better know people in the industry I work with.
I am not buying that Facebook could fade off in time anymore than I bought the majority’s belief in 2000 that Amazon was not going to make it.
Facebook is growing and is going to continue to grow. And why not? Facebook is built on what we do as people, socialize.