What lawyers put in online profiles versus what clients want in profiles

Nothing I have shared on Twitter has been retweeted and favorited as much as this diagram on lawyer profiles by Matt Homann (@matthomann).

If there’s such a thing as a viral tweet in the legal arena, my tweet today of Homman’s diagram qualified. People favorited the tweet all day long. Countless people retweeted it. Some said Homman’s diagram was going straight to the marketing department at their firm.

Why? Because Homman is spot on. Clients could generally care less where we went to school and what law firm we worked at 17 years ago.

The public is not looking for a profile that reads like Martindale-Hubbell. People want to know how accessible you are, how they can connect to you on social media, and where they can read non-legalese items authored by you that demonstrate your passion and care.

Websites with stodgy profiles are bad enough. Blog site profiles reading like lawyer profiles of old are even worse.

Why should I follow your blog? Why should I, as a reporter, call or cite you? Are you an engaging sort of person that relates well to people like me, as a client, or are you like all the other lawyers?

Take a look at your website and blog profile. Is yours on the left or the right side of the Homman diagram?

Hat tip to Sam Glover (@samglover) for sharing Homman’s diagram in a post this morning about what a law firm website should include.