There’s a lot of talk about why law firms should use social media for business development and marketing. I’ve most past the “if”. Now I focus on the “how”. I’ll be very blunt here: I think all law firms can benefit by using some type of social media. Yes. All.
I’m not saying every lawyer and law firm needs to start a Facebook page and/or Twitter account. But I think almost every lawyer could benefit from creating a well crafted LinkedIn profile or an interesting blog (if you enjoy writing). It all depends on where your clients are.
The most important aspect of deciding whether to use social media or not is the “why”. Why are you using it? What do you want to accomplish?
To me the answer is pretty simple: get more clients. I’ll go one step further: get more of the work you want to do! Social media can help you do this if done correctly, and it’s not rocket science. You can do it yourself. It takes a lot of reading and research. Follow other lawyers in your practice area and see how they do it. It’s also a question of time. How much time do you want to dedicate to this?
You can also hire a consultant or task a staff member at your law firm to do some of the leg work. But remember this. You must be involved. Don’t expect someone else to create your entire social media presence. It takes dedication and work on your part as well. You might even start enjoying it after awhile!
What do you think?
