In June 2009 I was interviewed by Lawyers USA Online about the value of Twitter in regard to law firm marketing. At the time, I had only been on Twitter for about 2 months so I was speaking as a true rookie. I told the interviewer that I thought it was too early to tell if Twitter was a waste of time for lawyers as some legal marketing experts apparently felt. I also said, “The education I get from it, and the quick tips I get, are absolutely helping my marketing efforts because it’s part of my continuing education….That in itself is making me more valuable to my clients.” In addition, I said I’d found Twitter helpful in staying on top of marketing trends and relevant legal events and articles.
I’ve now been on Twitter about 10 months and it has been well worth my time and efforts. And, I highly encourage all of my law firm and other business clients to use Twitter with a goal in mind, a willingness to build relationships and to offer something of value to their followers, and a willingness (and patience) to structure their use of Twitter so that it is indeed a worthwhile business endeavor and smart use of their time.
I personally spend a good amount of time each week looking for people to follow who share interests of relevance to my profession, my law office consulting work and my passion as a certified mediator for alternative dispute resolution. I also devote a good deal of time deleting followers who are not offering the kinds of information I am seeking on Twitter or who are obviously only there to offer repeated “commercials” of their products or services.
I have also deleted some well known experts in their field because more of their tweets than not are about some game they’re watching or what they’re cooking for dinner…..that’s all well and good if that’s how you want to use Twitter, but I prefer to follow folks who keep their personal “stuff” to a minimum. Yes, I, too, occasionally tweet about a personal event or matter, but it’s not often and I plan to keep it that way. If I ever want to just talk about my trip to the mall, what one of my horses or miniature donkeys latest antics have been or other personal things, I will create a new Twitter account for that purpose only. I also delete anyone who gives tips on how to get thousands of followers. I believe that tweeters who allow everyone and anyone to follow them just to flaunt a high number of followers may have unaddressed insecurity issues.
Thanks to a Twitter posting today by @EmailCopywriter, I was led to a blog post written by Ken McCarthy entitled “Twitter Without the BS.” And therein lies the primary point of this blog post (finally!) …. Reading Mr. McCarthey’s blog post is well worth your time. Well done, sir! My twittering via @lawbusinesstips is for business and educational purposes. Mr. McCarthy’s post has re-enforced my opinion and Twitter experience to date that it is indeed an effective “tool” for the business-minded tweeter (including law firms) if used wisely for your intended purposes.
Let me know what you think and as always, thanks for sharing part of your busy day at LawBusinessTips.com.