Building Your Legal Career with Social Media tools

Focus of this presentation:

Presentation: Your Profile

Communication: Building your network

Differentiation: You as The Brand

Use #sm4law on Twitter for questions

Your Profile

Shape Your Image

At the core of online communication is your profile

= How people perceive you

online

Slide from ‘Social Media for Lawyers’ http://tinyurl.com/mx9wf8

Full Profile for Maximum Benefits

• Online First Impression counts• Cover all Basics: Profile picture, title, full

resume• Update frequently: what are you doing now

• Give dimension to your profile that would not fit on resume • Give your network reasons to come back • Increase chances for more connections

• Increase your chances of visibility: connect with at least 20 people in the network

Personal Touch

• State your hobbies and interests: Increases chances for your next client/boss/referral network to connect with you

Link to Other Sources• Opportunity to impress before the first

impression

– Blogs, – Articles, – Cases, – Decisions, – Briefs

– Allows profile viewer to learn about other aspects of you

– Demonstrates participation, skills, expertise

Not just a Resume: Bridge to Relationship

• “Write your profile for the future” (Chris Brogan)

“I need to hire this person.” as a member of my firm or as my outside

counsel

• Where is your focus? • What do you want to do?• What differentiates you from others?

• Current Activity

• Your name in URL

• Keywords – SEO benefits

• Organizations and committees

• Articles, Publications, Presentations, Books you are reading

Professional Profiles

• Be reachable and accessible• Effective photo and contact

information• Expertise and area of practice is

clear and well defined• Credible authority established • Link to all community posts –

showcase expertise• Links to others = well connected• Interests give personal feeling• Activity and frequency of use

establishes commitment

Slide from ‘Social Media for Lawyers’ http://tinyurl.com/mx9wf8

10

Lawyer Profiles

Profile Best Practices

• Differentiate yourself • Be Honest and transparent• Personal and Professional – know your boundaries• Set your profile on Multiple networks• Be responsive & trustworthy• Remember: All other media and company policies

apply

Network

Start Building Your Network Yesterday

• Joining and profile creation are just the first step: • Start early• Get involved • You get what you give

• You can’t build credibility in an instant• Building a network happens over time• But it shouldn’t take all of your time – 10 minutes a day can yield a

wealth of connections through outreach, posting short items, and sharing links

• Maintain Relationship• Check in on your connections – Participate in their conversations • Send an occasional email/InMail

Searching for Connections

Find Connections using the search tools

Look for people who you: • Already know• Met at conferences• Had interactions with on the network

Expanding Your Network

• Use ‘Suggested Connections’

• Connect with members with mutual interest

• It is ok to connect with someone you don’t know: – Brief intro: how you know them, why you want to connect– Don’t chase– Bring value to relationship: send them links, ideas, articles

they may be interested in

Searching for a Job

• Building new relationships that can lead you to open positions

• Make it known you are looking for a job– Periods of transition can be springboards to reinvent yourself– Use announcements, status updates, and Twitter to broadcast

You are The Brand

But it’s Not Just About You

• Visibility on Others’ Spaces:– Participate in conversations in different

networks, share your knowledge, get involved

• Be Present:– Pose questions– Answer questions– Link to sources (refs) – Ethical rules still apply

• Blog, Blog, Blog – Blog about your passion/interest, – Point of view on decisions and opinion,

legal trends, on appointments– Key: Add value– Practical How To’s: ProBlogger site

http://www.problogger.net/

Showcase Expertise

Lead

• Taking a discussion to the next level• Getting people engaged• Leading a Group

– Build and empower a network – If you can inspire passion in others –

that’s the hallmark of great leadership

Keep on Listening and Learning

• Twitter• Google Alerts• RSS

and…Privacy is important

• Share whatever you feel comfortable sharing

But…

• Remember that limiting your connections limits your visibility

All presented here is from personal experience

… Thanks also to Kelly Newcomb and Ohad Reshef

Twitter: @alinwagnerlahmy

Twitter: @mhtweets