Social Media Is...

Social Media Is...

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Follow The LinkedIn Lawyer on Twitter

Twitter is a free and easy-to-use "micro-blogging" site that allows you to send and receive short updates from multiple users. David Barrett, The LinkedIn Lawyer is "Twittering" -- follow me here -- and keep up to date with news about Web 2.0 social media and lawyers, with a particular focus on LinkedIn.

Click the links below to browse some of The LinkedIn Lawyer's most popular "tweets" over the last few months.

"When you hire someone, you hire his or her network." http://twurl.nl/laq05x

The LinkedIn Lawyer makes the ABA Journal http://twurl.nl/gkyp28

Real Estate Lawyer Network on LinkedIn http://twurl.nl/we075w

Is LinkedIn a Better Lawyer Search than Google? http://twurl.nl/5jmqnw

LinkedIn Profile Extreme Makeover http://twurl.nl/5seopk

Who Do You Let In Your Professional Network? http://twurl.nl/g1fv4m

LinkedIn Leadership http://twurl.nl/pkenyu

RT: @kevinokeefe LinkedIn profile will (either) show you are a go getter (networking activity) or one that doesn't use innovative technology.

Twitter 101 for Lawyers http://twurl.nl/68oh4f

What does it mean to "own" a LinkedIn group? http://twurl.nl/bvl742

(tweet tweet) @degold007 Interesting: 50 percent of attorneys are members of online social networks. http://tinyurl.com/55gobu

Companies Believe Social Media Can Increase Revenue http://twurl.nl/05m0gg

LinkedIn member seeks Arlington, VA Construction Lawyer - http://twurl.nl/llhzi7

Create a Law Office Profile on LinkedIn - http://tinyurl.com/5q5qnm

Law and Legal Open Networkers on LinkedIn is over 670 members; build a professional legal network - http://twurl.nl/1w06zz

Largest Law Firms have Expanding LinkedIn Profiles http://twurl.nl/nnuhhg

Unleash Your LinkedIn Profile http://twurl.nl/g6havc

"All My Clients Come From Twitter" http://twurl.nl/2yqx8m

PR Lawyer shares More Ideas on Using LinkedIn http://twurl.nl/hz1gkx

Large Law Firms Begin Using LinkedIn Groups http://twurl.nl/08n2lt

LinkedIn should be a part of every lawyer's marketing mix - http://twurl.nl/d2kduw

Become a master brand using LinkedIn http://twurl.nl/lrcjpe

Twitter for Lawyers: Networking in 140 Characters or Less - http://twurl.nl/e3glis

Connect on LinkedIn http://twurl.nl/wkgkpq

(The LinkedIn Lawyer) is presenting at Mass. Bar Association's Online Networking for Attorneys seminar tonight http://twurl.nl/o0zrg0

You're No One If You're Not On Twitter http://twurl.nl/3fl1he

David Barrett is #11 of "145 lawyers to follow on Twitter" http://twurl.nl/yg3kn2

(The LinkedIn Lawyer) invites more lawyers to own groups in the MyLinkLaw Family http://twurl.nl/tr506k

Lawyers get LinkedIn on IPhone http://twurl.nl/7bxxrk

LinkedIn Lawyer Network Invitation http://twurl.nl/j3uxri

Here's a great LinkedIn resource - http://twurl.nl/abfutm

The LinkedIn Lawyer blogs on New LinkedIn Group Policy http://twurl.nl/2vz603

(tweet tweet) @ScottMonty Social Media for Dummies - great list of 50 resources, posts and tips http://snurl.com/6ehav

Tweeting Lawyers in the Forefront http://twurl.nl/o0qjju

Lawyers not on Twitter? http://twurl.nl/opc34a

LinkedIn's New Free Apps http://twurl.nl/rohigk

Audio Interview with The LinkedIn Lawyer http://twurl.nl/uty1gw

Build Dreams One LinkedIn Contact at a Time http://twurl.nl/mc43a5

100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn http://twurl.nl/w1c3rs

LinkedIn Users Have High Financial Success http://twurl.nl/a0ruxu

How to Use LinkedIn ... for Lawyers - http://twurl.nl/3g332u

Lawyers Get Clients Using LinkedIn http://twurl.nl/f4tph4

Getting the Most Out of Your LinkedIn Connections http://twurl.nl/krnzzo

RT @mariosundar Elements of a Good LinkedIn Recommendation | chrisbrogan.com http://ff.im/4ech

Trial Lawyer Network on LinkedIn http://twurl.nl/5qf6d3

Join the World's Largest LinkedIn Lawyer Network - http://tinyurl.com/65mtv6

Crucial Conversations In Social Media

Crucial Conversations In Social Media

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Is LinkedIn a Better Lawyer Search Than Google?

If you stop to think about the “history” of law firm business development for a minute, it could be basically broken down into two categories – adverts for those potential clients who don’t know any lawyers, and reputation or relationship-building for potential legal client referrals from other attorneys.

Online listings found through the search engine Google (either through paid listings or well planned website SEO) may help develop new leads in both of these categories, however lawyers seeking to refer a client to another lawyer with a particular area of expertise will likely not do merely a Google search. Most attorneys will refer to other attorneys in their firms, attorneys found through Martindale-Hubbell with a solid peer review rating, or well-recommended attorneys in their professional networks.

Now that the number of attorneys on LinkedIn has grown considerably, and LinkedIn has unveiled its new search platform it may be time to ask whether LinkedIn is a better business development tool for lawyers than Google.

Others have asked about the limits of the technical search specifications of Google but at issue here is whether the relationship-based nature of LinkedIn makes it a more effective legal client referral tool than a search of law firms purchasing the top listings on commercial search engines.

Most lawyers would likely agree that potential clients who are referred from another attorney are better leads than those who are merely calling a list of names (obtained from either the telephone book or from a computer search).

Further, the relationship-based nature of LinkedIn is the type of assistance potential clients likely desire when they approach an attorney they trust, even if that attorney practices in a specialty that is outside of the scope of the legal matter.

The relationship-based nature of LinkedIn may also be a significant asset for those with a considerable number of non-lawyer connections as well. If one is to search “Boston lawyer” on LinkedIn the search results are typically ordered by proximity of relationship – i.e. direct connections first, followed by second degree connections (connections of your connections), third degree connections, and those who belong to a shared LinkedIn group.

The more connections an attorney has, the more often that attorney would come up in such a search done by any of the connections seeking a lawyer, and adds support to the argument that more LinkedIn connections is a better situation than fewer LinkedIn connections.

As my current extended LinkedIn network approaches 14 million professionals, I hope that the concept that LinkedIn is better than Google catches on quickly not only for self-interested reasons, but because it makes sense.

I'm not the first person to hatch this idea, and the folks at ReadWriteWeb duly note the limits of this approach (best for early adopters, those with few connections have few search results). However as LinkedIn use grows among lawyers, those attorneys with responsibilities in business development would be remiss to ignore this likely trend.

Related Articles

How Search-Like Are Social Media Sites? http://twurl.nl/wep85q

I Did Not Get the Value of LinkedIn ... Do You Get It? - http://twurl.nl/updh67


For more content from David Barrett follow him on Twitter here.

How Many Lawyers Use LinkedIn?

When LinkedIn guru Marc Freedman and I took a look at the number of lawyers in our networks, we found that many lawyers did not identify themselves under "law practice" or "legal services." Often a lawyer who was in-house counsel for a food manufacturer up would list themselves as a part of the "food services industry" and as such the true number of lawyers is difficult to calculate.

According to Steve Matthews, the number of lawyers on LinkedIn in June, 2008 was 216,000, which I would consider to be a very conservative estimate.

Law.com Shares Tips to Build Your LinkedIn Profile

As we all work to figure out Web 2.0 for lawyers, it felt just a bit validating to read the article by Diana Rubin in Legal Times "Tips to Build Up Your LinkedIn Profile."

In the article "boosting connections" is considered a good thing (funny how this took a while to catch on), and group membership is suggested as a strategy to increase connections. The MyLinkLaw family of lawyer groups is not mentioned explicitly, but the MyLinkLaw groups have to be where more lawyers go to network with other lawyers, as just one of those approximately 96 lawyer networking groups can go toe to toe with "Happy Lawyers" or even "ABA Friends" in terms of membership.

I'm still not sure why it has taken lawyers so long to embrace the open networking philosophies of many of the top-linked members of other professions, but we seem to be catching on.

Kevin O'Keefe of LexBlog blogs that "LinkedIn for Lawyer Marketing Works Big Time" which from much anecdotal evidence is true. However, lawyers should not forget that LinkedIn works best for those with a solid marketing concept and plan happening already, and that putting up a free profile with thirty to sixty friends and family alone likely won't change your practice too much.

For more content from David Barrett follow him on Twitter here.