Friday, January 30, 2009

BubbleTweets for Distinguished Social Media Lawyers

Names like “Tweetbubble” or "BubbleTweet" can make even the toughest trial lawyers’ eyes roll back in the head. Much like the International House of Pancakes patrons ordering the “Rooty Tooty Fresh N’ Fruity” with an embarrassed whisper, many of today’s distinguished attorneys use the new nouns and verbs of social media with some trepidation.

While waiting in line for the court clerk, during a break at trial, or when counsel awaits the verdict of a jury deliberation, the shift to this new whimsical language can be downright amusing:

“hey um … have you started using Tweeter … Twitted … I mean Twitter?“

“well I just started that stuff … I guess yesterday was the first time I Tweeted, but I felt pretty good about it. I figure the more Tweeple I get, the more well known my new DUI defense practice will be.”

“nice going … the other day I Facebooked someone, but I just about lost it when I got a message on LinkedIn from this guy who had a Twitter-bubble or something … um, did I miss this class in law school?”


Counsel, hang tough. Just like learning the new vocabulary of the law when we were just starting to quack like a duck as first year law students, seeing the social media forest through the trees can enable you to overcome this foreign landscape for your profit – this time by taking advantage of some of the most cost-effective legal marketing available.

Bubble Guru Kevin Sherman’s BubbleTweet is not only worth a try, it may have a huge online social media impact.

His primary product of self-executing videos is the BubbleTweet – which makes a great introduction to your Twitter profile. It is great because BubbleTweet puts the people in the media, and does so very effectively.

Even as Portalfuse's Social Media Blog cautiously and critically reviewed the article "How Will Social Media Change in 2009?"

they had to “agree the most with her #1 point: It’s About People:

…(S)ocial media is bringing back the human element to all digital interaction. People now deliberately seek meaningful connection, self-expression, and a relevant and receptive community.”

Feedback on my Tweetbubble from New Media Product Manager at LexisNexis, Alin Wagner-Lahmy (who also blogs at Sleepless in NY and Virtually Social) struck a similar note:

“Seeing your (BubbleTweet) clip brought a huge smile on my face and I hurried up sending it through to all my friends and connections - it was one of those rare moments on web when two media formats were sitting together in such harmony, complementing each other in a perfect mix. Just a drop from each, and voila - there's a real taste of personality here!

Seems like Twitter's nuggets-sized content bits form a perfect base for different formats to be layered within and/or on top of one another - and what a tasty dish it is! [I could go on and on here about Jeremiah Owyang's "Content like Shish Kebob - bite sized media" theory (see Slideshare presentation under “Appendix A - The Future of Social Media in the Social Era" below), but maybe best to chew one idea at a time...).

I am always very curious about the role of video with 'conversational' communities, I think this is a great example of a simple yet brilliant start: will it just remain an introductory video or will it develop into a 'status update' either in its own right or complementing textweets, and how will that work with 12seconds.tv ? that, I guess, remains to be seen - and we'll all be watching every second of it. literally.”

Thanks for the conversation Alin.

BubbleComment may Revolutionize Micro-blogging

Bubble Guru Kevin Sherman has another similar product, BubbleComment, which is very similar to BubbleTweet but allows one to create a webpage overlay – so that a bubble video can allow users (and micro-bloggers) to provide a video comment to any existing web page.

Let’s face it, as we use Twitter more our demand for quality Tweets increases. We are quickly becoming bored over Tweets like “having lunch” or “having a ham sandwich for lunch … mmmm” or “boy I’m tired … having coffee” and a recent Retweet from Adrian Lurssian of JD Supra captured the need for high interest content well -

@JDTwitt RT LOL @davewiner Twitter should replace the question 'What are you doing?' with OMG NWAY!

“Micro-blogging is a form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates (say, 140 characters or fewer) or micromedia such as photos or audio clips and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user.“

But it wouldn’t really take much to “revolutionize” micro-blogging, as after a while many folks sharing links get around to sharing the same ones – and scanning websites in the race to be first isn’t always the best use of a lawyer’s time.

However, adding a BubbleComment to a shared website link, not only allows an added human factor, but it adds an ability to comment on, add to, or interact with the content on the shared link to add value.

For example, I was able to get involved with Larry Bodine’s blog post on Are (Law) Marketers Really Using Twitter? - even apparently after having missed his solicitation for comments.

Pointing out links I haven’t seen is great, and I appreciate those who do share interesting and useful content. At the same time, I would love to see a quick comment from many of the professionals I follow in response to many of those links, as the social media landscape is forever evolving and there are few authoritative resources. Publishing about social media is just becoming "part of the conversation."

Creative uses for combining BubbleComments seem to be only beginning. I have added them on my own blog posts (LinkedIn QuickLink Invitations (Quicklinks are Great!)) and I have added one to my own LinkedIn profile.

Still skeptical?

I have noticed on Twitter Search that there has been some favorable buzz on Twitter about the BubbleTweet that I use as a profile introduction -

@econwriter5: RT @JDTwitt if you haven't seen it - go to @barrettdavid and click on the link in his twitter bio. grab some popcorn, oda & turn off yr cell

@JDTwitt: if you haven't seen it - go to @barrettdavid and click on the link in his twitter bio. then grab some popcorn and a soda & turn off yr cell

@JDTwitt: @barrettdavid that bubble tweet on your twitpage is COOL. wild, crazy, cool. i'd imagine as the concept spreads it'll become like

alinwagnerlahmy: started writing a comment 4 @barrettdavid 's fab bubble & got so carried away I almost wrote a booklet. no worries ive cut it into a par ...

"Appendix A - The Future of Social Media in the Social Era"




Related Articles:

BubbleTweet

Is BubbleTweet The Coolest Twitter App Yet?

Personalize Your Twitter Page with BubbleTweet!

What is Microblogging?

Your Guide to Micro-Blogging and Twitter

Interested to Discuss this Blogpost? Find David Barrett on Twitter @barrettdavid



Wednesday, January 28, 2009

This Week's LinkedIn Lawyer Social Media "Top Tweets"

Click here for a video introduction to David Barrett's Twitter profile.

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 the legal profession, with a particular focus on LinkedIn.

Here are the "Top Tweets" from the last week (partially as tracked with Tweetburner).

"Top Tweets"

Thank you for following me on Twitter, welcome and enjoy - http://twurl.nl/rx2acv

Preparing materials for ABA CLE Online Social Networking - http://twurl.nl/sm8ik4 - Any requests?

LexisNexis Insurance Law Center is LinkedIn - http://twurl.nl/vkcxre

LinkedIn QuickLink Invitations (Quicklinks are Great!) http://twurl.nl/hwfpox

Six Elements of a Great LinkedIn Profile - http://twurl.nl/84n618

Mina Sirkin’s Law Marketing group on Ning is hot! - http://twurl.nl/jgkfdz

Lawyers Get Snippy on Twitter / Inside the "Effective Use" Debate - http://twurl.nl/1evjm7

Human Rights Lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Russian Journalist Killed http://twurl.nl/8zsxt1 Please Retweet. #mrklv

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

"The biggest mistake I see - many lawyers are not on LinkedIn" - http://twurl.nl/0l8dl6

Micro-blogging is an effective lawyer use of Twitter - http://twurl.nl/523v0u - private chats are boring for rest of followers.

LinkedIn on Workers' Compensation Law Center from LexisNexis - http://twurl.nl/ktu2zr

LinkedIn Clamps Down On Super-Connected Users - http://twurl.nl/2t8o0k


Find David Barrett on Twitter @barrettdavid



Friday, January 23, 2009

Lawyers Get Snippy on Twitter

Inside the Debate on “Effective” Twitter Use for Lawyers

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 the legal profession, with a particular focus on LinkedIn.

Figuring out the social media landscape in this ever-changing environment is not always easy. Social media mavens of all stripes, including lawyers, have differing philosophies regarding many many issues involved with the use of various social media.

Some of these differences are fundamental (i.e. “Facebook is my personal network – not business” or “I only connect with people I know personally and would recommend on LinkedIn”), however other social media philosophical differences are more subtle.
One such nuance recently debated on Twitter, was regarding “effective” use of Twitter.

This first came to my attention by a ReTweet by Kevin O’Keefe of LexBlog:

RT @collinudell: lawyers using twitter effectively: @kevinokeefe @dougcornelius @nikiblack @lisasolomon @ctemplawyer @dancanon @vpynchon

Which Mr. O’Keefe well balanced with Twitterers of a different opinion:

RT @danielschwartz: It depends. Lawyers use twitter differently based on the audience they are trying to reach. No 1 right way.

Followed by a solicitation of more views:

@kevinokeefe Anyone else with 140 character answer on how lawyers use Twitter effectively?

I first touched on this issue while putting together my list of “10 People All Lawyers Must Follow on Twitter” and although I recognize that a variety of styles of Twittering may be used, I have a humble opinion about what is the most useful and productive approach.

As such, I offered my 140 character answer on how lawyers use Twitter effectively:

@barrettdavid Micro-blogging is an effective lawyer use of Twitter - http://twurl.nl/523v0u- private chats are boring for rest of followers.

Which received a quick comment in support:

dancanon @barrettdavid A-freakin'-men, brother. Some tweeps seem to forget they have email, IM, phones, etc. God love 'em.

As an early adopter of social media among lawyers, a social media consultant, and as a former teacher and trainer, I habitually seek to educate with my social media activities, whether those are Facebook posts, LinkedIn questions, or Twitter Tweets.

I happened to be writing another blog post about micro-blogging, and checked Wikipedia for a general definition. Both in an effort to streamline work activities and educate others on how they may use Twitter for micro-blogging, I used this Wikipedia (http://twurl.nl/523v0u) link as explanatory information in my Tweet.

However, challenges to this view of “effective” Twitter use for lawyers soon approached:

vpynchon @barrettdavid what do you consider a "private chat"?

As I am something of an advocate for a microblogging rather than open email approach, we took the debate to Twitter Direct Messages (DM’s).

DM to vpynchon I think its pretty self-explanatory. I said M-blogging "an" effective use - not "the only" effective use, but my bias is obvious.

DM from vpynchon wikipedia . . . is there an article there by you?

DM to vpynchon http://tinyurl.com/65k4g4 but maybe I'll write another. is there a need to insult me?

DM from vpynchon are you talking to ME? insult you? link was to wikipedia . . . didn't see article by you will check this link

DM from vpynchon lose nuance in 140 chars but truly was asking Q 4 clarity; sorry u felt insulted; wld love to know what I sd 2 insult


This may not exactly be a Heavyweight prize fight, but an interesting debate remains. Is Twitter best for relationship building and networking, or as a microblogging tool?

If both, what kind of mix would be most effective?

Some call a conversational style "engaging" while others call it "Serial Twittering" and cite it as a reason to un-follow someone.

Is is possible to microblog and relationship-build/network on the same Twitter account, or should lawyers use two accounts differently in order to maximize the benefits of each? One Twitter marketing guide thinks so, but it may be possible to balance well with one account while keeping one's larger audience in mind.

I would suggest that your social media marketing activity be part of your overall legal marketing plan, and that lawyers match each social media technology with specific goals and specific opportunities offered by a particular technology.

Appendix A

“A Micro-Blogging Twitter Style by David Barrett”


Are Law Marketers Really Using Twitter? - http://twurl.nl/45s7bs 5:00 AM Jan 20th from Tweetburner

LinkedIn QuickLink Invitations (Quicklinks are Great!) http://twurl.nl/hwfpox 4:35 AM Jan 20th from Tweetburner

Thank you for following me on Twitter, welcome and enjoy - http://twurl.nl/rx2acv 2:43 AM Jan 20th from web

Human Rights Lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Russian Journalist Killed http://twurl.nl/8zsxt1 Please Retweet. 10:05 PM Jan 19th from Tweetburner

Les aficionados de twitter, facile à trouver difficile à conserver - http://twurl.nl/1dpzu7 9:46 PM Jan 19th from Tweetburner

Law Marketing group on Ning - http://twurl.nl/jgkfdz 9:41 PM Jan 19th from Tweetburner

Six Elements of a Great LinkedIn Profile - http://twurl.nl/84n618 8:18 PM Jan 19th from Tweetburner

This Week's LinkedIn Lawyer "Top Tweets" - The MLK Day Edition - http://twurl.nl/6dyl1a 9:53 AM Jan 19th from Tweetburner

@barrettdavid is giving away 3 x 1 hour LinkedIn consults - http://twurl.nl/cxn6c8 - Just RT this to enter, will Tweet the winners 10:57 PM Jan 18th from Tweetburner in reply to barrettdavid

Using LinkedIn as a Small Business Owner - http://twurl.nl/nr8ojj 10:32 PM Jan 18th from Tweetburner

7 Critical Elements of Your Social Media Strategy - http://twurl.nl/wij8r1 10:29 PM Jan 18th from Tweetburner


Appendix B

“A Conversational Twitter Style by Victoria Pynchon


@nomadtoes tiers so crazy; we're the most status obsessed profession I know of though the top biz school ppl & places like McKinsey ditto about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to nomadtoes

@gerkmana imagine what ppl with Ph.Ds do abt school debt; when I was teaching at Univ. felt sorry for profs who couldn't moonlight like me about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to gerkmana

@gerkmana also much greater distance between attys and teachers/nsures than b4; trite to say middle class disappearing but true about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to gerkmana

@gerkmana yes; there's the 2 professions problem too: one range for top of class; another 4 rest at much greater distance than when I began about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to gerkmana

@gerkmana everyone sd market flooded in '80 when I grad: always work for attorneys & if can't get "job" always able to hang out shingle about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to gerkmana

@gerkmana $700/yr 3 yrs at U.C. Davis; Adam's tuition at UCLA started around $25K & increased over his time there: I grad '80; he grad '06 about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to gerkmana

@idealawg I left a comment on the post on law school debt/disclosure by law schools: Stephanie's post here: http://westallen.typepad.com/ about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to idealawg

@charlesthomas what percentage of your criminal clients have drug/alcohol problems associated w/ crimes? about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to charlesthomas

@gerkmana as atty for nearly 30 years now, in taxes & pro bono services, State has more than recouped $$ on my education about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to gerkmana

@gerkmana Cal severely contracted funds for education, public libraries, etc; not smart in democracy requiring critical


Many Thanks to Attorney Victoria Pynchon for her engagement in this debate.

DM to vpynchon Interesting issues to blog about. Would you like me to leave your identifying info in or out?

DM from vpynchon feel free to leave it in


Related Articles –

http://www.buzznetworker.com/how-to-use-twitter-effectively/

http://scottmeis.com/2008/10/20/beyond-the-tweet-how-to-effectively-use-twitter/

http://thatsgreatprblog.com/2008/10/13/learning-how-to-use-twitter-effectively/

http://www.davidtinney.com/abcs-of-using-twitter-effectively.html

Analysis from "Mr. Tweet" -

My Twitteristics: Tweets more than the Twitter founders(3.7/day), Conversational(20%), Hyperlinked(95%)! http://mrtweet.net/barrettdavid?t

Find David Barrett on Twitter @barrettdavid

Click here for a video introduction to David Barrett's Twitter profile.



Tuesday, January 20, 2009

LinkedIn QuickLink Invitations

Click here for David Barrett's video comment on this blogpost.

The most important consumable commodity on LinkedIn is a user’s “invitations to connect.” Invitations to connect are extremely valuable to LinkedIn users, and the LinkedIn company restricts the number of invitations a particular user may use.

Once you use all your invitations to connect, you may (or may not) be granted a small amount of new invitations upon request from LinkedIn customer service – only after you run out.

However, with a properly utlized Quicklink, LinkedIn users are able to conserve their invitations, in order to use them when most appropriate, and also to maximize the size and quality of their LinkedIn network.

Super-networker Marc Freedman says Quicklinks are "the professional, convenient, and personal way to invite your business contacts and open networkers to connect on LinkedIn. QuickLinks encode your personal info and takes the user direct to a LinkedIn invitation page. MyLinkInvitation delivers the service and image that you need to represent yourself and your business. It's the least you can do to ensure your success in a hypercompetitive business world where there are millions of other networkers.

It's Convenient. Your contacts can send you an invitation in only three clicks with a QuickLink. There is nothing to search and nothing to type. The invitation process takes several seconds, not several minutes.

It's Personal. DallasBlue provides you a branded secure URL with your personal or company name instead of a meaningless or unwieldy address with up to 100 characters.

It's Professional. When you share a QuickLink you show that you're a considerate and knowledgeable business person, someone people want to business with and have in their network.

It's Powerful. DallasBlue provides a range of services to supercharge your LinkedIn neworking, including this site, branded QuickLinks, and a QuickLink directory. We're commited to keeping QuickLinks easy to use and up to date."

You may connect with David Barrett on LinkedIn using the QuickLink below –

http://davidbarrett.mylinkinvitation.com

Monday, January 19, 2009

This Week's LinkedIn Lawyer "Top Tweets" - The MLK Day Edition

Click here for a video introduction to David Barrett's Twitter profile.

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 the legal profession, with a particular focus on LinkedIn.

Here are the "Top Tweets" from the last week (partially as tracked with Tweetburner).

"Top Tweets"

How Lawyers Can Grow Billings using Online Networks and Internet Marketing - http://twurl.nl/4i7p2t

Guerrilla Social Media Marketing - http://twurl.nl/fdj7vs

How to turn Linkedin connections into valuable Long-term business relationships - http://twurl.nl/6zaz4r

The Key to Online Success - http://twurl.nl/z5k3n8

Everyone else is on Facebook. Why aren't you? http://twurl.nl/8lmrcj

20 Tips for Marketing Your Law Firm in Tough Times (Tips 16-20) - http://twurl.nl/qgfda7

Grow Your Business With Social Media And Not Have It Take Over Your Day - http://twurl.nl/rho13s

Britney Spears Is Hiring An Online Media Manager - http://twurl.nl/47jqrz

40 Key Elements to Getting Started In Social Media - http://twurl.nl/y7ea75

Lawyer Networking groups on LinkedIn - http://twurl.nl/i1janq

100+ Resources to Boost Your Social Media Savvy in 2009 - http://twurl.nl/awiq3g

Lawyers Talk About Experiences with Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook - http://twurl.nl/mvbwva

The Top 10 Reasons I Will Not Follow You in Return on Twitter - http://twurl.nl/xpp1l5

Social Media Marketing - DIGG For Lawyers - http://twurl.nl/cdxn0l


Find David Barrett on Twitter @barrettdavid



Thursday, January 8, 2009

Help! Lawyers from Television’s “Damages” show are Twitter-Stalking Me

So last night much like the other members of the “I’ll Watch Law and Order Until My Eyes Fall Out” group on Facebook, I tuned in to FX to see the season premiere of their lawyer show – “Damages.”

With all of the Law and Order marathons on around the New Year, I figured it was prudent to change things up a bit and conserve myself in case my bloody corneas are in fact an indicator of my Law and Order career coming to an end.

I missed the first season of Damages, but I told friends that I was coping pretty well because we who had finished law school and passed the bar had a special aptitude for lawyer shows which allowed us to jump in mid-stream with a full and complete understanding of the entire show. Like all my humor, that statement only had a bit of truth in it, and I was only able to grasp a few of the fast-paced Damages show basics.

First, and easiest to discern was that the Glenn Close character (Senior Lawyer Partner Patty Hewes) was the “bad guy.” The show’s director was successful at giving her an overall aura of evil, but for those of us who have worked in a law firm, Attorney Hewes was most transparently “bad” as throughout the show she was both concerned with her Associate’s true opinion of her (which wasn’t so positive after last season’s murder attempt) and riddled with the guilt of not giving the Associate all of the facts and the entire big picture of the case she worked so diligently on all last season.

Secondly, although the Rose Byrne character (Junior Associate Lawyer Ellen Parsons) was frequently engaged in dream sequence or reality-type scenes of herself engaged in revenge murder or attempted murder, I know from my Law and Order training that she is the “good guy.” As part of season two, Attorney Parsons is working with the FBI to bring down her boss, and as anyone who has seen Law and Order knows, those working with or for law enforcement and District Attorney’s office are wearing the white hats.

The show was interesting enough, but after it ended I got back to my primary addictions – LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Since Kevin O’Keefe’s LexTweet has come out with rankings based on how many followers on Twitter one has, building my Twitter network has become my competitive social media activity du jour, and I first logged in to check out my current number of followers, or how close I am to pushing past my next target @Glennia

As I scanned through my followers, who are mostly social media savvy lawyers and legal professionals met via LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, I was surprised to find Attorney Ellen Parsons from the Damages show following me. I responded like any late-30’s adult male would respond to being Twitter-Stalked by a young and very attractive female attorney - I asked her out with an “@Reply”

“@EllenParsons thanks for the follow. Since your fiancée is murdered and all I was wondering if you're free this weekend. I'm in Boston.”


Twitter has recently limited the number of Tweeps I can follow for some reason at 2000, so I quickly booted some MD/JD with nothing much to say, and followed back @EllenParsons. I mean hey, she does seem like a good attorney.

Later however, things got creepy. I later found the alleged murderer and evil super lawyer @PattyHewes (the Glenn Close character) following me! Ahh! Creepy thing is - now I'm following her back - and I never clicked to follow her, and I didn't even have the capacity to follow someone else as I was at my limit of 2000! How powerful is this woman!?!

Pretty sharp marketing if you ask me, and despite being a law school grad, I plan on getting deep into the Season One Wiki on the Damages show to get ready for next week.

If you enjoyed this article, please Digg it, or Tweet a Tinyurl Link for your Twitter followers. Thanks!

Connect with David Barrett on Twitter @barrettdavid



Monday, January 5, 2009

How I Connected with Barack Obama on LinkedIn

I’m frequently asked about how I am lucky enough to be directly connected to President-Elect Barack Obama on LinkedIn, at times even bartering such knowledge/perceived access in exchange for various goods and services, but I have had so many requests I feel that it is time to publish this blog post in order to save myself some time in responding to all the requests.

Although President-Elect Obama and I are directly connected on LinkedIn, I cannot say I know the man personally. I’ve had interactions with a couple Massachusetts Governors, former Presidential candidate John Edwards, Democratic political strategist James Carville, and CNN’s Candy Crowley, but never “The Big O.”

Never have I had the chance to find Mr. Obama as my constitutional law professor, nor knocking on my door while he was community organizing, nor while playing pickup basketball games at the local YMCA, nor while hungry and slightly tipsy waiting in line late-night at Harold’s Chicken in Chicago’s Hyde Park area. Our paths must have crossed somewhere along the line, but never was I in the right place, at the right time.

Although I’m proud to admit my admiration for Mr. Obama, and I even worked diligently on behalf of his campaign, I have no official professional relationship with President Elect Obama either. I may be on all the mailing lists, in all the Facebook groups, and a follower of Mr. Obama on Twitter, but none of these situations give me special access of any kind.

Sure my LinkedIn and Facebook networks are well populated with National Public Radio personalities, political journalists and professional campaign staffers from Democratic campaigns back to the days of Jimmy Carter, but as my father would say “that and two bucks will get you on the bus” (i.e. no special access or perks from those relationships either).

I was able to connect with Barack Obama on LinkedIn the same way I have connected with many others in my network – I asked him.

Asking one to connect on LinkedIn can take a variety of forms, but if you seek to directly connect with President-Elect Obama I would suggest making it as easy as possible for him (or for the staffer who manages his LinkedIn profile). I’m working on another blog post about just how valuable “Invitations to Connect” on LinkedIn are, but if you seek to directly connect to a President-Elect go ahead and spend an invitation.

If, like many of us, you have had an invitation to connect refused somewhere along your LinkedIn career, and are on rather thin ice with the LinkedIn powers that be, you may find that sending an invitation requires a shared group membership or use of your invitee’s email address.

I believe that I joined the "Obama for America" group, and since the President-Elect was also a member of that Group and Association, we shared membership, and I was able to invite him to connect on that basis.

If you still need an email address to send an invitation, here’s a little “secret” for you – obamaamerica AT gmail.com

Please pass along my well wishes.

If you are interested to connect with David Barrett, direct connection to Barack Obama, on Linkedin, you may initiate an invitation here - http://davidbarrett.mylinkinvitation.com




Sunday, January 4, 2009

The First LinkedIn Lawyer "Top Tweets" of 2009

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 the legal profession, with a particular focus on LinkedIn.

Here are the "Top Tweets" from the last week (partially as tracked with Tweetburner).

"Top Tweets"

Legal Marketing Without Social Media and SEO Not Enough - http://twurl.nl/75x4jr

Social Media Marketing for Lawyers: 2009 Predictions - http://twurl.nl/y4tic7

social networking tools will become mainstreamed as “standard” elements of law firm business development plans - http://twurl.nl/4zy1ae

"The number one predictor of income as a lawyer is the size of your network" - http://twurl.nl/v23byp

Join the World's Largest LinkedIn Lawyer Network - http://twurl.nl/5c8fhd

David Barrett Welcomes his 1000th Facebook Friend - http://twurl.nl/u2kco5

The Tao of Twitter: An intro guide - http://twurl.nl/3h3hyg

How to Get the Most Out of LinkedIn - http://twurl.nl/3sh5ik

RT: @erikmagraken The value of social media for lawyers - http://twurl.nl/efiqgc

2008: The Best and Worst of Legal Marketing - http://twurl.nl/5fqcky

David Barrett is proud to be part of JD Supra's Legal Community - http://twurl.nl/vudyul


Find David Barrett on Twitter @barrettdavid



Saturday, January 3, 2009

Building Blocks Of Business Online






Friday, January 2, 2009

What is social media, and why should I care?





The Tao of Twitter: An intro guide



Find David Barrett on Twitter @barrettdavid