Sunbelt Blog

Social Media and Legal Eagles – Should You Jump In?

LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, blogging, and other forms of social media are extremely popular with people from all walks of life including professionals. But what about lawyers, paralegals, litigation support managers, and legal secretaries? Should you jump in? Before you start tweeting about your piles of paperwork and what you had for breakfast, consider what you can bring to social media as well as what you can get out of it.

Your Professional Persona
No matter which social media platform you choose, as a legal professional, it's crucial that you pay close attention to your professional persona. While many bloggers and tweeters may go off topic or rant and rave about something, you are not a traditional blogger or tweeter. Keep your professional persona in mind with every word you type.

Your Area of Expertise
Next, center your social media conversations on your specific area of expertise and begin building a community around your platform. For example, if you specialize in estate planning, blogging about DUI laws is outside your area of expertise. Your followers are expecting helpful estate planning tips, not news about DUI laws. Think of about three core topics within your area of expertise and rotate your content based on these areas. For an estate planning blog, you might write about wills and trusts one week, health care directives the next, and probate issues the next week before tackling another will and trust issue and repeating the cycle. Over time, you will become recognized for your expertise in your chosen area.

Your Personality
While it's not advisable to tweet about what you ate for lunch, the occasional personal blog post or tweet shows that you are a real person, not a walking law book. Use care when posting personal entries and keep your professional persona in mind when you do. For example, which of the following personal tweets would be appropriate:
"Looking forward to reading Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges."
"I think Oprah should avoid wearing red and should stick to less flashy colors."

What Can Social Media Do for You?
Certainly, you have a lot to contribute to social media. However, social media isn't a one-way outlet where you broadcast information to the masses. As you get involved in social media, you'll quickly discover that social media has many advantages including:

• Networking - You will be interacting with others, many of whom may be colleagues. As you share information through your blog, Facebook page, or Twitter, you will also be gaining information from others. This exchange of information gradually builds a community of like-minded individuals.
• Improve Communications Skills - Blogging and posting comments on social media sites forces you to brush up on your writing skills. Blogs and social media sites are not the place for legalese and academic writing. Instead, you must write concise, easy-to-understand entries.
• Give Your Firm a Face - If you are blogging on behalf of your law firm, you are becoming more approachable. Your potential clients may check your Facebook profile long before they make the first call for a consultation. By being mindful of your professional persona and focusing your social media efforts on your area of expertise, you will stand out as an approachable legal professional with the expertise the client needs.

Social media is a terrific tool for professionals from all industries when used appropriately. Keep your professional persona in mind at all times and frame yourself as an approachable expert. As you build your community and interact with others, you may realize another key advantage: new clients.