How to Improve Your Social Media Profile with 2 Quick Changes
Is there a problem that your social media contacts can't solve? I have yet to find one.
My new-parent-friends are constantly pitching baby questions into the social ether and getting rapid responses about formula and diapers. Every time I want to find new books to read, I ask my Facebook friends for recommendations.
Crowd-sourcing makes life easier. Especially when looking for an attorney. So if your social media profiles don't indicate where you live and that you're an attorney, you need to change that. Now.
Whether you use Google+, Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network, social media channels are any easy way for your friends to recommend you as an attorney.
Let's break this down with a hypothetical. Tom needs a lawyer, and posts a status update on Facebook asking his friends if they can recommend someone in his town, Cityville. Your friend, Danielle, sees Tom's question, and remembers that you practice law in Cityville. Danielle can easily message Tom -- or introduce the two of you online -- to say, "My friend is an attorney who practices in Cityville." Done. You just got a referral based on your social circle.
But let's take the hypothetical a step further. Perhaps you haven't seen Danielle since your high school reunion. She thinks that you're an attorney practicing in Cityville, but she was a little tipsy during that what-have-you-been-doing-for-the-last-however-many-years conversation. If you include your occupation and city on your Facebook page, Danielle can confirm that you are an attorney in Cityville and connect you with Tom. Without those two pieces of information, you might not receive that referral.
According to a 2012 Nielsen study, people trust their friends above all other forms of advertising, The Atlantic Wire reports. If you are trying to grow a law practice, you should make it easy for your friends to recommend you as an attorney by including your occupation and location in your social media profile.
Related Resources:
- Law Firm Social Media (Lawyer Marketing)
- Launching a Law Firm? You'll Need a Good Profile Pic (FindLaw's Strategist)
- The Benefits of a Law Blog (or Blawg) (FindLaw's Strategist)
- Top 5 Tips from 'Facebook in 1 Hour for Lawyers' (FindLaw's Strategist)