You’ve heard the old quote: “It’s not what you know that’s important but who you know”? Today, it’s not so much a matter of who you know but who knows you – you might be a really good lawyer but if you aren’t known, if you don’t have a profile, I won’t be likely to hire you or your firm.
Social media helps build your profile – helps get you known and increases the chance of your abilities becoming known, and therefore engaged.
If you’re sceptical about Social Media – believe it is somehow unworthy, unprofessional or an invasion of your privacy – remember another old saying: “If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got" – WL Bateman.
The fact is that the most admired and successful business people, professionals and politicians all use social media effectively. Moreover, if you don’t have an online presence today, that’s likely to make those who don’t know you well question your ability to act for them.
Before I go into any meeting, I Google the person or organisation I am meeting with to see whether they’re saying anything new about themselves, so I’m as well informed as I can be about them and their business.
Remember, social media is really only another form of media, social media doesn’t replace traditional press, print or electronic media – it’s just another information and entertainment platform.
Social media ‘gurus’ usually recommend using LinkedIn for business and Facebook for more personal connections. That’s nonsense, if you view social media as just another form of media – you can tell a business story on Facebook and convey (some) personal information on LinkedIn.
In doing so, apply the same rules as you would if you were being interviewed by a reporter and not say or ‘share’ anything you wouldn’t want to be read on the front page of the morning newspaper.
Remember also, it is not all about you! Like other media, content is king. Editors only run news that they think their readers will be interested in. Consider your audience – what do your clients and prospective clients want to hear?
Use LinkedIn to share news stories about your clients. As a public relations consultant, I provide links to coverage I’ve gained. My clients appreciate their story gaining additional profile and my competitors are hopefully demoralized by the extent of coverage I gain on behalf of my clients!
Always add a recognisable (and flattering photo) profile photo and describe yourself in terms of what you do.
Once you’ve got a compelling profile (use keywords that people would use when searching for you) – reach out and connect with your clients and former clients, all those people who told you that you did a good job for them and said thank you. This provides another ongoing point of contact with clients and former clients (who are statistically most likely to provide work for you in future).
This will also build your network. Once you get your first 100 connections, the second 100 come about almost overnight. Don’t reach out to many people you don’t know; LinkedIn prefers that you connect with those you don’t know by asking someone connected to them for an introduction.
Provide full contact details – work and mobile phone numbers, email, company website – you want to make it easy for people to contact you.
Use the Company’s Boilerplate in LinkedIn’s background section to describe where you work and to differentiate your firm from its competitors.
Social media used wisely can raise your profile and that of your firm, position the firm positively and differentiate it from other competing firms, drive traffic to your website, and make it easier to find and contact you.
LinkedIn also provides the means to become ‘endorsed’ for a skill or expertise or recommended – an even more credible form of approval – which very publicly enhances your credibility.
Finally, Social Media platforms – LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter – work best when the firm’s team are interconnected and focused. At the most basic level, all members should be interconnected with one another and the description of the firm should be common across their profiles.
This interconnectedness enables colleagues/team members to like, comment or share other team members update with their own network (expanding the audience/extending the reach of the firm’s communications and driving more traffic to the firm’s website.
Accentuate PR