Tips On Using Twitter For Lawyers

Excellent post on lawyers using TWITTER from Steve Matthews

Twitter is undeniably the social media darling of 2009. From celebrity stalking to Oprah coverage, the monopoly of micro-blogging
is now pushing 10 million active users. The legal profession is equally
aboard this bandwagon, with adoption numbers rising fast. Where tools
such as LinkedIn and Facebook have traditionally helped to create value
from existing relationships, Twitter is fast gaining its reputation as
a tool to help generate new relationships. 

So Twitter gets your foot in the door? A great tool for business
development, right? Unfortunately, the answer to that question is a
very lawyeresque ‘it depends’. While deriving business value from of
Twitter is indeed possible, that value is often indirect in nature and
depends greatly on personal approach. Similar to all forms of the
online participation, there’s no room for the Injured? Call now! lawyer. Those that can’t drop the advertising and solicitation approach are inviting failure. 

It’s these types of lessons that I hope to address in the list below
– which tactics will put you offside, and which will add value. The
following practices (I’m hesitant to call them ‘best practices’) are
tips that either work for me, or methods that seem to consistently work
for others.  Enjoy!

 The Dos

1. Do start by replicating your offline network on Twitter.
   There’s a much greater likelihood that people you already know in real
   life will follow you back.

2. Do be strategic, geography-wise, about who you follow.
   Consider whether you stand a realistic chance of future networking,
   referrals, friendship, or other value before clicking “follow”. 

3. In the same vein, do understand professional demographics. If
   you’re a tax lawyer and you know that a good deal of your work comes
   from accountants or other financial services professionals, seek out
   those people. Just as you would in real life, use Twitter to embed
   yourself in your chosen industry — show that you are in tune with the
   industries that relate to and intersect with your own.

4. Do exchange content and opinions.

5. Do be thought-provoking.

Read the full list of do's and don't for lawyers using Twitter.