I wanted to share the following article, authored by Jay Jaffe, on Web 2.0. Please enjoy and feel free to visit Jay's blog at http://jaffeassociates.com/blog/?p=48 for additional insight and resources.
Best,
Monica
WEB 2.0 AND THE RECESSION. LITTLE GUYS CAN FINISH FIRST.
AIG.Lehman. Freddie Mac. Citigroup. GM. When giant institutions are fallinglike bowling pins, begging for bailouts and shedding staff in numbershigher than an eight year old can count, it's not surprising thatinsecurity is spreading rapidly amongst small businesses as well. Lawfirms are no exception. If it can happen to them, it can happen righthere, right?
But, take heed, there is a way to survive today and position yourfirm for the future. In today's volatile economic environment there isa need for experts of all stripes to help explain, predict, navigateand connect people to one another to help them solve their problems. Thought leaders can come from anywhere, from a lawyer in solo practicejust hanging out her shingle to a practice head at a mid-sized firm toan associate in a major law firm.
If approached in the right way, the current recession provides anopportunity to stake a claim as a thought leader that will serve youwell today and for years to come. The size of your firm doesn'tmatter, nor does the size of your marketing budget. Because while moneyis certainly tight, smart lawyers and other professionals are findingthat it doesn't take a lot of money to get attention on the Web as anexpert. Web 2.0 marketing tools, such as blogs, podcasts, tweets,social networks and interactive websites are most cost-efficient and,when used properly, can help do the marketing work for you. This iscalled social media and it's going to change the way people make buyingdecisions for everything from their new car to their legal services.And, make no mistake, the change is already well underway.
You may have been reading a lot about lawyers who are blogging. Thetruth is, for all the attention they've been getting, lawyers who blogare few and far between. An ABA Legal Technology Survey Report,released in September 2008, found that only two percent of all lawyersin this country maintain professional blogs and eight percent of lawfirms maintain firm blogs.
The survey also found that the vast majority of lawyers aren't usingthe Internet to market themselves either. Only 15 percent of lawyershave joined social networks, like Facebook and LinkedIn; four percentof firms are using social networks to best advantage.
The dearth of penetration in social media by members of the legalprofession indicates that there is a huge opportunity for lawyers todayand at almost no additional investment in technology.
The web is particularly useful for small firms and individuallawyers because, for the first time ever, anyone can be an authorityand garner influence because of their expertise and not because ofwhere they work or whom they know. The web allows you to become as bigas you want to "look" and be.
Consider the case of Jaffe itself operating in this new 2.0environment. As a firm, we're our best case study. Recently, wewrote guidelines for social media policies that can be used within lawfirms. We were using a very similar document here at our firm already.One of our associates saw a query on the Legal Marketing Association'slistserv regarding social media policies. We quickly posted a noticeon the listserv that our policy was available to anyone who wanted itand, within three hours, we had 30 requests for the document frommembers of our targeted audience. Our experience demonstrates that whenyou have something to offer, the Web is a very efficient means to getit to those who can benefit immediately from that information.
You don't have to start by launching a blog. Blogging is a great wayto demonstrate your singular point of view. But it can come later. Asmart first step to engaging online is to pinpoint your goal byfocusing on what you want to talk about, and understanding why thiswill help your business grow and enhance your reputation.
Then, go to the Web and more precisely identify to whom you want totalk, be they your peers, potential clients or colleagues, and engagewith them where they are congregating online. The best way to getcomfortable doing this is to head to places where lawyers gather on theweb to see what they're talking about and to add to the discussion:Legal OnRamp and the soon-to-be-launched Martindale Hubbell Connectedoffer social networking features. LinkedIn, for example, has a fewgroups for lawyers: Legal Marketing, 2700 members; and Legal Blogginghas close to 2000.
Numerous law firms and lawyers with various specialties, such aspersonal injury law, host groups on Facebook. To find them, search"groups" in Facebook. Another way to discover where stakeholders arecongregating is by listening to what's happening on the web. ThroughiGoogle, you can easily set up a personalized Google page to deliver a"Google Alert" to your inbox. Every day, you'll receive a list of newssites, blog posts and websites that mention your special topic. If,for example, you specialize in family law, Google will sift for you andsend you the newest links on the topic.
The goal is to reach out to everyone online that does what you door, better yet, is looking for someone who does what you do. On theweb, they're not necessarily competitors, they're your community. Onceyou find communities that match your communications objective, join theconversation by adding to it, being useful, offering insights. Shareyour expertise broadly. Sharing is not just facts and opinions. The2.0 Internet is about interaction and connection. Along with yourinsights, create a call to action. Provide a link back to yourwebsite, or one to a recent brief you wrote and recently posted to JDSupra, for example. Ask for comments and feedback and respond tothat. If you're commenting in all the right places, chances areyou're already reaching your target audience, making an impression andsparking their interest in learning more about you, the expert. And,at the same time, search engines are finding your work and yourpresence on the Internet is expanding in a viral way.
In today's Web 2.0 environment, your web work isn't merely for afar-flung network. It's possible to build a presence locally using Web2.0 marketing techniques. Content matters. Provide relevant contentthat clearly indicates the state or states where you work. So, if youare a real estate lawyer in Duluth, Minn., you can use keywords on yourwebsite to help potential new real estate developers find you in yourhometown. They'll be searching for "Real Estate attorney, Duluth," andyour listing will pop up.
You can also take advantage of mapping tools that go hand-in-hand with your website listing. Visit the Google local business center. It's free to have your business listing alongside a Google map, for example.
If you've done your work right, and are engaged in all the rightplaces, there will still be more people out there listening to what youhave to say than are actively commenting on what you are saying. Eventhough Web 2.0 is all about conversation, only slightly more than halfof the people who use the Internet are contributing content. Forty-eight percent of adults in the U.S. who are online are whatForrester Research terms "Spectators," that is, they consume content onthe web, rather than contribute to it. (Forrester's North AmericanSocial Technographics Online Survey, Q2, 2007, Groundswell, HarvardBusiness Press, 2008). "Creators," the people who are contributingoriginal content to the web, comprise only 18 percent of online U.S.adults, the same study found. In between are "Critics," people whocomment on blogs, in communities and forums, representing 25 percent ofonline U.S. adults. And 25 percent of U.S. online adults are also"Joiners," meaning they're on social networks. Forrester predicts thatall activity is likely to grow. Clearly, there is a hunger to be onthe web and a growing movement to do what the Web does best, encourageinvolvement.
Once you start building your profile, then it's time to start thatblog and extend the community onto your territory, giving them anopportunity to provide direct feedback to bigger thought leadershippieces from you. The best thing about sharing in the Web 2.0 world isthe feedback. You're not just trumpeting. You're conversing, andfeedback can be of lasting value. It can open up new areas ofopportunity and enable you to forge new connections and start newconversations.
Today, even though marketing dollars are tight, it's more importantthan ever to stay in the conversation. The web is there for thetaking. Now, it's time for lawyers from firms of all sizes to do thelistening, the sharing and the talking.
By Jay M. Jaffe
President & CEO. Jaffe Associates. Inc.
Jay M. Jaffe can be reached at jaffej@jaffeassociates.com or at 301-881-6991.
Jay can also be contacted at http://www.linkedin.com/in/jayjaffe or at Twitter @jaffej.
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Monica Smith
Jaffe Associates, Inc.
Account Supervisor
Winter Park, FL
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