New York Lawyers Success Blog

With all the excitement surrounding the Internet, blogging, and other social media and social networking strategies, many legal professionals have lost sight of the fact that these web technologies are just tools (albeit amazing tools) to build relationships. Whether it be a relationship with a new client, a relationship with a new referral source, or a new golfing buddy, social networking provides the means to grow these relationships. However, it doesn’t replace the human element of building relationship.

Furthermore, just like your offline networks, your online networks are segmented. You wouldn’t take your 70 year old business client to your college buddy’s bachelor party, would you (or maybe you would). The point is that there are certain segments of both your online and offline social networks that don’t exactly “mesh well”. That is why it is so important to engineer your social networks online. Here is a great presentation on the subject from Senior User Experience Researcher at Google, Paul Adams:

If you are considering using online social networking to build professional relationships, it’s important to keep in mind that there are real people behind those profiles.  You wouldn’t shout your sales pitch at your professional contacts in the real world, don’t do it online.  You wouldn’t bring pictures of you partying at the club to the office, don’t do that online.

On the other hand, you do want to express yourself through your use of social networking.  If your profiles, tweets, and status updates are boring, marketing, or just not you, don’t be surprised if the people behind the profiles don’t take notice, interact, or engage with the online you.

Gyi Tsakalakis is a co-founder of AttorneySync Lawyer Internet Marketing, contributes at Lawyerist and co-authors Law Marketing Monitor.