Business Development with LinkedIn and Blogs for Lawyers
It is appropriate that social media evangelist Adrian Dayton and marketing consultant Amy Knapp met on Twitter. This led the duo to write a terrific, practical book LinkedIn and Blogs for Lawyers: Building High Value Relationships in a Digital Age.
LinkedIn and blogs are the two most effective means of online marketing for lawyers, and the book delivers dozens of practical tips in 130 pages, plus an index.
Blogs
Dayton wrote chapters 14-23 about blogs, which feature a 39-point checklist of ways to come up with ideas for your blog. Point #1 is solid business development advice, "what challengers are your potential customers facing?" Chapter 18 outlines five simple steps to writing a blog entry.
I like the style, which opens each chapter with a personal anecdote, presents the information in list of bullets, and concludes with an assignment.
He answers how much you should spend on your blog ($300 to $400), and the pros and cons of a group versus a personal blog. Dayton explains how to tell which of your blog content is most popular and other metrics that show your blog is succeeding, including subscribers to your blog, feedback , phone calls and new clients.
There are 6,379 lawyer blogs, according to Blawgsearch, and the author of each one will benefit by reading this book.
This business social network has more than 135 million members in over 200 countries and territories, and it is a Happy Hunting Ground for Lawyers. Knapp wrote chapters 1-13 and notes correctly that introductions are worth their weight in gold, and LinkedIn makes them simple. The purpose of meeting people online is, of course, is a bridge to doing business "IRL" -- in real life, face-to-face.
After a lawyer has built a network of connections, Knapp says it's time to maximize your present with the Events tool and posting updates to you are viewed as an information source for articles and commentary.
There are 870,000 groups on LinkedIn and business development is facilitated by joining several and participating in the discussions, and using the Follow feature to track a person's LinkedIn activities. LinkedIn enables lawyers to target potential clients strategically, by identifying five companies who exemplify the perfect client and looking up the people at those companies.
Knapp offers a neat tip on how to send an email to up to 50 of your contacts.
I've been writing blog entries since 2004 and enjoyed reading this logical and pragmatic book. No matter how experienced you are, you can still learn a trick or two from LinkedIn and Blogs for Lawyers: Building High Value Relationships in a Digital Age. Dayton and Knapp are a top-notch writing team and this book should sit right next to your folder of blog ideas.
I totally agree with Larry's assessment of "LinkedIn and Blogs for Lawyers." The LinkedIn advice in particular is specific and actionable. I particularly like that the writers are aware of the constraints faced by most lawyers who want to use social media for business development, but who also want to stay within the confines of their state's ethics guidelines. This is not a book that was dashed off by a consultant-come-lately looking to capitalize off lawyer marketing. It is a real resource written by folks who clearly are in the trenches and understand their legal audience.