Twitter for Lawyers-Book Review

I recently received a review copy of the new book by Adrian Dayton, Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition. If you're new to Twitter or don't know much about it, this book will get you off to a great start on one of the newest technology crazes. It is a quick and easy read, written in a breezy style by a fellow lawyer-turned-social-media-consultant.

While you may balk at the price (it's $195 on Amazon.com, but you can get it at the link above at $95), if you think strategically about the cost of the book, you may realize it's well worth it. Compare the price of the book to the value of the time you might spend:

• Trying to navigate through Twitter
• Figuring out what application(s) to use to organize your tweets
• Learning about followers
• Creating an effective Twitter profile and
• Using Twitter effectively.

How long will all of that take? What is that worth to you?

Dayton points out that with all of the questions lawyers ask about Twitter, the one you should be asking is, 'Are there people on Twitter with whom I want to do business?" If the answer is Yes, it's time to think about Twitter. But Dayton also cautions that you shouldn't jump to conclusions about who is and isn't using Twitter - social media is becoming increasingly popular, and you might be surprise about who is using it.

This book is filled with very down to earth, practical suggestions about why you might want to consider using Twitter,  and how to use it effectively. Without giving away too much of the book, here are a few nuggets:

Create an effective profile. Your profile is your identity on Twitter. It needs a photo so that you are not anonymous. It needs a hook to capture people's interest. It should include a link to make it easy for people to learn more about you and get to your contact information.

Those who give will receive. This is as true online as it is offline. Be generous on Twitter. Help others, and provide value. "Re-tweet" others' posts. People on Twitter who do nothing but self promote won't reap the benefits. Provide value.

Use the right tools - and use them well. Dayton recommends TweetDeck, (which I use as well), to organize tweets, perform searches and create groups. These features, along with the TweetDeck columns, make it much easier to filter out the people and information you are most interested in. The book provides a guide to the most popular features of the program.

Be 'sticky.' A great title or intriguing tweet can go viral quickly if the content resonates with others. Dayton recommends, "Get into the minds of your potential clients or audience and think like they do. This will give you the best insights into how to craft your articles." I couldn't agree more - knowing your target audience and what they want, need or are interested in makes it much easier for you to connect with them.

Extend your 'twitterverse' offline. Attend a 'tweetup' (a gathering of those who tweet) or start your own. Twitter is only the first step in establishing relationships and rapport.

Use Twitter to enhance lead generation. This is a corollary to the last tip. Using Twitter in a vacuum isn't likely to be a good marketing tool. Twitter needs to be a part of your overall marketing strategy and it needs to be supported by the other marketing and business development efforts you undertake. If Twitter directs additional traffic to your website or blog, those tools must be engaging to your target market in order to get them to take action.

For more information and tips on how to use Twitter, get the book. If you're not new to Twitter, the book might be a bit basic for you, but even though I've been on Twitter for several months, I picked up some great tips - I even changed my Twitter profile after reading the book.

Want to see what Twitter is all about? You can follow me here, or follow Adrian Dayton here.

 

Comments

[Steven Rogers]

When trying to do law firm internet marketing it is so important to include social media. Without a successful online strategy your business can become irrelevant really fast.

[Allison C. Shields]

The book does discuss some logistics - as noted in my original post, it addresses TweetDeck, how to use Twitter and create effective posts and titles, what and when to tweet, using ReTweet to 'go viral,' etc.

[gyi tsakalakis]

haven't had a chance to check out the book. from the review, seems to focus on "concept" but does the book address logistics (i.e. desktop clients, tweet structure, scheduled tweets, etc)