Law Students

Breaking Chains to Build New Links: Social Media on the Internet

By K.M.L.H.

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If you are anything like me, you have never approached networking or self promotion in a systematic way.  In fact, you may be terrified of it.  Yet, our ability to network and self promote is essential for building a client base, building our own name, and building our careers.  Each month I?m going to tackle one strategy for networking or self promotion in an effort to help all of us break the chains we?ve put around ourselves and begin building new links.  If you have a topic you?d like covered, e-mail me at chainstolinks@gmail.com.   

This month we?re talking about Social Networking and the Internet.  For those of us who came of age during the Facebook Revolution, social networking is, most likely, second nature.  We keep in touch with friends and colleagues from college and high school through the internet and are still a little shocked when our parents ask to ?Friend? us.  For our generation, using social networking tools is not a challenge, it is using them appropriately that can be hard.  For men and women who are a little bit older than those of us who were on Facebook when it was just for college kids, social networking can be daunting from a technological perspective (e.g. how do I create a page, is it even worth it?).  Nevertheless, an internet presence is no longer optional.  It is an essential part of any successful career building and self-promotion toolbox.  Thus, this month, I take on the internet.  How do we use it successfully as a tool of career development and what are the pitfalls we want to avoid?  I?d like to thank Amy Campbell of Infoworks, who also publishes a very useful blog on law firm marketing, and Carol Todd Thomas, the Chief Marketing Officer for Jones Walker for their incredibly helpful commentary. 

What are the Advantages of an Internet or Social Networking Presence?

Carol Thomas says the internet and internet companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and the like are making cultural changes that law firms and lawyers simply cannot afford to ignore.  Yet, as Amy Campbell notes, lawyers are inherently risk averse.  But we shouldn?t be!  Amy says social media outlets can help to break down barriers more quickly.  ?People get a sense of who you are based on your social media activity such as LinkedIn status updates, your blog posts, your tweets, and you raise your visibility and come across as more accessible than just a name in a directory.? 

Full post as published by Ms. JD on April 19, 2010 (boomark / email).