One more reason to add personal information on your professional bio

There are still quite a few lawyers who cringe at the idea of including personal information in their professional biographies, social media profiles - well, just about anywhere.

Think about how consumers buy products (and that includes professional services): consumers buy products because they need them and/or the product is of some interest. We can all agree to that - right? This means the consumers have to identify with the product. Identifying means you find something in your history or knowledge that allows recognize some quality the product has. So what does this really mean? Commonality. You buy because you understand it, you identify with it.

Take it from Seth Godin:

When I'm on the bike path riding my truly weird recumbent bicycle, sometimes I pass someone else similarly outfitted. And I wave.


Same thing happens when a pregnant mom meets another at the airport, or when two backpackers encounter each other in a strange city.


Of course, we're not waving at the other person. We're waving at ourselves.

You are drawn to people who have similar interests. Let's say you're at a networking event. You're talking with a group of people - one is another lawyer, a dentist and a stay-at-home mom. Guess who you're going to gravitate towards - most likely the lawyer (unless your parent is a dentist, or maybe you practice dental law).

So, why not include your interests in your profile? Maybe you're a motorcycle enthusiast, or a concert pianist, pen collector, Iron Man...these are all something your potential audience might like, too. Commonality often leads to friendship, and friendship to trust. Do the math.

[image courtesy of Phil Virgo]

I Turn To You, Chris Brogan.

In the midst of Google+ mania in the blogosphere, I was thrilled to notice that Chris Brogan was hosting a “Learning Google+ for Business & Networking” webinar addressing this mysterious new Google+ world over my lunch hour. I also thought the $47 fee was a pittance in exchange for scoop from the social media marketing wizard himself. I could write on and on about how I’m feeling about Google+ at the moment (in a phrase: cautiously optimistic), but the value in this post is to relay some of the many helpful hints Chris discussed during the 2-hour session. I’m writing in assumption that this is not the first Google+ opinion-related blog post you’ve read and that you are familiar (relatively) with the basic layout of the network.

Chris’s overarching message is this: there is tremendous business value in Google+. It is now the number one referral source to chrisbrogran.com, (Forbes.com is now number four, just to put it in perspective). Why does Google+ have staying power? Because for the first time in a searchable network, there are humans curating the links we are presented.

A few sites Chris discussed to help us navigate Google+:

1. Gplus.to – Create a shortcut to your G+ page (a la LinkedIn). I can now be found at “gplus.to/rebeccawissler”  
2. Findpeopleonplus.com – Chris likened this to search.twitter.com. We can search G+ for by name, location, hobbies, etc. Super helpful. 
3. Gphangouts.com – When you’re ready to jump into a “hangout” with like-minded users. If you’d like to promote your hangout, simply add yours to the list.
4. Plusfeed.appspot.com – He mentioned this site briefly as an aggregator of public feeds, but I’m still confused as to how it’s used and its value.

A recurring theme during this webinar, and something I’m constantly stressing to our attorneys regarding social media, is the necessity of tailoring our information for our audience. Brogan more eloquently refers to this as “information curation.” Even this morning, as I scroll down my G+ stream, I see a few users in my circles linking to programs allowing us to update our statuses across G+, Facebook and Twitter. Brogan reiterated that this is not how social media should be used, and he commended Google+ for giving us a platform that allows us to “curate” our information to a variety of groups within one network.

So what’s next, according to Brogan? Hopefully we’ll soon be able to share our circles, access an improved mobile app, and find a better understanding of the sparks feature (Chris isn’t a fan).

What can legal marketers do with G+ right now? This could be a series of subsequent blog posts, but I think the way can best serve our firms is by learning everything we can about improvements being made to G+ and stay abreast of its increase in usage. We’ll watch who is moving to G+, gauge the activity on Facebook, and strategize from there.

Next up for me is exploration of “hangouts.” Tweet me if you want to meet me there!

Do You or Don't You: Responding to RFPs

RFPs, on a whole, have really become a beauty contest, of sorts. One that involves money. And that cover-your-ass factor.

If you work in a law firm, you know how these go. The attorney forwards the RFP to you the day before it's due (even though it's been sitting in their inbox for weeks). The proposal asks for experience - stuff the attorneys have and won't give the marketing department - and it's a big scramble to corner attorneys for content.