Twitter is one of the latest social networking tools. A user can use Twitter to create a free account, follow others, develop a list of followers and send 140 character messages -- called Tweets -- to the desktops or phones of others. I opened up a Twitter account (@jeraasch) about six months ago, which so far I use primarily to send out links to new articles that I've published on this blog. Apparently, there are many more ways to take advantage of this useful new tool!
Yesterday, I learned some new ways to use Twitter for business development in a Webinar presented by Lexblog. To view the Webinar, click here.
I learned how to use a program called TweetDeck to impose order on what can be a daunting number of incoming Tweets. You can use Tweetdeck to create up to ten sorting categories. Some of these can be groups of people you especially want to follow, like individuals invited to an upcoming event (you can also Tweet with them during and after the event). Others can be "saved searches" on useful terms -- like your name or the name of your law firm.
Twitter can be used actively to enhance your reputation as a thought leader. Kevin O'Keefe at Lexblog recommends Tweeting links to useful content that you've found elsewhere. (Sometimes, you will need to shorten the URL to fit into the 140-character limit.) Also, Twitterers can "retweet" a message on their own account to all of their followers. Retweeting is like an endorsement of someone else's Tweet. It is a good way to enhance your relationship with the original Twitterer.
Twitter can also be used for search. As I mentioned above, you can search for your name or firm name to monitor what people are saying about you on Twitter. You can search by keywords to find out what people are saying about a current issue -- and respond with your own comments. You can search by your area of practice and city to find the Tweets of potential clients who are asking for advice on legal services. If you are attending an event, you can search by the event name, find other Twitterers who will be attending, and make plans to meet them in person at the event.
In fact, many reporters are using Twitter this way to find good sources to quote in their articles. O'Keefe mentioned that when a bomb went off in Gaza, he was able to Tweet in real time with a person on the ground at the bomb site. He mentioned that he was able to use a link to listen to the flight recorder from the Buffalo commuter plane crash before the recording appeared in the maintsteam media -- via Twitter.
O'Keefe also recommended that your Twitter "opus" should be 90 percent "business" and 10 percent "personal." Relationships are often based on shared personal interests -- a point that I've often made in my posts regarding online biographies and profiles.
Like so many other social media, Twitter is just a tool. If you create an account but just let it sit "on a shelf" and never use it, Twitter will be a waste of your time. If you use to position yourself as a thought leader and meet new people, it can be a good use of your time.
