Twitter – Construction Law Musings- Richmond, VA

Just How can a Virtual Assistant help A Construction Attorney Get More Clients?

This week, Musings welcomes Michelle Mangen to the Guest Post Friday fold. Michelle’s vast talents and expert skills in accounting, bookkeeping and Excel, far exceed the average virtual assistant’s scope of knowledge; thereby further enhancing not only her back-end office, but those of her clients. Extending administrative and other remote admin services to her global client base, Michelle creates personalized virtual assistant solutions for each and every client, ensuring 100% customer satisfaction, loyalty and professionalism.

Her core services are: Social Media Management: (Facebook Fan Pages, Social Bookmarking , Twitter, etc.), Aweber, WordPress site management, Bookkeeping and Excel spreadsheets. Additionally she offers administrative services as well. You can reach Michelle at www.TheVirtualAsst.com or follow her on Twitter at @mmangen.

Larger law firms have the resources at their disposal to place expensive TV ads or billboards along the highway to garner new clients and to establish their brand. Smaller law firms could gain a competitive edge on these larger firms by taking advantage of many of the tools and resources (many free) that would enable them to dominate local search results through the use of Social Media.

By utilizing your own website as your content hub many of the following ideas could be implemented at little or no cost:

Blogging – this alone has innumerable benefits to your marketing campaign
Creating whitepapers and allowing other attorneys to use the content in a cobrand situation
Hosting a weekly or bi-weekly Q&A session around a specific topic and publishing to your website as a podcast
Submitting their practices to the many local search engine profiles (Google Local, Bing, Yahoo!, Superpages, etc.)
Participating within LinkedIn groups and the Questions & Answers area
While your gut reaction may be to avoid Facebook it’s currently the fastest growing website with the greatest increase in the 55+ and older category
Twitter
Becoming a volunteer at AllExpert.com (January 2010 had over 5.3 million unique visitors to the site according to Compete.com)
Submitting articles (or re-purposing blog posts) at sites like Ezine and GoArticles
Online press releases to sites such as PitchEngine and PRWeb

So how does an overworked attorney maximize all of these areas? One of the easiest and most effective ways would be by partnering with a Virtual Assistant who is familiar with and practices Social Media for their own business.

Here are just some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

Have a virtual assistant do the necessary research for references you would like to include on your blog (landmark cases, etc.)
Find free stock photos that can be included in your blog posts
Proof and / or edit posts before they go live
Schedule your blog posts and depending on your website platform install plugins that allow for your blog posts to be spread automatically to various platforms (such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn)
Submit previous instructional blog posts to article directories
Set up and maintain all local search engine profiles
Submit press releases announcing new hires, won cases, etc.
Schedule podcast sessions and upload to website after the event
Prepare and send out monthly newsletters

Aside from the ideas mentioned above there are many more ways a Virtual Assistant could assist an attorney or small law firm to gain new clients at a cost that is minimal in comparison to pricey yellow page advertisements.

At this point you may be asking how to find a good social media virtual assistant. I’d first suggest asking your network if any work with one. If that yields no results then you can turn to Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

Once you find a virtual assistant who you feel may be suitable check out their website to see the if they have their own blog and monthly newsletter.

By just doing those few steps you will quickly narrow down the list of potential Virtual Assistants who may be able to help your firm grow its online presence.

One last thing I’d suggest to properly monitor your growth is to start with benchmark numbers on anything that can be obtained – your Google Analytics, Twitter following, LinkedIn Connections, etc. so you can document the growth you achieve through your newly established efforts.

If you would like more tips and tricks on leveraging Twitter for your business I invite you to download a free copy of an e-book I co-authored: Leveraging Your Power through Twitter. Enter code: BIZCARD at the checkout screen to receive it at no cost.

Now you’ve been given some food for thought. What other ways can you see utilizing a Virtual Assistant to grow your online presence?

As always, Michelle and I welcome your thoughts and comments below. Also, please subscribe to keep up with this and other Guest Post Friday posts.

How Web 2.0 Helps My Construction Practice

When I started this blog back in December of 2008, I did so on a whim. I had heard that a blog was a good way to get ideas out there and that I could get some benefit, so I dove right in and charged ahead.

Before I started the blog, I had profiles in what I thought were all the “right” places, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, JDSupra, etc. but did not see much of a payoff.

All that changed shortly after I started to become active on Twitter and post regularly here at Construction Law Musings. Through these two resources, plus the exponential publication of them at LinkedIn and Facebook (not to mention posting at JDSupra) I have gained opportunities to speak, be published in print and had many other opportunities that never would have happened but for my active (and I emphasize this intentionally) participation in these forums. I now know attorneys and consultants across the country on whom I can lean for assistance.

In the last two weeks, I have presented at Kaplan University’s online seminar series (links here and here). Susan Cartier Liebel contacted me out of the blue to ask if I would join the faculty at Solo Practice University (of course I said yes), and I have made friendships both in and out of Richmond that have helped me along the way. All of this helps my construction practice “on the ground.”

I want to first say that I am glad I dove in and that I truly appreciate all of the assistance, advice and friendship that I have gotten on this journey. Without my active participation and your comments and suggestions, I would not feel the success that I feel now. I appreciate the Guest Posts, comments and participation that Musings has engendered and look forward to keeping this conversation going.

While Web 2.0 is not for everyone, I am sure enjoying the ride.

Please join this conversation and add your experiences with Web 2.0 with a comment below and subscribe to keep up with this and other Musings.

An Interview with Amy Derby a/k/a/ The Law Firm Blogger

For Musings’ second Guest Post Friday, Amy Derby of Law Firm Blogger fame has been kind enough to interview me for her guest post here at my corner of the blogosphere. Amy is a law blog consultant who helps small firms and solos learn to write better blogs and utilize the social web to network and brand. Based in Chicago, IL, she was previously a corporate bankruptcy paralegal at DLA Piper. Amy has been very helpful to me in getting Musings up and running and I recommend her highly to anyone starting a legal blog.

What inspired you to start your blog in December? Did you have any particular goals in mind or any kind of strategy? Or a certain message you wanted to convey?

I had been posting profiles, etc. on LinkedIn, JDSupra, and other business “networking” sites and not seeing much return. I had a Twitter account and was occasionally posting but found no followers until, at the urging of @copelandcasati (aka @greenmodernkits) I just started talking. I quickly found several folks to follow and things just took off.

I then started a Tumblog (if that the right word) and got it set up, and I still use it for links, etc. on construction topics that I find I need to make a quick comment upon. I realized that this was not enough to keep my name out there so I hit Blogger and started my Construction Law Musings blog. I scrambled around seeking followers, trying to get a foothold and with advice from several folks, including you and Anne Reed of the Deliberations blog, I finally found a theme and a reason aside from “I really should be out there.”

My inspiration for doing it? To have some fun and to allow me to get my thoughts out there to clients, lawyers and anyone else interested in a more condensed easy to read format than with a firm newsletter or an attempt to get published in a trade journal (though I have done that too). I quickly realized that Musings is the hub of my informational/marketing output and that having Musings actually saves me time because of the tools to link it to so many other sites and applications. Without Musings, I’d be trying to get the same information cut and pasted to a ton of different sites.

I hope my message is that I care about construction, have expertise in the area, and am a decent guy willing to get this information out there to help people whether they are clients or not.

You’ve told me you enjoy the more leisurely writing style of blogging – and it’s always refreshing to meet lawyers who understand that a blog post shouldn’t look like a Motion for Summary Judgment. Did the casual writing tone come naturally for you, or did you have to work at it?

The casual writing tone comes naturally (sometimes too naturally). I try to engage people on a personal level. I represent construction pros because I enjoy getting to know them and like representing people that I can talk to and enjoy their company.

You seem to really know how to strike up a conversation online and engage folks, both on your blog and on Twitter and LinkedIn etc, which is something I love to see. Did you have lawyer buddies who were blogging and using social media before you started, or have you been building your online network from the ground up?

Thanks Amy, I appreciate the compliment. I have been doing this from the ground up. I really had no idea how to start, I just knew that I needed to do it. I enjoy meeting people and this has been a great way to do that. I now have lawyer buddies that blog, but I met them because I got involved, and not the other way around.

One of my favorite things about Web 2.0 is the ability to connect with folks instantly and get to know them so much better and faster than I would any other way – aside from being trapped in trial prep with them for months on end, perhaps – especially with people I would have otherwise never have met. Have you made any of those fabulous connections that have made you think, “Yes! This online stuff is DEFINITELY worth it?”

I certainly have met many folks that I now consider friends and great resources of information, conversation and humor. I can’t possibly list them all, so I apologize in advance for leaving someone out. I have found a wealth of information and great people through Twitter and comments to Musings.

Do you have any favorite folks you’ve met online? Bloggers you would recommend? Twitterers to follow?

Aside from those that I talked about when answering your other questions, I have truly enjoyed meeting and interacting with @sharishapiro (Green Building Law Blog), @scottwolfejr (Scott Wolfe, of the Wolfe Law Group), @chrischeatham (Green Building Law Update), @advocatesstudio (Martha Sperry) (Advocate’s Studio), and many others that I would have to take days to list (how’s that for ending this like an Oscar acceptance speech?)

If You’re Negotiating a Raise or Resolving a Construction Dispute. . . Read this Book

Are you a lawyer, real estate pro, contractor, or just a person negotiating his or her way through life? If you didn’t answer “yes” to this question, I would be surprised. We don’t all think of ourselves as negotiators or mediators, but any attorney or individual who has to work through any situation of conflict (whether a crowded parking lot, an employment review or request for a raise) “negotiates” multiple times a day. As they often say, acknowledgment is the first step to enlightenment (or something like that!).

When I was sent a copy of A is for Asshole: The Grownups’ ABC’s of Conflict Resolution by its author, my good friend, fellow attorney, and mediator extraordinaire Victoria Pynchon (@vickiepynchon on Twitter), I was flattered. When she asked me to write a “blurb” for inclusion in the book, I was floored.

A reading of this advanced copy (and the published version with its great illustrations), gave even a seasoned construction attorney, former psychology major at Duke University, and mediation advocate some thoughts to chew on. Vickie takes a “primer” type approach to the vast field of psychological and practical factors that create conflict in our lives. Her approach to this serious subject (one that permeates my construction practice on a regular basis) uses day to day situations (whether the above-mentioned crowded parking lot or a harried mom dealing with a sibling argument after the fact) to illustrate concepts in a way that makes the reader (in this case me) smile and have multiple “AHA!” moments.

The use of an “ABC” type structure of short chapters and concrete examples that make you smile (or sometimes blush) from the kinship you feel with the subject of that chapter, whether “L is for Lawyer” or “F is for Friend” makes the advice and insight concrete in a way that frankly surprised me in its candor and digestibility. The book really does break down what could be a dull subject discussed in a psychology or sociology class into an enjoyable read. With each page, I either thought “I know that guy” or “Wow, am I like that?” I’m sure you will have the same reaction. The insights from this great book can only help in my day to day construction law practice.

If you haven’t gathered by now, I like the book and recommend it to lawyers and anyone who wants insight into dealing with the many characters and situations that we all encounter on a daily basis. I could not say it better than Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister did in his blurb for the book:

After reading Victoria Pynchon’s book- – I really now understand the meaning of We’re Not Gonna Take It- – this book rocks!

Update: You can now get this great book on the Kindle!

Please join the conversation with a comment below. Also, I encourage you to subscribe to keep up with the latest Construction Law Musings.

Managing Twitter Hashtags to Avoid Twitter Fatigue

For this week’s Guest Post Friday here at Musings, we welcome back Gwynne Monahan. Gwynne is best known by her Twitter handle @econwriter5. She has written several articles on open source applications for lawyers and legal professionals, and has presented on open source as well as issues surrounding social media. She is currently Community Manager for Clio and is spearheading Small Firm Innovation.

Last year, I wrote about some social media applications you can use to help manage your social media presence. Chris asked for an update, and other than my switching to HootSuite on my Mac and Plume on my Android device, I’ve been stumped on what to write.

And then I remembered this tweet:

Twitter, at times, seems to have a case of hashtag diarrhea. Anyone and everyone starts using a tag or two. Twitter MeMes. Twitter chats. Even nouns, like #random, get tagged. Simply put: hashtags get overused.

Overuse leads to fatigue. Twitter fatigue. There’s plenty of noise on Twitter as it is. Mix in a few hashtags for Twitter Chats, conferences and world events, and it gets overwhelming. Even for a seasoned Twitter veteran like myself, it can be overwhelming. So what is one to do?

Continue reading Managing Twitter Hashtags to Avoid Twitter Fatigue