The 6Ps of the BIG 3 Book « The 6Ps of the BIG 3™

The 6Ps of the BIG 3 Book

LinkedIn’s CardMunch … A Networking Necessity

Happy 2012!! If one of your goals for 2012 is to improve your networking, you might decide to follow what I refer to in my book as the “business card rule.” This rule, simply stated, suggests you connect with people on LinkedIn each time you exchange business cards with new contacts.

LinkedIn’s free CardMunch app for the iPhone helps you execute the business card rule. CardMunch is a business card scanning service which LinkedIn acquired in January 2011. CardMunch is the only business card scanner that syncs with LinkedIn and links scanned cards with the card owners’ LinkedIn profiles. You can then invite the card owner to connect on LinkedIn from the CardMunch application. After downloading the CardMunch app, follow these steps as you collect business cards in the course of networking:

Go to the CardMunch app and take a picture of the business card collected.
CardMunch will ask you to confirm the legibility of the scanned card.
Within minutes, CardMunch transcribes the content on the business card and checks to see if the card owner has a LinkedIn profile. If the card owner has a LinkedIn profile, CardMunch displays information from the LinkedIn profile such as name, title, picture, contact information and mutual connections.
From the CardMunch app, you can send the card owner an invitation to connect on LinkedIn and a follow-up networking email.
You can also save the card owner’s contact information in your iPhone address book.

LunchMeet for LinkedIn

One recurring theme in my book is the need for job seekers to take online relationships offline. Now, the free iPhone app LunchMeet facilitates offline meetings with your LinkedIn connections. LunchMeet syncs with your LinkedIn account and identifies connections who are available to meet for lunch, coffee or drinks.

I love the concept of LunchMeet and decided to try it last night. I logged in using my LinkedIn username and password. The app prompted me to set a time slot I was available to meet. After choosing a date and time, I searched to see who was available to meet. None of my 1,028 LinkedIn connections appeared in the search results. The only result was a “Vice President of Information Technology” in the Printing industry (LunchMeet identifies people outside of your LinkedIn network who have indicated they are available to meet, but LunchMeet only reveals the title and industry of the people).

Finally, LunchMeet posted the following update to my LinkedIn profile so my connections who aren’t using LunchMeet will see the note about my availability and (presumably) inquire about LunchMeet.

My initial thoughts about LunchMeet:

I continue to think LunchMeet is a great concept designed to facilitate offline meetings.
More people need to use LunchMeet for it to become a powerful networking tool.
Some professionals might shy away from posting their availability out of fear that “unwanted connections” (e.g., vendors) might take advantage of securing meetings with them.
I’m not inclined to meet with non-connections such as the Vice President of Information Technology in the search results above. My preference is to use LunchMeet to develop the relationships I’ve already created on LinkedIn.

Have you tried LunchMeet? What are your thoughts?

#LawJobChat / Performance / The 6Ps of the BIG 3 Book — No Comments
16
Mar 11

Twitter Chats to Calendar

As my regular readers know, Melissa Sachs and I launched #LawJobChat last June. In the last few months, other chats for legal professionals have surfaced. The following list contains the legal chats I recommend law students and lawyers calendar. The list also contains some chats that aren’t specifically for legal professionals but helpful nonetheless.

Chat	Date/Time	Moderators	Description	Recent Transcript
#LawJobChat	Last Thursday 9pm Eastern	@aellislegal @mjsq	Twitter chat focused on attorney/lawyer job search questions and career paths. Chat includes guest co-host each month to discuss specific career path.	2/24/11 Transcript
#lawschoolchat	Sundays 9pm Eastern	@brihoffman @j2_whittington @t10nbaum	A conversation for law school students and potential students regarding the issues, concerns, and rigors of law school life and beyond.	3/13/11 Transcript
#legalchat	Fridays 11am Eastern	@dannymjohnson	Weekly chat for lawyers and legal professionals touching on everything from technology to social media and the death of billable hours.	3/11/11 Transcript
#LinkedInChat	Tuesdays 8pm Eastern	@LinkedInExpert	A chat focused on the various uses of LinkedIn	3/15/11 Transcript
#blogchat	Sundays 10pm Eastern	@MackCollier	If you are looking to start a blog or improve your current blog, this chat is for you!	3/13/11 Transcript

For a complete listing of the 300+ chats available on Twitter, please click here.

To learn about the benefits of participating in a chat and how you can participate, click here.

Finally, if you have a copy of my book, Twitter chats are discussed on pages 231-232.

Privacy / The 6Ps of the BIG 3 Book — No Comments
10
Mar 11

Descriptive Changes to LinkedIn’s Privacy Features

On February 15, 2011, LinkedIn began rolling out a new Settings page to certain LinkedIn members to gather feedback and test new features. Three privacy features discussed in my book appear differently on the new Settings page. The features have not changed – only the description of each feature. They are now labeled with a more descriptive phrase as noted in Table 3.1. I’ve noted page references where I discuss the features in my book.

Table 3.1

Privacy Feature	Old Settings Page Description (Image 3.1)	New Settings Page Description (Image 3.2)
Prevent notifications from appearing in your contacts’ news feed each time you make significant changes to your profile	Profile and Status Updates (page 102)	Turn on/off your activity broadcasts
How are you described when you view another user’s LinkedIn profile (3 options – (1) name/title is shown; (2) profile characteristics like, “someone in the legal industry from the DFW area;” (3) anonymous user	Profile Views (page 97)	Select what others see when you’ve viewed their profile
Prevent your LinkedIn connections from seeing your other connections	Connections Browse (page 92)	See who can see your connections

Image 3.1 shows a view of the old Settings page.

Image 3.1

Image 3.2 shows a view of the new Settings page – the three features described above are highlighted.

Image 3.2

Performance / The 6Ps of the BIG 3 Book — No Comments
21
Jan 11

Interview Prep with Twitter to Gain Industry Insights

I was helping an out-of-state real estate candidate prepare for an interview yesterday, and she commented, “I’ve tapped all the usual sources – Martindale, NALP Directory, Chambers and Partners, Google, LinkedIn, and Vault.” I asked if she was prepared to ask or answer questions about the real estate industry in Texas (where she’s interviewing), and I suggested she turn to Twitter.

In my book, I discuss how law students and lawyers can use Twitter to learn about specific attorneys (page 207), firms (page 208), and practice areas (page 209). They can also use Twitter to gain insight about the industries the firms and attorneys represent.

I suggested that this candidate start with the local business journal’s Twitter feed. As you can see, three of the six tweets from January 19 alone contain information about real estate industry. And, the Twitter feed is user-friendly – simply skim the stream, identify relevant tweets, and read linked articles.

I also recommended the candidate review the Twitter feed of a local real estate attorney who frequently tweets about the industry. While my candidate was not interviewing with this particular attorney or firm, she can still learn from the attorney’s tweets. Moreover, she can glance at the users the real estate attorney is following and read their Twitter feeds. For example, we found that the attorney followed a hotel broker and investment banker, medical real estate developer, Dallas-based commercial real estate broker, and Dallas-based property tax consulting firm. All of these users had informative tweets about the real estate industry.

Bottom line – even if the attorneys and firms are not on Twitter, you can still use Twitter to learn about the industries they represent.

Performance / Success Stories / The 6Ps of the BIG 3 Book — No Comments
16
Jan 11

Yes, Law Firms Can Use Social Media in Recruiting

I obtained four qualified candidates through social networking last week. I posted a status update on Facebook and LinkedIn early in the week about a position for which I am recruiting. Within hours, I received replies from friends of friends, relatives of friends, and former colleagues who were interested and qualified in the position.

Law firms can take the same steps to attract candidates from their existing networks. In my book, I discuss several free ways law firms can share job openings on social networking sites, including:

Facebook Note (page. 126). The Facebook Note allows you to use more characters than a status update. You can also tag friends who may be interested in the position you post in the Note. And, your friends can share the Note so that it appears on their Facebook pages.
Facebook Marketplace (p. 129). Firms can post job openings in the Facebook classifieds.
Facebook Firm Page (p. 131). Firms can post job openings on their own Facebook page, and the posting can be shared by fans of the page.
LinkedIn Group Job Posting (p. 171). Identify the LinkedIn Groups that will contain candidates you are seeking and post jobs in the relevant Groups.
Facebook or LinkedIn Status Update (p. 174). Firm recruiters and hiring personnel can share job openings in their individual status updates on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Tweet Job Openings (p. 201). Share your job openings on Twitter.

Of course, the above efforts won’t work without connections and strategies. I have over 500 Facebook “friends” and over 500 LinkedIn “connections.” I probably would not have obtained the same results if I had only 100 friends and 200 connections.

And, notice that I posted the job opening on Facebook and LinkedIn but not on Twitter. There was a strategic reason for not posting on Twitter. I wanted to reach out to people I knew well and trusted for this particular position. I don’t know the majority of my Twitter contacts that well (that’s the purpose of Twitter).

So, yes, law firms can use social networking sites in their own recruiting practices. But, they must first understand the sites, build their connections, and formulate their own social networking strategies before diving in.

The 6Ps of the BIG 3 Book — No Comments
12
Jul 10

Book Status (July 12, 2010)

I’ve received several inquiries via email, Facebook comments, and LinkedIn messages about the status of the book, so I thought it was time to post a formal status update here.

I officially finished the final draft on June 29 and emailed the book to my attorney to review. I met with my attorney on July 8 to receive his feedback, and I was simply elated with his comments .

The editor is reviewing the final draft and I am working to obtain permissions from certain people profiled in the book. I will receive and review the editor’s comments by July 16. The next deadline is July 26, the date to submit the book for layout and design. I am told to expect the layout and design process to take 3-4 weeks and then the printing process to take an additional 3-4 weeks, with a final product by mid-late September.

Bulk pre-orders begin today, July 12. General pre-orders will begin in August and will be announced in my August newsletter.

The 6Ps of the BIG 3 Book — No Comments
12
Jul 10

Fall Book Tour: 30 Law Schools in 60 Days

Several law schools recently inquired about a fall book tour for my forthcoming book, The 6Ps of the Big 3™ for Job-Seeking JDs. Based on the input I received from a few schools, I’ve designed a Fall Book Tour with the following six features:

30 Law Schools in 60 Days. I can visit up to 30 law schools beginning the first day of fall, September 22, 2010, through November 20, 2010. I will visit on weekends if schools prefer a weekend date.
60 minute Performance. One central theme in the book is performance over presence – your performance on social networking sites, not your mere presence, will get you hired.
Accordingly, my tour will focus on performance rather than a presentation about the book. I will ask for 1-3 students who have not secured summer or full-time jobs to volunteer to participate. During my performance-style presentation, I will coach the students through using the 6Ps system described in the book, so students will see how they can use the Big 3 social networking sites in their job searches (rather than listening to a lecture about social networking). I will encourage one volunteer to be a first-year student so he or she can see how the First-Year Plan works.
No Fee, 160 Books, Hotel + Transportation. I will waive my speaking fee in exchange for a law school pre-ordering a minimum of 160 books at a reduced price and covering part of my travel expenses—hotel and transportation (though I am trying to obtain sponsors to cover travel).
First-come, First-served. The first 30 law schools to pre-order a minimum of 160 books by August 20 will be included on the tour. You will provide three possible dates you would like me to visit, and I will coordinate with you to meet one of your preferred choices.
Creative Solutions. I’m happy to brainstorm with you about sponsorships and other creative solutions to fit a book tour stop within your budget. For example, multiple law schools in a geographical region may wish to split travel expenses if I visit multiple law schools in the region in one visit. Or, a law school and a bar association may want to partner together to co-host a book tour stop.
#LawJobChat Bonus. As many of you know, Melissa Sachs and I recently launched #LawJobChat, a Twitter chat for attorney job seekers on the last Thursday night of each month. If you’d like for your students to observe how a Twitter chat works, consider requesting an evening presentation on September 30 or October 28, the September and October dates for #LawJobChat. Your students would receive both the performance-style presentation and the opportunity to observe and participate in a Twitter Chat. #LawJobChat begins at 9pm Eastern so the presentation would need to start at or before 7:30pm Eastern.

I welcome your comments and questions about the book and fall book tour. Click here to read more about the book. Contact me (amanda@aellislegal.com or 214.361.0070) if you wish to pre-order and schedule a book tour stop for your law school.

The 6Ps of the BIG 3 Book — No Comments
25
Feb 10

My 3rd Bar Exam

As recent law school graduates across the country complete the February Bar Exam today, I also completed my “3rd bar exam” … the first draft of The 6Ps of the Big 3™ for Job-Seeking J.D.’s (title subject to change) … 28,949 words and 227 images (screen shots). While this project wasn’t really another bar exam, the experience certainly shared many similarities to my past exams in Texas and Massachusetts.

No Life: The month before the bar exam is usually the worst. I remember abandoning friends and family during the months before my TX and MA exams. The past month has been the same. I began writing the book in December and hoped to complete a first draft by January 18. That deadline passed and the first draft was not complete. So, I resorted to bar prep type measures and the book consumed every minute of my free time over the past month … just ask my family and friends.
Voluminous: The volume of information is what makes bar prep so overwhelming. I remember constantly asking myself, “where do I start?” or “what do I really need to know to pass?” There was so much information to include in the book as well — and, much of it was technical in nature. So, I had to determine which details to include and how to present them so others could understand them (and, find them interesting).
Different Angle: I didn’t want to write a purely technical book (and, I didn’t!). The book focuses on using the Big 3 sites strategically in your job search. Part of my challenge was to identify new angles; there are plenty of articles about Facebook privacy settings or finding jobs on Twitter. I’ve even written about both subjects. I sought different angles that have not been covered. Again, similar to preparing for bar exam essays. How do you structure your essay so that it answers the question but makes you stand out?
Stopping Point: At some point in your bar prep, you reach a point where you must stop studying. You can just tell that you aren’t being productive – if you haven’t learned the information by that point, you probably aren’t going to learn it. I had to force myself to that same stopping point with this book. Facebook changed its interface twice during the months I wrote the first draft and LinkedIn changed its interface once. I found myself revising to accommodate these changes. Finally, I had to finish. The Big 3 will probably change again before the book is in print — that’s what 2nd editions are for.
Waiting Game: And, now I get to wait just like the recent graduates completing the bar exam get to wait on their results. I must assign a committee of law students, lawyers and law school career counselors to review the draft of the book and provide feedback. I must obtain certain permissions to use the screen shots I wish to use in the book.
Spring Results: Most graduates who took the February exam will get results sometime this spring. If my plans go according to schedule, we can expect the book to release in late Spring 2010!

The 6Ps of the BIG 3™Get Hired Using Social Networking