Posts Tagged: social networking

Practice — 1 Comment
30
Dec 11

I ♥ Flipboard!

I received an iPad for Christmas and immediately fell in love with the Flipboard app.  The app, also available for iPhones (as of Dec. 2011), aggregates all web links shared by your contacts on various social networking sites and displays the content in magazine-like format, as shown below.   You flip through the pages of content by sliding your finger across the screen.

Now, I prefer reading social networking updates on Flipboard rather than each social networking site or app for the following reasons:

  1. Scan updates. Flipboard displays enough content for each web link so you can determine if the link is worth reading (or saving to read later – see #2).  If you touch the screen and slide your finger across, you flip to the next page of updates.  The magazine-like display and touch to flip function allow you to quickly scan the information shared by your networks rather than scrolling down pages to read updates and clicking on links.
  2. Save and read later. The Flipboard app syncs with Instapaper and Read It Later.  Choose one for your Flipboard account (you can create either account for free) and you can save links to read later.
  3. Comment, like or share. Finally, you can interact on your social networking sites from the Flipboard app.  If you enjoyed an article shared on Facebook, you can “like” the link.  You can also comment or share links.
Uncategorized — 2 Comments
4
Jul 11

Google+ for Lawyers/Law Students

I’ve been playing with Google+, Google’s new social networking platform, for the past few days.  At first glimpse, I thought it was just like Facebook minus all of my Facebook connections.  The more I play with the site, however, the more I like it.  I’ve outlined three features important for lawyers and law students, how I plan to use Google+, and resources that may help you get started with Google+.

Three Google+ Features for Lawyers/Law Students to Note

1.  Search Results. Prior to having a Google+ profile, my business website was the first result that appeared in a search for my name (Amanda Ellis or “Amanda Ellis”).  My LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles followed.  Now that  I have a Google+ profile, my Google+ profile appears first and my business website is second, followed by my LinkedIn profile.

Significance: Once I saw where my Google+ profile ranked, I was intrigued by the social networking platform but not sold.  The profile rank is significant enough that every lawyer/law student should maintain a professional profile on Google+ so they can be found in search results. Watch the video in the resources section below to see how you can create a profile.  And, read about the sparks feature to see how you can bolster your profile.

2. Sparks. Discovering the sparks feature on Google+ is what made me see the potential.  The sparks feature is like a built-in RSS.  You can select topics of interest to you, click on the topic and Google+ displays recent articles about the topic.  Then, you can share the link to the article to your Google+ connections (your circles).  For example, I selected “legal jobs” as one of my sparks, topics of interest.  The first article displayed is from yesterday about the decline in law school enrollment in Missouri because of fewer legal jobs in that market.

Lawyers can set up sparks for certain practice areas or industries.  For example, I created a spark for “Chapter 11 bankruptcy” and learned of the recent bankruptcy filings of Lambuth University and a former UGA football coach.

Significance: The sparks feature makes it easy to find information to share – information you would normally share with your professional networks via email, Twitter or LinkedIn.   Moreover, the sparks feature makes it easy to maintain a professional profile on Google+ (see #1 above for the significance of maintaining a professional profile on Google+).

3.  Circles. You group your Google+ connections by circles (watch the video in the resources section for more information about circles).  Anyone can add you to a circle and they don’t need your permission.  At first, I was alarmed when someone named “Shabooty” added me to a circle (I didn’t know the person and the person did not have a picture of himself/herself so I assumed spam).  But, I saw the potential when a lawyer from Google added me to a circle. Think about the professional connections you can make on Google+ … while the interface of the platform resembles Facebook, Google+ resembles Twitter when you consider your ability to connect with anyone. I don’t know how the Google lawyer classified me; I suspect he placed me in a “professional acquaintances” circle rather than a “friends” circle since we’ve never met.  But, that’s okay – we can still interact on a professional level like we would on Twitter or LinkedIn.  He can share personal information with his “friends” circle that I won’t see.

Significance: The circles concept is huge because it allows Google+ to take advantage of the benefits of Facebook (sharing with friends), Twitter (sharing with people you don’t know but want to get to know) and LinkedIn (sharing with professional contacts).

How I Plan to Use Google+

For now, Google+ is another professional platform for me.  Most of my high school and college friends are on Facebook, and I can’t imagine many of them migrating to Google+ anytime soon unless it’s for professional purposes (FYI most of my Google+ connections so far are professional contacts from Twitter).  So, I can’t imagine sharing old pictures, reminiscing about dance recitals, or planning a girls weekend with close friends on Google+.  But, I can imagine using Google+ to expand my professional network by interacting and sharing articles and information with professional contacts.  I don’t see Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter disappearing anytime soon, but I do see potential in Google+.

Resources for Getting Started with Google+

Watch the video in this post to set up and navigate your Google+ profile.

If you are curious about the potential of Google+, read Chris Brogan’s list of 50 things to think about with regards to Google+.

Performance — 1 Comment
17
May 11

How Do You Actually Meet People Through Social Networking?

Melissa Sachs and I recorded a job search program for Lawline in November.  One of the 15 topics we addressed was how job seekers can meet people through social networking sites like the BIG 3.  I’ve included the clip below – note the two-part process:  (1) identify and connect with people online (many of the “lists” noted in the video clip are also referenced in my previous blog post, Lawyers to Follow on Twitter); (2) meet offline.

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:

  1. 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.
  2. Facebook Marketplace (p. 129). Firms can post job openings in the Facebook classifieds.
  3. 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.
  4. LinkedIn Group Job Posting (p. 171). Identify the LinkedIn Groups that will contain candidates you are seeking and post jobs in the relevant Groups.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.

#LawJobChat / Performance — No Comments
21
Nov 10

Log In & Learn (Summary of #LawJobChat No. 5)

The fifth #LawJobChat featured Betsy Munnell, a former BigLaw partner/rainmaker who now coaches young lawyers and law students on career and business development issues.  Betsy discussed how lawyers can use online tools in their career development.  You can read the entire transcript here, and I’ve summarized some highlights below.  Bottom line:  many of the popular social networking sites offer educational and enriching resources for lawyers.

Twitter – Obtain News

  • Set up searches for practice area topics
  • Find lawyers and other experts in the field and see who they follow
  • Example: Health lawyers should follow @HealthBlawg – check to see other blogs/users he follows
  • Check your lists/saved searches frequently so you can obtain industry news first and be the first to share such news with a networking contact (i.e., potential employer, potential client, law firm partner, practice group leader)

LinkedIn – Obtain Network Status and Industry Info

  • Search for groups on LinkedIn based on practice area/industries of interest and join those groups
  • Example: Health lawyers may want to search the following terms in the groups directory to find groups to join:  health care reform, fraud and abuse, conflict of interest
  • JD Supra’s Legal Updates on LinkedIn also provides excellent content for practice areas and industries
  • Example: Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge regularly provides insurance/reinsurance content that the insurance industry follows

The Big Picture – Building a Practice

A fourth-year associate at a small firm was looking to develop a peer referral source in a large firm.  He targeted an associate contact at the large firm – an associate who practices in cleantech and biofuels and also blogs weekly about the topics.

The fourth-year associate set up Twitter searches for terms like cleantech and biofuels and began reading the NYT Green Blog daily.  One day he spotted a breaking post and sent it to his target referral source in the big firm.  The big firm associate was thrilled and sent it to her supervising partner who was grateful and impressed.  The big firm associate is now a referral source to the small firm fourth-year associate.

Questions???

If you have additional questions regarding which online tools to use in your practice or job search, feel free to contact Betsy.

Save the Date: The December #LawJobChat is scheduled for December 16 at 9pm EST.  The topic is continuing legal education–working in continuing legal education and speaking at continuing legal education events to advance your career!

Performance / Success Stories — No Comments
9
Nov 10

Law Student Grabs Attention of Prominent Legal Blogs

by Jack Whittington, 3L at Tulsa Law

jack whittington

NOTE:  The following blog post is the second in the on-going series, Success Stories, which profiles law students’ and lawyers’ positive results from social networking. Jack Whittington, a third-year law student at Tulsa Law, shared the following post.  You can follow Jack on Twitter – @j2_whittington, or read his blog – World Wide Whit.

Social media has permanently changed the way we do business and network in the professional world. I attended Amanda Ellis’s seminar on The 6P’s of the BIG 3™ in August at the University of Tulsa, College of Law Professionalism Day and was intrigued at the notion of using Facebook and Twitter (I wasn’t familiar with LinkedIn at the time) for career networking opportunities. The suggestions she made for Twitter use particularly struck me. I previously had only used Twitter during live sporting events to see what people were saying about the games and then to converse with other fans. The thought of using Twitter as a networking tool never even crossed my mind.

So with Amanda’s seminar fresh in mind I began to reach out to law school students and attorneys on Twitter. One of the first things I noticed was that a vast number of attorneys and law students had blogs. After reading several different blogs by law school students, I decided to venture into the blogging world myself. I felt it would be a good way to get my name out there and perhaps I could offer something to someone, somewhere, that would make a difference, regardless of how small. My first blogs were viewed by a hand full of people with readers seldom commenting on the posts. I didn’t expect overnight success and knew it would be a long road and made points to reach out to people who tweeted solid information about blogging techniques and strategies. Through a Twitter chat, #blogchat, I began to connect with some great people who offered some great advice to help me get through the lean times when I was wondering if it was all worth it. Particularly, Dawn Westerberg, Margie Clayman, Scott Zucker, and Betsy Munnell. All of these people were more than willing to help me and offered sound advice. It is amazing that so many people out there are willing to help; all you have to do is ask.

Blogging on a regular basis has challenged me in a lot ways and made me analyze real life situations in such a manner that it has shifted my thinking and certain aspects of my worldview. Two of my blog posts have been met with tremendous success in the legal community. My post entitled “Law School Mean Girls (And Guys) and Why They’ve Got to Go” made Wordpress.com’s Freshly Pressed page and I saw my readership skyrocket. Another post, “Dear Legal Community, Enough With the Cynicism” was a hot topic within the online legal community. In my observation it seemed that an inordinate amount of commentators had nothing but cynical and cryptic words directed at law school students and nothing positive to contribute to the conversation. Met with foreboding warnings of “get out while you can” and horror stories about debt and addiction did nothing to help me or direct me in what I needed to do to be successful in the field.  So I issued an open letter to the legal community to tell them enough with the noise and that you’re either part of the problem or part of the solution. I want to work with people who are part of the solution, and apparently they want to work with me too.

First, I received a direct message from Rocky Dhir of Atlas Legal Services – and he wanted to speak with me – he called and the first words out of his mouth were- “How can I help?” – It was so refreshing to hear a voice on the other end of the line wanting to actively do something about the “culture of unhappiness” within the legal field. The second thing to come out of this blog post was my partnership with Susan Cartier Liebel and Solo Practice University. Susan had been looking to bring a law school student on board to her site as a monthly columnist and my blog post was exactly the type of voice she was looking for. I am now authoring a monthly column entitled “Coming of Age in the New Economy” for SPU which chronicles my transition from law school into the legal profession. The opportunities that social media have already presented me in just a few short months are truly amazing. This is the wave of the future and I am truly thankful for Amanda pointing me in the right direction.

#LawJobChat / Performance / Success Stories — 1 Comment
5
Nov 10

Law Student Meets GC on Twitter

by Jason Tenenbaum, 2L at Hofstra Law School jason t

While many students use Twitter to follow celebrities or communicate with friends, I’ve discovered that Twitter is an incredible professional resource where I can build relationships with legal professionals. I recently participated in a Twitter chat, #LawJobChat, about in-house legal careers. I was intrigued with the chat, so I tweeted that I was a law student interested in learning more about the role of an in-house attorney.

The general counsel of a professional sports team responded to my tweet. I asked him how he got started and he answered, “too long of a story for 140 characters, let’s set up a time and talk on the phone.” Our conversation was great. We discussed the details of his job, how he got to his current position, and skills that are useful for an in-house attorney. He spent over 45 minutes on the phone with me, and offered advice on classes to take, organizations to join and other attorneys to contact to learn more about being an in-house attorney.

After talking with the general counsel, I realized the importance of networking and interacting with others. The general counsel emphasized that employers want to know law students can work in a team, and law students can demonstrate this skill by meeting and interacting with attorneys. The general counsel added that it is great to have good grades, but you need to be able to carry on a conversation and interact with other attorneys, clients, secretaries, and paralegals in order to thrive.

Perhaps the best result of my conversation with the general counsel is our new friendship. Now, we talk regularly, tweeting back and forth about sports, technology and of course, the law. I can ask him any questions I have about sports, sports law, books to read or law school classes. He is an additional resource in my professional network. Relationships like the one I now have with this attorney are the greatest benefit one can obtain from Twitter.

Practice — No Comments
20
Jul 10

iFocus Time Management Tool for Social Networking Sites

I previously wrote about the importance of time blocking in your social job search, and you can read that post here.  One entire chapter of my forthcoming book focuses on efficient use of the Big 3 social networking sites in your job search, including tools like time blocking.  And, I recommend (1) setting a timer for the period of time in which you plan to use the Big 3 social networking sites, and (2) refraining from all other activities during this block of time, such as checking emails or answering your phone.

Yesterday, I learned of a new time blocking tool from a recent law grad I follow on Twitter.  She recommended iFocus for bar exam takers to help them limit the time spent on social networking sites while studying for the bar exam.  iFocus allows you to set time limits for computer activities, such as email, social networking sites, and online news.  As you can see in the image below, you can set iFocus to prevent further use of such activity once the allocated time block is over, or you can opt to receive a notice.

ifocus set limits

If you are curious about iFocus, there are additional screenshots on the iFocus site to illustrate how the program works, or you can download the free program and try it yourself.

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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).
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. #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.

Practice — No Comments
12
Apr 10

Time Blocking Your Social Job Search

Many lawyers and law students mistakenly believe that using social networking in your job search consumes too much time.  While it is certainly easy to get distracted and waste time, it’s just as easy to control your time on social networking sites.

In my books, I recommend time blocking as one solution.  I first learned about time blocking when I started recruiting – it’s a very common practice in the recruiting field.  Time blocking is just assigning tasks for certain blocks of time; during that block, you do nothing but the assigned task.  For example:

8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Read, return emails
9:00 – 10:00 a.m. 15 recruiting calls for Position A
10:00 -11:00 a.m. Market Candidate B to 8 firms

For a lawyer or law student using the Big 3 social networking sites in their job search, the time blocks for any given day might look like this:

8:00-8:15 a.m. Facebook – search 10 law firm business pages for job leads; check to see if firm you are interviewing with on Friday has FB page
8:15-8:30 a.m. LinkedIn –  prep for interview by searching names of 8 attorneys you are meeting on Friday
8:30-8:35 a.m. Twitter – search firm’s name on Twitter; save search and check for results again at 6:00 p.m.
6:00-6:05 p.m. Twitter – check saved search for firm where you are interviewing to see if there are any new tweets about the firm

During the time blocks above, the job seeker must refrain from all other activities such as answering the phone, responding to emails, or checking the Big 3 sites for personal purposes (do that after you check for professional purposes).  Consider setting a timer (most cell phones have timers) so that you know when to stop; forcing yourself to stop will also help you become more efficient over time.

← Older Entries