Twitter For Lawyers – Getting Started
In a previous post, I discussed why lawyers should use twitter. In this post, I’ll discuss getting started with Twitter and provide you with some tools and tips to optimize your experience.
First, if you haven’t already done so, you’ll need to create a Twitter account at http://twitter.com. Just click on the green “Sign up now” button on the home page. The sign up process is fairly simple and straightforward.
You’ll first need to enter your real full name. Next, you need to enter a username. Give this some thought. You want to choose something that is easily recognizable and promotes your practice. Using your name is a good idea, particularly if someone uses the search feature on Twitter to look for you. A well known firm name is another example, or, if you are a divorce attorney in Arizona, you might select AZDivorceLaw or AZDivorceAtty. You are limited to 15 characters, so be concise. Enter a password, email address, and the captcha image to verify that you are human, and you’re done. It’s now time to personalize your account.
Once your account is created, go to settings tab at the top of the page to add some character to your profile. After all, Twitter is a social platform. The more people know about you, the more likely they’ll follow and engage in conversation with you. So add a picture, your website or blog address, your location and bio information.
Your bio is limited to 160 characters so use them wisely. As with your username, you want it to be descriptive. We suggest that you identify your practice area first, then some of your personal interests or hobbies and possibly some humor.
Your practice area will get you targeted followers as people will do searches for specific areas of the law. Personal information in your bio helps people decide if they might like you and have something in common with you. Humor is because people like to laugh. The key here is to provide as much information as possible that is relevant to the kind of audience you want to attract.
The third step in the process is to customize your background. Don’t settle for the dull and boring default backgrounds provided by Twitter. A custom background will help you stand apart from the rest and, in many cases, allows you to add even more information about you and your practice. While there are some professional services available, there are a couple of free, easy to use services I like. Take a look at Twitter Backgrounds and Twit Backs.
With everything setup as you like, it’s now time to start following other people. In my next post, I’ll provide some resources to help you find like minded people to follow. In the meantime, feel free to follow us at http://twitter.com/blawghouse.
