Lawyers: Are You Monitoring Your Online Reputation?
Now that the internet gives us instant access to information, it is critical that you are aware of how to develop and monitor your reputation. People are talking about you and your law firm; you need to know what they are saying.
I want to address not only ways you can build your reputation online, but also some suggestions for tracking what is being said about you.
1. Author a blog – There is no better way to position yourself as an expert in your field than to write and publish your ideas and thoughts. Having a blog online that you regularly contribute to will brand you and your firm and thought leaders.
2. Use Google Alerts – Google provides this tool to everyone for free. This powerful tool enables you to enter words you want to scrape the internet for. It will email when a new instance of the word you are tracking appears. You can track your name, the name of your firm, and much more.
3. Check Twitter – Twitter allows you to search the stream and follow when others are talking or mentioning you or your law firm. Some desktop Twitter tools such as TweetDeck will allow you enter search terms that will automatically populate when they are found. Utilize the Twitter stream to your advantage.
4. Get active on LinkedIn, Digg, and other social media – Taking the time to answer LinkedIn questions, submitting articles to digg, and joining LinkedIn groups you can actively participate in the conversation. This will help build connections….and your reputation.
The online community is an extension of how people interact in the real world. If you take time to establish yourself and gain credibility, it will benefit you should anyone attempt negative conversation about you.
Negative comments and conversation should be tracked and viewed as an opportunity to address the problem and win people over. Often times how you react and handle bad situations is a better reflection of you and your law firm than how you act when things are going well.
If you take the time to establish an online reputation and follow up on monitoring it correctly, you will see gains in trust and ultimately more business coming your way.
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