Twitter… it’s only for celebrity worshippers and self-centered twenty somethings who just have to keep everyone posted on their last Starbucks order, right? Not even close.

A micro blogging site that limits each of your posts (or “tweets”) to 140 characters or fewer, Twitter has evolved into an immensely powerful marketing, networking, and practice building tool. As of late 2010, Twitter had over 175 million users, and hundreds of thousands of new users were creating accounts each day. The average number of tweets each day averages 140 million.

What would it do for your business if your firm had even a small piece of that activity?

If you’re willing to use Twitter to get involved in conversations instead of simply endlessly plugging the services you want to sell, you can develop quite the following of clients and potential clients. And this can work wonders for your firm’s level of visibility, not to mention its bottom line.

Here are just a few ways you can use Twitter in your professional capacity:

• Enhance your network: After you join Twitter, you’ll “follow” other users, and many of them will “follow” you back. Once you start posting tweets, more people will be able to find and follow you. Twitter has the power to put you in touch with countless people – fellow lawyers, business people, and news and information sources, plus potential clients.
• Enhance your reputation: Twitter allows you to craft your professional reputation, and that of your firm, by choosing wisely the information and comments you’ll post.
• Drive traffic to your blog: When you add a post to your blog, you can tweet about it with a link to the full post. This lets you get the attention of other Twitter users who might not otherwise find your blog or website.
• Let people know what’s going on at your firm: Do you have a seminar coming up or have you published a new report? Twitter is a great place to get the word out to a large audience.
  

The world of online marketing can be an overwhelming one for attorneys. That’s why Robert Armstrong and I have collaborated on our soon-to-be-released book, Dominating Your Market. In it, we offer a blueprint for establishing a commanding internet presence for your firm, giving you all the tools you need to harness the unique power of the internet to position your firm as the source clients in your market seek out to meet their needs.

Sanford M. Fisch
CEO & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
6050 Santo Rd Ste 240
San Diego, CA 92124
(800) 846-1555
www.aaepa.com