In the services industry, although the firm’s brand does lend a measure of support and respect to individual attorneys, the individual often plays an equally, if not more, important role in building the firm's reputation. What does your personal brand say about you and about your firm?
Personal brands can, of course, be related to specific legal expertise, but they can also be related to geography, i.e., this lawyer is the leading expert on trade with Northwest Turkey. Sometimes it’s a combination, i.e., she’s the best commercial real estate lawyer in Marin County.
Personal branding can also relate to personal characteristics—the best-dressed attorney in the courthouse or the one who always wears a very distinctive hat that enables you to immediately recognize with whom you are dealing. On the other hand, sometimes personal characteristic branding can reflect negative traits such as being a bully in the courtroom or always being seen chewing on a huge cigar.
Many lawyers, but not nearly enough, have already realized how powerful the viral nature of social networking is in building a personal brand. They blog; they tweet; they use social networks to build their personal brands by writing, commenting and generally making themselves present.
Use the Web to your advantage to build not only a powerful personal reputation/brand but also lasting client relationships by doing the following:
- Be unique in some way. You will never be known for everything so make sure you are known for something positive.
- Be focused. Unlike your firm's website that is designed to speak to the masses, you need to speak to a very highly targeted audience that will recognize, appreciate and ultimately buy what you are selling.
- Be available. Respond expediently to questions and posts left for you by audiences on websites and social media. Pay attention to what people are saying to you and about you—your Public Reputation depends on it.
Remember that once you start to build an individual brand you will need to maintain and grow it. Managing a personal reputation/brand is just as important as creating one. More on that later.