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Saper Law authors blog entries for LexTekReport.com, a division of the Law Bulletin Publishing Company
By Saper Law | May 5, 2009
Effective March 2009, Saper Law attorneys regulary author and contribute articles for www.ChicagoLawyerMagazine.com and www.lextekreport.com.
Read the latest entries here:
http://lextekreport.com/2009/03/20/to-tweet-or-not-to-tweet-%e2%80%a6/
To tweet or not to tweet …
These days, who isn’t on Twitter might be a better question than who is. For example, a Colorado judge recently allowed a reporter to use Twitter in the courtroom during an infant-abuse trial; major corporations are handling customer inquiries by “tweeting”; and high-profile politicians like Sen. John McCain regularly “tweet” as a means of communication.
So … should attorneys be “tweeting” too? If yes, how?
Technically, getting started is easy. Once you sign up for an account at www.twitter.com, you can use other programs to tweet and to manage the tweets you receive. Applications like Twitterberry, PocketTweets, iTweet, ThinCloud, Twitterrific, ceTwit, Tiny Twitter, Twibble Mobile, TweetBeep, AlertThingy, twhirl, TweetDeck, Twitterlocal.net, and Twilert make Twitter use easy and may be used on a Blackberry, iPhone, Windows Mobile smartphone, or a Java-enabled device.
These applications also can make networking simple by providing services that send email alerts based on keywords and geographic regions relevant to your practice. When you contact someone with similar interests, that person may check out your posts, too. Then you can build a relationship.
Building a relationship is important because Twitter’s value comes from the followers who read what you have to say. If only your mother is interested, then it’s probably not worth your time. But, if you are networking with other attorneys, people looking for legal advice, and/or bloggers who virally spread what they learn, then it can be very worthwhile. It’s your chance to show a lot of people how informed you are.
And, perhaps, the most important thing you can do is to remember that what you say can make you seem like an enterprising professional, someone who likes to party and hates to work, or a dreary and uninspired person. So, keep your image in mind. And, if you choose to tweet, keep it simple and relevant.
I use twitter in my practice to promote Saper Law events, to communicate with clients, and to post or read links of interest. I recently embedded my tweets onto my law firm home page. You can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/saperlaw.
Bottom line: you can market yourself on Twitter. It just takes patience, a little effort and some luck!
http://lextekreport.com/2009/04/21/blackberry-curve-or-apple-iphone/
Blackberry Curve or Apple iPhone?
The trackball on my BlackBerry Curve recently stopped working properly. I can still scroll up, left and right … but I cannot scroll down. After screaming several profanities at the no longer so “smart” phone, smacking it to make it behave and rebooting it a million times without success, I finally did some research and purchased a replacement trackball from Amazon for a whopping $6. (The electronic store near my house wanted to charge me $65 for the replacement.)
While I’m waiting for the part to arrive, I figured it would make sense to look into upgrading my phone entirely. Apparently the most popular choices for attorneys these days are the Blackberry Curve 8900 and the iPhone 3G.
I’m inclined to go with the Blackberry 8900 since it’s the new and improved version of what I use now. It is stylish; has a physical keyboard that is specially designed for ease of use with email and Web browsing; allows for editing of Word, Excel and PowerPoint files without an additional app; and the display has been made larger, with better resolution. It also can take 3.2-megapixel pictures and video.
My associate, Shannon, votes for the iPhone.
Her arguments: The Blackberry Curve doesn’t have 3G network and is about twice as expensive as the iPhone 3G. The iPhone 3G operating system will be updated this summer, allowing for faster-loading Web pages, quicker email delivery and smoother video streams. The display is larger than the Blackberry’s. The iPhone App Store generally has a broader selection than the Blackberry App World and, surprisingly, may have more corporate software apps. (An app is in the works by QuickOffice that will allow editing of Word and Excel documents, instead of only allowing viewing of the documents.)
Overall, Blackberry has a reputation for meeting the needs of professionals. The iPhone has a reputation for innovation and user-friendliness.
Are there any attorneys out there who have used both and can compare? Shoot me an email via the contact form at www.saperlaw.com with your thoughts.
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