Social Media Effectiveness: Are You Comparing Apples to Oranges?

In the course of helping my tax lawyer husband Mitchell Miller set up two social media for lawyers (and others) LinkedIn groups, I came across a blog post by Larry Bodine (@LarryBodine on Twitter).

In this post he asked for feedback on another blogger's post that insisted Twitter is not effective for legal marketing.

The blogger said she was giving up Twitter because it hadn't gotten her law firm any business in the two or so years she'd been active on Twitter.

Here's the comment that I left in response to the feedback to her position on Twitter:

As a person whose company trains professionals and business owners how to effectively use social media to get in front of prospective clients or customers, I would like to add that it is not realistic to use one person's experience to evaluate whether the experience would be fruitful for your own efforts.

In effect you would be comparing apples with oranges, as the saying goes.

Many, many people — even if they have lots of followers and have tweeted lots of tweets — are using Twitter ineffectively. (I'm being polite.)

For example, these people often only "sell" their services rather than "share" information. Or these people only "push out" their own messages and do not engage in "conversations" on Twitter.

One of the problems with using Twitter effectively is that it appears so simple that people do not make the effort to really understand how to best use it.

I do hope that others won't be discouraged by this one's person's experience. I personally find Twitter an incredibly powerful resource. (Plus I have a disciplined strategy and do NOT spend 1-3 hours a day.)

For those of you just starting, you can get my company's free report for setting up a good Twitter profile. (One tip: Use a photo of a person and NOT a law firm logo.) The report is at www.MillerMosaicPowerof3.com

I urge those of you who read this post to understand that one size does NOT fit all. And one Twitter strategy certainly doesn't fit all.

To be effective on Twitter you need to know what is considered "best practices" and to follow a strategy plan for your Twitter engagement based on those best practices as well as your individual company goals.

FYI: If you're a tax professional or an estate planner and you're interested in knowing more about social media to promote your business, check out Mitch's two new open LinkedIn groups:

Social Media for Tax Professionals

Social Media for Estate Planners

© 2011 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC.

Get the free information "8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes" and "Social Media Marketing Does Not Magically Work; You Have to Work It" at www.facebook.com/millermosaicsocialmedia

And it would be much appreciate if you'd "like" the brand-new Facebook Page for the Vietnam War-era novel "Mrs. Lieutenant" — we need at least 25 "likes" to get a customized URL.