It was a Saturday morning, and I was sitting outside at Starbucks feeling the ocean breeze. I was screwing around on Facebook because I lack the whole mindfulness thing.
A lawyer friend of mine posted a link to an article he had written. I read it, enjoyed it, and clicked the “Like” button on Facebook.
Within an instant, a message from my friend popped up in Facebook Messenger. He invited me to his holiday party coming up in a few weeks. I had to decline because we planned to take our kid to the Harry Potter thing at Universal in Florida.
Within a few more messages, we’d agreed to a fallback plan and scheduled lunch for the following week.
What a perfect way to stay in touch. Look at the interactions:
- I saw his link post (so he stayed top of mind with me).
- I hit the like button (so he knew I was paying attention, and I kept myself top of mind with him).
- He messaged back and invited me to the party (now he has done something nice for me and I “owe” him).
- I messaged back that lunch would be better and explained my Harry Potter situation (builds further connection).
- We had a nice lunch together. (What can I say? Lunch builds connection, right?)
Lots of lawyers complain to me that social media doesn’t “work.” Did that work? You bet it did.
Lots of lawyers will read my story and say something like, “That’s awesome. How do I automate that?” You can’t. Building relationships, online or off, requires time and a human touch. That’s why it builds such strong connections. And that’s why those connections result in a lifetime of friendship, help, advice, and referrals.
Social media works if you’ll use it to build relationships. Of course, it works in other ways as well. Today, we’re just talking about one social media tactic that works. Use it.
