Two things happened to me last Thursday that I want to tell you about.

First, I had the opportunity to hear a website marketing consultant pitch his company at a seminar. Someone asked him about Twitter. He explained that it was really good for things like tweeting “Raleigh Equitable Distribution Lawyer” and inserting a link to your website to improve your ranking on Google for that phrase. I was stunned, I thought this was one of the good guys.

A few hours later a lawyer from Texas, or his agent, spammed the forum on our website with a message about his firm and a link. It wasn’t a message intended to help the recipient, it was just spam. I’m guessing (hoping) it was done by some search engine optimization “expert” he hired and that he hadn’t done it himself. We deleted his post and let him know.

Both of these postings, the one on Twitter and the one on our forum, are spam. They are unwelcome and offensive. They do exactly the opposite of what is intended. They don’t bring you business, they repel business.

We live in a world where everyone knows and talks about everything. The last thing you want is to have your name associated with spammy tactics. Twitter is “word of mouth” on steroids. Don’t aggravate twitter users. It’s costly.

If you’re going to participate in a forum you should be generous and helpful. If you’re going to participate on Twitter you should do the same. We would never employ these spammy techniques in real life, we’d be embarrased. Don’t do them just because it’s possible. Do the right thing online and you’ll grow your practice. Do the wrong things and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot to the point where your foot falls right off.