Altruistic or parasitic?
Friday, December 10, 2010 at 3:28PM Yesterday I was asked to speak at a "social media marketing for lawyers" conference.
I won't give details of which one, but it would have involved a full day out of the office and significant travelling time.
A number of social media and branding "gurus" are lined up to speak and I was very kindly recommended by one of the other speakers on the (maybe misguided) basis that I have some valuable insights to share on using social media to grow your law practice.
Attendees are paying £1,500 or more for the two day conference (not revealing any confidential information there by the way - it is all on the event website), but apparently speakers can attend for free.
And the really great part? That free attendance is all they are offering speakers. It's not a paid speaking gig and they aren't even covering expenses.
Let me just analyse this a little more:-
We want you to take a day out of your business at a cost of (fill in your own figure here!)
To travel to our event at your own expense.
Where you will divulge whatever know-how and experience you have built up in social media marketing.
To your competitors.
For free.
At a conference they are paying a fortune to attend.
Is there any other sector where people would agree to do this? Is there any other area where lawyers would do it (unpaid training sessions for your competitors on the latest legal developments?). Or is it something special about social media?
The social media marketers and other presenters who are selling to law firms are in a different position… it's a good opportunity for them to market to their client base. If you practice in a niche area where referrals from other lawyers are key to your business then maybe it also makes sense.
But for most practicing lawyers in more mainstream areas, to offer to speak at this kind of event for free seems crazy.
There is, or should be, an altruistic side to social media... and I am always happy to give whatever limited advice I can (for free) to those who starting out. I'm not a consultant or an expert, but if I can help I will usually try.
I draw the line at altruism when my efforts are packaged and sold for another's profit. That isn't altruistic... just parasitic.
I'm sure there will be a lot of these kind of conferences cropping up in 2011. As lawyers we need to have more respect for the value of our time and expertise.
If what we have to say is worth paying to hear (and it is - a lot of the people who are speaking are lawyers who have used social media to great effect in their own legal businesses) then why give it away for free!
Reader Comments (1)
This is sounding very familiar to an approach I had which we are currently reviewing. I come at it from a slightly different angle.
It was pitched to me as "you have been highly recommended as a quality keynote speaker."
A few paragraphs further in I am then asked if I would like to sponsor the event. I wont bore you with the numbers here, but suffice to say me and my company have in depth analysis of every single lead source that we use, from print media to social media, even segmenting down to Twitter, Linkedin etc.
Now I am not saying we won't do it. But we are a business and as a business we take a good hard look at ROI. So I have bounced some questions back,
Who will be there? yes I know you say they are influential and important, but are they influential and important to me...in a nutshell are they buyers or just a committee member on a very big committee?
How many will be there? We like big arenas...something salesmen call spreading the net, but needs to be in the context of the above. I don't want to take a day of my time out to present in a room that can hold 100 to a fella and his dog.
When will I be on? Early is good, late to mid afternoon on a Friday is bad.
Will you give me email addresses? So I can do some pre event marketing and targeting.
Do you know who I am (bit of a fave that one...if only for humour sake) and who I represent, what we do? Because (forgive some late night arrogance) what I offer is very relevant, very useful and absolutely something law firms should be looking at now rather than something like social media because I can increase their bottom line far faster than Twitter and Linkedin ever will...if people allow me the time to share with them.
Now we all like to stand up, tell our story or show our shiny toys to anyone with a pulse who will listen. But for me I much prefer doing it to people that know where they want to go, how to get there and when they want to get there.
Of course some will say "ya gotta be in it to win it." I disagree, you have to determine if there is something worth winning first and, to connect to your concern Jon, many forget this, something you may lose. If you want to give away valuable IP, that is sharing at it's most perverse, then I ain't going to stop you.
It's not just about lawyers giving away time, incurring expense...it's the same for me...it's also called running a business.
Beware the tyre kickers.
Ps Jon apologies for any typos, late lying back, iPad keyboard yardy yardy.