We’ve all heard the expression that your social media efforts should not be left to an intern (I’ve probably used it myself). But I thought it would be useful to give our perspective of how we’ve integrated someone into our social media universe. Particularly as a lawyer/law firm, “outsourcing your marketing” can be a recipe for disaster. In fact, I’m guessing many lawyers even question whether a non-lawyer can be integrally involved in a firm or lawyer’s outreach efforts. It has worked out well for us. Granted the person who handles much of our social media efforts is far from an intern (and has experience in the news business, which probably results in good instincts) but I thought her perspective would still be useful.

A quick background: Prior to Veronica entering the picture, I was our social media presence. I blogged a fair amount and I used Twitter as well. I still do. Veronica came on board, and among other things, offered to clean up our social media presence. She set up our Facebook page and our Twitter feed.  Her work on this front has been great. What impressed me the most is that Veronica has the ability to identify useful links and follow people that are relevant in the space.  Her tweets are very good, and I say this as someone who is an avid and discriminating Twitter user. We did not have any conversations with Veronica about this. I guess she’s a natural.

1. How much time do you spend per week tweeting/Facebooking?

I handle a variety of tasks for Focal, but I try to devote at least two hours/day to social media.

2. Do you have a particular routine?

I usually start my morning by catching up on the latest news. After I’ve finished going through Facebook, etc., I keep the Twitter app open to keep an eye on ongoing events. I also make a point to check back late in the afternoon to review stories I may have missed.

3. What sites are on your morning routine — do you use aggregators at all?

No – I don’t use any aggregators … keeping up with Facebook pages and Twitter feeds is work enough! But there are certain sites that I do follow frequently like Mashable, TechCrunch, GeekWire, and The Next Web. Even sites like The Hollywood Reporter and TMZ have been great sources for news.

4. How do you identify relevant links?

Being based in Seattle, Focal is surrounded by a host of tech-related companies (e.g. Amazon) and popular websites (e.g. The Oatmeal) — so relevant content is usually not hard to come by.

That said, keyword searches are a girl’s best friend. They’ve enabled me to find stories on number of topics ranging from Hollywood films to popular services, tech giants and famous groundhogs.

I aim to share posts that someone outside the legal field might not stumble across in their regular Twitter stream. My hope is that we can get the average music lover to say “I didn’t know you could in trouble for doing that on YouTube!” or a business owner to say “I didn’t realize that could happen to my brand.”

5. Would you say that your background in the news business is helpful … if so, in what way(s)?

I guess you could say I kind of treat things like a news service. I want our content to be a mixture of How To’s, industry news, common mistakes, legal decisions and occasional humor.

Ultimately, I try — like I did when I worked in journalism — to pick stories that I think our followers can relate to. “What could this legal example mean to the average entrepreneur, Internet user, smart phone owner, consumer or inventor? Why should they care? What can they learn from it?”

Although I don’t have a legal background, I kind of use that to my advantage. I seek out articles that I would want to read. Attorneys might follow law firms on Twitter, but would an outsider find their tweets interesting? It might be hard to get someone to digest certain legal concepts, but stories about The Hangover Part II might pique their interest — and teach them something in the process. (Who knew you could fight over a tattoo?? I didn’t!)

6. Any examples of when your instincts kicked in and you decided to not post something – can you describe this in general terms?

I’d say my biggest concern is staying away from posts that may be construed as too opinionated. I also do my best to sniff out agendas — or posts that are clearly selling something. But there are times when lessons can be learned despite the self-promotion.

7. Any concrete benefits of participation in social media … are there types of business that it’s suited to versus those that should avoid it?

It would be hard for me to speak about other fields. Had you asked me a few months ago if I could find interesting stories about the law, I might have said “No!”

But I’m passionate about the benefits of social media overall. I’d like to think that any employer can gain something by directly interacting with their customers and listening to what people outside of their office — or industry — are saying. Each business just needs to find their own way of making it work for them.

I’m having a fun time experimenting with social media for Focal, and I would love to get any feedback from our followers!

(You can follow Focal on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.)