InsideLegal recently had a chance to briefly catch-up with Adrian Dayton at MyLegal's Making the Case for Social Media event where he was asked to speak on 'how to bring in business with social media'. When the dust settled, Adrian shared some more thoughts … "in his own words".

Who are you?  Who is your organization?       What is your role?
I am Adrian Dayton, attorney, author of of Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition, consultant to large law firms, and weekly columnist for the National Law Journal. My organization is the Adrian Dayton Company - I am the Founder and CEO, but at this point is is a small organization with just me and a couple of others.

How did you get your start with social media?
I have been using discussion groups since 2000, but I was turned me on to blogging and social media after creating a manuscript that I wanted to get published. A friend of mine that handled social media for Adobe and now for Symantech told me, "get on Twitter, start a blog." So I did. Within a few weeks, I brought in a client to the mid-sized law firm I was working with at the time. After that, I was hooked.

Your book "Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter edition" has been very well received. Why is this a must read? 
"Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition" is not a technical manual, it is a basic step-by-step guide of how professionals can start using Twitter. I think it has been successful because it is easy to read, written in a conversational style, and provides plenty of practical take-aways. It has been out a year now, and the Amazon.com reviews have been extremely positive for the book.  

Please provide one ‘real world example’ of how one of your clients has made more money with social media?
Roy Ginsburg who authors the blog, Quirky Questions?, brought in a six-figure client through his blog. Many others have brought in smaller matters through Twitter, LinkedIn and even Facebook. It isn't really about social media though, it is about engaging people offline after making the first connection online. 

As you know, InsideLegal works closely with the legal technology community. How can legal technology vendors work with you or approach you as a resource?
Great question. I have worked with a number of vendors on product launches and making sure they get the most out of their new whitepapers/events/ projects. I am pretty picky about who I work with though, they need to have a compelling product that I believe, or I'm not going to share it with my network. That would be an easy way to lose the good will and credibility I have built up over the last couple of years engaging very regularly online.

What online resource (website, blog, etc.) is most useful to you (i.e., you use it every day)?
I love a few tools that I believe are an absolute must for anybody serious about using social media:

• TweetDeck – for Twitter, LinkedIn & Facebook
• Bit.ly – to shorten links and track progress
• WordPress – by far my favorite blogging platform
• Google Analytics – to track traffic flow and sources of traffic

There are other variations of each of these, but these are the ones I use.

How can people contact you?
People can email me – info@adriandayton.com or shoot me a message on Twitter @adriandayton. I reply to all messages personally and am also available anytime by phone at (716)568-7695. 

Adrian Dayton (info@adriandayton.com)
Adrian Dayton Company
716.568.7695
Twitter: @AdrianDayton