Adrian Dayton
A self-described “enthusiastic adventurer”, Adrian Dayton’s exploratory attitude has led him to fulfill in a mere 30 years what others would spend their lives hoping to achieve. Prior to focusing his talent on helping other attorneys who want to take their firm to the next level, he studied developmental economics at the London School of Economics, started multiple businesses, and spent almost a year working as a corporate attorney with Jaeckle Fleishmann and Mugel where his team closed a merger worth approximately $450 million. Adrian now focuses on helping lawyers market themselves primarily from a social media standpoint. He doesn’t consider his work legal marketing, he considers it as the next step in business development. His expansive knowledge in law and economics, coupled with his personal experience operating businesses, has resulted in him being quoted in highly-esteemed publications such as the ABA Journal, Above the Law, Fast Company Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal.
In a brief interview, he provided insight on how he helps lawyers utilize social media. Adrian Dayton believes “not only is every firm a brand, but every individual attorney is a brand. No marketing person can market an attorney as well as they can market themselves.” This is why he advises attorneys to market themselves using a variety of social media tools. It is his personal opinion that using a blog in conjunction with Twitter or LinkedIn is the most successful combination. He tells attorneys to use a blog to create content and to use Twitter and LinkedIn to promote that content. According to Adrian, one thing all lawyers must know about social marketing is that fifteen minutes a day can lead to valuable relationships and new clients. Conversely, he says that the greatest misconception about social media is that lawyers assume that potential clients aren’t online and that attorneys who are out of the loop are assuming that their potential clients are out of the loop as well. Adrian gave us three key steps that all attorneys should follow to market themselves through social media.
Three Steps to Utilizing Social Media
1. Create a profile on Twitter/LinkedIn
Adrian says that these profiles should have a hook; explain why your uniquely situated to solve a common business problem. There are tens of millions of people using both Twitter and LinkedIn each day, and this is an effective way to reach the masses.
2. Create content using a blog
Attorneys have information about their expertise that is very valuable to common people. Even the most common sensical point to an attorney may be very valuable to a potential client. By taking a few minutes out of the day to blog about your specialization, people may be very impressed with your knowledge on the subject, which can lead to an influx on new clients.
3. Take advantage of social media to promote content
“Free content that’s helpful to people who can use their expertise is a very common way to attract new clients,” says Adrian. By promoting your blog through Twitter or LinkedIn, you can drive hundreds of prospective clients to your website.
You can reach Adrian Dayton by e-mail at ATDayton@gmail.com or by visiting his website www.adriandayton.com. His blog, Marketing Strategy and The Law: Social Media Edition, can be found at adriandayton.com/blog.
