Barbara Walters Price

How to Spot a Liar (Ted Talks Video)

Pamela Meyer, author of Liespotting, talks about how to spot a liar. It is an interesting talk.

Her bio:

Social media expert Pamela Meyer can tell when you’re lying. If it’s not your words that give you away, it’s your posture, eyes, breathing rate, fidgets, and a host of other indicators. Worse, we are all lied to up to 200 times a day, she says, from the white lies that allow society to function smoothly to the devastating duplicities that bring down corporations and break up families. Working with a team of researchers over several years, Meyer, who is CEO of social networking company Simpatico Networks, collected and reviewed most of the research on deception that has been published, from such fields as law-enforcement, military, psychology and espionage. She then became an expert herself, receiving advanced training in deception detection, including multiple courses of advanced training in interrogation, microexpression analysis, statement analysis, behavior and body language interpretation, and emotion recognition. Her research is synthetized in her bestselling book Liespotting.

Quora - what is it and how do you use it?

Quora is "a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question." (per Quora)

I joined Quora a few weeks ago and am still trying to figure out the best way to use it personally and professionally since it seems pretty jumbled and very tech-focused. I may find that I should concentrate on other things, yet I want to give it a try.

As such, I came across this article on Inc.com entitled "10 Tips on Using Quora for Business" by Tim Donnelly.  Tim began the article with helpful info about Quora:

Quora, the easy to navigate question-and-answer service built on a social-media backbone, has soared in popularity since launching in 2009. Founded by a Facebook CTO, the site has already attracted high-level executives, journalists, industry insiders, and entrepreneurs, all eager to answer a vast array of questions for free. The site is rife with crowd-sourced queries, with a comprehensive listing and incentive to stay in touch with a network of people.

But on a site whose range of topics stretches from "Do Silicon Valley VCs invest in European early-stage startups?" to "Given our current technology and with the proper training, would it be possible for someone to become Batman?" how can you maximize its potential for your business? We asked to a few Quora pioneers who've quickly found ways to take advantage of the site for their tip.

His 10 tips (each by a Quora user) where helpful. As with any top 10 list, the explanation attached to the main point is where the meat of the information is so read the article. In summary, his 10 points are:

1. Find new ideas to talk about
2. Open the lines of communication
3. Sharpen your communication skills
4. Don't self-promote
5. Ask good questions
6. Build a presence
7. Monitor and engage
8. Do market research
9. Prove your worthiness
10. Don't over-promote yourself

I will give Quora a chance for a while.  Our competitors are not present (yet, maybe) but some clients are and there are certainly industries we have specializion in that are members of the Quora community.  Are you using Quora and, if so, what has been your experience? 

The Curse of "Later"

Ford Harding's blog is a must read for any serious professional who is currently a rainmaker or is on his or her way to becoming one. A recent post talked about missed opportunities when we wait or what he calls "slippage." 

I know that for me the word "later" is the bane of my existence. I can rationalize why I will do something "later" when I can easily do it right now. 

In the post, Ford relates "slippage" to missed opportunities to ask the client for help you in return for excellent work:

The client’s desire to help you in return for the excellent work you did ebbs as she gets absorbed by other urgent matters. The prospective client loses some of the enthusiasm generated at your meeting. The network contact also forgets the conversation you had as the days go by.

This is one of the reasons that rainmakers feel a sense of urgency about following up. No matter how busy they are, they find time to follow up on such opportunities, recognizing that all their hard work to produce them loses value as time slips by.

Do you have that sense of urgency?  Read the whole thing here and bookmark his blog. 

What Type of Social Media Animal Are You?

Scott Blatchley of the blog, Toothbone, challenged his readers to add to his list of eleven "social media animals."  From his blog:

"The idea is to get people using the animal descriptions to reflect their current moods/purposes or demonstrate their personality – for example sblatchley(bee). How ubiquitous can we make this if we all use our networks?"

Here are a few of my favorites from the list:

• Owls – good sources for advice and wisdom.
• Parrots – only pass on links or repeat what others say.
• Meercats – self-appointed police, they report abuse & online dangers.
• Puppy Dogs – desperate for any kind of friends or online connections.
• Otters – Swims in conversation. Jumps ashore. Observes. Jumps in again for more (the runner-up answer in the competition).
• Hummingbirds – known for their quiet energy – natural pollinators, vibrant and resourceful whilst spending adequate time at each flower they visit.
• Sloths – hangs around, watching and eats leaves. They move slowly.
• Fleas – professional networkers looking for business people to bleed.
• Kitty cats – social network on their terms, watch and playfully engage, then go back to sleep again. Occasionally engage in fights.

The Value of Helping People

Every year we exhibit at a large conference of estate planning attorneys.  Last year, I met a young man from my hometown who just recently graduated with his LLM degree.  He called me a few months later after graduation asking if I knew of anyone he might talk to regarding a job.  I put him in touch with an estate planning attorney friend who was very helpful to him.

I saw the young man again today (I am at the conference again this year) and the young man came up to thank me for helping him.  He has started his own practice with the advice of my friend.  Once he has a  need for the services my firm provides, guess who he will call? 

Moral of the story: You never know where business will come from.  Always be nice.  Always be as helpful as you can and not just for business reasons.  It's just the right thing to do.

Top 10 Mistakes of LinkedIn Users

Christine Pilch, a co-owner at Grow My Company and Marketing Director at Bacon Wilson PC, Attorneys at Law wrote a short article entitled "Top Ten Mistakes People Make on LinkedIn" for Legal Marketing Technology. 

Oops.  I see that I commit at least half of the mistakes.  Read the article while I go and clean up my LinkedIn profile, which you can access here.

ABA Launches Social Networking Site

The ABA has launched LegallyMinded, an online social networking site.  Its tag line is "Legal Professionals.  Your Community.  Your Network." 

It allows attorneys to make connections on-line.  Yet, you do not have to be a member of the ABA to join.  Take a few minutes to poke around the site and register.  It looks interesting.

From "About LegallyMinded":

LegallyMinded is an online community serving the legal profession. Our goal is to create an unparalleled resource that gathers law school students, academics, firm administrators, legal support staff, judges, paralegals, attorneys, law librarians and other professionals to contribute, network, and collaborate online.

The community fuses cutting-edge social networking features, top-notch news and articles, and user-generated content. LegallyMinded enables you to:

• Connect with Peers. Expand your professional network using member-matching features to discover like-minded professionals. Find mentors, research employers, or meet new friends.
• Share Knowledge. Exchange ideas, files, and schedules within virtual groups and engage with other members via blogs, wikis, chats, and discussion groups.
• Explore Resources. LegallyMinded editors scour the Internet for the best content on Careers, Education, Practice Management, and Diversity, among other topics.
• Schedule Meetings. Set up meetings with community members using your integrated calendar.
• Voice Your Opinions. Rate and comment on community content.

The site is presented by the American Bar Association, the world's largest voluntary professional association. However, membership to LegallyMinded is free, and you are not required to become an ABA member to participate.

Hat Tip: Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog

Duct Tape Marketing : Twitter for Business Live Webinar

For those of you who are interested in Twitter, John Jantsch over at Duct Tape Marketing is joining with social media guru Chris Brogan to present a live webinar entitled "Twitter for Business."  Thursday, December 11, Noon CST.

For more information about Twitter, see the following links:

• My Twitter Experience and Some Twittequette (Michelle Golden)
• Five Part Series on Twitter (Jennifer Laylock)
• TweeterBlog (Jack Bastide)
• Automating Social Media Activity (John Jantsch)

Online social networking : is anyone doing it?

Larry Bodine has a good article on his blog entitled "Social Networking: Crowded But Silent."  He wrote it for the April 2008 edition of Law Technology News.

The article begins:

What if you gave a party, hundreds of people showed up, but almost nobody talked to each other? That describes the state of social networking for lawyers on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and the new Plaxo Pulse. The masses get the idea, but only the evangelists are using it.

Give it a read if you're interested in how people use (or don't use) social networking tools.

Where is the real networking happening?

Our firm is exhibiting at the 2006 Tennessee Tax Institute today and tomorrow.  The meeting attendance is getting smaller each year which has been the trend with these type meetings in numerous states for several years.  The declining attendance is not due to the Institute itself.  The program is first-rate as is the location and organization. 

Is the advent of so many other, less expensive CPE and CLE choices making traditional meetings such as this less attractive?  And more importantly:  where is the real networking going on?  Several clients and referral sources attend and support this meeting and we are happy to be here.  These clients and referral sources are some of the premier attorneys and CPAs in the city.  This is a prime networking opportunity so why is the meeting attendance getting smaller every year?  We are not the only ones asking this question.  The Trustees of the conference are asking it as well.

It seems to me that if a company makes a decision to opt for less expensive CPE and CLE opportunities for their professionals at the greater expense of lost networking opportunities, it is short-sighted.  But maybe I do not see the whole picture.  What are your thoughts?