Ideas to Organize Social Media for Court Reporters

My husband and I have a number of different ventures that while related, each have their own strategy and purpose when it comes to how we use social media. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or freelance court reporter, make the most of your effort by asking yourself (and your team if you have one), these questions:

• Who is your target market?
• Which social sites are right for you?
• What’s your strategy?

Once you answer those questions, you will be able to organize and execute a focused plan.

Identify Your Target Market

Before you begin, you’ve got to know who you want to reach or why you’re on social media for your court reporting business. You may want to target women-owned court reporting agencies or family law attorneys; whatever you choose, you can then begin to develop a plan to reach them.

Choose the Right Social Media 

In 2010 when I started my adventure in social media, the strategy was to have a presence on the top three sites – Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter – and to post consistently. While still the best practice, we know a lot more about users and analytics today than we did back then.

• Facebook is business to consumer (B2C) but there are opportunities for court reporters to connect with reporting agencies via their pages, and connect with other reporters in groups.
• LinkedIn is business to business (B2B) and you’re likely to connect with clients, prospective clients, other reporters, and other freelancers through your profile and in groups.
• Twitter is likely not the most effective but can be interesting to search hashtags relevant to #courtreporters and share articles and original content.

Choose one site where you will spend most of your time and another where you spend less time. That way you’re not running two strategies and managing time and effort on multiple platforms. 

Create a Strategy

Once you’ve identified the right social media for court reporters, ask yourself:

• What is the purpose?
• Will what I am sharing add value?
• What do I want people to learn about me, court reporting, or freelancing from this post?

Ask these questions as you’re researching and posting on social media so you stay focused and avoid posting cat memes. There’s nothing wrong with them but there is definitely a time and place and it’s not on a professional post.

A sample strategy would be connecting with other court reporters, finding a mentor, identifying court reporting agencies or law firms in your area, and establishing yourself as an expert. If what you want to post falls outside that, it’s likely not right to post it on your professional profile.

Use Professional Pages for Business 

All too often I see people using their personal profile to promote their business and it makes me frustrated. It’s clear in the Facebook Terms of Service, for example, that you shouldn’t be using your personal profile for business.

That’s why there are business pages. Create one for you as a professional and connect with colleagues. At this time, you will still need to interact in groups as your personal profile but you don’t have to be friends with anyone in groups to see what they’re saying. In this way you can position yourself as an expert and get the news, assistance, and feedback you want to be a successful Las Vegas court reporter.

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