Author: Guy Alvarez

The Social Law Firm

Over the last few years American businesses have embraced a new way of thinking, remaking themselves as less hierarchical and more social enterprises. This organizational change has been facilitated by new technology and a new communications paradigm. It seeks to harness the opportunity for productive social and business interaction that has been made possible by […]

Is Social Collaboration the Key to Associate Retention?

Meet Charles Newbie. Charles is a first year associate at an Am Law 100 law firm. Charles has been given the task of researching whether or not a client violated Section 19(b)(1) and Section 19(g)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act as well as Section 17(a) and Rule 17a-1 when it failed to promptly provide information requested by […]

The Three Levels of a Social Business

There have been many attempts over the last year to define what a social business is. IBM, Salesforce.com and many other enterprise software companies are spending a significant amount of money on advertising and marketing, trying to educate business owners of the benefits and values a social business offers. Yet for all their efforts, I […]

Can a Law Firm Become a Social Business?

A couple of weeks ago, I had an opportunity to speak on a panel at Business Development Institute‘s Social Media Marketing Summit for Law Firms. It was a very well executed event with approximately 200 law firm professionals in attendance.

Is Middle Management the Enemy of Social Business?

In order for an organization to truly become a social business, the culture has to be right. Social tools enhance transparency within an organization. There is no more hiding behind email or highly structured business silos. Social tools, especially Enterprise Social Networks (“ESN”), have the functionality that make it possible for every employee in an […]

Why Professional Services Firms need Enterprise Social Networks

Has the effective transfer of tacit knowledge become a reality? Thirteen years ago we lived in a different world. The hot buzzword back then was Knowledge Management. KM as defined by Wikipedia “comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organisation to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences. Such insights and experiences […]

Why Most Agencies Don’t Get Social

This one will probably get me in trouble. Nonetheless, I believe its time somebody said it. Most ad and PR agencies don’t really understand social media as a way to engage with customers and prospects. I am not the only one who believes it. I have had many a conversation with other business owners and […]

Insider Tips to Successfully Launch an Enterprise Social Network

Launching a successful Enterprise Social Network (“ESN”) is not about technology. It’s about people Let me repeat that. Launching a successful Enterprise Social Network is not about technology. It’s about people. As a social business consultant, I have been a part of ESN deployments at three different companies. The first one did not go great. The […]

What’s Next? Four Emerging Social Networks to Monitor

  Pinterest? Been There, Done That. Instagram? That’s yesterdays’ news. Tell me what’s hot. Tell me what’s new. Tell me what, as a social media marketing professional, I should be paying attention to. Well….after conducting exhaustive research and speaking to the so-called “experts”, here are four public emerging social networks that in my opinion have […]

Seven Value Propositions of Enterprise Social Networks

By now most companies are aware of the value of social media marketing. Many companies have set up their presence on the public social networks: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube… Some are even taking advantage of the newer social networks such as Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr. Marketers are busy monitoring their brands and writing remarkable content […]

What Can Kids Teach Us About Social Media?

Do you find yourself constantly competing for your kids attention? When you are having dinner, or at a movie or sitting in the car trying to have a conversation? I do. All the time. It is a constant source of irritation for me because as a divorced father I really don’t get to spend that […]

Social Business: If Your CXOs Are Not Social, Your Business is Not Social

Sponsorship is not the same as leadership. When working with clients, one question I always ask before I take on a project is “what is the level of support and involvement that your executives plan to have?” The answer I usually get is that the executives have committed to be major sponsors or supporters of the […]