Everyone's familiar with the old adage that a a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Yet no where is that advice more important, or less frequently heeded than in a service profession like law. All too often, lawyers direct their marketing budgets and personal energy at attracting a steady stream of prospects, yet scrimp when it comes to impressing existing clients.

Compare the effort that many lawyers devote to attracting prospects versus how they treat existing clients. The lawyer who once offered a free consult to a potential client now bills for every ten minute phone call now that the client is engaged. The lawyer who readily skipped lunch to meet with a prospect, now takes a week to return phone calls after she's been engaged. The lawyer who thought nothing of paying $100 for leads that could generate a $1500 matter now charges the client for postage and hands the client his documents in a cheap manilla folder because the lawyer is too cheap to pay a few more dollars to provide the client with a nicer looking packet that might really make a good impression.

It's not surprising that lawyers don't pay more attention to service. After all, most lawyers are results-oriented and figure that a client's experience doesn't matter so long as the lawyer attains a good result. In addition, in contrast to auto-service where customers return repeatedly for check-ups and other problems, most consumers of legal services - whether it's a criminal case or preparation of a will or a bankruptcy - rarely have a need to return to the lawyer once the case is closed. Thus, lawyers may figure that they won't get much return on investment in customer service since few clients some back.

Most of these assumptions are misplaced. Though competence counts more than cheeriness in handling a client matter, even so, most clients who are paying a significant sum of money for a service want to be treated well, as a matter of basic courtesy. In addition, while many clients don't necessarily bring in repeat business, those that do represent low-hanging fruit: as I showed in this slide deck, you'll spend 11 times more to bring in a new client than to generate business from existing clients.

Finally - and most importantly, even if satisfied clients don't have more business

So why is maintaining ties to clients so important? Several reasons. First, it's cheaper to get business from your present clients. As I noted in this previously posted slide deck, it costs a whopping eleven times more to bring a new client through the door than to mine existing clients for business. The statistic makes sense - we're all familiar with the enormous resources involved in getting your name out just so that a prospect can find you and thereafter, closing the deal. With existing clients, the expense of bringing them in is virtually eliminated, because they already know who you are. Moreover, having hired you once before, most of your past clients trust you - so the only hurdle left is convincing them of a need for additional legal service.

Of course, not all lawyers get (or want to get) repeat business. Many legal matters - such as bankruptcy, criminal law and family law involve one time situations rather than an ongoing relationship. Even there, however,

lawyers will reap rewards from treating clients well, because they'll go out of their way to refer clients, or at least, provide a favorable testimonial, which is also a valuable benefit. In fact, that's the whole strategy behind online shoe company Zappo's iconic customer service: the company recognizes that customers who are bowled over by Zappo's great service will recommend the company to others.

So what does it take to treat clients well? It's not rocket science. For starters, put yourself in your clients' shoes, and think about the experiences that thrill you and alternatively, those that tick you off. For example, no one likes to be nickel-and-dimed -- an experience now common when traveling by airplane; so don't charge clients for ten minute phones calls and postage.

Other ideas include offering special services to clients - perhaps a free or low cost annual review of a will or incorporation that you've already prepared. The ongoing service keeps clients from even thinking about using other firms. Further, if you happen to learn of a change in the client's circumstances while undertaking the review, the client might retain you to make the necessary corrections. You can also use new mobile tools, as described here to send coupons to a webinar or a free consultation to clients that they can use themselves or pass on to a friend. Free webinars are another extra that clients may appreciate.

But most of all, clients just want to be treated like human beings. Which means making it easy for clients to get in touch with you and leave a message. Or returning phone calls and emails when you promised to do so. Or just remembering basic courtesies like asking about your client's family or sending birthday cards.

To reference another adage, just as the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, so too prospective clients may seem superior to existing ones - possibly richer or with more complex or interesting matters. But if you're always looking for business in another yard, you may neglect cultivating the clients right in front of you and in doing so, you may miss out on the many benefits that a loyal client base can bring to your firm.

It's been a while since I've done a marketing round-up post -- either updating older posts or throwing out a couple of links.  So let's get started, and see what's new in the world of legal marketing.

Generating Business From Conferences

A while back, I posted about how you can market your practice through speaking engagements.  Of course, speaking engagements at a conference can be hard to come by.  If that's the case, you can also extract value just from attending a conference - particularly if you read this piece, How to Use Conferences to Generate Business Opportunities by Lee Rosen which appears in the May 2010 issue of TechnoLawyer.  Rosen sets out a three-phased approach for conferences which includes: (1) pre-conference reconnaissance where you identify prospects you want to meet, as well as rehearsal on what you'll say; (2) working the conference, which involves getting around during the conference to meet attendees and (3) post-conference follow up.  (Incidentally, as the video at the end of this post shows, a whopping 80 percent of conference attendees fail to follow up on leads).

The Importance of Being Mobile

Over the past year, I've twice posted -- here and here about the increased importance of being mobile when it comes to marketing.  Well, mobility still matters more than ever.  As law firm marketing gury Larry Bodine reports at his Law Marketing Blog, smart phone ownership is up 38 percent, and lawyers need to start thinking about ways to deliver marketing and education-based contents through mobile media.  Along these same lines, a recent post at Marketing Profs notes that frequent users of social media (those who use social networking sites several times a day) have more than doubled to 39 million in 2010, up from 18 million a year earlier.  These frequent users are likely to be using mobile technologies, both to engage in social media and for other purposes.  In short, it's not premature to think about ways to make your web content and other marketing messages accessible for mobile platforms.

Marketing Tips from MyShingle

For those of you who don't read my blog at MyShingle, I occasionally post marketing ideas over there.  In the past month or so, I've posted on ways to market your practice on the government's dime and also created the short video below on Marketing by the Numbers for lawyers.

Marketing by the Numbers: A Thirteen Minute WhyTo on Marketing A Law Practice from Carolyn Elefant on Vimeo.

If you've come to this post expecting a checklist of criteria by which to evaluate your current marketing efforts or implement a new marketing initiative, then you've come to the wrong place.  Those kinds of checklists (especially a task list) are useful to be sure, because they make it easier to delegate marketing to a subordinate or assistant so that it doesn't go by the wayside when your schedule picks up.  But today, I'm addressing another category of checklist:  the kind that lawyers use, or at least should use, that outline the steps or procedures involved in handling the substance of a case.

If the "checklist" concept sounds familiar to you, it's because it's the focal point of Anul Gawande's book, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, which has been the subject of many-a-recent blog post.  I recently finished the book myself and was convinced by Gawande's thesis:  that the "humble" checklist can minimize error in carrying out complex tasks by helping with memory recall and setting out the minimum necessary steps in a process.  Moreover, by committing routine procedures to a hard and fast list, a checklist frees up professionals to devote more time to the kinds of judgment calls that they always have to make, whether there's a list in place or not.

Gawande draws on examples from medicine, engineering and aviation to demonstrate how checklists can minimize error.  In the medical profession for example, a study showed that by using a checklist for placing a central line (comprised of seemingly mundane tasks like wearing a mask or body-draping a patient), the  the ten-day infection rate was reduced from 11% to zero.  But you can probably imagine situations in your own practice where a checklist - such as the essential elements of a personal injury complaint to a list of documents required to file a bankruptcy petition - could also help avoid error and eliminate the risk of dismissal of a case.

OK.  So you're convinced of the importance of checklists.  But what's that got to do with marketing?  Plenty.  Consider these potential ways to use checklists to market your practice educate your clients and keep your firm at the forefront of their mind.  Here are some ideas:

1.  Create a task-oriented checklist of all of the steps involved in a particular type of proceeding -- for example, a typical divorce dispute.  Post the checklist on your website or blog, or publish it online as a mini-ebook.  The checklist will help clients understand all of the steps involved in even a so-called simple divorce.  As a result, the list can help weed out prospects who aren't really serious about divorce, but nevertheless, eat up your time at a free consultation.  And where a client does hire you, a task-oriented checklist helps clients know what to expect, and also familiarizes them with the amount of work that their case may potentially entail - which can help reduce complaints about excessive fees down the line.

2.   Create a client "to do checklist" - for example, a list of documents that clients should bring to the first meeting or gather together for a bankruptcy filing or preparation of an estate plan.  A client to do checklist will help you to market your practice because it makes clients' lives easier.  Going through a bankruptcy or preparing an estate plan is stressful enough for busy clients; it's even more stressful if they need to keep providing additional information because they forgot to write down a particular item that is required.  Clients will appreciate a checklist that they can work from and they'll appreciate it even more if you offer it on your website and in both paper and computerized format, so that they don't have to keep calling for another copy if they lose the list.  Satisfied clients will provide positive testimonials, which if accurate and sincere, are one of the most effective ways to attract new clients.

3.  Create a post-engagement checklist for clients to use after you've finished the matter for which you were retained.  Even after you've finished a case for a client, there are still matters for which they are responsible, or that may trigger further legal action.  For example, even after an incorporation is complete, the client retains responsibility for filing annual reports and other documents to keep the corporation in good standing.  Creating a checklist of these post-representation matters will help the client avoid problems down the line.  And if you put the checklist on your law firm letterhead (or if you're feeling particularly ambitious, create a branded mobile app for a client to download a checklist on his or her phone), clients can always get in touch with you for follow up questions or problems.

For other matters - like a bankruptcy discharge or a divorce and child custody agreement - you'll want to create a checklist to help clients determine whether they need further assistance.  For example, after a bankruptcy, clients shouldn't be getting calls from creditors whose debts were already discharged - and if they do, they should call you.  Likewise, for divorce matters, a lawyer might identify a list of events - such as loss of a job or an ex-spouse's remarriage or relocation - that may trigger the filing of modification petitions.

Checklists are an ideal marketing tool:  they educate clients and enable lawyers to serve them more effectively.  Checklists aren't as flashy as a T.V. commercial or even a fancy website, but they're inexpensive and most of all, something that lawyers should be creating for their practices anyway.  So when you get around to making a list of the tools that you want to use to market your practice, be sure to include the humble checklist.

I've posted a few times about do-it-yourself tips for search engine optimization.   Professional SEO companies can be expensive, so doing SEO yourself, especially if you're starting out, can save you money.  Moreover, doing your own SEO, at least for a short period, gives you a better understanding of how it works, thus enabling you to evaluate professional SEO companies.

But let's say you reach a point where despite best efforts, you're still not getting much visibility in the search engines.  Or you've gotten so busy that you no longer have the time to diligently tag your blog posts or research key words.  In these situations, you might consider hiring a professional SEO company.   And if you take that route, this article from the ABA's Law Practice Management magazine, Making Your Web Site Visible: How to Find a Good SEO Company by Sharon Nelson and John Simek is required reading.

For starters, just as with marketing consultants, choosing an SEO company is a process fraught with peril.  Hiring a shady or unethical company that uses deception or under-handed techniques can will get you visibility, alright.  It just may not be the kind you want.

Importantly, Nelson and Simek recognize these dangers.  Thus, they advise lawyers to seek out personal recommendations from colleagues and to avoid companies that guarantee top five placement on Google  in a month - because that's an impossible promise to keep without some kind of gamesmanship. 

In addition, the SEO business tends to attract fly-by-nighters and get-rich-quick types.  So Nelson and Simek suggest that you research the company's history to determine how long it's been in business and how many people it employs.  They also point out that reputable SEO companies will list their clients -- you can then search for those clients on line and see how they present in search results.  Finally, Nelson and Simek recommend that lawyers use SEO companies that have worked with attorneys in the past, because those companies tend to be more familiar with the ethics constraints that lawyers face.

Lawyers should also compare pricing (which varies widely between companies) and closely review the terms of the contract, including whether any minimum duration is required.  Also, the arrangement with the SEO company should include preparation of regular reports so you can determine whether the SEO campaign is working.

Perhaps Nelson's and Simek's best advice is essentially to manage expectations.  As they emphasize throughout, SEO companies can help, but at the end of the day, they can't do much to improve your visibility if you're not producing content or taking other action to drive traffic to your site. 

SEO is only one part of the marketing equation.   So while you might hire an SEO company to kick your marketing campaign up another notch, realize there's no point in investing time and money to improve your website's or blog's SEO if clients have nothing to see when they arrive.

Many lawyers exhibit Type A personalities in the court-room or board-room:  highly competitive, ambitious, business-like and aggressive.  Yet when it comes to choosing the appropriate typography for the documents used in court or exchanged during transactions, these same lawyers are far more laid back, rarely searching for choices beyond the default Times-New Roman.

So how does lawyer typography relate to legal marketing, which after all, is the focus of this blog?   As I'll spell out below, one Helvetica character as a time, in the Internet Age, typography matters to lawyer marketing more than ever, largely because the web makes lawyers' writing so widely accessible.

I.  The Letter of The Law Is Everywhere 

In an Internet Age, lawyers' writings are available to all. These days, virtually every law firm has a website, and many have blogs which together comprise a large portion of lawyers' writing on the Internet.  These sites require careful typography choices to ensure that the site caters to its audience.  Thus, a site aimed at the elderly should employ large font on light backgrounds, while a site for younger folks might use an edgier look. 

But, bear in mind, typography issues aren't limited to on-line postings (and indeed, for websites and blogs, is not as critical because readers can, as a last resort, bypass the site through use of RSS feeds or email).   The more significant typography problems, in my mind, are those related to previously paper-based documents that are now rapidly making their way online.  For example, some law firms publish e-books to show their expertise in a particular subject matter and educate prospective clients.  Lawyers routinely make e-books available for download at their websites or post them at article archiving sites which means that the e-books are viewable by a far broader circle than their predecessors, the pamphlet, the law review article or the treatise.       

Likewise, a decade ago B.E.F. (before e-filing), lawyers submitted hard-copies of pleadings or briefs to the court.  Most of those hard copied documents lived out their existence in practical obscurity in courthouse file cabinets, unviewed by anyone besides the judge and the parties involved in the case.  Fast forward to today when anyone can search PACER or a state electronic filing system and find and download briefs and pleadings.  As with e-books, sites like JD Supra offer lawyers an SEO-charged location to upload work product for colleagues and potential clients to review.

The upshot of all this is that both the substance and style of lawyers' writing, is on display.  More importantly, readers' impression of the the latter can influence their opinion of the former.  For example, a reader who downloads a law firm e-book on Fighting Foreclosure that resembles a legal memo - single spaced, Times New Roman font on white paper - may assume that the e-book is written in complex legal-ese without bothering to take a closer look.  Alternatively, the reader might view the e-book as cheap-looking or homemade and wonder about the firm's financial stability, its availability of support staff or potentially, even its competence.   

Likewise, even the typography in briefs and memos tells a story to those who care to "read between the lines."  For starters, a lawyer's choice of typography for a brief can signal to others whether that lawyer is familiar with the rules of the jurisdiction, which often dictate font selection.  Others may wonder whether the lawyer still using a dated font like courier has actually practiced much in recent years.  Finally, some readers will simply feel annoyed or frustrated as they try to work their way through a fifty page memo on the complexities of securities law in font comfortably visible only under a magnifying glass.  

Granted, most of the concerns just described (with the exception of the one related to ability to follow rules) are based on leaping and most likely, inaccurate assumptions. Nevertheless, whether fair or not, the kinds of negative impressions that clients may glean from a lawyer's chosen typography can result in lost business.

On the flip side, however, smart typography choices can help lawyers market their practice.  Bold fonts and interesting layout make an e-book look so crisp and attractive that clients can't resist reading it.  A font that's compatible with other lawyers with whom you work shows that you know what you're doing.  And a unique typography style -- perhaps an unusual combination of readable and stylish fonts --  can serve as your brand, so that all who see the document  know that it's from your firm even before they flip to the signature page.

II.  A Font of Font Solutions

So how can lawyers pick the type of typography that's right for them?  For major products like e-books, engaging a professional to assist with design and typography choice is probably the best solution.  But hiring professional help may not be within your budget, nor is a designer a cost-effective approach for traditional documents like briefs or memos.

Fortunately, the web is a font of information on font selection.  Below are some resources to get you started:

1.  The beautifully designed Typography for Lawyers site offers the most detailed and comprehensive information on font choices for lawyers.  Plus, it includes examples of each font discussed, so you can see how they look in action.

2.  For transactional lawyers, Adams Drafting principal Ken Adams, describes his preferred choice of Calibri as a font for contract drafts here.

3.  The Seventh Circuit discusses federal court typography requirements and offers advice to lawyers on how to choose, as does this journal article, Painting With Print by Ruth Ann Robbins.

4.  Big Brand System explains different types of font and suggests ways to combine them.

5.  Here's a great infographic (kind of like a flowchart) from Julian Hansen that you can use to select the right font for your project.  (In fact, it's that chart that inspired this post).

Finally, if you're interested in a new font to spiff up a blog or website, Google just introduced a bunch of web fonts, free for download. 

III.  Conclusion

As I stated at the outset, many lawyers are already Type A personalities.  For that reason, it shouldn't be too difficult to convert them into Typography-A students as well, once lawyers wake up and realize how much the "letters of the law" matter to potential clients.




 

These days, when I speak about practice issues to lawyers, I'm often asked to comment on trends for social media and legal marketing.  In my mind, the future points in the direction of increased mobility, and concomitantly, mobile marketing.  In fact, just a few months back, I posted about bullish projections for mobility (as well as tips on how to market on mobile media) and since then, it seems that mobile media is gaining even more momentum.

Consider these numbers.  According to ClickZ.com, Apple's App store revenues are expected to grow from $4.2 billion in 2009 to $29.5 billion in 2013, with mobile advertising predicted to increase to $914 million.  Meanwhile, Android, iPhone, and iPod touch users are averaging a whopping 79 to 80 minutes per day engaged with apps.  Moreover, demand for apps is on the rise, with companies turning to sites like Elance to hire new developers.  And with the recent ipad launch, app demand will likely increase even further.

So who's spending all that time on mobile phones?  As a noted previously, mobile media is more popular with some groups than others.  In addition, it's important to understand not just the demographics of usage, but the purpose for which certain categories of users employ mobile media.

Fortunately, there's some new research data available.  According to Drop Ship Access, women are more likely to purchase from a cell phone, which suggests that they might be receptive to buying legal services through a mobile platform.  On the other hand, men tend to use phones to comparison shop - which means, they'd likely spend time reviewing lawyers' websites and credentials on their phones.

The most surprising statistic to me related to seniors:  Seniors (82%) are much more likely than the traditional user (64%) to use their mobile phones to educate themselves.  With that in mind, lawyers who target senior clients might want to be sure to deliver education based materials, like blog content or produce articles that render quickly on mobile devices.

Bottom line:  it may be time for lawyers to start moving towards mobility when it comes to marketing.

If you've always wanted to create a video to market your law practice but were deterred by cost, you're in luck!  Courtesy of Google (as well as marketing guru Larry Bodine, who passed the tip along), you can put together a nifty "search stories video" for your practice that mimics the style of Google's inaugural Super Bowl Ad.  A couple of my colleagues have already taken the service out for a test drive, with outstanding results, depicted below (for my own attempt, visit here):

 

Victor Medina

Robert Kraft

Using Google's search stories video is just one part of the marketing lesson for this post.  Consider this second idea.  Look at how effectively Google is branding itself with these free videos.  Everyone who puts one together and posts it on a site effectively provides another little bit of free advertising to Google (not that they need it!).  Well, what if you could create some type of branded tool that visitors to your website or law firm clients might use and share with others.  For example, if you represent small businesses, you might create an online business plan - users could fill in a form and generate a business plan, with your firm logo displayed on the back page.  Or if you handle adoption cases or estate planning for families with young children, consider creating an online "annual report" for a child, where users could fill out an online form with their children's major accomplishments and generate an attractive mini-report that they could share with relatives.  You could even consider developing an app for a phone that's branded with your law firm that potential clients might use.

Most likely, you probably don't have the tech skills to develop this kind of a generator.  Not to worry.  Turns out that there's enormous demand on sites like Elance for app developers - and you could likely find someone who's relatively inexpensive.  If the costs still seem prohibitive, why not team up with a couple of lawyers in other jurisdictions and share the costs?

Of course, if you don't feel ambitious enough to commission your own online application, Google search stories videos are impressive enough. 

According to the 2009 Benchmark Report on Professional Services Marketing, seminars and webinars are some of the most effective tools for attracting new clients and retaining existing ones.  The Report found that professional services use in person seminars (66%) and webinars (45%) to identify service providers and make hiring decisions.  The results apply with equal force to legal services; at the  Marketing with a Book blog, Henry DeVries writes that:

In 1991 a random survey of the top 1,000 U.S. law firms found that 89 percent held at least one client seminar per year. In 1999, 94 percent of law firms were regularly holding seminars. Lawyers at the top 1,000 firms ranked seminars as the most effective tool for cross-selling and gaining new clients (Source: FGI Research, 1999).

I've already discussed at length the benefits and how-tos of speaking events.  But for all their effectiveness, seminars and speaking events aren't without their drawbacks.  For starters, if you have a national or multi-state practice, you may have to travel to the event on your own dime, and lose billable time while you're away from the office.  Local events are more convenient if you can find a group that's willing to host you.  But you may have to rent space and serve refreshments, which are an added cost that may outweigh the benefits if only a handful of people actually show up.

Though webinars can't replace face to face events, they are a cost-efficient way to supplement live activities.  With today's low cost, user-friendly technologies, even a solo lawyer on a tight budget can put on several webinars a year and perhaps even make a few extra dollars by bundling and reselling the content.  Below, I'll describe what a webinar is, suggest ways that a webinar can work for any practice and finally, give some practical tips on getting started.

THE WHAT, HOW AND WHY ABOUT WEBINARS:

1.  What is a webinar?

Basically, a webinar is what the term implies -- a seminar delivered over the web.  Webinars offer several advantages over their poorer relation, the conference call.  During a webinar, you can present power point slides from your computer that participants can view on their screen.  Many webinar products (I'll discuss them in more detail at the end of this post) allow you to use whiteboard and mark-up features, so that you can highlight parts of your presentation, or demonstrate a skill - perhaps how to fill in a form or improve a contract draft - in real time. 

Other webinar products offer additional features that set them apart from conference calls.  Some incorporate video, so that participants can see you while you deliver your presentation while others will tape the webinar so that you can post it on YouTube or distribute a copy on a CD or thumb drive.  Some products allow participants to submit written questions or comments during the presentation which can be viewed by all other participants through a side bar.  During conference calls, listeners are often intimidated from posing questions, either to avoid being recorded or because they're simply not comfortable doing so.   All of these features make webinars are far more impressive and interactive for potential or existing clients than a simple conference call.

2.  Are webinars better for existing or prospective clients?

Webinars work extremely well for both.  A webinar gives a prospective client a more personalized and impressive introduction to your services.  In addition, a webinar can educate prospective clients, making them realize a need for your services.

As for ongoing webinars, they're a great way to help existing clients keep up to date on developments in the law while showing them that you value their business.   And of course, like newsletters, webinars let you stay in touch with existing clients so that you'll be first to come to mind when they're asked for referrals.

3.  What kinds of topics and practice areas work best for webinars?  Can webinars work even for a consumer oriented practice?

The scope of potential webinar topics is limited only by your imagination.  Consider the following ideas:

• Corporate, tax or regulatory attorneys:  The law in these practice areas is constantly in flux and clients are subject to an array of compliance issues.  Webinars are ideal for providing updates on changes in the law or offering tips on compliance and ways to keep out of trouble.
• Small business lawyers:  In addition to the issues discussed above, small businesses face a variety of legal issues, from leasing, zoning and property issues to employment, trademarks and copyright.  Many times these businesses don't have in house counsel, and aren't able to determine whether they need a lawyer or not.  Educating business owners about the legal issues they may face can help them figure out when it's time to call a lawyer - and that lawyer could likely be you!
  
• Consumer and general practice lawyers:  Holding a webinar on broad consumer issues, such as the need for will or how to draft a lease may not attract much attention if only because so many lawyers offer these seminars already.  However, niche topics - such as estate planning for single parents or parents, tips on writing a contract to hire a nanny or the basics of special education law are more likely to generate interest because these audiences less frequently served by in person seminars.
  
• Unbundled providers:  Many lawyers are beginning to handle legal matters on an unbundled basis.  For example, a lawyer might draft documents for a business incorporation or will but the client would have the responsibility to file the documents with the Secretary's office or execute the will before a notary.   Though most lawyers provide written instructions to clients on how to perform these tasks, a webinar could also be used to supplement the information provided - and clients would have a chance to ask questions as well. 
  

4.    What kinds of materials should I prepare for a webinar?
Again, you have many options.  You can create a power point presentation that participants will be able to view when they log in to the webinar.  Or, as you become more adept delivering webinars online, you could show websites to clients as part of your presentation.  For example, many government websites contain information on rules or filings that may interest your clients, but they may not know how to navigate the site.  You could show them how during the webinar.

5.  What technology is required to put on a webinar?
There are a number of different free and low cost webinar packages available.  I recommend using those that are "cloud" based, i.e., accessible over the web rather than those that need to be downloaded onto your computer or participants' computers.  In this way, participants can log in easily without any advance preparation and further, you avoid any Mac/PC compatibility issues.

As for specific programs, consider the following low cost options:
 DimDim - free for up to 20 users and also supports video (so participants can see you on the screen) and recording capability.
Glance - $49 per month for up to 100 users who can call in free (or available as a one time day pass for $9.95).
Go To Webinar - $49 per month, but only allows up to 15 users; up to 100 will cost $99/per month. 
WebEx $49 per month for up to 25 users; also offered with per minute charge.
Huddle.net - Really a hybrid web conferencing/project management tool.  $40/month for up to 5 users, but not an apples-apples comparison because the Huddle system includes document storage and other team management tools.

All of these services offer free service either on small scale or a trial basis, so play around with them to figure out which ones you like best.  In Part II of this post, I'll go through the nuts and bolts of setting up a webinar.

Facebook isn't just for friends anymore.  Increasingly, businesses are using Facebook for marketing, the New York Times reported last month.  And why not?  With 300 million users, Facebook is likely to be home to a substantial portion of a business' prospective and existing customers.  For that reason, Facebook helps businesses find new customers, build online communities to retain and provide perks to existing customers and even to access demographic information. 

Just like businesses, lawyers can also realize marketing benefits through Facebook.  At Inside Facebook, Sara Ines Calderon offers ten tips for ways that lawyers can use Facebook to market a practice.  I'll discuss some of those tips below and throw in a few of my own:

1.  Goals and Target Audience Definition:  Just like there's more than one way to skin a cat, there's more than one way to market a law practice on Facebook.  To figure out which marketing approach (or approaches) are right for you, you need to define your goals and identify your target audience.  For example, if you market to consumer clients, you may want to attract them with direct ads or try to educate them with articles or links to blog posts on relevant topics.  As discussed below, creating a Fan Page would support these goals.  By contrast, if you're trying to attract more conservative corporate clients who don't spend much time on Facebook, direct advertisements wouldn't have much value.  However, you might locate these clients indirectly through referrals from colleagues whom you can get to know personally through a Facebook friends page.

2.  Set Up A Fan Page:    A Fan Page is a Facebook page for a business or corporate entity rather than for an individual.  As a lawyer,  a Fan Page is important because it provides a way that you can interact with clients without allowing them to become privy to personal information and photos that you might share with close friends.   You can use a Fan page for a variety of purposes - to respond to questions about legal matters (in a general way, of course, to avoid any perception that you're giving legal advice), to share links to recent blog posts or to engage "fans" of the site in conversation.  You can also use a Fan page to issue invitations to events or to make special offers available - for example,  free consultations or a discount on certain legal services.

3. Direct Advertising:  With so many users on Facebook, advertisements can potentially attract a large audience.  Moreover, you can very specifically target ads to various demographics, including, country, state and city, gender, age and workplace.  There's more information on Facebook ads available here.

4.  Building Relationships:   Personal referrals are the primary source of business for most lawyers.  And most people prefer to make referrals to lawyers whom they know on  a personal basis.  Facebook offers a way to get better acquainted with colleagues and build a relationship that goes beyond the office or the bar meeting room.  In addition, when you interact with colleagues more frequently, you'll be at the top of their mind if they're asked to refer a matter.

Have you thought about using Facebook to market your practice?  How are you using it? 

Eight months ago, I described the benefits of email and newsletter marketing here.  And even though since that time, the the benefits of social media for SEO have become more widely recognized, marketing via newsletters still remain a powerful tool.  For starters, bear in mind that many of your prospects may not participate in social media, so sending an email newsletter enables you to target a population that you might otherwise miss on social media alone.  As for existing clients, newsletters help you stay in touch long after the attorney-client relationship ends, thus laying the foundation for future referrals or other work.  The Law Gazette offers a couple of examples of how firms in the UK are using newsletters for everything from promoting seminars to simply keeping clients up to date on news.

Newsletters also carry SEO value, as discussed here.  The newsletter can drive readers to a law firm website, thus increasing traffic and online visibility.  And, you can repurpose that newsletter content too.  Many law firms upload newsletters to article archiving sites which can further bolster online visibility.

So if you're thinking about starting an email newsletter or improving the one you have, check out Small Business Trends which provides 30 email marketing applications, ranging from free to fee. 

My blogging mantra has always been:


Most commonly, it's the "often" component of this equation that generates the most discussion and debate.  For example, a recent Portfolio story on lawyer blogs pointed out that:

[...] many are finding that feeding the blog beast with fresh content is a legal challenge unto itself. Lawyers and blog specialists say the best legal blogs generate at least several posts per week.

While it's important to blog often, particularly when getting a blog off the ground, timing is equally, if not more important than frequency.  In other words, you don't need to blog often so much as you need to blog early.

First to press:  One component of blogging early involves reacting quickly to a big news story, getting a post up on breaking news or a recently issued decision before other bloggers come on the scene.  When you post about a new development early, you make your blog indispensable to readers; a go to source of up to date information.  In addition, an early post on a topic ensures that other bloggers or media sources will link to or comment on your blog, therefore giving you more exposure.  A couple of rules about posting early, however. 

First, if there's a hot news story or just-issued judicial decision, don't just throw out a link with a single line like "read this!" or "breaking news!"  To make your post valuable, you must offer some original insight or prediction, even if it's based on a quick first impression.  You can always update the post or write a follow up as events emerge.  Second, you don't need to be first to press with every single news item, or you run the risk of converting your blog into a news feed rather than a source of analysis and conversation.  If you enjoy providing rapid feed on new developments, share your blurbs on Twitter, which offers a  better platform for short form writing than a blog.

Early in the morning:   When I say that you should blog early, I also mean it literally, as in early in the morning.   Many heavy blog readers like newspaper reporters (who can give you more exposure) or other lawyers (who can generate referrals) tend to scroll through their news feeders first thing in the morning in search of fodder for their own blog posts and stories.  If you can get your posts up early in the morning, they're more likely to be read when fresh.  By contrast, if you post on a time-sensitive topic later in the day, by the time your post comes up on an aggregator, it may be yesterday's news.

Early in the week:  Posting early in the week is important for two reasons.  First, (and though the evidence is hardly scientific), based on my experience at several different blogs, readership is generally highest on Mondays or Tuesdays.  A  survey of various design blogs reached a similar conclusion, though Thursdays were a close second.  Tuesday is also the most popular activity day for Twitter, which can also be a source of traffic to your blog if you tweet links to your posts.   Statistics aside, there's a second reason to post early in the week: it will allow more time for conversation to brew throughout the week which will also generate more traffic.

Early adapter:  Finally, if you're just starting a blog, you gain a tremendous advantage if you can establish yourself as first to market on a particular topic.  Indeed, many of the earliest blogs, like Howard Bashman's appellate law blog,  How Appealing continue to dominate not just because of quality but also a strong first mover advantage that helps keep competitors at bay.  Even though blogging is more common than five years ago, there's still plenty of room for lawyers to establish a blog on a  topic that's not yet been covered and benefit from a first mover advantage from that  particular niche.

In short, I can't emphasize this point often enough:  blog early!

Here is another post on this topic (from last year) from Blog for Profit.

 

If Shakespeare were alive in today's Internet-based, search engine optimization (SEO) obsessed world, instead of asking What's in a name, he might well have had Juliet ask  "What's in a [key] word?"  Because when it comes to SEO, keywords matter, as Jay Fleischman emphasizes over at Legal Practice Pro.   But whereas Juliet idealistically believed that "that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet," her observation wouldn't apply to SEO where subtle differences in terminology can yield less-than-sweet SEO results. 

So how can you determine whether the keywords will be effective in attracting traffic to your site?  Jay's Legal Practice Pro post offers a couple of starting points.  In addition, there's an even more recent post by Marshall Sponder of Entrepreneur that identifies seven free tools for evaluating the potential effectiveness of key words.

One tool suggested by Sponder is Microsoft AdLabs, which can help determine whether your intended service has commercial value based on the words you're using to describe it.  From the post: 

For example, "Ultra-Thin Insoles" is considered to have a 68 percent commercial value while "Comfortable Shoes" is considered by the tool to have a 96 percent commercial value. Finding the right way to describe what you're looking for will help you find it faster and cheaper, and help you monetize your offerings once your products or services are ready.

Other tools include Quantcast Marketing which you can use to obtain demographic information on customers which in turn, can inform keyword selection, and Wordstream Keyword Search, which will generate keyword suggestions.  For example, if you select "bankruptcy law," you'll see that many searches relate to the changes in bankruptcy law.  Since this term drives traffic, you may want to use it as a keyword and also target blog posts or web content to address this topic.

By using free tools to select effective keywords, you can create a rosy presence for yourself online without spending a bundle.  And that is sweet, indeed. 

It's hard to believe that nearly a decade into the 21st century, 52 percent of solo lawyers still don't have a website, according to the ABA's 2008 Tech Survey.  If you fall into this category, perhaps you figure that a web presence isn't relevant since most of your clients come by way of mouth or referral.   Even so, consider the message that lacking a website (or an alternative web presence like a blog conveys.  For starters, many prospective clients and referrers may conclude that if you haven't bothered to stay current on technology, then perhaps you've let your substantive legal knowledge slide as well.  Moreover, many clients regard a website as a basic convenience; a place where at a minimum, they can find contact information, an address and a photo.  By failing to provide this information online, you give the impression that you're insensitive to clients' needs.

Alternatively, the thought of getting a website up and running may intimidate you.  You've heard quotes from colleagues about $10,000 or even $20,000 sites and that's simply not in the budget.  As I'll discuss below, you certainly don't have to put up that kind of money for a basic site.

At the same time, if you're one of those lawyers who has had a website since the mid-1990s, don't pat yourself on the back just yet.   Though a website loaded with Flash, high graphic images and a couple of static pages may have been cutting edge a decade ago, in a more dynamic Web 2.0 age, it is likely showing signs of age.

So, if you don't have a website at all, or you're considering a face lift, consider these tips below to get you started.

1.  Take a trip around the Internet:  Why not start down the path to building a website with a trip of your own -- around the Internet -- and visit other websites for inspiration.  If you're on a listserv, now's the time to click on the URL in participants' signatures and take a look at what their sites look like, and whether it's something you'd want to replicate.  You can also find collections of lawyer websites online -- there's a terrific bunch here at LexCSS as a start.

Don't limit yourself to lawyer websites, though.  If you practice in a specific industry, like high tech or real estate or health care, you may find common conventions amongst those sites that would make sense to incorporate in yours.   Likewise, consultants and other professionals may include certain features that could benefit your practice as well.

2.  Develop a strategy  This article from Small Biz Trends emphasizes the importance of having a strategy -- a method to the madness, so to speak -- behind a website:

Your first step in creating your Web site is to outline the goals for that online presence. From there you'll be able to identify your calls to action and key content themes so that you can build around them. You want to know how the site will be used so that you can incorporate your navigation in a way that will be intuitive for users. You want to create content that will reinforce what you're trying to accomplish, it should be informative, and it should put people on a path to do whatever it is you want them to do. If you don't create a Web strategy before building the site, you're going to lose your focus and value for users.

How do you see potential visitors using your site?  Will it simply serve as a source of basic information?  What kind of contact will be useful to users?  Potential clients may be interested in educational materials or tip lists, whereas potential referral sources will want to information about your credentials and past accomplishments to determine whether to send you cases.

Also, consider your audience.  A corporate crowd likely won't be amused by a whimsical website while consumers won't feel welcome at a highly formal site.  Design your site with the audience in mind. 
 
3.  Website Features  Once you've looked at some of the other sites, and come up with a strategy put together a list of the features that you'd like to include in yours.   For example, an "About Us" page that describes your firm is fairly de rigeur.  But what about an "About You" page, which is a more effective way to make clients understand how you can help them.

Compare the following two descriptions: 

About Us:  I am a highly qualified business lawyer with 12 years of experience drafting leases, shareholder agreements and other business documents.

About You:  You are a small, mom and pop owned business with a need for cost-effective assistance in preparation of basic agreements to protect your rights.

From a client's perspective, which is more effective?

Other effective features include testimonials (though check bar rules to determine whether you can ethically include them), video, which adds a personal touch, an educational e-book, for download or a newsletter.  These features infuse your site with personality and also give clients a reason to contact you, even if only to get a free e-book or newsletter.

4.  Interaction In the 21st century, a website should be interactive.  You need a way for clients to contact you, whether it's through a contact sheet or through tools like Google Voice.

5.  Educate Yourself:  Once you've decided what kinds of features you'd like to include in yourself, educate yourself about the feasibility.  Many features that seem high-end are surprisingly easy to include, yet often site designers will charge an arm and a leg for them.  For example, you can install auto-responder services like Aweber to capture client contact information and enable them to sign up for a newsletter.  Many site designers will tell you that this kind of feature is costly when in reality, you could set it up yourself.  Likewise, companies will often charge several hundreds of dollars for "site maintenance" or updating pages when there are many tools that allow you to do this yourself.

Realize too, that at the end of the day, as a lawyer, you are responsible for your developer's work.  The Ninth Circuit just held that a small law firm, whose web designer lifted the content from a competitor's site and used it for the small firm's new website could be liable for copyright violations.  So if a developer charges a price that's too good to be true (because maybe he's done the same site before!) or provides professional sounding material that seems vaguely familiar, you may want to check around the web to make sure that the site that your designer presented  isn't already online under someone else's name.

6. Design Yourself or DIY  This piece by Deborah Bruce contains some good information on the range of costs of websites, from the low end do it yourself to retaining a designer.  Bruce suggests two easy and inexpensive do it yourself options, www.SpinSite.com for $12 per month and www.SquareSpace.com for $14 per month.  In addition to do it yourself and high end designers, consider a middle of the road solution, such as contracting a designer through Craigslist or Odesk, where you can generally find a developer in the $300-$700 price range. If you do hire a designer, be sure that you register your domain names yourself.  You don't want to find yourself in a conflict with a developer down the line and lose access to the domain name.

7.  The legal stuff:  No law firm website would be complete without the requisite legal disclaimers about how your site doesn't offer advice, how contacting a lawyer through the site doesn't give rise to attorney client privilege and that the site may be a form of advertising.  Check your bar rules to determine what kind of disclaimer is required.   Copyright notices are important as well to put potential infringers on notice.

There's no need to run a monster disclaimer right on the front page; you can simply link to it on a sub-page.  And you might even consider a somewhat humorous disclaimer like this one to satisfy your lawyerly duties but at the same time, show signs of a real personality.

8.  More Reading:  For more ideas on setting up a website, consider this extra reading:

This article from CNN Money offers a great, play-by-play makeover of a highly ineffective website belonging to a small firm in a small community.  Just because you practice in a small town doesn't mean that your website needs to be bumpkin-like, and the article offers great advice on how the lawyers could redesign the site to make it more user friendly and SEO-efficient. 

Solo and small firm lawyers are small businesses, and so they stand to learn a great deal from this piece on common mistakes of small business websites.  These include poor design, lack of interactivity and failing to give any reason for visitors to return.

Personality will help set a website apart, and Entrepreneur.com gives some quick tips on how to let your unique character shine through.

Jay Fleischman at Legal PracticePro provides seven quick fixes for improving an already existing website.

Designing a website correctly can take time, so why not start now?  A website presence is a great present, both for yourself and for your clients. 

When it comes to Internet marketing, there's no one size fits all solution.  The effectiveness of any of the tools that I've discussed here at the Legal Marketing Blawg, such as blogs, Twitter or video depends not just on whether your current or prospective clients spend time online but  also where and how they use the Internet.

To understand the importance of how clients use the Internet to your online marketing efforts,   consider the results of an April 2009 study by the Pew Internet Project released last month.  According to the study, 56% of those polled said they have at some point used wireless means for online access - a figure that's significant enough to convince most lawyers to either start or step up marketing measures online.

But the 56% figure doesn't tell the whole story about wireless use.  Turns out that even though African American Internet use via traditional means (such as home or office computers) is much lower than for the general population, African Americans represent the most active users of the mobile internet:

48% of Africans Americans have at one time used their mobile device to access the internet for information, emailing, or instant-messaging, half again the national average of 32%.

29% of African Americans use the internet on their hand held on an average day, also about half again the national average of 19%.

Based on these use rates, you'd be justified in engaging in any type of generic online marketing activities, such as putting up a website or purchasing online ads, if you wanted to attract and serve African American clients.  But given that nearly a full third of African Americans access the web through a hand held device, your online marketing campaign would be far more effective if you invested in those tools which are most compatible with hand held devices.  For example:

-Internet access through handheld devices is usually slower than through broadband wireless and a direct connection.  So a fancy, flash-driven website that may look impressive on a large screen might be clunky and frustrating to someone trying to view it on a cell phone. 

-Blogging can be an effective Internet marketing tool.  But lengthy tomes in small font don't mix with a hand held.  To keep a hand-held based audience engaged, either opt for shorter snappier posts that can be digested in a cell-sized screen or make sure that your blog is mobile compliant.

-Many mobile users frequently access YouTube.  For that reason, video may be an effective marketing option.  Likewise, Twitter offers several different mobile-accessible applications and could also serve as an effective medium to connect with mobile-enabled clients.

Depending upon what kinds of clients you intend to target, there are a myriad of other small tweaks that can make your online marketing more effective.  As I wrote in another context, you need to imagine your audience, or in this case, your clients:

What I mean by imagine your audience is to visualize the individual readers, from those who stumble across your site online to those who dutifully read your updates daily. Where are they reading your blog - in a Starbucks? Their office? At a basement computer after the kids are in bed? Are they dressed in stiff work clothes or wearing pajamas? Using an news reader or catch all site like Alltop to catch up on posts - or do they physically visit the site to get the information?  Printing out your posts in a public library because they don't have a printer at home, or scrolling through them casually on their iphone while riding the subway to a suburban mansion?  By imagining these details, you can refine the form of your post to match your audience's circumstances - for example, enlarging the font or brightening the page if you suspect folks are reading in dimly lit areas, or including an easy print or PDF option if your audience prefers hard copy.

Most lawyers would like to believe that online marketing begins and ends with search engine optimization, that by hiring a good consultant and driving traffic to your site, you'll generate clients.  But all of the SEO in the world isn't going to make a difference if prospects leave the destination once they arrive.  It's not until you understand how your target audience is reaching you online that you can make sure that their experience is pleasant (as opposed to frustrating and confusing) once they arrive.  That way, they're guaranteed to return, or even better, to stick around long enough to decide to give you a call.

Ah, the tagline -- that memorable phrase that pithily encapsulates the tone and premise of your brand or service.  No short string of words has ever proven more  frustrating to compose, or produced such satisfying results when it hits the right note.  After all, a terrific tagline (like solo David Kaufman's We Do Business Brawls or David Fuller's Lawyer for Tough Times) simultaneously conveys what you do while letting you stand out, while a clunker (We Care Because You Pay Us To) draws groans.  Perhaps the worst, however, is the the litany of utterly non-descriptive, generic taglines ("Committed To Your Success"; "A National Law Firm Creating Solutions") that run common to law firms and don't generate an iota of memorability.

Importance of a Tagline 

Creating the right tagline for your practice is a challenge for several reasons.  First, a good tagline begins with self-knowledge -- what makes your law firm unique and how that uniqueness benefits your clients.  So tagging your firm as "Compassionate, caring attorneys" addresses only one, the "uniqueness" part of the equation (and to be honest, compassion and caring isn't all that unique), but doesn't share how these characteristics will benefit clients.  An improvement on this tagline could be "Compassionate, caring attorneys who fix your credit problems, not criticize you for them."  It's not a great improvement, but the new tagline has some alliteration and more importantly, tells clients who may be ashamed about their financial situation -- that you'll help, not judge them.

The other tough part of a creating a tagline is making it sing -- finding the right rhythm and clever phrasing -- so that it sticks in people's minds.  This task is particularly difficult for lawyers accustomed to writing briefs and memos in thudding prose that lacks the light, bright precision that makes for a great tagline. 

Below are some ideas, from posts around the blogosphere, on ways to create your own unique tag line.

1. Take the tag line seriously.  Set aside some real thinking time to develop a tagline rather than just attempting to toss one out in an offhanded matter. You don't have to devote weeks or months to creating a tagline, but you should allow yourself six to eight hours over the course of a week to come up with some ideas.

2. Don't get caught in perfection-paralysis.  Some lawyers get too bogged down in creating a tagline, trying to anticipate all of the directions that their practice will take so that they can achieve nirvana with a tagline, when nifty would serve just as well.  The point is that taglines aren't set in stone; if your practice takes you down another path -- as it invariably will -- just change your tagline. 

Even major corporations' taglines evolve over time.  Growing up, I associated McDonald's with the tagline, "You deserve a break today," but now I'm accustomed to hearing my daughters' chanting, "I'm loving it" from the backseat as we go through drive-through.  In fact, according to Wikipedia, McDonald's has changed its slogan 23 times over the past 45 years.

Continue reading "Tag(line), You're It!" »

Here's the latest round-up on some of the topics covered in earlier posts to be sure that you have up-to-the-minute information on the latest and greatest in lawyer marketing:

1.  Add More Value to Videos By Power Using YouTube.

Back in January, I posted on why lawyers should consider making video part of their marketing portfolio.  In addition to the reasons that I described, Travis Campell, the Marketing Professor offers some ideas for building community and online presence through YouTube -- which means that you'll get more bang for the buck out of any videos you produce.  So what benefits does You Tube offer?  For starters, you can get statistics on viewer demographics and feedback on your video through commenters.  Posting video on YouTube can also help drive traffic to your site and enhance your search engine visibility.

2.  Should You Hire An SEO Expert?

My first post for this blog described some do-it-yourself SEO tips.  But if the DIY approach doesn't get you the results that you need, should you consider hiring an expert?  I've posted, more generally, on issues to consider when hiring a marketing consultant and now, lawyer marketing expert Larry Bodine shares advice on hiring an SEO expert.  My favorite tip of the post? 

Type the vendor's own targeted search terms into Google and see how well they do for themselves. Type in "law firm web consultant" or "law firm SEO consultant" or "law web marketing consultant" into Google. If they can't get good rankings for themselves, move on.

3.  Social Media and SEO.

Six months ago, when I posted about do-it-yourself SEO, I didn't focus extensively on social media, largely because its impact on SEO wasn't fully recognized or acknowledged at the time.  That's since shifted, as Duct Tape Marketing writes, noting, "It has become extremely difficult to achieve any measure of success for important keyword phrases without the use of social media."  As a result, any business attempting to optimize a site should add a blog and podcast, participate in Twitter and optimize profiles on Facebook and LinkedIn at the very minimum.

Many lawyers find themselves in a catch-22 situation in the economic downturn.  On the one hand, they realize that they need to step up their marketing efforts to attract more business.  On the other hand, feeling cash-strapped, they're loath to spend money unnecessarily.  And when business finally comes through the door, lawyers are more inclined to jump on it to earn some money and relegate marketing to the back burner.

Large firms have long dealt with the problem of yo-yo marketing efforts by maintaining professional marketing staff who can keep the machine running even while lawyers are busy.  But few solos have the resources to invest in full-time marketing staff, or even to hire a part-time marketing professional.  Moreover, many solos run a strong independent streak and are loath to delegate any tasks, including marketing.

Truth is, there are few tasks that are easier and more cost-effective to delegate than marketing.  Below, identify those marketing functions that lend themselves to delegation and find some affordable ways that lawyers can outsource some of those tasks.

1.  What you can delegate and what you can't.  Delegation can help lawyers with their marketing, but there are some functions which can't be outsourced.  For example, if your marketing strategy includes lunch or coffee dates with prospective referral sources, clearly, you can't send an assistant in your stead.  However, as I'll discuss below, what you can do is ask your assistant make the initial contact with referral sources, with you following up personally to issue the invitation. 

Some tasks fall in the middle of the line.  For example, you could hire a ghostwriter to write articles or a blog for you, or use a social media guru to Twitter on your behalf.  I don't recommend delegation in these circumstances because it's not genuine -- I prefer my readers to hear my voice in my writing because it conveys a sense of my personality.  Though there's nothing wrong with asking an assistant to help identify blog topics, edit posts, and every so often put up a post under your name during a busy spell, ultimately, you should avoid having someone acting as "the man behind the curtain".

Finally, as a lawyer, you alone are responsible for compliance with ethics rules governing advertising.  If you outsource preparation of an advertisement or marketing campaign, you need to review those materials thoroughly to ensure that they don't run afoul of ethics rules in your jurisdiction.

2.  Tasks suitable for delegation.  Now that we've covered those tasks that lawyers shouldn't delegate, what's left?  Plenty, as discussed below:

For seminars, delegate room reservation, set-up of online webinar software, scheduling, registration, marketing, materials reproduction, mailing campaign, registration and surveys.

For articles or e-books, delegate research of potential topics, potential publication sources, supporting research, editing, formatting, and distribution.

For blogging, delegate blog set-up, topic collection, gathering resources, editing and formatting posts, monitoring blog statistics, and blog publicity.

For cold calls, delegate organizing contact lists and numbers, making initial contact and scheduling the followup call.

For social media, delegate the setup of accounts or profiles (based on information provided by lawyer), identifying potential followers (on Twitter) or connections (on LinkedIn), sending requests for testimonials, and monitoring lawyer's online presence.

For general marketing, delegate identifying growth areas, preparation of white papers and surveys to support marketing efforts or circulate to potential clients, graphics and logo preparation, contact management, and sending news items in clients' newsletter.

3.  Who to delegate to?  There are plenty of professional marketing companies that can handle all of these tasks for you, but they can also be costly.  Instead, try working with virtual assistants, many of whom have experience marketing their own businesses and are highly skilled when it comes to social media and online tools.  Professionals students, such as law students or business students, can also help out on most tasks, particularly those requiring more specialized marketing or legal research.  Don't overlook your family either -- your spouse, parents, or kids can help fold or stamp fliers, or register attendees at a seminar.

As for cost, virtual assistants and students provide fairly cheap labor, while you can often consign friends or family for free! 

4.  Change your mindset.  Ultimately, to succeed at delegating, you need to change your mindset and build it in to all of your plans.  Start breaking down marketing tasks into lists and specifically identify whether you or an assistant will handle a particular matter.  Once you formally list an assistant as responsible, you'll be less inclined to take on the work yourself.

Just like yo-yo dieting, on-again-off-again marketing efforts aren't particularly effective or healthy for the growth of your firm.  By delegating marketing tasks, you can ensure that they continue to move forward even during those times when you're too busy to pay attention.

A couple of days ago, I came across an interesting piece from Portfolio.com about a deal between major publishers like Random House, Simon & Schuster, and the online document document-archiving service Scribd that makes an increased number of best-sellers available for free as ebooks.  Though at first blush, giving away a core, revenue-generating product free seems crazy, publishing houses report that the freebies generate increased buzz and exposure on micro-blogging platforms and thus get the author's name and book title out to a wider circle. After reading this, I got to wondering why lawyers don't take a page from publishers and use and promote ebooks to gain greater exposure for their practices. Why indeed?

Turns out, some lawyers are already using ebooks as part of their marketing portfolio.  For example, consider Florida-based firm, Ricardo, Wasylik & Kaniuk, which released a 30-page ebook, The Consumer's Guide to Defending Florida Foreclosures.  The ebook helps consumers avoid the increasing number of sham "foreclosure prevention assistance centers" cropping up around that state which prey on consumer fears.  Plus, it's a way for the firm to demonstrate their expertise and provide useful information to the public. Finally, by requiring users to register for the ebook, the firm can build a mailing list.

Another Florida lawyer, Miami Criminal Defense attorney Brian Tannenbaum, devised his own innovative ebook concept.  Tannenbaum penned a 28-page ebook entitled The Truth About Hiring a Criminal Defense Lawyer.  Tannenbaum's book offers prospective clients straight-talking advice about what factors clients should consider in hiring a criminal defense lawyer and what clients can do to work with a criminal defense attorney to ensure the best possible outcome.  Tannenbaum's book gives his firm exposure and also educates clients about basics, such as: Be prepared to pay your lawyer!  My guess is that Tanenbaum's book deters those clients who don't realize that attorneys need to earn a living. 

Even more interesting, in order to generate exposure for his book, Tannenbaum asked A-list criminal defense attorney-bloggers like Scott Greenfield of Simple Justice and Mark Bennett of Defending People to review his ebook.  Thus, Tannenbaum set off a nice discussion about various approaches to criminal defense practice and in so doing, gained more visibility for his book.

If these examples have convinced you that an ebook may have marketing value for your firm, here are some ideas for getting started:

Continue reading "Take a Look at the eBook to Market Your Practice" »

Over the past nine months or so, Twitter, a micro-blogging service that enables users to communicate with each other in 140-character spurts has steadily gained traction with lawyers.  Some lawyers regard Twitter as a bit of time-sink in an age of information overload, while others revere its immediacy and use it largely for business purposes.  I'll admit that initially, I too was was skeptical of certain aspects of Twitter, though it's since grown on me as I've become a regular user.

But that's just me.  As for you, to Twitter or not to Twitter? That is the question that I'll address in this post.  But before I evaluate the pros and cons, I'll begin with a quick description of what Twitter is, how it works, and how lawyers are using it for marketing and other purposes.

1.  What is Twitter?

According to Wikipedia, Twitter is "a social neworking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length."  Users can find out what others are doing by signing up to "follow" their tweets and can comment by sending a reply.  You can keep messages private (by direct messaging) or posting them to all your followers (the default).  If you're interested in seeing what the Twitter interface looks like, take a look at this Legal Tech presentation by Chris Winfield.

Users employ Twitter in a variety of ways.  Lawyer Bob Ambrogi summarized sixteen "reasons to embrace the Tweet" -- which include sharing information (such as links to recent blog posts or news items of interest) -- like monitoring buzz by finding out what topics are of interest to lawyers, making introductions to lawyers whom you're following and would like to meet and even finding clients by responding to inquiries for legal assistance that sometimes crop up in the conversation.

More recently, Twitter has helped build communities of lawyers.  Two sites, LexTweet and Justia Legal Birds list lawyers with Twitter accounts along with information on where they're located and how many followers they have.  If you're ever heading out to a law-related conference, chances are it will feature a "tweet-up," i.e., a casual, in-person get together of fellow 'tweeps.

2.  Getting Started

The only way to get started on Twitter is to dive right in.  After registering for the site, you can check your email to determine whether you already know folks on Twitter -- because you can sign up to follow them.  After that, you may choose to follow some of their followers or identify other lawyers from LexTweet or Justia Legal Birds whom you might want to follow as well.  If you're interested in expanding your inner circle, use Twellow or Summize  to search for specific topics that interest you and find people within those groups to follow.  Feel free to introduce yourself, but thereafter, you can jump into a conversation.

You can use Twitter through the web, but most power users rely on applications like Tweetdeck to keep track of tweets and replies.

3.  So, is Twitter for me?

Continue reading "To Twitter or Not To Twitter? That Is the Question for Lawyers" »

These days, blogs and social media are all the rage for lawyer marketing -- and I plan to discuss the pros and cons of these 21st century marketing activities in future columns.  But for today, l'm going to step back and take a new look at a more traditional form of lawyer marketing: the client newsletter.

So with Web 2.0 tools like blogs or Facebook or Twitter available to keep your clients up-to-date on the law or your firm's accomplishments, why should lawyers resort to something as old-fashioned or static as a client newsletter?  Well, believe it or not, newsletters offer several advantages that these other tools don't.  First, newsletters give you a chance to connect with existing clients and retain contact with former clients.  Since most lawyers report that client referrals account for their largest source of business, keeping in touch with clients ensures that they'll keep you in mind when a family member or friend asks for a referral.  Second, newsletters are a great way to build a mailing list for prospective clients -- for instance, you can have them sign up to subscribe at your blog or website. 

Newsletters also offer more flexibility over content than blogs or Twitter.  Twitter confines users to 140 characters per update -- barely enough to link to a news article or post of interest.  Blogs also tend to focus on a single topic and don't allow for digressions.  But many lawyers use newsletters to convey a variety of information to readers -- from articles on legal issues to profiles of clients to jokes or recipes.  Another drawback of blogs is that readers expect frequent updates, which leaves little time for busy lawyer-bloggers to really digest the news.  By contrast, because newsletters go out bi-weekly, there's time to develop more substantive or analytical pieces.

If I've convinced you to take a new look at client newsletters, below are the top five questions and answers on the nuts and bolts of getting started and equally, if not more challenging, keeping a newsletter going:

1.  How do I set up a newsletter?  There are many options for creating professional-looking client newsletters for minimal cost.  Desktop publishing packages such as those included in Word or Word Perfect are one option if you're comfortable with the software or have staff who can do it for you.  If you decide to send out your newsletter in hard copy, these packages work best.  Alternatively, you can also outsource newsletter production and printing to a virtual assistant or online company (just type terms like "client newsletter" and "newsletter preparation" into Google or your favorite search engine).

If you prefer an e-mail newsletter, consider services like Aweber or Constant Contact, among others, to automate newsletter preparation.  These services, which cost anywhere from $15 to $100 each month provide professional, customizable templates for e-mail newsletters and auto-response features that allow clients to register for the newsletter at your website.  Both services are simple to use; you can set up templates yourself or outsource the work to a virtual assistant.  The other benefit of an e-newsletter (as opposed to print) is that you can include URLs to sites or online articles of interest that readers can simply click through to access.

Continue reading "A New Look At Newsletters for Lawyer Marketing" »

You know the old maxim, a picture is worth 1,000 words? These days, online video may well be worth 1,000 site visits.

According to a recent article from the International Herald Tribune, Internet users are increasingly turning to video-rich sites like YouTube to locate information rather than conventional, text-based search engines like Yahoo! or Google.  As a result, consumption of online video has soared, with 146 million Americans watching video online, twice as many as 20 months ago.  More importantly, searches on YouTube edged out those on Yahoo!, and the site now ranks as the number 2 search engine behind Google.  

These trends show that lawyers who rely on the Internet to market a practice should consider incorporating video into their online marketing strategy.  However, video carries with it plenty of other advantages besides SEO.  A video gives clients a peek at your demeanor and personality, and establishes that you're a real person.  At a time when recent scandals like the Madoff Ponzi scheme have shattered public confidence in professionals, video can help re-build trust. 

Still, despite the obvious benefits of video, for some lawyers who are just now creating an online presence, the thought of including video is likely overwhelming.  Other lawyers may feel discouraged, figuring that once again, the same deep-pocketed firms that dominate Yellow Pages and television advertising will have the resources to implement video marketing and once again gain an overwhelming advantage.

The good news is that even if you're on a limited budget, you can still experience the benefits of video.  Though a professional videographer may be outside your price range, you can generate a reasonably good quality video on a home video camera.  With good lighting and an external microphone, the sound and image quality will suffice.  Some lawyers, such as video guru Gerry Oginski, use Mac-based tools to edit their videos, though most PCs also support video editing applications.  If you need editing assistance, check out local colleges with media programs or websites like e-lance where you may be able to find economically priced editors.

So what should you say on your video?  That's entirely up to you.  Some lawyers use video as an opportunity to simply introduce themselves and their firm to site visitors.  Other lawyers try to make videos more educational -- for example, by offering explanations on how a case is filed or why a client might need legal representation.   Practice what you'll say a few times, but avoid teleprompters or notes.  Ultimately, aim for sounding as you would if you were meeting your viewers in person.  

Exploring online video sooner rather than later will give you a first-mover advantage and enable you to distinguish yourself from other lawyers, most of whom have not yet adopted video.  Why not get started now?     

The holiday season has descended in all its glory, and like most lawyers, you probably find yourself with a stack of invitations to bar association lunches, charitable events, and holiday cocktail hours and parties.  So you trek dutifully from event to event, exchanging business cards and pleasantries with dull colleagues whom you see only a few times a year at these types of gatherings and who've never sent you a dime's worth of business.  Maybe worse, the others ignore you entirely, so you resign yourself to observing from the corner, stuffing yourself with cardboard crackers and bland cheese.  And suddenly, the holiday season, which ought to be joyful and uplifting, morphs into an enervating experience.

Guess what?  Networking doesn't have to be this way.  In fact, if you dread or loathe networking events, your distaste will come across in your interactions, thereby further reducing the likelihood of meeting anyone worthwhile.  Why not take a vacation from holiday networking events by holding your own?

You'll find many advantages to sponsoring your own holiday event.  First, you control who you invite, so you can include people you actually want to spend time with, or colleagues who've sent you work or helped you out in the past.  Second, you make yourself the center of attention at your own party by greeting guests and introducing them to each other.  Third, let's face it -- you're not the only person who's grown tired of bar events.  Most lawyers can't stand them and will welcome a chance to hang out in a relaxed environment with a small group of colleagues.  Finally, when you host a party, people appreciate the initiative.  They'll call in advance to ask what they can bring, and likely call afterwards to thank you for a good time, or for introducing them to a potential business contact.  Thus, without any further action, you remain in touch with colleagues long after the party ends and solidify relationships that may eventually yield business.

As for planning a party, it's never been easier than with the Internet.  Use Evite or email to get the word out and collect RSVPs.  You can hold the party in your office or the backroom of a casual restaurant or bar.  There's no need to spend lots of money and in fact, in these economic times, a lavish party may be regarded in poor taste. If you're feeling charitable at this time of year, you can organize a group of lawyers to staff an intake night at a local clinic, or ask them to bring toys or food for the needy to the party.

If you act quickly, you may have time to squeeze in an event before the end of the year.  If not, no worries.  Instead of a holiday party in 2008, why not organize the first post-New Year's party of 2009?

You know the old teaser that if a tree falls in the forest with no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?  Well, the same might be asked of your law firm's web page or blog -- if no one can find your site online, does it really exist?  That's where the concept of SEO - search engine optimization - comes into play.  As explained in Wikipedia, SEO is the "process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to an online site from search engines, via search results." 

So what can you do to improve your SEO?  Some would argue that you're best off leaving SEO to experts instead of doing it yourself, but I disagree.  First, professional SEO services done right can cost a good chunk of change, so often, they're not really an option for small firms or lawyers just starting out who need SEO the most.  Second, even those lawyers who have the financial means to purchase SEO services should educate themselves about SEO basics to make an informed decision about an SEO provider.  Some SEO companies use unscrupulous tactics that can get your site banned from search engines, while others employ means that aren't particularly effective.  If you know a bit about how SEO works, you can avoid the bad apples.

Below, I've provided a couple of tips and resources that will let you start learning about SEO.

1.  Good SEO Isn't Rocket Science.  First and foremost, achieving good SEO isn't rocket science; it's common sense.  Ask yourself a basic question:  What kinds of terms are prospective clients likely to use if they're looking for a lawyer in your practice and geographic area?  For example, a woman in Tulsa, Oklahoma who wants to find a lawyer to handle her divorce is likely to search terms such as "divorce lawyer" and "Tulsa Oklahoma," or perhaps "Tulsa Oklahoma family lawyer."  Once you have a good sense of how a client might look for you, use those search terms regularly at your website or blog to make it easier to be found.

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