Would legal marketing be easier if you were contractually obligated - to yourself - to do so? How effective would your client development efforts be if you would be required to pay cash if you failed to meet your marketing goals? One of the biggest obstacles to legal marketing is is the time commitment it requires. Attorneys are generally busy, due to billable hours, case demands, transactional demands, and other obligations. The result is that many lawyers fail to engage in any meaningful business development. Yet neglecting this aspect of practicing law usually creates problems down the road. As one marketer has emphasized, engaging in marketing activity every day is crucial - especially when one is busy. So what is the solution for busy lawyers?
One relatively new company allows you to enter into a contract with yourself. At StickK.com (founded in February of 2008), you can enter into a "Commitment Contract" - e.g., to obtain a law marketing goal - and create an incentive for yourself to reach that goal by agreeing that a certain entity or individual you choose will receive a certain sum of money if you fail to achieve that goal. StickK takes credit card information from registrants and will transmit your money to your designated recipient (minus fees and costs) if you fail to keep your commitment to yourself. According to TechCrunch, (1) users of StickK are on the rise, with approximately 42,000 registrants; and (2) the system of committing, reporting, and putting money at risk appears to be effective, with an 80% success rate.
If you're not currently achieving your law marketing goals, you may want to consider gaining leverage on yourself by putting your money where your mouth is and using StickK.
Disclosure: I haven't personally used StickK, but the concept is intriguing. Has anyone used StickK or a similar system?
Lawyers should consider using Google Trends as a legal marketing tool. Google's Hot Trends lists the most popular Internet searches during an hour-long period. However, up until recently, you had to navigate to Google Trends to obtain a display of the most popular 100 searches. As of a couple of days ago, those searching on Google will now see a graph at the bottom of the page whenever they happen to type in a search for one of the top 100 searches. The feature (only available for now in the U.S. and Japan) also provides additional information concerning the query's popularity, rate of rise, etc. Although Google now restricts to 40 the number of entries given on the homepage of Hot Trends (down from 100 items), the graph and trend information currently appear at the bottom of the search engine results page (SERP) for a particular Google search that matches a top 100 search.
Here's an example from a search I conducted this evening regarding "Google Wave:"
So, what does this mean for lawyers? Providing a steady stream of quality content for consumption by clients and prospective clients — in the form of written content, audio content, and video content — is becoming more and more important for attorneys. Fresh content on a legal blog or website brings more traffic and visitors to the site, and it also provides a reason for readers to continue subscribing to the blog or visiting the site. When appropriate, lawyers should incorporate trending, "top 100" search terms in their blog posts or website content; the traffic from doing so can be well worth the effort of paying attention to, and incorporating, popular search terms when appropriate. Of course, the key is for lawyers to incorporate popular search terms only when it makes sense. Being aware of such terms, however, is of benefit to lawyers as they craft content for their websites, blogs, podcasts, etc.
By the way, speaking of Google Wave (referenced above), I'm hoping for an invitation.
Which Twitter dashboards should lawyers be using? As Twitter grows in popularity among the business community and among lawyers, the need for managing a Twitter account or multiple Twitter accounts becomes more pressing. Some attorneys post to Twitter directly from the Web. But if you are using Twitter strategically or spending a significant amount of time on Twitter, using a Twitter dashboard can be helpful.
A Twitter dashboard is a third-party application that allows users to keep track of various subsets of Twitter postings. For example, a Twitter dashboard may have separate columns showing all of your Twitter stream, all responses to your tweets or references to your name, all direct messages, and all of your sent tweets. In addition, you can set up columns to follow favorite users or to track certain keywords.
Some Twitter dashboards are desktop applications, while others are Web-based. While some of the desktop applications are very good, my preference is to have a Web-based dashboard, so as to be able to access it from any computer.
My current favorite among Twitter dashboards is HootSuite because it is Web-based, it has a user-friendly interface, and most importantly, it allows me to post (through ping.fm) to multiple sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. I also like TweetDeck as a desktop Twitter dashboard.
Lawyers should consider directly promoting their services via Twitter. While lawyers need to be careful to follow applicable ethical rules, members of other industries are seeing results from selling and promoting directly on Twitter.
Take the music industry. A recent article posted on Tech Crunch describes the powerful role of Twitter in promoting a newly released album, Asleep in the Bread Aisle. Asher Roth's first album rose to the number one position for digital albums the week of its release. And Twitter played a key role. Roth apparently Tweeted his 69,566 followers that his album would be on iTunes the following day. He also Tweeted a link for locating the album on iTunes. According to the article, the main advantage of Roth's Tweets is that it made the information feel more like an insider tip than promotion or marketing.
While lawyers sell their services and usually don't have a generic product to sell to the world, a law firm could promote a white paper, article, seminar, or speaking engagement through Twitter. Likewise, if an attorney wished to share guidance or a newsletter about a new development in the law, the attorney could share a link or other information through Twitter.
Obviously, law firms and lawyers need to be careful to follow accepted protocol and norms for social media sites. Thus, if an attorney is only using Twitter to barrage followers with promotional materials, such promotion will likely fail. But if a lawyer first cultivates relationships, contributes to the "conversation" and shares helpful information, an occasional promotion is generally accepted and appreciated.
Please leave your comments below about whether and when lawyers should use Twitter to promote their services.
Marketing for law firms should be a subject that is taught in law school. A May 28, 2009 article in the New York Law Journal notes that hiring partners, practice chairs and recruiters at law firms would almost universally like to see law schools teach students about business development and networking. According to the article, one solution would be to offer such subjects in the context of non-credit courses. The article further notes that new lawyers need to realize that a law firm is a business and that lawyers need to contribute to the firm's bottom line. New attorneys in law firms need to understand law firm economics.
Although the New York Law Journal does not focus on this angle, the fact is that new media and social media are becoming more and more important in the world of client development and business development for lawyers. The growth rate of Twitter is phenomenal, and law students should be learning about microblogging strategies. Law students should also be learning about blogging, Internet audio creation and distribution, Internet video creation and distribution, and podcasting. In addition, law schools should provide new lawyers with the basics of copywriting and marketing a legal practice.
The third year of law school is mostly a waste of time anyway, and part of that year should be focused on client development. Will law schools take the hint from law firms and economic conditions as to what they should be teaching students to prepare them for the realities of the new economy? Probably not. Law professors generally lack marketing savvy and skills. In addition, elite law schools frown upon practical courses. If law schools ignore the necessity of giving their students grounding in social networking and social media, however, they may find themselves less relevant and in danger of forced structural change.
Is podcasting a viable means of marketing for law firms? My law firm's audio ERISA Litigation podcast should be an interesting case study. Although the first episode was released in October 2008, the first "regular" episode only recently became available. In that episode, I interviewed Michael J. Salmanson, a prominent lawyer in Philadelphia whose practice focuses on ERISA litigation.
While writing articles and blogging are an effective means of getting one's name "out there," there is a more personal touch that results from a podcast. The human voice is one of the most persuasive media. When a potential client subscribes to my podcast in iTunes, I suddenly have a voice on the subscriber's iPod. The subscriber can listen to me while commuting to work, exercising, or getting ready for the day. Audio makes it easy for a subscriber to get to know me, my law firm, and some of my skills.
Feel free to use the iTunes subscribe button on the ERISA Litigation Podcast (which is, of course, free) and to let me know what you think.
Lawyers and law firms should consider making Twitter one of the standard tools of the profession. Is Twitter mainstream among non-lawyers? Although Twitter has a long way to go to catch up to Facebook, Twitter is being used more and more by non-lawyers and in popular culture. Doctors are tweeting from the operation room, jurors are tweeting, and celebrities are becoming more active on Twitter. An NBA player recently tweeted during halftime of an NBA game, revealing to his followers what his coach had told the team, and vowing that he needed to play harder during the second half of the game. Although the player was subsequently reprimanded for his in-game tweet, Twitter is increasingly becoming part of the popular consciousness.
Attorneys and corporations need to consider how and whether they jump onto the Twitter and microblogging bandwagon. While lawyers have historically been relatively slow to embrace cutting edge technologies, it is time for them to look more seriously at Twitter. Lawyers should consider whether their firms or companies need to adopt Twitter, microblogging, and blogging policies. As with lawyers presently and in the past being encouraged to participate in Bar and community activities and forums, it makes sense to consider whether lawyers should be urged to "participate" in Twitter and other microblogging and social networking platforms.
As newspapers either die or go online, the volume and significance of online communication and "chatter" is increasing. Should lawyers consider it their duty to be part of communities like Twitter, so as to stay apprised of trends, to keep up on the news, to protect their own reputations, to protect the reputations of their clients, and to be part of the Web 2.0 conversation?
Claim your FREE audio NOW on the
"Secrets" of Client Development for Lawyers (and blog and e-mail updates) by entering your email and first name below.
