October 5, 2008
- Vanderbilt and Marketing for Law Firms, Part I
Is there a connection between Vanderbilt University and marketing for law firms? In addition to a stunning college football victory today over Auburn, Vanderbilt has been a pioneer in the use of social media. (My father teaches physics at Vandy, so I am biased in favor of Vandy football and basketball). A September 2008 article in Vanderbilt View (Vandy social media article) quotes Vandy's associate director of the Vanderbilt News Service and director of Web communications as noting that the concept of a "conversation" is key in social media, and that the old idea of just putting out news is outdated. Communication must be a two-way street, and there is an expectation that both sides will be able to share their viewpoints. (…)
October 4, 2008
- Marketing for Attorneys and Social Media Presence
Having a presence in social media has become a necessary component in marketing for attorneys. In a September 25, 2008 press release from Cone, the Boston-based strategy and communications agency provided the results of the 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study and noted that 60 percent of those in the United States use social media. Of those 60 percent, 59% use social media Internet sites, and 25% use such sites more than one time per week. (…)
October 2, 2008
- Marketing for Attorneys and LinkedIn
Social networking is playing a larger and larger role in the world of marketing for attorneys. A September 22, 2008 article in the Wisconsin Law Journal explores how attorneys in Wisconsin are using LinkedIn in their marketing and client development efforts. The article profiles the Milwaukee law firm of Davis & Kuelthau s.c., where approximately 70% of the lawyers have joined LinkedIn. One of the partners at that firm asked two clients to connect with him on LinkedIn, with the result that they did so and sent him two new matters. (…)
September 30, 2008
- Marketing for Attorneys, Facebook, and Spies
In a September 28, 2008 article of interest in the marketing for attorneys world, Yahoo! (…)
September 27, 2008
- Blogging Volume Counts in Internet Marketing for Attorneys
In a September 24, 2008 article of interest in the Internet marketing for attorneys field, TechCrunch noted that Technorati (a blog search engine and source of information on the "blogosphere") was in the process of releasing data from its report on the "2008 State of the Blogosphere." According to the report, the more that a blogger posts, the higher he/she will probably rank on Technorati. Thus, TechCrunch noted that if a blogger posts more, there is a higher chance that someone will link to one of the posts. Most of Technorati's Top 100 blogs post 5 or more times each day, and 43 percent of them post in excess of 10 times each day. (…)
September 25, 2008
- The Death of Internet Marketing for Attorneys?
Is Internet marketing for attorneys dead? In a September 25, 2008 article in the Times of London, Vint Cerf, who has been dubbed the "father of the internet," noted that there will soon be no more internet addresses to allow computers to communicate and identify each other. According to Cerf, the pool of unallocated unique IP addresses/numbers has almost been exhausted. When Cerf and others began the current internet in 1977, there was an "internet protocol version four" (IPv4), which allowed for 4.2 billion web addresses. As the number of mobile phones and other internet devices has skyrocketed, under 14% of those web addresses are still available. IPv4 addresses, which each have 32 binary digits, will likely be exhausted in either 2010 or 2009. (…)
September 24, 2008
- Marketing for Attorneys through a $10M Boost from Google
Would Google be a good partner in your marketing for attorneys efforts? As part of its 10th birthday celebration, Google announced this morning that it will pay as much as $10 million to support an idea that will have a positive and wide-reaching impact on peoples' lives. The name of Google's project is 10^100, or "10 to the 100th." Through public input and a panel of judges, Google will choose its top 20 ideas and up to five winning ideas, which will be announced in February 2009. If there is only one winner, that entry will receive $10M; if there are two winners, each will receive $5M; etc. The point is that Google will pay out a total of $10M. (…)
September 23, 2008
- Blogging Protection in Marketing for Attorneys?
In an event of interest to those in the marketing for attorneys space, the Media Bloggers Association on September 18, 2008 announced the launch of a program to provide financial and legal support to bloggers. Such support will include BlogInsure, a unique liability insurance program for bloggers providing coverage for copyright infringement, defamation and invasion of privacy. (…)
September 22, 2008
- Obstacles to Marketing for Attorneys
As a practical matter, one of the biggest stumbling blocks to marketing for attorneys is a scarcity of time. Most lawyers are consistently "under the gun" and pressed for time due to case demands, transactional demands, client demands and/or billable hours. Young lawyers in law firms are often overhwelmed by the challenge of learning how to practice law, learning how to operate in a law firm environment, meeting deadlines and billing the requisite number of hours. The practice of law leaves little time for other activities, and marketing or client development are often ignored in favor of survival within the firm and hobbies outside of the firm. Young lawyers often rationalize that they don't have time to market their services or build a book of business; they're too busy trying to service clients and current demands on their time. (…)
September 21, 2008
- Marketing for Attorneys through Abandoning Billable Hours
The September 2008 edition of Corporate Counsel contains an article about Pfizer that has important implications in the marketing for attorneys world. The article mentions how as of January 1, 2008, Pfizer is directing practically all of its labor and employment matters to the law firm of Jackson Lewis for a period of two years. Rather than using billable hours or flat fees for each case or matter, Pfizer and Jackson Lewis have agreed that there will be a yearly cap on legal fees. (…)
September 20, 2008
- Do-It-Yourself Social Networks for Lawyers
Another TechCrunch post profiled a website called twittermoms.com. According to that post, Twitter should consider establishing "groups." On Facebook and LinkedIn, members can join groups in areas of interest. The post notes that twittermoms.com has only been in existence for about 15 days, but that it already has around 5,000 daily users. (…)
September 19, 2008
- Twitter Platform for Lawyers?
In conjunction with Twitter's formatting changes today, TechCrunch had some interesting posts about specialized microblogging services. The first was about Gospelr, which is a microblogging tool for Christians. Gospelr apparently aims to be more than the Christian equivalent of Twitter; it would like to be a vehicle for sharing religious ideas and views both with Christians and non-Christians. Thus, TechCrunch reports that Gospelr includes tweets of different colors, depending upon their source, and that the service allows users to share and upload files (as with Pownce). Gospelr also has the advantage of auto-refreshing. TechCrunch also reported today on Yammer, which is a microblogging system for businesses and is akin to Twitter. After a company has used Yammer for free, the company apparently has the option of taking over control of the account. (…)
September 17, 2008
- Marketing for Attorneys and Audio Indexing
Today's good news in the marketing for attorneys world is that Google announced the launch of audio indexing. Part of Google labs, and called GAudi, audio indexing works with YouTube and catalogs the words mentioned during an audio or video clip. The transcript then becomes part of a database that can be searched: according to Google, you can "[s]earch what people are saying inside YouTube videos." GAudi is currently in beta form and only indexes video and audio related to politicians or politics. Thus, GAudi has a large Barack Obama section and a smaller John McCain section. Although there is not yet a Sarah Palin section, I wouldn't be surprised to see one in the near future. (…)
September 16, 2008
- Marketing for Law Firms and the Future of Web 2.0
The ABAJournal.com has shown its commitment to Web 2.0 as a model for those engaged in marketing for law firms. I was pleasantly surprised to receive today an e-mail from that publication asking whether I was too busy to go to the actual website itself. The e-mail provided me the option of subscribing via e-mail, RSS, Twitter feed, mobile edition, iPhone application, or Facebook page. I was able to subscribe on my own terms in the way I wanted, and I chose to subscribe via RSS. (…)
- Web 2.0 Opportunities in Marketing for Attorneys?
Should marketing for attorneys include a Web 2.0 strategy? According to a nationwide survey of 850 U.S. (…)
September 14, 2008
- Law Firm Websites and Marketing for Attorneys
How do law firm websites affect marketing for attorneys? A recent Am Law Daily article notes that many law firm websites lag behind corporate websites in terms of savvy and effectiveness. The article profiles the Winson-Salem law firm of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. Womble Carlyle's site contains blogs and podcasts, and the firm apparently has approximatley 50 attorneys who blog. The firm also has an Internet marketing manager, even though most law firms ignore the subject of Internet marketing for attorneys. (…)
September 11, 2008
- Marketing for Attorneys using StomperNet, Part 2
In a recent post about the benefits of StomperNet in the marketing for attorneys space, I recommended the new Stompernet trade journal, The Net Effect. One can receive the first issue free, along with a free DVD of training, as well as an SEO course all for the price of shipping and handling ($9.95). Of course, the idea is for subscribers to become addicted to the trade journal and the monthly DVD (which together cost in the neighborhood of $59 per month). (…)
- Use of Video in Marketing for Attorneys
Many law firms have been slow to incorporate video into their websites. While some law firms use simple flash technology on their opening page, it is rare to see actual video footage - whether in the form of a screen capture video or in the form of a video of the firm's attorneys. Why couldn't a law firm website include, as part of its bios, a video of each attorney describing his or her practice? Why couldn't a law firm include video footage of one or more of its attorneys teaching a continuing legal education course or participating in a panel discussion? (…)
September 9, 2008
- Lawyers on Twitter, the New iPod, and Marketing for Attorneys
In a September 9, 2008 article that is of interest in the marketing for attorneys world, Adrian Lurssen at JD Supra listed the 145/180 lawyers and legal professionals he follows on Twitter. Although I was not included in the initial list of 145, I am included in the subsequent list of 180 lawyers/legal professionals he follows: http://tinyurl.com/6oogwr. (…)
September 8, 2008
- Internet Marketing for Attorneys and Google's 10th Birthday
The 10th birthday of Google is significant in the marketing for attorneys and internet marketing for attorneys realm. Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin on September 7, 1998. Approximately 10 years later, Google has a market value of well over $100 billion and has almost 20,000 employees, according to a September 9, 2008 article in CNN.com. (…)
