As the financial markets continue to struggle and the media continues to talk about a recession, marketing for attorneys based upon location can make sense in certain circumstances.  When I talk about marketing for attorneys based upon location, I am talking about marketing based upon efficiency and billing rates.  While it is practically taboo to promote one's legal services based solely on price or on lower billing rates, a firm not located on one of the Coasts or in one of the country's areas of pricey legal services can promote itself in terms of its efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

An October 13, 2008 article in the National Law Journal notes that many smaller and mid-sized law firms are hoping that the economic downturn in the U.S. will prompt clients to shift their work away from expensive New York City and large city law firms to smaller firms that are more reasonably priced.  For example, the article notes that Holme Roberts & Owen in Denver is picking up business from clients who are leaving more expensive firms in such places as the East Coast.

The upshot is that so-called "regional" firms have an opportunity to cash in by charging their full rates, which can be $250 to $300 less per hour than rates charged by firms on the East Coast.  My law firm in Salt Lake City, Parr Waddoups Brown Gee & Loveless, has long benefitted from charging "Salt Lake City rates" to large companies that are used to Los Angeles or New York billing rates.  This is a way to compete based upon location, without competing based upon price.  The key is for a regional or smaller law firm not to cut its rates, but to promote the quality of its services (i.e., comparable to or better than the services from larger firms) at its full billing rates.  Large clients are constantly amazed at the quality of legal services they receive from my law firm - at a fraction of the price charged by an East Coast or West Coast firm.  Yet my firm generally charges its full rates.

During and after this economic downturn, regional and smaller law firms should promote their excellent services as a "full-rate" opportunity that comes at a fraction of the cost.

One of the keys to an effective internet marketing for attorneys campaign is to leverage the power of subscriptions.  For example, with this "Marketing for Attorneys" blog, one can subscribe either through RSS or through e-mail.  While almost all lawyers are comfortable and familiar with e-mail, most attorneys have no idea what "RSS" actually means.

RSS stands for "really simple syndication," "real simple syndication," or Rich Site Summary (depending upon whom you believe).  Using an RSS reader, one can subscribe to feeds that provide such content as news and blog posts.  Blogs automatically produce RSS, which is one of the many benefits to blogging.  RSS - as opposed to e-mail - is not subject to any spam filters, and it allows websites to "go to" readers, rather than forcing readers to actually visit those sites.

For the content I publish on this site, most of my readers consume it either via RSS feed or via e-mail.  I have found that the best way to allow my subscribers to subscribe via e-mail is through AWeber.  Using AWeber, one can set up to notify e-mail subscribers after each blog post.  Alternatively, one can notify e-mail subscribers each week through an e-mail that contains content and links for each of the blog posts for that week.

Law firms need to be more aggressive in pushing subscriptions to their websites via RSS and e-mail.  Of course, the advantage to an e-mail subscription is that a lawyer will know the identity of the subscriber and can later send out targeted e-mailings.  With RSS, it is generally tougher (or impossible) to know who is subscribing.  But again, the anonymity of RSS subscription is also a plus in that some RSS subscribers would not subscribe if they could only subscribe via e-mail.

I welcome your comments below on the use of RSS and e-mail subscriptions in attorney marketing and internet marketing for lawyers.

While writing articles has always been a mainstay of attorney marketing, there may be a new way to publish one's articles in bite-sized chunks.  A recent post (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/13/can-twitter-authors-capture-the-magic-of-lonelygirl15/#comment-2501076) at Techcrunch profiles writer Nikki Katz's use of Twitter to publish a fictional work entitled MyLifeIn140, which is the story of a 16-year-old girl who changes her world by editing photos.  Rather than using traditional publishing to disseminate the story, Katz sends out bits and pieces of the story through "tweets" on Twitter, which are limited to 140 characters.  Techcrunch notes that such publishing methods have been extremely popular outside of the U.S. (e.g., in Japan), where many bestsellers have been written using mobile phones.

Lawyers who have a sizeable following on Twitter could consider using the platform to "publish" short articles about topics of interest to their "followers."  Rather than drafting a new article, an attorney could take existing content and re-publish it using Twitter.  Doing so could establish and confirm a lawyer's expertise - via a new medium.  Twitter publishing could become a new tool in the world of internet marketing for attorneys . . . .

Any comments on whether such use of Twitter would be an ineffective means of online marketing for attorneys?

New media marketing for attorneys should focus on blogs as a core principle because blogs allow for quick, easy and effective content creation.  In new media marketing for attorneys and general internet marketing for attorneys, content creation is key.  Unlike with a regular static website, where a creator of content would generally need some knowledge of html or a program that would allow for updating of a website without the use of html, creation of content through a blog is extremely fast.  With Wordpress, for example, a blogger simply logs into the blog, clicks "New Post," types in an entry, and presses "Publish."  It's that easy.  Search engines love sites that are updated with regularity, and blogging is an easy way to consistently update a website.

How often should a lawyer blog?  There is no definitive answer to this question, other than the response that posts should made regularly and with consistency.  For some lawyers, once a week may be the only feasible solution.  However, blog posts should generally be made at least twice a week.  Ideally, a lawyer should blog three or more times per week.  And once a lawyer establishes a routine for blogging, he or she should be "predictable" with regard to when blog posts are made.  The significance of "predictability" is that readers of a blog develop certain expectations.  With a newspaper subscription, a subscriber has set expectations of receiving a paper, for example, every day.  Blog subscribers are no different in that they come to expect posts with a regularity that is consistent the with pattern and practice of the regularity of previous posts.  As they receive such posts, they continue and appreciate their RSS or e-mail blog subscriptions.

Although a law firm's marketing committee or other committee can attempt to establish a blog, the key is for an individual attorney or attorneys to be committed to the practice and discipline of regular blogging.  Internet marketing for lawyers through blogging is one of the quickest, best ways to produce regular content and create "spider food" for the search engines.

In my previous post about new media marketing for attorneys, I mentioned that the first pillar of such marketing is blogging/mini-blogging.  This post will focus on the importance and efficacy of blogging as part of a new media marketing for attorneys strategy.

An excellent case study is my law firm's new blog/podcast site, http://erisalitigationpodcast.com/.  That site is a Wordpress blog that has only been in existence since mid-April 2008.  I have done nothing with the site until this past week, when I posted the first podcast and blog entry on the site.  Although new websites are generally quarantined to the "Google sandbox" and do not show up or have a high rank in Google, www.erisalitigationpodcast.com currently shows up on page 2 of Google - at search result # 16 - for the keyword "ERISA litigation" after only six months of sitting idle.  It is interesting to note that for the search term "ERISA litigation," my little website ranks more highly than the websites for many of the most prominent national law firms that practice in the area of ERISA litigation.

Now admittedly, the search term, "ERISA litigation," is not as competitive as many search terms, and it is probably easier to achieve a higher position with such a keyword than it would be with a more competitive, hightly sought-after search term.  However, the Google placement I have been able to achieve in less than six months with very little effort, shows the immense power of blogs.

The search engines seem to love blogs and have a penchant for ranking them highly in their search results.  Those in both the traditional marketing for attorneys field and the internet marketing for attorneys field need to harness the power of blogs in attracting new work and clients and retaining existing clients.  I will talk more about the immense power of blogs for internet marketing for attorneys in a subsequent post . . . .

In the marketing for attorneys context, what is the meaning of the term "new media?"  Although a hundred marketers might provide a hundred different definitions, new media marketing for attorneys would certainly include the concepts of subscription, interaction and feedback, dialogue, time-shifting, content in small chunks, and the lack of of a "middle person" in terms of producing and distributing content.  As my friend and mentor, Paul Colligan, might say, the lawyer or the law firm becomes "the media."

There are many potential vehicles and aspects to a new media marketing for attorneys strategy, including social networking sites, social bookmarking sites, content sharing sites, online articles, etc.  Each new media outlet has its pluses and minuses and could be considered by a lawyer or law firm.  Depending upon the marketplace that a lawyer is trying to reach, one new media outlet may have greater or lesser value.

In my opinion, however, the most effective new media marketing for attorneys currently has four primary pillars: (1) blogging/mini-blogging; (2) podcasting (audio and video); (3) web video; and (4) webcasts/teleseminars/webinars.  A law firm should begin with one of those four strategies and develop a system for implementing it on a regular basis.  Once one of those pillars has been established and implemented, the law firm should quickly move on to the next, until all four have been put into place.

Please let me know in the "Comments" section below how you define new media marketing for attorneys, and which methods you believe are currently the most effective.

In the third and final installment of the series, this post examines the example of Vanderbilt University's recruiting efforts as they relate to marketing for attorneys.  While attracting new work and new clients is a key element of marketing for attorneys, another important element is attracting talented lawyers to a law firm.  The Vanderbilt View article that I reference in my two previous posts notes that the younger generation is especially receptive to new media and comfortable with using it.  Thus, the Vanderbilt admissions department is using new media to attract candidates who will be a good fit with the school.  For example, admissions officials sometimes respond to questions on the College Confidential website.

The article notes that rather than using sites like Facebook or MySpace, Vanderbilt's admissions department targets sites like Cappex.com and Zinch.com, which deal with college applicants.  Those sites allow prospective students to draft profiles of their achievements and backgrounds, then to control which universities view the profiles.  The Vandy admissions department also maintains a blog about the process of college admission, and the blog contains posts from current students.

During 2007, the Vanderbilt admissions department and the Vandy News Service produced a video called "Getting Into College: An Insider's Guide," which is a question and answer session with Douglas Christiansen, the Vanderbilt Dean of Admissions.  In true social media fashion, the video focuses not just on getting in to Vandy, but on getting into other universities.  The video has had over 14,000 hits and has garnered a five-star rating on YouTube, according to the Vanderbilt View article.  The article also notes that Vandy is preparing another video addressing financial aid and how to afford college.

Finally, the article profiles a Vanderbilt class on virtual communities where students build a wiki on the class and input notes into the class wiki.  The class also examines companies' blogging policies, after which students do blog posts about those policies.

As mentioned in the previous two posts, law firms engaged in internet marketing for attorneys can learn from Vandy's example.  Law students and young lawyers are relatively savvy in the social media arena, and law firms should employ social networking in their recruiting efforts.  Facebook groups and fan pages are a prime example of recruiting tools that law firms can use.  Similar to the Vandy video on "Getting Into College," a law firm could produce a video on "Working in a Law Firm" or "Getting a Job Offer from a Top Law Firm," with a focus not only on that firm but on other top firms.  Internet marketing for lawyers and marketing for attorneys are all about meeting prospective clients and recruits on the media where they want to be met, whether it's video, blogging, etc.

Please let me know in the Comments section below whether you agree.

As mentioned in my last post, those in the marketing for law firms field can learn from the example of Vanderbilt University (whose football team is now ranked # 13 in the AP poll).  As profiled in the Vanderbilt View article that I referenced, Vandy has jumped effectively into the world of social media.  The recent emphasis has been on using online video.  In the past, Vanderbilt would wait for the networks to call about interviews and video content.  In today's Web 2.0 world, however, Vandy is producing its own video clips and publishing them through iTunes, the Vanderbilt Web site, and on such sites as YouTube.

Vandy was a pioneer among universities launching their own YouTube channels.  At   http://www.youtube.com/user/VanderbiltUniversity, users can subscribe to such playlists as VUCast (a weekly newscast from Vandy), Live from Blair (concerts from Vanderbilt's Blair School of Music), Vanderbilt Medical News, etc.  VUCast is a weekly video show about events, research, and news about Vanderbilt.  The show can be streamed from YouTube, downloaded at iTunes U, or watched on the Vanderbilt website.

Vanderbilt's promotion of itself through online video should be of interest in the marketing for attorneys space.  In the same way that law firms might have in the past waited for an interview or call from the media, law firms and lawyers can now be more proactive in producing and distributing their own videos - on their law firm websites, on video sharing sites like YouTube, and through iTunes.  As part of its internet marketing for attorneys, why couldn't a law firm establish its own YouTube channel and allow users to subscribe to various playlists like a TaxLawCast, an EnvironmentalLawCast, etc.?  Some law firms have already established their own YouTube channels and are flooding the Internet with videos.  The key is distribution: making such videos available on as many channels as possible, including YouTube, iTunes, other content-sharing sites, etc.  Internet marketing for lawyers has become fertile ground for syndication.

I welcome your comments below.

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.

For a major research university like Vanderbilt, there is the issue of what to do with the multitude of content that is produced every day.  According to the article, Vandy initially began sharing this content through podcasts.  Those podcasts were available at first on the university's website, and subsequently, on iTunes.  Vandy was one of the first universities to make content available through iTunes U.  The article notes that students and faculty were later able to integrate iTunes with Blackboard, which is a course management system.

As with a university like Vanderbilt, law firms have an audience that would like to be part of a social media "conversation," and which is already generally part of a multitude of conversations on the social Web; marketing for attorneys needs to take this fact into account.  It is not enough anymore for a law firm to simply issue a press release, a hard copy newsletter, or an e-newsletter.  Clients and potential clients need to be able to respond and to provide input through social media.  Those involved with internet marketing for lawyers need to realize that law firms - like universities - produce an enormous amount of content.  For non-proprietary content, law firms should share this information through podcasts and other new media means.

More in the near future on the connection between Vandy and internet marketing for attorneys . . . .

Your marketing for attorneys efforts could be expedited through use of a service called Qassia.  The service is free, and you share your "intelligence" (e.g., tips, short articles, observations) by periodically posting information on the site.  The best part of the service is that you are able to include a quality backlink to your website with every "intelligence" you add.  When you share "intelligence" on the site, you also receive credit from Qassia.  In theory, the more credit you earn, the more you will help your website rankings.  Qassia also has an ad revenue sharing system, meaning you can be compensated through promoting your sites.

Signing up for Qassia takes only a minute or two, and here is the link: Qassia Signup (Disclosure: I will get "credit" if you sign up through that link.  If you'd prefer that I not get credit, that's fine, but I still recommend you consider signing up through the general link that would not provide me any "credit."  I'm new to Qassia and certainly can't guarantee it, but the site seems promising from the perspective of someone new to it.)