A helpful article for all Word Press Users out there from the National Law Review’s Business of Law weekly guest bloggers – Duo Consulting. Scott Frazer of Duo goes over a Spam issue that impacted Duo’s Blog and provides a detailed solution on how they fixed the problem!
Our blog was recently affected by a rather clever little hack, and when I went searching for ways to remove it, I couldn’t find much. Here’s a brief writeup of what happened and how I fixed it.
Our Director of Internet Marketing Strategy, Sonny Cohen, spends some of his time searching Google and other search engines for keywords relative to our business. He began noticing that some of those results, while they would return pointers to our blog, were laced with keywords and links to various male enhancement drugs. When I searched our blog for these references, I couldn’t find anything.
Here’s what I was seeing when I would search our blog for the phrase “test”:
But here’s what Google was seeing when it did the same search:
You may notice that the URL in that is to a local file. There are two ways you can see what your site looks like to Google. One is to change the User Agent on your browser to match that of the Googlebot. The other is to use the Webmaster Tool’s “Fetch As Googlebot” lab utility. I used the latter, and saved the resulting report as an HTML file and then opened that file in Chrome.
So why is Google seeing different results than anyone else who visits my site and runs that query? Something different must be happening when Google visits. I started running through the execution path of WordPress. The first file that is accessed is index.php. All this file does is turn on a theming variable and load wp-blog-header.php. So I moved on to that file. It looked like this:
temp.php? Never heard of it, let’s see what’s inside:
eval (gzinflate(base64_decode(
‘vVhtc9pGEP6emfwHRfUUmGLg9IbkhNrUJrZnEsfFOGmKXc1ZOoMmQqInYYea/Pfu’
.’nnjRG6aZzNRj0Em7++yzu3erOw5/fXM4HU9fvnj5Ym8cRnFnz77q9T/2+sPK2WBw’
…snip for length…
.’6reTZEAXdDrl4QNzE/3F3Wy+iKjPxFe0gH7G+ML1IiecBfHiY+LyWLhsVmDlrQ7g’
.’cvonDPkW65UOKh6zCWuM44kvFr6Ialmvw1/fHP4L’
)));
Now that looks evil. Obfuscated code can’t be good. I decided to see what it does by replacing the “eval” with “print” and then I ran “php test.php” from that directory. The results are very long, but you can see them here.
Basically, the program tries to determine if we are a real person or a search engine bot by looking at things like our IP address and our user agent. If it determines we are human, it goes ahead and returns the standard header. If we’re a bot, it serves the content in “theme.html” which is identical to the second screenshot above.
So to clean things up, I removed the reference to temp.php from wp-blog-header.php, deleted the file temp.php and deleted the file theme.html.
Scott supervises Duo’s network facilities, monitoring hardware and software, analyzing problems and ensuring that the network is fully operational. He works closely with clients to identify, interpret and evaluate their system requirements. He also provides the front-line defense of the Duo network by planning, coordinating and implementing network security measures. An avid Mac user, Scott is nonetheless happy to keep Duo’s servers running on Windows Server 2003 and Ubuntu Linux.
Scott has been working in network administration with Internet companies for over ten years. He has experience designing and maintaining networks and server farms for high-traffic sites in both the hosting and e-commerce arenas. As the senior system administrator for MusicToday, an online ticketing, merchandise and fan club portal, he was responsible for the stability and security of large-volume e-commerce sites, including websites for the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead and the Dave Mathews Band. www.duoconsulting.com / 312-529-3006
We recently received this question from a law firm marketer. I’ve edited it slightly for brevity and anonymity:
“Our email service is earning a big #fail at this point. We’ve used (Name Brand provider) with great success for small jobs and I’m talking with them about an enterprise solution. Do you have a provider you love (or a crappy one I should be warned away from)? What are the pros and cons of the systems you’ve used?”
The question, submitted to a listserv, engendered responses of affiliation with one ESP or another because they liked them, had no problems, or other good indications of service. But email delivery is more complex than you might first imagine and one size does not fit all. It is not (yet) a commodity. Personal recommendations of quality service or indications of being satisfied are a good start of an evaluation but an insufficient qualifier for engaging an email service provider. Like the acquisition of almost any service (legal or technical) it is important to understand requirements.
This is not intended to be comprehensive but merely to illustrate my point. Get this part and you might get there is more to the story. So let’s take a look at these simple factors:
What does your email subscriber base look like? gmail.com? or bigcompanyname.com?
How big a mailing would you execute at one time?
What is your mailing frequency?
If you send a lot of email frequently to corporate email addresses, the email reputation is critical to getting into the inbox of your subscriber. The better email service providers (ESPs) do 2 things. First, they manage the reputation of the email addresses from which they send the email (their IP addresses). The best ESPs offer you the opportunity to set up your own email address on their system. This will look something like email.lawfirm.com and email will come from something like sonny@email.lawfirm.com So while it still looks like your business, it is isolated from your domain (lawfirm.com) and from the email sending behavior or misbehavior of other clients of this ESP. Are you with me?
What happens if you send an email to a lot of people at the same domain such asxxxx@client.com where xxxx is lots of different people? When all these emails show up @client.com at one time, they look like spam. It may even look like an attack on the email server. The corporate email server receives these emails so you probably see these emails as being delivered. But they never make it into the inbox of the individual email recipients.
The better ESPs offer the capability to throttle the sending of emails so that they don’t look like a spam attack on an email server. It more closely resembles natural email commerce. Good commercial ESPs can afford to throttle the send of their emails. Spammers cannot because they’ve got way too much email to send. Are we getting esoteric yet?
ESPs are commercial companies and not a part of any website development company’s core competency. We have our favorites but we are not linked at the hip. Email services built into CRM systems such as Interaction, Salesforce, etc. are bulk mailers and do not have these deliverability features and a deliverability desk (personnel) focused on managing IP reputation. This doesn’t make them bad by any stretch. But it does affect deliverability performance.
Finally, the best ESPs are becoming messaging companies capable of delivering text messages and voice messages. If your communication strategy is to be first to market with targeted information, you may find that a text message alert system is a client service you haven’t yet considered. It is unlikely that your “economy” bulk email guy who is “friendly to deal with” offers these extended and diversified contact capabilities. And maybe you don’t need it and never will.
Being able to track email performance is a common feature but it is not the test of a quality system. And these tools may not even provide accurate or complete information regarding the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns. Even the best (i.e. more costly) ESPs come only close to precise. Third party firms like Return Path and Pivotal Veracity might provide this higher level of email evaluation and deliverability improvement.
Price is not always a guarantee that you will get better delivery services like what I’ve identified above. But a low price pretty much guarantees that you will not. For my part, I think reaching targeted contacts for a few pennies is a pretty good deal. If you are driven to cut that penny in half, you should at least know what you are getting and what you aren’t.
Whew! Hope this is helpful. Oh yeah, who do we use? ExactTarget. But remember. One size does not fit all. Think about your requirements.
Sonny works closely with Duo’s clients to develop their online business and marketing strategy. His tactical responsiblities include: Implementing and managing paid search engine campaigns; Consulting on and implementing permission-based email; Providing strategic online marketing consultation to law firms and others using web analytics to help drive website and business performance and Conceputalizing and implementing social media marketing.
The Business of Law Guest Blogger this week at the National Law Review is Wendy Tyler of American Conference Institute who provides some valuable insight on what to look for in an Event / Conference Organizer:
A traditional component of business to business marketing strategy is utilizing conferencing and trade show solutions. Ever an increasingly competitive business, the conferencing and trade show industry has witnessed significant market shifts as demand from attendees, exhibitors, speakers and sponsors have changed with the business climate. Marketing budgets remain closely scrutinized as decision makers need to justify their investments to a higher standard than ever before, which means the pre‐qualification process for an event is more vital than ever.
At any given moment, no less than two dozen event organizers simultaneously compete for your business. With this volume it’s not uncommon to find yourself unable to fully vet each and every event opportunity that comes your way, and in return, it’s possible that valuable opportunities are being overlooked while poor opportunities may inadvertently be selected.
Evaluating an event opportunity starts with asking the right questions. There are ten essential questions that every event purchaser should ask every conference or trade show organizer when reviewing an opportunity to participate at any level. Each of these questions acts as a guidepost in effective qualification. Naturally, the list of questions you might want to ask doesn’t end at ten; but these ten will help you narrow your event search and potential involvement. Once you have these answers, any good event account manager should be able to guide you through your additional questions clearly and concisely discussing the marketing capabilities, overall event strategy, and brand development opportunities that may be available to you.
1. How many total attendees do your events average?
This question will help you evaluate the size of the event so you can determine if the opportunity presented is for support of a conference or trade show. Due to the cyclical nature of live events, attendance does vary so it’s important that you ask what the high/low range of attendance has been so you can better assess the risk of an underperforming event.
2. How many events do you produce a year?
This question will give you a good sense of the event organizer’s market penetration. The fewer events produced per year generally indicates that the organizer does not consider conferencing a major part of their business. For some purchasers this may not make a difference in their buying strategies but for others, there is a high degree of comfort knowing you are investing in a business whose primary business function is the delivery of the service you’ve procured.
3. How many of your total attendees are fee‐paying delegates?
Quite often, event organizers lump all participants as “attendees” – this can include speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, guests, exhibit floor walkers and press. Paying delegates are the highest value prospects because they are investing money in the information presented at an event. Consequently, the greater number of paying attendees will lead to a greater quality of a pre-qualified audience for your needs – even at the sacrifice of quantity – and provide your organization with a better chance of meeting the right decision makers. The old adage “you get what you pay for” is never more apparent than here.
4. When can you show me a list of attendees?
An event organizer should be able to show you a list of attending companies no less than two days prior to an event in order to substantiate the quality of the attendees. In some cases, and with certain levels of sponsorship, you may have the opportunity to receive an update on registered attendees several weeks prior to the event. The bottom line is that two days prior to a conference, any organizer that doesn’t release some information on the confirmed attendees may not have confidence in their event thus placing your investment in jeopardy.
5. Does this list include speakers, guests, sponsors, etc.?
Similar to any purchase of significant value, it is important to carefully review what it is you will be investing your dollars in. A sample attendee list, even one from a related event is a great way to get a feel for the expected audience. As the event nears and you receive an attendee list, be sure to find out whom exactly is included. While speakers, guests and even other sponsors can represent strong business development opportunities for your organization, it is important to know where the attendees are coming from so you can plan accordingly, manage internal expectations and have better metrics for measuring your return on investment.
6. Would you let me speak to a former speaker or attendee?
Similar to a “word of mouth” campaign, a great way to pre‐qualify a conference organizer is to speak with a former or current speaker, attendee or sponsor. This will provide your organization with an opportunity to get a first‐hand account of the event; and the organization you’re about to allocate marketing budget to.
7. How would you define your organization’s reputation?
It is important to determine how an organization defines its reputation. It is especially important to see if their self‐definition matches the definition offered by previous attendees, sponsors & speakers. An organizer should know how it is perceived in the marketplace, for better or for worse and be able to convey this to any potential client honestly and transparently.
8. What is your competitive advantage?
Similar to reputation, a company’s competitive advantage will help an event purchaser clearly define what they can expect from the organizer. This answer will also provide a purchaser with a benchmark for evaluation after the event concludes. For example, if an event organizer is known for attracting press, you will be able to judge your return on investment based on how much press your organization received.
9. How can you help my company with your go to market strategy?
As an event purchaser, it is important to challenge the organizer to provide a comprehensive solution to your business objectives as opposed to having them simply provide a “one size fits all” product. We live in agile times and most solution providers should provide custom solutions tailored to meet your specific needs. The exception to this rule is if you are working with a trade show organizer because the volume of sponsors and exhibitors sometimes prohibit high degrees of customization.
10. Can you explain your process of program development and speaker recruitment?
Program development and speaker recruitment are to an event organizer what research and development is to a pharmaceutical company. The process is as important as the product. Through greater understanding of where content is derived and speakers are recruited from, an event purchaser is provided the opportunity to evaluate the product in its entirety. With greater content and speakers comes a higher quality of attendee. Understand the source of the content and speakers and an event purchaser will be able to better judge the chances of meeting the right audience.
The questions provided above are intended to serve as guidelines for those evaluating event sponsorship and exhibition opportunities. The answers you receive are contingent upon a number of factors including the type of event, the product intelligence of the sales executive and the corporate culture of the organizer. As with the nature of live events, the ability to accurately predict a successful event experience is more art than science however; armed with these ten basic questions, you will be given every possible advantage in making the best decision for your company.
Ms. Tyler has been with American Conference Institute (ACI) since May 2005. Her responsibilities include managing the U.S. sales team, forging strategic alliances and identifying emerging growth sectors and topics. www.AmericanConference.com / 212-352-3220
As included in the Business of Law Section of the National Law Review Tom Ciesielka of TC Public Relations provides some solid Do’s & Don’ts for Twitter:
With millions of unique visitors each month, Twitter is still at the top of the social media game. Some people still use Twitter to catalog boring details of the day. However, savvy and smart users realize Twitter’s usefulness as a concise way of marketing and reaching out to consumers and media. Read the following do’s & don’ts to continue being one of the savvy and smart users.
Do make quality friends. Capturing an audience on Twitter is important, but don’t start following 857 people in one day. Start with a few friends, some movers and shakers of your industry, some legal reporters—listen to their tweets, and offer relevant replies. Then continue to follow a few new people week by week. Don’t just follow to follow, but actually think about why you want to connect with a certain person – think “strategic following.” Then contribute meaningful posts each day that others might find interesting as a way to build your own following.
Do protect your reputation. Twitter can be used to solidify your brand image, and it is an indispensable medium when crisis hits. Maintaining a Twitter account can help your firm when a damaging story hits cyberspace because a response on Twitter is often the fastest way to acknowledge the problem or issue. Failing to address any breaking news that involves your company makes you look at best, incompetent and at worst, guilty. Confidentiality laws may render tweeting a bad idea, but you should always pay attention to what’s happening and be prepared to do damage control when necessary.
Do be efficient. Building relationships on Twitter can facilitate communication about your legal specialties and expertise. However, using Twitter effectively and appropriately can be a time-consuming job, so try and implement applications that will help you be more efficient like TwitterFeed, TweetDeck and ÜberTwitter. It is also more efficient to partake in niche topic conversations about your practice areas instead of tweeting about the world of law in general. Specificity trumps generality.
Don’t be boring or narcissistic. Stick to tweeting about pertinent topics and find ways to express your personality through the links you post, rather than tweeting about how many briefs you’ve written that day or what color tie you’re wearing. Share links to legal headlines or comment on stories related to your expertise. Participate in discussion, reply to other users’ tweets, re-tweet their tweets—Twitter is not a one-person game, so don’t try to be the center of the universe.
Don’t turn off your censor. In cyberspace, a record of your most inappropriate tweet will live on in infamy long after you’ve cooled down. Never forget that what you say on Twitter can come back to haunt you, so rude or tasteless comments can come back to haunt you. Play it cool and don’t tweet anything you wouldn’t say in public; after all, Twitter is incredibly public.
This posting is republished with permission from the Chicago Lawyer Magazine Blog “Around the Watercooler” located at: http://h20cooler.wordpress.com/2010/
About the Author:
Tom Ciesielka, President of TC Public Relations, has worked in public relations, marketing and business development for more than 25 years and has enjoyed working with clients ranging from law firms to distinguished authors to national and local companies. He feels privileged to have established trusting working relationships with these clients and values every opportunity he gets to help businesses grow. He is also a former board member of the Legal Marketing Association in Chicago and has spoken at Chicago Bar Associations CLE programs. 312-422-1333 / www.tcpr.net
National Law Review Business of Law contributor Tom Ciesielka of TC Public Relations highlights a legal publicists role in law firm relations with the media.
Everybody hit your buzzers it's the Match Game - (Marcia Wallace with the correct answer)
I sometimes like to promote myself as an expert matchmaker. You want a date with the media? You got it. You want to get to know a certain reporter better? No problem. But PR matchmaking isn’t about dates and getting-to-know-yous, it’s about interviews and background meetings and making valuable connections with key reporters that care about your firm’s story. Consider the following tips to foster strong relationships and woo the media.
Pitch the Right Story to the Right Person at the Right Time
Would you show up to a date late, and then call your date the wrong name? Of course not, so don’t call a morning radio host who talks politics and ask about real estate law. Understand that there are many different titles in the media – reporter, producer, managing editor, columnist, executive producer, staff writer — so going straight to the host or editor in chief may not give you the best response. If you’re contacting a reporter, look for the specific beats and topic specialties to help you connect with someone who is already interested in your industry. Find the right time to contact a media outlet by first understanding its deadlines, and also by looking at editorial calendars and reading its most recent articles or program recaps to see what subjects have been recently covered. Every date is different, and likewise, pitching the media isn’t a one-size-fits-all game.
Don’t Exaggerate the Truth
Don’t tell your date you found the cure to cancer when you really just donate money to the American Cancer Society. Similarly, don’t claim to be an expert on lowering litigation costs if you charge $1,000 an hour. Talking about how wonderful your firm is gets you nowhere fast in the business world, and also can give you and your firm a bad reputation. Instead of using an exaggerated story to puff up your story, use tidbits from the real story in a captivating way. Deliver your message clearly, focusing on the parts your audience cares most about, without going overboard. Also remember, reporters do their research, so you want to make sure you have all your facts straight.
Keep the Relationship Strong
When a date goes well, what do you do? Call and ask for another. If a story about you or your firm goes well, thank the reporter, and keep him or her on your “Hot Contacts” list. When you have additional information that would interest the same reporter, don’t just sit on it, hoping that the reporter calls you and asks what’s new. Think of it this way: every relationship needs cultivating. Cultivate your status as a credible source by sending reporters information or ideas to help with their stories, or see what they are working on and if you can help. Once you’ve established that relationship, you need to keep it going and keep it strong.
This posting is republished with permission from the Chicago Lawyer Magazine Blog “Around the Watercooler” located at: http://h20cooler.wordpress.com/2010/
Tom Ciesielka, President of TC Public Relations, has worked in public relations, marketing and business development for more than 25 years and has enjoyed working with clients ranging from law firms to distinguished authors to national and local companies. He feels privileged to have established trusting working relationships with these clients and values every opportunity he gets to help businesses grow. He is also a former board member of the Legal Marketing Association in Chicago and has spoken at Chicago Bar Associations CLE programs.
This week’s National Law Review Business of Law Guest Blogger is Deborah Knupp of Akina Corporation . Deb authored a very helpful three part series on specific steps that attorney’s can take to increase business! The following is part two:
This week’s posts are identifying the Top 10 Rainmaker Best Practices, that when focused on with discipline and intention, distinguish you and your firm and help you gain a competitive sales advantage. Our previous post focused on the first three Rainmaker Best Practices. Today’s article focuses on the next set of three Best Practices and discusses WHAT works in any market and HOW to implement the best practices to impact your business with increased revenue, increased leverage of time and resources and improved accuracy and predictability in your sales pipeline.
4) Operate by the Platinum Rule through Discovery Questions
At Akina, we often speak about operating out of the Platinum Rule, which says “do unto others as they would be done unto,” or in more basic terms seek to serve another’s interest first, understanding that your own interests will be satisfied over time. By operating from the Platinum Rule, we take on a posture of service over self-interest. One of the best ways to evidence the Platinum Rule is through Discovery Questions. “Discovery” implies that we are interested and care about others. We often demonstrate more credibility by the types of questions we ask because our questions reveal our character. Discovery Questions ultimately get others talking about the thing that they know best… themselves. If new business is the natural outcome of solving problems, then the only way to understand what problems should be solved is to ask.
Getting into the habit of asking good Discovery Questions also enables us to find the most authentic way to stay connected over time. When we ask good questions, it often becomes obvious how we can be most helpful to someone else, either through our introductions, information (knowledge) or invitations (access to events or opportunities).
Finally, good Discovery Questions help orient us as to where a prospective buyer might be in their decision-making process. We don’t have to worry about “hard closing” if we’re paying attention to a buyer’s readiness to close. Discovery Questions give us access and insight into a prospect’s perspective so that we can respond appropriately and adequately.
5) Time-Boxed Follow-up
Which brings us to the next best practice…great rainmakers call out Definitive Next Steps as they go. Time-boxed follow-up is the opportunity to set next steps in the moment. It’s saying “I’ll call you next Friday to set up lunch” or “I’ll reach back out to you in six months if we don’t connect again before then” versus leaving next steps open-ended or saying “we should do this again some time.” Time-boxed follow-up concretely identifies what actions will be taken and by when. Definitive Next Steps give us the chance to demonstrate that we are our word, that we are responsive, and that we care.
6) Prep/Plan/Strategy
At a high level, effective preparation demonstrates that you honor another’s time by caring enough to have a game plan designed to get to a clear destination. Tactically, effective preparation helps you control the variables you can in an uncertain market place.
At a minimum, they key elements of preparation include identifying:
Your objective for why you want to meet
Your distinct key messages to convey interest and value
The discovery questions you will ask to deepen understanding and relationships
Anticipated scenarios and outcomes with potential definitive next steps, typically from a best case, likely case and worst case scenario
When done well, effective preparation, planning and strategy is done more than 24 hours before a meeting and is not conducted in a parking lot, elevator or car while driving. Look for the final Rainmaker Best Practices in the following days!
To see Part I of Top 10 Rainmaker Best Practices to Win in 2010 click here.
Deborah Knupp has worked globally with CEOs, executives, managing partners and attorneys as a coach and business executive for over 20 years. She has helped these leaders align their people systems and business objectives to create cultures based on the principles of accountability, integrity and authentic relationship building. Her work has focused on making the work environment a place where employees “want” to be; where clients “want” to buy; and, where leaders “want” to serve a bigger purpose in their communities and families. www.akina.biz /312-235-0144
This week’s National Law Review Business of Law Guest Blogger is Deborah Knupp of Akina Corporation . Deb authored a very helpful three part series on specific steps that attorney’s can take to increase business! Read On:
This week’s posts will identify the Top 10 Rainmaker Best Practices, that when focused on with discipline and intention, distinguish you and your firm and help you gain a competitive sales advantage. They focus on WHAT works in any market and HOW to implement the best practices to impact your business with increased revenue, increased leverage of time and resources and improved accuracy and predictability in your sales pipeline.
The Rainmakers Framework
Many people think that successful selling is all about “hard closing” the business. The perception that you have to morph your personality into a pushy salesperson and pressure people to buy will often evoke fear, discomfort (and nausea). Consider that the real truth about closing business happens long before the end of the deal. Closing business is the natural outcome of an authentic relationship and providing a solution to a problem that should be solved… even if you must temporarily suspend self-interest in the short term.
Closing starts with targeting the right relationships in the right situations that might have the right problems for which you have the right solution. When an authentic relationship exists and all conditions are present to close, business will often close itself.
The First Three Rainmaker Best Practices
So how do you focus with intentionality and discipline in ways that are likely to give you a better return on effort (ROE) and return on investment (ROI) as you pursue new business?
1) Targeting through the Top 40
Consider focusing your attention on your Top 40 Contacts – these include Prospects (people who can buy now or at some point in the future) and Connectors (people who can refer you to prospects – which may also include your clients.) As you think about your top connectors, peruse your entire network. Often many of our best connectors get overlooked because our relationships are rooted in personal contexts (i.e., family, neighbors, personal service providers, etc.) Realize that targeting is about determining “who is most likely to have a problem I can solve through my legal skills” and “who do I know that knows people who have problems that can be solved by legal skills”.
Be intentional, be selective and be aware of how all your networks may be beneficial.
2) Getting in the Door with the Authentic Reason
If you don’t have a good reason to pick up the phone and call, don’t. Having authentic reasons to connect is one of the keys to creating genuine relationships over time. Authentic reasons require you to look for ways to connect that are relevant and authentic from the other person’s perspective, not just your own.
Ask yourself – “If I was the person I’m about to call, why would I be interested in hearing from me?”
If you are struggling for an authentic reason, brainstorm against your three “IN’s”:
Invitations: what events do you have access to that your contact would appreciate or value attending?
Introductions: who do you know that your contact may find beneficial to know?
Information: what do you know that your contact would benefit from knowing?
3) Memorable Messaging
If you want to make yourself memorable, you need to be message ready with a “Quick Pitch” and a “What’s New? Message.” A Quick Pitch answers the question, “what do you do?” with a response to the question “what problem do I solve for whom”. By answering this way you increase the odds of sounding more interesting and compelling yet remain conversationally appropriate. When you communicate what problems you solve and for whom, you are able to draw people into further conversation and provoke genuine curiosity and interest. To that end, “quick” is the operative word in “quick pitch”. You will want to be relatively brief and create interest. Instead of saying “I am a <noun>” try responding with “I <verb> <target market> <problem solved>”. People care about what you can do for them or others more than your job title.
The Quick Pitch is useful when meeting people for the first time, however, there are messaging opportunities that happen every day with people we already know. How you respond to the question, “What’s new?” or “What have you been working on lately?” is rife with opportunity if you can respond strategically and appropriately. Rather than mumbling the usual, “nothing” or “same old, same old,” consider filling the void with something you are genuinely spending time doing or thinking about. For example, you might reply, “I’ve just picked up a new employment case that is really interesting” or “I’m preparing to speak on employment updates at a conference in LA next week.” Either response may spark additional queries and conversation, and they definitely help reinforce the kinds of problems you solve and for whom. To that end, if a more personal “what’s new?” is a better fit for the situation, share a recent story about your family, an upcoming vacation or your golf game. Effective messaging invites people to know you, care about you and want to develop a deeper relationship with you.
To see part II of Top 10 Rainmaker Best Practices to Win in 2010 – Click Here
Deborah Knupp has worked globally with CEOs, executives, managing partners and attorneys as a coach and business executive for over 20 years. She has helped these leaders align their people systems and business objectives to create cultures based on the principles of accountability, integrity and authentic relationship building. Her work has focused on making the work environment a place where employees “want” to be; where clients “want” to buy; and, where leaders “want” to serve a bigger purpose in their communities and families. www.akina.biz /312-235-0144
The National Law Review’s featured Business of Law Guest Blogger Meredith L. Williams of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC outlines some very real concerns for lawyers and law firms related to social media and state bar assocation guidelines. Ms. Williams also offers some very concrete Do’s and Don’t on how to address these concerns. Read on….
Today, social media encompasses a broad sweep of online activity, all of which is trackable and traceable. These networks include not only the blogs you write and those to which you comment, but also social networks. Each day brings new online tools and new advances introduce new opportunities to build your virtual footprint.
As a law firm, social media can help drive business initiatives and support professional development efforts. In basic business terms social media can be considered the least expensive form of large scale advertising. However, social media is not exclusively used for business by law firm employees. When it comes to expressing opinions about anything having to do with the law, firm employees are in a position that requires limitations and have certain limitations. Statements in public forums may inadvertently create an attorney-client relationship, and they may also violate the rules prohibiting law firm advertising. The wrong communication can be construed as exposing firm or client secrets; invasion of privacy and defamation; trademark violations; and may even lead to wrongful termination claims. Therefore, a law firm must attempt to provide reasonable guidelines for online behavior by members of the firm.
The following are five (5) ethical areas that all law firms should address when drafting internal social media policies. These can also be utilized by law departments when dealing with lawyer and non-lawyer employees. All of these rules are simply an extension of model rules of professional conduct & state rules of ethics. The over arching principles should remain the same as new social media sites and technologies emerge.
Advertising (Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.2)
Marketing and advertising are key functions for any business survival. However, lawyers, especially in law firms, are held to a higher standard when advertising through electronic means. Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.2[1] states a lawyer or law firm may advertise through written, recorded or electronic means. This includes all social media sites.
Quick Reference
Do
Have any personal or professional social media site as desired.
Use appropriate disclaimers as needed.
Do NOT
Use the organization’s name or email address on a personal site unless using the appropriate disclaimers.
Use the organization’s assets to update personal sites.
Example: A law firm creates a site on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. using the firm name. Is this advertising?
Example: An employee of a law firm uses the firm name or firm email address on their personal Facebook site. Is this advertising?
State ethics boards consider the true crux of the advertising issue to be not who creates the site or the intent of the site but rather whether or not the site can be considered to be used for professional use. If being used for professional use, social media presence and communication can be considered to fall within the advertising rules.
Below are a few guidelines to include in firm policies to teach your employees (lawyers and non-lawyers) how not to create a professional site unless intended.
Employees should not associate the firm name or firm email address with the site unless it is intended for professional use. This includes stating they are an employee of the law firm.
Do not use firm assets to update personal sites. This includes any law firm owned laptop or computer, I-Phone or blackberry, firm IP address and email address. Using the firm email address implies the employee is acting on the firm’s behalf.
Create an advertising disclaimer to help employees specifically state their use is personal or professional.
This subject is difficult to approach with employees. Many will argue it is the same as verbally telling someone they work at a specific law firm. However, state boards have compared the online activity to a law firm website vs. verbal communication. The best approach is helping employees understand how not to blur the lines of professional/ personal sites for their own protection. As an employer, you want employees to continue using social media sites to broaden and help promote the firm brand. However, you only want them to do it in the most ethical way.
Attorney-Client Relationship (Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1 Series)
The attorney-client relationship is one of the oldest legal ethical standards. It creates a certain set of duties the lawyer owes the client. The model rules of professional conduct set forth a series of guidelines that help regulate the creation and existence of this important relationship. In the electronic world, especially when utilizing social media, the important issue is whether any electronic communication creates an attorney-client relationship inadvertently.
Quick Reference
Do
Post non-legal comments, blogs, etc. on any personal or professional site.
Use appropriate disclaimers as needed.
Do NOT
Post legal advice.
“Friend” anyone on a professional site unless previously corresponded or known.
“Friend” a Judge on a professional site.
Example: A lawyer of firm ABC is blogging on a social media site regarding new tax laws. A non-client comments to the blog inquiring about his specific tax situation. The lawyer in turn comments again discussing how the new tax laws apply to the non-client. Has an attorney-client relationship been created?
Law firms presently use disclaimers for emails and firm websites to verify no implied relationship is created. But how do we instruct employees to this standard when social media sites are interactive by nature? Below are a few key policy guidelines to help employees navigate this difficult area.
Employees should never post legal advice. This does not mean employees cannot comment or post to social media sites. It only relates to publishing or posting that could be construed as legal advice or opinion. If the subject matter is related to a legal or ethical situation, attorneys and staff may only discuss the legal standards but not apply those standards to any particular fact situation.
Firms should provide a disclaimer for employees to utilize when posting or commenting on professional social networking sites.
When using social networks with firm e-mail and professional identification, employees should not “friend” anyone they do not know and/or with whom they have not previously corresponded.
Some states have even gone so far as to also state that lawyers and judges cannot be “friends” on any professional social media sites. State ethics rules should be consulted prior to drafting any policy.
Client Confidentiality (Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6)
Client confidentiality and business privacy are two of the largest concerns of employers when dealing with social media communication. Generally, a lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent. In addition, privacy of the organization, the business processes, the firm brand and the IP of the firm are key for business continuity.
Quick Reference
Do
Discuss job generically
Avoid uncontrolled forums.
Be respectful of other’s and the company’s privacy.
Get approval when responding to negative requests.
Do NOT
Discuss job specifics.
Use the client’s name.
Disclose specifics related to the business.
Disclose confidential information.
Upload law firm contacts onto a social media site.
Example: A lawyer begins discussing a case he is handling on his personal Facebook blog. Although not referencing the client name, details of the case are discussed. Has the client confidentiality been broken?
Example: A law firm employee tweets about a firm staff meeting discussing salary and new hires. Has the privacy of business been destroyed?
Law firms must address confidentiality and privacy standards in social media policies. In addition, consequences for breaking these standards should also be detailed. Below are a few policy considerations to navigate this area.
Employees should never use a client’s name unless written permission has been received.
Employees should never disclose confidential or private business information. Sharing this type of information, even unintentionally, can result in legal action against the employee, the firm, and/or the client.
Outside the workplace, rights to privacy and free speech protect online activity conducted on personal social networks used with personal email addresses. However, what is published on personal online sites should never be attributed to the firm and should not appear to be endorsed by or originated from the firm.
Employees should avoid forums where there is little control over what is known to be confidential information. In the world of social networking, there is often a breach of confidentiality when someone emails an attorney or posts a comment congratulating him/her on representation of a specific client or on a specific case.
Respect the privacy of other employees and of the opinions of others. Before sharing a comment, post, picture, or video about a client or other employee through any type of social media or network, his/her consent is not only a courtesy, it is a requirement.
Get Marketing/ PR departments involved when responding to certain inaccurate, accusatory or negative comments about the firm or any firm clients.
Expertise (Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.4)
Quick Reference
Do
Allow recommendations.
Review and monitor all recommendations carefully.
Edit or hide recommendations as needed to remove any verbiage that states you are “better”, “the best”, “expert”, “specialized” or “certified”.
Do NOT
Be false or misleading in online credentials.
Use the words “better” or “the best” in credentials or when recommending others.
Use the verbiage “expert”, “specialist” or “certified” to describe experience unless certified by an organization that is accredited by the ABA or the state bar.
Many lawyers are considered experts or specialists by their peers in select areas of law. However, using the expert designation can only be done with appropriate approval. Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.4 generally states that a lawyer may communicate the fact that the lawyer does or does not practice in particular fields of law. In addition, a lawyer may promote the engagement in specific areas of practice. However, a lawyer shall NOT state or imply that a lawyer is an expert or a certified specialist unless the lawyer has been certified by an organization that is accredited by the ABA or the state bar.
This model rule affects the use of credentials and recommendations on social media sites. What are the key areas to include in law firm policies?
Employees should never be false and misleading in online credentials. All employees should maintain complete accuracy in all online bios and ensure no embellishment.
Recommendations should be used carefully. Employees should review all recommendations created for them for any embellishment (i.e. use of the words better or best) expertise, certification or specialization listing. Edit or hide recommendations as needed.
Employees should not include the words “expert”, “certified”, or “specialized” in their credentials unless authorized to do so.
Expertise and specialization is heavily regulated at the state level. Some states have gone further in their restricted verbiage. State rules of ethics should be reviewed prior to any policy drafting.
General Communications (Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7 Series)
The final social media ethics concern revolves around general law firm and lawyer communication. In personal and especially professional communication, all communications must be truthful and accurate.
Quick Reference
Do
Credit appropriately
Fact check
Spell & grammar check
Correct errors promptly
Be transparent
Follow firm policies
Obey the law
Do NOT
Personally attack, become involved in an online fights or hostile communication.
Solicit or use commercial speech. The content must be informative only. Nothing should propose a commercial transaction
Law firms and law departments should consider the following general policy guidelines when drafting social media policies.
Identify all copyrighted or borrowed material with citations and links. When publishing any material online that includes another’s direct or paraphrased quotes, thoughts, ideas, photos, or videos, always give credit to the original material or author, where applicable.
Ensure material is accurate, truthful, and without factual error prior to posting.
Spell and grammar check everything.
Correct any mistakes promptly.
When participating social media sites in a professional manner, disclose identity and any firm affiliation. Never use a false name, alias, or be anonymous. Many courts have looked poorly on law firms and lawyers using alias names while on social media sites.
Follow all firm policies and procedures regarding online communications. Be respectful and do not make statements that are defamatory; racially, sexually, or otherwise insensitive or offensive; or otherwise improper or likely to conflict with the interests of the firm, its employees, clients, affiliates and others, including competitors.
Follow the site’s terms and conditions of use.
Do not post any information or conduct any online activity that may violate applicable local, state or federal laws or regulations.
Avoid personal attacks, online fights, and hostile communications.
Employees should never solicit or use commercial speech. Employees should not use a site as a way to directly solicit business for the firm. While a blog itself is not subject to the limitation on commercial speech, the content of a blog can be. The content must be informative only, and nothing in the content should propose a commercial transaction or be for the purpose of directly gaining a commercial transaction.
Conclusion
As discussed in this article, there are many ethical considerations when law firms and their employees decided to use social media sites. Similar to email emerging as the main form of business communication ten (10) years ago, social media is now the communication wave of the future. This new format is how the next generation of leaders presently lives and communicates day to day. The legal community must embrace the new technology and the opportunity to educate employees.
[1] Model Rules of Professional Conduct are professional standards that serve as models of the regulatory law governing the legal profession. However, each state board of professional responsibility has additional or supplemental states rules of ethics. State rules should be considered prior to policy drafting.
Meredith L. Williams is Baker Donelson’s Director of Knowledge Management. Although trained as a lawyer, she is not actively engaged in the practice of law. Instead, she oversees BakerNet, the Firm’s industry-leading intranet, and coordinates strategic growth on behalf of the Firm in knowledge management, competitive intelligence and technology. Ms. Williams is widely recognized as a leading authority in knowledge management issues for the legal field, and is a frequent presenter and author on knowledge management and competitive intelligence.
Ms. Williams is a member of the Association of Women Attorneys and the American, Tennessee and Memphis Bar Associations. In addition, Ms. Williams is Conference Vice President for the International Legal Technology Association 2010-2011. She is a recipient of the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award from the University Of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School Of Law for her volunteer work. 901-577-2353 / www.BakerDonelson.com
From the Business of Law Section of the National Law Review -by Tom Ciesielka of TC Public Relations suggests some applications that help streamline Twitter use for busy attorneys – read on:
For all those lawyers out there on Twitter, I’d like to suggest a few programs to simplify your Twitterverse.
TweetBeep
This web-based application enables users to set up a search for any keyword or phrase on Twitter, and receive hourly updates via email when any tweets include that keyword, phrase or hashtag. TweetBeep is an easy tool for tracking talk on Twitter about your firm, website, events or services. By monitoring the conversation about your firm, you can make sure you are managing your reputation and engaging with people who are interested in you – people who can become potential clients. You can also use TweetBeep as an application to measure the impact and engagement level of various cases, or track the reactions to your firm’s announcements or legal victories. It can also be a valuable tool for industry research if you monitor industry-specific terms (such as “intellectual property”) or even a competitor’s name.
Tweet All About It
Sometimes it takes too much time to think about what to tweet (and we all know time is money). Tweet All About It makes it easy as “highlight” and “right click.” This downloadable program allows you tweet pieces of text from websites viewed on Firefox or Internet Explorer by highlighting the text, right clicking and selecting “Tweet All About It.” The text will automatically be tweeted from your Twitter username, and you will have saved time, energy & potentially, money.
Monitter
Anyone, even those without Twitter accounts, can go on the Monitter website and search and track keywords being using on Twitter (somewhat similar to TweetBeep). Users enter words into the search box and instantly see relevant tweets streaming in real-time. They can also send tweets or retweet to their accounts directly from the Monitter interface. You can download the widget for your website to keep track of what people are saying on Twitter about you or your firm. It also can help you identify social media influencers for a certain legal topic or in a specific conversation and it allows you to quickly respond to or join those conversations.
This posting is republished with permission from the Chicago Lawyer Magazine Blog “Around the Watercooler” located at: http://h20cooler.wordpress.com/2010/
Originally posted on the National Law Review and in the LMA Virginia newsletter and contributed by Lauren Hum of Hunton & Williams LLP – some quick tips for SEOing practice descriptions on law firm’s websites:
Differentiating your firm’s legal services from those of another firm is one of the basic tenants of legal marketing. Many firms offer the same general legal practices that directly compete with other firms for the top spots in legal rankings and search engine results. Fortunately, search engines are predictable creatures that use objective measurements to determine in what order websites are ranked. Below are a few suggestions on how to craft the most effective practice description in order to maximize search engine visibility.
Long-tail Keywords. Each practice has key phrases, usually names of specific laws or regulations, that are unique to that particular practice. It is important to identify these industry-specific keywords and include them in an appropriate place within the practice description. Using long-tailed keywords, such as “EU data protection directive,” will have the added benefit of generating traffic from visitors who have in-depth knowledge about the specific industry as opposed to more generic keywords, such as “climate change,” that will cast a wide and rather ambiguous net.
Keyword Variation. Some practices, like international arbitration, have standardized names that are used universally by almost all firms who offer that practice area. Other practices have different names that describe the same general practice area. For example, a practice may be called “Business Restructuring & Reorganization” at one firm and “Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditors’ Rights” at another. Even if there might be slight distinctions in their niche expertise, they are generally targeting the same sector of the legal community. Although the name of the practice should remain consistent throughout the description, not including other commonly searched alternative forms of the practice within the text will limit your reach.
Inbound Links. One of most powerful ways to raise a practice area’s search engine rank is to increase the number of inbound links to the practice description. The more links that lead to your content, the more weight search engines will give to the ranking, and the more traffic will be directed to your practice area description. There are many opportunities to place a link to a practice description on your current material, including blogs, client alerts, and other related practices.
Intelligent Design. Search engines use header, sub header, bullet, and boldface tags to determine the content of a webpage. Using these elements to structure practice area descriptions will not only make your content more comprehensible to search engines, but also present your information more effectively to website visitors.
Consider the Medium. Practice descriptions used for the website should not be the same length as practice descriptions used in proposals and other print materials. By using a practice area description that spans several pages, you are inadvertently sabotaging its chances of appearing in search results. Search engines use complex algorithms that calculate the frequency of keywords divided by the overall length of the content and thus long practice descriptions will dilute the keywords you use to categorize your law practice.
While incorporating any one of these elements into your practice’s website description will be beneficial, it is critical to keep in mind that effective SEO is dependent upon multiple components that work in unison to produce the desired effect. Furthermore, many of these recommendations can be extrapolated to attorney biographies, as they are another opportunity to distinguish your firm from the competition.
DISCLAIMER. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Hunton & Williams LLP.
Originally published in the Summer 2010 issue of LMA Practice Marketing Newsletter Copyright 2010 Legal Marketing Association –The Virginias Chapter.
Authored By Lauren Hum:
Lauren Hum is a Marketing Technology Specialist at Hunton & Williams LLP and lives in Richmond, Virginia. Ms. Hum is a Communications & Technology committee member for the Legal Marketing Association’s Virginia Chapter and a board member for the William & Mary Richmond Alumni Chapter.
