Tag: law firm

Deciding what Platform to Use for Your Law Firm Website

I often have clients ask me how frequently they should refresh or update their websites. That is a tricky question. When it comes to content, a website should be updated on an on-going basis – every week is good, and every day is not too much. Frequent content additions will increase the likelihood that your site is viewed often, as search engines catalog content using the keywords users are likely to query and return results based on a combination of the most recently posted content, the closest match to the query and the most highly viewed pages that contain the appropriate keywords. That means the more optimized (good use of keywords) content you post, the more views the content is likely to get.

When it comes to design, a website will begin to look dated in two to three years and should be revisited and updated. This is the perfect time to review the site’s navigation and make sure it has remained user-friendly and consistent with current trends in website design. As with most things in business, having an initial strategy when building a website will reduce the need for changes and make the changes easier to implement when it does come time to refresh the site.

So, what does good initial strategy entail when beginning a website build?

The Importance of CMS Selection

First and foremost, you must think about the foundation the site is built upon. Nearly every website built now has a Content Management System (CMS). A CMS allows for ease in operating the website without a need for knowledge of coding. For instance, adding and deleting content can be easily managed on the back-end of the site with the use of built-in templates. There is no reason for a law firm not to use a CMS. The only questions to consider are which category and type of system to choose. This is the big overall strategy decision, and it will impact the ease of use and updates for the life of the site.

There are two categories of CMSs: Proprietary and Open Source. They provide similar functionality, but they operate very differently. A Proprietary CMS is built and owned by an independent company, and that company “leases” the right for a firm to use the technology. Proprietary was the most used form of legal website CMSs for many years.

Open Source CMSs are built and maintained by programmers throughout the world and are open for anyone to use at no cost. Programmers continually update and add to the code making improvements, which they openly share. This is a newer platform for the legal industry.

Deciding Between Open Source or Proprietary

Proprietary CMSs generally come with a hosting and maintenance plan, providing a sense of security to smaller firms without the in-house resources to update and maintain the site. Though this can ease the burden of website management for the firm, it also requires a monthly or annual fee to keep the site up and running. In addition, as most licensors will not allow access to their code, a site refresh will entail additional fees whenever upgrades are needed.

With the use Open Source CMSs, programmers are continually enhancing the code and the updated functionality is freely shared. Any firm can add the enhanced functionality to their site free of charge. That said the firm must have the in-house capability to do so or contract with an outside vendor to complete the project. If a firm does use an outside vendor to assist, it’s a one-time project fee as opposed to a long-term commitment.

The Move Toward Open Source

For the past several years, law firms have steadily trended toward the use of Open Source platforms and ownership of their websites. Long gone are the days of two or three legal power vendors owning the mass market share of law firm websites by using a formulaic, proprietary build approach and charging for site content and technology updates on an hourly or monthly basis.

Not if, but when you do plan for a refresh or new site build, you can reduce costs and enhance site longevity by using an Open Source platform. There are three main options, WordPress, Drupal and Joomla. There have been many comparisons of these Open Source Code options, and I share the main value/asset for each below.

WordPress: This system works best for small- to medium-sized firm websites. (Most Popular)

Drupal: The most powerful Open Source CMS, it allows for efficient upgrades. (Most Advanced)

Joomla: The better platform for e-commerce, it requires some level of technical coding. (The Compromise between WordPress and Drupal)

There is considerable information on the Internet regarding each of the listed Open Source systems. Identifying which CMS to use, whether proprietary or open source, is key to ensuring a smooth and effective website strategy for years to come.

Article By Sue Remley of Jaffe

© Copyright 2008-2015, Jaffe Associates

On Sale Today – .law Domain Names

Today, all law firms will be able to apply for .law names. This top-level domain name is intended to create an online space in which only regulated, licensed legal practitioners can be found.

In order to purchase your .law domain name, there are specific steps involved, as well as some key dates of which to be aware. Here is a quick guide to help you move forward with purchasing your .law domain.

What domain names should you buy?

  1. Purchase the .law version of your domain name.

  1. Purchase keyword specific URLs that are important to your branding efforts, such as employmentlawyer.law, employment.law, advertisinglaw.law, etc. Note that there could be bidding for some of the more popular domains.

When and where can I register the domain?

Oct. 12 – 18, 2015:

  1. Qualified lawyers can apply for domain names. Domain names will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

  2. There will be a one-time Early Access Program (EAP) fee as well as an annual registration fee.

  3. Pricing will decrease each day for the first seven days of General Availability – check with an authorized registrar for purchasing details.

October 19 – Future:

  • Qualified lawyers can still purchase domain names on a first-come, first-served basis, minus the EAP fee.

What is the eligibility process?

  1. Decide which of your firm’s lawyers will be designated a “qualified lawyer” for purposes of purchasing .law domain names – such as your managing partner or marketing partner.

  1. Gather the following information for your qualified lawyer:

  1. Attorney’s name (as it appears on his/her bar registration)

  2. State/jurisdiction(s) where attorney is licensed to practice

  3. Year of registration: Year(s) admitted to practice

  4. Bar registration number(s)

  5. Bar association state and country

How long does it take?

The verification process should take 48 hours, after which time the domain names you applied for will be registered to you.

Article By Amy L. Knapp & Aileen M. Hinsch of Knapp Marketing

Copyright 2015 Knapp Marketing

To Specialize or Not to Specialize, That is the Question for Attorneys

As the number of attorneys in the marketplace continues to grow, it is becoming more important to differentiate yourself.  One of the best ways to do this is through specialization.  Becoming a “specialist” can be a scary proposition as your messaging and marketing efforts change to accommodate this new direction. The obvious fear is giving up some potential business by speaking and marketing openly about your new focus. While most of these fears are not grounded in reality, most generalists are worried about the possible loss that may occur when making the transition.  In working with hundreds of attorneys, we regularly discuss the ups and downs to becoming a specialist. If the timing is right and you are well prepared, it might be the best way for you to stay relevant, while also growing your practice and obtaining additional financial security. That being said, it’s one thing to be “known” as a specialist versus “identifying oneself” as a specialist. It’s always better to be considered an industry specialist and leader rather than having to advertise that information. In some states, calling yourself a “specialist” is not allowed. Be sure to stay in compliance within your states’ guidelines.

Take a moment and think about two of the most successful attorneys you know.  Really, close your eyes for five seconds and get their names in your head.  I would bet dollars to donuts that at least one of the names you thought of was someone who is a specialist. It should come as no surprise that an attorney who builds a reputation around being great at one thing is memorable to you. The reality is that when you build a reputation in one industry, market or vertical, your practice can grow more quickly than you ever thought possible. Of course, a number of elements need to be in place before taking this leap. Here are a few things to think about before making the switch to becoming a specialist:

#1. You need to be the best at what you do.

Whether you are a litigator or an estate-planning attorney, nothing is more important than being skilled at your craft. When thinking about specializing, be sure you have the baseline skills and experience to succeed in one particular area of the law. It might make sense to get at least 2-3 clients under your belt in a particular area to test it out and see if specializing in one area makes sense for you. Achieving notoriety as a specialist may take months or many years to achieve. The important thing is that you eat, sleep and breathe within the space that you’ve chosen.

A good example of this occurred when I was badly injured in a plane crash back in 1996. That’s right, I survived a plane crash.  During my recovery from looking like a human pretzel, my father, a now retired attorney, put me on the phone with Bob Clifford of Clifford Law Offices. He chose Bob Clifford because he is well branded as the leader in aviation and personal injury litigation. We didn’t speak to any other law firms because who could possibly be better?

Being the best at what you do and building a strong reputation around that specialty can make obtaining new clients very easy. However, as you probably know, it takes real effort and conviction to build a specialized practice.

#2. Choose the right industry or vertical that’s a fit for you.

The easiest and most time effective way to develop a niche’ is to leverage the work you’ve already done in one particular area. It may make sense to target specific people, companies or issues that will allow you to draw out more work.  For example, if you’ve worked with textile manufacturers and enjoy the work, be sure to target other textile companies in your area. You can do a search on google or LinkedIn to identify the people and companies to call on. Try to leverage your existing clients and strategic relationships to obtain introductions to these business owners if possible.

As an example, you could call up your client in the industry and say, “I know you’ve been happy with the work I’ve done for you over the past few years. I am looking to help others in the same area. Who are you friendly with in the textile industry that I should be speaking with as well?” The key here is to develop a great relationship with your client to ensure that he/she is open to making these types of strategic introductions. Think about it this way. If you had the best dermatologist and someone had a nasty rash, wouldn’t you feel great making the introduction?

Another easy way to find the right specialty for you is by asking yourself, “What am I truly passionate about?”  If you care about something, it drives you to become more involved. For example, one of my clients is very passionate about animals and is now focusing on working with dog shelters and veterinarians.  She joined the shelter’s board and is routinely interacting with prospective clients for her practice. She is wowing them with her ability to solve problems and is routinely asked legal questions from the board members. These inquiries turn into business meetings and eventually new business.  She’s doing all of this without working harder than before as the new originations roll in. Finding a niche’ that you are passionate about can make your legal career much more meaningful and enjoyable. You will also have a greater chance of meeting prospective clients, as you will be interacting with them on a more regular basis.

#3. Find a space, where there is space.

Be aware of your market and niche’ and who else may already be there before committing to a specific specialty.  While you may have vast experience in commercial real estate for example, there may already be too many lawyers in that area to easily separate yourself from the pack. Do your research and try to find a segment of real estate that isn’t as fully saturated. It might also make sense to branch off into other areas of law to ensure you have your eggs in a few different baskets.

When the recession hit in 2008, many real estate lawyers were hit pretty hard. One of my clients saw this as an opportunity to study estate planning as a backup plan to real estate law. This ended up being a great fit as he was able to leverage his real estate clients and personal contacts to help set up estate plans for everyone he could.  Now that real estate is back, he has doubled his book by focusing on both specialties.

By studying the competition, understanding the marketplace and the amount of business generated in a particular area or niche’, you can better hedge your bets when selecting a specialty.

#4. Look to the future.

Earlier this year, I had the great pleasure of interviewing Jerry Maatman of Seyfarth Shaw to learn a little more about his successful practice. One of the key elements to his amazing achievements as an attorney came from his thirst for knowledge within his area of Labor and Employment. He voraciously read everything he could to better understand what was coming down the pipe to see how he could leverage it to build his practice. He describes in his interview, the 1992 legislation for the Americans with Disabilities Act and how he got ahead of the law to be seen as the premier expert on the subject. He effectively packaged a “Survival Guide” for companies to better deal with the changing laws and regularly spoke on the subject before anyone else. By being a forward thinker, he locked-in his success and was repeatedly hired as the expert on ADA law by some of the largest companies in America.

Developing a niche’ can be a game changer for you as a practicing attorney. For those who are worried about missing other business opportunities because of specializing, who’s to say you can’t take on new business in other areas? However, by focusing your outbound marketing on one thing, you’ll have the opportunity to build your brand name much more quickly than staying a generalist.  You need to have the experience, the passion, the space or the forward thinking that will allow you to become successful in specializing.

Article By Steve Fretzin of Sales Results, Inc.
Copyright @ 2015 Sales Results, Inc.

Legal Marketing Stats Lawyers Need to Know

Using market trends to inform your law firm marketing efforts is a must for solos and small firms that have limited budgets and resources to market their firms.

Google recently aggregated research from FindLaw and its own inhouse data to provide a look at the legal market trends that should shape your legal marketing initiatives:

74% of prospects beginning a search online end up contacting the office via phone. (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

87% of people who contact an attorney go on to hire an attorney and 72% of them only contact one attorney. (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

96% of people seeking legal advice use a search engine. (Google Consumer Survey, Nov 2013)

38% of people use the Internet to find an attorney. (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

62% of legal searches are non-branded (i.e., generic: “Phoenix divorce attorney,” etc.). (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

74% of consumers visit a law firm’s website to take action. (Google Legal Services Study Sept 2013)

25% of people researching legal topics visit YouTube during the process. (YouTube Internal Data 2012)

85% use online maps to find legal service locations. (Google Legal Services Study Sept 2013)

69% use both a smartphone and a PC for research. (Google Legal Services Study Sept 2013)

31% of all law firm related website traffic comes through mobile search (FindLaw Aggregated Hosted Site Data 2014)

71% of people looking for lawyer think it is important to have a local attorney. (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

So what do you need to do to convert leads based on these facts? Here are a few action steps:

Provide multiple contact options — phone, email, online chat, etc.

Provide a mobile-friendly version of your website.

Have an intake system that allows consumers to reach your firm on the first call and intake specialists trained to convert consumers into clients.

Concentrate on local SEO to ensure your website shows up well in local search.

Article By Stephen Fairley of The Rainmaker Institute

© The Rainmaker Institute, All Rights Reserved

Register for the 20th Annual Law Firm Leaders Forum – October 8-9 at The Pierre in NYC

When: OCT 08 – 09, 2015
Where: New York, NY – The Pierre

Join us this October as the Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute proudly presents the 20th Anniversary of Law Firm Leaders at The Pierre Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

Continuing the forum’s unrivaled tradition of industry-defining content and professional networking, the 2015 program offers a comprehensive update on the state of the legal profession and the ongoing challenges affecting law firm leadership throughout the AmLaw 150.

This year’s key topics include:

  • Restoring Professionalism to the Practice of Law
  • Leading Change: A Presentation from Heidi Gardner, Lecturer on Law & Distinguished Fellow, Center on the Legal Profession, Harvard Law School
  • The Meaning of Client Relationships in the 21st Century
  • Data Privacy & Cybersecurity in the Global Law Firm

Call to register: 1-800-308-1700

Or click here to email and we will contact you.

10 Practice Management Challenges for Mid-Size Law Firms

10 black and whiteOn those rare occasions when I am not optimistic about the prospects of mid-size law firms, I am very pessimistic. Oh yes, mid-size firms are the best setting for practicing law. And many of the current challenges to the legal profession play to mid-size firms’ strengths. And some legal subject areas are positively booming. But except for that, things look daunting.

So this title to a recent Dr. George Beaton blog post – “10 reasons BigLaw managing partners are not sleeping very well” – braced me for a jolt. Challenges to BigLaw most often are not so different from the challenges to MidLaw.

But then I examined Beaton’s 10 reasons. One by one, I liked MidLaw’s chances.

1. Client power.  Large corporations now have alternatives to hiring law firms. They can bring work in-house, or use alternative legal services providers, or exercise their formidable bargaining power for large engagements. Those are challenges that must vex the large law firms. MidLaw on the other hand, can appeal both to the largest clients and also to smaller clients. They can be closely engaged with clients in the management of their legal function. And, if a law firm is not fixated on having every bit of a client’s work, mid-size firms and their clients can find the balance where legal services are rationally allocated among alternatives, and law firms are sized and structured to do the work they are best suited to do (which is not all of it).

2. New competitors.  Alternative legal services providers are taking work that law firms once did. Good! New, alternative providers have found opportunities because law firms were doing work that they were not best suited for. Now, alternative providers are taking the routine, repeatable work. They are making the big investments in technology. Mid-size firms need not staff up or make the investments needed to provide those services. This is an opportunity. Stay smaller, learn to work with (and, to use) the alternative providers, to focus on what lawyers do best, and to build the kinds of firms and professional cultures around the smaller bases that this makes possible.

3. Big Four accounting firms taking legal work.  It was never about occupational licenses. From MidLaw’s perspective, what’s the difference between BigLaw and BigFour? There is also competition from smaller accounting firms, but the point’s the same. What’s the difference between competition from other law firms and competition from accounting firms? Accounting firms (all sizes) remain great sources of referrals for MidLaw firms. Monitor those referrals. They are a good indicator of where your sweet spot may be. If you elect to compete for the same work accounting firms do, then understand how you can do that work better-cheaper-faster than the competition.

4. Technology is a challenge for everyone.  Mid-size firms may be better positioned to navigate new technology than others. The place between the largest firms and the smallest looks like a good place to be. Mid-size firms are the most attractive marketing niche for many technology providers who are designing products to suit. Be nimble.

5. Firm brands are becoming more important than individual lawyer brands.  Beaton says this is inexorable. I’d say the pace is still gradual. Beaton says,

This trend is being driven by the interactions of clients’ buying patterns, technology, globalisation, and talent. Building a distinctive brand is more about culture and discipline than anything else. Custom and practice legacies and inertia are the enemies of brand-building.

These are good insights. Mid-size firms are well suited to nurture distinctive cultures, but they are deathly subject to “practice legacies and inertia.” And then there is “discipline.” Be intentional about who you are.

6. Globalization.  Twenty-five years ago, what was called “international law” was the almost-exclusive domain of large firms in large U.S. cities. That has changed as technology, global commerce and cross-border legal practice have evolved. Various forms of networking rival the advantages (without the formidable disadvantages) of multinational law firms. Globalization is now a MidLaw opportunity. Reach for it.

7. Attracting and holding talent.  Here is the greatest advantage of mid-sized firms: they are (can be, anyway) more fun. Beaton outlines the challenges for BigLaw (“the universal allure of life-time partnership in a BigLaw firm is no more”). The challenges Beaton identifies are also challenges for mid-size firms. But mid-size firms look better suited to meet them. Mid-size firms are better able to forge personal and professional connections among their members. Be intentional about it.

8. Change management.  Beaton says the ability to change is now mission-critical for law firms. You bet. Change will be a challenge from now on – everywhere, for everyone, in every endeavor, at all times. And there is quite a lot of change facing legal services organizations just now. Law firms have held it back for so long, but not any more. Mid-size firms, as smaller organizations, have the possibility of greater agility. But they can also fail much more tidily and efficiently than larger firms. Not every mid-size firm is agile.

9. Partnership structure.  The partnership form clearly does not suit large national and multi-national  law firms. Partnership impedes change and capital formation in organizations composed of large numbers of professionals who do not know and cannot trust each other. For mid-size firms though, partnership can still animate culture. Partnership still looks like the natural structure for professional services colleagues in non-hierarchical organizations that are bound by ties of personal loyalty. But continuing and increasing attention to nurturing connections among members is critical; and capital is more and more an issue, even for smaller firms.

10. Equity management.  Equity management encompasses: remuneration, risk management, right-sizing, binding members to the firm, and the possibility of building capital values for partners and perhaps outside investors. These are issues for mid-size firms as well as the great big ones, albeit in different ways.

This is a good set of law firm management issues to target. Dr. Beaton’s observations about their applications to large law firms are posted at his blog together with links to other materials, issue by issue.

Article By Edward C. Winslow III of Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP
Copyright © 2015, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP

Join the Legal Executive Institute for the 20th Anniversary of Law Firm Leaders – October 8-9 at The Pierre in NYC

When: OCT 08 – 09, 2015
Where: New York, NY – The Pierre

Join us this October as the Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute proudly presents the 20th Anniversary of Law Firm Leaders at The Pierre Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

Continuing the forum’s unrivaled tradition of industry-defining content and professional networking, the 2015 program offers a comprehensive update on the state of the legal profession and the ongoing challenges affecting law firm leadership throughout the AmLaw 150.

This year’s key topics include:

  • Restoring Professionalism to the Practice of Law
  • Leading Change: A Presentation from Heidi Gardner, Lecturer on Law & Distinguished Fellow, Center on the Legal Profession, Harvard Law School
  • The Meaning of Client Relationships in the 21st Century
  • Data Privacy & Cybersecurity in the Global Law Firm

Call to register: 1-800-308-1700

Or click here to email and we will contact you.

Attend the 20th Annual Law Firm Leaders Forum Oct 8-9 in NYC – Brought to you by the Legal Executive Institute

When: OCT 08 – 09, 2015
Where: New York, NY – The Pierre

Join us this October as the Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute proudly presents the 20th Anniversary of Law Firm Leaders at The Pierre Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

Continuing the forum’s unrivaled tradition of industry-defining content and professional networking, the 2015 program offers a comprehensive update on the state of the legal profession and the ongoing challenges affecting law firm leadership throughout the AmLaw 150.

This year’s key topics include:

  • Restoring Professionalism to the Practice of Law
  • Leading Change: A Presentation from Heidi Gardner, Lecturer on Law & Distinguished Fellow, Center on the Legal Profession, Harvard Law School
  • The Meaning of Client Relationships in the 21st Century
  • Data Privacy & Cybersecurity in the Global Law Firm

Call to register: 1-800-308-1700

Or click here to email and we will contact you.

LinkedIn For Lawyers: The Publishing Tool

Jaffe

There is no question that LinkedIn is a powerful networking tool that can potentially turn online connections into real-world clients. That won’t happen overnight, however, and those efforts will only thrive with proper care, maintenance and pruning.

Writing Your LinkedIn Profile

Most likely you already have a basic profile, but one of the biggest obstacles lawyers face is distinguishing themselves online. Bios sound the same from one attorney to the next, and, while they might showcase a long list of achievements, they often don’t say much about the person and how he or she is a problem solver. It’s important to remember that your profile is your front door to the world. Spruce it up, and lay out the welcome mat.

Need some tips when writing your LinkedIn profile? To reach influencers, gain a following and develop a reputation as someone “in the know,” use actionable language, and try to be more lively and specific. Identifying clearly how you provide a solution will make it infinitely easier for potential clients to understand what you do and why you are the perfect fit for their job. If you think revising your online profile will easily drop to the bottom of your “to do” list, schedule it on your calendar.

Blogging on LinkedIn

With a progressive profile in place, you’re now ready to harness the power of LinkedIn. In addition to providing opportunities for connecting with colleagues, friends, and potential prospects; joining groups; and posting, LinkedIn has recently unveiled a new publishing platform. It was designed to provide users with a sophisticated, yet easy-to-use, blogging tool. For those who work at law firms that do not have blogging resources, or if you want to prove the viability of a blog before adding it to your law firm website, using LinkedIn publishing is a good option.

To help you use the blogging platform, LinkedIn provides a built-in template that comes up when you click on the orange “Publish a post” icon at your home screen. From there, it is easy to add a photo, draft an engaging headline, drop in the text and click Publish.

Blog posting through LinkedIn allows you to share quality content on a regular basis with a built-in audience and group of followers. You can share posts with specific groups or individual connections. Another bonus of the LinkedIn blogging tool is that the pages encourage two-way conversation and discussion. Each post is equipped with social-sharing buttons, so it’s easy for other users to share, like, repost and retweet across all social networking platforms. Unlike cumbersome email campaigns or formal alerts, you can easily point and click your way to becoming a thought-leader on specific topic. And, the tool catalogs all your posts in one area for easy reference.

LinkedIn Blogging Best Practices

Successful bloggers publish at least twice a month, and more frequently to accommodate new developments or interesting news. Content should be relevant, entertaining, engaging and brief. It should include a call to action. If at all possible, it should tell a story. But most importantly, you should write about topics that affect your clients and help to position you as a valuable resource.

In fact, according to Bloomberg’s Big Law Business Report, there seems to be a sea change among in-house counsel about how to handle client development. Fancy dinners and tickets to sporting events might be nice, but it’s also important to show that you have your finger on the pulse of the market and are watching (and can report on) trends. Blogging ticks this box.

It is also important to note that, as lawyers become more and more proficient on LinkedIn, they also need to be aware of the various state bar rules. While the ABA has not yet published comprehensive guidelines on social media usage, some state bars have, including New York.

In fact, in March 2015, the New York County Lawyers Association Professional Ethics Committee released an opinion recommending that attorneys in New York with LinkedIn profiles that include information about their practice areas, skills, endorsements or recommendations – essentially, anything more than the straightforward biographical information in their profiles – should now include attorney advertising statements at the end of the “Summary” section of their LinkedIn profiles, similar to “Attorney Advertising – Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.”

While this doesn’t mean that LinkedIn should be abandoned as a powerful networking tool, it just will require that attorneys periodically monitor and review the content of their LinkedIn profiles for accuracy and compliance with bar guidelines.

The Confluence of Content and Social Media

Lawyers and legal marketers seem to have an ever-growing number of marketing tools and tactics at their disposal. Technology has provided us with a number of new avenues to reach our desired audiences, but just using these channels is not enough. They have to be leveraged strategically.

Lawyers should take the time to populate their LinkedIn profiles with quality information that positively reflects their personal brands. They should also make it a habit to continually update their profiles to capture recent successes, promotions, organizational affiliations, pro bono activities and published articles. Finally, with the LinkedIn publishing tool, lawyers can maximize the benefits of the social network by crafting and distributing relevant thought leadership materials to a targeted audience of engaged professionals.

ARTICLE BY

Kathy O’Brien
Jaffe

Digital Marketing and Your Law Firm: Essential Tips for Attorneys

RW Lynch Company, Inc.

If you have been in law for a long time, you may never have envisioned having to pay attention to digital marketing to help your practice grow. But the good news is, law firm marketing can benefit tremendously from digital marketing techniques, and there are many you can put into place yourself, without major investment.

The key to succeeding in digital law firm marketing is commitment and consistency. You shouldn’t try to tackle everything at once, because you may be overwhelmed. If you have never done any digital marketing, your first step will be to map out a strategy that’s reasonable for your level of time and resources.

Document a Content Marketing Strategy

A 2014 survey on digital content marketing found that companies that actually write down a content marketing strategy are more effective than those that either have a verbal-only strategy or no strategy at all. Documenting your content marketing strategy helps ensure that all participants are on the same page, so to speak, helps you to remember the tasks you set out for your team, and gives you a baseline document you can use to help you determine the effectiveness of the various digital marketing strategies you use. A documented strategy sets the tone and the pace.

Phase in Social Media Marketing

You might think writing a few Tweets per day, or updating your firm’s Facebook page is a trivial activity. However, consistency is essential for successful social media marketing. Too often, businesses start out with a blitz of social media content that they are unable to maintain, and this can detract from their brand. Quality is more important than quantity. Start small, perhaps on one social media site, ramp up your social media posts, and learn to use the site’s built-in analytics. Once you get into a consistent posting schedule and can use analytics to learn what is and isn’t effective, you can branch out to other social media platforms.

Essential Tips for Attorneys

Ensure that mobile users can learn about your law firm on the go.

Ensure Mobile Friendliness

Digital marketing today must be mobile-friendly, particularly for local businesses like law firms. There are a number of ways to use mobile platforms for law firm marketing. You can develop a mobile website or an app, for example. People have mobile devices with them around the clock, so if you can reach people on their mobile devices, you have many more opportunities than if you rely solely on them finding your website on their desktop. Thirty-one percent of traffic to law websites is from mobile devices. You don’t want to ignore an audience of that size.

Blogging Can Benefit Law Firm Marketing Significantly

Blogging, like social media marketing, requires commitment. Fortunately, you can outsource blogging to ensure your blog has a steady drumbeat of fresh content. Again, quality trumps quantity, so don’t rush to add a lot of content to your blog without ensuring it is timely, relevant to your practice, and well written. Topics for law blogs can come from any number of places, including government statistics, news stories, and even popular culture. As your blog grows, so does your credibility as an authority source, something that will inspire confidence in those who hire your firm.

Non-Text Content Broadens Your Reach

Digital law firm marketing doesn’t have to consist solely of text content. Visual elements can take digital marketing to a higher level and make a measurable impact. You can add visual content in many ways, such as creating a video holiday card for your clients and business partners, creating captivating infographics (using free sites like piktochart), or hosting online webinars that you publicize on your blog and social media. If you create a YouTube channel for video content, create a Google+ profile as well to help boost your content in Google results.

Don’t be afraid of digital marketing for your law firm. With the ability to target audiences on social media and take your content to a potentially huge audience, digital is the future of law firm marketing. You need a defined strategy, commitment to maintaining it, and the ability to use web analytics to determine what works best.

ARTICLE BY

Brian Lynch
RW Lynch Company, Inc.