Whether you are starting a new practice or marketing an established firm, you cannot afford to rely on the outdated notion that the way to grow a client-base was to hang out a shingle, join a few associations, attend a few conferences and maybe take out a yellow pages ad or two.

Today’s most successful professionals actively pursue a multi-faceted marketing strategy that includes a robust Internet presence  — Web sites and, increasingly, blogs and other social media properties — in addition to more traditional forms of advertising.

You Can’t Sit Back and Wait for Clients to Come to You

Like any business owners striving for success, lawyers and other professionals should not take a passive role in the marketing of their services. Gone are the days when it was possible or prudent to rely on any particular tactic (print ads, direct mail, a static Web site, etc.) to feed you an endless and steady stream of clients.

Without Active Involvement, Real-World Success May Not Translate Into Marketing Payoffs

The Internet and social media are great equalizers. Return on investment in online marketing is often more closely tied to the effort invested — and savvy management — than to the quality of the services being marketed or the experience of the professionals providing the services.

Know Your Potential Clients and Their Concerns

Taking an active role in marketing professional services means developing a marketing plan. The first step is to identify your potential clients:

• What are your clients’ needs, questions and concerns?
• How does your practice address those?
• What are the existing channels through which you can reach potential clients effectively?
• What new channels can you explore in a cost-effective manner?
• How much money and time can do you intend to spend on marketing your services, and what return can you reasonably expect to see from your investment?

Taking an active role in marketing legal or professional services will only be possible if you know your clients and how to reach them. This will make developing a strategy and selecting appropriate tools a more intuitive process.

With the roll out of Google Social Search, another piece of the Social Media Marketing landscape has fallen into place. Google Social Search is a Google Labs project that provides users with a results page that integrates relevant social content with standard search results. On January 27th, Google began rolling out Social Search as a beta service for all signed-in English searchers. Google Social Search affects both standard and image searches.

Another piece falls into place.

While the final form of Google Social Search will likely be an evolution of this beta version, we recognize that this another important step toward Google’s apparent goal of integrating social media content and more traditional, static content (i.e., Web sites) into search results.

The integration of socially relevant information into search results is a process which will continue — and likely accelerate — due to Google’s direct, real-time access to data from Twitter and Facebook.

Why Should Attorneys and Other Professionals Pay Attention to Google Social Search

So what does all this mean to an attorney or another professional who wants to reach potential clients effectively and build search relevance in order to stand out from the competition? The roll out of Google Social Search is a prime example of the “ROI principle” of social media: When it comes to social networking and social media marketing, ROI stands for “Risk of Ignoring.”

The roll out of Google Social Search emphasizes the fact that, for businesses and individual professionals alike, failing to develop a sound social media strategy means having less and less control of your online presence and reputation. More socially-savvy competitors can own the most valuable virtual real estate at little or no cost.

We believe that in many sectors, even very well-known and respected professionals who fail to adopt at least a basic social media marketing strategy are likely to find themselves in the unenviable position of playing catch-up to competitors with less real-world experience and fewer resources but a deeper recognition of the growing importance of the social Web.

In the past, most of the attorney blogs you would see were clearly aimed at a readership primarily composed of other legal professionals or law students. They tended to cover recent judgments, legislative trends, ethical issues and other matters of import to practicing attorneys.

Currently, we are seeing a growing — and welcome — trend toward legal blogs that are addressed to consumers hoping to learn more about basic, practical legal issues in areas such as family law, personal injury, bankruptcy, immigration, etc.

While there may be some conflict between those who view legal blogs as a venue for discussion among lawyers or an outlet for their opinions regarding the profession and those who see a blog as another effective way of reaching out to potential clients and helping consumers who could benefit from a better understanding of the law, we think there is room enough in the blogosphere for both approaches.

Whichever path you choose, we feel it is vitally important to let the reader know up front for whom your content is written. This can help interested consumers or potential clients avoid the frustration of trying to tease meaningful information out of more scholarly posts. It can also help to avoid the confusion that may arise if your colleagues (and competitors) mistakenly assume that your blog is addressed to them.

We highly encourage attorneys who are considering creating a blog to give the issue some serious thought. Making a decision regarding your target audience will inform not only the language you use and the topics you address, but also the place your blog will fill in your overall Web presence.

Ideally, a legal marketing blog will take the form of entries that are informative, search-engine optimized and conversion-oriented. Topics covered should reflect the firm’s experience and the interests or concerns of the firm’s clients.

The following is an example of the type of blog entry that serves double-duty: Inform the reader and market the firm. [Note: Attorney John Smith and the firm Smith, Smith & Jones are fictional.]

Example Blog: “What To Do After a Dog Bite”

Steps You Can Take Immediately to Protect Your Rights

By John Smith, personal injury attorney at Smith, Smith & Jones law firm

In handling hundreds of dog bite cases throughout the Phoenix area and beyond, we have learned that there are some relatively simple actions that the victims can take at the scene that can make an enormous difference in the outcome of any personal injury claim or lawsuit that may follow.

As we mentioned in an earlier post (see Arizona Dog Bite Law: Who Is Responsible?), our state has a ‘strict liability’ standard in dog bite cases. That means that there are just two very specific defenses that a dog owner or responsible party can claim. You would think that Arizona’s strict dog bite laws would make it easy for victims to prove liability and obtain compensation for their injuries. Unfortunately that is not always the case.

Your lawyer’s ability to aggressively pursue the insurance settlement or trial award you, your child, your elderly parent or another dog bite or animal attack victim may deserve can depend on the actions you take immediately following the incident.

Here are five things you can do that can make a real difference in a dog bite personal injury case:

1. Seek medical attention. Even if the injury seems relatively minor, there may be a risk of infection, scarring or even nerve damage. A medical report will also be absolutely vital to any insurance claim or civil lawsuit for damages.
2. Call the authorities. It is extremely important to report a dog bite or other attack to the police and to the local animal control office. Not only will these reports be crucial evidence in your case, but you may have an opportunity to prevent the dog or other animal from hurting another individual.
3. Take photos and/or video. Make sure to thoroughly document the scene, any wounds, the clothes the victim was wearing and any other important evidence (such as an unlocked gate or broken fence). Be sure your photographs or videos are in color. If taking video, describe what you are documenting and why it is important. If possible, take a picture of the dog’s license tag, or at least write down the information.
4. Talk to witnesses. Write your own account of what happened and ask anyone else who witnessed the attack to put their recollections in writing. If you have pictures or video of the dog, ask them to note in writing that it is the dog involved in the attack.
5. Identify the owner or responsible party. Ask for the person’s name, address and telephone number. Ask to see a driver’s license (people don’t always tell the truth in these situations). Ask about insurance coverage and find out which company holds the policy.

Remember, don’t sign any documents the insurance company gives you without talking to an attorney first. If you need help to pursue an insurance claim or civil lawsuit for damages after a dog bite or animal attack, we encourage you to contact the Scottsdale offices of Smith, Smith & Jones for a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney.

 * * * * * * *

As you can see, the approach here is conversational. It assumes the reader is a typical consumer. Depending upon the firm’s target audience, blog posts can be more or less academic. Other ideas for blog posts include cases summaries and opinion pieces regarding actual or proposed changes in the law.

Regardless of the form a blog entry takes, the content should reflect the tone and support the structure of the firm’s Web site.

But on to our point: The fact is the days of people relying on the yellow pages as a resource for finding professional services are coming to an end. Rapidly. As we all know, more and more people are using home or work computers, smart phones and MIDs (mobile Internet devices) every day for this purpose.

Be honest. When was the last time you used the yellow pages? When the new copy shows up on your doorstep, what do you do? At best, most people view the arrival of this year’s yellow pages as a reminder to do the socially-conscious thing and recycle last year’s mostly-unused edition.

But if nobody really uses the yellow pages anymore, why do companies like AT&T continue to print them. Well, first off they are required to in many cases (AT&T recently sought an exemption from the requirement regarding white pages in Florida). Second, there is the obvious motive: Profit.  According to a recent post on Small Biz Survival:

The directories don’t exist to benefit your business. They exist to make money for their publisher.

The yellow pages are now almost exclusively a way for the yellow book to make a profit off of small businesses advertising. In most cases it is not about bringing in new business for advertisers. In our view, yellow pages advertising is outmoded and provides insufficient return on investment when other methods — particularly free or competitively-priced online marketing – is more effective at generating new business and validating referrals.

And that is in reference to the legitimate directories that are (or were) designed to be of some use to consumers. In recent years there has been a spate of fake yellow pages and online directory listing scams targeting small businesses — including solo attorneys and small law firms — across the country, according to the FTC.

And now for the caveat we promised. We know attorneys who spend a substantial portion of their marketing budget on large, half- or full-page ads in the yellow pages and who swear they perform well. It’s even possible that in some parts of the country (particularly more rural areas) or in some areas of practice (in which clients tend to be less Internet-savvy) yellow pages advertising may make sense, if … and it’s a big if … the yellow pages advertising is part of a comprehensive legal marketing strategy that is well-planned, well-researched and includes a robust Web presence.

But if your choice is between a simple listing in the yellow pages or focusing more effort on your local search visibility, ask yourself this question: The last time I wanted to contact a small business or to find a professional service, did I haul the yellow pages out from a dusty cupboard? Or did I just think, “I’ll Google it.”

Like any legal services Web site, writing effective B2B marketing content requires ability to understand the concerns and priorities of the potential clients in order to craft appealing language and calls to action to which they will respond. Success often depend upon how well this understanding is reflected in the language, tone and organization of the site content.

Approaching a Business-Oriented Legal Services Web Site

When conducting the initial brainstorming for a B2B site (or any site with a more sophisticated audience), it is vitally important to make a rapid determination of the actual audience the site will be written for:

Depending upon the circumstances, the firm’s clients may have different goals, needs and concerns. It is important to identify what these may be. Asking the right questions during the initial stages is crucial to identifying the types of appeals to which the potential client will likely respond.

Some Things to Consider …

• Are the potential clients more concerned with achieving a rapid settlement, minimizing negative publicity and bolstering shareholder confidence or is their goal to win at trial to prevent opening the floodgates to future litigation?
• Is there a proactive component to the firm’s services? How can they help potential clients reduce the risk of costly litigation?
• Cost and return on investment are important considerations for many potential business and professional clients. Addressing this concern may involve a discussion of how the firm can handle complex litigation efficiently. Are the firm’s fees responsive to the potential client’s economic and budgetary constraints? How would the firm describe their approach to maximizing return on investment?
• Complex business and commercial litigation and high-profile personal injury and insurance defense cases often involve truly massive amounts of evidence and tens of thousands or even millions of documents. How would the firm describe their ability to handle discovery and manage documents in these cases?
• Media savvy is an important consideration when hiring a firm to handle high-profile cases, especially when the decision-maker is an executive with responsibilities to shareholders and a board of directors. How would the firm describe their approach to managing media attention?

Setting Expectations

It is important for any attorney or law firm marketing online to understand what works and does not work in Web writing. Many B2B firms are receptive to the notion that the way content is structured for a Web page has great benefits for usability and conversion, but may also equate this format with a less professional, advertising-style approach.

Lawyers who are entering into the process of building a Web site for the furst time should take a moment to familiarize themselves with the standard use of headings, subheadings, bulleted lists, links and calls to action as well as more general concepts of usability. It is possible to have Web content that is easy to skim, scan and read and still maintain a professional tone. Remember, a B2B firm’s potential clients are busy people. They don’t have time to struggle through massive blocks of abstruse text designed only to impress upon the reader how very, very ”professional” and “intelligent” the firm is. 

What About Tone and Style?

Many B2B sites are written in a more formal and professional style than those that target the general consumer, although this is by no means an absolute rule. The firm’s wishes are paramount, although writers and other marketing professionals should have some latitude to make educated and authoritative suggestions.

A tone and style that is straightforward and dispassionate and that relies on specific examples rather than vague generalities can often be a good default approach when writing B2B sites. The best way to convey experience and skill is to talk specifically about the value of that experience and skill to the potential client. 

Some B2B Web content tone and style suggestions:

• Use subtle marketing messages that are “under the radar” rational, not over the top “emotional”.
• Smart language is good. It makes the firm look smart. Firms expect us to make them look good in the draft. Just remember that smart language does not necessarily mean 40 word sentences, abstruse language and construction, or SAT study words like “abstruse”.
• Remember that B2B sites are like business presentations, in that while they can be friendly and relaxed, they should never be overly familiar or presumptive.

Marketing to Other Lawyers: B2B or Not?

It’s a big fish/little fish dilemma. Is the firm interested in attracting referrals from smaller practices and solo attorneys without substantial experience in a particular area of law? Or is the firm interested in acting as local counsel for a much larger national firm?

Understanding the type of referral the firm wishes to attract is crucial in determining how these appeals should be pitched. Regardless, an approach that stresses professionalism and making the firm look good is unlikely to fail.

B2B Sites and Emotional Appeals

Emotional appeals are often problematic in B2B sites. They ring false to the potential client and do not convey the desired sense of professionalism. B2B and professional-audience customers tend to react strongly and negatively to statements like:

• We know how hard it is when your company is faced with environmental litigation.
• We understand that clients charged with insider trading are afraid of losing their jobs and going to jail.
• Complex commercial litigation can be frustrating and confusing. We handle the legal matters so that you can go about running your business as usual.

Stating the obvious in an attempt to appeal to the reader’s emotions is probably not a good idea. The firm’s wishes rule, of course, but relying on overly personal, general consumer audience-style emotional appeals without a clear understanding of the firm’s clientele can be a recipe for rewrite.

B2B Legal Web Site Dos (and one Don’t)

• Do make extra effort to understand the intended audience for each page, not just the site as a whole. Discuss the potential client’s needs, concerns and goals in relation to specific areas of practice.
•  Don’t blindly accept the idea that casual style, emotional appeals or writing at the 9^th grade level is appropriate for their site. This may demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of the firm’s goals and clientele. Remember, even if a more informal, aggressive approach might work better (in terms of conversion), the chances are good that content written in this manner will not convey the necessary gravitas.
• Do remember that, especially for more sophisticated audiences, talking about skill and experience is not nearly as effective as demonstrating these qualities through the use of examples.
•  Do make your word choices intentional and your style impeccable. We know that conversational style works best; just remember that conversational does not automatically imply casual, unprofessional or colloquial.

from MOH Live

It's a brand new world ...

The same is not true for the vast majority of lawyers in private practice. From whence does this apparent resistance stem? In his article, “The Role of Social Networking in Law, ” Legal OnRamp founder Paul Lippe states:

Maybe the best place to begin is with the word “social.” Lawyer skeptics understand “social” to describe the purpose, i.e., something different from professional. But social simply means distributed, as in different people use the tool in their own way, and the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts. Certainly e-mail is a social tool — it’s used to communicate, used by different people and in different ways, and used just as much, if not more, for personal rather than business reasons. It was not so long ago — 1992 to be exact — that most lawyers declared they would never use e-mail.

As the pace of technological change accelerates and societies adopt new and transformative ways of distributing information, ideas and opinions, it is to the distinct advantage of any business person — and we count attorneys among this group — to have a firm grasp of the potential uses of these new methods of communication and marketing. Failure to take note of tectonic shifts in marketing such as the rise of social media can spell the difference between a smooth transition into the 21st Century and being left out in the cold, along with the attorneys who still advertise only in the yellow pages.

The Timeline of Divorce

How long will it take to get a divorce? The answer depends on your answer to this question: Is your case contested or agreed (uncontested)?

Timeline of a contested case

If husband and wife do not agree in advance on all the issues to be addressed in the final decree of divorce (property division, debt payment, children’s issues, etc.) then your case is considered to be “contested.” A “contested case” does not necessarily mean that the parties cannot reach an agreement. If your case is “contested,” this simply means that you and your spouse will require some degree of assistance through the court process to arrive at the terms of a final decree of divorce. Finding the right lawyer:

1. Opening the case: One spouse obtains a lawyer, who writes up a petition explaining why the person wants a divorce and how he or she wants to settle issues in the divorce, such as custody and support. The lawyer files the petition with the court.
2. Getting the other spouse into the case: The petition is served on the other spouse, along with a summons that requires the response of that spouse. The served spouse must provide an answer within a given time period to say whether he or she agrees with the petition. If there is no response, the court assumes that the served spouse agrees with the terms of the petition.
3. Waiting period
4. Gathering information: Documents and pertinent information about finances, property and more is exchanged and examined to determine how to divide property and how to deal with issues of support and spousal maintenance.
5. Mediation/Settlement: If the couple chooses, they can enter mediation at this point or settle their differences without going through the remainder of the divorce process.
6. Preparing for trial: If a settlement agreement is produced and the judge approves the agreement, the couple is given a divorce decree that is filed to finalize the divorce. If there is no settlement, or the judge does not approve, the case will go to trial.
7. Trial: During the trial, the judge will decide upon all unresolved issues in the divorce and will grant the divorce. Both spouses have the right to appeal.
8. The entire divorce process can take as little as a few months or even over a year, depending on the issues in the divorce and how much the couple cooperates and compromises on the issues.

From The Fredrickson Law Firm, Houston, Texas

If you are building a new Web site or considering what type of content to add to an existing site, informative content that addresses the practical concerns of clients should be at or near the top of your list. Remember that increasing reader engagement and the perceived value of your site can translate into higher conversion and, ultimately, more clients.

PageRank also considers the importance of each page that casts a vote, as votes from some pages are considered to have greater value, thus giving the linked page greater value. We have always taken a pragmatic approach to help improve search quality and create useful products, and our technology uses the collective intelligence of the web to determine a page’s importance. (http://www.google.com/corporate/tech.html 7/13/09)

PageRank is based entirely on the inbound links to the Web site, not the on-site factors. Therefore, refreshing a page’s content will not increase (or decrease) its PageRank directly.

Below is a very simplified visualization of PageRank:

(source: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/pagerank-sculpting/ as retrieved 7/28/2009)

The “value” of the page tends to be evenly shared on the outbound links to the page, but not always. In the case of the top page, it has been arbitrarily assigned a value of 100, so the 2 links on that page give a value of 50 each (100/2). The bottom page has been assigned a value of 9 and the 3 outbound links each have a value of 3 (9/3). The top right page now has a value of 53, from the 2 inbound links and the bottom right has a value of 50. If the bottom right page were to distribute 2 new links, each of those links would have a value of 25, and so on.

The 0–10 value of PageRank appears to be logarithmic in nature, meaning that in order to increase the PageRank value of the page, a web site needs more and more links (an exponential increase) from relevant, diverse and authoritative Web sites.

The idea is that PageRank “flows” through the Web documents. Generally for most web sites the home page is the strongest page of the Web site. The child pages of the Web site receive values based on the strength of the strongest page, for the most part. There are exceptions to this.

The PageRank value that we see with the Google Toolbar or any other tool is not the current PageRank of the page. At best it is an estimate. There is no way for us to see the actual value Google has applied to the page at the moment of a search query.

Additionally, the Web is ever changing. PageRank can increase or decrease over time due to changes in algorithms, changes in the inbound links to the Web page, changes in inbound links to similar, competing Web pages.