More on Law Firm Websites

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Randy Wilson

This post from Larry Bodine focuses on the top 10 tips for improving your law firm website.  Only one quibble, nowhere does it address the point I made yesterday which is to make your website serve your overall marketing and business development strategies.

For example, if your biggest business development effort is having workshops, make sure people know about them on your homepage and can register online.  Or maybe you get most of your business from referrals and want prospective client to be prepared when they came to their first meeting.  Have a checklist for the client on the website to print out and bring to your office.

Your law firm website is not a silo, living in its own reality.  Your website serves your overall business development and marketing strategy.

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How Important Are Law Firm Websites?

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Randy Wilson

Right now there is a boiling hot controversy (I’m being dramatic) going on between Kevin O’Keefe and Steve Matthews about the importance of a law firm’s website to the firm’s ability to be successful with marketing and business development.

Two points:

  1. I agree with Kevin O’Keefe that huge amounts of a firm’s marketing budget shouldn’t go into building a Taj Mahal of websites.  I do believe that large law firms have tied themselves in knots by because the restrictiveness of their content management systems and face huge expenditures because that in making their website’s fresh and innovative.
  2. That said, the firm’s website serves the law firm’s brand on the Internet and reviewing the website should allow the law firm to pose the question to itself: how can our website focus our firm’s business development and marketing strategies online and offline?
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Tip of the Week: Before You Start to Blog…

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Randy Wilson

At the program “How to Build a Successful Smaller Law Firm” one of the panelist talked about blogging like it was as tweeting or any other act of posting blurbs or comments related to their practice.  I don’t think that’s a winning approach to blogging for attorneys. Blogging does take time and thought but mostly because it should be related to a passion, concern or expertise that the attorney wants to share.   Here are some ways to start the process of choosing a topic for a blog:

Is there an area of practice you have always cared about but wasn’t lucrative enough for developing a practice? Use the blog to explore that.

Is there a deficit in the legal literature you want to fill? For example, Chris Covington, a DSD Law Sites Solutions client saw nothing to help business sellers with the thorny business issues that they face.  He started BizSaleLaw to correct that deficiency.

What about a hobby where there are legal implications of engaging in that you want to explore? For example, you are a skier concerned about the safety of skiing equipment so you education fellow skiers about product safety issues you know about with the equipment.

The idea is to find a topic you want to share with the world and use that as your starting point. Don’t think about it as “blogging” but as sharing of yourself, your expertise, your passion and make it fun!

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On 2nd Thought: Lawyers & Social Media

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Randy Wilson

Tuesday I posted a survey about how massively small law firm attorneys were adopting social media.  Yesterday I attended the Recorder’s Rountable, How to Build a Successful Smaller Law Firm” an excellent discussion with four attorneys either engaged in solo practice or working at small law firms.

No Blogging for any of the Four Attorneys

Remember Tuesday the survey reported that 88% of small law firm attorneys were blogging yet not only were none of the attorneys on the panel blogging but none of them were even contemplating the idea.  And one attorney, Lisa Lawson, of Pennington Lawson LLP, said that blogging was “time-consuming” and that deterred her from using  her limited time on that activity.  She did, however, say that she read lawyer blogs.

Not Engaging in Other Forms of Social Media

Again, only Ms. Lawson touted LinkedIn as a great social media tool and no one thought Twitter was of any value.  The moderator brought up YouTube and how he knew of some attorneys who have been successful using it but none of the panel attorneys were even intrigued with it.  If Facebook was mentioned it was only in passing which given its huge presence in the social media world and its adoption by so many businesses, is surprising.

Websites Are the New Business Cards

David Millstein of Millstein & Associates did say that having a website was the new business card in the Internet world and it appeared that the others on the panel agreed.  It’s clear that my pitch for attorney websites as the marketing hub that can extend your business development efforts hasn’t penetrated the market to any degree so I have my work cut out for me!

Tomorrow my tip of the week will be how and why to start a blog.  I challenge the perception that blogging is just like any other social media activity and is therefore, “time consuming.”

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Small Law Firms Embracing Social Media Big Time

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Randy Wilson

This survey of how small law firms and solos have taken to social media, reinforces my own experience in the market place.  Not only that small law firms are moving aggressively toward social media but also that blogging is an essential cornerstone to a strong social media initiative.

In this survey, 88% of the law firms and lawyers surveyed wrote blogs.  This maybe more wish fulfillment than reality but it does point to the importance lawyers place on creating a substantative content.

I was just approach by small firm about engaging on a social media campaign and the first thing they wanted was a business Facebook page.  I suggested the first thing they needed was a blog that could anchor the Facebook page and stream to other social media outlets. The advantage to the blog as the place of origin is that it gives attorneys credibility with their own branded content that they can then share with Facebook and other platforms that are co-branded and where their message because of all the activity can get lost.

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Young Lawyers: Strategic Marketing Can Payoff

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Randy Wilson

This list from the Lawyerist is a great cheat-sheet for young lawyers with plenty great tips and advice.  One thing I would add is to start thinking strategically about your career early on.  What does that mean?  Here is my cheat sheet:

  • As you practice, do constant gut checks – what kind of work gives you energy and what takes it a way
  • Do the same test with people – what kinds of people do you leave feeling better about than when you shook hands?
  • After you finish a project ask yourself, is there some specialized knowledge that gained that would extremely valuable to the next client and should I pursue learning more about that on my own?
  • Start refining your elevator pitch to be as specific as possible, “I work with construction employers about how they handle wage and hour issues that come up with their subs.”
  • When you network, try it out and see if people respond or glaze over.
  • If you are working in the business world as an attorney, think of yourself as your client’s business advisor who has legal expertise.
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Tip of the Week: Give Back on LinkedIn

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Randy Wilson

This post suggests that a powerful approach to LinkedIn is to provide value to your network and beyond.  This week I also gave an educational moment at BNI City Center about how to bring the message of BNI – Givers Gain – to LinkedIn.  Here are some tips:

  • Post an answer to someone’s question
  • Provide a recommendation for someone whose product or service you love
  • Send out a link to an article that is valuable to your network

In otherwords, use LinkedIn to engage.

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PI Attorneys Should Use Website to Prepare Clients

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Randy Wilson

This article from a personal injury attorney in Providence Rhode Island recommends  that clients make their social networking profiles on Facebook and the like private if they are pursuing their claim.

She has a number of other suggestions that made me think that such a list could be a great link for personal injury attorneys to have on their contact page. Another thought is to include a couple social networking questions on a follow-up intake form.  And the clients that are adept at utilizing a website are more likely to be active on social networking websites and find this information particularly helpful.

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Attorneys Can’t Bury Their Heads in the Tech Sand

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Randy Wilson

This article about the attorneys and technology prompted me to think about Facebook’s impending IPO.  Facebook is just one example of a huge new business with big economic impact that are appearing out of nowhere and they demand everyone in the work world to adapt.

Many attorneys, not just older ones have said to themselves, what does Facebook or (blank) have to do with practicing law?  They say to themselves, “nothing” and they merrily go about their business avoiding the new technology.  Here is the thing.  Facebook builds on existing Internet technologies like interacting with websites online and if you didn’t bother to learn about that, then you are two steps behind.  If your use of the Internet consists of clicking on saved pages or links, then you are three steps behind because you don’t know how to navigate the Internet.

How to Pull Head Out Sand

  • Assess Where You Are: When somebody says, “insert this URL in the address bar” do you look at them blankly?
  • Approach technology from a place of comfort: Do you like to learn from reading?  Get a Dummy’s Guide to the Internet.  Would like to have more quality time with your kid?  Get them to give you a tutorial.
  • Tackle one thing at a time: If you get an iPad, focus on using that well.  Don’t worry about learning your PC.
  • You can’t break the Internet: People who don’t use computers much are very scared they will break something.  You won’t.  Just click around and follow your interests.  If things freeze up on you – remember CTRL-ALT-DELETE is your friend.
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How Does Your Law Firm Site Stack Up with Your Competitors?

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Randy Wilson

The Harrison Pensa website designed by Stem a terrific Canadian legal marketing company looks great.  Large attractive photos of key firm lawyers are splashed against the home page.  The graphic design is innovative and attractive but it doesn’t get in the way of the text.  But there is just one problem: I can’t tell what they dynamic looking people do.

Review Other Law Firm Websites

One of the first questions I ask of a website is, “what story is it trying to convey through its graphics?  One of the cliches of the legal business is the use of a gavel or courthouse to signify that this is a law firm website.  While there are subtler ways to make that point, you want your visitors to immediately understand what they are looking at.

The problem with the Harrison Pena website is that these smiling faces could be lawyers, accountants, recruiters, financial planners, insurance brokers, real estate agents and the list goes on.  There is no graphics that suggest the law, the type of clients or the kinds of services this firm offers.  Yes, the website looks good but that’s not enough.  A website must graphically communicate key messages that engage the visitor in support of the firm’s business development strategy.

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