Most people know that social networking is an important part of Internet marketing with Facebook and Twitter at the helm. However, Google announced in January 2013 that they had reached a user milestone of 343 million on G+. This is the equivalent to nearly 50 percent of Facebook’s active users, making it the second largest social network. This means that it has outranked Twitter, which stands at around 288 million active users.

For a law firm site to be successful it has to be professional. This means that professional website design can get the job done. The site is one that requires a lot of care and consideration. It cannot be thrown together quickly or it could look like the competition’s or not possess the information that the website’s visitors are looking for.

Important things covered include Letting Clients Know They Can Call For A Free Consultation, How To Clearly Relay Information, 5 Seconds And They’re Gone, Practice Area Focus, and Proper Branding.

The whole point behind having a website is so potential clients can contact you. If that wasn’t the point, you’d be providing individuals with free information and that is it. Nothing else would happen.

Lawyers are always looking for ways to promote their law firms, making the online press release a very cost-effective tool to get a lot of attention.

Internet Marketing and Business Consultants Almost every business today has a need for web presence. After all, through social media, companies are merely a touch away on someone’s smart phone. Web Perseverance helps companies market themselves and remain competitive in the digital age. We can maximize your presence on the web and help you effectively reach out and drive business. Three recent websites we launched reflect the customized approach we take for each client.

The internet provides a medium that has opened up communication channels like no other medium in recent times.

Website traffic can be as useful as Atlanta traffic. Here are 5 ways to get more visitors to contact your firm. This morning I was in the office catching up on some email. It was interesting that the majority of marketing articles in my mailbox talked about how to generate website "traffic" from one source or another. A successful business, they claimed, requires SEO, pay-per-click, Facebook ads, Tweets, and [insert social media cliché here] to drive that traffic.

Why do your clients choose your law firm over others? Is it just because you’ve got licensed professionals who come into the office every day and do their jobs? Probably not. So why do so many firms resort to these types of generic statements on their websites and in other collateral?

Did you know that you can cut out a good chunk of your advertising budget and improve marketing results by just implementing an ongoing content marketing campaign? Since it's sometimes difficult to understand why an established firm needs to keep pushing its message to prospective clients, here's a cheesy old sales analogy.

Social Media and Estate Planning–Protecting Your Digital Estate

There are a number of ways to describe our firms’ marketing efforts, but let’s keep this easy and just use two distinct terms – active and passive. Passive marketing, or waiting for the fish to swim into your net, is fine, and part of an marketing plan. But think about adding some active (or proactive) elements, chumming the water and pulling the net to the fish, to have a truly integrated approach that delivers the best long-term results. Here are some low-cost ideas.

Critical to successful marketing is not just generating laundry lists of good ideas on how to promote the practice. There are literally hundreds of good ideas and thousands of communications vehicles. Rather, the key to effective marketing is selecting which of these ideas and which of these vehicles is best suited to achieve firm objectives…. and this is the critical part….within the constraints of its time and dollar resources.

In this day and age of search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, blogs and social media, one of the most underused and unappreciated marketing tools available to law firms is cause marketing – those efforts in which the law firm affiliates itself with a worthwhile cause, event or other type of endeavor.

Before you publish your next website page, blog post, or presentation, check it against the Content Quality Quotient to see how your audience may perceive your marketing efforts. I’ve seen a lot of online discussion recently about the quality of the content that we’re including in our websites, blogs, and other communications. Is it educational? Does it speak to the right audience? Does it speak English?

Here are a few simple sales tactics that you can employ to improve your close ratio, meaning the percentage of perspective clients who become clients. I know. You’re not technically in a sales position. You are a professional. I also bet that just doing a great job is not enough of a magnet to attract and retain every prospective client. You can always improve, and that’s why it helps to think like a sales rep sometimes.

Traditional methods of groundwater exploration only detect properties of the earth through which water flows. Only Thermonic methods actually measure a property of the water as it exists in the subsurface. Thermonics is the name of a geophysical method of groundwater exploration.

Personal injury law attorneys often ask us how much it would cost for them to advertise on TV. They, like the rest of us, are witness to the scores of commercials that inundate the airwaves touting scores of firms’ commitment to “fight for you” at virtually no risk to the client (i.e., “We get paid only if you do.”) Many of these firms are known for doing quite well. Hence, it is only reasonable that competitors express interest in duplicating their efforts.

More than 80 business associations and companies requested U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary John Bryson, to act immediately to urge the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to postpone a new generic top-level domain (gTLD) expansion.

If you are a personal injury attorney and the leader when it comes to advertising spending in your market, this article is not for you. If however, you are a personal injury attorney who cannot afford to “outshout” the competition on television radio, or in print, fear not. There are a number of tactics the smaller PI firm or attorney can do to ensure their voice is heard. And they involve four very different though interrelated activities.

Effective law firm Internet marketing is essential when your desire is to stand apart from the competitors in your market. Today, more and more people are searching online for their needs, rather than the yellow pages in the phone book. Is your law firm there, front and center for anyone in need of your services?

All attorney search engine optimization firms are NOT alike. You may have spent thousands of dollars already in your efforts to get to page one of the search engine rankings, or you may be relatively new to the concept and wonder how your competitors obtain those much-sought-after top 10 spots for their chosen key terms and phrases. No matter which is the case, you know that you need attorney search engine optimization that works.

Award Winning Network News Correspondent Dispels Myths Of Legal Video Certification For Video Settlement Brochure Production.

Publishing your professional legal work online has significant benefits in terms of building your professional reputation. It is also a critical component to search engine marketing.

Over the years, we have seen, that the most successful marketing tool for generating new family law clients over the short-term, has without question, been the seminar.

In today’s digital world, a mobile device just might be an attorney’s best friend. No matter where you are, you can read email, speak with a client, check with your office or use the recording function to create a voice memo of a judge’s instructions. And that’s not all!

Need help with online reputation management? What’s Your Internet Image?

Moving Away from “Business as Usual”

The problem with many websites today is that they were thrown into cyberspace like a fishing line in the ocean, hoping to hook customers on the line.

Marketing to your current clients is the absolute best way to generate profitable new revenue quickly. Your clients already know and trust you, so it is easy for them to say “yes” to more services. This article outlines five legal marketing campaigns that will help you with connect with current and past clients now.

If you operate a local law firm, there are some unique Internet marketing techniques with which you should be familiar. Since Google's Place Search update in October, getting found locally takes a combination of classic search engine optimization techniques combined local search marketing strategies.

As Google continues to become more social and local, testimonials, reviews, and ratings of your law firm online become increasingly important to maximizing your local search visibility.

Whether you are working with a local web designer or a big design firm, there are a few things you should require from your web design team. The following basic guidelines for professional attorney websites will help guide you through the process of working with a web designer successfully.

Setting up a Facebook Business Page for your Law Firm can be an absolute pain in the neck. Here's a easy, step-by-step guide to Facebook for Lawyers.

Have you recently noticed that your search engine positions in Google have significantly changed? This is most likely to Google's recent Place Search update. For some law firms, the update may provide you top positions for search phrases that you previously weren't even first page. On the other hand, you may have also lost visibility for local search phrases for which you were previously number one.

We recommend that our law firm clients ensure that their high standards of professionalism and excellence are reflected not just in the caliber of legal services, but also in their public images and reputations.

Whether you are a first-year associate or on the cusp of making partner, marketing does matter. To be a successful lawyer, you must keep one faithful eye on clients and the other on your future.

The year is quickly slipping by and you didn't devote the time to client relations and marketing that you had intended. Don't give up! It's not too late to make a difference this year and to start the new year off on the right track!

What are the keys to getting and keeping new clients?

Three Keys for Successful Legal Marketing.

Labor Day marks the beginning of a serious new selling cycle for law firms and experts, as summer vacations fade into memories. Here are some quick legal marketing tips designed to attract more clients.

Knowledge is power. Before you invest thousands into a law firm web marketing service, it's essential to understand the basics about how successful web marketing works.

Here is a short list of some of the best tools for building your professional reputation on the Internet.

Getting a legal job is very similiar to getting new clients...the same skill sets are required.

If you've been marketing your law firm on the Internet, chances are that you've already taken advantaged of several of the most common strategies. Here are two you may not have thought of.

Lawyers dislike selling and marketing. Let these 8 easy steps help you succeed with fewer struggles.

You know your potential clients and referral sources are looking for you online, but how do you get started with online professional reputation building the right way? Here are some basic tips for entering the web marketing fray.

Experts and attorneys can quickly spend even a generous online advertising budget when pay-per-click campaigns on Google are not optimized. This article explains how to optimize performance.

While there are many online marketing strategies from which to choose, not all are dignified enough to use to grow your professional reputation.

Deciding whether or not to pay for a listing in a law firm Internet directory, really comes down to identifying 3 key factors.

Performing local law firm SEO is a great way to attract clients from a variety of local outlets online.

Through link building, on page optimizations, and content, you will find that your law firm's web presence will steadily generate more site visitors, potential client leads, and ultimately new business for your firm.

There are many important steps between getting visitors to your website and turning them into new business for your law firm.

While writing effective legal blog posts can be challenging, following some simple guidelines can make the process flow more smoothly.

These quick tips will help encourage visitors to your website to actually read your articles.

Understanding some basics about how search engine marketing works, will help you maximize your law firm search marketing efforts.

Setting up a new website for your law firm does not have to be complicated or expensive. Use these quick tips to get started with a professional law firm website and blog.

In good times and in bad, getting noticed is obviously a critical factor in developing business. But especially in these economic times, it is even more crucial to be doing the kinds of things that allows your firm to stand out from the crowd.

A few very simple lines of HTML code have the power to help or hinder your website’s search engine performance. Known as “meta tags,” these short commands describe the contents of a web page. Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines use meta tags to varying degrees in promoting and displaying your web site to interested searchers. This article describes the title tag, description tag, and keyword tag to help you optimize your Internet marketing efforts.

Imagine the scene … Executive Committee members sitting around a conference table, unable to reach agreement on which legal marketing programs to implement. There are so many choices now, from Google AdWords to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other forms of social media. This article shows attorneys and experts how to pick the right set of legal marketing programs for their firm.

Sitting pretty in the search engines? And still not getting any calls? Take a look at the content on your website...that's the reason why.

Thought leadership is the ability to position yourself as an expert in your area of legal practice. Becoming a thought leader takes time, patience, and strategic planning. This article identifies five key steps you can take to become a legal thought leader respected by your peers and sought after by clients.

The following an interview focused on the subject of managing partner transitions.

If you are looking to capitalize on one of the most powerful but under-utilized of marketing tools, this information is a must read.

This is a four-part series of articles written on alternative fee arrangements and co-authored by a Fortune 500 GC (Jeffrey Carr of FMC Technologies), a Managing Partner (Edwin Reeser), a leading practitioner in alternative fee arrangements (Pat Lamb), and a management consultant (yours truly).

Of the thousands of screenplays written every year, only 450 to 500 of these are "lucky" enough to be made into motion pictures. Of those produced, less than half are released in theatres and of those remaining, only a portion are released directly to DVD.

The terms vision, mission and values have become over used words and often are confused with old fashion strategic planning retreats where hours and even days are spent word smithing a mission statement that is never looked at again. Many times the words are interchanged causing more confusion over the value for creating a mission, vision and value statement.

If you have a law firm that could use more targeted traffic and better rankings, a reputable SEM and search engine optimization company is something you definitely need to investigate. Firms that you find listed on page one and two for your chosen keywords and phrases certainly do not end up there by accident!

Survey research is used to provide greater levels of understanding in a wide variety of disputes. Issues such as consumer confusion, misleading advertising claims, disparagement, copyright infringement and trademark disputes can be better assessed as a result of developing and executing survey research. The purpose of this monograph is to aid attorneys in understanding what research standards and guidelines might be relied upon in their use of survey research.

Search engine optimization for law firms is absolutely necessary if you want to improve the position of your website in the search engines for your targeted key terms and phrases. The main purpose for doing this is to have your company become highly visible to anyone who may be looking for the services you provide.

A client recently confided that he discovered the need for search engine marketing only after he built a new web site. Expecting that "if you build it, they will come," this sophisticated international attorney was surprised to learn that launching a new web site is only the first step in the continual effort to get business over the Internet.

Law Firm Marketing can be a daunting task and can require a lot of different objectives to succeed online. However, one of the most overlooked marketing efforts that can really make a positive impact is online video for your law firm.

When it comes to search engine optimization for law firms, the services that law firms receive often vary to a major extent. Therefore, as a law firm operator, you need to ensure that you carefully select the best option to help yourself and your firm. You need to ensure that you choose a company that will produce incredible results in a short period of time to improve your return on investment.

Do you currently operate a law firm and you are excited about the chance to take your law firm to the next level? Do you want to grab top placement in the search engines and be placed directly in front of prospective clients? Most likely, you have already given some consideration to employing a search engine marketing campaign, however all too often this task can seem daunting and foreign to many without experience working with websites.

An online law firm business needs exceptional search engine optimization and marketing strategies to achieve the desired results. Is your website ranking on page one? Have you noticed a significant increase in targeted traffic since implementing these strategies? If not, you may have chosen the wrong company.

Do you advertise your attorney or law firm business more toward a local audience? This can be tough when dealing with search engines. There are SEO strategies that can be put in to place to help you get much higher visibility in your local area. Most legal firms do not market globally, so you need to make certain that your website is seen by the people in your area who may one day need your services.

The manager of a megastore came to check on his new salesman. "How many customers did you serve today?" the manager asked. "One," replied the new guy. "Only one?" said the boss, "how much was the sale?" The salesman answered, "$58,334." Flabbergasted, the manager asked him to explain.

Every law firm needs an online presence these days. Effective website and Internet marketing strategies can not only make your online business highly visible, it will make a very noticeable difference in the number of potential clients you receive, as well as your bottom line.

Has the economic tsunami hit your law firm financially? Appeal it with Law Firm Internet marketing and search engine optimization.

A well-planned and well-executed SEO campaign can work really well for niche markets as they tend to give excellent search results in specific areas. That’s why, as a law firm if you want to grab the moment and catapult yourself from an anonymous online existence to one of popularity, search engine optimization is what you need to consider.

Imagine being able to inform a prospect about your services precisely when they are looking for a service provider like you. Add a success-based pricing model to this dream, where you only pay for an ad when someone clicks on it to visit your web site, and you've got a perfect lead generation system in place.

Writing an article is an excellent investment of your time, especially if the thought of making a speech causes you to break out in a cold sweat. “Speaking” on paper is an ideal alternative. Corporate general counsel, among others, frequently contact attorneys based on published articles.

Smart attorneys understand the value of top Internet marketing and prefer a performance based online marketing service that is contingent upon results compared to more risky and costly upfront fee based SEO programs.

The Search Engine Optimization Business is mostly a scam... here's why.

Burbank, CA – Marketing and advertising for legal services has moved on to a new and exciting time where the mysterious results for how advertising dollars are spent are no longer a matter of speculation but one of absolute fact.

iMajestic introduces Performance Based SEO/SEM Internet marketing that allows attorneys to capture quality clients by achieving results before investing money.

The most successful franchise system in the world, McDonalds captures the minds and imaginations of a big sllice of humanity. How much does a McDonalds franchise cost? What kind of profits does a McDonalds generate? How does one buy a McDonalds franchise? This article provides the answers.

"How do I get more of the types of cases I prefer/like?" This was the question posed recently by an expert witness looking for help with his marketing. He wasn't just seeking more cases, but the specific type of cases he wanted to work on.

In this day of virtual business transacting, telephone technique is important. Major business deals are initiated, developed, and consummated without the parties ever having met each other except by phone. Ongoing business relationships are sometimes maintained only by phone. Make no mistake -- we assess people's intelligence, manners, sincerity, business acumen, and other attributes through telephone conversations. And this is true especially for professional service providers.

I understand an attorney wants to feel you out, so to speak, and there seems to be a fine line as to whether you give too much information or not enough. Is it common to just say "Yes, I believe I can help you" and just ask for the file to review, and then charge a fee? Is it common to just charge a fee to review the case file and then send a written general opinion on the case?

This was the question posed to me recently by an expert witness looking for help with his marketing. He wasn't just seeking more cases, but the specific type of cases he wanted to work on.

What can your law firm do to generate more revenue quickly? The answer is surprisingly simple. Current clients represent your best source of new business, since you already enjoy a trusting relationship with them. Here are ten steps you can take now to increase current client billings.

Tracking the results of your Internet marketing is extremely important if you want to run a successful Internet marketing campaign. Through the use of website analytics and phone call tracking numbers, you can find out exactly what marketing is working so you can make smart decisions about where to spend your marketing dollars.

So lamented a local bankruptcy attorney at a business development seminar I recently taught. “My clients need therapy,” chimed in a real estate lawyer. Many attorneys today are struggling to generate the high volume of qualified leads needed to keep the lights on while achieving the goal of a six-figure salary. Where can you find all these prospects? Read on for ten free or low cost business development techniques proven to help you achieve your practice expansion goals.

Business networking can be like speed dating; you only have a few minutes to make a positive first impression. This article will show you how to talk to a prospect.

Wondering where you can find your next new client? Internet savvy attorneys are hitting the keyboard to build online referral networks that supplement traditional face-to-face networking. LinkedIn® is one of the most popular "social networking" sites among business users today. Over 30 million professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries, connect with prospects electronically on LinkedIn. You can too! Read this article to learn how.

Franchise operations manuals may seem daunting, especially for a company that has never written an operations manual before. Bewildered by the new business of franchising, with its legal requirements, franchise disclosure documents, operations manuals, training programs, etc., many companies delegate responsibility for writing their manual to a high-priced franchise consultant.

For the last twenty-eight plus years, as a franchise attorney, author, instructor and recognized franchise expert, I’ve helped firms enter the franchise industry – each hoping to become the next “McDonalds” of their respective industries. Along the way, I've met and worked with an interesting group of entrepreneurial founders.

You May Enjoy Your Work, But Don't Work for the Fun of It — Make Sure You Get Paid!

How much should I charge for my expert witness services? It’s an important question that will determine the success of your consulting practice.

Here are some “best practices” as you build your expert witness consultancy.

Now that you’ve read our career advice in Part 2 of this series, you are ready to promote your new expert witness practice.

Education is one path to a forensic practice. Many colleges and universities now offer undergraduate or graduate degree programs in forensic accounting, forensic engineering, and other professions.

Miami CSI and other TV crime solving shows captivate viewer attention with the glamour, excitement, and challenge of forensic police activity. We watch as the prosecutor insists on hard, incriminating evidence that will withstand court scrutiny to put the bad guys behind bars. If you are considering a forensic career, this five-part series will explain the role of the expert witness and describe how you can qualify as an expert.

Modern lawyers and law firms must build a strong web presence to be competitive in the Internet age. This article explains why this is so important, and also offers some tips for building a highly visible web presence.

Your greatest opportunity for new business is hidden in your existing accounts. New business obtained from current or past clients tends to be more profitable, due to a lower cost of acquisition and a higher likelihood of successful completion.

In this article, Ray Horak makes the point that effective communications is all about choosing the right words. The corollary is that ineffective communications is all about choosing the wrong, or perhaps intentionally vague, words. That's where interpretation comes into play, and that's where technical experts and even lexicographers get involved. Horak shares some interesting examples of his litigation support experience defining words...sometimes again and again.

You’re excited about buying a franchise and are ready to trade your briefcase for an ice cream scoop. The company’s told you it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, given an impressive tour of their headquarters and taken you to a couple of their operating outlets. When the day ended, they presented their FDD or Franchise Disclosure Document. The representative told you to read it and the contract couldn’t be signed for at least 14 days, Who do you use and what’s it going to cost?

Marketing without a plan is one of the biggest mistakes a law firm can make. This article gives you the key elements to an effective marketing plan for your law firm.

Law firm marketing fans reading will appreciate a new Google feature that will add a competitive advantage to your legal search engine marketing campaigns.

What is a law firm managing partner to do when preparing to weather today's troubled market conditions?

Now is a great time to work on the law firm marketing campaigns you plan to launch once the kids are back in school and clients have returned from summer vacation.

Buying a franchise represents a different approach to starting a business, a dream shared by millions. Having the independence that being your own boss brings, the security that no one can fire you, enjoying a good income - and for the most successful - the accumulation of wealth and prosperity. Unfortunately, the cards are stacked against a new small business making it big - or making it at all. An endless stream of problems makes competition from large, sophisticated chains too intense.

Franchise Disclosure Documents are a good concept in theory. Unfortunately, reality plays a more important role and reveals an entirely different picture. Here are some of my observations, based on twenty-eight plus years of experience in the franchise industry as a franchise attorney, franchise expert and former franchise owner. During this time, I’ve drafted, reviewed and negotiated over 500 Franchise Disclosure Documents.

Evaluating franchise attorneys and evaluating franchise consultants can seem a daunting task. But the firm a company selects to assist its entry into franchising (or refining existing franchise efforts) will have profound consequences. While you can always ask for a list of "references" (and when is anyone ever dumb enough to provide a bad reference?) there are more objective criteria that are not dependent on selectively disseminated information.

Who is your competition, and how do you compare? Considering that most cases requiring an expert witness involve at least two experts and our society shows no signs of becoming less litigious, competition should not be your primary concern in building an expert practice.

When your expertise is publicized in articles and books, it does not look like advertising, it does not feel like advertising, but, delightfully, it works like advertising. Publicity is, in fact, the best promotional avenue after networking. Even better - it is usually free.

In response to one of our recent emails to Expert News readers, we received an email saying, “I thought experts are not supposed to advertise, even through websites.”

We all set goals, whether formally or subconsciously, especially at the start of a new year, when we feel we can wipe the slate clean and start anew.

Registering with a referral service is a valid marketing avenue for the expert just starting a litigation support practice. This is also a good choice for an experienced expert who has a narrow, or esoteric, field. An attorney is more likely to use a referral service for an unusual specialty than he is for a more common one.

A couple of years back I was invited to author a brief, highly pragmatic and regular 250-word snippet for the ABA’s Law Practice Magazine addressing the strategic issues that law firms face on a continuing basis.

Drawen from surveys, discussions and interviews with managing partners, here are six 'thought starters' to reflect upon with respect to your leadership style and approach.

A marketing plan should be one of the first items a new lawyer develops to support his or her career. But what makes up such a plan? What components need to be in place to ensure success? In this article, we will examine the five key components of cost, immediacy, audience, mix and testing.

Real estate, government, intellectual property, international, privacy, immigration, trusts & estates, environment, employment and health care are projected to be the top 10 law firm practice areas of interest to the news media in 2008, projects law firm marketing consultant Margaret Grisdela. Plan accordingly!

The starting point in the franchising vs. licensing a business analysis is to consider the legal aspects, then the business aspects. In considering the legal aspects, begin with the following premise that applies to both options. If you put someone into business (or allow them to use your business name/mark) this transaction will normally be a regulated activity, subject to substantial penalties for noncompliance.

What is the difference between a lawyer referral network and an attorney's contact database? It's a good question, and one I was just asked the other day.

Daily Business Review Editor David Lyons said today that journalists are turning into "mobile journalists." Speaking at a legal media panel luncheon co-hosted today by the Legal Marketing Association South Florida City Group and the Palm Beach County Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators, "MoJo" reporters are becoming multimedia and videography experts as print newspapers turn increasingly to electronic communications.

Ever wonder how much attorneys are paying for their text ads on Google?

The holiday season is upon us, which means lots of opportunities for social networking. Think of this as the perfect time to skillfully launch your 2008 personal marketing efforts. You don’t have to be the life of the party to attract serious business development opportunities on the social circuit; you just need to have a plan. Here is a simple five-step program you can easily implement.

What is the difference between a referral network and a contact database? It's a good question, and one I was just asked the other day. A referral network is a group of 5-10 professionals who have the ability to send you high quality business leads, while your contact database is a list of all your prospects and clients.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. This old joke works because of its wisdom. Now that you have an audience, advance planning is essential to the success of your presentation.

You know the conferences where the movers and shakers in your industry meet to stay abreast of current events in the legal industry. Getting a seat on the podium will strengthen your position as a leading attorney in your field. It is never too early to start your quest for speaking engagements. Major annual events book their speakers a minimum of 6 to 12 months in advance. The sooner you get named as a speaker, the more publicity you will generate through advance promotion.

Inevitably any law firm with at least a handful of attorneys and more than one area of emphasis is faced with a critical business development question - does it market the firm in general or does it promote the successes and qualifications of individual attorneys. To do the former alone offers the tantalizing possibilities that come with branding. The latter promises the kind of word-of-mouth “buzz” that brings in clients for very specific reasons.

By temperament and by habit, attorneys tend to be a detailed, meticulous lot. Most understand that “proof,” data, substantiation etc. is not only required when building a case for a client, but for any business related decision as well. Thus, the inability to measure the inexact science of marketing has traditionally been a source of frustration for many attorneys and their firms.

A decade or two ago, strategic and business planners commonly worked with a five year planning horizon. Technology adoption and implementation time-frames, market share change rates, and consumer behavior patterns could be relied upon to span several years.

This article, originally published in Baby Shop Magazine, was written to help the independent retailer get the most out of limited resources.

Without a doubt, clients can be your best source of referrals. Yet in my 18 years of marketing work with lawyers, I have met few who actually ask clients for referrals. For all of those lawyers, I say, it is time to change your ways!

I received a letter from a company recently that had this as the subject line: People are Hired for Their Skills and Fired for Their Behaviors. That is so true. We look for candidates to fill positions who have the needed skill sets and then assume they can do the job quite well.

Are you offering cookie-cutter legal services to your clients? Think about it for a minute. If you are, chances are that your client can easily go to a competitor who promises lower rates and/or higher service levels.

Acquiring new clients can cost five times more than retaining current clients, and the average company loses a staggering 10 percent of its customer base each year, according to the American Marketing Association.

As a lawyer, or a law firm, the lure of the Web 2.0 medium as a means of expanding your business is too tempting to resist. Web 2.0 consists of social media and networking sites and platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ryze, Xing, and many more.

Firms should be selective about displaying logos of networks and lawyer ratings services on their Web site Home page, a move some rating services and networks have recently started to encourage.

Firms should be selective about displaying logos of networks and lawyer ratings services on their Web site Home page, a move some rating services and networks have recently started to encourage.

Lawyers and law firms should consider making Twitter one of the standard tools of the profession. Is Twitter mainstream among non-lawyers? Although Twitter has a long way to go to catch up to Facebook, Twitter is being used more and more by non-lawyers and in popular culture.

Overload has become the status quo. Lawyers and marketers rarely feel they have enough hours in the day to both meet all client needs and stay abreast of potential business opportunities. Could the extremely publicized phenomenon of social marketing such as LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook and Avvo be a panacea?

You heard that right...no matter how much time we sink into our inbox trying to keep up with all that barrage of never-ending mail, a new report by The Nielsen Company reports that Social networks and blogs are now the fourth most popular online activity today.

Social network sites work for you, but only if you work at them.

In a given day, a lawyer can keep in touch with her biggest client, her college daughter, and her best friend without leaving the office, sending an e-mail, or picking up the phone. The world of networking has expanded dramatically as lawyers connect with their colleagues, friends and clients via online social networking sites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Legal OnRamp.

Time is one commodity few lawyers have in abundance. As such, careful consideration must be taken when selecting a trade organization to help grow your network. Read more to learn the three questions you should ask before sending in your membership dues.