Lawyer Marketing Action Plan For Tons of Website Traffic

Do you want more traffic to your law firm website? If so you need multiple micro-targeted websites as central feature to your lawyer marketing.

My firm’s sites went from 0 monthly website visitors to 3,450 (and climbing) within 1 year. This article and much of this website is about lawyer marketing with a focus on lawyer internet marketing.

Lawyer Marketing Mass Traffic Action Plan

A. Build your own websites:

I can’t overstate how valuable it is being able to build your own websites and blogs. The time you invest in it will pay dividends immediately and for years. Here is, in a nutshell, what I do:

B. My Internet Lawyer Marketing Approach is Simple:

Get great website hosting: Bluehost. Great customer service, cheap, and you can build unlimited websites. Bluehost shows you how to install WordPress.
Use the WordPress platform (install very easily inside your Bluehost account) and get great looking WordPress themes: StudioPress and/or iThemes (I use both). These WordPress premium themse are low cost, look great, built-in SEO, very well coded, outstanding support, and they both have a large variety of themes available.
Learn on-site search engine optimization (how to write and research keywords for your websites): SEOBook.
Build tons of high-quality links to my site using Linkvana and reading 101 Ways to Build Link Popularity.
Once I build and get traffic to one site, I do it again, and again, and again.

C. Let me elaborate:

First, you’re probably what are your various websites to be about? Each website targets different clientele. For example, if you’re a criminal defense lawyer, do a spousal assault website, a DUI website, an insider trading website, and so forth.

If your law firm practices in several areas, create websites (and blogs) for each practice area. Then build websites to sub-practice areas. These specific practice area and sub-practice area websites are called microsites.

Second, you must learn how to choose keywords and where to place keywords in your websites. You can’t learn about keyword research and use better tools than at SEOBook.

Third, write loads of great content and don’t stop. Don’t have time? Hire quality writers at Custom Content and/or Need an Article.

Fourth, don’t forget optimize your local Google Maps listing. Read David Mihm – he about covers it all for local Google Maps.

Fifth: a little about link building – which is integral to internet lawyer marketing.

Top Google listings come from link building. Go for quantity and quality. Quality links are from websites with high page rank. Google page rank if you don’t know what this is.
Take charge of building all the links you want to all the websites you want (plan on building many sites) with Linkvana. One flat rate each month lets you build all the links to your site you want.
Read 101 Ways to Build Link Popularity. This article covers it all as far as I’m concerned.
If you want to submit your sites to online directries and RSS aggregators (recommended), then automate it with Directorybot and RSSbot.

Sixth: Lawyer marketing is not complete without analyzing your competition. At Yahoo Site Explorer, enter your competitions’ URLs (the competitors who are ranking in Google higher than you) and see where they get links. Get links from the same or better websites. For example, if your competitor has eight PR 6 links, you should get at least 9 PR 6 links.

You can get high PR links from blog comments, forum participation, paying for high PR directory listings, and writing articles for publishing on sites with high PR.

Seventh: Give you prospective clients the chance to talk to you (or your office) live right on all your websites with live chat. You’ll get more clients in your office doors if you communicate with them while they are on your site. I haven’t used live chat yet for my firm because I have a staffing shortage. However, I intend to try live chat on all my sites shortly because I have no doubt if I can answer website visitors’ questions immediately and book an appointment immediately, I’ll get even more clients.

Eighth: Collect, build, and communicate with all your clients and prospective clients with email management: aWeber or iContact are inexpensive robust options that offer forms you can easily place in all your WordPress websites.

That’s all there is to it. Follow these steps and you can create all the targeted traffic you need to get tons of clients. Don’t stop building websites, adding content, and building links.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to do all this, but still want massive traffic, check out LoveClients SEO for a full service SEO service.

Filed Under: Marketing

Linkvana Review: Search Engine Optimization Search SEO Software

Get search engine optimization search SEO software that works for you

Let’s face it, SEO is hard work; any search optimization search SEO software that speeds up and improves your SEO and gets killer results is worth a fortune. Linkvana is an SEO service that gets you backlinks to your websites and blogs.

Read this Linkvana review to find out what is Linkvana and answer the-always pertinent question: does Linkvana work?

Linkvana Review:

What is Linkvana?	A backlink service for SEO that gets you as many quality one-way backlinks that you want to as many websites and blogs as you want. It’s link building search optimization search SEO software that i sweb-based. You choose the anchor text in each link you create. Linkvana has both a blog post network and an article network (new).
Linkvana Features	Create a custom anchor backlink in the amount of time it takes to write a 100 word post. Set up backlinks to any URL in any website or blog. Very easy to create deep links throughout your sites. You can create links to articles you publish online for article promotion. For example, if you publish an article on EzineArticles, promote the article with links to it using the LinkVana service. Create as many one-way backlinks to as many URLs as you want whenever you want. You can dictate how many links are created to a particular website (called a project) each day. This lets you set the aggressive level. Don’t have time to write 100 word posts? No problem, Linkvana has a post writing service that costs $2 per post. That’s $2 per link. It costs $10 for an article written by Linkvana that is submitted in the article network. LinkVana recently launched its article network that works the same as the blog post network except the articles are longer (minimum 250 words) and are placed in Linkvana’s article network rather than its blog network. This offers a link from a different type of source (i.e. not a blog site). Variety of link sources is better than no variety.
Linkvana Benefits: search optimization search SEO software	Unlimited one-way backlinks to your website(s). Your links remain even if you quit the service. Receive some direct traffic through the LinkVana post and article links. Improve search engine ranking. Improved search engine ranking increases website traffic. Increased website traffic improves sales and revenue opportunities. You don’t need to insert a bio or resource author box. It’s an anonymous post and link. Each post must be unique content (Linkvana tests for this) which means it has a very high probability of being indexed with the search engines.
How Linkvana works	You log in, create the URLs you want links to along with the associated anchor text for each link. Then, for blog post links: write a post, which must be unique content, between 100 and 150 words. You insert your chosen link and anchor text. Submit the post and it then gets submitted to a blog in its network. Or, for article links, write a unique article 250 words or longer, insert your chosen link, and submit it to the network.
Does Linkvana Work? Read these testimonials	“It [Linkvana] works well for laser-targeting rankings, especially for inner pages (deeplinks)Make it a part of a larger overall linking strategy and you’ll have the competitive edge. Automatically.I highly recommend it.” -(warrior forum member)“yes it [Linkvana] works and very fast” -(warrior forum member)
My Experience	I’m a Linkvana subscriber. I am exceedingly pleased with the service. It takes some work writing the posts (you can, however, outsource the service at a cost of $2 per link, which I do when strapped for time).Overall Linkvana has streamlined my link-building incredibly well with excellent results. Not only that, I get links from page rank 2 and above sites. Each link I get has pretty solid value. The traffic on my websites is on a pretty steep trajectory – just the way I like it.
Price	$147 per month – no contract.
Specifications	No tech specifications. It’s web-based so it works for any computer that has Internet access.

This blog has an affiliate arrangement with Linkvana.

Filed Under: SEO Tagged With: internet marketing, Link Building, SEO

Client Service Tips to Keep your Clients Happy

Great client service = client retention and word-of-mouth referrals.

I doubt many lawyers pay much attention to client service, or have any policies in place about client service. This is a big mistake. Happy clients are will keep coming back and tell other people about you and your firm.

The following are some basic client service techniques that are sure to help client retention at your firm.

Live telephone reception. I’ve been tempted to get automated answering, but I have to say I sure appreciate a live-person when I call somewhere. I know you and your clients do as well.
Meet your clients when and where it suits them as much as possible. I’m not saying give up every weekend (there are limits), but it’s not much of an imposition to meet clients outside your office and on occasion outside your office hours.
Pleasant and prompt greeting at the door. Ask your clients about their experience. Your reception will be nice to you, but are they nice to clients? This also requires that you have a receptionist or someone working at the door.
Fast e-mail and voicemail response time (i.e. within 24 – 48 hours). I set out in my initial client letter that we try to do this. I don’t always succeed in responding within 48 hours. When I don’t, I apologize.
Don’t make clients wait if at all possible. If they’re early and you’re available, see them early. Otherwise, meet them at the appointed time. If you’re running late, try to contact them. It’s easy with cell phones these days.
Have a decent magazine selection in your reception area. I’ve heard about lawyers only setting out their marketing materials. That’s too self-promoting for my taste.
Coffee, tea, water, soft drink service.
Freebies: pens, mugs, folders, thumb drives, etc. (with your firm logo and contact information of course).
Client feedback (short surveys, anonymous client feedback on your Web site using uservoice.com, e-mail your clients, give them a form to fill out, talk to them, etc.). Feedback is a great way for you to improve your client service firm-wide.
If you hire staff, don’t permit bad talk about your clients. You don’t want a negative client service environment because clients sense it.
Delight your clients – over-deliver your service every time. Yes, sometimes cases go sideways. That’s the way it is in law. However, diminish the bad experience for your clients with exceptional client service in every way you can control. A decent analogy is restaurant service. Sometimes the kitchen screws up. I don’t mind if my server apologizes and makes up for it with a token offer such as dessert or comps the bill. I also like an explanation. When this happens, the bad situation is mitigated. I’m likely willing to return.
When you don’t over-deliver, apologize and offer a gift, fee reduction, or some way to make up for it.
Don’t take your clients for granted.
Give personal service as much as you can – get to know your clients a little and at the very least call them by name. Show that you’re actually interested in them. That said, if you sense your client isn’t interested in divulging, then don’t. I enjoy getting to know more about my clients; most seem to appreciate that I show an interest.
If you spend some time chit-chatting in an effort to get to know your clients, don’t bill them for it. This loss of time is leakage which is inevitable. Increase your hourly fee to make up for it. Clients prefer to spend an extra $20 per hour than see a bill and know you charged them for time talking about the recent birth of their child. That said, you don’t want to burn up 30 minutes chit-chatting. A few minutes is good, but you have to make a living.
Get client feedback in some way – so you can improve your services.
Strive to say yes as much as possible – be flexible.
Treat your employees well – your clients will notice. There’s nothing so distasteful from a client’s perspective as unpleasant employers. Remember, most of your clients are employees too.

There is no substitute for classy, convenient, and outstanding client service. There is no better way to maintain and build revenues than repeat clients and word-of-mouth referrals.

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: Client retention, Client Service, Marketing

Client Referral Fees that may be Permitted

Most jurisdictions as far as I know prohibit lawyers from paying referral fees (let me know if I’m wrong about this. I know my jurisdiction does).

As business owners, we love it when clients send us business by word-of-mouth. Why? Because word-of-mouth marketing costs us nothing. More importantly, word-of-mouth referrals come to us pre-sold. In fact, in my experience, clients who see me who were referred, came to see me to discuss their case and get started; not to determine whether they’ll hire me.

Alternative referral incentive program:

Tell referral sources that you’ll donate $X amount to a charity of the referrer’s choosing. It can be a set amount or a percentage of the ultimate legal fee. Institute this for every client they refer to you.

Caution: check with your governing authority whether this would be permitted.

What if the charity donation referral isn’t permitted? Then ask if a donation to any legal aid fund would be okay. If so, just tell referral sources that $X or percentage-of-fees amount will be donated to a legal aid fund for each referral.

If the charity referral donation is also too aggressive for your governing body, be sure to always send a thank you card or letter to your referrals.

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: Marketing, word-of-mouth

Be Smart About Law Firm Marketing: Pick and Choose

Track which marketing activities work and which ones don’t?

The internet offers many, many, many excellent ways to market your law firm. And this is in addition to the traditional law firm marketing options such as brochures, radio, TV, giving talks, networking, etc.

The internet is a wonderful vehicle for lawyer marketing because the internet is an information-delivery mechanism; lawyers are in the information business. The two work great together.

This website (thePAPERLESSlawyer) shares a large variety of marketing strategies and activities. You should realize that not all marketing activities will be best for your firm. In other words, not all marketing activities you try will result in an acceptable return on investment (ROI).

There is no marketing formula for lawyers. I suggest you get informed about marketing. Then try various marketing activities and TRACK the results. It’s imperative you track the results.

Tracking results means you need to track how much time and money you invest and then the return. Tracking the money spent is easy.

Tracking time, until now, was a bit more difficult. Now, with with RescueTime, you can effortless and automatically track how much time you spend on marketing. RescueTime is an online service that automatically tracks what you do on your computer.

How to track your marketing results?

Every person who answers the phone in my firm has a spreadsheet on which they track the types of calls that come in the firm (by practice area). When I interview anyone, I ask how they learned of our firm.

That’s it. Short answer to how to track law firm marketing results: ask all people who contact your firm. Track the numbers – those who contact you, those who make an appointment, and those who hire you. You can take it further and correlate the fees earned to the marketing method that brought the client into your firm.

I caution that you don’t go extreme. We practice restraint. When a person first calls our firm, we don’t ask how they hear about us. I figure it’s not the time or place. Yes, it would be very nice to know, but I’m sure not going to alienate a prospective client for figures and statistics.

Don’t give up on marketing your firm if something you did was a disaster. I’ve wasted money on disastrous marketing activities. However, I’ve also hit marketing home runs.

I’m reminded about an old investment adage that you need to only find and invest big in three investments throughout your life to make a fortune. The key is cutting off losses on the losers before the farm is lost so capital is preserved for the right pick. Marketing is the same; not every activity needs to be a success. Instead a few successful marketing activities will build your firm big time.

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: Marketing, ROI

Website or Blog? What Should a Lawyer or Law Firm Use

Short answer: both IF you or your firm will actually write blog posts regularly. If you won’t commit to writing blog posts, then it’s a website format. This article goes through the pros and cons of each and how to best integrate both a website and blog.

The lines separating websites and blogs are blurring these days.

Blog features such as news updates and updated articles are being fed to appear on the homepages (another other web pages) of traditional websites.

Traditionally a website is a static set of pages linked together. The information (content) on each page seldom changes. A blog, on the other hand, is dynamic. Properly used, a blog has new articles and information posted to it regularly. Also, many blogs are interactive between blog publisher and readership primarily through posted comments found under the subject blog post.

These days, websites incorporate blog elements, while blog platforms can be configured to function like websites. This is great because now it’s very easy to use have both a website and a blog.

For example, our firm’s main website feeds/cycles 3 types of updated information in our left column (it’s a standard 3-column website). We list the titles for our 5 latest blog posts, articles, and news posts.

Integrating a blog and website like this creates a dynamic and fresh looking website. It is important that if you choose to cycle information on your law firm’s homepage that new information and content is added consistently.

Why should a law firm decide on a website or blog or both before building or revising your present website?

Because what you choose will likely determine what is the best approach and platform to use. Your options in configuring your website and blog are as follows:

A. Website only:

Website only means you intend for a fairly static online presence. You could incorporate a library page where you add

A big benefit unique to an integrated lawyer website and blog is your integrated site can cycle blog content on your website homepage to create a live and fresh-looking website.

articles and/or videos. Otherwise, the content wouldn’t change or update often.

Pros for only a website:

Much less ongoing time investment.
The library concept takes of the pressure to add content consistently, yet does enable adding fresh content and information for your clients. This gives you the option to build credibility and add search engine optimized content.

Cons for only a website:

search engines favor larger websites / blogs. Not adding content can adversely affect search engine ranking / placement. Yes, you may have a library component; however, if you have to have your webmaster add those articles to your website, that’s an ongoing expense. Blogs are typically much simpler to add content to than websites. So simple that anyone can easily add content quickly and painlessly. That said, if you can get library articles added, those articles can be well optimized for improved search engine ranking.
Website alone doesn’t have the dynamic look because the content is more or less the same.

B. Blog only:

I don’t know any lawyer who uses only a pure blog, but I’m sure they are out there and do so successfully.

Pros for a blog:

Low cost. With open source blogging platforms (more on this later in the series), very easy for you to set up on your own. You don’t need to know any coding language. It’s an out-of-the-box solution.
Great search engine ranking potential: if search engine optimized (more on this later in the series) and content is added consistently, will rank well on the search engines.
Build readership and viral capability. Blog posts, if you enable an RSS feed and/or e-mail subscription (like the top right of this blog), your readers can subscribe and forward your posts to other people. This can result in new clients. After all, if someone forwards one of your posts to a friend because the friend needed a lawyer, that friend will likely call you and is already pre-sold on hiring you.
Blogs are excellent at building credibility. Because you write about your practice area, it’s an opportunity to share information; information prospective clients are looking for. If you do it well, then you can presell prospective clients. They’ll recognize you as an expert and appreciate sharing some of what you know.
Blogging gives you an opportunity show a bit of your personal side. In my view, clients like this. I don’t mean to do a tell-all blog; instead, when writing you’ll develop a voice and intertwine personal experiences that give a taste about who you are that your website won’t be able to do.
Stay current: because you have to update it regularly, presumably about your practice area, it’s an excellent motivator for you to stay current in your practice areas.
If you’re part of a large firm, you may wish to write a blog about your practice area. Seriously consider getting your own domain for your blog and doing it separately from the firm so if you leave the firm, you get the blog.

Cons for only a blog:

Prospective and current clients may not find a pure blog very user friendly. People have expectations about website layout, especially for businesses. Blogs don’t present your “what we do” information very well.
Labor intensive. A blog with no posts for 3 months looks bad. If a blog is your sole online presence, be sure to write consistently. In my view posting twice a month is sufficient. Consistency is key.

C. Website with blog content cycled throughout and integrated:

An example of a website with blog integrated and the blog’s content cycled throughout is listing your 5 recent blog post titles somewhere on your website homepage. Another example is cycling 5 law firm news items on your homepage. By integrated I mean that your blog is part of your website (i.e. part of your website domain or your website is part of your blog domain).

I could write a full post on this concept alone. However, I’ll try to give you the gist of it.

Website and Blog integration

If you have a website, you can integrate your blog as part of your website domain or separately. If your blog is related to your legal practice area or law firm, I strongly recommend your blog be PART of your website. For the technically minded, this means your blog is a subdirectory of your website rather than a subdomain (or totally different domain).

Examples for http://www.lawyerwebsite.com

Domain name: lawyerwebsite.com
Subdirectory setup: http://www.lawyerwebsite.com/Blog (the hostname: lawyerwebsite.com)
Subdomain setup: http://Blog.lawyerwebsite.com (the hostname here: blog.lawyerwebsite.com)
Separate domains: http://www.lawyerwebsite.com and http://www.lawyerblog.com

A subdirectory is optimal because the search engines consider the blog content in a subdirectory as part of your main website domain. That means the blog content contributes to the search engine optimization of your entire website. On the other hand, if your blog is a subdomain or separate domain, your blog content does not count as content in your main lawyer website.

For example, if you have a website that you or your webmaster have optimized for the search engines and then you set up your blog on a subdomain or separate domain, your main website optimization efforts will not spill into your new blog. However, if your blog is set up in a subdirectory, then all existing search engine optimization efforts will contribute to your blog (and vice versa).*

D. Exceptions to setting up your law blog as a subdirectory – benefits of a completely separate blog

A benefit of setting up your blog on a totally separate domain (i.e www.joejustice.com) is you now have an external site from which you can do some link exchanges that you control. I’ll be writing extensively about link exchange and building later. For this article you need only know that an inbound link to your website is good for search engine optimization. Therefore, if you have two sites, you can create links to specific pages on each site. Essentially, a separate domain gives you some control in creating inbound links.
Another possible benefit of setting up your lawyer blog on a totally separate domain is the situation where you’re trying to break into a new practice area. If you are trying to establish a new practice are, you may not want to confuse prospective clients who visit your main website with your new practice area development. If this is the case, then separating your blog and website on different domains is the smart move. An example is this blog – thepaperlesslawyer. It’s hosted on its own domain; it is not part of my firm’s website. In fact neither mention the other.
If you’re part of a law firm – consider:
- The firm may not want your blog integrated. Okay, no problem, you separate it on its own domain.
- More importantly, suppose you leave the firm in the future. You will want to take your blog with you. If it’s part of the firm’s domain, you might have a bigger battle on your hands keeping what you created. Keep control of your blog by getting your own domain if you have an uncertain future at a firm.

However, my recommendation for sole practitioners or lawyers securely settled a firm, is to integrate your law firm website with a law firm blog in a subdirectory format (i.e. both are in the same website). The benefit of more content counting as part of your firm’s website outweighs any benefits of doing link exchanges between your website and blog.

Pros and Cons of having both a website and blog for your law firm

Pros of having both Law firm website and blog

Potential for great search engine ranking. I say potential because content alone is not sufficient. You must optimize that content.
Build credibility by writing and publishing in your practice area(s)
Potential viral marketing opportunity with your blog posts using RSS feeds.
BIG BENEFIT UNIQUE TO AN INTEGRATED WEBSITE AND BLOG: your integrated site can cycle blog content on your website homepage to create a live and fresh-looking website.
Your main homepage content can remain the same while you cycle updated information in a column or somewhere on the homepage.
Maintain traditional website navigation look and feel for your clients.
Simplicity: anyone can add content to a blog. You won’t need to pay your webmaster to add content (unless you don’t mind and couldn’t be bothered even logging into a blog platform). The point is you don’t need to know any html or other coding language to add a blog post. FYI: there’s website software that makes adding content very easy also. More on this later in this “How to get a Great Law Firm Website” series.

Cons of having both a website and blog

A blog is time consuming to keep content updated
You’ll incur additional costs for technical integration (unless you learn to do-it-yourself). However, once it’s integrated, unless your webmaster chose a terrible or complicated blogging platform, you’ll be able to add content easily yourself.
You may also incur additional costs to revamp your website to include article title feeds on your homepage
If you write bad content in your blog, you may actually harm your internet marketing efforts. You must commit to writing or generating good content.

If you’re a lawyer in a firm and your future at that firm is less than certain, ensure your blog has its own domain owned by you, unless you’re officially writing for the firm’s blog.

In my view, a great lawyer or lawfirm website integrates the traditional elements of a website such as a static homepage, an about pages, services page, contact page, profiles, case results, etc. and blogging capability. The benefits of integrating both website and blog for your law firm are huge … IF OPTIMIZED AND DONE WELL.

* Google won’t list all your subdomains in a search results page for a single search. If very relevant, more than one subdomain may be listed. Source: Matt Cutts’ blog post titled “Subdomains and Subdirectories“. Matt Cutts is a software engineer for Google.

Filed Under: Websites Tagged With: Blogging, internet marketing, Marketing, websites

Best Law Website Templates and Lawyer Web Pages Templates

Introducing the best law website templates

StudioPress, one of my favorite WordPress theme developers, just launched its Genesis Theme.

Genesis Theme, in my view, with its multiple layout options, is perfect for lawyer web pages templates – whether a blog, a home page, a profile page, an article or video library – you name, Genesis offers the flexibility to be an outstanding law website template.

Genesis Theme functions on a parent/child theme framework

In a nutshell, this means two things:

When a theme (aka WordPress template) upgrades, you won’t have to worry about going back and re-coding your php how it was before the upgrade.
More theme styles will be available because the child theme, which plugs into the parent theme (in a sense) is the style. Since child themes are relatively easy to produce, more designers will create child themes. More importantly, StudioPress plans on setting up a marketplace where it will offer “StudioPress-approved” child themes. The result: more styles to choose from on the StudioPress platform.

Don’t worry, installing and using parent/child themes is still very easy. All you need to do is install the parent and a child theme – then be sure to activate your child theme of choice. StudioPress offers well-written tutorials on getting started.

Here’s a quick video showing the main features of the Genesis Theme

Here are two child themes – the basic theme and the Executive theme (which I think is excellent for lawyer website templates). For all images, click twice to enlarge:

Genesis basic “naked” child theme

Genesis "Naked" Child Theme - CLICK TWICE TO ENLARGE

Genesis Executive child theme

Genesis Executive Child Theme - CLICK TWICE TO ENLARGE

In my view the Executive Theme is perfect for law website templates and lawyer web pages templates. That said, the “naked” or “minimal” theme is also an excellent canvas for a law firm site.

What about more child themes?

StudioPress intends to set up a marketplace where designers will submit theme or website templates. If approved, those templates will be available (see pricing below). Until now, each theme release presented one style. Now, using child themes, the Genesis Theme can offer 100′s or 1,000′s of website templates and web pages templates. I like this because I’m not big on styling my own sites; I prefer to buy out-of-the-box.

Check out this screen shot of how the marketplace will work in the Genesis install. Basically you can shop within your WordPress install.

Child Theme Marketplace - CLICK TWICE TO ENLARGE

In addition to StudioPress’ clean and secure code (a StudioPress trademark), you get the following features with a Genesis Theme:

6 default web pages templates layouts

Select one of 6 layout options for any page or post – enhanced customization. You see the following in every “add post” and “add page” panel.

6 Layout Options For Any Post and Page - CLICK TWICE TO ENLARGE

Enhanced WP website templates options panel

Check out the many options for easily customizing your law website and lawyer web pages.

Genesis Theme Options Panel - CLICK TWICE TO ENLARGE

SEO options

No more SEO plugins needed. You can fully optimize your law website and law firm web pages in Genesis Theme’s SEO options panel.

SEO Options Panel - CLICK TWICE TO ENLARGE

Widget Panel - CLICK TWICE TO ENLARGE

Many widget options for improved web pages templates

- Set out your featured posts and pages in any sidebar.

- List your latest Tweets in any sidebar.

- Pre-built with a profile widget and gravatar.

- Improved navigation options using widgets.

Criticisms of the Genesis Theme

- Redundant CSS style sheet.

- Building WordPress site is too easy – what will website developers do? (I read this criticism in a forum).

- Need more child themes (yeah, I’m demanding; I’m sure they’re coming).

- Forum answers limited to bugs and only some customization. I’m disappointed that more customization isn’t offered in the forum.

- Theme showcase can be misleading for newbies. It should be made clear that many of the themes in the showcase

- I’m not particularly keen on the mocha child theme. I don’t think it’s StudioPress’ best design. However, this is a personal criticism. I am, however, a huge fan of the Executive child theme.

What else comes with the Genesis Theme?

Since it’s a StudioPress theme, Genesis also comes with the usual StudioPress offerings, which are:

Very easy-to-install blog e-mail subscription widget.
Very good forum support moderated by people who know what they’re doing. However, I wish StudioPress would be more willing to give customization support in the forum.
Genesis Theme is widget-ready
Comment threading functioning out-of-the-box
Numerous theme tutorials for installing and customizing Genesis Theme.
Theme showcase for inspiration and ideas (beware that beginners will not so easily be able to replicate the sites in the showcase).

Click Here for Genesis Theme Pricing

Forum support: if you get one theme, you have lifetime access to that theme’s forum. If you have a Pro Plus membership, you get lifetime access to all forums.

License issued

You can use your theme or themes to build as many websites and/or blogs as you like. If you want 10 law firm sites and blogs (I have 4 so far and they all get traffic – one for each practice area), all you need is one Pro Plus membership. If you end up building sites for other people using StudioPress themes, you can sell them or give them away. You can, of course, customize all of StudioPress themes as much as you like.

Keep in mind some premium theme developers charge a premium for the developer’s license that authorizes multiple uses of one theme. In my view, StudioPress pricing is one of the simplest and most reasonable going for what you get.

Technically, the license you get is a GPL license.

At the end of the day, think about it: you can get great law website templates and an unlimited number of lawyer web pages templates to set up one or numerous websites for your firm for $200.

Genesis Theme Demo

This blog has an affiliate arrangement with StudioPress.

Filed Under: WordPress

35 LinkedIn Lawyer Tips

LinkedIn is an online professional networking website. Once you register, colleagues, classmates, and just about anyone can find your LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn search engine results are pretty impressive when searching a lawyer’s name and legal practice areas.

LinkedIn is a relationship-building online service that if used well, can result in many connections that can lead to more business for you and your law firm. LinkedIn is also a great resource for hiring.

Read the following 35 LinkedIn tips, techniques and recommendations for improved social media and marketing results for lawyers and law firms:

Setting up LinkedIn

Complete your profile as thoroughly as possible. Include personal information. The more information you provide the more potential points of connection with other people to build your network. Of course, be judicious and don’t divulge sensitive and personal information. Include present and past employment.
Describe your work experience in as much detail as possible. Don’t simply list employers and experience. Instead, be expansive by setting out duties, positions, responsibilities, awards, recognition, achievements, facts, figures, etc. Don’t be modest.
Connect with as many business associates as you can. Continue doing so to build your network.
LinkedIn gets good Google results. Use LinkedIn’s Google and other search engine popularity to your advantage by using keywords in both your profile and your content. If you’re not sure what are good keywords, see what people search at Google Adwords keywords tool. Use your legal practice area keywords and geographical areas extensively.
Keep your profile up-to-date.
Check your home page on LinkedIn often. It contains industry updates, news, and postings from associates. The key to using LinkedIn and other social media is staying active. You’re better to be active on one social media platform than inactive on several.
Check the “index” option so your profile will be searched by the search engines.
On company profiles, the top five most popular other profiles are displayed on the home page. Be aware of who your top five most popular profiles are because they will show other people with whom you associate.
Choose the top five profiles who will link back to you for a reciprocal benefit.
Update your status with useful content and information as much as possible.
Customize your buttons. This will make your profile look more professional and give you more control.
Keep in mind there are a limited number of characters in the profile fields. You may want to do a few practice runs first before publishing.
Customize your public profile’s URL so it’s easier to link to other pages and easier for people to remember it.
People see the top of your summary first, so be certain you set out your vital information there.
Enable the “show website” feature in your profile.
Make sure the full view and websites options are also checked so that the information in your profile is public.
Use the Q&A feature to ask others their opinion of your website, blog, services, etc.

Building a LinkedIn network

Answer questions. Become respected and acknowledged as an expert in your legal area.
Comment in the discussion forums as much as you can. Contributing in forums is an outstanding way to become respected and acknowledged as an expert in your field. Another great aspect of forum contribution is that your efforts will pay dividends in the long run because your answers will remain for other people to read going forward.
Write extensively about your current business and legal practice areas.
Be focused in building your network. Plan who you want in your network and who you prefer not be included.
Do not be friends with people just because they ask you. It looks odd for a lawyer to be friends with partying buddies from college. Leave the casual online friendships to Facebook.
Monitor your network statistics. If you don’t know the numbers, you don’t know whether your efforts are worthwhile.
Compliment others when you’re speaking to them so that they reciprocate. It makes both of your profiles look much better.
Become a recommended service by establishing a good reputation. People flock to people, companies, and services, including law firms that have the “recommended” status.
Introduce yourself to other members. Don’t always wait for others to approach you first.
Don’t be shy – ask others to recommend you if they have had experience with you. Being recommended is terrific for your profile.
Use the ‘groups’ feature to meet others, post feedback, and get a feel for what other lawyers and law firms are doing.

LinkedIn as a law firm marketing, hiring, and research resource

Include your LinkedIn profile link in other places like Twitter, Digg, Facebook, your law firm websites and blogs, and other social media platforms you use.
Use LinkedIn to find employees and associates.
Include your law firm URL(s) somewhere in your profile.
Ask other people in the community for advice. People are more than willing to answer questions.
Use LinkedIn to study your legal competition.
If you need a service, LinkedIn has its own services area where you can trade with others who are among the trusted network.
LinkedIn is a targeted marketing platform, so be specific when selecting your industry and expertise.

Want to learn more about using LinkedIn? Check out these LinkedIn books:

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: internet marketing, Marketing, Social Media

iContact Review: Email List Management Software

What is iContact?	iContact is an advanced e-mail system that manages all aspects of a e-mail marketing – from autoresponders to e-newsletters, RSS feeds, and surveys.
iContact Features	Large collection of email marketing articles to help you get started. Autoresponder. RSS feeds. Event Management. 50,000 customers. CAN-SPAM compliant. Over 300 templates included. Customization of templates possible. Set up and maintain an unlimited number of email lists. Mail-merge. All you need is an internet connection to use iContact. Set up custom mail merge fields. Built-in HTML WYSIWYG Editor. Schedule sending emails in the future. Personalize emails with mail merge fields. Send test emails. Send emails to multiple lists at a single time. List statistics and reports. Create your own opt-in forms for your website. handles bounced emails. Import email lists from another email application and/or database. RSVP and follow-up email marketing. Email list database is searchable. Tracking: click-through rates, bounces, and opens. Segment lists by field. Create and send customized surveys – multiple choice, yes/no, and open-responses.
Current clients	At&T, Vonage, Symantec, International Paper, ReMax, Centex Homes, and Viacom to name a few of the 50,000 customers.
Some of iContact’s beliefs	iContact believes: you should be able to manage all your emarketing communications in one location; ‘deliverability is the product; allowing choice of communication channel – whether it be email, RSS, or both; in dedicated service, not ‘lip’ service; that sophisticated features can be easy to use; ‘simplify’ means easy and ready to use by anyone immediately; “set-up fees” and “long-term contracts” are a scam; “NO” deceptive language; in the permission-based ethic; in the rights of small businesses to have big business advantages; in rapid response time.
Support	Toll free telephone number, live chat, and a ticket system through iContact’s website.
Specifications	Cloud computing application, aka web-based software. There is no software to install or download. You log in to your account and set up and manage your email marketing on the web.
Accolades	#1 email marketing service provider and resource for web professionals by Website Magazine in its September 2009 issue.
Customer Testimonials (source: iContact.com)	“Folks at iContact, I am so pleased with your service. As a former user of Microsoft’s bCentral for the past two years, maybe three, I am amazed at how much better I like your service …” - Dave McCarty, Gospel Friendships. “I’m particularly impressed with the iContact system. To send out our newsletters, or to contact clients with special offers, it takes only a matter of minutes to type and hit “send.” - Michele McMahon, Mountain Brook Cottages, Inc.
Pricing	Pricing depends on the number of contacts: 250 contacts costs $9.95/month. 500 contacts: $14.00/month. 1000 contacts: $19.00/month and so on up to 100,000 contacts costing $699 per month.
Non-profit discount	Yes. 20%.
Free Trial	15 Day Free Trial

This blog has an affiliate arrangement with iContact.

Filed Under: E-mail

Lawyer Marketing Online

Lawyer Marketing Is All About The Internet

Internet marketing comprises about 85 percent of our lawyer marketing efforts and marketing budget. 2 years ago internet marketing comprised maybe 2 percent, consisting of a couple of internet directory listings.

Internet marketing for us over the last two years is by far the most effective lawyer marketing activities we’ve ever done. The absolute beauty about marketing online is we can tailor our message and information to our targeted market. In other words, we place plenty of great legal information and our contact information online where our prospective clients can find it when they are looking for it.

Rather than jamming our message down everyone’s throats we feed hungry people looking for what we have to offer. Internet marketing for lawyers, if done well, is both effective and efficient.

I’ve invested many, many hours researching, experimenting, and implementing a variety of internet marketing campaigns. I’ve invested in two websites that were a total waste of money. Now we have 4 very effective websites – all of which incorporate blogs. I continue to plan, create, build, and launch several campaigns. It’s a never-ending endeavor; however, it pays dividends indefinitely.

... effective lawyer internet marketing must be planned, methodical, and creative.

Internet marketing requires planning and a decently sized investment in time (or money to hire other people to do it). Many of the tools to do it yourself are cheap or free; but requires your time. For the small law firm or sole practitioner, internet marketing is a tremendous opportunity because if learned, it can be done very cheaply.

Lawyers are in the information service business. The internet is an information portal. Lawyer marketing on the internet is a perfect fit; lawyers by sharing their knowledge deliberately and methodically can gain many, many clients.

It’s imperative that internet marketing be done well. To be very effective it must be planned, methodical, and creative. Online marketing is evolving incredibly fast resulting in increasing opportunities for lawyers.

One goal of this website is to share my marketing experiences, research, successes, and failures; lawyer to lawyer. I take great ownership and pride in my law firm; I want it well-represented on the internet. I also want the biggest bang for my time and buck (I invest few dollars opting instead to do much of it myself). I have no doubt that the future of lawyer marketing is online.

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: internet marketing, Marketing