Caller to Client Lead Conversion I sometimes hear attorneys crying the blues because they are devoting lots of time and resources to marketing, but they just can’t get their firm to where they want it to be. If you find yourself singing that tune, it may be time to take a hard look at your…
Category: Articles
Don’t (Necessarily) Fear the Duplicate Content Reaper
Duplicate Content Will Google and the other search engines ban you if you publish duplicate content? Before I answer, let’s discuss the reason this issue would ever present itself. I don’t recommend or suggest that you ever publish IDENTICAL duplicate content. But if you have a blog for each of your various practice areas, it…
Another Benefit of Content-Based, Niche Marketing
I scored a hat trick this morning, and I wanted to share the experience with you. At the risk of sounding all lah dee dah and altruistic, I did not get into law for the money. If you read my profile page, you’ll see the motivation to go to law school was a conflation* of…
Must-Have Plugins for Your Law Firm’s WordPress Website
First, a cautionary tale about plugins. I once switched to a new WordPress theme that I really liked, in part because on the articles page it showed little more than the headline from each blog post. For the reader, that serves up a list of articles from which to choose, without a lot of scrolling….
Don’t Be That Attorney – What Part of “Without Cause” Don’t You Understand?
Forgive me if I periodically vent here, but I’ll use my diatribes to illustrate important points. One of my fundamental points is that the practice of law is far more enjoyable if you are on the right side of a case. You can feel great about what you are doing, knowing that you are on…
Does the Trifecta Approach to Law Firm Search Engine Optimization Still Work?
I’ve received this question a few times now by email, so rather than providing the same response each time, I thought I’d respond with an article. I published my book How to Create a Big, Fat Pipeline of New Clients for Your Law Firm in Just 10 Days (hereinafter, “Pipeline”) in 2013. It shot to…
Shooting Law Marketing Video with an iPhone
The iPhone has an amazing video camera, but just clicking record may not produce a high-quality image. Here are some tips for shooting better-looking video using an iPhone. Source: wistia.com As much as I’d like to add video to my marketing mix, I have the perfect face for radio, as they say. Perhaps I…
Six Most Common Law Firm Marketing Mistakes
1. Thinking you don’t need an Internet presence. I sing the praises of law firm marketing on the Internet here and in my book, How to Create a Big, Fat Pipeline of New Clients for Your Law Firm in Just 10 Days, so I won’t do so again, except to say that no matter what your…
Two Inexpensive Ways to Add Images to Your Articles
I found gold today, and I had to share. Whether you are creating a blog post or posting an article on JDSupra, you should include one or more images. According to some studies, adding an image increases readership by as much as 94%. When I add an image to a JDSupra posting, it…
The Definitive Guide to Starting Your Own Law Firm . . . is Coming
Starting Your Own Law Firm When I created this website, I sought to make it a resource for new attorneys who want to start their own firms, and for established attorneys who want to grow the firms they have. There are many resources for learning the mechanics of starting a firm, so I spent…
Kindle Unlimited Review – You Just Became a Genius for $9.99 per Month
Stick with me while I get to the point.** I actively enjoy marketing my law firm. Probably because of my entrepreneurial bent, I find it very gratifying when I come up with a new marketing idea, implement it on a Monday, and by Wednesday of the following week it is already bearing fruit…
Law Firm Marketing – The Easy, No-Cost Way to Crush the Competition
I listen to a lot of podcasts, always looking for good law firm marketing ideas that I can pass along. I find that the same ideas seem to come in waves, and one idea currently riding the crest is the idea of scheduling your email time. The new conventional thinking (read to the end to see…
Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan
A recent incident again showed me the power of niche marketing and reminded me that it is important to keep feeding the pipeline. Occasionally I brainstorm niches for my practice areas and buy appropriate domain names, intending to create informative websites for those topics. During one such brainstorming session about nine months ago, I decided…
Don’t Make it Hard for New Clients to Call You — How to Make Your Phone Number Clickable
The estimates vary, but it is safe to say that more than 50% of Internet searches are now being made on mobile devices. So, if a potential client is searching for an attorney on their smart phone and you win the search results derby, don’t throw away your victory by frustrating the client’s desire to…
Don’t Forget Bing and Yahoo in Your Law Firm Marketing Mix — How to Find Love and Success Even When Google Rejects You
The Holy Grail of search engine optimization for a law firm is to get your website in the number one position of the Google search results for your practice area. But contrary to popular belief, Google is not the only game in town. The number varies based on a number of factors, including the demographic…
Most Clients Find Their Lawyers Via the Internet — How to Make Sure it’s You They Find
According to a survey by FindLaw, 38% of clients find their lawyers via the Internet, and 29% still rely on a referral by a friend or relative. By comparison, in 2005 a full 65% relied on referrals by a friend or relative, and only 7% looked to the Internet. However, applying a little logic reveals…
Understanding Long Tail Searches, and Why You Should Keyword Optimize for Your Location
Over and over again I see attorneys make the mistake of trying to optimize their websites for the biggest and best search terms or, worse, paying big money for pay-per-click ads for those terms. Allow me to explain why, as counter-intuitive as it may appear, that you want to optimize for the search terms that…
A Heartfelt Thank You for the #1 Law Firm Marketing Book on Amazon
One year ago today my e-book on law firm marketing, How to Create a Big, Fat Pipeline of New Clients for Your Law Firm in Just 10 Days, appeared on Amazon, and shot straight to number one among all the books in that category. It occasionally drifts down a spot or two, but for the…
Fiverr.com – Your Law Firm’s Low Cost Personal Assistant
If you have not yet experienced the joy that is Fiverr.com, you are in for a real treat. Fiverr is the world’s largest online marketplace for $5 services, with weird services such as “I will write any message on my lips and take a photo” or “I will make fun of someone in my stand-up…
It’s Your Time to Shine, Juke Box Hero
In a town without a name, in a heavy downpour Thought he passed his own shadow, by the backstage door Like a trip through the past, to that day in the rain And that one guitar, made his whole life change – “Juke Box Hero” by Mick Jones (Foreigner) At the risk of sounding grandiose…
Does Starting Your Own Law Firm Have to be a Lonely Experience?
I happened across an article entitled Thinking of Going Solo? Think Carefully, published on the American Bar Association website by an attorney named Jennifer Ator. It is important to read the introductory paragraph, because Ms. Ator specifically confirms that starting your own firm can be a wonderful thing, and states that once her friends “eventually…
How Does Google Work?
In my book, How to Create a Big, Fat Pipeline of New Clients for Your Law Firm in Just 10 Days, I discuss all the factors Google looks at to determine which search results will appear on page one. I came across this very good video that discusses the issues as well, and provides a basic…
Chocolate-Covered Strawberries Restore My Faith in Humanity
No doubt much to the chagrin of my partner, I give away an obscene amount of free legal services. The thing is, I’ve been doing this so long that I have worked out easy solutions for many of the legal problems I get calls about. Most attorneys would no doubt bring the caller in and…
New York Busts 19 Companies for Fake On-Line Reviews
Bloomberg Businessweek published a great article on Tuesday, discussing fake Yelp reviews, following a sting operation in New York, designed to catch businesses engaging in the process. Referring to the process as “astroturfing”, the article details the sting by the New York State Attorney General. The AG set up a fake yogurt shop in Brooklyn,…
Five Reasons Attorneys Get Suckered by SEO Marketing Scams (and How to Make Sure You’re Not One of Them)
In my book, How to Create a Big, Fat Pipeline of New Clients for Your Law Firm in Just 10 Days, I provide the following anecdote: There is a classic Peanuts comic, where Linus is going door to door trying to sell wadded up pieces of paper as cat toys. His sales presentation is good,…