Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog

The Results are in: Majority of Consumers Use Social Media When Searching for Attorneys

Larry Bodine — Wed, 22 May 2013 08:35:00 -0500

The Rainmaker Institute recently commissioned a survey by The Research Intelligence Group to find out how consumers use social media in their search for an attorney. Read about the details of the survey at Survey Says Majority of Consumers Use Social Media When Looking for Lawyers.

Enjoy the Benefits of Your AV Rating

Larry Bodine — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:00:41 -0500

Today's post is part of an article written by Philip Livingston, CEO of Marketing and Business Solutions at LexisNexis. He explains the importance of achieving an AV Preeminent^® rating.

Each year thousands of attorneys achieve an AV Preeminent^® rating. If you too are among the elite, you should showcase your rating to the fullest and enjoy all the benefits of this honor.

Martindale-Hubbell actively promotes your rating so others readily understand your accomplishment. An exclusive agreement with ALM Media Properties, LLC will put AV Preeminent rated lawyers in front of more than 500,000 legal professionals across 30 different publications in 2013. An agreement with Fortune magazine and ALM highlights U.S. law firms with the highest percentages of AV Preeminent rated lawyers in its December "Investor's Guide."

We also display your ratings on martindale.com^®and Lawyers.com^SM . Lawyers.com alone makes your rating available to 34 million unique visitors annually. To locate the best of the best, visitors can fine-tune their search by rated lawyers only.

I strongly encourage you to proactively promote your AV Preeminent rating too. Display your rating in locations where clients, prospective clients and referring lawyers can find you: your website, your social media profiles (LinkedIn^®, Facebook^®, etc.), your business cards, at your office and elsewhere. Our associates at American Registry create elegant plaques, lapel pins, acknowledgements, ratings video and other recognition products, all designed to showcase your rating. You can find more information at http://www.mhur.com/.

Take the time to draw attention to your two favorite ratings' verbatim feedback by promoting it to the top of your ratings display on Lawyers.com and martindale.com. You also should take advantage of the one-time opportunity to comment on each peer feedback to give clients and prospects a better understanding of you and your practice. All of this can be easily accomplished in the Martindale-Hubbell Client Service Center.

For more than 140 years, Martindale-Hubbell has proudly facilitated the ratings process to highlight lawyers who are at the pinnacle of the legal profession. If you have questions about Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings or Martindale-Hubbell Client Review Ratings, visit www.martindale.com/ratings, email ratings@martindale.com or call 800-526-4902, option 4.

Webinar Today: Using Blogging and Legal Advice Forums to Engage Prospects

Larry Bodine — Wed, 15 May 2013 06:00:00 -0500

	Click here to Register
Date and time:	Today, Wednesday, May 15, 2013 12:30 pm EDT
Duration:	1 hour
Description:	With 76% of consumers seeking an attorney in the past year using an online resource at some point in the process¹, it’s more important than ever to embrace social media as an important marketing channel for your law firm. Join us for an exciting Webinar, where you’ll hear legal marketing experts Larry Bodine and Jason Weingarten discuss how to use two important social media marketing tools—blogging and legal advice forums—to connect and engage with potential clients online. By attending this session, you will: Learn how participating in blogging and online legal advice forums can generate more business for your firm Understand how to leverage these channels efficiently and effectively Gain insight into how you can boost your visibility and demonstrate your thought leadership Take advantage of this opportunity to drive new business with blogging and online legal advice forums. ¹Source: Based on a survey of 4,000 adult Internet users conducted by The Research Intelligence Group (TRiG), March 2012. About your Presenters: Moderator: Larry Bodine, Esq., Editor in Chief, Lawyers.comSM Larry Bodine is the Editor in Chief of Lawyers.com where he leads a 20-person news team. An award-winning journalist, Larry has 20 years' experience in the news business. He also ran his own business as a sales and marketing consultant and advised more than 250 law firms by training lawyers, leading retreats and composing marketing strategies. A former litigator, Mr. Bodine has served as an expert witness in litigation involving Internet marketing disputes. Jason Weingarten, Product Manager, LexisNexis® Web Visibility Solutions Jason Weingarten is currently a Product Manager for LexisNexis Website Marketing Solutions. He began working for LexisNexis in early 2011 and has focused his time expanding the social media services offered by LexisNexis as well as working closely on expanding the Pay-Per-Click product. Before LexisNexis, Jason spent many years working in Financial Services, marketing credit cards and other financial services products. Jason currently attends NYU Stern School of Business in pursuit of this MBA. He is very active in the Graduate Marketing Association and was also elected "Core Group Leader" (class president) in 2010. Jason enjoys playing paintball on weekends and spending times with his fiancé and two dogs. He is a former service dog trainer, having volunteered to train Labrador puppies to become service dogs. He also participated in pet therapy, bringing his Belgian Sheepdog, Storm, to local libraries to help children practice their reading.

Law Firms: Big Brands Mean Big Business

Larry Bodine — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:17:53 -0500

If there is any doubt about the power of a big brand, check out Graphic Design USA’s recent listing of the favorite logos of the past half century. Even those that are abstract symbols are easily recognized by millions across the globe. These brands have gained popularity over many years and consumers choose these companies’ products because they believe in the brand - a strong brand can generate fierce customer loyalty.

When someone needs the services of an attorney, the company brand will heavily influence their final choice. People are used to making choices based on branding – they are bombarded by brands every waking minute of their day, from adverts and product packaging, to television and the ubiquitous internet. So when seeking legal representation they will automatically assess law firms’ brands and will be attracted to the brand which appears to match their specific needs.

If a law office brand doesn’t send out the right message to the prospective client right from the very first viewing, quite simply its attorneys won’t be hired. When branding your law office, follow these guidelines to ensure that you have a big brand that will bring you plenty of business:

Use a Professional Branding Company: This critical step can’t be over emphasized. A brand is far more than an eye catching logo; a powerful company brand summarizes everything you offer and how you deliver it. By working with seasoned professionals you can develop a strong branding strategy that reflects your professionalism, your ethics, your experience and expertise. A big brand will form a firm foundation for all your promotional activities.

Define your Target Market: A full and complete understanding of your target market is necessary for your brand to be effective. It must appeal to your audience and make them sit up and take notice.

Define your Unique Selling Point: Be clear on what makes you different from your competitors. Maybe you have a great track record in winning your cases. Whatever it is, make sure it is highly evident in all of your promotional materials.

Choose an Appropriate Company Name: Partner names can be used but only in moderation, and are far more effective when combined with the area of legal specialization. ‘Dale & Docherty Family Law’ definitely works. However ‘Smith, Lewis, Docherty & Slopecki Criminal & Family Lawyers’ is starting to push any reader’s attention span to its limit and is far from memorable. More creative names are also acceptable so long as they reflect the services on offer.

Design a Memorable Logo: Your company logo will be shown on everything from your business card and corporate stationery to your website and traditional adverts. So use a professional brand company to get it right. A logo which appears unrelated to legal services or is clearly an amateur design certainly won’t instill trust in your would-be clients.

Create a Strong Tagline: Your company tagline is a short phrase to set the stage for what you offer and to entice the reader to learn more. It can be traditional and formal, or more modern such as that used by Foster Townsend Graham & Associates, the Canadian firm who opted for ‘Damn Fine Litigators’. It’s succinct, to the point and definitely memorable.

Produce High Quality Printed Materials: To make a good impression, your business cards, corporate stationery and company brochures must all be professionally designed and printed on quality paper. For many this is an indication of your success - and clients will always want to hire successful attorneys.

As with any other product or service, consumers are persuaded to hire an attorney in part by the company brand. A well thought out branding strategy created in conjunction with a professional brand development company is imperative for your law firm. By creating an effective brand, it has the capacity to grow into a well known brand – and big brands definitely drum up big business.

About the author: Michelle Collins is an experienced writer in the field of brand design and website development, and works for New Design Group in Toronto, Canada as VP of Public Relations.

New Design Group is an outstandingly motivated and sought after branding specialist company with expertise in brand identity development, website design, SEM, SEO, and Social Media campaign management. View the New Design Group website http://www.newdesigngroup.ca or visit the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/NewDesignGroup

Online Destinations that Influence a Consumer to Buy

Larry Bodine — Wed, 08 May 2013 05:40:25 -0500

According to new research, there are three places online that are most likely to influence a consumer to make a purchase:

"Retail" websites like Lawyers.com^SM
"Brand" websites, like a law firm's site
Blogs

Also topping the list were Facebook, and online forums and groups like Ask a Lawyer. The new findings in theTechnorati Media 2013 Digital Influence Report confirm that the best way for lawyers to attract new clients online is to market around the way that consumers behave.

Technorati is an Internet search engine for searching blogs. It surveyed 6,000 "influencers" (bloggers), 1,200 consumers and 150 top brand marketers. "Brand managers report an expected increase in budgets for digital marketing in the upcoming year," Technorati reported.

Retail websites

Consumers love to go to retail websites like Amazon.com or Zappos.com - online shopping centers where people can find many brands. In this sense, Lawyers.com, which gets more than 6 million page views per month, is a "retail" site - where consumers can find tens of thousands of lawyer profiles.

On Lawyers.com, consumers can easily find out many lawyers' expertise, website and contact information, and can compare attorneys by peer and client ranking. Online reviews can be a great source of new clients. Lawyers.com andmartindale.com® are the top online directories used by consumers who sought an attorney in the past year, according to the Attorney Selection Research Study by The Research Intelligence Group (TRiG).

Brand websites

In contrast, a "brand" website displays information about one kind of product or service, like Microsoft or Google. A brand website is an online store, the digital equivalent of an Apple store at a shopping mall.

"Today's consumers are increasingly comfortable going online to find answers for all kinds of issues, including legal ones," says Samantha Miller, vice president of product, Web Visibility Solutions, LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell. "Law firm websites need to capture consumers' attention and engage them, while serving as part of a larger marketing campaign."

There's no doubt that attorney websites still matter. More than one in three potential consumers of legal services turn to law firm websites to find a lawyer, and 26 percent have checked out a firm's website in order to validate an attorney, according to the TRiG research.

Lawyer blogs

It's clear to see why blogs also influence people to make a purchase. Consumers begin their search for a lawyer by researching their legal issue. The ideal place for them to learn a particular aspect of the law is on an attorney blog. And once a consumer has read a good blog post, who better to call than the lawyer who wrote it?

To learn more about what we can do for you and get a free Website Evaluation and Consultation, contact a LexisNexis Law Firm Marketing Specialist.

Is your Law Firm Website and Online Newsroom up to Par?

Larry Bodine — Sun, 05 May 2013 19:00:43 -0500

When creating and updating your firm's website, do you consider what practices match the journalists who you are pitching your expertise and services? If not, start now.

TEKGROUP International recently released the 2013 Online Newsroom Survey Report. It covers how editors, reporters, producers, correspondents and bloggers work with online newsrooms, digital audio and video, press release distribution services and PR professionals in general.

This survey will help you determine in which areas your website and newsroom need improvement. Here are some highlights:

97% of journalists find an online newsroom important.
Two key areas saw dramatic increases in expectations of journalists - social and mobile.
90% of journalists like to receive targeted email alerts with relevant news for them.
Does your online newsroom have a landing page for access to all your social media links? Over 50% or those surveyed found a landing page for social media important.
2013 shows a 33% increase in visits to corporate Facebook pages.
Journalists agree that access to biographies for your company/firm's executives is very important.

Click here to download the survey results.

About TEKGROUP International

TEKGROUP International, Inc. is an award winning Internet software and services company that develops social media online newsrooms and e-business software solutions. Our website can be found at http://www.tekgroup.com and you can also follow our Online Newsroom Twitter account at http://www.twitter.com/onlinenewsroom.

The American Lawyer 2012 Report on Growth of Am Law 100 Firms

Larry Bodine — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:30:52 -0500

Last week, The American Lawyer 2012 Report on Growth of Am Law 100 Firms came out. Here is a press release with its results:

NEW YORK – April 26, 2013 – *The nation’s 100 largest law firms achieved modest cumulative growth in 2012, gaining 3.4% in total gross revenue over the prior year to $73.4 billion, 2.6% in average revenue per lawyer to $844,245, and 4.2% in average profits per partner to $1.47 million, according to the 26th annual Am Law 100 report published in the May issue of ALM’s *The American Lawyer* and at AmericanLawyer.com.

However, 2012’s gains were uneven, with only 76 firms showing gross revenue increases, down from 80 in 2011, and 66 registering higher profits per partner, down from 72. In addition, profitability gains were concentrated among the higher-grossing firms. The 50 largest firms registered a cumulative 8.0% jump in profits per partner while the others fell 3.3%.

DLA Piper, powered by an 8.6% gross revenue spurt, topped the Am Law 100 with $2.44 billion, pushing former leader Baker & McKenzie, with $2.31 billion, into second place. Latham & Watkins with $2.23 billion took over third place from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with $2.21 billion. Kirkland & Ellis retained fifth place. Jones Day took over sixth from Hogan Lovells, which fell to seventh. Sidley Austin held steady in eighth place as did White & Case in ninth. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher moved up to 10th place from 12th in 2011.

The law firms that prospered last year “tended to have an international footprint, a strong transactions group, and a diverse set of practice areas," wrote Robin Sparkman, Editor in Chief of *The American Lawyer*. "The boutique labor and employment and immigration firms were the exception.”

"Many of these firms also have a strong brand and are known by clients for standout work in a particular area," Sparkman added. "The firms that did well also held the line on their equity partner head count and continued to raise rates, increase billable hours, or both. Some stood out for capitalizing on high-growth industries.”

Among the stand-out firm performers, for better or worse, were:

- Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, whose profits per partner leaped 36.5% due to a contingency class action payment in a Native American royalties rights case.

- Bracewell & Giuliani, which scored the group’s largest profits per partner increase, 42.2%, based on high demand from their energy industry client list.

- Immigration-focused Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, which rose 16 ranks to number 86, its first-ever appearance on the Am Law 100.

- Barnes & Thornburg, Chadbourne & Parke, Cozen O’Connor and Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker fell out of the Am Law 100. Chadbourne was a 26-year veteran.

Is Successfully Negotiating and Closing a Deal is Similar to Serving an Exquisite 5 Course Dinner?

Larry Bodine — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:30:14 -0500

On his website, Mitch Jackson treats us with an analogy in the form of a five course dinner. He shows how successfully negotiating and closing a deal is very similar to selecting and timing the courses of an important dinner party.

Mitch gets his point across with vivid imagery that will have your mouth watering and your stomach growling and maybe even the itch to go close that deal that has eluded you for months. Click here to read the full article.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Closing a deal is a very similar experience. Go about things the right way and the negotiation will flow naturally and the deal will be one to remember. Skip a course or two and the other person just might get up and leave the communication table before the evening is over.

Start with the setting

You don’t serve a 5 course dinner on the lids of garbage cans in an alley behind the restaurant. Along those same lines, don’t try to negotiate an important deal over day old coffee in the parking lot of Wal-Mart while wearing a stained t-shirt.

Make sure that you’ve thought things through and have properly set your communication table—the place you’ll be serving your verbal meal– in a suitable fashion and location. Have your ducks in a row and remember to place your napkin in your lap, serve from the left, and clear from the right. Do what needs to be done to help ensure your surroundings are conducive to a meaningful discussion and presentation.

Now for the first course…

Start with something memorable. Tonight, we’ll be starting with essence of butternut squash, presented with a seared sea scallop, chive oil and young seedlings. Is your mouth starting to water? Mine is!

After a bit of small talk and building rapport, get immediate focus and attention by raising the problem or issue during the first course.

Tip- Talk about the problem.

The second course

For your second course, we’ll be serving pan seared lump crab cake, presented with fire roasted corn and cilantro relish smoked chipotle aioli and butter poached leeks. While you enjoy this course and start to get in the mood for the main entre, spend some quality time talking in more detail about it the problem or issue. Discuss what bad things will happen if changes are not made. What are the short and long-term consequences of action or inaction? What will happen if things don’t get resolved and continue to drag on day after day and even year after year?

Tip- Discuss the short and long-term impact of the problem.

The third course

What better than to follow the crab cakes with a dish of roasted beet carpaccio, presented with seared goat cheese, beet syrup, aged balsamic reduction and mache greens. Do this correctly and your guest is already interested in what the next course will be.

You’ve got his attention. He knows why he’s sitting at the table and understands that action is needed or things will just get worse. Now is the time to show your guest how your idea will solve his problems. Working your way from the outside in, your utensils should include specific examples, metaphors and stories.

Tip- For the first time, reveal your specific solution to the specific problem of your guest.

The fourth course

Now that you’ve shared your solutions in the third course, knock your guest right off his chair with a fourth course consisting of something a bit more substantial. Let’s go with grilled fillet of beef, presented with caramelized shallot/red wine reduction, crisp truffle scented potato rosti, white asparagus and morel mushrooms. It might also be time to order another bottle of wine.

This course is all about substance and value. Show the other person exactly how your suggested solution will benefit him. Understanding that facts tell but stories sell, use the right utensils (words, pictures, testimonials, videos…) to continue showing your dinner guest how your product, service or idea will benefit and help him. Communicating and share major value and specific benefits, through stories and examples, are what the fourth course is all about.

Tip- Communicate the major benefits of your solution to your dinner guest.

The fifth and most important course

Click here to find out what is served for dessert!

New Study Reveals Social Media Use Is Now Mainstream for In-House Lawyers

Larry Bodine — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:53:20 -0500

Today's post is a press release that reveals which social media outlets are the most popular, therefore most important to utilize.

LinkedIn, blogs by fellow lawyers and Wikipedia are among the tools most frequently used by in-house counsel in their professional lives, according to a new survey released today by communications firm Greentarget, consulting firm Zeughauser Group and InsideCounsel magazine.

In-house attorneys use social media more than ever, for everything from building professional networks to consuming substantive content to conducting business and industry research.

This survey, referenced with the hashtag #ICSurvey on Twitter and represented visually by an infographic, suggests that many legal marketers are not yet making full use of the channels and platforms that can effectively reach the primary buyers of legal services. But it also affirms the wisdom of law-firm marketers who take an integrated, content-centric approach to incorporating digital platforms into their communications strategies, treating them as an extension of their thought leadership efforts.

The In-House Counsel New Media Engagement Survey, conducted for the first time in 2010, measures the changing perceptions, attitudes and social media usage behaviors of in-house lawyers and their impact on business development efforts. Earlier iterations of the survey are now hosted athttp://insidecounselsurvey.com.

“The survey results suggest, in no uncertain terms, that the convergence of digital and traditional media is fueling the continued use of social media among the in-house bar,” says John Corey, president and founding partner of Greentarget. “Our 2013 survey makes it crystal clear — as evidenced by the sustained prominence of LinkedIn and attorney-authored blogs, the growth in mobile consumption of news and a continuation of the ‘invisible user’ trend — that in-house lawyers are using social media as part of their daily routines.”

The Highlights:

New media use is now mainstream. The percentage of respondents who say they do not use new media has plummeted from 43 percent in 2010 to just 27 percent today.
LinkedIn is still the “serious” social network. Sixty-seven percent of in-house counsel used LinkedIn for professional reasons during the past week, and 40 percent used it during the past 24 hours. It remains the most frequently used platform for professional reasons.
Attorney-authored blogs are popular and trusted. Respondents say they read blogs by attorneys as often as they read blogs by professional journalists, and more than half (53 percent) say well-executed blogs influence hiring decisions.
The “invisible users” trend is accelerating. Although social networks are designed to promote online engagement, most respondents (74 percent) are using social media in a listen-only mode versus commenting on posts and participating in discussions—up from 68 percent who identified themselves as invisible users in 2012.
Use of mobile is prevalent. Fifty-three percent of survey respondents read business news on their smartphones daily, while 39 and 23 percent, respectively, use tablets and mobile apps for news every day.
Wikipedia is emerging for business-oriented research. Sixty-five percent of respondents say they use Wikipedia to conduct company and industry research, up from 51 percent in 2012. This is one of the more significant jumps in the year-over-year data.
Online video is largely unexploited. Many respondents report that they are watching online video from law firms, but they are doing so infrequently.
Peer-driven rankings lack influence. Despite the energy and resources that law firms continue to invest in peer-driven rankings, they have minimal impact on the opinions of outside lawyers or hiring decisions, the survey data suggests.

To download a summary of the research report, click here. For more information, contact John Corey at jcorey@greentarget.com or 312-252-4100.

Basic Design Tips for Law Firm Websites

Larry Bodine — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:40:04 -0500

Donald Rohan, a Law Firm Marketing Specialist with LexisNexis, provides this guest post about basic design for law firm websites.

Bad website design is like a bad tattoo. You went into the process wanting something that highlighted your uniqueness and attracted positive attention. Unfortunately, you got something indistinguishable from thousands of others — or worse, something that stands out for the wrong reasons.

Traditional limits on legal advertising and inexperience with design often lead law firms to overspend on websites that don't deliver maximum impact. Some firms may think they don't need to invest much in their site. But even if your firm maintains a conservative approach to a practice area like estate planning, you can present and promote yourself in a unique, attractive way.

You don't need to be a design expert. Just keep a few basic tips in mind, and check out these examples of firms that are doing design well:

Tell a story with one dominant image.

Before viewers read a word, they should get the message you're trying to transmit. Don't distract from this message by clouding the viewer's perception with different images. Find one dominant image that works. On this homepage, you would immediately understand the firm's international focus.

Resist visual clichés.

A picture of courthouse steps does not send a message of trial brilliance. Instead, it leaves viewers with the inability to distinguish your firm from the thousands of others with similar imagery. The first people to put a pink flamingo on their lawn might have evoked curious questions as to whether exotic waterfowl lived there, but now those plastic birds are so common, people don't even "see" them anymore. Here's a website that uses symbolism to get away from the typical images of personal injury firms.

Think like a newspaper editor.

Without reading any of the text, a newspaper reader knows which stories merit the most attention. Those appear on top with the largest headlines and graphics. Other important stories are presented lower on the page. Interesting items that don't merit front-page treatment receive a brief mention in the table of contents with their page number. On this site, the main headline is large, clear, and well promoted, even as the images behind it shift. As you move down and outward from the headline, the secondary items appear and are easy to access.

Click here to read the article at the source.

Don't Get Fooled by the Standard Marketing Advice

Larry Bodine — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:20:48 -0500

I was just reading a blog post by a lawyer who offered "5 easy marketing tips" for young and experienced lawyers. It offered the standard marketing advice but left out something crucially important.

The blog post advised staying top-of-mind with referral sources, making referrals, public speaking, joining organizations and doing excellent legal work. Check, check, check — this is all basic marketing information I've given to lawyers myself. It appeared to be standard advice until I hit the end of the article and found a titanic omission.

Pulling back, I thought to myself — you wouldn't market your law practice without paying attention to your website, would you? No — especially knowing that 76 percent of consumers seeking an attorney in the past year used online resources at some point in the process, according to TRiG research.

The standard marketing advice was right out of the 1980s, before the Internet went live. The guidance was tailored for a world with rotary phones, fax machines and VHS video cassettes. Today, the lives of consumers are filled with smartphones, iPads, computers, email, social media and blogs. These are marketing breakthroughs because they allow a lawyer to be many places at once.

In the old days, a lawyer could reach only the crowd he or she was addressing, talk only to the person he met at an organizational event and send a file only to referral source he had on the phone. Marketing efforts were limited as one-to-one activities.

But it's a different world today. Consumers are likely to look up your profile on the Web before they ever see you. They'll find you online before they ever hear your presentation or meet you at an event. When they look you up, consumers more are likely than ever to use their smartphones — smartphones are already outselling PCs and are regularly used by consumers to make purchasing decisions.

The Web has become an essential step in the way today's consumers really search for an attorney. Consumers don't start by looking for a lawyer — instead they begin by researching their legal issue. This naturally makes consumers seek out lawyer blogs and attorney websites that have detailed FAQ (frequently asked question) articles. Consumers will have a positive impression of a law firm if the website is mobile-friendly, and can easily be viewed on a two-inch screen on a smartphone.

So don't be fooled by the standard marketing advice from the 1980s. Get your website in shape so that it generates new business for you. Need some help? Contact a LexisNexis Law Firm Marketing Specialist.

Have You Ever Considered Attending a Rainmaker Retereat?

Larry Bodine — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:30:47 -0500

As a business owner, attending a rainmaker retreat may be a worthwhile investment of your time and money.

According to The Rainmaker Blog, here is how you can gauge for yourself:

Over 65 different marketing techniques that are proven to work in the real world environment of a fast moving law firm. Only practical techniques are discussed here.

The 5 critical numbers you need to be tracking in your law firm and how to measure your Return On Investment (ROI) for all your marketing efforts.

The core concepts of search engine optimization (SEO) and Internet marketing for attorneys and how to create a dominant position on the Internet.

Specific tools to automate your marketing system and “fix your follow up” to increase your conversion rates from prospects to paying clients.

How to fully leverage social media networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Avvo and JDSupra to drive new leads to your law firm.

How to focus your money on the most effective marketing strategies based on your specific practice area.

How to better select, train and motivate your partners and staff to do Rainmaking activities.

How to reduce your costs by eliminating ineffective marketing strategies.

How to utilize the 7 Rainmaker tools for generating more referrals and repeat business from current and former clients.

Over 30 low cost (starting at $20/mo.) and no cost marketing strategies to help you stretch your budget.

Software tools that will help you automate your marketing system.

Easy to use system for tracking all your incoming leads.

Specific tools to help you and your staff convert more prospects into paying clients.

Learn how other solo attorneys have leveraged Internet marketing and social media networks to beat much bigger firms.

These are the upcoming Rainmaker Retreats currently scheduled:

May 3-4, 2013 – Scottsdale, AZ

May 31-June 1, 2013 – New York City

July 19-20, 2013 – San Diego, CA

August 16-17, 2013 – Las Vegas, NV

September 20-21, 2013 – San Francisco, CA

To learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and to register online, go to www.rainmakerretreat.com or call 888-588-5891.

Another LegalTech Video Clip

Larry Bodine — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:45:22 -0500

The LexisNexis Law Marketing Blog quoted me and included a clip from the recent LegalTech New York 2013 panel. Below is a snippet, but you may view the original blog post here.

At our LegalTech New York 2013 panel — "Taming the Wild West of Social Media: The Secrets of Social Media Success in the Legal Profession" — Steve Mann (chief marketing officer of the Research & Litigation Solutions business at LexisNexis) noted that career development remains the leading purpose for legal professionals to use online communities (cited by 71 percent in 2011 and 72 percent in 2012). However, the ABA study found that the number of professionals who used online communities for purposes of client development actually dropped last year (from 53 percent in 2011 to 42 percent in 2012).

The panelists addressed this trend and offered thoughts as to how law firms can use online communities to support business development.

"I can see why career development and professional networking are increasing in popularity because social media lubricates professional networking," said Larry Bodine, Esq., editor in chief of Lawyers.com^SM and martindale.com®. "One of the ways attorneys can convert this networking benefit into a client development strategy is to use social media to get to know people online and then turn that into an in-person meeting."

Another LegalTech Video Clip

Larry Bodine — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:45:22 -0500

The LexisNexis Law Marketing Blog quoted me and included a clip from the recent LegalTech New York 2013 panel. Below is a snippet, but you may view the original blog post here.

The panelists addressed this trend and offered thoughts as to how law firms can use online communities to support business development.

Basic Design Tips for Law Firm Websites

Larry Bodine — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:40:31 -0500

Today's post originally appeared on the LexisNexis Law Firm Marketing Blog by Donald Rohan, a Law Firm Marketing Specialist.

You don't need to be a design expert. Just keep a few basic tips in mind, and check out these examples of firms that are doing design well:

Tell a story with one dominant image.

Resist visual clichés.

Think like a newspaper editor.

At each stage of your website process, you should be able to identify your firm's headline, the dominant image that will accompany it and why it is uniquely matched to your firm.

LegalTechNY Discussion: Professional vs. Personal Uses of Social Media [video]

Larry Bodine — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:59:53 -0500

Today's post is pulled from the Law Firm Marketing Blog of LexisNexis. It features a portion of the LegalTechNY Panel Discussion I participated in. Here is the link to the original post.

Most of us live in two worlds — one consists of our personal relationships with friends and family, the other is made up of our professional interactions with clients and co-workers. It can be very tricky to keep these worlds separate in the online world where comments and images are so easily disseminated.

Steve Mann, chief marketing officer of the Research & Litigation Solutions business at LexisNexis, was asked this "professional vs. personal" question by an attendee at our LegalTech New York 2013 panel — "Taming the Wild West of Social Media: The Secrets of Social Media Success in the Legal Profession" — and the responses from our experts were instructive.

I drew a distinction between personal and professional uses of social media. If someone looks me up on social media platforms, they will see lots of content about lawyers and law firm marketing — but you're not going to know what I had for lunch.

Stephen Fairley, chief executive officer of The Rainmaker Institute, agreed with me but noted there are some ways to separate your social media use. For example, he pointed out that lawyers might have a "profile" page on Facebook that is set to private and only used for personal interactions with friends and family, then have a separate "fan" page on Facebook that is set to public and is used for professional interactions with clients and business associates.

You can view a short video segment of this piece of the panel discussion. Stay tuned next week for more details from the session.

Chris Brogan Interviews Mitch Jackson

Larry Bodine — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:40:51 -0500

Chris Brogan (NY Times bestselling author) recently interviewed my colleague, Mitch Jackson (CA Trial Lawyer of the Year) about how to communicate effectively, make an impact, and close deals.

Here's what Mitch had to say about the experience:

One of my favorite business books is entitled, “Trust Agents” by New York Times Bestselling authors Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Several of Chris’ other books include The Impact Equation (also co-authored with Julien), Social Media 101, and Google Plus for Business.

I first became acquainted with Chris via his business development articles regularly featured in Forbes, The Boston Globe, Success, and USA Today. Many of you may know him from his appearances on TV shows like The Dr Phil Show.

When Chris asked if we could chat about some of the ideas found in my new communication tips blog, I couldn’t resist. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.

Click here to go to the interview.

Optimize Your Law Firm's Website for Mobile or Keep Losing Clients

Larry Bodine — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:01:57 -0500

Samantha Miller, Vice President of Product, Web Visibility Solutions at LexisNexis, wrote an important piece back in November about the importance of optimizing your firm's website for mobile users. Here is an excerpt. Read it at the source, here.

Have you ever tried to navigate a website with your mobile phone or pad, when that site was NOT optimized for mobile devices?

The text is too small and the images are too large. There is way too much content and that material is basically unreadable. Pictures are not sized or placed properly. If you can even find the scroll bar or tabs, you have to keep swiping. And forget about trying to find any contact info.

In short, the website looks and feels terrible.

If you are a consumer in urgent need of legal information or actually need to find an attorney, you're moving on to another firm's site.

LegalTechNY Discussion: Barriers to Social Media Adoption

Larry Bodine — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:10:33 -0500

At LegalTechNY, Steve Mann, chief marketing officer of the Research & Litigation Solutions business at LexisNexis, posed this question to Stephen Fairley, chief executive officer of The Rainmaker Institute and myself: If we have passed the tipping point for firms to use social media, why are so many firms reluctant to dive in?

VIDEO: How Paid Search Quickly Drives Law Firm Leads

Larry Bodine — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:20:53 -0500

WATCH THIS VIDEO to learn how a paid search advertising campaign can provide the broad online visibility you need to quickly generate high-quality leads for your law firm.