Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog

Getting More Revenue from the Marketing You're Already Doing

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:39:43 -0500

WEBINAR PRESENTED BY: Apollo Business Development
SPEAKER(S): Darryl Cross, Vice President of Client Profitability
DATE: July 24, 2009; 1PM - 2:15 PM Eastern
LOCATION: on the Web, on your computer
MORE INFO: Laura Kresich, Program Director; (Tel) (773) 966-9273 or Lkresich@lawmarketing.com
REGISTRATION: http://www.PBDI.org

You've seen him speak at Lex Mundi and TerraLex, and Darryl Cross knows which tactics generate revenue and which don't. Join us as business development experts Michael G. Cummings and I share experiences and insights about getting more revenue out of the marketing you're already doing.
Click here to sign up for this event

WHERE TO DEVOTE YOUR EFFORTS

Typically, law firms spent about 2.5% of gross revenues on marketing -- and in this bad economy some firms are spending less. Business development impresario Darryl Cross encourages you not to cut your marketing budget, but to demand more results from it. It is not living up to its potential.

Joining Darryl will be myself, the first marketer to dare to say the Twitter phenomenon was not effective in law firm marketing, and Michael G. Cummings, who wrote the best-selling book Best Practices of Legal Marketing.

Click here to register today!

Registration fee: $300 per connection.

Present the program in a conference room and invite all your colleagues to attend.

For example:

Stop trying to build awareness through mass advertising and trying to make the top of egocentric lists. Instead focus on activities that lead to building relationships.
Start spending no less than 80% of your time and money marketing the parts of your practice that you consider the high end work.
Use existing investments in technology or new low cost tools to generate leads and opportunities.
Focus on high-impact activities, such as visiting clients and joining clients at trade associations meetings -- and more.
Turn your CRM (client relationship management) system from a mailing list manager into a client service manager.
Analyze your most profitable 50 clients, expand them and find prospective clients that look just like them

"DI" Factor

Darryl uses the "DI" Factor to determine whether a marketing initiative is worth the effort. It's a combination of:

Discipline: Are you willing to repetitively pursue an activity until you get a result?
Intensity: Are you doing it better than your competitors versus following the same formulaic approach that has no staying power?

Learn his unique analysis that sorts the moneymaking marketing from the time-wasting money sinkholes.

Click here. to sign up for this event

July 2009 Issue of Originate Newsletter now Online

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0500

The July issue of Originate! - the business development newsletter - explores how you can be more resourceful in your business development, not just by using a particular marketing method or firm asset, but by looking at smart ways at hand to reach those people you want as clients or do more for those you already have...and taking action to make results happen.

Lead Article: The Art of Closing: Six Rules of the Game - Pt 2 of 2

Ask for the business. Get closure. Deal with obstacles. In a selling situation, there’s a lot to think about. But maybe you’re thinking too much, and not building up your instincts. Here two attorneys Kevin Chern, Esq. and Damon Cheronis, Esq. explain six powerful business development rules about making the sale, and how you can tone your reflexes. Part 2 of 2

Turning Seminars Into Billable Work: Designing it Right

It seems to be so easy to put on a winning seminar or workshop, one that actually generates new legal work, not just good feelings. But Michael Cummings has seen so many lawyers produce little for their time and money. In the first of this several part series on how to gain new business from a seminar, he explains the right way to design one.

Getting Business via Online Networking: The Three Best Ways to Launch Yourself Online

Online networking is no substitute for face-to-face business development. But it is an easy way to gain extraordinary results for yourself in awareness, contact making, lead generation and relationship building. Sure, there are a lot of ways to waste your time in online social activity, observes Larry Bodine, Esq. Instead, just focus on these three methods to make the most impact on your business getting, and here's how.

Best Practice Tips

Remedies, not Diagnoses: Do Something About Client Problems

What if your doctor discovered something unsettling, but did NOTHING about it? That’s what lawyers do all the time, laments Darryl Cross, when they talk about problems their clients might be facing, but fail to offer active solutions. If you want to bring work in, offer treatments and solutions to what ails your clients and prospects.

Doctor, Send In That Summer Intern. Stat!

If you think about business development in all you do, you’ll often find ways to get value from resources and opportunities that others waste. Andy Havens examines a rarely considered asset, the summer associate, and suggests a variety of ways to add value for the associate, your clients and you

Transforming Associates from Bees to A's in Marketing

Larry Bodine, Esq. applauds the change in approach to deploying and compensating associates at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. With bonuses and support aligned to business development success, associates can reinvent themselves from worker bees into owners ready to generate work for themselves and the firm

Relationships Unbound: Stop Holding Back Your Networking

Everyone talks about the value of networking, but too often lawyers hold themselves back with misconceptions about what networking means, how they will be judged by peers and inaction. Thom Singer lays out these common constraints on success, and advises how to unleash your networking potential.

Visit http://www.pbdi.org/Originate/ to see all the articles in the July issue.

Media Post: Forget Twitter, Go Back to Email Marketing

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Ian McCollum, the technical manager | eCRM Solutions with Razorfish, writes in the Email Insider blog that Twitter is an overrated fad, and that smart marketers are returning to good old email marketing:

Everywhere you turn there is Twitter -- CNN, NASA, operating rooms, corporate home pages, and even the toilet (twitter.com/shwittering). Twitter has been deemed the next revolution in one-to-one communication, giving the customer a voice and making the corporation "human," enabling real-time interaction.

Let's look at some numbers:

Twitter had 18.2 million unique visitors in May 2009. (http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/nielsen-news/twitter-grows-1444-over-last-year-time-on-site-up-175/ )
"5% of Twitter users account for 75% of all activity" and "85.3% of all Twitter users post less than one update/day." (http://www.sysomos.com/insidetwitter/ )
90% of Internet users between 18 and 72 use email daily. (Feb. 2009 Pew Internet and American life project)
87% of consumers' online time is spent reading their emails. (David Daniels, Vice President JupiterResearch, Dec. 2007).
60% admit to checking their personal email at work an average of three times a day. (AOL, 2007)

So the majority of Twitter activity is 5% of its users, that is 910,000 users, tweeting less than once a day. I don't think that constitutes a revolution in real-time dialogue. I don't think it even justifies more than a casual mention in social media strategy. Yet it is the basis of many marketers' social media conversation.

Twitter's usage numbers are not putting a dent in numbers like the usage statistics for email - 90% of Internet users spend 87% of their time online reading email! The interesting phenomenon is that billion-dollar corporations are jumping through hoops to respond to tweets -- yet they are still OK auto-responding to emails with, "we will get back to you in 48 hours," or not responding at all. Responding to email should be your first social media strategy.

There is a lesson to be learned here. There is limitless opportunity for real interaction with your customers sitting right there in your email database. What strategy do you have in place to react to responses to your email campaigns? Is it the "noreply@bigcompany.com" reply-to address or the auto-responder stating "this address does not accept incoming messages?" Imagine seeing that reply coming back to every @bigcompany tweet!

If you have jumped on the bandwagon and developed a strategy to react to Twitter, you can take that strategy and apply it to email. You can route email campaign replies to a real inbox with a real person monitoring it and taking appropriate action. They can actually respond to the emails received. Granted, this won't be a public interaction, so no one but you and the customer will see it happening, but you can be sure that people will tweet about actually getting a human response to an email sent to your company.

83% of Law Firms Fight Recession with Business Development Training

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:44:58 -0500

The following is excerpted from the July 2009 report "Delivering Value-Added legal Services in Challenging Times," published by Robert Half Legal, a specialized staffing service reachable at 800.870.8367 and www.roberthalflegal.com.

Altman Weil's survey of general counsel found that 75 percent of legal departments anticipate budget reductions in 2009. "In this economy, the number-one priority is to keep the clients you've got," says Larry Bodine, a business development advisor based in Glen Ellyn, Ill., with Apollo Business Development and editor of Larry Bodine LawMarketing Blog, a professional law marketing blog. "Customer service is the way to do it.”

"You can't take your clients for granted," observes Harley L. Winger, partner at the Calgary-based firm of Burstall Winger LLP. "With consolidation, there will be fewer clients, and the ones there are will be doing less fee-generating work, unless they're going into receivership. Law firms don't have as much work as they once did, so as a firm, you know the competition is talking to your clients.”

Business development is urgent priority

The slowdown in business caused by the challenging economy has prompted many law firms to seek new clients. Some firms see their marketing departments as a cost center, however, and given diminished prospects for revenues, have decided to cut back on the budget allotment for new business development. For instance, a recent survey conducted by the Legal Marketing Association revealed that in 2008, firms spent less on marketing in the third quarter than they did during the same period in 2007.

But other firms view business development as an urgent priority. "This is the time to redouble efforts at business development," says Terrence Russell of Ruden McClosky. "Law firms will have to do their best to get out there and gather clients that are holding their own, are well-managed and are likely to weather this storm.”

For the full story visit the LawMarketing Portal

Mixed Martial Arts Law Blog goes Live

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0500

One of the most inventive and novel lawyer blogs went live yesterday: David Nelmark's Mixed Martial Arts Law Blog.

No, David is not a raging ultimate cage fighter. In fact he's a charming, mild-mannered associate at in the Des Moines, Iowa, law firm of Belin Lamson McCormick Zumbach Flynn. A Stanford Law honors grad and former federal court clerk, he helps individuals and businesses protect their brands, image and ideas and enforce their rights in court when necessary.

David has been an MMA fan for 15 years and plans to harness his journalism background to make the blog a clearinghouse for all things related to MMA law -- including issues that pertain to promoters, fighters, venues, vendors and broadcasters.

He's already blogged about a criminal case, a lawsuit and a critique of a local lawyer who is utilizing the case of an injured fighter to tout tort reform. I call the Belin law firm "the Cravath of Iowa" (where I grew up, coincidentally), and it's a firm of valedictorians, law review editors and Ivy League law grads. I give the firm a lot of credit for cleverly finding a niche in this fast-growing sport. You can find his blog at http://www.mixedmartialartslawblog.com/

Employment Law Litigation Goes Through the Roof

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:53:45 -0500

Claim	FY 2008	%
Race	33,937	35.6%
Sex	28,372	29.7%
National Origin	10,601	11.1%
Religion	3,273	3.4%
Retaliation - All Statutes	32,690	34.3%
Retaliation - Title VII only	28,698	30.1%
Age	24,582	25.8%
Disability	19,453	20.4%
Equal Pay Act	954	1.0%
Total Charges	95,402	100%

Discrimination claims filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year rose to the highest in the agency’s 44-year history, after a Supreme Court ruling that changed the way complaints may be filed. This area of practice has been building all year -- see Law Firm Marketing Should Focus on Employment Law

A record 95,402 claims were filed during the year ended Sept. 30, the EEOC said. That was 15% more than in 2007, and represents a burgeoning area of law practice.

“The EEOC has not seen an increase of this magnitude in charges filed for many years,” acting agency Chairman Stuart Ishimaru said in a statement. “While we do not know if it signifies a trend, it is clear that employment discrimination remains a persistent problem.”

The surge in age-related claims signifies that layoffs caused by the U.S. recession have started to affect workers with seniority. Several recent EEOC claims have settled for between $350,000-$800,000 and an additional $130,000 - $150,000 in attorney fees, according to Michelle Binks, a Chicago human resources examiner.

“It’s possible we have yet to see the full impact of the recession on discrimination charge filings as the economy continues to spiral downward since fiscal year 2008.” In short, it looks like we may be headed toward another record-breaking year in which more than 100,000 workers file discrimination charges," said EEOC spokesperson David Grinberg.

To read the full story, visit the LawMarketing Portal at http://www.lawmarketing.com/pages/articles.asp?Action=Article&ArticleCategoryID=58&ArticleID=899

Online LawBiz Forum Launches

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Nationally recognized law firm management expert Ed Poll, has launched www.LawBizForum.com, an online destination for lawyers, sole practitioners, partners, managing partners, of-counsel and in-house counsel.

www.LawBizForum.com will promote discussions on how lawyers can deliver their services more effectively and efficiently to their clients, such as management, marketing, technology and finance, and others. LawBiz® Forum is a place where the legal community can exchange ideas and techniques in order to improve the personal and professional lives of its members.

“Law is an honorable profession. Only lawyers are given the unique responsibility in the United States Constitution to help those accused of a crime, a fundamental right guaranteed to all citizens,” remarks Poll. “This helping, caring nature of the legal community sometimes is forgotten by the psychological, social, and economic pressures facing lawyers, and I created this forum so that we can care for each other.”

LawBiz® Forum will have several levels of membership. All visitors to the site can review the discussions at no cost. However, members will be able to contribute to the discussions, participate in exclusive webinars, and have online access to Poll’s books and audio products.

In addition to LawBizForum.com, Ed has a popular YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/LawBizGuide), and has also started to use Twitter as a way to reach out to the cybersphere. You can follow Poll at twitter.com/lawbiz.

Ed Poll is a consultant who helps attorneys and law firms increase their profitability, advising them on issues of internal operations, business development, and financial matters. Ed has 25 years experience as a practicing attorney and has also served as CEO and COO for several manufacturing businesses.

Chief Legal Officers Don't Think Law Firms Are Serious About Change

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:49:49 -0500

Only 5% of chief legal officers at corporations believe that law firms are serious about changing the value proposition in their legal service delivery, as opposed to simply cutting costs, a new survey by Altman Weil reveals.

“This year, in the midst of an unprecedented financial shift, we wanted to learn if the talk about a changing model of legal service delivery – in terms of pricing, staffing and law firm selection criteria – was being translated into action,” DiLuccio said. But cleints don't see it happening.

Heavy pressure to change

The survey asked Chief Legal Officers (CLOs) to rate how much pressure corporations are putting on law firms to change the value proposition in legal service delivery, as opposed to simply cutting costs. CLOs responded across the board, with:

25% rating the pressure as high – or between 8 and 10 on a zero to 10 scale
37% rating the pressure in the mid-range at 5, 6 or 7
38% rating it low, between zero and 4.

However, when asked how serious law firms are about changing their delivery model, the answers were in sharp contrast. Only 5% of CLOs assessed law firms as highly serious, scoring them between 8 and 10. Twenty percent gave firms credit for some level of effort, rating them 5, 6 or 7. A full 75% rated law firms between zero and 4 on the scale, indicating little or no interest in change.

“This is a dramatic vote of no confidence from Chief Legal Officers,” observed Altman Weil principal Dan DiLucchio. “Either many law firms just don’t understand that clients today expect greater value and predictability in staffing and pricing legal work, or firms are failing to adequately communicate their understanding and willingness to make real change. In either case, it’s a big problem.”

For the rest of the story visit the LawMarketing Portal at http://www.lawmarketing.com/pages/articles.asp?Action=Article&ArticleCategoryID=58&ArticleID=895

Virtual Law Firm Collects 250 Clients with Fixed Fees

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Excerpted from the National Law Journal:

Attorneys Frank Natoli and Moshe Lapin launched their new law firm Natoli-Lapin LLC in 2008, building a niche in low-cost legal services for entrepreneurs, artists and others launching new business ventures.

"We're growing pretty fast," Natoli said. "For us, it was perfect timing. There are more entrepreneurs right now because so many people have lost their jobs. We're the go-to guys for that scenario."

Natoli credits the firm's success thus far — it soon will have collected 250 clients — to its business model.

First, the two-attorney firm follows the virtual law firm model, wherein most business is conducted via the Internet and telephone rather than in a traditional office setting. This keeps overhead extremely low; 80% of the firm's revenue is profit, Natoli said.
Second, the foundation of the firm is unbundled, flat-fee basic services geared toward new business owners. For example, the firm's Web site advertises incorporation filings for a single-member limited liability corporation starting at $395. It also offers trademark, patent and copyright services in flat-rate packages. The firm handles only basic filings, and hands off the business to other attorneys if a matter becomes complicated.

Clients have responded favorably to the firm's flat-rate offerings, he said, and he and Lapin are busier than they expected to be when they started out. While the firm's staple clients are start-up business or solo entrepreneurs, established businesses have sought out its services because of the low prices.

Natoli acknowledged that his firm isn't alone in offering flat-rate legal services, but claimed that it is unique in pinpointing the entrepreneurial community.

That focus is a smart move, said law firm marketing expert Larry Bodine of Larry Bodine Marketing in Glen Ellyn, Ill.

"Nobody wants to hire a generalist," he said. "You don't want a guy who knows a little bit about everything. It's a benefit to have a specialty like entrepreneurs. That's big right now because people are losing their jobs" and starting their own companies.

Solo practitioners and small firms have been increasingly open to flat-fee arrangements, Bodine said, although he warned that it might not be the best idea to post rates on a firm's Web site, as Natoli-Lapin does. Advertising bargain basement prices could create the perception that your law firm is akin to a legal clinic, he said.

"Generally, you don't want to talk money until you have them on the phone," Bodine said. "You are going to attract people who are shopping around just based on price, and that isn't necessarily what you want."

But it's the fees disclosure that brings in clients who are sometimes intimidated by the process of retaining a lawyer, Natoli said. Figuring out how to set prices low enough to lure clients but high enough to sustain the firm was a learning process that took six months, however. The firm didn't necessarily make money on the first matters it handled because its initial flat rates weren't high enough. However, Natoli remains optimistic about the future of the firm and believes that more attorneys in small firms will have to take creative approaches to thrive.

"I think you will see more of these types of practices emerge," he said. "There are a lot of displaced attorneys out there, and they are going to have to look outside the box."

Corporate Counsel Want to Hire Virtual Law Firms

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:00:00 -0500

From the Fulton County Daily Report:

Here's a formula for success in a brutal economy: Figure out a way to save general counsel money on their outside legal spending. The attorneys who have done that are growing their revenue while others are not.

"We are keeping costs down by using in-house attorneys as much as possible and using sole practitioners or nontraditional law firms with big firm experience," said Kristen K. McGuffey, executive vice president and general counsel of Simmons Bedding Co.

One of the non-traditional firms McGuffey uses is FSB Legal Counsel, founded seven years ago in Atlanta by two of her former law firm colleagues.It's a "virtual" firm of former big law attorneys working remotely to offer clients the same services as before at half the rate -- or less.

"We didn't plan this economic situation. We're just benefiting from it," said James M. Fisher II. "In a time of lawyers being laid off, we're increasing our size."

Fisher said FSB is growing as fast as they can find attorneys who meet their standards -- which include seven years or more of big law experience. Some have decades with big law firms, and some are former corporate GCs.

Fisher worked for Holland & Knight and Baker & McKenzie before joining Morris, Manning & Martin, where he met Broyles. They started FSB in 2002 with six lawyers in Atlanta. Last fall they had 27 lawyers, and now have 41. They expect to have 50 by the end of the quarter and 75 to 100 by the end of the year.

They work in their home offices or other quarters of their own choosing. They do their own typing and answer their own phones. Their only firm office is an executive suite at an office park that is rented for specific occasions only -- like a hotel meeting room. They stay in touch through e-mail, cell phones and the Internet.

"What we've done is taken a big law firm and taken away the ivory tower, the mahogany desks, the expensive artwork, the young associates being trained on the clients' dime and the redundant support staff," said Fisher. "The clients are really only paying for what's between our ears."

Look! A See-Through Plastic Post Card

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Here's something I've never seen before: a plastic see-through post card. I liked it as a marketing tool because it really popped out of all the other mail I get. Appropriately, it promotes a $100 discount to a marketing conference in Chicago in July.

The text and graphics are painted onto the oversize 6"x9" card, and the address appears to be laser printed onto the card. Created by ShipShapes, the "ClearCard™ is a rectangular direct mail piece that captures attention, evokes a response, and sticks around while conventional mail gets tossed in a recycle bin or trash can."

"ClearCards are unconventional post card mailers that not only get noticed, they influence response, generate word-of-mouth advertising, and encourage recipients to hold onto them. In test campaigns, ClearCards consistently outperform control pieces with 3 to 10 time higher measures."

You can put a dinosaur, water bottle or castle as the graphic on the ClearCard. The company says the cards generated a 49% response rate for a sports team ticket promotion and the best ROI and 320% lift for a telecom company seeking new ISP subscribers.

Last Chance to Register for Webinar: Becoming an Associate Rainmaker This Year

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Learn how two associates — both recognized as top business development performers — have succeeded in business development and how to make these proven methods work for you this year. Rainmaking associates Peter J. Bilfield and Wilton MacDonald II are featured speakers in this seminar. Don't miss this LIVE presentation this Thursday June 24 with your host, Michael G. Cummings.

Join our two guests at this inspiring and powerful seminar:

Peter J. Bilfield, currently partner at Shipman and Goodwin. Last year, Peter won the award for associate rainmaker of the year by seizing a niche opportunity, integrating marketing in all he did and advancing the entire firm in the marketplace. Now he's a partner with a top firm in the Northeast. See how business development prowess led to this career advancement.
Wilton G. McDonald II, Associate, Head of Investment Funds, Higgs Johnson Truman Bodden & Co. Over the last few years, his enterprising growth of his practice included his establishing a solid plan of action, building a team, extending far-flung relationships and crafting a solid reputation, with the result that he tripled billings for the practice.

In this session, we will profile these two Associate Rainmakers, and hear their stories directly from them. We will also review the lessons to be learned from their achievements, and specify how you and your fellow Associates can achieve similar successes in 2009:

How are some top-performing associates contributing to the marketing success of their firm?
How are these associates taking the initiative to land new clients, sell additional work and build their personal reputation?
How do they find the time to do marketing and garner the firm support they need to make their marketing programs work?
What specific marketing programs are working for these associates and how can you emulate them at your firm?
How have these associates learned the ways to market and sell in the early stages of their legal career?

They are joined by marketing expert Michael G. Cummings of Apollo Business Development who has helped associates at dozens of firms start their business building the right way and bring in millions in revenue.

For just $300, you and your firm can learn what associates are doing and how you can bring in business and build a long-lasting legal career. For more details or to Register NOW, go to www.sagelawmarketing.com/webseminar47#register. Or click here:

Gather with others in your office...any number can attend in the room where you connect to the site and the call — at the same low price. One connection per registration.

Who should attend:

Junior and Senior Associates who want to see what they can do to start bringing in business and ensure a productive career
Young partners eager to advance their business building skills
Marketing personnel who want methods to support their associate marketing
Firm leaders seeking to maintain and grow the firm by building a solid base of entrepreneurial young lawyers

Gain the insights and practical lessons that others have mastered.

Take the next step forward to becoming a rainmaker with...with this Best Practices Seminar for Associates. For details, or to register, go to www.sagelawmarketing.com/webseminar47#register.

Twitter: You Can't Always Trust What You Want

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 06:00:00 -0500

As marketers, for the last 9 days we've all been transfixed by the protests in Tehran, made accessible by Twitter messages leading to online videos. It's been dubbed the first protest movement enabled by technology. But the New York Times notes that you can't always trust what you read on Twitter.

This underscores the doubts raised in my article Twitter Not Effective for Law Firm Marketing. He's an excerpt from the Times:

Buyer Beware. Nothing on Twitter has been verified. While users can learn from experience to trust a certain Twitter account, it is still a matter of trust. And just as Twitter has helped get out first-hand reports from Tehran, it has also spread inaccurate information, perhaps even disinformation. An article published by the Web site True/Slant highlighted some of the biggest errors on Twitter that were quickly repeated and amplified by bloggers: that three million protested in Tehran last weekend (more like a few hundred thousand); that the opposition candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi was under house arrest (he was being watched); that the president of the election monitoring committee declared the election invalid last Saturday (not so).

Watch Your Back. Not only is it hard to be sure that what appears on Twitter is accurate, but some Twitterers may even be trying to trick you. Like Rick’s Café, Twitter is thick with discussion of who is really an informant or agent provocateur. One longstanding pro-Moussavi Twitter account, mousavi1388, which has grown to 16,000 followers, recently tweeted, “WARNING: http://www.mirhoseyn.ir/ & http://www.mirhoseyn.com/ are fake, DONT join. ... #IranElection11:02 AM Jun 16th from web.” The implication was that government agents had created those accounts to mislead the public. ABCNews.com announced that Twitter users who said they were repeating (“retweeting”) the posts from its reporter, Jim Sciutto, had been fabricating the material to make Mr. Sciutto seem to be backing the government. “I became an unwitting victim,” he wrote.

Twitter Is Self-Correcting but a Misleading Gauge. For all the democratic traits of Twitter, not all users are equal. A popular, trusted user matters more and, as shown above, can expose others who are suspected of being fakers. In that way, Twitter is a community, with leaders and cliques. Of course, Twitter is a certain kind of community — technology-loving, generally affluent and Western-tilting. In that way, Twitter is a very poor tool for judging popular sentiment in Iran and trying to assess who won the presidential election. Mr. Ahmadinejad, who presumably has some supporters somewhere in Iran, is losing in a North Korean-style landslide on Twitter.

Having a Wikipedia Entry can be Good for Getting New Business

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Carolyn Elefant makes a great point on Nolo's Legal Marketing Blog that you need to pay attention to your Wikipedia entry. Not sure if you have one? You better check. I looked up my own name and was surprised.

A Wikipedia entry can help your law firm generate new business. "If you're like most lawyers, you probably use Wikipedia for a variety of purposes. Some of you may be avid enough users that you may have even registered for a Wikipedia account and contributed to some of the entries. But chances are, you never considered creating a Wikipedia page for yourself or your law firm," Carolyn writes.

Most major law firms already maintain pages on Wikipedia. What's more, the
UK Law Society points out, Wikipedia has enormous reach:

Wikipedia is one of the largest reference websites -- 684 million visitors yearly. For a sniff of its power, whether you like it or not, cogitate on this snippet from the New York Times 'Bits' technology blog on 30 March, entitled 'Microsoft Encarta Dies After Long Battle With Wikipedia': 'Microsoft delivered the coup de grâce Monday to its dying Encarta encyclopedia, acknowledging what everyone else realized long ago: it just couldn't compete with Wikipedia... In January, Wikipedia got 97% of the visits that web surfers in the United States made to online encyclopedias, according to the internet ratings service Hitwise. Encarta was second, with 1.27%.' That's how powerful Wikipedia is.

"With that kind of traffic, a listing on Wikipedia could theoretically bolster a firm's search engine visibility. So I decided to test my theory and ran a couple of searches on some of the law firms listed in Wikipedia. Sure enough, the firms' Wikipedia listings came up within the top five to ten front page search results on Google," she writes.

"Many large firms with long histories describe the firm's origins and provide bios of firm founders and well known alumni. A smaller firm might also link to reported cases or cross reference practice areas described on Wikipedia. For example, a bankruptcy lawyer could cross link to the entry on Bankruptcy in Wikipedia, thus providing a good resource for clients with basic questions," she writes.

"Ultimately, I don't think that Wikipedia is an indispensable component of a lawyer marketing portfolio," she says. "But for lawyers looking for something different or who can devise a unique use for Wikipedia, it might be a marketing tool worthy of further consideration."

Billing Clients for Computertized Research - and how it Hurts Law Firm Marketing

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Lawyers USA has a great article on the effects of billing clients for certain costs. In the case of a major New York law firm it led to a class action lawsuit. The plaintiff argues that the firm violated California’s ethics laws as well as the state’s unfair business practices statute by overcharging him for computerized legal research.

It's also really bad for law firm marketing.

Granted, the bonehead who filed suit is in my opinion pursuing a nuisance lawsuit that he deserves to lose. He's claiming that the firm buys its Westlaw and Lexis service in an annual contract but didn't pass along the savings to him. When they throw his case out, I hope they hit him with attorney fees too.

By my point is, when you got to the UPS store and they mark up the cost of US Postal mail, you feel like you're getting gypped. The same thing when they charge you $5 a page to send a fax to Europe.

Hotels have been charging $7 for a tiny bottle of scotch in the mini-refrigerators for years. Airlines now charge $5 for a mediocre box lunch when you used to get a hot meal served for free. Customers don't like it when a business passes on its own cost of doing business.

The best practice for attorneys is to build computerized legal research costs into their overhead costs and not break them out separately in the bill. Clients hate seeing charges for copying or postage. If you break out every charge, it makes you look like you are trying to milk every nickel and dime possible out of the client.

Instead, build the cost of the research into your hourly time , but be sure to explain it to the client.

And in the current economy, it might be worth simply not charging the client for the cost of research. Just eat the cost. Charge for your time doing legal research, but don’t charge the client for the cost of the service. Just be sure to say … on the invoice that you didn’t charge them and let them know that’s something you do for valued clients.”

Blogger Not Surprised that Black Lawyer was Hired as "Marketing Tool"

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Former associate Venus Yvette Springs, an African-American lawyer at Mayer Brown’s Charlotte, N.C., office has filed a Title VII discrimination suit that claims the law firm used her as a “marketing tool” before firing her in 2008.

So what? says Heather M. Milligan, Director of Marketing at Barger & Wolen in Los Angeles, and author of The Legal Watercooler. She derided the claims in the lawsuit, saying, "I hate to break the news to anyone reading this: EVERY lawyer in the firm is a potential “marketing tool” for the marketing department."

Springs, a magna cum laude graduate of Duke Law School, alleges that when she was hired in 2007 there were only two other African-Americans at the firm’s Charlotte office and no others in the real estate practice group where she worked. (For a copy of the complaint, visit Above the Law).

“Springs was hired, in whole or in part, because the Charlotte office needed to increase its number of African-American attorneys,” the suit says. “Upon information and belief, firm documents refer to the hiring of an African-American as a ‘marketing tool.’ Springs was used as a marketing tool, asked to attend on behalf of Mayer Brown bar and other functions where diversity would be perceived as a positive.”

Springs says she was fired despite high marks from her superiors in part to make way for a white female employee hired to bring in business from Bank of America. Above the Law reported that there were significant layoffs at Mayer Brown in November. Charlotte and New York were hit hard when the firm let go of 33 attorneys just before Thanksgiving. Mayer Brown said in a statement that they believe her claims have no merit.

"Grow up," Milligan wrote. "We’re all tools of the firm because we are part of the firm’s success or lack thereof (yes, even I am a tool of the firm). "I hate to break the news to anyone reading this: EVERY lawyer in the firm is a potential “marketing tool” for the marketing department.

You write well? I’m making you editor of the blog. Tool.
You speak well? You are off to that conference. Tool.
You present well? You are representing the firm at the exhibit hall table at the industry conference. Tool.
You social?? I’m sending you to any and every cocktail party, table of ten I need to fill. Tool.

"We all have a role to play. Those who embrace these roles will find success within the firm's political structure, and through their business development efforts. Those who reject it ... well, good luck finding a new job once your lawsuit hits the Internet."

The Little Black Book: Creating a Marketing Habit in 21 Days

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:00:00 -0500

For the next 48 hours Paula Black will be offering an impressive opportunity to anyone who purchases “The Little Black Book: A Lawyer’s Guide To Creating A Marketing Habit in 21 Days.” Readers who purchase the book will receive “The Smart Lawyer’s Toolkit,” a compilation of advice from more than 30 of the most sought-after experts in the legal arena (including myself!). Click here for details.

Twitter's Growth Screeches to a Halt -- It Was All Hype

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:59:00 -0500

Like CB radios, Twitter is turning out to be a fad that has peaked. Check the facts:

The number of Twitter users has started to decline according to Quantcast.
At best, Twitter’s growth suddenly stopped in May, according to Compete.com.
55% of people who signed up for an account never posted a tweet, according to HubSpot's State of the Twittersphere.
56% of people with a Twitter account are not following anyone, according to HubSpot.
53% of Twitter account holders have no followers themselves.
76% of users have not entered a bio in their profile,
There is a huge drop in use of Tweetdeck (an application many Twitters use to organize tweets) dropped from 915,000 to 476,000 between April and May, according to Social Media Insider.
10% of Twitter users accounted for over 90% of tweets, according to Harvard Business School.
The average Twitter user tweets once and never again, according to Harvard.

Twitter is "just another wacky trend, like pet rocks of "Baby on Board' signs,'" says Catharine P. Taylor of Social Media Insider.

Twitter has enjoyed a steep, steep curve of increasing visitors since January 2009, and it was obvious that it could not go on forever. "However, seeing Twitter’s growth flatline with only a 1.47% increase (up to 19,728,619 monthly visitors) is surprising, especially since Twitter-mania has all but stopped," says Mashable.com

Is Twitter dead? "Yes, Twitter as the Facebook-competitor, the sweeping cultural phenomenon, the Google killer and all the rest is dead. Or, more accurately, never existed. It was a media mirage, a product of the echo chamber," writes Mike Elgan of Datamation.com.

The evidence continues to support my article, Twitter Not Effective for Law Firm Marketing.

OMG! Womble Carlyle Releases Clever Texting Video! ROFLMAO!

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:02:49 -0500

Aden Dauchess, Director of Digital Marketing, and the tech wizards at 530-lawyer Womble Carlye will release a funny video of two laywers texting each other about the sale of a factory.

To the tune of Leroy Anderson's orchestra music "The Typewriter," it shows the shorthand used in the text messages and a polite translation below.

At the end, Burley Mitchell, former Supreme Court Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and a Womble Carlyle attorney appears, snapping his cell phone shut.

To see it visit http://www.wcsr.com/resources/video/TheFutureNow-texting.wmv The video, titled "The Future is Now" was created by Robby Merritt of Merritt Videoworks.

Mobile Version of LawMarketing Portal Now Online

larrybodine@comcast.net (Larry Bodine) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:00:00 -0500

I have seen the future of the Internet, and it will be viewed on a 2 by 3-inch screen. New research shows that most people will view the web on their smart phones and PDA -- instead of computer monitors. Accordingly, visitors to the LawMarketing Portal can now see a special mobile version of the site specially designed for their handheld devices.

Like CNN.com, the New York Times online and Google, the LawMarketing Portal displays neatly on the screens of iPhones, Blackberrys, Treos and other handheld PDAs that can access the web. By simply visiting www.LawMarketing.com on your handheld, you'll see all the articles on the home page in a minimalist display that includes text, links and graphics.

No downloads nor special software is required. Simply open your device's browser and point it to www.LawMarketing.com. Your PDA will automatically pick up mobile.lawmarketing.com, the address of the handheld-friendly site, allowing you to see all the latest articles on the home page.

Mobile devices will be primary web viewer

Mobile technology has reached an inflection point where the mobile Internet could be another viable consumer resource for online shopping and purchasing. According to PriceGrabber.com’s Mobile Shopping Behavior Survey, 58 percent of US online consumers already own a Web-enabled mobile phone. Furthermore, of those consumers that own a Web-enabled mobile phone, one in 10 has purchased products and/or services with their device.

Of the online consumers with web-enabled phones:

21 percent own a smartphone
8 percent own an iPhone
29 percent own another type of web-enabled phone
42 percent of survey respondents said they own a non-Web-enabled phone capable of using voice and text service plans only.

For the entire article, visit the LawMarketing Portal at www.lawmarketing.com