Legal Expert Connections Provides Social Media Services to Broward County Bar Association

Helping law firms and attorneys connect with clients and prospects on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and blogs is a new legal marketing service available from Legal Expert Connections. The firm is now assisting the Fort Lauderdale-based Broward County Bar Association in developing a social media campaign, beginning with a blog.

“Social networking is now an essential element in any law firm Internet marketing campaign,” said Margaret Grisdela, president of Legal Expert Connections and author of the legal marketing book Courting Your Clients. “Legal marketing campaigns also have special compliance requirements, however, in regard to professional ethics and attorney advertising guidelines.”

These expanded online marketing services help law firms in three primary areas:

1. How to get started on social media. Attorneys are busy with the daily demands of clients, cases, and courts. Law firms receive help in developing an online networking strategy, followed by assistance in setting up individual attorney profiles that incorporate search engine marketing best practices.

2. Techniques to build followers and connections. Lawyers are taught how to quickly build an online community. What to say on social media is also a training topic, along with tips on how to create an editorial calendar for advance planning purposes.

3. Automating social media posts across platforms. A well-written law firm blog can serve as the basic driver of online content. Lawyers learn how to use blog posts to update other social media sites using the RSS feed, thereby streamlining the publication process.

Contact this RainmakingLady at 1-866-417-7025 to discuss your social media marketing needs.

E-Book Sales Underscore Digital Trends

Lawyers who have not fully embraced social media and Internet marketing are in denial of major trends. News items today include: 1) Amazon is now selling 180 e-books for every 100 hardcover books ; 2) companies are buying so many new computer servers to meet growing Internet demand that it is fueling some level of economic recovery; and 3) Facebook is about to reach 500 million members.

While we know that consumers and businesses increasing turn to the web for research, recommendations, and recreation, this means that legal marketing campaigns need to change as well. Search engine positioning on the first page of Google, through natural SEO or PPC pay-per-click ads, is no longer enough. Law firms require some level of visibility on the leading social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Consumer-oriented law firms, like personal injury attorneys or trust and estates lawyers, are the most likely candidates for sites like Facebook. LinkedIn works well for all attorneys, particularly those with a corporate or governmental practice.

Is your law firm prepared for social media? Read more here about Social Media Law Firm Success Strategies.

This RainmakingLady welcomes your feedback.

Making Ideas Happen in Legal Marketing

The dreamers, the doers, and the incrementalists are three personality types identified by author Scott Belsky in his new book “Making Ideas Happen,” (Penguin Group USA Inc., 2010). The first group generates a constant stream of new ideas, but has trouble executing. The doers focus on the logistics of implementation, without the flow of creative genius. Incrementalists share traits of both, but move so quickly through cycles of idea generation and execution that they never fully develop any one concept. All parties can get trapped on the "project plateau," that painful period when you face the reality of how long project implementation can actually take.

If you are part of a legal team that must work quickly and effectively to respond to changing market conditions, this book is a quick read that will open your eyes to higher levels of productivity.

Many ideas in this book (which focuses on "making ideas happen" in a general context) can be applied to legal marketing campaigns, which frequently involve multiple specialists like social media experts, website designers, copywriters, and search engine marketing consultants.

Here are some key project management recommendations from the author:

- A relentless bias toward action pushes ideas forward
- Each person must “own” their action steps
- Spending time on notes is not worth the effort
- Design and personalization play a role in organizational systems
- Organize around projects, not location

Emphasis is on action steps in this book, and how different personality types can collaborate to maximize performance. I found it very interesting and recommend the book to you.