What Does it Mean? PR Tips for Lawyers

Attorneys who can answer the question, "what does it all mean?" have a better chance of getting media coverage in turbulent market cycles, according to our recent post.

Wall Street and Main Street hate uncertainty, so the enterprising attorney or law firm who can demonstrate a leadership approach in these tough times stands a better chance of gaining increased visibility and possibly market share.

Here is a case in point. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Law Firms Gear Up -- and Wait -- For Anticipated Bankruptcies." The gist of the article is that the number of high value bankruptcies to date is less than expected, leaving some firms that rely on this countercyclical practice with available capacity.

Our key point is to bring your attention to the closing paragraph. The reporter asks: "What does it all mean for the lawyers?"

In this case, the answer to the WSJ reporter's question is found in the quote of a law professor:

"It depends on the firm's business plan," said Jack Williams, who teaches bankruptcy law at Georgia State University College of Law in Atlanta. Mr. Williams predicts that firms that can juggle a lot of short-term engagements are going to do well. "But those who stick with a more traditional approach," like relying on one or two cases that drag on for years, might struggle. "That business plan just isn't going to square with what's going on."

The Rainmaking Lady offers two observations:

1. You, too, have a chance of getting quoted in the media when you can offer a credible analysis of what given market conditions mean to your clients and constituents
2. Stay focused on your sales pipeline for new case development. While it's great to hit the ball out of the park with a huge case, it might take a lot of smaller matters to keep paying the bills.

Here's your homework: see how you can put this to work in your law firm marketing program.

New Google Feature for Law Firm Internet Marketing

Law firm marketing fans reading this column will appreciate a new Google feature that will add a competitive advantage to your legal search engine marketing campaigns.

Google now displays search volume statistics in the "keyword tool" feature. What this means is that lawyers and law firm marketing professionals can now see statistics on the approximate number of search queries matching your law firm's keywords. This data allows you to better plan your budget and pick keywords most likely to return quality leads, which in turn can help improve your ROI.

You can generate keyword ideas to boost your law firm marketing results in three ways:

1. Select descriptive keywords or phrases. This is a great way to test new keywords for your online ad campaign to see if they might create new leads for your law firm. Just type in a word or phrase in the Google keyword tool, then click on "Get Keyword Ideas."
2. Website content. Enter a webpage URL from your law firm website to find keywords related to the content on the page.
3. Existing keywords. When you choose this option, Google will display your best performing keywords in the current Ad Group and suggest keyword variations that can improve your law firm Internet marketing program.

Google suggests that you may want to create an ad group around a single high-traffic keyword that you find particularly relevant to your law firm marketing program. This would allow you to closely target ad text and a landing page to that term.

Here is the "how to" in using the new Google Keyword Volume tool. It's actually quite simple. Go into an existing "Ad Group." Click on "Keyword Tool" to the right of "Add Keywords." You will then be presented with your options for discovering wonderful new keyword options for your law firm's Internet marketing program.

BOTTOM LINE: Law firm marketing professionals will find the new Google Keyword Volume tool to be an excellent way to boost Internet advertising results. As I say in my legal marketing book Courting Your Clients, "keywords are the currency of the digital economy, convertible into cash when site visitors become clients."

Remember, today's law firm must be present to win on the Internet!

How to Write a Law Firm Marketing Plan

Marketing without a plan is one of the biggest mistakes a law firm can make. We explore this topic as the first blog post in our recently announced series entitled"The Top 10 Legal Marketing Mistakes."

Consider the following questions:

1. Shall we invest $1,000 to sponsor a table at our client's annual industry event?
2. The local Chamber of Commerce is offering a special rate of $2,500 for a full page ad in their annual membership directory; is this right for us?
3. If we can only do one marketing campaign, what should that be?

Law firm managing partners and marketers are faced with these issues on a regular basis.

The best way to conduct an effective law firm marketing campaign is to start with a detailed plan. You will want to specifically identify your business development goals (# of new accounts, $ in new business by practice area), focus on your target markets, carefully identify the competitive environment, create your "unique selling proposition," and identify the campaigns you plan to implement to generate the new revenue you seek.

We recommend using an integrated marketing campaign featuring many complementary communications channels. For example, you will want to include: speaking engagements, article placement, referral networks, educational seminars, Internet marketing, direct mail, print and online advertising, public relations, updated collateral materials, and potential sponsorships.

By the way, here are the answers to the law firm marketing questions posed above:

1. Yes, this may be a great investment. You will show your support for your client and their industry. Plus you will get some good visibility and networking opportunities. Ask your clients to introduce you to their industry contacts.
2. With all due respect to the Chamber, a one-time print ad placement in anything will generally not be productive. Viewers need to see your ad a minimum of 5-6 times before they start paying attention.
3. The best single law firm marketing campaign you can undertake is marketing to your current and past clients.

Click here to see a sample of an attorney marketing plan:
http://www.legalexpertconnections.com/attorneymarketingplan.pdf

The High Cost of Inadequate Marketing

What happens if you don't market your practice the way you know you should? Perhaps nothing ... in the short run. Chances are you will continue to stumble along, getting sufficient business to keep you busy but not highly profitable.

I recently had the chance to meet with a prospect again for the second time in a few years, following some initial discussions that didn't move beyond polite talk. At the time the firm was new and understandably cautious about spending money on marketing programs. It's a fact that in lean times, marketing is frequently viewed as discretionary.

Fast forward, and we can see that the firm tried over the years to gain traction in a competitive industry and geographic market on a nominal marketing program, with only modest success. Still relying on a low-tech web site, they are missing a tremendous opportunity to increase their visibility through effective search engine marketing. Competing firms that made an Internet marketing investment, by contrast, are reaping the rewards of their on-going marketing campaigns.

There are many marketing mistakes that lawyers, law firms and experts make, and under-emphasizing an appropriate marketing effort is one of them.

Starting this week, we are launching a series entitled "10 Legal Marketing Mistakes." Stay tuned to learn how to avoid common business development errors that can cost you both time and money.

Domain Names to Expand: *.law anyone?

Top-level Internet domain name options (like *.com) will be greatly expanded under a proposal from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the international organization that regulates domain names.

A new top level domain will cost between $100,000 and $500,000, according to a report in today's Wall Street Journal.

If the pending proposal is approved, applications for new domain name extensions will be taken beginning in April 2009. It is unclear if the new extensions are required to be public.

Think of the possible applications in the legal field: *.law, *.legal, *.ip, *.pi, *.court, *.dui, *.trial, etc.

Legal marketers, on your mark! Get ready!

Are Your Law Firm Clients at Risk?

Yesterday we talked about the results of a recent Altman Weil study, which found that an increasing number of in-house General Counsel recently fired an outside law firm or plan to fire an outside law firm.

Do you know if your valuable law firm accounts are at risk?

Fortunately, there are some signs of trouble when an account is in jeopardy. Whether you choose to take action is up to you. Here are five sure signs of revenue risk.

1. Your relationship with an important account is concentrated in the hands of one partner. What if that partner leaves the firm, is tied up on a major trial for another account, or becomes ill?

2. Your client relationship involves many attorneys within your firm, but just one or two key contacts on the client side. The same questions apply. What if your contact gets a great job offer and jumps ship? Chances are that your contact's replacement may bring their own (and different) law firm relationships to the job.

3. Consolidation or retrenchment is gripping your client's industry. Think airlines or automotive. As an industry shrinks, your client firms may pull back at best or disappear at worst.

4. Mergers or acquisitions may keep your client afloat, but not with you. Countrywide or Bear Stearns are prime examples.

5. New management takes the helm of an important account. Your client contacts remain strong, but you never know when the next corporate reorg is around the corner. Incoming leaders like to bring in their own team. Can your law firm survive?

What would happen if you lost a major account? It makes you stop and think, which is a positive step.

A continuing focus on new business development will build a steady pipeline of prospects, helping to protect your law firm from the blow of a major account loss.

One of the most important roles you can play as a Managing Partner or Practice Group Chair is to be alert to "at risk" accounts. A few proactive steps, including staff business development training, can protect your firm from reversals of your hard-fought success.

Law Firms: Beware of Shrinking Client Budgets

A sharp focus on managing the cost of outside legal services is a top priority for the majority of chief legal officers at firms as large as $2-$10 billion in revenue, according to Altman Weil survey results reported by The Recorder on Law.com.

Half of the survey respondents have fired or are considering firing some of their outside counsel, according to the survey, up significantly from only one-third of respondents last year.

Hiring more in-house attorneys over the next 12-18 months is a commonly identified way that survey respondents intend to rein in the cost of outside counsel. With billable hourly rates at some top AmLaw 100 law firms now exceeding the $1,000 per hour barrier for in-demand attorneys, corporate America is looking for ways to break legal work down into categories that can be aligned with pricing and value.

This cost cutting initiative reflects the economic distress felt by consumers and businesses alike as gas prices climb, housing values plummet, food costs rise and the Fed contends with managing turbulent financial markets.

Rather than ignoring these market-driven stop signs, law firms should look proactively at how they can partner with corporate clients to help manage costs and expectations.

Yes, reducing billable hourly rates or offering alternative billing arrangements can be painful in the short run for law firms. But losing an entire account because you are either out of touch with the client from an account management perspective or slow to react to the realities of today's market is even worse.

Take a close look at your accounts now. Check back here tomorrow, to find out how you can determine which of your law firm accounts are at risk.

(Click here for full article on Law.com.)

Law Firms Mostly Silent on the Memorial Day Holiday

Happy Memorial Day weekend. We give thanks to our veterans, active military personnel and their families for the sacrifice they make to protect our freedom and liberty.

A quick check around the Internet indicates that Memorial Day does not draw much attention from law firm marketers. Here are some law firms we came across that did publish a public Memorial Day message.

Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter of Orlando has a blog post recognizing the weekend:
http://www.thefloridafirm.com/2008/05/remember-our-troops.html

The New York state law firm of Martin, Harding & Mazzotti, LLP is supporting local tavern and restaurant patrons who might have had too many holiday spirits with free cab rides home. See http://www.1800law1010.com/.

The California DUI Law Center Blog is informing readers of locations where special drunk driving checkpoints are set up this holiday weekend. http://www.sandiegodrunkdrivingattorney.net/blog.html

An enterprising attorney in Miami posted an online ad to Craig's List announcing that legal services are available 24/7 all Memorial Day weekend to "assist, educate, and handle cases" (perhaps in the event the partying gets a little too rowdy).

The Immigration Prof Blog posts a recognition to immigrants on Memorial Day. http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2007/05/saying_thanks_t.html

A personal remembrance also to my late father, Elmer Grisdela, who served in WWII.

You Must be Present to Win: Search Engine Optimization for Law Firm Marketing

The Legal Marketing Association's South Florida City Group recently held a meeting on Internet marketing and search engine optimization (also known as SEO).

As the group's 2008 Co-Chair, I had the honor of introducing speaker Jay Berkowitz, CEO of Ten Golden Rules (www.tengoldenrules.com).

Here are a few Internet marketing "best practices" for law firms that Jay shared with the group:

1. Using the analogy of "an apple a day," Jay suggests adding one page to your web site every day. Of course, this is not always possible given the demands of a busy law firm. However, the point is that adding fresh copy to your law firm's web site on a regular basis is an excellent way to gain great search engine visibility for your legal practice.

2. Try to get clients, associations and other partners to link to your law firm's web site. Inbound links will increase your search engine placement on Google and other search engines.

3. "Search Engine Optimized PR" is also important for search engine visibility. When issuing a press release, post it to your web site about 24 hours in advance of releasing it to a wire service so that search engines can read and create a link to the release. Be sure to include important keywords in the headline and body copy of your press release.

As I always say, "you must be present to win" on the Internet. These are great tips to help create high rankings in the search engines (Google, Yahoo! and others) for your law firm.

Find Smart Clients in an Economic Downturn

Peggy Nordeen, President of the Fort Lauderdale-based integrated marketing firm Starmark International, spoke to the monthly luncheon meeting of the Florida Direct Marketing Association last week.

Her topic was on marketing in the travel and tourism sector, and she provided excellent advice that works equally well for law firm marketing. "Find smart clients" when times are tough, is what she advises. If your law firm seeks to expand its client base during these challenging economic times, find those clients who understand that moving forward during a recession will generate a competitive advantage.

Many companies tend to cut back on discretionary spending during a recession. This is a natural tendency, and can apply to budgets across industries in the areas of training, legal, or marketing. The smart firms are those who know that by making an investment when everyone else is pulling back, they will be able to emerge in a stronger position when the good times return.

"Never stop marketing," advises Nordeen. (We strongly agree with this, as stated in our legal marketing book "Courting Your Clients.") "Don't cut your budgets; use your marketing dollars more effectively and make your budget work harder."

To managing partners and law firm marketers, the Rainmaking Club suggests that now is a good time to craft a strong "value proposition" for your best prospects. Give some serious thought to the prospect's competitive environment and their economic considerations (best done after you have gained some personal insight on their circumstances). Then ask the prospect if you can have a few minutes of their time to demonstrate how your law firm might be able to assist them in increasing market share, or reducing expenses, or minimizing risk, etc.

Personal, thoughtful attention can go a long way toward favorably impressing a prospect with your attorneys and law firm. Relationships that are forged during economic slowdowns may blossom when the economic outlook brightens, thereby protecting you from account poaching.

Law Firms Go Green: Environmental Marketing

Nixon Peabody is one law firm to go "Legally Green" (see www.nixonpeabody.com). They have incorporated expertise from several practice areas into an Environmental "Thought Leadership" service group for clients. Equally important, the law firm has also adopted sustainable building practices where possible and is committed to following environmentally friendly law firm operations.

Wendel Rosen is another law firm that promotes its "green" status. In order to get certified by the Bay Area Green Business Program, the firm presented an educational series on sustainable practices to all firm employees. They developed a Sustainability Team comprised of attorneys and staff. The team analyzed all of the firm's environmental impacts and made recommendations for areas of improvement. Some were undertaken immediately, and others are being phased in over time. See: http://www.wendel.com/greencertification.cfm

As part of its environmental sustainability efforts, the Minneapolis law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. is switching to wind-generated electricity to provide 100% power for its law firm’s headquarters. See: http://www.rkmc.com/Minneapolis-Office-of-Robins-Kaplan-Miller-Ciresi-Goes-Green.htm

These law firms are discovering that doing good is good for their legal business. This is a great way for the early adopters to gain favorable press coverage while providing a community service and demonstrating their commitment to being good corporate citizens.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for Law Firm Marketing

Last week I had the privilege of addressing the Associaton of Legal Administrators (ALA) West Palm Beach Chapter on the topic, "Courting Your Clients: The Administrator's Perspective." One of the questions that came up was about Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software services that are suitable for law firm use. Here is list of some of the leading CRM providers.

Act! by Sage, Premium 2008
http://www.act.com/

Contact Ease
http://www.colevalley.com/

Goldmine
http://www.goldmine.com/

InterAction® Lexis-Nexis
www.interaction.com

Microsoft Dynamics
www.microsoft.com/dynamics/crm/product

SalesForce
www.salesforce.com

Tracking your leads is a critical element in successful law firm marketing. You will want to record how you found your prospect, the date they became a prospect for your legal services, and future dates for follow up action.

Turning a prospect into a client for your law firm is essential to your practice expansion. Don't leave this important process to chance!

NEW: In response to a question posed by a reader, the choice of a software package depends on the number of users, offices, and your budget. Goldmine and Act! are widely used within small to medium businesses. They can be purchased at Office Depot or Staples starting at a price of about $200.

Other applications are typically priced by the "seat" or number of users, and typically involve installation of software and possibly hardware. Interaction is used by very large law firms. SalesForce.com is different in that it is Internet-based, so there is no software or hardware required. You should speak with each vendor directly to determine which service is right for you. Contact us if you need help in the evaluation process.

Best Practices in Law Firm Positioning: Stand Apart from the Competition

As we research business development opportunities for attorney and expert clients, our work takes us to dozens of law firm web sites on a regular basis. We will start to share with you some of the best practices in law firm marketing that we discover.

Today we are impressed by the registered tag line of Andrews Kurth: "Straight Talk is Good Business.®" Visit their site at www.andrewskurth.com/ to see how they carry out this theme visually and also weave it into their law firm marketing operations. For example, attorney presentations are listed on the web site as "Straight Talk Appearances."

The firm speaks directly to current and prospective law firm clients when they promise not to "hide behind the legalese." The implication is that they are a business partner with a roll-up the sleeves approach to evaluating options, measuring risk, and making informed decisions.

Navigation on the site is also excellent. I particularly like the search feature on the left side of the page.

Too many law firms today focus on what they do, rather than approach marketing from the client's perspective. Andrews Kurth offers a good example of straight marketing.

Associate Programs Feel the Pinch of Law Firm Budget Cuts

"Law Firms Curtail Associate Programs as Economy Slows," is the topic of a 4/14/08 article on page B1 of The Wall Street Journal.

As the economy slows, some firms are trimming expenses in the associate area. Examples include the law firm of Thelen Reid, which recently dismissed 26 associates from its staff of 550 lawyers. The firm also shortened its summer associate program from 8 to 11 weeks. Pillsbury Winthrop, an 800 attorney law firm based in New York, is also giving summer associates two weeks less time (from 12 to 10 weeks). Chicago-based Sonnenschein Nath actually rescinded offer letters to two summer associates and two first-year associates in the Charlotte, NC office.

A bottom line focus is absolutely essential, and cutting expenses is one way to manage personnel costs. A top line emphasis is also essential. More law firms should consider providing their associates with business development training as a means of opening additional avenues for new revenue.

Young lawyers a few years out of law school tend to have a strong electronic network of friends and acquaintances, even if they do spend a lot of hours behind a desk. This Facebook generation can tap into college chums and law school buddies who may be working at global Fortune 500 companies or fast-growing upstarts that need legal service.

Frequently associates simply don't know the basic steps of identifying an ideal client, determining legal needs, talking about possible solutions, or closing a sale. Investing in a few hours of business development training for associates is likely to generate a strong return on investment in the near term.

Now is a good time to get "all hands on deck" in looking for revenue opportunities.

Law Firm Marketing Mistake: Failure to Invite the Connection

Almost every law firm web site we visit has a menu option entitled something like "Practice Areas." Once you click on the link you are presented with anywhere from 5 to 20 different legal practice areas; some even have sub-practice areas.

"So what's wrong with this?," you ask. The answer is that invariably there is NO PERSON TO CONTACT once you get to the practice page of interest. This is not a good law firm business development technique.

If I am a prospective legal client and I want to get information on the Energy Practice in your law firm, who do I call? Most law firm web sites leave me guessing. I can try to call the reception in the main office, at which point I am likely to hear lots of mumbling and/or get transferred around (I speak from experience).

I could also try to find the right contact by searching the "Attorneys" menu option on the law firm's web site, but too often I'm presented with a list of dozens of lawyers with little indication of which one can help me.

Here's the solution: always list the Practice Chair or key contact person (ideally an attorney) for each practice area on the practice page. Provide their direct dial number, email address, and a link to their bio page. This is a very simple step.

Best Practice: Vedder Price does a nice job of introducing different members of the firm. See: http://www.vedderprice.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/about.home/about.cfm

Help your prospects make contact with your attorneys! You might even get some new business or alliance partners this way.

The Bear Essentials: Balancing the Eggs in Your Basket

The Wall Street Journal today includes a story entitled "Law Firms Likely to Miss High-Fee Work for Bear." Several large law firms may find themselves at risk of losing business on the Bear Stearns account as the firm becomes part of JP Morgan Chase, according to the report. Cadwalader Wickersham, Skadden Arps, Latham & Watkins, and Weil Gotschal are among the firms mentioned as historically providing legal services for Bear Stearns.

One week ago today Bear Stearns stock was trading at $65 per share, to be followed by a proposed fire sale of $2.00 per share less than 4 days later. One Bear Stearns trader who read about the deal in the paper said he was sure the offer price was a typo.

What if the unimaginable happens to a client of your law firm? Do you have 1 or 2 large accounts that represent a significant share of your business? The old adage "don't put all your eggs in one basket" holds true for law firms as well. If you determine that the misfortune of a small number of accounts can cause great potential harm to your practice, now is a good time to work toward rebalancing your portfolio of clients and/or practice areas .

A Team Focus on Billable Hours

I heard a great idea recently from a wise law firm administrator at an insurance defense firm. There was some grumbling among the support staff about simple things like why an attorney could not make their own copies (sound familiar?).

The Office Manager offered some very simple staff training, taking the time to point out that the firm's clients monitor invoices very carefully. Copying charges were acceptable to clients, but only when done by support staff and not the attorneys.

Staff members were encouraged to look for ways to help the attorneys spend more of their time on client work. The Office Manager emphasized that when the attorney spends the maximum amount of their time on billable client hours, everyone wins because the firm becomes more profitable.

Strategic Networking: 5 Steps to Snag Hard-to-Reach Prospects

Strategic networking is the process of focusing your time and attention on reaching the big fish.

You can go out every night of the week and meet dozens of people at Chamber meetings, professional association dinners, or fund raising events. If you are a member of the plaintiff's bar, this is probably not a bad approach (although it is time consuming). However, you have little control over who you meet.

But what if your time is limited and you need to see a better return on your networking activities?

Let's say as an example that you are a partner in a defense law firm offering some type of healthcare legal service to hospitals, clinics, HMOs, or other health care related firms. In order to maximize your referral networking time, you want to connect with the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Risk Officer, in-house General Counsel, or Chief Executive Officer. Unfortunately, these people can be hard to reach.

Here is a way to reach the person with purchasing authority through your networking efforts.

1. First, identify the top 5 to 10 local firms in the health care industry that you want to reach. (D&B's Zapdata - www.zapdata.com - is a great way to compile your list)

2. Write down the names of the 3-5 executives within each firm who would be good contacts for you.

3. Do some research to find out where these prospects and/or their employers get involved in the community, like the local Chamber or Economic Development Organization.

4. Start to attend meetings of the organizations where your prospects are involved.

5. Once you meet someone within a target firm, ask for referrals and introductions that will eventually get you in front of your intended prospect.

This is likely to take some time, and you may need to volunteer for a committee or project, but it will be time well spent. The bottom line, if done properly, is your success in opening a new account with one of your top prospects.

Remember the secret to business development: never stop marketing!

Helping Law Firm Associates Build a Referral Network

Law firms that rely only on their referral network may not be tapping into other productive marketing channels, as reported in my previous post.

Visits with several law firms this week remind me that there is another underutilized resource in regard to the power referral network. What I'm referring to is the fact that many law firm associates, still early in their legal career, are not trained on how to build their own referral network. Happy to rely on work brought in by other partners, these associates may not be developing the skills they need to bring their own business in the door.

Whether you develop an in-house mentoring program, or bring in outside trainers, teaching your associates how to build their own referral networks can be one of the best investments that a law firm can make.

Showing your associates how to think strategically about the business they want to develop, then showing them how to go out and network their way into these accounts, can start paying off in weeks or months.

Our next post will focus on how to map out your networking activities to get an introduction to the decision maker at a hot prospect. Stay tuned!

Beyond the Referral Network

"How do you get most of your legal business?" is a question I frequently ask attorneys and other law firm professionals. In the past three weeks I've asked this question to dozens of as part of our participation at Association of Legal Administrators (www.alanet.org) events in Orlando, Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida.

"Referral from other attorneys," is the most common response to the question. It's true that many attorneys and law firms make a very nice living by waiting for leads to come in from other attorneys. As the law becomes more specialized, this practice will undoubtedly become more pronounced.

It can take quite a bit of time to build a referral network to the point of robustness. When properly maintained, an attorney should have an extensive list of prioritized (A/B/C) referral sources. "A" referrals are current producers you should be communicating with monthly. "B" referrals are less mature sources that you are grooming and/or periodic producers that warrant coffee or lunch every 90 days or so. "C" referral sources should be on your newsletter mailing list.

But wait! There's another question to be asked. If a law firm is doing well with referrals, that means you may be leaving money on the table. This is particularly true if you don't pursue any or many other business development campaigns.

The question is, "What else can I do to get more business?" Business development takes time, and you need to plant a lot of seeds. Try adding at least one more marketing program, whether it is a newsletter, educational seminar, or publishing an article. Keep trying to stretch for more. Only then will you be able to create a truly integrated legal marketing program that can get you through the good and bad times.

As we always say, legal marketing is a process and not an event. Never stop marketing!