Archive for the ‘legal marketplace’Category

ABA Social Networking Policy

ABA Advisory Panel: Social Network Usage

The ABA leadership and Standing Committee on Strategic Communications are developing a social network policy to determine how (if) the ABA will utilize social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Thus far they have surveyed lawyers and law students separately and found as follows:

Among practicing lawyers:

  • 1/3 of respondents did not have accounts on any of the 3 social networks mentioned
  • Among respondents who did have an account, LinkedIn was considered professional
  • Among respondents who had an account, Facebook was considered strictly casual
  • Lawyer attitudes toward social networks varied (waste of time, useful for business)
  • Most respondents favor an ABA group on LinkedIn, fewer favor one on Facebook
  • Younger respondents favored the idea of the ABA having a presence on social networks

Among law students:

  • they are much more engaged in social media than practitioners
  • nearly 90% of surveyed law students had Facebook accounts
  • about 75% of surveyed law students accessed Facebook daily
  • they tend to be more positive about social networks in general
  • they tend to favor ABA groups on both LinkedIn and Facebook

In a related story, the ABA Journal did not report that anyone was the least bit surprised by the findings.

06

03 2010


by practicehacker
posted in ABA, ABA Jounral, Article, LPM Section, community, facebook, legal marketplace, linkedin, media, new media, old media, poll, practice, practice management, social media, social media tools, social networking, twitter
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Have a Fanpage on Facebook? Does it work?

Webtrends, which offers detailed web analysis tools, just rolled out a suite of new measurement capabilities for Facebook that allow users to view and compare Facebook data alongside data for other channels. For small firms and sole-practitioners, this development means that you can more easily measure and compare the effect of your Facebook and Twitter pages. Of course if you don’t have a Facebook or Twitter page then this might be a good time to get cracking.

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27

02 2010


by practicehacker
posted in facebook, legal marketplace, linkedin, mashable, media, new media, practice, practice management, realtime, social graph, social media, social media tools, social networking, the business of law, tips, twitter
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Measuring Twitter ROI

 

SEO consultant Indu Priya recently wrote a post for the site Quick Online Tips about measuring return on investment (ROI) when it comes to Twitter. While the piece was not directed at lawyers, its messages were well taken and certainly apply to our practices. As the author notes there, it is notoriously hard to measure results on new-media platforms like Twitter; to discern what works from what doesn’t. But there are a number of tools available for those who want to measure their Twitter results and extrapolate their ROI. 

Obviously, to assess how close you are to your destination you must know where you’re going. Some firms have gone to the length of assemblying a marketing plan in order to set goals for themselves – but if you ask me a simple outline will do until you find out whether your aims are realistic, achievable, or economical. Consider these well-known Twitter success stories:

Dell famously uses Twitter to disseminate offers and discounts, as well as to listen in on market chatter. To guage success Dell counts the number of Twitter-based discounts redeemed by consumers, comparing those figures with the number of purchasers overall. The difference should represent the difference that Twitter makes in its customer-count.

Barack Obama’s Twitter account is the stuff of history – launched during his lightning 2008 presidential campaign, its goal was simply to touch as many people as possible and allow them to communicate with one another. Once their common Twitter friend (the Obama campaign) brought them together, the key metric measured b y the campaign was the number of posts (tweets) that were circulated (retweeted) by followers. After that the multiplier effect took over and delivered the vote.

Of course not all goals are measurable or even achievable; but most can be reached following some creative planning. In the meantime, consider these ROI measurement tools for Twitter and find more on OneForty: 

23

02 2010


by practicehacker
posted in Marketing, aggregator, business, current-events, disruptive technology, legal marketplace, lists, microblogging, new media, practice, practice management, president o'bama, radical transparency, realtime, search, social graph, social media, social media tools, social networking, software, technology, the business of law, tips, tools, websites
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Top Ten iPhone Apps for Busy Lawyers

From Reid Trautz, Attorney and friend to Practicehackers everywhere, comes this handy article, which begins:

Here is the short-version of what Reid is talking about:

AppBoxPro.  Multi-function apps for iPhone including currency converter, date calculator, translator, etc. $0.99

Bento. Simple, powerful database.  Looks like iTunes and is designed to be easy to use.  Syncs to desktop.   Templates for common tasks included as well. $4.99

Bump. Open the app on iPhone, select how much to share, gently bump with another iPhone, and viola – the information has been shared. $free

Documents to Go (Premium Ed.) Create, edit, and view Word, Excel and PowerPoint’s, plus view PDF’s and other formats.  Essential for most every lawyer.

Dragon Dictation. Free, easy-to-use, and accurate voice-recognition on your iPhone.  Quick alternative to typing e-mails, texts, tweets, or FB updates.

DropBox. File sharing service providing online storage and access from multiple devices. Get up to 2 gigs of storage for free and 50 gigs for just $10 per month

Google Mobile. Google’s mobile app does much more then find stuff, but the voice search feature is extra cool and easier than typing.

People.  Free “White Pages” database and reverse phone # directory.

ScanR Business Center. (See also DocScanner and JotNot) Similar apps may cost less but ScanR is worth the price. Create PDFs using your iPhone camera or a picture.

Skype. You already know what this does. It works great on the  iPhone as well as the Mac.

Things. Task management app for iPhone and Mac.  Syncs and keeps you up to date.

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18

02 2010


by practicehacker
posted in Apple, Blogging, apps, collaborative tools, community, current-events, disruptive technology, free, iPhone, iPhone Apps, knowledge management, law office, legal marketplace, lists, litigation, media, moblogging
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Know where your Clients are?

This study regarding social networks has it all – thrills, chills, surprises, excitement.

Alright, I threw in that last part. Let’s just say that if you’re not using social networks to spread the good word about your law firm, you’re losing ground (because your competition definitely is). Your call. Use it or lose it.

In the meantime, please enjoy these meaningful charts.

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17

02 2010


by practicehacker
posted in Blogging, business, community, knowledge management, legal marketplace, social graph, social media, social media tools, social networking, the business of law
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Opinion: Zelotes v. Rousseau (Total Attorneys Case)

At issue in this case was whether Chicago-based lead-generation service Total Attorneys was violating ethical rules by doing business Lawyers in the State of Connecticut. The answer apparently was no. At least, not based on the complaint brought by this Attorney-Plaintiff. The opinion is seen as a victory for free enterprise as opposed to the grip of local bar associations, which routinely monopolize Attorney-Referral Services, which are a source of profit.

I’m not saying the decision actually is a victory for anyone (other than Total Attorneys) but even the most cynical observer will admit that the idea of preventing lawyers from saving money and reaching prospective clients so that bar associations could maintain their monopoly … I mean, ensure the clients’ best interests – was heavy handed and backward-looking.

Prove me wrong. I dare you.

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09

02 2010


by practicehacker
posted in Marketing, business, courts and, current-events, law, law office, legal marketplace, legal research, practice, practice management, referrals
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Fastcase Legal Research App for iPhone

It doesn’t suck!

Download the FastCase legal research application for the iPhone at fastcase.com/iPhone

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29

01 2010


by practicehacker
posted in .mobi, Apple, Blogging, FastCase, Mobile device, PDA/SMARTPHONE, Posterous, Wordpress, apps, browser, business, cool stuff, iPhone, iPhone Apps, knowledge management, law, legal marketplace, legal research, media, new media, practice, practice management, remote, saffari, software, technology, tips, tools, website, websites, widget
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