Archive for the ‘new media’Category

Open Plea to Legal Marketers … little help?

Me Learning to be Humble

Asking for Help ... Hat in Hand

Being the Practicehacker doesn’t mean I know everything. Take law firm marketing for instance.  
In real life I run a 3-lawyer suburban Chicago practice engaged in what I call “Small Business” law; i.e. we do pretty much everything a small business or its owners need their lawyer to do, including:
  • Business start-ups, incorporation, organization
  • Contracts: drafting, review, enforcement, terms
  • Hiring and firing of employees and contractors
  • Commercial litigation, collections, and defense
  • Real estate transaction, liens and construction
  • Business, stock and asset, sale and purchase
  • Divorce and estate planning for entrepreneurs
  • Bankruptcy, reorganization, crisis management
I can’t think of any aspect of practice organization,management, or marketing that I couldn’t improve. In fact, I am absolutely certain that I must learn to do a lot of things better. Of course, if I had to single out one thing for attention at the moment, it would have to be our law firm marketing.
Full disclosure: I’ve never been satisfied with my firm’s online or social media presence. I mean, my name is out there, but the picture that emerges of my firm seems fragmented and weak. Then again, my off-line presence is no better. I’ve prepared and delivered seminars, given talks both locally and nationally, and have had articles published all over. But to what end?
The worst part of the problem is that it feels like my office is being severely underutilized. After a harrowing couple of years in this see-saw economy, I finally have a stable team of trained lawyers and staff, with more becoming available all the time. But if what we have to offer does not reach the right Clients, it’s wasted. That’s the hardest part of the problem: matching the right skills with the right Clients and keeping the process going.
There is one final caveat: I need new marketing initiatives to have a measurable ROI so we can decide whether to stay with it, pivot, or abandon it and start over.  If anyone thinks they can take a crack at evaluating our situation, or knows someone else who can, please get in touch or leave that information in the comments to this post.  
Thanks to everyone who thinks they can help.

17

09 2011


by practicehacker
posted in bankruptcy, Blogging, business, Career and Job, competition, current-events, employment, facebook, Google, law office, Marketing, media, new media, old media, practice, practice management, referrals, social media, social media tools, the business of law, tips, twitter, Video, website, websites, Wisdom of Crowds, work, youtube
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OMFG: Halo 4 … I am not worthy

I don’t care how bad ass you think you are. This is Halo 4. Man up and join the fight … or I’ll do it for you.

13

06 2011


by practicehacker
posted in competition, cool stuff, current-events, Halo, media, Microsoft, new media, technology, Video, xBox, youtube
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ABA TechShow 2011

As most readers know, I write a column for NYC-based TechnoLawyer called SmallLaw (formerly known as, no joke, “Crazy Mazy”). Anyhow, as TechnoLawyer’s intrepid Chicago reporter I’ve written about the ABA TechShow since 2008; and before that for this blog.

Here are the 12 videos we shot at this year’s TechShow. Feel free to subscribe to my YouTube Channel for more legal tech news and check out my TechnoLawyer pieces as well.

13

05 2011


by practicehacker
posted in ABA, ABA Jounral, Amicus, blackberry, calendar, clio, community, competition, conference, cool stuff, current-events, document automation, document exchange, e-discovery, e-filing, e-mail, enterprise, ESI, FastCase, FindLaw, Google Apps, great conversations, knowledge management, law, law office, legal marketplace, legal research, Lexis-Nexis, lists, litigation, LPM Section, management, Marketing, mass customization, mcle, media, Meeting, Microsoft, Microsoft Outlook, Mobile device, new media, Office, old media, online TV, outside counsel, outsourcing, PCLaw, PDA/SMARTPHONE, PDF, Podcast, practice management, records, research, review, rocketmatter, SaaS, search, security, SEO, software, startup, storage, tablet pc, technology, Telephony & Voice Over IP, the business of law, tips, tools, twitter, Video, web 2.0, website, websites, Westlaw, Word, work, youtube
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Did you hear? Apple released a new product!

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via feedproxy.google.com

This is where I would normally shoot down the product identified in the title of this post, but I have a confession to make: when it comes to the iPad 2 I’m one of the pod people .. so to speak. Yeah, I’m a rabid fanboy. So while there has been plenty of noise this past week – both pro and con – about the iPad 2, I am most convinced by articles like this one on Techcrunch written by people who were already fans of the first iPad. Why? Because they were the ones most likely to be disappointed if the product fell short of the hype. So what was the author’s take in this case? Let’s put it this way: I’m getting one in white and one in traditional silver/black. They should be here at the end of next week. Then I’ll write my own review.

Posted via email from practice (redux)

06

03 2011


by practicehacker
posted in Apple, apps, Article, business, collaborative tools, comments, community, cool stuff, current-events, disruptive technology, iPad, iPad Apps, litigation, Mac, media, Mobile device, new media, practice, Steve Jobs, tablet, technology, the business of law, tips, tools, Video
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Small Business using Social Media?

… actually it depends who you ask.

15

02 2011


by practicehacker
posted in analytics, Article, business, buzz, chart, collaborative tools, comments, community, cool stuff, current-events, disruptive technology, facebook, friend connect, Gmail, Google, graph, knowledge management, law, manager, Marketing, mashable, media, new media, practice, practice management, social graph, social media, social media tools, social networking, technology, the business of law, tips, tools, twitter, unbundling
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Use Your Phone # via Google Voice for $20

You know about Google Voice, right? You use it … or you know someone who does .. or you’ve heard of it. It’s the system that allows anybody, or any company, sound professional and do dozens of things with telephone calls that they never thought they could. All for the low low price of $0.00.

Nice.

But until recently you also had to use one of Google’s phone #’s or forward your own # to it, all of which tied you back into AT&T or whoever and just made the whole exercise seem that must less valuable.

Well now it looks like Google is going to let you port your number over to their service for about $20 and enjoy all the features of the system without letting your Clients or anyone else know about the switch.

It’s a sole-practitioner’s best friend. But don’t take my word for it, check out Google Voice or read the full post on TechCrunch

20

01 2011


by practicehacker
posted in collaborative tools, competition, cool stuff, disruptive technology, free, Google, google voice, law office, new media, practice management, technology, Telephony & Voice Over IP, tips, tools
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