Archive for the ‘radical transparency’Category

Seriously, JD Supra?

Jd_supra

I like JD Supra and admire the cojones with which it shot out of the starting gate 3 years ago. I’ve used it myself and blogged about the experience while waiting for the promised traffic to materialize. I was still waiting when my “free look” expired a year later and JD Supra informed me that if I wanted to keep my profile, documents, etc. I’d have to pay. In one e-mail JD Supra went from Law 2.0 superstar to paid lawyer directory. Fair enough. If JD Supra wants to get paid like a vendor, I get to evaluate their services as a vendor. Let’s see, the company claims that it can

  • promote my firm to prospects
  • connect me with the prospects
  • earn higher search-rank for me
  • earn higher profile on LinkedIn

Can it really do any of these things? Who knows? I spent 40 minutes yesterday talking with a salesperson who couldn’t answer that question or explain why he was calling a 5-person firm to sell a big-firm document posting service. Can’t blame him: there is no explanation.

The fact is JD Supra should be paying for high-quality content, not the other way around. The more content, members, and activity it accumulates the more of a network effect it generates, the higher its search rank, and the more leverage it has to value itself in the inevitable acquisition (Lexis, Westlaw, whoever). So far everything is coming up JD Supra. What about its members? The company promises to put them in front of prospects. But how does it know who and where my prospective clients are? Presumably JD Supra assumes that putting me in the “bankruptcy” category in the “Illinois” bucket on their directory is all the customization I need.

Seriously, JD Supra? Why would you insult my intelligence like that? Your service should cost $0, you should be paying for my content, and LinkedIn is the Dane Cook of social networks. And don’t call me back until you are prepared to treat my content as valuable or you manage to get a grip on reality. Whichever happens first. Posted via email from practice (redux)

14

06 2011


by practicehacker
posted in practice, radical transparency, social graph, social media, social media tools, social networking, startup, tags, technology, the business of law, tools
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Client Papers – Secure Sharing for Lawyers

Client Papers

I was recently contacted by Dan Decker, COO of Client Papers, which provides a simple and inexpensive online document repository for secure sharing of documents.

According to Dan, as a sole practitioner and owner of a software company he was disappointed with available solutions for document sharing. In particular Dan says that he was after the elusive simple, stand-alone, file sharing solution. When he couldn’t find one he did what all good entrepreneurs do – he built it. The result is Client Papers.

The site is as simple as they come, has only 3 pricing levels, and tops out at less than $50/mo. for unlimited storage, attorney and staff users, and client users.

Bonus: the first 20 readers who sign up and mention Practicehacker get an additional 2 months for free. Posted via email from practice (redux)

10

06 2011


by practicehacker
posted in business, chart, collaborative tools, community, current-events, disruptive technology, document automation, document exchange, e-discovery, enterprise, ESI, google docs, knowledge management, law, law office, practice, practice management, radical transparency, records, remote, the business of law, unbundling, web 2.0, website, websites
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Pwned! Google just bought your future!

"We Didn't See This One Coming"

While the Precogs could not be reached for comment, according to this story on TheNextWeb Google has acquired Recorded Future – a company that, yes, predicts the future. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Posted via web from practice (redux)

04

05 2010


by practicehacker
posted in collaborative tools, current-events, Google, knowledge management, lifestreaming, media, new media, radical transparency, realtime, records, search, tags, technology, tips, tools, websites, Wisdom of Crowds
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Glympse

 This Redmond-based startup is introducing its location-based  social sharing service  for the iPhone, Android, and Windows Mobile, allowing friends to see their location on any Internet-connected device. Users customize who can see them and their posts, whether that is a single person, a group, or everyone they add on Facebook, Twitter, et al. Read the full story on Read/Write/Web.
 
Sent from my iPhone
Posted via email from practice (redux)

16

04 2010


by practicehacker
posted in android, apps, Article, beta, buzz, collaborative tools, community, cool stuff, current-events, disruptive technology, facebook, Foursquare, free, Glympse, iPhone, iPhone Apps, location-based, mobile, Mobile device, radical transparency, remote, RWW, social networking, Telephony & Voice Over IP, twitter
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Sweet Twitter Visualizations (Seriously)

Below find one of 4 visualizations of Twitter influence and interaction put forth by the Harvard Business Review (HBR).  Props to Steve Rubel for this post and HBR for doing all the work. In case you’re wondering what this all means …. I don’t know yet. But I do know what it’s better to have information than not, and the unexamined Twitter feed is not worth reading. So there you go.

via blogs.hbr.org

Posted via web from practice (redux)

25

02 2010


by practicehacker
posted in Blogging, business, collaborative tools, community, cool stuff, crowdsourcing, current-events, disruptive technology, knowledge management, lifestreaming, lists, media, microblogging, new media, Posterous, practice, practice management, radical transparency, realtime, social graph, social media, social media tools, social networking, technology, tips, tools, 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 aggregator, business, current-events, disruptive technology, legal marketplace, lists, Marketing, 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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