Archive for the ‘twitter’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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This is you. This is you on Twitter. Any Questions?

What would I look like if I were a Tweet

 

14

09 2011


by practicehacker
posted in infographic, Klout, OneForty, practice, practice management, slideshare, social networking, technology, the business of law, tips, tools, Tweeteffect, Twifluence, Twitalyzer, Twitoaster, twitter
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GrexIt Take 2

Grexit

A few weeks ago I posted a video introduction to knowledge-management application GrexIt.

Many people apparently want to know more, so here is a synopsis of what this free tool can do. GrexIt works on the principal that vital information is often custom-crafted for each client, then buried in client communications. The application attempts to solve the problem by breaking down your messages by phrase, concept, even by word, then reorganizes those elements into a searchable knowledge-base. GrexIt’s performance has been documented by such high-profile blogs as GigaOm, TheNextWeb, and ReadWriteWeb. Check it out yourself and let me know if you like GrexIt.

Posted via email from practice (redux)

13

06 2011


by practicehacker
posted in beta, Blogging, business, collaborative tools, community, cool stuff, crowdsourcing, current-events, disruptive technology, e-mail, enterprise, free, jobs, judiciary, knowledge management, law, law office, legal marketplace, legal research, management, OCR, practice, realtime, SaaS, search, social networking, software, startup, storage, tags, technology, the business of law, tips, tools, twitter, website, widget, wiki
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Baby Steps to Social Media Awareness

Media_httpwwwsociable_kdurn
via sociablelawyer.org

With his breakthrough performance in Kindergarten Cop, Arnold showed us why he would someday be Governor of California and leader of the free-world. Or whatever. In the meantime, here are some “baby steps” (get it, Kindergarten, baby steps?) to using social media in your practice, courtesy of Sociable Lawyer.

1. Do not be afraid to try
2. Share your knowledge
3. Polish your online rep
4. Strength in numbers

Posted via email from practice (redux)

 

11

06 2011


by practicehacker
posted in collaborative tools, community, conduct, crowdsourcing, de.licio.us, facebook, friend connect, friendfeed, Gmail, Google, google buzz, google docs, Google Places, google wave, knowledge management, law, law office, Lifehacker, linkedin, lists, martindale-hubbell connected, mashable, myspace, practice management, social graph, social media, social media tools, social networking, technology, the business of law, tips, tools, twitter, Wisdom of Crowds, youtube
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Uh … Twitter? WTF?

Twitter

The single biggest complaint that I hear from people who don’t use Twitter is that it’s all about pointless crap that fills people’s days. Well nobody is interested in what I had for breakfast so that’s not what I tweet about. And anyone who does write about garbage like that is soon in my rear view mirror.

I use Twitter to learn about developments in technology and to discuss the law.  In other words: things that matter to me and to the way I make my living (practicing law). I always assumed that these rules go for everyone; that all Twitter users more or less demand high-quality, relevant content or else.

This infographic illustrates that most of the time only about 1 in 10 Twitter users pays attention to messages, while 90% of the messages come from the biggest companies in the world (i.e. Ford, Proctor & Gamble, etc.).  The graphic also tells us that Twitter is big with 20-something women of Latin-American descent, is huge in South America, and is dominated by a tweeting elite of celebrities and brand-hawking marketers.

Pretty soon the “little social network that could” is going to look a lot like that other medium that has come to be dominated by big companies: Television. And at that point I intend to simply turn in my Twitter account. In any case, it looks like Twitter will have a long, long way to go before it’s actually useful to professionals like me.

Posted via email from practice (redux)

08

06 2011


by practicehacker
posted in Blogging, business, collaborative tools, community, cool stuff, disruptive technology, Klout, mashable, OneForty, practice, social graph, social media, social media tools, social networking, tags, technology, the business of law, Tweeteffect, Twifluence, Twitalyzer, Twitoaster, twitter
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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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