For law firms seeking to market their practice through social media and search engine optimization (SEO), creating a YouTube channel is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get started.

Brief YouTube videos are sort of like mini-commercials for your firm– without the $50,000 price tag. They allow you to create a personal and visual connection with potential clients as you show off your personality, expertise or educate the public on a particular area of law.

Similarly, YouTube videos can also help with your SEO campaign, as Google continues to add more videos directly above the regular search results. And while having YouTube videos may not directly bring in clients, seeing your video next to a pay-per-click ad or a  few organic search listings helps further dominate the page and reinforce your branding efforts.

So How Do I Get Started?

Setting up a YouTube channel for your law firm is easy and requires approximately 10 minutes of your time.  To get started, go to the YouTube homepage and click “Sign Up” in the upper right hand corner, as the arrow shows below:

You will then be taken to a page where it asks you to create a username and password for the account.  Fill out the prompts as directed and confirm your registration via email when you are done.

The link to confirm your registration via email will take you back to the main page, where you can then click on your username at the top right hand side of the page.  You should end up at the page below that gives you the option to click the “Edit Channel” button:

Click on the “Edit Channel” button and you’ll  be taken to a page that allows you to enter some vital  information about your firm.

Optimize Your Page Wisely

When entering a title and description for your firm, remember to keep good SEO practices in mind.  The keywords you use in this section will determine how you are found by clients or by search engines that display videos before their rankings. 

Therefore, use the most specific and keyword rich description as humanly possible.  If you’re not sure what I mean by this, see the example i’ve created below:

In addition to optimizing videos, you can also use the links on the left to organize the placement of your videos or customize the background colors on the channel page itself.   

When you’re finally done customizing, save the information and start uploading videos by clicking the yellow “upload” button at the top right side of the page. 

It’s really that easy!   Now relax, have fun and start creating videos as part of your overall Internet marketing strategy.

Online Business Manager and law firm marketing expert, Laura Lee Sparks, is one of the most authoritative and well respected voices on attorney outsourcing, legal marketing and being a virtual assistant for lawyers on the web.  Her advice and legal marketing campaigns have helped lawyers reach and surpass the million-dollar mark in their businesses numerous times thanks to her straight-forward advice and ability to make legal marketing principles easy to understand and implement.  For further information on lawyer outsourcing programs or to contact Laura Lee directly, please email help@legalmarketingmaven.com

Attorney Outsourcing: How To Get Started

The  first step you should take when looking to outsource is to really determine what you are spending your time doing. I suggest keeping a list of everything you do for a week and how much time you spend doing it. At the end of the week, make three columns:

Things Only “I” Can Do
Things I Do NOT Enjoy
Things I LOVE

Next, Put a checkmark next to each item in the applicable category. Be very careful selecting the “Things Only “I” Can Do” category!  Is that really true?

Next evaluate your list, the only things you REALLY have to be doing are those things only you can do. Of course, I usually recommend continuing to do the things you LOVE to do, IF it is not a huge time zapper.

Once you have the list of things you can let go of, it’s time to start determining the type of vendor you need to outsource to.

Here is a short list of some items that I see attorneys (and other small businesses) commonly outsource:

• Marketing – Creating Direct Mail Pieces, Creating Display Ads, Creating Monthly Newsletters, Setting Up Seminars, Handling Distribution of Weekly Ezines or Email
• Admin Support: Keeper of the Gate, Email Management, Calendaring, Client Intake, Travel Arrangements, CLE Management, negotiation with Vendors.
• Paralegal Support: Drafting Documents, Research, Transcription
• Bookkeeping
• Website Development & Maintenance
• Graphic Design
  
• Social Media Management
• Blog Management

In Part II, we’ll talk about each of these categories and how to find the best vendor to outsource to.

Hint – it’s NOT finding a Virtual Assistant who can do it all!

Online Business Manager and law firm marketing expert, Laura Lee Sparks, is one of the most authoritative and well respected voices on attorney outsourcing, legal marketing and being a virtual assistant for lawyers on the web.  Her advice and legal marketing campaigns have helped lawyers reach and surpass the million-dollar mark in their businesses numerous times thanks to her straight-forward advice and ability to make legal marketing principles easy to understand and implement.  For further information on lawyer outsourcing programs or to contact Laura Lee directly, please email help@legalmarketingmaven.com

The Attorney Marketing Blog has brought to our attention a free search engine marketing tool capable of fueling the SEO campaigns of big and small law firms alike.  Apparently, the legal marketing site Justia.com and Cornell University have joined forces in allowing firms to place a free business listing on their already branded directories.  

So what does that mean for you?  Well, as the Attorney Marketing Blog points out, you’ll grab more (and higher listings) in Google from these profile pages.  And, if you’re just starting in the world of search engine optimization, your site will receive a tremendous boost from being linked into such a heavily trafficked site.

However, there are few tricks to making these listings work in your favor, so be sure to check out the copywriting/SEO tips at the bottom of the article.  Considering the listing is FREE, I recommend you do what it takes and leverage this marketing gift to the max.

Online Business Manager and law firm marketing expert, Laura Lee Sparks, is one of the most authoritative and well respected voices on attorney outsourcing, legal marketing and virtual assisting for lawyers on the web.  Her advice and legal marketing campaigns have helped lawyers reach and surpass the million-dollar mark in their businesses numerous times thanks to her straight-forward advice and ability to make legal marketing principles easy to understand and implement.  For further information on lawyer outsourcing programs or to contact Laura Lee directly, please email help@legalmarketingmaven.com

A monthly newsletter from a law firm is more than fluff; rather, a newsletter is a way to engage and communicate with your clients to create trust, relationships and eventually referrals down the road.  If you already have a monthly newsletter and aren’t reaping the fruit listed above, chances are the publication needs some help.

The key to understanding what makes up a good newsletter is to understand why you need one in the first place.  To keep things simple, a newsletter gives the people of the firm a chance to showcase their personalities and expertise.  By writing a small article each month, lawyers can personally show prospective clients that they are not “ambulance chasers” or just another name in the phonebook, but rather a public servant that really cares about his or her clients.

Oddly enough, most firms I encounter think publishing a list of recent verdicts and settlements, attorney bios or summaries of high profile court decisions constitutes a newsletter.  But think about it- what exactly does that information do for your clients?  Nothing if you ask me. The majority of people signed up (or thinking of signing up with the firm) don’t care about the latest decision out of the 9th Circuit, nor do they care to see pictures of you and your buddies golfing while they are heartbroken and going through a bitter divorce or custody battle.  Similarly, the art of just throwing words on a page to take up space shows the client that you value appearances and the “look” of engagement more than the actual issues affecting their lives.

But, if you connect with clients where they are by using stories, tips, answers to frequently asked questions and things they can relate to, they will feel directly engaged with you and the firm.  This is so important when you think about the way clients call and want to speak with you on a monthly or weekly basis just to know you are “still there”.  You probably don’t have the time to take these calls, which irritates the client, but all they are looking for is that assurance that you care about their case and what happens to them.   The newsletter, then, can be used as a broad platform to explain that you really do care, while answering those burning questions that new clients may have.

If you still aren’t quite sure how to build relationships and trust through a newsletter, check out the December issue from the Ben Glass Law Firm. Notice how the firm starts with an educational piece about something that matters to their clients, namely how chiropractors are scamming PI victims and impacting their bottom line at settlement.  Then notice how they publically answer letters and recognize local business people to keep that level of trust and involvement going.  They touch on topics that affect and confuse average people, such as disability insurance and the fine print behind rebates and other consumer topics.  The information is 100% client focused rather than being a soapbox for “the big, fancy rich lawyers that can’t relate to me anyway.”

And this gesture of building relationships goes along way.  Word of mouth is clearly one of the cheapest forms of marketing, but the returns are astronomical.  Learn how to make word of mouth marketing work for you and you’ll be in business forever.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how a satisfied client that felt engaged and kept in the loop through the legal process will refer friends and family for life.  Similarly, a happy client will go out of their way to speak to someone that was hurt, or involved in a custody dispute or looking to draft a will to give out your number and pre-sell that person on your services.

Realistically though, isn’t it the ultimate goal of any firm to generate clients based on referrals, which do not cost a dime in advertising or marketing?  If you’ve answered  ‘yes’, then take the time  to utilize this powerful marketing tool right at your fingertips and begin to connect with clients in their own space.  Show them that you really do care what happens to their children, their 401k and the town in which they live by starting a newsletter and building relationships for true ROI (Return on Investment).

Online Business Manager and law firm marketing expert, Laura Lee Sparks, is one of the most authoritative and well respected voices on attorney outsourcing, legal marketing and virtual assisting for lawyers on the web.  Her advice and legal marketing campaigns have helped lawyers reach and surpass the million-dollar mark in their businesses numerous times thanks to her straight-forward advice and ability to make legal marketing principles easy to understand and implement.  For further information on lawyer outsourcing programs or to contact Laura Lee directly, please email help@legalmarketingmaven.com

Do you want to explode your legal marketing efforts and show up on the first page of Google without the help of an SEO firm or an expensive Ad Words campaign?  Fortunately, that’s possible with the help of a separate search engine known as Google Maps.  Google Maps is a free, quick and easy way to ensure your law practice can be found by local clients by simply setting up an optimized account.

What is Google Maps, aka Local Search?

Local search is a special algorithm (or search method) that helps the searcher (or your potential client) find more relevant results closer to home.  The following screen shot of the search “divorce attorney, Moorestown, NJ” will illustrate what I mean by this:

As you can see by the image, there are 10 law firms listed next to a map at the top of the page.  You’ll also notice these listings are well above firms that spend thousands of dollars a year on SEO and PPC campaigns for better search rankings.   This happened because the client “googled” a search term + a specific location or zip code and the local search engine kicked in to trump the regular search results.

As mentioned before, Google does this to provide more relevant results for those that look for goods and services in their immediate area.  If people weren’t searching this way, Google wouldn’t have created local search.  Therefore, by simply recognizing this trend and setting up an account, your firm can snag the best clients on a shoe-string marketing budget.

How to Get Your Law Practice Set Up on Google Maps

Setting up your law practice on Google Maps only requires 15 minutes of undivided attention and access to a few good videos or pictures to upload with your listing.  To get started, you’ll have to create an account with Google’s Local Business Center (www.google.com/local/add).   Fill out your personal information and follow the instructions given.  When you’ve successfully completed this step, you can then choose “add a new listing” on the following page.

From there, you will be taken to a screen asking for general business information and a brief description of the company.  Now, before you rush through and put a blanket statement such as “Florida family law practice” in the description, remember this is a search engine similar to regular Google search.  Therefore, you must use as much optimized content as possible if you want to show up above the other listings.  Going on the example above, a better way to set up your description would be, “ABC Company is a Florida (FL) family law firm specializing in divorce, wills, estates, prenups and child support cases”.

Get Personal and Showcase Your Firm

The next screen will bring you to a more personal page where you can add the firm’s hours or acceptable payment methods, in addition to pictures, YouTube videos and a personal message from the firm.  It’s important that you take the time to utilize each of these optional areas, as Google is essentially giving you the chance to add some personality to a generic listing. Similarly, it’s a known fact that seeing pictures of the building, the staff, or maybe a video of a key attorney saying a word or two about the firm can help a client overcome the fear of calling an attorney in the first place.

This page also gives you the opportunity to add 5-7 categories in which your business qualifies.  Start by typing in the words “lawyer” or “attorney” into the blank field and see what specific categories populate.  Then choose among the drop down list the categories that best describe your law practice.   Always be sure to utilize every category possible, as this too can determine when and how your firm is shown in the local search results.

Validate Your Listing

The final step in setting up Google Maps is to validate the listing.  The following screen will give two options on how to do this: 1) an automated system can call the main phone line ask for a password or 2) Google will mail a postcard within 2-3 weeks with a password to confirm the listing.  The second option will be necessary for those firms that bounce their calls to a switchboard or a pre-recorded message, as a live response must be given with the phone option.  But whichever option you choose, follow the instructions and confirm the listing to complete the set up process.

Congratulations! You Have Now Mastered Local Search

Now that you’ve mastered Google Maps, go ahead and try your hand with Yahoo and MSN local.  The larger your web presence is in this area, the more clients you will draw in for the firm.  And as a final warning, if the listing is not optimized correctly or your firm is entering a crowded industry, it may take some time before your listing shows up near the top of the map.  Remember, at the end of the day Google Maps is just another search engine, in which time and keyword popularity will always dictate who holds the top spot on the first page.

Online Business Manager and law firm marketing expert, Laura Lee Sparks, is one of the most authoritative and well respected voices on attorney outsourcing, legal marketing and virtual assisting for lawyers on the web.  Her advice and legal marketing campaigns have helped lawyers reach and surpass the million-dollar mark in their businesses numerous times thanks to her straight-forward advice and ability to make legal marketing principles easy to understand and implement.  For further information on lawyer outsourcing programs or to contact Laura Lee directly, please email help@legalmarketingmaven.com