Here is tip that will increase your Google relevance and will cost you absolutely nothing.  It starts with these 3 steps:

• Tweet
• Like (Facebook)
• Comment

To begin, you’ll develop a network of colleagues, peers, and friends who all agree to promote each other by Tweeting, Liking and Commenting on each other’s blogs and videos.  When you are planning to post a blog or video, let your group know to be expecting it so they can read and respond.

Let’s say your financial advisor Mary has 200 followers; John, one of your best clients has 4,000; CPA Sam has 500 and insurance broker Sue has 6,000 followers.  If each of them Tweets, Likes and Comments on your post; you have just been placed in front of almost 11,000 people with no extra work and for free!

As Google’s algorithms do their complicated and scientific thing, key factors in ranking include key words and reviews.  Those Tweets, Likes and Comments help you increase your relevancy and rankings and cost you absolutely nothing!

To recap, develop a network of people who will Tweet, Like and Comment on your blog content (and you will do the same for them) in order to increase rankings in Google searches.  Doing those small things will translate into higher rankings, more visibility and more business.
 
 
 
 

Free, Low-Cost and NEW Marketing Strategies to Increase Leads, Referrals and Publicity for Your Law Firm

I’ll say right off the bat that our team invests a TON of money each year staying on top of data and learning the most effective ways to market your firm online–and off.

There have been a number of BIG changes this year that can really impact the amount, and quality of traffic, coming to your law firm site.  These methods are simple, CHEAP (…and in some cases FREE), and right now are barely being used by your competition.

I invite you to join me on September 22nd and come hear what they are.   Here’s a quick sneak peak of some things I’ll cover:

•    Cheap and low cost marketing campaigns that are working NOW and how you can implement them in your firm.
•    The 3 R’s of relationship-based marketing and how doing these things on a regular, consistent basis will increase your leads, referrals and live speaking opportunities by up to 90%!
•    The new “online marketing secret weapon” that grabs immediate attention and converts like CRAZY, which hardly anyone (including your competition!) knows about.
•    Insider PR secrets to getting free publicity and regular news coverage for your law firm–without spending 6 (or even 5!) figures on a PR agency.
•    How to streamline and simplify your marketing efforts so you are “putting butts in seats” without having to take your focus away from legal work or the things that make you the most money.
•    Why it’s so important to be posting regular, optimized content on your website–and short-cuts to help you do this if you’re pressed for time.
•     ….and more!

I guarantee you will find this webinar to be content rich, educational and that you will pick up a handful of strategies that you can implement immediately in your firm– no matter what practice area you are in.

At the very end of the call, you will also have the opportunity to learn about Legal Marketing Maven’s Done-For-You monthly marketing package for estate and elder law attorneys.  This is a comprehensive solution for busy small and solo attorneys who want RESULTS without a huge time or financial investment. At the request of many, we will also SHOW you some of the past materials we have created.

There is no obligation to purchase this package and it’s not for everyone either–so please feel free to join us for the fr’ee training and stay on to hear more about the program if you’re interested.

If you’re not, simply hang up after the lesson.  No pressure, no hassles,
no never-ending sales pitches. That’s our promise to you.

So are you ready to join us?

Just go to this page and enter your name and email.  This will allow us
to send the private call-in number and webinar link directly to your inbox
upon successful registration.

See you then!

Laura Lee

And yes, social media CAN be just that.  However, it is also much more importantly the new media way of marketing.  People are no longer turning
to the yellow pages or ads run in newspapers and magazines when they
are looking for a service provider.  Instead they are going to their network,
their “social network”.  And YOU need to be there!

The question then becomes about how you show up once you are there.

I see a lot of lawyers making what I consider to be three huge mistakes.

• Setting up an RSS feed ONLY and just feeding the content from their blog onto their social media profile.  While this can be good for SEO, it is not doing much to build you a following of local prospects and leads.  Nor does it usually generate any interaction.
• Building relationships with other lawyers but neglecting looking for prospects and potential referral sources in their own back yards to build relationships with that will turn into real ROI for the time they are investing in “new media” marketing.
• Not realizing that social media contacts (fans, followers, connections) are worth FAR less than email and direct mail contacts. And failing to set up systems by which they *leverage* social media to build these much more valuable lists.

Next week I am hosting a teleconference and will be interviewing Nate Hagerty, who is helping CPA’s do just that, systematically use social media to get local clients from social media into the doors of their practices.

If you want to learn more about how you can use this “new media” for marketing your business and not have it suck up tons of your precious time without any ROI.  Join us!

It’s a free call, and we will send a replay but only to those that register
http://www.lawyersocialmedia.com

To your success & productivity!

Laura Lee

An Easy Screen Share Solution

There are many times that the need arises to share your screen, with a colleague, client, team member, family member, the list goes on. I’ve been working in the virtual space a long time, and have used just about all of the technologies available.

This one is a favorite. Doesn’t have a bunch of bells and whistles at the free level, but most of the time, you don’t need all of the bells of the whistles of the expensive paid for platforms unless you are doing trainings and things of that nature.

So my first gift to you is a free platform for those times you just need to quickly let someone see something or need to someone to share something with you:

https://join.me/

Here is what the website says about the tool:

Get your people together, without actually getting them together. Just instantly share your screen so everybody’s on the same page. No need for a plane, a projector or a sandwich platter. Just gather at join.me.

So what is join.me exactly? It’s an impromptu meeting space that happens wherever, whenever. It’s getting a second or third pair of eyes on your presentation from across the hall or across the continent. It’s sharing your screen instantly with anyone or everyone to get stuff done, quickly.

It’s join.me, the last two words in an invitation to collaborate, meet, train, demo or show-off.

• screen sharing
• chat
• file transfer
• remote control

Enjoy the resource and let me know how it makes your work/life easier! I really do enjoy hearing from you.

Are you looking for a resource for something in particular? Let me know that too, I probably know of something and if I don’t I have a network that will definitely have recommendations!

Look for your next gift in a few days!

Marketing is and always has been about finding people who need you.  The question is, how do you get found? The answer has changed quite a bit over the last several years.  Gone are the days when people searched for you in the yellow pages (No matter what the yellow pages ad salesman tells you!).

Instead, today’s consumer is looking for you online. They are seeking you out in search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Therefore, it becomes clear that if you don’t have an active, consistent, and relevant online marketing strategy you are losing business.

Yet the question remains, “How does all this work?”

Simply put, Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines have advanced algorithms for which they determine which websites are the most appropriate based on the words typed into their search bar.  These algorithms are secret and constantly evolving. However, based on practical experience and search engine optimization (SEO) experimentation it is fair to state that they are also based on simple human logic.  In simple terms, this logic is based on content relevancy and how many other quality websites link back to you.

So with that said, here are three easy ways to give the algorithms what they want and ensure you are found when customers come looking for your services:

Content

Back in the day, people who called themselves SEO experts would cram websites full of popular but irrelevant keywords. The belief was that if you put lots of keywords on your site and you’d zoom to number 1 in Google.  But Google quickly got wind of these “black-hat” techniques and changed their algorithm.

Today search engines are constantly changing the game as far as how websites rank to avoid people taking advantage of the system, but one thing remains the same – you must have quality, optimized, content that will engage your readers.  And lots of it! It is critical that you post to your blog on a consistent basis and frequently – at least once per week.

That’s simply because the search engines value fresh content optimized with one or two quality keywords that naturally flow within the text.  And how do you know which keywords people are searching for?  We recommend trying your hand at Google’s free keyword tool found at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Takeaway Tip – Post to your blog at least once per week.  Make sure that you write articles that provide information that your potential clients are seeking and include targeted keywords so the search engines can find it and rank it appropriately.

Local Directories

Local results are becoming more and more common in online searches, and will continue to grow as a way that clients seek local services.  If you’re not familiar with local search, do a quick experiment in Google by typing in “estate planning lawyer near (your city)”.  You’ll notice results that link to a map above the regular search results.  These “local” results are generated by a different algorithm as the organic (or regular) results, as they seek to provide users with service providers near their desired location.

A quick way to get yourself included in such local search is to visit getlisted.org.  That will take you through signing up for several well-established data sources for local businesses like Google Local, Yelp, Bing, and Yahoo Local.  And don’t forget to optimize your profiles as well, as your keywords will dictate how you are found by local consumers.

Takeaway Tip – Go to getlisted.org and list your business in the most popular local search directors and do research to find niche directories.

Article Marketing

Article marketing is yet another way to get your information out to hungry consumers.  Not only is this a great way to gain positive public exposure, but it is a smart way to improve your search engine rankings.  When done properly, articles you post on syndicated article sites become “link bait” for other sites.  They also give you quality “link-backs” to your site—which leads Google, Yahoo or other search engines to believe your site is “popular” among consumers.  Think of links on your articles as little steps toward that number one ranking in Google!

The first thing you should do, even before you write the first word of your first article, is to do keyword research to determine what your potential clients are searching for.  Keyword research is the practice of balancing the popularity of a keyword or search phrase against the competitiveness of the keyword phrase. You certainly wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time and money targeting keywords and phrases that no one is likely to use in a search. Likewise, if 80 million plus results come up when you search for your keyword phrase you may have a difficult time getting ranked for that competitive of a keyword. So it is important to find the right combination of popularity and competitiveness.

Once you determine what keywords you should be using to allow your prospective clients to find you, begin writing articles that target such keywords– and lots of them.  You should be writing at least one article per week.  If you aren’t able to devote that much time to writing, it is possible to outsource this. (If you’re an estate planning attorney, a good outsourcing resource to check out is http://legalmarketingmaven.com/services-offered/dfy )

Then once you have quality, keyword rich articles, it is time to submit them.  Look for article submission sites or article directories that receive a high volume of traffic and are considered authority sites by search engines.  Submitting to these sites will result in lots of free traffic to your site.

Finally, there is one more step to ensuring your site ranks well in the search engines and that’s being consistent with your search engine optimization strategy.   The steps above aren’t something you do once and never do again.  Instead, you must be working on your SEO strategy weekly to ensure your site ranks on page one (or close to it) when prospects come calling.

If you aren’t sure how to implement a consistent SEO strategy for your law firm (meaning you know what you NEED to do but aren’t sure where to start), I invite you to join the Legal Marketing Maven team for a free training call on 11/19 at 2 pm EST where we’ll walk you step-by-step through the process of optimizing your site. We’ll also leave plenty of time for Q&A so if you have specific questions on keyword research, getting more link backs, how to better optimize your on-page content, etc. we can answer them on the spot.

To attend, simply fill out the form on the right side of the page at EasySEOforLawyers.com. Again, there is no obligation or fee to attend this call—just free training to help you boost your site’s rankings just in time for the New Year!

If you’re not familiar with tagging, this feature basically allows anyone to upload a picture of you and attach it to the “photo” section of your page.    As you can imagine, this can cause a number of problems for lawyers, as pictures showing you in unprofessional or even just private situations can easily make their way on to the web (not to mention, some lawyers have lost their JOBS over pictures tagged on Facebook!).

So to ensure the only photos on your facebook page are the ones you authorize, use the following steps to disable the tagging feature for good:

1.    Go back to your profile page.
2.    Click on the top right “Account” link.
3.    A pull down menu will appear. Locate the “Privacy Settings” on this list and click on it.
4.    Then click on “Applications and Websites”
5.    Now, to the right of the “What your friends can share about you” option, is a “Edit Settings” button. Click on that.
6.    Find the checkbox next to the “Photos and videos of me” and UNcheck it.
7.    Save Changes.

Enjoy!

Well, that isn’t surprising. According to the American Bar Association there is one attorney for every 300 people in the United States and 1 for every 450 people in Canada.

Yikes! So, how does an attorney stand out in this very large and ever-expanding crowd? You need to become the expert in your community in the niche that your serve.

How you become this is through a combination of efforts– many which are quite affordable (sometimes f’ree) but often overlooked. Once such great tool is the development and implementation of a public relations strategy.

Inside of the public relations strategy you will have many tasks but the goal is to demonstrate yourself as an expert in your field to increase your presence in your industry and attract new business. The question is…how do you accomplish this? Simply put you must inform the public (your client base) and referral sources of the services you provide and how you are different from the thousands of other attorneys in your community. And there’s no better way to do that than being quoted and identified as an expert in the media. Being interviewed on television, in your local newspaper or other publication can vastly increase your credibility.

So, how do you gain this type of exposure?

One of the best ways is to create relationships with reporters and become their ‘go-to’ source for stories or news broadcast reports. You have to reach out to reporters and prove to them that you have expertise but if you make the right connection it can result in huge rewards. But, building this type of relationship takes work. A great way to start building this relationship is to help them do their job! They are constantly looking for ideas for stories. Be sure to keep an eye out for trends or news where you can showcase your expertise that would also be interesting to the public. Pitch the story idea to them in a complete package so they can easily pick it up and make it news.

Here’s three other ways to increase your chances of getting picked up by the press:

-Spend just as much time on your “pitch letter” as you do on your press release! In most cases, it’s the pitch letter that opens the door for f’ree publicity. The press release is often a secondary tool in this process.

-Recognize the media’s interest is to cover timely stories– not just to provide free advertising to any small business owner that wants it Before you pitch, think “is this something I would care to read if I saw it in the paper about another local business in town?” If the answer is no, go back to the drawing table.

-Tie into holidays and national observances when possible. These “hooks” dramatically increase your chances of getting covered as they automatically provide you with a timely platform when pitching the press.

Image above is of one of our private clients Heather Chubb on being interviewed on her local morning television show. If you pitch the right story at the right time you may find yourself sitting in a chair during a news broadcast showcasing your skills and abilities.

For more info about how to build these relationships, attend the workshop called, “Behind the Scenes Secrets of Great Legal PR Campaigns That You or Your Team Can Implement Now” that is going to be held on October 13th at 12pm PT/ 3pm ET. Go here to register.

The site is http://www.easyprompter.com and it’s just that—a web-based teleprompter that rolls a script across the screen as you record videos online.

With this tool, there’s no more stumbling for words or trying to figure out what to say next as you literally copy and paste your script onto their site, choose a comfortable font size, set the speed you want the words to scroll and start talking.

You can even insert pause brackets which physically stop the scroll for one second to remind you to slow down and take a natural break when you need to.

Not to mention, you won’t have the noise distraction of someone trying to hold a paper in front of your face or give away the fact that you’re reading a script by continually looking away from the camera.

It’s President Obama eloquence on a shoe-string budget.

I’m loving this tool and if you’re a lawyer hesitating to record videos, I know you’ll love it too.

But don’t just take my word for it, go over and try it and let me know what you think.  I’ll tackle WHY you should be doing videos as part of your law firm marketing strategy anyway in next week’s post.

Since making the announcement of the relaunch of Legal Marketing Maven and the awesome team I have put in place, I have been overwhelmed at the response from attorneys across my networks who are interested in working with us or who want to help us by referring business.

The important lesson here, it is important to nurture your list, and your relationships all the time, no matter what!

I confess, other than this blog and social media, I haven’t been PERFECT at this but I have been CONSISTENT with it and because of that, my calendar is full of phone conferences with attorneys and other service providers that would like to work with us going forward or simply want to reconnect to see how we can serve each other.

During these conversations, something else became clear to me as it should be for you.  Not everyone is going to be a perfect fit to be your client, and there are a multitude of reasons that can contribute to that.  Sometimes, it is simply timing and you should always look for a way to bring value to those that are in your tribe.

Because of this, and because there have been so many that do want to stay more closely connected to me and my team, I have decided to set up a F*R*E*E private forum for attorneys and service providers, to share resources, ideas and conversation – introducing LM2 Connections.

If you would like to join this private forum there are some basic guidelines you must meet:

1.  You must be an attorney (law students will be considered email us for more info)

2.  You must have a website where this is verifiable.

3.  You must have a phone number where this is verifiable.

All membership requests will be subject to our approval.

To apply, simply email help@legalmarketingmaven.com from your business email account with your name, contact information (including website and phone number) and a short line or two about why you would like to be part of our community.

We look forward to seeing your application!

As probably know, I privately coach over 50+ attorneys each month, and i’ve had this “tele-class” in my mind for quite some time. However, a few events over the past month finally kicked me into high gear in producing this content for lawyers who desperately need it right now.

First, I talked to a solo practitioner who was spending more money than ever on virtual assistants yet she was still having to micromanage and do a ton of non-legal work herself. She was frustrated to say the least, and asked for help finding “good” people she could trust to run the non-legal operations of her firm.

Then I spoke with 3 different attorneys who were spending up to six-figures with legal marketing coaches but still couldn’t seem to get their practice off the ground. After much digging, the problem wasn’t with the coaching program or even the lawyers….the problem was the TEAM in change of carrying out the plan While the attorney was spending a ton of money for training, the team was not getting the same education or “hand holding” and that directly impacted the success they were seeing as a result.

Finally, Entrepreneur Magazine called. They wanted to interview me as an industry expert on outsourcing in the legal field (which ended up on the front page of the website !). Because of the economy, small business owners (including lawyers) are struggling to afford the full-time staff they desperately need, so we discussed how going virtual is a great way to bring on quality people without the overhead, taxes and insurance required with traditional employees.

So after that series of events, I realized the issue of team building was on the minds of a lot people right now, and I decided to share my 20+ years experience on this subject to finally help attorneys build their ideal team (or properly train the team they have) so they can keep their practice growing and thriving, even in a down economy.

If you’re interested in joining me on the 12th, here are some of the key points i’ll be covering:

• The easiest way to find and hire skilled marketing and administrative professionals for your law firm without the added expense of payroll taxes, insurance benefits or physical overhead .
• How to equip your in-house staff with the tools they need to produce better work, effective marketing plans and increased productivity without additional oversight/ micromanagement.
• The BIGGEST mistake in hiring virtual staff which can cost your business thousands of dollars in unfinished work and wasted contractor fees.
• Simple ways to quickly identify and weed out service providers who are absolutely, positively a bad fit for your business.
• An exhaustive guide to what projects can be outsourced and what skill level they require so you have the upper hand when negotiating with telecommuters or service professionals.

Again, this call is free, jam-packed with content (unlike some of the pitch-fest teleseminars i’m sure you’re invited to daily) and you’ll leave knowing exactly what type of team you need, how not to overpay/sign with the wrong people or how to transform your current team into the rockstar staff you want…and need them to be.

Register now at http://www.buildyouridealteam.com

Oh and PS. I’m offering a BONUS 30 minute coaching/strategizing call with me to anyone who attends live this Friday. On this coaching call ($200 value), we’ll identify cracks in your support staff foundation and carve out a plan specific to YOUR law firm, resulting in less aggravation, increased productivity, more clients and more time for yourself in 2010 .

Just register at http://www.buildyouridealteam.com to claim your spot!