How important is your email address?

Companies spend thousands of dollars making sure their logo, company colors, message and image are consistently and professionally represented.

One area that seems to be overlooked is the importance of your email address being consistent with your firm. New lawyers and lawfirms starting out are signing up for free email accounts, (ie:Gmail,Yahoo, etc.) as their business email, instead of using an email address with their firm's website name. Many people will add a second “business” email to an existing personal account. Free email addresses say: I’m new, I’m small and I’m cheap; which is usually not the image a law firm wants to project. 

Websites mirror the image of a law firm; many times with the firm name as the website and/or domain name. To maintain a consistent professional image of your law firm, your email address should be the same as your website address. Christine@mylawfirm.com, has a more professional image than mylawfirm@gmail.com. 

Spammers have software that crawls websites searching for email addresses, and "contact" and "info" and two used most often and receive the highest spam.  Select a name for your catch-all email address to be something less common, and use a alias email address on your website to deter spam.

This shows not only a level of professionalism, but also assures your client on a subliminal level, that you really are with the firm. With growth of email scams, this one little area may make a huge difference to the very prospective client you are attempting to reach.

Most website packages come with a minimum of at least one email address, which your webmaster could have forwarded to your free or aol address if you only want one area to check emails. This way it can still be convenient for you, yet show the most professional image for your law firm, large or small.

We placed a poll on a previous blog and the results seem to say the same thing:

How important is it to your professional image to have a business email address (yourname@yourbusinessname.com) instead of a free email address.

Essential 48%
Very Important 25%
Not Important 7%
No Difference 11%
Don’t know 9%

This is something to consider in your overall branding plan.

A Little Humor

"Hello, thank you for calling Computer Repair."


Caller : "Hello, our printer is not working."


Customer Service: "What is wrong with it?"


Caller : "Mouse is jammed."


Customer Service: "Mouse is jammed? Printers don't have a mouse!"


Caller: Mmmmm??.. "Oh really?... I will send a picture."


Scroll down:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Apps for Attorneys

iJuror - For use during voir dire and jury selection. Features allow you to quickly enter basic information, plus enter your notes to flag jurors for peremptory challenge or dismissal for cause. At the end of the day this application will compose a complete report of everything you have entered and with a tap of a button, email it to your office. Much more fun than sticky-notes. ($9.99)

Dropbox - A free file sharing system that allows users to share files (photos, documents, videos, etc.) from one device to another, whether it be multiple computers and operating sysgems (Windows, Mac, Linux), iPhones, iPads, Android and Blackberry devices. Dropbox makes sharing easy when working with other attorneys by inviting them to any folder in your Dropbox, and it'll be as if you saved that folder straight to their computer. Available basic (free account) up to 2 BG space and pay plans for larger usage. 


Documents To Go by DataViz - Store and edit Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Adobe pdf files on your SmartPhone or PDA. Prices vary on type of device.

JuryTracker- Note juror observations, keep notes tied to a specific juror, have those observations and notes time-stamped. ($4.99)

FastCase gives you free access to primary law from all 50 states, in addition to federal law. (free)

iPleading- The iPleading allows attorneys, paralegals, and law students to easily create litigation documents on their iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.($9.99)

Billing Timer by iPunchclock. - When you initiate a task, just hit start and the timer begins recording that shift. It allows you to keep multiple time sheets open.  ($4.99)

Court Days -- Day Calculator For Lawyers. Court Days allows you to quickly calculate the number of court days or calendar days (or a combination of the two) before or after a given date. ($.99)

Popular Design Mistakes on Websites & Social Media Pages

The importance of having a professional internet presence grows each day as more attorneys place their law firm profiles and websites on the internet.

Designing a productive website and social media image is more than just putting text on the internet. Effective web designers and internet marketers have experienced why certain components are important in making your sites both visitor and SEO friendly.

Some of the glaring errors that show up too often, which make your website or your social network pages appear to be unprofessional, include:

(1) Using text in your images, or using images only instead of text. This makes your text hard to read on certain browsers and your content cannot be indexed or searched, therefore not search engine friendly.

(2) Using text that is under 9pt in size. If its too hard to read – people won’t even try.

(3) Your links aren't clearly labeled, don't tell your visitors where they'll end up. The only say "Click Here."

(4) Inconsistent navigation. Different navigation layout on every page simply confuses your visitor.

(5) Too many colors, too many sizes and too may font designs in the same text area.

(6) Too many typos. An occasional typo is usually accepted, however, having someone other than the designer proofread for spelling, grammar, capitalization and content is time and money well spent.

(7) Background graphics or solid backgrounds that don't contrast well against the text, making it hard to read.

(8) Dead links, link rot and/or no 404 pages. Custom 404 pages help you to maintain visitors that typed one of your page names in error, or clicked on a dead link in your site. Your custom 404 page should appear consistent with your site image and have the same navigational links to help your visitor find their way to the live page they are looking for. 

(9) Contact pages without live email addresses or contact forms. If you visitor is looking to contact you via email, make it easy for them by making your email a live link, instead of text in a static graphic. Fill in forms are handy to help them tell you what they need, and to protect your email one more level away from being harvaested by spammers (this is no guarantee however and spammer software continues to get more sophisticated.)

10) Low content. Original content and content that answers your visitors questions will set your website above the rest. If your website is a simple one page bio, then it still needs to answer the question - why the visitor should contact you. 


Plan your branding strategy. Design your website from the perspective of your prospective client and their needs. You can have a simple design and still deliver a professional image.

No opt-out from your address & phone number being given to Facebook apps

Your friend just suggested that you join them in a new game or accept a hug, a card, a link to your photos and activity or some other Facebook app. It may look like harmless fun, but is it worth it? 

Last Friday, Facebook rolled out new permissions that give applications access to individuals’ addresses and phone numbers.  In a Facebook developer blog post, they announced that it is adding it to the company's "User Graph object," or the permissions required to install an app.

Surprisingly many people still give out their home addresses and phone numbers on their profiles.  This makes sense for businesses who want their location known, but for individuals who are constantly finding their privacy invaded, placing your home address on any social network can be too much exposure.

When you agree to an app, a window pops up where you must click to allow it access to your profile, so you can use the app. Now these apps get more personal info about you than ever before.

Come apps require access to your friends information, through your profile and others access your data whether you re online or not.

It is important to review the terms and privacy policy of the app before clicking approve. Check to see if this app will openly share your information with their affiliates or 3rd party suppliers.  

Facebook can be a platform to boost your business connections, or a place where you chat with your friends. In either case you should select the apps you agree to with case and make sure your privacy settings are current. 

If your spam has increased in your inbox, you may want to check your apps and your privacy settings.

Happy networking...

Original post date January 17, 2011

Extending Your Exposure Through Strategic Internet Strategy

Please bear with us during our efforts to move this blog from its previous server.

Who owns your assets?

Asset: noun
1. a useful and desirable thing or quality
2. a single item of ownership having exchange value.

Your website domain name is an asset. Your domain name represents your business name, links to your website and/or your blog(s).

Your Social Network accounts are assets: i.e:Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, AVVO, etc.

Who owns and controls your assets?

You should.

There are honest web designers and Internet marketing consultants who maintain control of their clients assets; and they have long term mutually beneficial relationships. There are others who maintain their clients by holding them hostage through the control of these assets.

And there are clients who maintain ultimate control and grant the designers and consultants access to do all that is needed. In our experience, it is this type of consultant who is working on a client satisfaction basis.

Domains/Blogs/Websites:
Many lawyers wisely delegate the responsibility of designing and publishing their website and blog to a web designer or web design company. For many reasons, they may also delegate the ownership of their domain accounts (asset) and their hosting accounts to their web designer. Many people do this because they don't understand, don't want to be bothered with the details, or don't know what the risks are.

Your domain account (the company from whom you purchased the domain, ie: GoDaddy, NetworkSolutions, etc) lists the owner of your domain name(s) as well as the administrative and technical contacts. This account also controls the settings for where your email and website(s) are hosted. Your hosting account holds and publishes all the files for your websites and blogs so they are visible on the Internet.

Social Network Accounts:
Your social network accounts include the popular Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter; and also your legal specific accounts, i.e: SuperLawyers, Findlaw, AVVO, etc. When used effectively, these accounts mirror your professional image and should also include posts from your blog and current cases results. 


When delegating any part of the control of your Internet assets, you may want to consider the benefits of delegating a shared control.

When you delegate all control to another person - web designer, consultant or company:
1.) This person has sole access to the account where the domain name was purchased. Many web designer have a reseller account with domain registrars (i.e., GoDaddy, Network Solutions etc.) and they purchase your domain for you through this account and keep it in their account base.
2.)They maintain full control and have the only password access to the account. Any changes are in the total control of this web designer.

This may sound good from a one viewpoint, however, consider this:

(1) If your web designer is a sole proprietor, and something happens to them (accident, illness, death), how will you obtain access to your asset? If they have maintained full control, you may wait months or years, or never obtain the access information. If your web designer is a member of a company, hopefully the company will have this information for you.

One company experienced this problem. They had been working with the same person for years who took care of everything Internet for them. Unfortunately this person was the victim of a car accident which then left all of his clients without any access to their Internet accounts. We were able to work with this company and the registrar of their domain name to prove their actual ownership. Even so, it took months to finally gain access and rightful ownership to the domain and all the related Internet files.
Another customer was not as lucky and had to purchase another domain name and wait out the expiration of their company domain name. This required opening new accounts and rebuilding their entire website.

(2) If you want, for any reason, to change your services to another company, you will have to request access to your asset. If you are working with an honest consultant, there should be no lost time in making the transfer. Unfortunately, I continue to hear stories of delayed transfers, sudden cancellation fees and additional payment demands as the assets are held hostage.
Attorneys aren't immune from this. Even though you may have the legal knowledge and means to fight it, do you really want to be spending your time on something like this?

There are honest web designers and Internet consultants who have long term mutually beneficial relationships.  Work with one under a shared control agreement.

If you aren’t sure who is listed as the owner of your domain account, you can check at www.whois.net

You will see something similar to this:

Register Your Domain Name Here


Free Domain With Annual Hosting Plan!

Commenting as Part of Your Marketing Strategy

As you know from working with your clients and presenting your cases at trial, it’s important not only what you say, but when and where you say it. The same is true for the Internet. However, your comments on the Internet can work for you long after you have published the post.

Commenting on cases in the news can work to highlight your expertise and opinions. When posted efficiently your name can be in front of the news media, which can be helpful when they are looking for a comment on the subject from a local attorney.

Comment marketing works best when following four points.

1. Timing
When it’s in the news, it’s time to act. Many news blogs and websites have a cutoff for comments. Commenting early keeps your post at the top, usually right after the story. Posts on social sites (ie: Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) are also excellent sources for law and case related comments. (More about Social Media in the article “The ‘Social” in Social Media Marketing).

2. Content
Make your point in under 300 words. Many comment areas have character limits, so if you become accustomed to 300 words, you will fit most comment areas. When permissible, link back to your website. Read the T&C of the sites before you comment so you know which ones will edit your post, remove your website link, or require you to use a verification log in.

3. Location
Be selective where you comment. High Authority sites (as explained in Social Media for the Small Law Firm) can increase your website ranking. These sites usually have a consistent very high traffic volume of visitors who then potentially may see your post. Posting on small blogs and low ranking sites may give you space to comment with very little actual value to you. Small sites usually have non-moderated commenting, which can potentially lead to a negative light being placed on your comment.

4. Consistency
Commenting occasionally will end up being more of a time waster than an effort of value. Being consistent by commenting several times a week, if not every day, will prove to be a better investment of your time.

Most attorneys are already busy with their cases, blogging and internet socializing. Finding time to blog a complete blog subject every day can be time consuming, which is one reason why some many people fail to do it consistently. Effective commenting can be a substitute, however, it can also be a time investment.

Timely commenting requires staying on top of law and case alerts, researching cases on the legal and news wires and establishing accounts of high authority sites. Using commenting as part of your marketing works best with a plan.

Voir Dire and Social Media

Please bear with us during our efforts to move this blog from its previous server.

Facebook HTTPS:// How secure are you?

Please bear with us during our efforts to move this blog from its previous server.

Facebook crowned as the top-visited site in 2010

 According to a report from Internet analytics company Experian Hitwise, Facebook accounted for 8.93% of all U.S. visits between January and November 2010. Google.com ranked second with 7.19% of visits, followed by Yahoo! Mail with 3.52%, Yahoo! with 3.30%, and Google-owned YouTube with 2.65%.

The Experian analysis found that the most frequently searched term this year was "facebook."

"Facebook" was the top-searched term overall for the second straight year, followed by "Facebook login" and "YouTube," says Experian.

What does this mean to your 2011 marketing plan?   In today’s competitive market, marketers who maximize the free and customizable Facebook platform may find staying connected with their clients and gaining referrals surpasses their paid marketing channels.

Moved from previous service. Original post January 3, 2011

Google New Preview and Star Features

Two new Google features are striking a high note with some people and hitting a bad nerve with others.

THE PREVIEW FEATURE:

On the plus side:

+ Searchers can see a thumbnail of your landing page by simply clicking the magnifying glass next to the search result. If you have multiple pages in the results, the searcher can get a visual idea of which page they want to visit. This may motivate faster decisions in result selection.

+ The thumbnail image may be the deciding factor to the searcher. Visually appealing pages may see an increase in page rank, regardless of SEO efforts. (note: previously used SEO techniques required re-vamping when Google introduced instant search anyway.)

On the minus side:
- If you recently changed, or regularly change your page content, the thumbnail may not match your actual page.

- Some CAPTCHA gateway pages may not be protected, and still show up in Google's thumbnail.

- Adult content only sites may also produce thumbnails, requiring adjustments in parental controls

Some searchers will spend extra time looking at all the previews without having to leave the search page, others will find the thumbnail saves them time.

THE STAR:

You will also notice the star next to the magnifying glass.

On the plus side:

+ Click this star and the next time you perform this same search, your starred web sites will show up at the top - above the ads and above the organic results.

On the minus side:- Web designers and marketers will have to be more creative on how to keep their websites ranked at the top of the page results.

Have you checked your results to see your your websites show up?

With every change in search algorithms (Google, Bing, etc) new efforts need to be made to keep your website fresh, interesting and findable. The longer your website sits without change, the easier it will be for your competition to rise above you on the page.

Moved from previous server. Original post date 11/15/2010

QR codes or Scan tags – Using them?

A Quick Response (QR) code is a two-dimensional code with various data (phone numbers, text, photos, URLs, etc.)that can be scanned by smartphone cameras. Scan tags from Microsoft are colorful versions of your custom scan code. These scan apps have been available since mid last year. Are you using them?

Smartphones have the capability to scan and read QR codes or Scan Tags with the click of a camera.

If you are listed on Google Places and Google Maps, Google has automatically generated a QR for you. Put this QR on your business card, brochures or in your print ad or poster and someone scanning it will land on a map for the location of your business.

A scan tag on your business card can be useful when you are meeting a new attorney or potential client away from your office. A scan tag of the courthouse location can be useful when given to a client who has not been there previously. Scan the tag and their smart phone now has the location and directions. (Note: A Scan tag app must be added to the phone. This is a separate program, not to be confused with using the phone's camera.)

As a general rule, normal five-line color Tags must be at least 3/4" by 3/4" as seen by the user; black and white Tags must be at least 7/8" by 7/8". These size requirements include the white space around the Tag.

I use both types. A colorful Scan Tag on my business card always raises questions People ask what it is, how it works and then more discussion about my services. A QR on a product flyer (one of my books) links directly to the purchase page. An associate uses her scan tag to link to the page on her website announcing her upcoming speaking events.

All you need is your computer to generate the QR codes or Scan Tags and then place them on your business cards and brochures. You can create a QR or Scan Tag for simple text, a URL, an email message, an SMS or MMS, a phone number, or a location. (http://www.qr-barcodes.com/online-generator)

With a Microsoft Scan Tag you can get reports of how many times your tag was scanned and from what geographic area. (http://tag.microsoft.com/)

These have been available for many months.

Moved from previous server, Original post 2/16/11

No opt-out from your address & phone number being given to Facebook apps

Your friend just suggested that you join them in a new game or accept a hug, a card, a link to your photos and activity or some other Facebook app. It may look like harmless fun, but is it worth it? 


Last Friday, Facebook rolled out new permissions that give applications access to individuals’ addresses and phone numbers.  In a Facebook developer blog post, they announced that it is adding it to the company's "User Graph object," or the permissions required to install an app.

Surprisingly many people still give out their home addresses and phone numbers on their profiles.  This makes sense for businesses who want their location known, but for individuals who are constantly finding their privacy invaded, placing your home address on any social network can be too much exposure.


When you agree to an app, a window pops up where you must click to allow it access to your profile, so you can use the app. Now these apps get more personal info about you than ever before.


Come apps require access to your friends information, through your profile and others access your data whether you re online or not.

It is important to review the terms and privacy policy of the app before clicking approve. Check to see if this app will openly share your information with their affiliates or 3rd party suppliers.  


Facebook can be a platform to boost your business connections, or a place where you chat with your friends. In either case you should select the apps you agree to with case and make sure your privacy settings are current. 


If your spam has increased in your inbox, you may want to check your apps and your privacy settings.


Happy networking...

Moved from previous server. Original post date January 17, 2011.

Welcome

I appreciate your patience as we work to move this blog from it's previous server.

All previous posts will eventually be at this location.