Posts Tagged ‘Firms’
Law firms can get at least three bouts of publicity from the same story
Lawyers who want to market their firm could learn a lot from journalists about how to make the most of one basic news item.
Most journalists find themselves writing the same story over and over again because when there’s very little around that’s genuinely new, the media has to find new angles on old stories to fill their papers and bulletins.
That’s why so many of the stories you see in the media are merely variations on a theme that has been explored many times before. Solicitors who want to give their law firm marketing an extra push can use the same approach.
They should be able to get several bursts of publicity from the same story if they play their cards right.
Three times for emphasis
One good way for solicitors to get publicity is by commenting on changes in the law. To get the most out of the story, however, you should aim to tell us about it at least three times – preferably more than that.
The format for this is very simple:
tell us what’s going to happen with this new change in the law;
tell us again when it’s happening; and
tell us yet again when it’s happened.
The drill
This is how it works in practice.
As soon as you hear of a proposed change in the law, whether in draft legislation or a government statement, fire off a press release to your local media warning what will happen should such a proposal come into force. It doesn’t matter whether you are for or against the proposal. As long as you can argue that it will affect the public one way or the other then the media are likely be interested.
Then in the week that it’s due to come into force, you will have another chance to market your law firm by sending off another press release updating your views. It doesn’t matter if your views haven’t changed. You can say the same things again and still get coverage because, by now, several months will have passed and the fact that the law is coming into force makes it news again.
Then, a few months later, you fire off yet another press release saying what effect this new law is actually having now it’s a reality. You might argue that it has been a failure and should be scrapped immediately. Or you might say it’s been a triumph and more people should come forward to your firm to get the full benefit of what it has to offer.
It gives you three bites at the same cherry, but in fact there will probably be far more opportunities than that if you exploit other landmarks in a bill’s passage such as first and second readings, amendments and so on.
Don’t worry about saying more or less the same thing several times with just a few modifications. Journalists have been doing that for years as a way of meeting deadlines and filling column inches. It has never bothered them and neither should it worry anyone wanting to market their law firm.
Law firms and outsourcing: Still a long way to go!
Pune, India, 19 May 2009
Although legal services outsourcing has garnered a lot of media attention, there still is a sizeable proportion of the legal community that has not considered outsourcing legal services to lower cost destinations.
Offshoring of legal services to India began way back in 1995 when law firm Bickel & Brewer opened a captive facility in India. The legal services outsourcing industry started to attract significant attention only around 2005. In a matter of just a few years, the industry has grown to reach $225 million in revenues in 2008. However, this is only a very small portion (<5%) of the addressable market. According to the recent survey results, there is a low perceived benefit of outsourcing legal services amongst law firms and (if not addressed) this is likely to stunt the growth of the LPO industry.
Most of the law firms are relatively new in terms of their offshoring initiatives and have not integrated offshoring in their overall strategy. A large number of law firms, irrespective of their size, are apprehensive about sending their legal work to another country. While this does result from lawyers not being convinced about the benefits of offshoring, they also indicate concerns such as data security, client confidentiality and quality of work delivered.
Cost reduction was rated as the primary driver for offshoring legal services. Other significant drivers include client pressure to cut costs by offshoring, increasing workload, time differences and competitors’ decisions to offshore. According to Neeraja Kandala, lead analyst – Legal Services, “There seems to be some awareness about the benefits of offshoring, especially amongst those who offshore. However, for the majority, the drivers do not seem to be strong enough. Obviously, the benefits do not appear to be substantial to help over-ride their concerns.”
Data security and quality of work delivered emerged as the key concerns for law firms. Given the confidential nature of legal documents, it is understandable that law firms have apprehensions on the security aspect.
While several leading and experienced offshore legal service providers take adequate precautions to ensure that there is no data theft, this needs to be communicated to the law firms in a more convincing manner. Further, service providers need to gain the confidence of buyers that a satisfactory end product will be delivered. According to Arun Jethmalani, CEO, ValueNotes, “This is the challenge for the provider community as a whole, but inconsistency in quality between the good and not-so-good providers will remain a problem until sufficient maturity is achieved – both by buyers and sellers.”
The ValueNotes report: “Legal Services Outsourcing: What do Law Firms Think?” provides an understanding of the offshoring awareness, drivers and concerns of US and UK based law firms. The survey throws light on the perceptions towards the associated risks and rewards of outsourcing legal services to low cost destinations.
Incoming search terms:
The Publics of Law Firms
I recently spoke with partners from two separate law firms about implementing a public relations program. Independent of each other, they expressed their skepticism about the value of such a program for a law firm saying that being in People magazine or on Oprah would not bring them many clients. What they were actually thinking of was “publicity,” which refers to getting media coverage and even gaining notoriety. But that is just one aspect of public relations.
Doing business in and around the entertainment capital of the world, it’s easy to understand why someone who hears the term “public relations” immediately thinks of Larry King Live, Entertainment Weekly or other venues where celebrities can tout their latest wares or rehab stints. But what these attorneys overlook is that the “public” in public relations refers to their publics, not those of Britney Spears.
Who Are Your Publics?
Public relations is defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as “the art and science of establishing and promoting a favorable relationship with the public” through a variety of tactics. But, the “public” should not mean the general public. The publics of law firms are usually current, prospective and former clients, referral sources, influencers, and any other publics that are relevant to the firm’s practice areas. It is your relationship with these publics on which your marketing and public relations campaign will focus. In fact, targeting your own publics is much simpler and more cost-efficient than trying to reach the masses.
Different firms and practice areas will have different publics with which they want to communicate. That’s why your first step in a marketing and public relations program is to identify who your publics are, and where they are. The parameters can be defined geographically, demographically, by industry, and/or by company contacts.
In addition to the common law firm publics already mentioned, the practice of public relations engenders its own subset of publics. This includes journalists, editors, and TV producers who provide a conduit to your primary publics. Your relationships with these contacts come under the heading of “media relations,” another aspect of public relations.
Some practice areas might consider key bloggers as an important group with which to communicate. Another public is influencers – those who influence a prospect’s decision, but may not use the firm’s services themselves. These may include bankers, civic leaders, well-connected professionals and other referral sources who often give advice or otherwise guide someone’s choice of a lawyer or firm. Depending on your firm’s practice area, other publics with whom you may want to communicate include community organizations, lobbying groups or governmental agencies.
What Do You Tell Them?
A second American Heritage Dictionary definition of public relations is “the methods and activities employed to establish and promote a favorable relationship with the public.”Your methods and activities to promote the relationship depend in part on each group’s “buyer” values that determine their criteria for selecting a law firm. So before you can launch your marketing tactics, you need to craft appropriate messages for your different publics.
For your current clients, your message should validate and reinforce their decision to use your attorneys’ services. For prospects, your message must be designed to position you as a credible, experienced professional. That message must also clearly state who you are, what you do and what benefits potential clients can expect from hiring you.
Journalists and other media conduits will value you if you know their “beat” and, bring trends and other worthwhile information to their attention. For example, if your firm’s expertise is in aviation financing, forecasting what the credit crunch will mean to aviation financing could be attractive to the media. Sending press releases and communicating with the media in a way that provides value requires careful planning, strategy, and follow-up.
How Do You Reach Them?
Once you have identified your publics and honed specific messages for each group, your next step is to determine how you are going to reach them. What are the communication channels that will make them most receptive to your message? Publics are best accessed by various and often different channels including email blasts or blogs, phone calls, hard-copy reprints of articles you have published, newsletters, business breakfasts, seminars, open houses, receptions, trade show displays and various other special events. Although different publics respond to different communication channels, you will increase your chances of making a memorable impression if you use a mix of methods, for example, sending a reprint one time and then an email blast on another occasion.
As the second word in “public relations” suggests, building relationships with particular constituencies is also an important component of a campaign. This includes pro bono work through which you give back to the community and support a particular group, such as Public Counsel. Another vehicle to build a relationship is sponsorship. By sponsoring a fundraiser or making a donation, you are not only communicating that you support the organization’s cause or goals, but also that you want to do business with the group and its members.
Define Your Way to Success
The next time you hear the term “public relations” think about the publics that are important to you. Determining the who – the targets of your public relations – is the first key to developing an effective marketing plan. Once you know who they are, determine what it is you want to tell each group, and finally the how of the best channels for communication with each public. A third definition of public relations is “the degree of success obtained in achieving a favorable relationship with the public.” If you have done a good job defining your who, what and how, you are on your way to success.
Sharon Berman is principal of Berbay Corp., a marketing consulting firm specializing in working with law firms. She can be reached at berman@berbay.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Designed for Justice Provides PR and Marketing For Law Firms in Tampa
Designed for Justice is a small website design and search engine optimization company targeting law firms nationwide. They offer PR and Marketing for Law Firms, helping to boost their public visibility on the internet. Their marketing strategies are aimed towards creating well optimized websites that deliver organic traffic and attract new clients to local law firms.
Local search engine strategies for these small businesses are a must. Local search engine strategies target high traffic keywords within multiple cities and states. The key to securing great organic traffic from local searches is to achieve a broad optimization, having many first page rankings over just a few keywords. The idea is to blanket the industry because localized searches are likely to vary more person to person.
Online searches for services and products have grown tremendously in the past 5 years. Today Designed for Justice is providing law firms with 21st century advertising with search engine optimization. Search engine optimization is not a pay-per-click format. Instead SEO experts utilize clean HTML, Keyword Rich Content and Backlinking. To be number 1 in a search engine you do not have to pay, Google ranks your website based upon relevancy of content, accessible code and the number of inbound links you have.
If your law firm does not have a well optimized website that is producing leads, or you have never invested in SEO you are already behind your competition. SEO has been the forefront of the internet. The top search engine, Google is already worth more than IBM and Microsoft. Google has become the leading provider of websites to the world. With 86% of the market share of their competitors Google also has the #1 spot in traffic hits daily. The most astonishing statistic is the amount of households, 46%, searching for products and local services online.
Designed for Justice has entered the SEO business and is helping local law firms and lawyers in the Tampa Bay area achieve top rankings for an affordable price. Experts in Website Design, Optimization, Content Writing and Backlinking this company has the ability to double your organic traffic in no time.
Visit the Designed for Justice website today :
Website Design for Law Firms, Website Optimization for Law Firms and Web Sites for Law Firms.
Washington Law Firms
Finding a law firm in Washington is just about as easy as finding a museum, monument, or lobbyist. This is not surprising seeing as how it is the political center of the most powerful nation in the world. The large number of Washington law firms, however, can make it difficult for people to decide which one they should hire for legal advice and services.
Choosing Washington Law Firms that Suit Your Needs
The first thing that you need to realize before hiring any of the Washington law firms is that firms usually have many attorneys that specialize in specific areas of the law. You will therefore need to find a law firm that can give you the experienced legal services that are directly related to your situation.
For instance, if you have recently written a book, then you might want to consider the Washington law firms that focus on copyright laws. If you need defense in a court-martial trial, then you will want to find Washington law firms that have attorneys experienced with JAG so that they understand how military laws apply to you.
There are many different types of issues that Washington law firms might focus on, so be sure to get the information that will help you pick one with the experience you need.
Choosing Full-Service Washington Law Firms
Court trials might make headlines, but most legal work takes place behind the scenes. In fact, most lawyers rarely, if ever, go to trial. That does not mean, however, that you should feel comfortable hiring a law firm that does not have significant experience in front of a judge and jury.
Choosing full-service Washington law firms means looking for firms that hire professional attorneys with a wide range of skills. Some of them should focus on filling out and filing legal forms, giving legal advice on subjects that relate to you, or defending clients in front of a judge.
When you hire Washington law firms that can give you all of the legal services that you might need, you get the chance to choose the options that are best for you.
Choosing Washington Law Firms with Professional Reputations
Before you hire any of the Washington law firms, you should ask them to give you references so you can talk to their other clients about the level of professionalism that they got from the attorneys. You should always hire Washington law firms with professional reputations because they are usually the most reliable options.
While you need information about how successful the Washington law firms have been in court, it is equally important to learn about the options that they give their clients so that they can make the best decision rather than immediately going to court to boost their firm’s statistics. You should be able to determine how reliable the Washington law firms are when you talk to their other clients about he legal services and advice that they have gotten from the attorneys in the recent past.
For more information about trademark application and provisional patent application visit Aplegal.com.
Incoming search terms:
Specialization, a Huge Word in Los Angeles Law Firms
As defined, a law firm is a business entity, which was formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. It is an office where all the functions of an advocate are exercised, and where the regular course of business dealings of a lawyer is performed.
Just like any other law firms, Los Angeles Law firms impart legal services. They are the same with respect to the constitution, creation, and its components.
The difference lies mainly in the manner of their specialization. There are plenty of law offices in Los Angeles, as there are lawyers. Each law firm has its own line of expertise, just as a medical practitioner has its own specialization.
In Los Angeles, a great number of schools have sanctioned special programs of study akin to undergraduate majors. General practitioners in the legal profession have become less common, it had lost its trend in the legal career.
Specialization has become the trend of the future. Most schools in Los Angeles have now offered a formal program of specialization in a given area of the law. Some schools, however, keep specialization informal.
In present times, considering that the law is complex and has a variety of areas, it is a common practice nowadays, that a lawyer or law firm for that matter have a field of specialization.
Some Los Angeles law firms cater legal services in the area of torts-under it; we have personal injury, of family laws, of labor laws, mercantile law, banking laws, admiralty, taxation laws and other areas of law. Some firms are more inclined to specialize in criminal law and constitutional law.
The abovementioned areas of law are composed of several parts. Each part can be subject to specialization. As if for instance, in the area of family law, we have specialization in adoption laws – which cover inter-state and inter-country adoption, child custody, divorce, domestic violence and child support.
The evolution of specialization in the law profession brought so much change. General practice of law has lost its demand and utility. Specialization marks the set up of future law firms.
In Los Angeles, big law firms handled specialized cases. It is manifest how successful their venture to a particular special area of law. Some law firms in Los Angeles have become well known and had a full load of clientele. Some even becomes the authority in a particular area of law.
An observation could conclude that the profession has changed its course, so as the movement of law firms.
With this set up, the focus is concentrated on the specialized field. The efforts of a lawyer in attending to a clients cause are maximized. Consequently, the clientele has become limited.
The specialization broadened the knowledge of a lawyer to a particular field of law. The parameters are defined and it is expected that a high-level of practice be observed. The legal practice had become limited but effective.
These had become the prevailing practice in the law profession, especially in Los Angeles. Specialization had become the watchword in the legal profession.
Our Los Angeles law firm specializes in handling cases involving personal injury, employment law, social security and business law. Just link on our website and learn more about our distinguished team of expert lawyers.
Incoming search terms:
Law Firms On Their Way With Patent, Trademark, Company Registration
If you are seeking for law firms with trademark registration, patent registration, company registration, ipr law services, legal outsourcing solutions, export import data bank, business registration, vat registration, copyright registration and commercial law then 365companies is your destination that offers wide variety of corporate services at affordable prices. It consist a large team of attorneys and corporate lawyers that handles complicated business issues at domestic as well as international level. Among all these types of business law services, trademark registration is one of the most common and favored services demanded by most of business houses. Trademark is a type of intellectual property that acts as unique identity to company in respect of its product or services offered to international market.
Trademark may be logo, design, symbol or image that defines company’s product or services in the market. It is very helpful in case of same product or services by the two different manufacturers. It is a type of unique sign or symbol used by an individual, company, organization or other legal entity to differentiate their products or services to consumers. As day by day there is huge competition in order to make more money or profit, therefore it is advisable and recommended to get trademark registration. Every country has its own trademark rule and procedures that one has to follow to get trademark registration. Like trademark registration, there are many law services at corporate level which are very beneficial to accompany with. Like patent registration that includes becoming an owner of own invention in the form of new service or product and to protect other’s from stealing the invention. As with the increase in competition there is always chance of getting one’s product copies, misuse, stolen by an unauthorized person. The patent act, 1970 is a governed body of patent registration system of India. There are many law firms that help you in patent registration process.
When you start operating your business under any name, it is always advisable or profitable to get its name register under Indian company act. There are different benefits of business registration like when you need to apply for loans, business building activities loan, to open bank accounts on business name for its regular financial transaction and many more advantages can be taken from business registration. 365companies is law firm that comprises a team well qualified attorneys and lawyers that provides complete suggestion and information regarding different types of law services. It is a type of ipr law firm that offers different type of intellectual property services at affordable price, that meets their client’s business law requirements and expectations completely and also helps them in promoting their business successfully.
Personal Injury Lawyer Website Marketing, Attorney SEO Marketing, Internet Marketing for Law Firms
Burbank, CA (PRWEB) – Americans spend over 150 billion dollars a year in legal fees. That kind of money means that the business of legal representation is big and there are a lot of people doing it. The number of female attorneys has grown dramatically in the last two decades alone while the number of personal injury lawsuits has expanded well beyond expectation.
90% of all lawyers practice within metropolitan areas making the concentration of competition for personal injury cases intense. The days of hanging up your legal shingle and waiting for the customers to come hobbling through the door have long gone. Yellow page ads are all but dead while the use of television and radio marketing comes with a heavy price tag and has almost zero accountability. In addition to traditional marketing being more guess work than analytical science, utilizing these avenues to generate truly qualified clientele is challenging at best and expensive in the least.
Internet marketing has outpaced traditional methods of advertising while bringing an unlimited amount of information with each campaign at costs that are far below print, TV and radio. Personal attorneys who traditionally take cases on a contingency basis do not always have the funds to spend on Search Engine marketing that is a crap shoot for results and then provide little if no information on its success or failure. As every PI lawyer knows, there is nothing worse than putting in hours of work only to see the case crumple with no pay off.
Appreciating this concept as well as understanding the intimate nature of Internet marketing for law firms, the experienced staff at iMajestic (www.imajestic.com ) have developed a marketing program for the world wide web that fits perfectly into any personal injury lawyer’s idea of how business should be done. Just as PI attorneys do, iMajestic introduces 100% Guaranteed Pure Performance based marketing and SEO.
The idea is simple: get results before getting paid.
iMajestic knows the rules involving internet marketing for attorneys. They understand what it takes to not only create marketing campaigns that generate qualified traffic, they are so confident in their ability to do it that they will do all the work to get results before accepting compensation. The relationship between personal injury attorney and internet marketing company becomes complete since both parties work in the same methodologies.
iMajestic’s CEO puts it this way:
“With over 80% of search engine users favoring natural search results, companies of all sizes understand the magnitude of elevated, high natural search rankings for their prospects and are spending a significant amount of their marketing budgets in-advance of and prior to redeeming results. We want your business, regardless of size and budget and are willing to go to work for you without the burdened up-front fees for internet marketing.”
The message is clear; a Internet marketing company that charges personal injury attorneys lots of money up front without any kind of guarantee of success does nothing but takes without giving anything of real value in return. If there is one thing that iMajestic understands more than how to generate internet traffic, it’s how lawyers and PI attorneys want to see results before having to spends thousands of their hard fought dollars to do so. This is why they have developed specialized lawyer website marketing and attorney SEO marketing programs that address the specifics of the personal attorney and legal services industry.
For more information about this revolutionary approach to Internet marketing and business relations go to www.imajestic.com or contact them direct at 1-866-851-2402.