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On Hold

If a client or prospect calls your law firm and is put on hold, what does the person hear—silence, music, or a message?  If there is no sound, the wait seems long. If there is music, is it commercial-free? If the music comes from a radio station, the caller may hear a commercial for a competitive law firm or for a product or service you would prefer not be advertised.

Consider using an original message that could subtly mention another practice area in your firm or provide helpful information. For instance, an environmental law firm could feature a rotating message of recycling tips. What ideas would relate to different practice areas in your law firm? When clients or prospects are on hold, silence isn’t golden.

Outdoor Advertising

Outdoor advertising is appropriate for several practice areas, including matrimonial and personal injury. For example, there are several billboards in Boise, Idaho, that state on three lines: AUTO INJURY? ONE CALL, THAT’S ALL. 1-800-THE LAWYER. Although the attorney’s name, firm, and the Web site (www.onecallthatsall.com) are too small to read while driving, the message works.

For outdoor advertising, one of the most easy-to-read color combinations is black lettering on a yellow background. Emphasize the message you want your target market to remember and keep it short. Negotiate for good locations. After the outdoor advertising is in place, drive by each location to verify that the boards are visible and that trees or shrubs don’t cover the message. Take your message outside for inside profitability.

Leadership for Associates

Chambers of Commerce in communities throughout the U.S. offer leadership programs, with interactive agendas that take place over a specified period of time. With a competitive application process, leadership programs typically take a cross-section of attorneys, entrepreneurs, non-profit executives, educators, and others to form a class.

The class is an ideal place for law firm associates to develop relationships with other attendees, meet local leaders, make on-site visits to local institutions, learn about other industries and occupations, and connect with the local community. In addition, the class may lead to presentation opportunities for partners.

Contact your local Chamber of Commerce. Find out how making a commitment to the community can enrich your law firm’s contact base.

Leverage Your Articles

Writing articles is an action step for attorneys to build and/or strengthen a reputation in a particular practice area. Articles may be written for a specific audience, such as a state or county bar news-letter or a client’s industry publication. For an example of articles listed on a firm’s Web site, see one of Morrison & Foerster’s Legal Updates at www.mofo.com/news/updates/files/13375.html.

After the article is published, disseminate the information: list the article or link to it on the firm’s Web site, mention the article in the firm’s newsletter, order reprints to send to prospects and clients, display the reprints in the firm’s lobby. Write a follow-up or companion piece and repeat the process. Create leverage.

Networking

Networking is an activity that promises to find and build relationships. When you attend a networking event, make it easy for the contacts you meet. Put the name badge on your right side: that helps the person read your name while shaking hands with you. After exchanging business cards, read the person’s card for pertinent information. Once you’ve talked, take a discreet opportunity to note the event’s name, date, a fact the person has shared, and your anticipated follow-up on the back of your contact’s business card.

When you subsequently communicate with those contacts, the notes on the backs of the business cards can help you shape your follow-up. Personalization improves networking results.

Focus

When you focus and promote an aspect of your law firm, it makes it easier for your target prospects to understand what you do. One example is the Sacramento, California, law firm Schuering Zimmerman Scully & Doyle LLP. The description for the firm’s practice area includes the statement, “We specialize in complex medical litigation with a diverse practice that encompasses many aspects of the insurance industry.” (See www.szs.com/srv/.) This is a classic example of a firm differentiating itself from others. The descriptive sentence weaves together medical litigation and insurance while focusing on complexity.

How do you differentiate your law firm?

Business Cards for All

LOW-COST MORALE BOOSTER

Does each person in your firm have a business card? While attorneys, administrators, directors, managers, and paralegals in the firm traditionally carry business cards, there are advantages for all others in the firm to be card-carriers, too. Each person who works in the law firm has contacts. Each person may have an opportunity to exchange business cards with others—whether in a business setting, a celebratory event, or a family/friends activity.

A business card is a source of pride, particularly if it is not common for a particular position. Honor your staff with internal marketing. It could lead to business.

Web site Search Terms

SEARCH TERM VISIBILITY

Before 2006, many programmers thought that embedding search terms behind what the viewer would see could drive traffic to a Web site. That strategy is called “cloaking” or “keyword stuffing.” Search engines got savvy. Now search engines do not consider those Web sites to be as legitimate. The message for law firms is to create a list of search terms that are germane to specific practice areas and use those search terms appropriately, liberally, and visibly throughout the firm’s Web site.

The current approach is: what is better for the end user is what is better for the search engine. What visible search terms are you using?

Web site Accuracy

How recently have you checked your marketing materials for accuracy? The Web site for an international multi-practice law firm with offices throughout the U.S. lists the name of the current Managing Partner for one of their U.S. offices under the geographic location. However, in the bio sections, the former Managing Partner still holds the title of Managing Partner while the current Managing Partner is listed as a partner.

How accurate is your Web site? How recent are the photographs? How updated are the bios? How informative is your firm’s Web site for curious prospects? Stay current. Check, then double-check, the way you present your law firm.