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Every lawyer knows that marketing is important. But few spend the time to evaluate the success of their marketing campaigns. Most will try a few things and if they fit in the budget, and there are enough clients coming in the door, they will look no further.
Your integrated marketing strategy most likely contains multiple avenues of attack: billboards, newspaper ads, phone book ads, a website, TV and radio ads, in-person networking, sponsorship of community activities, and more.
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Happy 2015. We have many thing to be thankful as the new year begins, not the least of which is this: We didn't make this list.
Last year, we talked about the biggest legal fools of 2013 on social media, and fortunately for our industry's sake, we're going to have to expand that a bit to all of the fools: criminals, pornographers, hooker-lovers, stabbers, and photoshoppers.
Here are five lawyers who really wish 2014 didn't happen:
5. UConn Adjunct Law Professor Nabbed in Prostitution Sting.
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NFL offensive lineman Jonathan Martin (who will unfortunately always be known as the guy who quit football temporarily after being bullied by a fellow teammate) is back in the news, but this time he wasn't a victim -- he was the man.
According to Yahoo Sports (and Martin's own tweets), Martin subdued an alleged shoplifter in a Versace store last week.
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You may have heard by now: Rapper Ludacris (aka Christopher Bridges) married his longtime "lover and friend" Eudoxie Mbouguiengue a mere two weeks after proposing.
According to the New York Daily News, Luda proposed to Eudoxie on December 26 by lighting up the question "Eudoxie, will you marry me" in blue on a grass field while their plane flew overhead. Then, in his own words, he "did the thing before 2015" in a private ceremony over the holidays.
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Phone numbers are hard to memorize. True story: At one point, I didn't even know my own cellphone number. Everyone used my Google Voice number, which forwarded to the prepaid cell phone that I carried at school. So when I decided to open my practice, I wanted a phone number that was a little bit easier to memorize.
And my old GV number, part of which spelled out the word "CHUNKY," wasn't going to cut it for a law firm.
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How complicated is getting paid by credit card?
In an ideal world, one would only need a credit card processor, such as the many ones we've talked about that handily operate via an attachment to your smartphone. If a food truck can take plastic, lawyers certainly should be able to do so too, right?
Except IOLTA accounts. Damn trust accounts.
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Anyone who has ever started a small business knows there's always another piece of paperwork that needs to be filled out. Leases. Licenses. Supplier agreements. Receipts and contracts with customers and clients.
And that isn't even touching on costs: Federal taxes. State taxes. City taxes. Sales taxes. After a while, you may begin to feel like you're paying all of your profits off to the tax man.
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Sick of transcribing paper intake forms into your computer after every consultation? Want a free, paperless, electronic option? Well Google Forms might be your new best friend.
The idea is simple: Create online forms, such as an intake form, that you can send to potential clients, embed in an email, or include on your website.
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Is there a better fit for Cloud Practice Management platforms than a law practice in the cloud? That's what a virtual law office (VLO) is -- a law office run entirely online, and cloud practice management software gives you the flexibility needed to run your practice online from anywhere you choose.
There are other benefits too: The redundant backups of your data on your practice management platform's servers are also a significant benefit.
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If you're not meeting your clients in person, then your options are limited: phone or videoconferencing.
The problem with videoconferencing is the competing standards. There's (deep breath): Skype, Facebook, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, WebEx, and more. Some are mobile-friendly, some are not. Some are great for Apple users, some are better for Windows users.
Your best bet is to be familiar with all the standards, just in case your client is a die-hard adherent to single platform.
