TechnoLawyer: Law Firm Marketing/Publications/Web Sites

Coming November 29, 2005 to TechnoFeature: Many forays into document assembly never get past the pilot phase. Firms develop a few templates and use them for a period of time, but then these templates languish for lack of regular updating. In this article, legal technology consultant Seth Rowland examines how to get past the pilot, and provides you with a roadmap for finishing such projects, and transforming your firm into a document assembly-driven law practice. Perhaps most importantly, Seth discusses how to sell the pilot internally to other attorneys within the firm — and how to sell it externally to lure more business.

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Recently, AOL acquired Weblogs Inc., a Mark Cuban-financed startup company that operates dozens of enthusiast blogs, but which is best-known for Engadget.

Those of us in the online media business read MediaPost's Just an Online Minute, an e-mail newsletter about our little world. Naturally, the newsletter covered this deal, writing:

"America Online's decision to purchase Weblogs for $25 million is the latest example of the if-you-can't-beat-em-join-em attitude that, these days, established media companies exhibit toward consumer-generated sites.... These moves also suggest that the dichotomy between mainstream media ands [sic] user-generated content is breaking down. Perhaps the large corporate media companies are no longer as wary as in the past of giving citizen journalists and other consumers a platform."

The above characterization of Weblogs Inc.'s content as "user-generated content" (what we call "peer-written content" here at TechnoLawyer) is not correct. Weblogs Inc.'s pays freelance writers to write its blogs. That's not user-generated content, it's traditional content. The content just happens to reside in a blog with fewer layers of editing (or perhaps no editing). The only user-generated content Weblogs Inc. publishes consists of the reader comments below each article — no different than what you'd find in a mainstream media publication.

By contrast, here at TechnoLawyer, we not only publish user-generated content, we place it in the spotlight. For example, our Answers to Questions and Fat Friday newsletters consist of your contributions. If we have anything to say, we place our comments BELOW your Post, not above. Perhaps an even better example, our TechnoFeature newsletter consists of an article written by an expert in the subject matter, not by someone who earns their living writing.

Just to be clear, I'm not criticizing Weblogs Inc. We ourselves publish a newsletter — TechnoLawyer NewsWire — written by a freelance journalist. I've always felt that you need a mix of the two. Instead, I'm just pointing out an error in the use of the term "user-generated content." I have requested that MediaPost publish a correction, but it has not yet done so.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Chris Cardell has published an insightful article entitled Destroy Your Business in Five Easy Steps, which certainly applies to law firms. The five steps?

• Not communicating effectively with your existing customers.

• Relying on just one or two main forms of marketing.

• Running ineffective advertising.

• Failing to focus on the benefits that your product or service offers your customers and clients.

• Not using e-mail marketing effectively.

Read the article.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Recently, my out-of-warranty PowerBook stopped working properly. I suspected a dying hard drive. I performed a final series of backups and immediately began looking for an overnight repair service.

First, I tried to visit PowerBookResQ, which has received rave reviews among users over the years. I say "tried" because the Web site was down. So I called instead and left a voice-mail message.

Second, I ran a Google search and found TechRestore. I clicked on the ad to find a poorly-designed Web site that didn't answer all of my questions. So I called and left another voice-mail message.

Third, I visited some Mac Web sites and found an ad for a company called MacService. Finally, a well-designed Web site! However, I couldn't find any user reviews on the Internet so I decided to call. A human being — strike that — a knowledgeable human being actually answered the phone and answered all my questions.

At this point, PowerBookResQ returned my call, but it was too late — MacService had me at "Hello." I placed an order on MacService's Web site and dropped off my PowerBook at FedEx. (TechRestore also returned my call, but not the same day I left my message.)

The next day, MacService e-mailed me to let me know that the hard drive was indeed the culprit. The day after that, I received my PowerBook with a new hard drive. MacService also cleaned the exterior of my PowerBook — it looked like new. My PowerBook has worked well ever since.

This Post is not just about overnight laptop repair services. It's about marketing and service, and how they must work together. You can provide the greatest service on Earth, but it won't matter if prospects cannot find you on the Internet. Likewise, you can have the world's most pervasive advertising campaign, but if your service doesn't measure up, word of mouth from disgruntled clients will eventually catch up to you.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

A few months ago, we took some flack among bloggers (despite being bloggers ourselves) for publishing a TechnoFeature article entitled A Contrarian View of Legal Blogs.

Now comes a Forbes cover story entitled Attack of the Blogs that has generated a storm of controversy. The article discusses bloggers who try to sabotage companies, products, and people.

Fine, but just as many if not more bloggers also praise companies, products, and people without disclosing their financial ties in the same — an equally serious problem.

Transparency is always the best policy. That's what we aim for here in TechnoLawyer. Shills sometimes elude our "doesn't smell right" detectors, but we squelch most such attempts.

When it comes to blogs, no one can screen them for you so keep this advice in mind — if you cannot ascertain the identity of the blogger, don't trust what you read without corroboration from a trusted source. Common sense goes a long way whether you're reading a blog, newsletter, newspaper, prospectus, etc.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

CaseSoft CEO Greg Krehel often jokes about his company's quest for world domination. That lofty goal just took another step forward with the recruiting of Nancy Smith as Marketing Programs Manager.  In this newly created position, Nancy will oversee all of CaseSoft's marketing efforts. Continued growth necessitated the new position, allowing for more attention to product development.

According to Greg, "Nancy is a good fit for the CaseSoft philosophy of excellence in customer relations." Her background includes over 15 years as a non-profit executive working with individual and corporate donors in the field of higher education. If you ask Nancy the most important aspect of a strong marketing program, she doesn't hesitate to tell you — "developing relationships."

CaseSoft has long pursued the "Purple Cow" strategy of building its marketing into its products. Therefore, it's not surprising that the company views its new Marketing Programs Manager as a way to better serve its customers. As a result, expect Nancy to not just market CaseSoft's products, but also help design them.

Say hello to Nancy at the next trade show you attend.

About Member News
TechnoLawyer members are among the most gifted and prominent in the legal profession. In the Member News section of TechnoLawyer Blog, we report on their latest accomplishments and success stories — everything from court victories to articles and books to new partner announcements — and much more. If you're a newsmaker, but not yet a member, join TechnoLawyer now, and then contact our newsdesk.

Coming October 21, 2005 to Fat Friday: Dean Kirby discusses his impression of CaseSoft's DepPrep, Faith Drewry offers her take on the CSS in RSS issue, Kikis Talarides reviews Time Matters (and pleads for a Greek version), Peter Pike chastises the Delaware government, and Brad Jensen takes another look at 9/11 from a technology perspective. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Longtime TechnoLawyer member Ellen Freedman presides over Freedman Consulting, a legal technology consulting firm that primarily serves the Delaware and Lehigh Valley. On her site you'll find dozens of practice management articles she has penned for the Pennsylvania Bar Association where she serves as Law Practice Management Coordinator.

As if that weren't enough to keep her busy, Ellen recently launched Law Practice Management, a blog designed to "assist your firm in managing the business side of your practice." What makes Ellen's blog noteworthy is that she draws her material not from fellow bloggers, but from the lawyers she helps both at her consultancy and at the Pennsylvania Bar Association. You won't find much navel-gazing here, but rather genuinely helpful information.

Recent posts have discussed rainmaking, VoIP, cell phone viruses, and law firm Web sites.

Welcome to the blawgosphere, Ellen!

About Member News
TechnoLawyer members are among the most gifted and prominent in the legal profession. In the Member News section of TechnoLawyer Blog, we report on their latest accomplishments and success stories — everything from court victories to articles and books to new partner announcements — and much more. If you're a newsmaker, but not yet a member, join TechnoLawyer now, and then contact our newsdesk.

In a recent issue of Fat Friday, I wrote: "I know from my discussion with vendors that their biggest obstacle remains ignorance, not a competitor's product." TechnoLawyer member Brad Jensen of LaserVault responds as follows: "Speaking as a long-time technology marketer (document management, scanning, and COLD), this is something I continually say to my salespeople. People have a limited amount of attention, and they tend to do today the same thing they did yesterday, because it is proven. That's why companies are still using paper (invented 1500 BC) and microfiche (invented 1955) to store their business records. The good news is for those organizations who adopt new, faster and more convenient technology, they quickly gain a competitive advantage over the majority of firms."

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

TechnoLawyer member Diana Brodman Summers was earning a good living as a database administrator, but yearned for a career change so she used her retirement savings to invest in herself and pursue a law degree at night. A few days before the bar exam, her employer downsized her out of her job.

Fortunately, Diana still managed to pass the bar exam despite this bad news. Unfortunately, she could not find a job as a lawyer. "Out of 685 resumes I got three interviews, two of whom told me to my face I was too old [at 40] to be an associate."

Instead, she started contracting herself out to law firms on a per case or per month basis. Eventually, she earned enough money and developed enough of a reputation to open her own solo practice in Lisle, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. Diana primarily represents employees in employment discrimination matters, and also serves as an arbitrator for Cook County and DuPage County's Mandatory Arbitration Program.

Diana is also a best-selling author. Her current book How to Buy Your First Home has become the top-seller in its category. She recently spoke about the book on her local ABC TV station. Her other books include Illinois Landlord's Legal Guide, How to Write an Illinois Will, and How to File for Divorce in Illinois. Her next book, How to Start a Home Based Business will hit bookshelves in a few months.

As for her favorite technology tools, Diana lists Word and WordPerfect, Adobe Acrobat, Netscape, and especially Stamps.com. "It enables me to print postage whenever I want, and it keeps a records of when I printed the postage and a file of names and addresses."

You can contact Diana at (630) 955-3735.

About Member News
TechnoLawyer members are among the most gifted and prominent in the legal profession. In the Member News section of TechnoLawyer Blog, we report on their latest accomplishments and success stories — everything from court victories to articles and books to new partner announcements — and much more. If you're a newsmaker, but not yet a member, join TechnoLawyer now, and then contact our newsdesk.