I would recommend starting with one Facebook business page for the law firm. They take a lot of care and feeding, so to build more than one at a time might be a monumental task at first. One option is to have it focus on one major practice area, industry group or area of focus in your business and marketing plan, but I would suggest making it multi-focal to start. Your clients and friends need to be reminded what your firm is capable of, so let it cross-sell for you. Try to encourage conversation, an emphasis on your clients’, as well as your, activities, and don’t ever stop creating topics and conversation, and inviting people to come visit through its promotion on all of the social networks you are using.

Facebook accounts or profiles should always be separated in to two different types – personal and professional. How embarrassing it would be to have had a fun night out on the town only to have an embarrassing photo of you tagged to your Facebook page where clients and future clients will view.  We recommend always getting permission from partners or management if you do set up a professional blog, social networking profile or anything else that will use the name of a law firm or company name. Even if the name of the company or law firm is only in your biography. Get it in writing.

Now, if you have a professional law firm or company FaceBook Fan Page or account set up you may want to have your IT staff create the accounts using the employees law firm / corporate email address. That way the firm always has control over the account.

I strongly urge law firms to set up individual Facebook accounts for each member and to advise the of their individual policies such as the purpose, what you will allow and not allow on the Facebook page, and making sure they use them for “law firm” business only. I would encourage the employees or attorneys of the firm to also add friends to their account that would be appropriate and to use care. Also I would encourage them to have their network become “a Fan” of the law firm’s Facebook Fan Page or Account.

There are a lot of legal pitfalls to avoid so we would recommend obtaining advice from employment lawyer that specializes in reviewing employee handbooks and Internet policy to make sure your covered.

This shift and the ability to communicate credibility has law firms positioning their law firm’s Facebook like icons on high visibility areas of their web pages. This means that lawyer and law firm Facebook fan pages that have the most Facebook users who “like” what they have to offer will appear higher in Facebook search rankings.

Right now there are two different ways that a Facebook user may “Like” your law firm’s fan page. The first technique is by adding a Facebook “Like” link or plug in on your law firm website so that users of your website may click on your law firm’s Facebook’s “Like” icon. The other option to generate more Facebook.com fan page “Like” votes is by creating a fan page within Facebook for your law firm that is separate from your personal Facebook page which gives Facebook users the option to “Like” your law firm.

Facebook has confirmed that there is no difference, at this point, which option is best for placement on its search engine.

So, what does this mean for lawyer marketing on Facebook? It means there is a value to promote not just your Facebook profile, but more importantly to push users, visitors, clients and colleagues to vote or “Like” your law firm Facebook Fan Page. Also, using a dual strategy where you include the Facebook Open Graph API and website/blog plug-ins you will achieve the very best results.  Also, becoming more active on Facebook with a law firm page is am important step toward increased visibility in social search results resulting in more new clients and establishing effective web credibility.

Lawyer Success, Inc. (lawyersuccess.com), has been a leader in solo and small law firm web lead generation since 2003. We help law firms get ahead of their competition through the use of highly specialized law firm Internet marketing techniques. Call the law firm marketing experts at Lawyer Success, Inc. now at (769) 218-6099 or log on to http://www.lawyersuccess.com to learn more about turnkey blogs, social media marketing and other web lead generation solutions for lawyers, attorneys, legal professionals and law firms of all sizes.

The point of having a face book page for law firms is to keep the public informed of what is going on in the firms practice area. This gives potential clients the confidence that the firm is active and current. What I have found useful is to link both facebook and linkedin to twitter. Post a comment on one and it proliferates through all sites. For longer articles make a post to facebook. The end goal is to keep everyone informed.

Justin Kistner, an analyst at Webtrends said that social media websites like Twitter  and Facebook would likely diminish in popularity by 2012. Our law firm marketing consultants have been involved with Web marketing for 11 years and have seen the rise and fall of many popular websites.  We agree that social media is likely to peak around 2012 and that the next big thing is right around the corner probably likely to appear some time in 2015.  This is consistent with some other observations about specific sites.

Other exerts in the field of web traffic and usage analysis such as Compete,  say that the number of Twitter users has flat-lined. Compete, a Web analytics firm, says that the microblogging website’s number of visitors hasn’t changed much since June and that its roughly 22 million visitors in December 2010 was about 770,000 fewer than its highest number, which was in August 2010. And other analysts paint the same picture, raising the question: Has Twitter peaked and what does this mean for lawyer advertising and marketing effectiveness?

Although it appears that the “Twitter fad” may have indeed peaked, another social media website, Facebook, continues to see steady growth in both visits and new accounts. In January 2010 Facebook drew 133.6 million unique visitors which out ranked the grandfather website Yahoo that garnered 132 million visitors. Another important statistic is that Facebook is the number one website when it comes to the amount of time people actually spend online using the website.

Compete.com, the popular Web analytics firm stated, “In January, 11.6% of all time spent online was spent on Facebook (compared to 4.25% for Yahoo and 4.1% for Google. Google still holds the number one spot with 147.8 million visitors, or nearly half the U.S. population.”

The question becomes, what does this mean to attorneys and law firms when it comes to their Internet marketing strategy? We believe that social media marketing for lawyers is here to stay and will continue to grow in importance as these social media sites learn how to turn their massive membership in to business opportunities.

I particularly like websites or social media sites that take in detailed information or demographics from their user. The user can add personal details such as their favorite movies, books, career, job title and more valuable information for marketing purposes. Unlike Twitter, this enables advertisers to zero in on specific demographics or groups that offer the best match for their services making pay per click advertising very attractive and targeted.

Call Lawyer Success, Inc. to discuss any questions you have about marketing your law firm online or on social media sites like YouTube, FaceBook, Twitter or others. Call (769) 218-6099.

One of the biggest mistakes most law firms make due to time restraints and the push for developing new business is the lack of responsiveness and the neglecting of current client relationships or relationships of the past. LinkedIn.com is a popular business networking tool that has a very good reputation for developing new business for law firms and solving the issue of keeping in touch with client of new and old. One of the best practices we use when using LinkedIn.com to market our clients our law firm internet marketing company is to make sure you send invites to new or potential clients. This is a great way to make sure that #1 – you make a great first impression, #2 – keep in touch with new clients or potential new clients. We find that is a very courteous and well received.

If your firm offers special seminars or educational workshops with potential clients, offering an invitation through social networking sites like LinkedIn.com can make life much easier for reaching out to your prospective clients on both an individual level and on a group level. The feedback our law firm clients consistently receive utilizing this technique is uniformly positive. Also, keep in mind that LinkedIn.com is great for finding colleagues and past clients.  Making a new connection is just like freshening up your your old client referral list.  Our clients have been able to really refine their client referral programs making and revisiting with connections on LinkedIn.com.

Many of our clients used to just simply accept the LinkedIn invitations, believing that this exchange has no more relevance to their practice that the typical “meet and greet.”  However, LinkedIn is an effective marketing tool just as joining a civic group or business networking group.  Be cautious though of using LinkedIn to blindly identify and invite new clients or push unsolicited invitations in the hopes of develop a huge network of referral sources which spans the globe. I realize there are most marketing companies promoting this idea but it is a violation of the rules of professional ethics in all 50 states for your to do just that.

The best way to attract people and clients that have never heard of you before in a manor that keeps you inline with the lawyer advertising rules is to build a very robust profile and create a legal group where people may join. This is a technique that is completely permissible and will allow you to ethically market to a potential audience (now with 60,000,000 members). We typically advise our client to set up groups in which they offer potential or existing clients entry and participation.  This builds value and value enables you to demonstrate expertise and skillful application of legal services.

One of the other benefits of LinkedIn is the relatively simple user interface. This interface makes it very simple to add, edit or remove information within minutes. This application also enables attorneys to connect with new clients, potential clients, past clients, and referral sources daily with just a few minutes of effort. No more having to buy lunches or setting golf outings to make a fresh connection.  The theme of LinkedIn is business communication and everyone gets it.

To discuss some of the best practices your law firm can take to develop a strong presence and create value using LinkedIn. Call the 11 year veterans of Lawyer Success, Inc. You can speak to one of our marketing experts immediately by calling (769) 218-6099.

There is an absolute myriad of information available on the internet. People from every inch of the world have a literal web of information available at the push of a button. Therefore, you must introduce YOUR particular information as quickly and as professionally as possible in order to run far ahead of the pack. One key way to go about presenting the favorable information that you want to be known for is through social networking.

Social networking sites, such as Linkeden and Facebook, are very powerful tools when it comes to marketing your legal practice. There are also social networking sites available to lawyers and lawyers alone. Social networking can make a large firm seem small and personable and an individual seem larger than life. The best possible way to go about designing and maintaining a successful social networking site is to have a lawyer website designer tend to the details of making the perfect lawyer website design. You may be a professional when it comes to law, but the niche of lawyer website design is the profession of lawyer website designers. These are the individuals that could literally make you or break you in the world of social networking.

Also a very cost effective marketing plan, lawyer website designers can spread your practices key qualities amongst an abundance of social networking sites. Your name will be popping up on search engines everywhere, one click leading to a virtual treasure trove of information on your law practice. A sort of amped up directory, lawyer website designers can tweak your listing to be so much more than a simple address and telephone number. You can provide reviews, testimonials, awards, basically anything that you would find as desirable to be known to the public, to be known for.

Another benefit of social networking is the ability to find people that can help you. For example, searches can be done for potential new business and also for business that provide services to legal practices. Jobs can be found as can new hires.

Social networking is beneficial to lawyers in so many ways. A dynamic lawyer website designer with a clear vision of a supreme lawyer website design is detrimental to your practices future. A skillful designer partnered with an unmitigated lawyer could prove to be virtually unstoppable. A successful social networking site could prove to be ultimately the wisest decision you could make to boost your business’ notoriety.

Call Lawyer Success, Inc. at (769) 218-6099 if you would like a free consultation regarding social networking marketing and strategic planning.

If you are planning on putting a website video on your law firm’s website than you should avoid the following mistakes.  If not, you may be turning potential clients away from your law firm.

1. Does your lawyer video look like a B-rated horror movie? Details are everything and first impressions are lasting impressions. Lighting, picture quality,  and sound quality give instant sense of your credibility, professionalism, and trustworthiness.

2. Not building trust or selling you. Video is all about personality and making a personal connection. Allow yourself to be you. Speak clearly and memorize your pitch instead of trying to read a script. Allow your personality to shine through. Point out you main strengths and point of difference.

3. Not creating videos for different practice area pages. Creating relevant videos is a very good way to increase your credibility, showcase your experience, and address the potential clients’ issue directly. We usually create a home page video, attorney profile videos and practice specific videos for optimal results.

Let’s not forget that web video can be optimized for search engines and can be used to draw in traffic from users of social media sites such as YouTube.

Call Lawyer Success, Inc, for a free rate quote. We offer a flat fee for up to 10 onsite lawyer videos. Call us today at (769) 218-6099.

Here is an example of one of our Facebook Fan Pages we created for a personal injury law firm. We included optimization, videos, contact forms, Q&A forums, and many new features for people who use Facebook for everything including finding a lawyer.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nashville-TN/Nahon-Firm-PLC-Nashville-Personal-Injury-Attorneys/268017812095?ref=ts

Don’t wait until the competition is too fierce to have a well designed, optimized and creative Facebook Fan Page for your law firm. Call us today at (769) 218-6099.

FaceBook should be impossible for any marketing savvy lawyer to ignore. FaceBook membership is now at over 350 million users worldwide.  But why is this important for law firms? Why is social networking sites vital to client development practices for consumer based law firms?

Answer #1- Audience.  Web users are now integrating more tools and communication channels in their everyday lives. It is becoming more an more common for people to update their FaceBook page and check updates via their cell phones through mobile web access or via text messaging.

Here are the FaceBook user statistics since January 1, 2010.

• More than 350 million active users
• 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
• More than 35 million users update their status each day
• More than 55 million status updates posted each day
• More than 2.5 billion photos uploaded to the site each month
• More than 3.5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each week
• More than 3.5 million events created each month
• More than 1.6 million active Pages on Facebook
• More than 700,000 local businesses have active Pages on Facebook
• Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans

Answer #2 – Access. The value of social networking websites to lawyers really begins to take root as more Facebook users being to learn and understand how to use the website.  Because there is such a  large draw of users, the website has the opportunity to assist its users beyond uploading photos or making comments. The users can use the FaceBook search engine to search for experts, for research material, obtain referrals through their social network, check out recommendations and so much more.

Basically, I call social networking sites, like Facebook, “Word of Mouth in the Virtual World.”  We all understand the value and power of client referrals.

• Custom logo or photo
• Updates Wall
• Compete contact information
• Free Case Evaluation Web Form
• Legal Services Pages – otherwise known as a Practice Areas Page
• Twitter Feed
• Email or enewsletter sign up page
• Search Engine Optimization of FaceBook Fan Page

Are FaceBook Fan Page’s ethical for lawyers to participate. Depends on how you use them. If you set up a law firm FaceBook Fan Page like a website than you are OK. The issue under debate by most states bar associations is how you promote them. If you are pushing the law firm FaceBook Fan Page to users on FaceBook who your firm does not have a relationship, then you will be in violation of the common lawyer non-solicitation rules.

Keep in mind that a FaceBook Fan Page for lawyers and law firms is nothing more than a mini website. The only difference is the ability for users to search for you, refer other people to you through FaceBook, and the ability to keep in contact with people who signed up to be a fan of your law firm’s FaceBook Fan page.

Other Benefits for starting a law firm Facebook Fan page include:

• More exposure to the major search engines. Google and other search engine will index FaceBook Fan pages if they are optimized well and have certain settings activated on the FaceBook Fan Page.
• Viral Marketing – Friends, family, collegues and clients can promote your FaceBook Fan page on their FaceBook pages. This really multiples your reach to potential new clients.
• Links to your law firm website
• Builds credibility – having a large FaceBook Fan base is better and more ethical than having client testimonials on a website. It is far more impressive to potential clients when they see that your law firm is well connected and has a lot of followers.
• Communication – Attorneys that have a FaceBook Fan Page are able to stay in contact with clients without have to send letters, cards or unwanted emails. By simply logging into your FaceBook account you can instantly send important firm news or helpful information to your fans.
• Comments made through your law firm FaceBook page is indexed in search engines as well increasing your search engine references.
• Becoming a fan of other FaceBook pages can give you even more exposure through their network. We recommend only joining FaceBook Fan sites or Friends with people or organizations that you know to avoid any solicitation violations.