If you can't afford a marketing agency or a full-time SEO professional, Google Trends can give you valuable insights into search trends — and generate ideas for your website, blog and social media content. While it’s not the best tool for in-depth keyword research, it is easy to use and can help guide your marketing strategy. Here are five ways to use Google Trends for your law firm

One fact that's always acknowledged in this column is that good content requires effort. It requires yours (which equals time and money) or someone else’s (which equals less time but more money). When speaking, I’ve railed against random acts of content and one-offs. Everything you publish needs to adhere to your content strategy. To do otherwise is an exhausting waste of resources.

You passed the bar and got your first job in a law firm. Congratulations. Now it’s time to start becoming a rainmaker lawyer. “Whoa,” you say. “Slow down. Become a rainmaker lawyer? I still have to become a real lawyer. You know, one whose work clients will actually pay for.” Calm down. I didn’t say […]

We’ve all heard that doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. I want to put a new spin on it: “Marketing insanity” is continuing to spend money without knowing the results — meaning you can't prioritize how to spend your marketing dollars. Many law firms come to us experiencing marketing insanity, usually coupled with a track record of overwhelmingly poor performance in their marketing efforts. They're not alone. Most firms have little understanding of their marketing return on investment.

Learning how to first identify and then modify the existing Styles in your document is a good first step to learning how Styles work in Microsoft Word. Master a few basics and you can quickly make global changes to elements like headings, page numbers and footnotes to ensure formatting consistency.

During a recent jury trial, counsel was provided with completed jury questionnaires including names, ages, home addresses and places of employment. In addition to using traditional research techniques found in public records, to what extent may we use social media platforms to research the venire?

Ever wonder why some writers get all the attention online? Their posts get shared, their personal brands grow, their email lists swell, and their fortunes rise as their content receives an outsized share of eyeballs. It’s easy to dismiss their success as luck, by concluding that it resulted from a post going viral (as if hitting "Publish" is the same as pulling the lever on a slot machine), or connections with influencers that others don’t have. The truth is, those who break through are fundamentally no different from the rest of us. They just act differently. They know what it takes to produce content that cuts through the noise and provides real value to readers. In fact, readers perceive their content to be so valuable that they share it with others — they’re smarter for having read it and assume (rightly) that members of their own networks will think more highly of them for having exposed them to it as well.

New Year's resolutions, like eating healthy or spending more time engaging with friends and family, are quickly abandoned when you're under constant scrutiny at work. (There's nothing like a civilized “Hunger Games,” right?) But you do have some control. Here are five tangible, realistic ways to get some balance in your life.

The best rainmakers are often great networkers. That doesn’t mean they are necessarily good schmoozers or enjoy working a room; in fact, many do not. It does mean they know and connect a lot of people. Many lawyers think of networking as disingenuous or self-serving. But your personal efforts will be more rewarding and effective if you focus on the best reason for networking: to know the right people so you can help others.

Congratulations! You survived law school, passed the bar and got a job. By now you’re somewhat settled in. Some partners have learned your name, and you’ve received a few paychecks. So, what will you do with the steady earnings? Since it is far easier to start your financial life on the right foot than be forced to adjust bad habits decades later, here’s a checklist covering what to do and what to avoid as a new attorney.