In our Friday Five "Tech Tips: Small, Powerful Ways to Use Data in Your Law Firm," practice management experts recently weighed in on how small law firms can use data in a meaningful way. Oklahoma Bar Association practice advisor Jim Calloway has another great tip: Automate your documents so you can collect and reuse all that good data.

You've spent money and time trying to drive traffic to your website's landing pages. Wouldn't you like to know you're not losing visitors because you fail to inspire trust? You've likely heard that you have anywhere from 3 to 30 seconds to grab your visitors' attention once they land on your site. That's true, and one of the best ways to do that is to quickly build trust, which encourages visitors to keep reading, scrolling and clicking. But how can you build trust through such a flat interface as a computer screen or mobile device? Here are five simple but effective tactics to inspire the kind of trust that will stop people from clicking away to one of your competitors.

There are so many different ways to push marketing content out into the world. Some are brought to you by the wonders of the internet. Others require your in-person participation. Some are free, requiring nothing beyond the creation of dynamite content. In her new column, "Content Under Pressure," writer and business development strategist Susan Kostal clues you in on the new rules of effective content marketing, helping you avoid the pitfalls and find new opportunities to market your law practice. —Ed. By allowing Roman advocates trained in rhetoric to practice law, Roman Emperor Claudius was the first to legitimize the legal profession. By the fourth century, advocates had to be enrolled on the bar of a court to argue there — the first regulations on the legal profession. Ever since, lawyers have been leery of giving clients helpful information otherwise closely held by an exclusive, licensed profession. But today, savvy attorneys and law firms, both B2B and B2C, are providing clients with everything from basic information on how to best use their services to sample contracts and concrete, detailed information about the law directly relevant to their legal needs

Last week, the winners were revealed! The College of Law Practice Management's 2016 InnovAction Awards will be presented to Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. and Norton Rose Fulbright LLP on Sept. 16 during the college's annual Futures Conference. The InnovAction Awards recognize lawyers, law firms and other deliverers of legal services for unprecedented business activity. The program, now in its 12th year, seeks to highlight "what can be created when passionate professionals, with big ideas and strong convictions, are determined to make a difference."

Recently I underwent a diagnostic medical test that I knew was going to cause me a great deal of anxiety. In addition, I had to arrive at the medical facility at 7 a.m., couldn’t have a cup of coffee in advance and had been told that I was unlikely to be able to leave before 11 a.m. I had never met the doctor who would perform the procedure, and as time wore on that morning, it appeared that I would not meet him before being wheeled into the operating room. Was I stressed? You bet.

Everybody seems to be talking about "big data" and data analytics. But what does it mean to a small law firm or solo practitioner? Or, more specifically, what can you do now to start gathering and analyzing data in a meaningful way? For this month's Friday 5+ Tech Tips, we asked practice management tech experts to help lawyers figure out one smart way to use data in their practices. Here's great advice from Heidi Alexander, Natalie Kelly, Nora Regis, Lee Rosen and Ed Walters.

For a practicing attorney, efficiency and accuracy are key components of effective work habits. If you can get your work done more quickly, and avoid mistakes such as typos (or overlooking something you meant to say), you will be more productive. You could use that time to get in a little more work on a motion. Or go to an industry networking event, or catch up with a friend over lunch. Or go home and enjoy dinner. If you could save yourself 10 or 15 minutes per day while ensuring the high quality of what you write, wouldn’t you?

Recently, I hired a lawyer. Not only did I have to print and sign an engagement letter, I also had to mail a check and manually complete a form that was then transferred to a Word document, which I then had to sign by hand. Compared to my interaction with almost any other business, I found the entire process extremely inefficient. On the other end of the spectrum, my husband hired a different lawyer who used a practice management system that allows for document sharing, online engagement, electronic billing and payment. He never even met this lawyer and yet he was very satisfied with the process and outcome.

Managing a winning major league ball club and operating a highly profitable law firm have more in common than meets the eye. It all comes down to numbers. You wouldn’t be in practice if you didn’t have talent, skill and vast knowledge of the law — just as baseball players wouldn’t be in the Major League if they didn’t have an invaluable skill set. But it's how these skills are managed and used that makes the difference between success and failure.

The most powerful scene in The Untouchables, a movie with more than a few of them, came courtesy of Sean Connery.