"People don't want to hire at the bottom or middle of the barrel, they want to hire at the top of the barrel." At the Third Annual Super Marketing Conference, Boston lawyer David White pointed out that, "We're all experts, we all have our law degree." The question is, how do you rise to the top? White joined a host of excellent speakers this past June at Suffolk School of Law to deliver some super advice for lawyers. The theme? "Accelerate Your Marketing."  Here are five take-aways for doing just that. 1. Use content to build your credibility — just like always. Content marketing has been around for a long time, says Beth Marie Cuzzone, Director of Client Services and Business Development at Goulston & Storrs. “It’s just a new term for something most of us do intuitively — a technique where you are either constantly pulling or pushing marketing content to a particular target market.” She spoke along with David White and solo Cynthia MacCausland on the topic “Content Is Still King.” What is new, Cuzzone explained, is all the ways we now push out information—our new “distribution channels.” Where we once used newsletters, websites and seminars, now it’s search listings, blogs, ebooks, video, infographics, video and social media. You want to fill all those channels, and more, with credible, consistent content that helps you rise to the top of searches. “You have to stay in front of your audience and remind them why they love you,” White says. And don’t be shy ... READ MORE

A lot of lawyers spend good money to generate leads for new business through marketing, advertising, promotions and networking, in both online or offline venues. But much of that money is lost because of inconsistent and unsystematic intake when one of those leads actually contacts the firm to express interest. Lead intake is what you do when you’re in front of, on the phone or online with a lead or prospect—which, to be clear, includes, or should include, the act of qualifying and converting the prospect to a client. Unfortunately, way too many lawyers get it wrong. READ MORE

This time last year, we asked Gyi Tsakalakis to gaze into his crystal ball and give his best lawyer marketing predictions — along with his best advice on how to focus your online marketing. The following feature — and checklist — appeared in Attorney at Work's e-guide, Really Good Marketing Ideas. So, how did Gyi's predictions hold up? And were you able to follow his "year's best marketing advice"? It's never too late to start .... Happy New Year! When I think about the changes to social media and social networking in the past year, a variety of changes come to mind. And, sure, we could talk about how each of these changes might impact how you market your law practice. But in contemplating some of the “stuff you must know,” it seems to me the most important thing is still one of the most overlooked: Being authentic. Yeah, I know it’s not glamorous. It’s not the insider tip, trick or technical hack that you might have been hoping for. It’s not “How to Make It Rain with Social Media: The Complete Guide.” But if you’re a lawyer contemplating your marketing plan for the year ahead, it should permeate everything that you’re considering to market your practice. ... READ MORE

Marketing isn't rocket science. More than anything, it demands "the little engine that could" approach, just putt-putting up the mountainside. For one of our favorite collections from the archives, we asked some widely known legal marketing pros for their favorite marketing tips to help crank up your business development engines for the coming year. See if you can find the parallels in this advice from Burkey Belser, Silvia Coulter, Bob Denney, Bob Durham, Ross Fishman, and Ann Lee Gibson, Mark Greene, Roberta Montafia, Merrilyn Astin Tarlton and Gerry Riskin ... READ MORE

I always emphasize the importance of remaining optimistic when coaching lawyers on the topic of job hunting. And, lawyers being lawyers, I always need to provide some reason why they should remain upbeat. I have a simple answer: The job market is actually much less competitive than you think when you consider that so many other job-seekers make fundamental mistakes. ... READ MORE

The top legal technology trends this year? All month, you've been reading about trends in the legal profession: Bob Denney's annual "Hot and Not," Doug Edmund's "Signs of Hope for Tomorrow's Lawyers" and Larry Port on the legal cloud. To continue the trendspotting, we asked more of our favorite legal technologists to chime in on the most important developments of 2013 and their personal favorite tools or apps this year. Take notes! ... READ MORE

Legal cloud computing software is no longer new. What I would define as the "modern era" of Internet-based legal systems — heralded by the launch of Rocket Matter (full disclosure, that is my company) and Clio in 2008 — is now five years old. In computing terms, that's the Jurassic era. Legal cloud computing products are now flush with features and are changing the game when it comes to small law firm practice management. In 2013 we witnessed additional state bar ethics committees opining on cloud computing, and how attorneys should think about this new generation of legal software. The following are some of the key developments we saw this year ...READ MORE

These past few months, Mike Ramsey has been introducing us to Local Search Marketing. And, rookie, master marketer or somewhere in the middle, you’ve probably concluded that this is one incredibly complicated — and frustrating — world. It’s not just you. Earlier this year, Mike compiled a list of 40 most-often-asked questions he gets about local search in general, […]

We all begin each new year with good intentions, but you know what they say about the road to hell. Most lawyers have some marketing and business development goals and objectives in mind. However, such goals often tend to be aspirational and lacking in specificity — things like “generate more referrals” or “increase my visibility.” Here's how to get focused.

You don’t need to be reminded what a tough market it has been these past few years. But while it’s been bad out in the trenches, imagine how discouraging it’s been for law students slogging their way through torts and contracts and civ pro classes, then studying for weeks to take the bar exam, hoping to pass. For far too many students, despite summer internships or a highly coveted clerkship, long-term legal job prospects still seem bleak. To make matters worse, many firms complain that young lawyers arrive ill prepared for the day-to-day demands of practicing law. So how are law schools — besieged by bad press and dropping enrollments — addressing this situation? ... READ MORE