Let me tell you about my friend Jeremy. He’s the business development manager at an independently owned auto repair and tire shop that has several locations in the Phoenix area. Their competition is car dealerships and national discount tire chains. I met Jeremy shortly after I opened my law firm and half my job became networking. I see Jeremy everywhere — business mixers, community festivals, networking groups. He’s always there in his company polo shirt or wearing his company nametag. He’s the sweetest guy you’ll ever meet. Here’s what’s interesting about my friendship with Jeremy ... READ MORE

From 1997 to 2001, I worked for Verio, marketing and selling Internet access and web hosting to businesses. Early on, we had a small marketing budget and relied heavily on direct mail and cold (actual warm) calling. While I was reviewing my sales team's monthly goals with Buddy, my boss, he asked me, "Do you think you can make this month's target?" I replied, "Honestly, no, I don't think we can." Without missing a beat, he said, "Well, you'd better change your thinking. Because if you don't believe it, your team won't believe it." That was great advice from a great mentor. And I've been changing my thinking ever since. … Here's how I've changed my thinking about my IT budget over the years. READ MORE

Yes, we know, you live and die by the clock, and you’re already pretty savvy about time management. That said, a tune-up never hurts. Especially when getting the most out of every chunk of time may make the difference between the box seats at the ballgame or takeout at your desk. Here are five books with very different approaches to time management. See if one gets your clock running a little faster ... READ MORE

I had expected to give CrossOver a resounding “buy” recommendation for anyone with a need to run Windows programs natively on a Mac computer. Unfortunately, even though CrossOver is the perfect answer to our office's specific needs, that will not happen. In more than three decades using and managing hundreds of Macs and their Apple and Lisa predecessors, there have been only a handful of times that have required that my office have the ability to run Windows-specific programs. In early days when that happened, we bought a few HPs. Later, a very slow and piggy version of Parallels — which has since dramatically improved — became our solution. Today, it’s CrossOver. ...READ MORE

Hashtags have long been a staple of social media sites like Twitter and Instagram, as well as Tumblr and Pinterest. Facebook’s new hashtag platform, launched in July, approaches hashtagging in a similar fashion. For the uninitiated, a hashtag consists of one or more words or phrases, typically at the end of a social media post. The characters in […]

What makes WordPress so appealing for blogs and even your law firm's website is that it works right out of the box but can also be customized with themes and plugins. In part one of "Top WordPress Plugins," Fred Faulkner recommended social sharing, comment management and search engine optimization plugins to help take your plain-vanilla blog to the next level. In part two below, he has favorites in four more categories. With the right balance of plugins, you can build a full-featured WordPress-powered blog or website for your law firm. Here are a few I personally use and recommend in the categories of performance, contact forms, analytics, and backup and security.  ...

If you have a blog, chances are it is powered by WordPress. These days, more law firm websites use WordPress, too. For those who do not know, WordPress is an open-source blogging platform that has matured in many ways to a lightweight content management system. It is used by over 19.5 percent of the top 10 million websites as of August 2013, according to usage reports by W3Techs.

With more than 200 sessions and 200 exhibitors, the International Legal Technology Association's Annual Conference represents the leading edge of technology in the legal profession — and generates plenty of post-show attention in the blogosphere. For this week's Friday Five, we asked attorney and legal technologist Scott Giordano to bring back his impressions. ... READ MORE

If you don't know, paid search ads are the listings that appear at the very top of the page, typically in a tinted block, when you conduct a search online. Search ads can be a significant way to secure new clients for your law firm: In 2012, Google reported that in the U.S., clicks on paid search listings beat out organic clicks by nearly a 2:1 margin for keywords with high commercial intent. Search ads can also be the quickest route to a high position for your law firm on key search engine results pages (SERPs). You also get to decide the search terms that will put your ad in front of the appropriate audience, while being able to measure the ad's performance and adjust your strategy accordingly. When creating search ads, many people fall into the trap of focusing only on ad bidding. It’s not enough to simply show up for appropriate searches. You need to think about what to include in your ad to entice people — and you need to do it within stringent character and word limitations. Without powerful and persuasive ad copy, potential clients will move on. Here are some quick tips to help increase your clicks ... READ MORE

I suppose there are still lawyers and law firms out there asking themselves the question: “What is it that clients want?” Some of them continue to invest a substantial amount of money and time in detailed surveys of their existing clients, poring over the results and trying to read the tea leaves therein. Most of […]