A lot of law firms spend good money to generate leads through marketing, advertising, promotions and networking, in both online or offline venues. But most of that money is lost because of inconsistent and unsystematic intake when a lead actually contacts the firm to express interest in its services. 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, too many lawyers get it wrong. Here are four common client intake mistakes—along with tips on how you can avoid making the same ones. Get it right and you'll succeed in converting more leads to clients. ... READ MORE

Younger lawyers often wonder where to begin their marketing efforts. Without a notable track record of experience or expertise, and lacking contacts in a position to send business, the odds can seem insurmountable. If you are part of a firm, however, you have many potential marketing opportunities—they just happen to be internal.

Wise lawyers know that contemporaneous timekeeping is essential to the success of any fee arrangement—and to the overall financial success of your law firm. Lawyers who reconstruct their time weekly tend to lose 25 to 30 percent of their time, and those who enter time on a monthly basis can lose as much as 55 to 70 percent. To illustrate, assume an attorney is billing at $150 per hour and doesn’t capture 15 minutes a day. READ MORE

You're a litigator—when people need you, they find you, right? But until they do, they don't think much about you. All your usual business development tactics seem doomed to fall on deaf—or, at the very least, uninterested—ears. So, how do you market litigation services? For this month's "Ask the Experts," we passed that question on to Legal Marketing Association members Amy Adams, Tina Emerson and Stewart Hirsch. ... READ MORE

Outlook Conversation view allows the entire email conversation to be followed in one location—your Outlook inbox. Read the tips. We all like to talk—at least most of us do. In real life, our conversations flow, with one person talking, others replying, the original speaker responding again. We keep track of the flow in our minds—all […]

"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 last month's Third Annual Super Marketing Conference, Boston lawyer David White pointed out that, "We're all experts, we all have our law degree." So the question is, how do you rise to the top? White joined a host of excellent speakers at the conference at Suffolk School of Law, including keynoter Mark Britton, to deliver some super web marketing advice for lawyers. The theme? "Accelerate Your Marketing." And for this week's Friday Five, we highlight five super take-aways for doing just that. ... READ MORE

You're a lawyer, not an accountant. Yet many lawyers who run their own firms are forced to face billing and accounting head on to ensure their doors stay open. And the challenges only seem to be mounting, especially for small law firms. But why—and what's the solution? Here's a rundown.

In previous posts, I've covered how Evernote helps to get things done more efficiently and with ease. In this post, I'll focus on using checklists in Evernote to help you become an even more productive lawyer. First, it's important to point out there is a real and meaningful distinction between checklists and tasks in Evernote. Checklists are designed to serve as reminders of things that you need to do, but not things that serve as single-action items, which Evernote considers a task. Checklists come in handy for activities that take several steps to complete, or for a portion of a project that requires lists.

Legal question-and-answer sites—they're sometimes controversial but ultimately worth the effort. At least that’s been my experience. I’ve used legal Q&A sites as part of my San Diego-based criminal defense law firm’s marketing outreach and, overall, have found that my time has been well spent. But before I discuss the benefits of these sites, let’s cover the basics. First of all, what are legal Q&A sites? READ MORE

At a time when the supply of good, qualified lawyers exceeds the demand—and with so many options for finding legal advice or representation online—it is critical to differentiate your practice. To be found and hired, you need to speak clearly about the solutions and skills you will offer clients. How? Here are 12 ways to stand out from your competition.