By Carey Ransom on October 26, 2011

1. See how many calls a specific advertisement generates and hold your vendors accountable.
2. Measure how many calls result in beneficial new client opportunities for your firm.
3. Measure how many calls result in actual sales/new clients for your firm.
4. Make sure that you and your team are following up on all inbound calls by having an accurate call history list.
5. Capture more contact information (name, addresses & phone number) from people who call your firm.
6. Track calls that come from your website.
7. Track calls that come from your online (and offline) web directory and local maps listings.
8. Track calls that come from your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media pages.
9. Assess how well you and your staff do at answering calls.
10. Provide objective quality assurance on your calls.
11. Create better answering and phone sales scripts by reviewing successful calls.
12. Develop easy rules for call routing during the business day and after hours so fewer calls are missed.
13. Respond quickly and create more opportunities from missed calls.
14. Review calls and train your staff in areas of improvement.
15. Alert your staff and salespeople of the source of incoming calls, before they speak to the caller.
16. Enable a remote assistant, receptionist partner or 3rd party to take calls after hours or when you are unavailable.
17. Monitor the effectiveness of a partner who answers and qualifies inbound calls.
18. Measure the return call rate from voicemails that your salespeople leave with prospects.
19. Develop a geographic map that shows where your calls come from, which can aid targeted marketing.
20. Route and handle calls based on various criteria such as area code, source, etc.

There are certainly others as well, but this list should give you a strong set of reasons to stop waiting and begin using call tracking and measurement in your firm today!

By Ari Kaplan on October 19, 2011

[We're excited to welcome guest blogger Ari Kaplan to the RealPractice Blog. Ari  provides strategic consulting, in-house training and ghostwriting services in the legal industry. He is the author of Reinventing Professional Services: Building Your Business in the Digital Marketplace and The Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development.]

A colleague of mine in the U.K. recently asked whether I could connect him with career officials at universities in the U.S.  Happy to assist, I made a few introductions to individuals with whom I am not regularly in contact.  The first respondent thanked me and offered to speak with him.  And, then she noted that my e-mail had prompted her to ask whether I would consider returning to the school in the next academic year.  Opportunity made.  No fancy tools.  No Twitter followers.  Just simple sincere engagement – period.

Many professionals in the current market struggle with ways to follow up or to even meet members of their target audience.  One proven method for reconnecting with a contact with which you have lost touch, continuing the conversation with someone you just met, or initiating contact for the first time is to make an introduction.  Doing so reflects your character and genuinely acknowledges the person to whom you are reaching out.

For instance, following a meeting with a colleague, supervisor, or event outside counsel, most people will send a short e-mail (savvy networkers may even send a handwritten note) thanking the person for his or her time. Next time, consider materially expressing your gratitude with an introduction. Do you know a local journalist or blogger who may be interested in that person’s work?  Can you connect him or her to a potential client or referral source?  Is there a member of the local community that he or she would like to meet?

In addition to studying someone’s background for an interview or an informal discussion, consider whom that person would like to meet.  Lawyers want to meet clients, which could be consumer, business or municipal leaders.  They may be colleagues or business leaders. Your contact often has a very specific target in mind. Identify a few characteristics of that individual or that community of professionals and you will create an opportunity to follow up.

If you met someone a year or years ago and have been struggling to find a reason to reconnect, you can simply send an introductory e-mail noting that you saw John Smith at an event, which reminded you to reach out and make an introduction to Jane Johnson.  Your message should be short and simple – “I just wanted to introduce you to Jane Johnson, the deputy general counsel of ABC Corp.  I thought that you would be a perfect resource.  I look forward to reconnecting soon.”

Imagine if you did this every time you had a meeting.  Not only would it vastly enhance your network, it would encourage others to make introductions in return.

Even if you simply read about someone in a trade publication and wanted to learn more about him or her, you could easily send a similar note:  “I read the article on discussion X topic and given your work, I thought that you would want to meet Y person.”  Or, if you are a blogger (including guest bloggers), you might want to highlight: “I blogged about your work and thought that you would want to meet Z.”

Most people will be inclined to respond positively to such a generous gesture.

In fact, in the current economic climate, most of us see status changes on LinkedIn regularly.  A contact’s job title may quietly change to ‘independent’ or ‘freelance’ and we want to help, but are not sure how. Whenever I see this, I send a quick note offering to introduce that individual to my network. I have no expectation of any immediate return, but sincerity has a long life span.  When I did this about six months ago, my contact connected me with her former colleague who later hired me for a few ghostwriting projects.

Making an introduction is an easy technique that requires no technical skill whatsoever and permits execution with a forgiving amount of imperfection. As such, there is absolutely no barrier to making the attempt and no social media presence required.

That said, you could leverage technology to exponentially enhance this experience by sharing the contact with members of your LinkedIn group, your Facebook fans or your Twitter followers, with a suggestion that others consider learning more about him or her.

The key to creating opportunity in your career development is to consider how you can do so for others. Start at the beginning – with an introduction.

Ari Kaplan is the author of Reinventing Professional Services: Building Your Business in the Digital Marketplace (Wiley, 2011) and The Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development (Thomson-West, 2008).  As the principal of Ari Kaplan Advisors, he provides strategic consulting, in-house training and ghostwriting services in the legal industry.  He also speaks to law students, lawyers and legal professionals about how they can stand out in today’s stagnant economy.  Buy his new book and receive free access to his popular 1½ hour video course on getting published and 1½ CLE credits. Learn more at http://www.ReinventingProfessionals.com and http://www.AriKaplanAdvisors.com.

By Paige Reinsel on October 13, 2011

For law firms and businesses actively marketing their services to generate new clients, tracking the results is crucial to overall success. Many firms are never fully aware of how well their various marketing channels are performing, which poses a problem when it comes to adjusting budgets and making decisions based on ROI. Why would a firm pay money or spend time to generate new client business, but then fail to establish which methods are working and which are not? Here are 3 ways firms can track the results of their marketing and evaluate success:

1. Call tracking phone numbers

One effective way for firms to gauge the success of a marketing campaign is to use a designated call tracking number. Call tracking numbers work just like regular phone numbers, except they provide data about every incoming call. By assigning different call tracking numbers to different  marketing channels, firms can know for certain which calls come as a result of people visiting their website as opposed to online search advertising as opposed to print advertising, and so on. Once they begin to see which are performing the best, they can make necessary adjustments to content, strategy, and marketing spend. Any company that a firm hires to create a website and/or marketing campaign should offer these and other tracking capabilities as part of their services. To learn more, see our past post on call tracking numbers.

2. Designated landing pages and contact forms

Another way for firms to measure the effectiveness of their marketing is to use designated landing pages and contact forms for different channels. For example, if a firm is running an advertisement, they can include a specific URL to a landing page in the ad (e.g. www.lawfirm.com/ad). The firm will then know that any visitors to the page resulted from that particular ad. It is usually in the firm’s best interest to include a contact form on their landing pages so that potential clients can contact them immediately. Similarly, any time someone fills out a form that is on a designated landing page, the firm will know the source. To learn more about creating landing pages and forms for marketing campaigns, contact us.

3. Have a reliable process to capture, track and convert client prospects

It is important for firms to have a solid process to capture and track incoming calls and emails that result from their marketing. RealPractice offers prospect management and tracking tools that connect marketing efforts to trackable sources and allows firms to organize and follow up with potential clients. If firms do not use a tool or program, they should establish their own process to consistently record the source of each incoming call and email. Firms should also take time to establish good phone habits to help them turn more of their callers into clients, as well as be as responsive as possible in all communications with potential clients.

By using these strategies, firms can greatly increase their ability to track the sources of new clients and determine the effectiveness of their different marketing channels. As we discussed in another blog post, simply asking new clients “Where Did You Find Me?” is not accurate enough as a method to determine marketing successes and failures. Any firms wishing to discuss how they can better track their marketing efforts or expand their current marketing can contact us at info@realpractice.com.

By Carey Ransom on August 18, 2011

Attorneys and other professionals are very aware of referrals as a critical component of their firms.  They are taught and constantly reminded of the importance of networking, and those who build strong referral partners are often very successful. Read More

August 4, 2011

Social media and an effective online presence can be powerful tools for generating leads and revenue for your law firm.  Learn more with this video: Read More

By Carey Ransom on July 28, 2011

In 10+ years of working with small businesses and law firms to help them advertise wisely and close more business, there have been countless conversations about measuring the effectiveness of advertising.  What has become a scientific discipline amongst large advertisers and is now known as attribution modeling (determining which advertising is working, and which is not), can be a difficult exercise.  Absent good measurement tools and reliable metrics, many attorneys resort to a simple question that they or a staff member ask any new caller or prospective client – “Where did you find me?” Read More

By Paramjit Mahli on July 21, 2011

[We're excited to welcome guest blogger Paramjit Mahli to the RealPractice Blog. Paramjit is the founder of the award-winning SCG Legal PR Network, a service that connects legal experts with reporters nationally and internationally.]

Social media may be in vogue and the numbers prove that its part of the landscape, however it still doesn’t replace the credibility gained by being quoted in the press. Social Media is perceived by some as another vehicle to blow one’s own trumpet whereas in traditional media you have the press lending to your credibility. Lawyers, especially those with small law firms, have many misconceptions about public relations. Good public relations serves several purposes: it builds reputation and visibility, allows firms, practice areas and solo practitioners to become known, liked and trusted in their target market, and finally—and most importantly— helps to bring more business. Read More

By Brianna Neal on June 30, 2011

There are still a lot of skeptics out there who don’t believe that social media is worth their time. For those that don’t want to take their iPhones out to tweet at an industry event or invest a few hours a week updating their blog–you will want to after reading below, realizing that you can increase your revenue by simply engaging your users on social media (see RainToday case study on our successes http://bit.ly/kPxIXZ)—here’s how we did it and a few tips that will help you succeed if you’re ready to get in the game Read More

By Deborah Sweeney on June 22, 2011

[We're excited to welcome guest blogger Deborah Sweeney to the RealPractice Blog. Deborah is CEO of MyCorporation, a leader in online legal filing services for entrepreneurs.]

There is quite a bit of truth in the old adage, “Time is Money.” As the owner of a small firm, you probably know that better than anyone. Every client is important and represents possible growth for your firm, which is always great. If you are reading this blog, you probably have a pretty good grasp on how useful the Internet is in general. However, you should focus on how useful it is to your firm. Even one method of improving efficiency and streamlining operations can greatly aid a firm; lucky for you, I have three. Read More

By Kate Casey on May 4, 2011

[We're excited to welcome guest blogger Kate Casey to the RealPractice Blog.  Kate is a wealth of knowledge in legal PR and we're grateful that she shares her thoughts here.]

How to Own a Topic and Become a Thought Leader in the News

How do you win new business when your leading competitors have a stronger brand, larger marketing budget and more clients?  You can easily outflank law firms several times your size by pursuing a strategy to “own an issue” within the media and ultimately become the leading expert on a topic.  Your next potential client might find you quoted in the publication sitting on the coffee table of their office. Read More

By Carey Ransom on April 18, 2011

I’m very excited to announce and explain some major new updates to My RealPractice.  We’re listening to your feedback and also developing capabilities to give our users competitive advantages in responding to new client inquiries, retaining more new business, and maintaining client relationships.  As we remind ourselves every day at RealPractice, our continued success as a company is judged by the success of our clients. Read More

By Carey Ransom on April 7, 2011

Len Gilbert of Lexis’ Martindale-Hubbell makes an attempt to show the importance of the MH directory to attorneys in his recent blog post.  The big problem, however, is that nobody agrees.  As you can see from the chart below, Martindale gets 1% of the monthly traffic that LinkedIn does (and only about 25% of what Avvo gets), and it’s shrinking year over year.  So users aren’t seeing the value in the information on the site.  And legal marketers and attorneys have accepted listing-based fees for years (examples like $50/month or $500/year), just to be in this directory (and many others), when it was the de facto industry standard.  But as marketers are seeing actual performance from various channels in driving new business to their firms, MH is not making the grade.  While $50/month may seem a small amount to pay, even that investment can be easily tracked for its value and can be applied to higher performance marketing channels.
Read More

By Carey Ransom on March 29, 2011

There were several new My RealPractice features and fixes released this past week.  A lot of work was done around managing Contacts – your own addresses as well as your clients, partners, etc.  This will make it easier to use, edit and update contact information throughout the platform, whether on your Website, in Matters or Invoices.  This centralization of information will enable some exciting future developments as well. Read More

By Carey Ransom on March 24, 2011

There are several new additions to My RealPractice this week across the platform. Thanks to our users for continued feedback and suggestions, we look forward to your thoughts on these new features. Read More

By Brianna Neal on March 23, 2011

At RealPractice, we are strong believers in measuring the success of a law firm’s marketing programs. Why should lawyers pay thousands of dollars on efforts to generate new client business, but then not see which investments are working and which are not? Read More

By Carey Ransom on March 17, 2011

We have been very active on Twitter over the past year, and have both embraced and appreciated the interesting, insightful and growing legal community on Twitter.  We have met and connected with some amazing people around the world, and met many of them in person at ABA, LegalTech and local/regional events across the country.  Part of our growth in social media is due to the generosity of our followers in sharing our blog posts and Tweets with others on Twitter.  Since the beginning of 2011, @RealPractice has had over 200 tweets that have been re-tweeted, or over 2 per day. In analyzing them, there are some trends that I thought I’d share, and these seem to correlate to others’ analyses of what tweets get higher re-tweet rates.  As a thank you to our followers and readers, this is RealPractice’s top 3 ways to get re-tweeted:
Read More

By Carey Ransom on March 16, 2011

All modules within My RealPractice gained some significant new functionality this week. Please try things out and we look forward to your feedback.
Read More

By Charles Teed and Paige Reinsel on March 15, 2011

In growing and maintaining a strong base of clients for a law practice, one of the most important things firms can do is to create a positive experience when prospective and existing clients call.
Read More

By Carey Ransom on March 11, 2011

HubSpot released a post today with 3 Reasons to Stop Buying Leads and they focus on encouraging companies to start generating their own. The post offers a very hardline view: either buy leads or generate your own (of course they are trying to sell their service). It does raise some valid questions for attorneys, however, such as:
Read More

By Carey Ransom on March 7, 2011

As we continue to make our clients more efficient and effective at engaging and closing leads and managing their business of being a lawyer, we added some great new functionality to My RealPractice last week.
Read More

By Brad Cooper on March 2, 2011

Solo and small firm lawyers may have recently received emails or letters offering them $75 or $100 in “free” sponsored advertising on search engines like Google or Bing through programs such as Google AdWords.  These programs are also sometimes known as “pay-per-click” or “PPC.”
Read More

By Carey Ransom on February 28, 2011

The latest release of My RealPractice features some very helpful functionality, created from both our desire to continue to make the platform better and easier to use, and from client feedback and suggestions.
Read More

By Carey Ransom on February 14, 2011

We recently announced the general availability of My RealPractice, our innovative new platform to help attorneys get clients, manage work and accelerate income.  In addition we have expanded online marketing services to provide dedicated, cost-effective leads for our clients.  The feedback from our beta clients has been very positive and influential to many enhancements we’ve recently made. Read More

By Brad Cooper on January 4, 2011

As law firms close the books on 2010 and begin a new year, many are reviewing their year-end financials for their practice and are looking for new and better ways to increase their income for 2011.

Here are 10 key marketing goals which, when achieved, can help to grow any law practice: Read More

By Carey Ransom on December 29, 2010

Earlier in the year, we developed and offered a FREE primer for attorneys about LinkedIn titled “LinkedIn for Lawyers“.  It was very well-received and even garnered comments such as these: Read More

By Brad Cooper on December 15, 2010

At RealPractice, we review lots of attorney websites every week and talk to dozens of attorneys about their online marketing and web presence. While we see some good sites, most are not well-optimized to attract new clients. Still other sites may look “pretty,” but the firms paid far too much to have them built, are locked into long-term contracts and the sites may still not be well-designed to get prospective clients to contact the firm.

Read More

By Carey Ransom on December 14, 2010

The UK is continuing to provide us in the U.S. a glimpse into the changes ahead for legal services and the practice of law.  Our friend @DonnaSeyle pointed us to an article in the Law Society Gazette which surveyed consumers about their interest in legal services from prominent UK consumer brands, such as Tesco. Read More

By Carey Ransom on December 6, 2010

Most of us who have successfully navigated college and/or advanced degrees believe we are well-skilled at time management and prioritizing projects. We have seen situations where we had more work than we could possibly do, and yet we somehow survived. We often become so confident that we test the boundaries of time with procrastination. Lawyers seem particularly well-trained to procrastinate, with law school training them to focus more on what is directly in front of them today and has a pending deadline. It makes sense to focus on the here and now, but forgetting long-term investment activities with no clear urgency or deadline today can have risks. Read More

By Carey Ransom on December 3, 2010

Great blog post today from Larry Bodine.

He cites a recent survey from Greenfield/Belser and The Brand Research Company, and shares executive habits with regard to online search for lawyers and law firms. A few items of note to us: Read More

By Carey Ransom on November 24, 2010

As the holiday season and end of the year is now upon us, many folks take time to reflect on the year to date and begin planning for the year to come.  While we will not coast through the rest of 2010, we do have many positive reflections on 2010. Read More