Do you have a marketing strategy for your firm?

Anyone in business who spends marketing dollars would like to know exactly where to spend the dollars in order to get the greatest return. Sales people come at you from every angle and each sales person has the “BEST” idea where you should spend your money, right? RIGHT!

2009 is a year where business men and women are wondering what it will take to be successful in 09. Times are changing and marketing avenues are changing right along with them. It once was true that all a law firm needed was a yellow page advertisement and they could count on getting a decent return on investment. Now that does not seem to be the case. As technology has changed everything else about business, it has also changed how people find businesses and how people research businesses they have been referred to. Like it or not the “First Impression” someone has of you and your firm is no longer what they see when they walk in the door. Your first impression is now your .COM.

Fortunately or unfortunately since the beginning of the .com craze the Internet has evolved into much more than simple web pages that hold information. Now the Internet is being used as a tool to drive customers to relevant businesses much faster. I know in my house I have more laptops than televisions and when I watch television I usually have a laptop within reach. When I want to know about somebody or something I simply type it into my search engine of choice and within seconds I have an impression that was given to me by what I have read. The impression could be accurate or it could be that I did not find anything at all which simply leaves me to continue searching until I do find a person or business I was searching for. Never once have I put down the laptop to go pull the yellow pages and get information.

When building a marketing strategy for your business it is important to look at what marketing avenues will give you the greatest return on investment. You don’t want to simply break even. The entire purpose of spending money for advertising is to make more money. Whether you choose billboards, Television, Internet Marketing, Yellow Pages, networking clubs or even business cards and social events, you had better spend your money wisely. Unfortunately it is not enough to ask another law firm what they are doing to get business. Every law firm is different. Every firm has different strengths and weaknesses, a different image and different goals. Since every law firm is different every marketing strategy should be as well.

One problem with attorneys and their business is they don’t have time for anything more than their work load. They don’t even have time to research which marketing avenue is best for them. All too often they shoot in the dark money for advertising that never provides a return. That is why several businesses are in business so they can do all the leg work for the law firm which allows the firm to continue doing what it does best and the agency or individual to do the rest. So how do you pick someone you can trust to spend your money and get you the best return? It really is quite simple, look at who has been successful getting more clients or better clients for other attorneys. It is required that an attorney takes some time and search for a marketing strategist who is familiar with the legal industry and who has success in helping other attorneys. If that time is not taken it could be a serious detriment to your business. In the Marines they use to always say “It is smart to be hard but hard to be smart” in other words don’t fly blindly into any aspect of business. Make the time to set up your law firm for success for years to come. Your Tulsa BAR can assist in making recommendations to help you with your strategy. Whether you take the time to do it yourself or find someone to do it for you, you had better have a plan. If you fail to plan you are basically planning to fail.

New Video for Robertson Law Firm in Little Rock, AR

FindLaw completed a video for the Roberston Law Firm in North Little Rock, AR. The owner of the firm explains in the video the practice areas of the firm along with the philosophies of firm. As Google has now opened up its search engine for Universal searches more and more businesses are finding video to be the best way reach new clients. So why does video work so well?

Millions of people search for videos every day. Now videos are showing up in every day searches. Video sites are now creating programs that will index the content of what was said in the videos which allows the videos to show up. They are even getting so smart as to have the ability to take you to the part of the video that contains your search criteria. Video is definitely the waive of the future. Now that technology has become so advanced as to allow high band width video streams to be played through most Internet connections.

Bonnie Robertson has built her entire firm from the Internet activity. Now by adding video she will see even a higher rate of people who come to see her or send in request via e-mail. Video provides a way for potential clients to see your personality, mannerisms and heart. If you can sell your client across the table now you can sell them miles away with adding video.

This video was shot in a studio in Dallas, TX. Bonnie flew into Dallas in the morning went through the 1 hour video shoot and was back in her office taking care of clients by the afternoon. FindLaw then took the raw footage and produced the video with the attorneys desired results in mind. Bonnie was a natural as you can tell. www.robertson-law-firm.com.

Economic hardships causing more business for attorneys

Oklahoma is fortunate that its people have not felt the pressure of the economic hardships as drastically as other states. That said it seems that everyone is holding closer to the dollar by watching their spending habits and cutting back just in case harder times hit. Fortunately the legal field is one business that can flourish during economic hardships. As banks are seeing more and more people with charge off accounts or DDA accounts they have a need to do something about it. Most banks rely on a law firm to assist in their collections at one level or another. Companies who are experiencing slow pay accounts or NO pay accounts are having to use their Law Firm to bring Suite against other companies. Individuals who are having a hard time making their monthly payments are being forced into bankruptcy and need legal advice and direction. Because of the stress couples are now looking for family law attorneys to help settle their disputes. As always when times get rough criminals come out of the woodwork and when they are caught they need representation.

It is during these times that it is important as an attorney to really watch where your marketing dollars are being spent. Do not purchase any type of marketing unless the company you are purchasing from can show you results they have produced for other law firms. Why do you need to see the results for law firms? It is important to see how other businesses like yours are performing with that advertising. For instance there is a big difference in how a website for a restaurant will perform in comparison to a law firm. There is also a big difference in how a Business Firm will compare to a Bankruptcy Firm in today's market.

Be smart about agreements you sign and make sure the results you will get can turn into money. As more and more yellow page books are losing business because more and more people have quick and easy access to the Internet, attorneys are having to look toward the Internet for the new client. Gone are the days of pulling over to a pay phone to get a number or digging through a drawer to find the yellow book. Most people have access of one type or another to the Internet either by computer or by phone. Even those that cannot afford computers are making their way to libraries to get access.

Attorneys across the nation are taking their marketing dollars and concentrating those dollars in marketing areas that are bringing in the business. There has been a huge shift in dollars from yellow books to the Internet. I have seen attorneys who use to spend $130,000 on yellow book cut down to $12,000 and put $30,000 into web marketing and get twice the results they were getting when they spent $130,000. In the Marine Corps they use to have a saying "It is smart to be hard but hard to be smart". Too often lawyers will keep doing what they have been doing for years without taking a look at the changes in society and especially the technology changes that are so fast to advance. Stay on the cutting edge of advertising and you will find that you can reach new more clients with fewer marketing dollars.

Video Marketing Online

It seems that every time you turn around now people are talking about marketing law firms on the Internet with video. With the expense of video you have to make sure it will get you the best bang for your buck.

There are tons of production companies that can shoot home movie types of video and those just don't represent a Law Firm well. So first of all make sure you are looking at examples of video that have been produced by those trying to sell you the video. The proof is in the pudding.

I have listed below some frequently asked questions on video along with their replies.

• Why does it help to have video on my website?

FindLaw did a study on video over the last 12 months. Those sites with FindLaw video that were optimized got an increase in traffic of 22%. They also saw a higher conversion rate of 20% meaning more people sent e-mails or made contact with the firm.

• I am not sure that having me on video would help, Why should I be the one on the video?

FindLaw has taken several people who are not photogenic and put together some great video that shows your potential customer what they get when they get you. Remember people only remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see and 50% of what they see and hear.

• How does having video help me in the search engines?

First of all Google is going to a Universal Search which basically means that instead of having to go to Google Videos or Google Photos in order to do a search. Google will rate all subject matter whether it be text, video, pictures etc and show the results on the page of the search. Those that get video first will have the advantage of showing up before those that don't have video.

Also, FindLaw creates Video Visibility by optimizing the text of the video and creating multiple place for the video to be found. The legal directory will also show that there is a video on your site which will draw the eye of the individual to your site because they would rather sit, watch and listen than have to read.

• What makes your production team better than the one down the street or better than your competitor?

FindLaws team has over 10 year of experience in video production alone. On top of that there is an entire team that is very familiar with the legal field and state law. When the video is put together it is fully in compliance with all state and federal law and it is very well put together which makes your firm look to the best of its ability. The search engine marketing team then does its magic to make sure your video is found.

Contact me with any question about video marketing your firm (918.409.5572)

Does Search Engine Marketing mean I can show up first in Google Searches

I have had several attorney's tell me that someone promised them if they would use their Search Engine Marketing Optimization they would put them on the first page and at the top in a Google Search. I can not believe anyone would promise something they have no control over. Google is constantly changing their methods of how websites show up in a search.


The one thing FindLaw knows it can do in a search is to deliver more clients and better clients. You see there are searches such as "Divorce Attorney Tulsa" or "Child Custody Attorney Tulsa, OK". Most competitors will show these types of searches which are very specific and they write all of their content to relate to these types of searches. However over 80% of searches are considered Long Tail Searches which would look more like "I am thinking about getting a divorce in Tulsa, who do I call" Most people are explaining their problem and not searching for an exact match on their search. FindLaw uses the 10,000 + websites they have built and they gather the long and short tail search data and build the content in a lawyers website. This is just one of the ways FindLaw does so well in searches.


This simple explanation of a long tale search is how FindLaw can develop over 10,000 sites and have all of them show up often enough to get the required traffic to convert them to clients. I will never promise that I can have someone on the first page or at the top. All I can do is to continue to monitor the visits and conversions of those visits into customers for the Lawyers who trust me to put the FindLaw team to work for them.

Be careful when someone promises they can put you at the top of the searches. Is it really important to show up #1 every time or is the true importance the ability to get the right clients and as many as you need?

Are two websites better than one?

I often find law firms who have two websites. Some of them keep them up because of the domain name they chose. Other Attorney's may keep it up because they paid money for it and they hate to see it go, they may even think that 2 sites are better than 1. Unfortunately in the case of websites 2 sites are not always better than 1.

Is it wrong to have 2 sites? No, there is nothing wrong with it as long as both sites are coordinated together. Search Engines can actually black flag both of your websites or give them a lower relevance rating if they have similar content or in some cases exact content. You see a lot of times I see Law Firms that have two sites with the exact same information on them. Both of them have the attorney profiles, both of them have the firm overview etc. When this happens and Search Engine Spiders crawl your sites, they can actually recognized counterfeit data or duplicate data and that keeps the sites from having a high relevance rating.

It is completely ok to have two websites as long as they have different marketing themes to them. For instance you have 1 website that targets a workers compensation legal market while the other one targets family law. I have really never found a great value in having two sites unless a law firm had two locations. Sometimes a second website can actually help if you have multiple offices and the local public you are targeting is comforted by feeling like you are a local Law Firm with their interest and concerns in mind. For instance if a law firm practiced in New York and Dallas they could have a website for each office and of course depending on their practice areas those sites may look, feel and have content particular to the local community. The New York office may target high profile business law while the Dallas office may target the local Texas Business Market. You would have attorney profiles on both sites but an attorney would most likely not be listed on both sites. The wording of the site may be a bit different. The content could be similar but different in aggressiveness.

I always get asked, How does FindLaw do so well with marketing websites? The answer to that is simply a lot of hard work keeping up with the changing search engines, specifically in the legal community. It also takes a broad understanding of all the areas the Internet takes into consideration when rating sites. A professional team is needed more so in the legal community than any other. Lawyers simply do not have the time to worry about writing content or preparing a website.

Jack Givens of Givens and Givens upgrades his marketing

I had the opportunity to meet with Jack Givens and his partner Blake Givens of the firm Givens and Givens in Tulsa, OK. Jack is a true inspiration as he believes in running a practice based on the very heart of integrity. "I believe in doing the right thing all the time". Jack has tried many different things when it comes to marketing his firm. When an attorney has a high standard in work ethic and integrity the word of mouth is of course one of the best ways to get new clients. Unfortunately word of mouth will only reach so many.

Jack sees the changing of times where advertising is moving from the yellow pages to the Internet. By having a website by FindLaw Jack will be reaching individuals who are interested in an attorney who wins by doing the right thing. I like Jack, he is a down to earth individual with a great deal of respect from other attorney's in the Tulsa Law Community.

I will update you on how Jack's business increases once his new site is up and running. I am so excited to see Blake continue to take care of their customers.
Congratulations Jack and Blake on over 50 years of legal service to your community.