I’m back in Boston and have finally recovered from the long week in Montreal at the ALA conference. I’ve organized my notes from the event, and here’s the latest installment.

During the “Ask the Marketing Experts” panel, attendees were encouraged to move from table to table to discuss different marketing topics with the experts (hence the name). But since Larry Bodine was covering Blogs, Web Sites, and Other Technology, I stayed in one place for the entire session.

Here’s how I’m going to present this. I’ll first show the question, followed by Mr. Bodine’s response (beginning with LB:). I’m in no way quoting him verbatim. I’m just going from my notes and expanding upon them. I’ll then add my own notes. So here goes.

Subject 1: Blogs

Q: Why do a blog?

LB:To get clients. Using a blog, individual attorneys are now getting higher rankings than their firms. Since blogs are updated more frequently than regular web sites, search engines are giving them higher rankings. In addition, having a blog on a practice area makes the attorney an expert in their area.

LawFirmBlogging:I think that the higher ranking point is a great one. When you step back, the goal of every marketing effort is to attract clients. With that in mind, we have to ask: How are clients going to find us? Well, one way is through search engines.
I think we need to think of blogs as a completely different animal than law firm web sites. They come in at a different time in the selection process for clients, and that’s a very important difference. Here’s how I like to think of it:

• Step One: I have a problem- In this step, the potential client realizes that he or she has a situation that could require legal help.
• Step Two: Learn more about the problem- Here, they go out to the web to research the issue. And most likely, they’ll go to Google and enter a search term.
• Step Three: Seek advice- In this step, it’s time to find an attorney that can help with the problem.

Where law firm web sites can come into play at step three, blogs can come in at step two. Blogs are seen as an information source; web sites are seen as an advertisement for services. This is an important distinction. If you can get your content in front of the potential client at this step, it is an ENORMOUS advantage.

Q: Is a blog really a good marketing tool?

LB: Yes, if you update it frequently. There’s a blog out there called Patently O, maintained by Dennis Crouch. I talked to him, and found out that he gets over 10,000 visitors per week, and has brought in Fortune 1000 clients and lots of patent work. If you’re able to find a specific niche, add current events and court opinions, you can stay up-to-date. Then a blog can be a great marketing tool.

LawFirmBlogging: I agree with Mr. Bodine here. Yes, blogs can be great for your marketing. But I think you have to do it right. If you’ve got a specific topic and there are few experts already blogging on the subject, that’s a great opportunity.
I also think you need to look at what you’re hoping to accomplish. If your goal is to set yourself up as an expert on your subject, blogging is the best. If your goal is to attract clients directly from your blog, it can be done, but it takes work.

Q: Doesn’t it take a lot of time to manage a blog? Do you need to update it daily?

LB: No. You can do mulitple posts in one day and post date them. In theory, you could do a week’s worth of blogging in an hour, by post dating your entries. For law firms, I think the best way to maintain a blog is to have a blog on a practice area with multiple authors.

As for frequency of posting, no, you don’t have to blog daily. I think posting 2-3 times per week is fine for a practice area blog.

LawFirmBlogging: I think it all depends on the amount of dedication you are willing to give to your blog. I know some legal bloggers that literally spend 2-3 hours each day on their blog, and I know some that put up a post or two a month. Sure, the more you update, the better chance you’ll get a higher ranking, but I think you should focus on quality rather than quantity. I think you should blog as often as you’re comfortable with. Yes, this is a marketing effort, but you really should do it because you’re having fun with it.

Q: Won’t having a blog take away from my site’s content?

LB: No. The best thing to do is to write a short summary on the blog, and link to your firm’s content.

LawFirmBlogging: Agreed. I think you have to think of your blog as a separate venue for your ideas. It’s not a zero-sum game; people aren’t going to say “I’ve got this problem, and there are only two places to go: the firm’s site and this blog. I can only go to one or the other.”

Subject 2: Web Sites

Q: Do you have to ask clients’ permission to list their name on the web site?

LB: I think it’s a good thing to do it. Just shoot them an email and ask. It’s worth it.

LawFirmBlogging: I think the best way to do this is at the beginning of the relationship. I’d adivse firms to have this as an item on their client intake form. That way, you know from the beginning whether or not the client objects to being listen on your site.
In addition (at least for smaller clients), clients love this. It’s a plug for their site, and it shows that you care about them. It shows the client how much you value them, so much so that you’re willing to use them as an example.

Q: How do you convert site visitors into clients?

LB: The best way is to have some kind of interaction on the site. You should have an eNewsletter, or some way to collect information. If you’re able to get a name and phone number, that’s a great way to 1) know who’s visiting your site and 2) you can pick up the phone and ask the subcriber out to lunch.

LawFirmBlogging: Nothing to add here. Opt-in is a great way to get information about the human beings that are visiting your site. Your stats can give you numbers, but opt-in can give you more.

Q: How do you measure new business from the internet?

LB: You have to ask. Ask how they hear about you. Lots of time, they’ll say “well, I know the partner x.” But now and then they’ll say they looked you up on the internet. I do know for a fact that general counsel will come up with a short list. Then they’ll look at your web site. If you have a bad one, you just lost their business. If you have a good one, you stay on the list.

LawFirmBlogging: In addition to having web site/ blog as an item on your client intake form and an opt-in, there are a few tricks that you can use. First, I’d suggest using a different contact email address on your web site. That way, you can know that the person emailing you got your contact info directly from the web site. If you’re fortunate enough to have several phone lines, you could have a separate phone number on the web site as well.

Subject3: Extranets

Q: Are extranets picking up?

LB: Yes, they’re really picking up. Clients want their own extranet, pass-protected to see their documents, their matter, and how much the bill is so far.

It’s huge to manage but clients love it. It’s personalized and customized just for them. I really like it. I can login and see what’s going on. It makes you feel special.

LawFirmBlogging:Sure. I think extranets are great. That’s all.

Q: We’re a small firm. I don’t know if we have the resources. Are there services that do extranets?

LB: Get something that allows you to own all your code. Don’t use a service. Make sure you own the code. You can get a database-driven website for $5000 or less. It’ll include an extranet.

LawFirmBlogging: You can definitely do this. All you need is PHP/MySQL on Apache and someone that knows how to write a little code.

Well, that’s the bulk of the notes I took during Mr. Bodine’s session. I’d like to thank him for the opportunity to present this here.

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