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Online Reputation:the New Word of Mouth

Friday, August 20th, 2010

There is a lot of buzz around the term reputation management online in this age when consumers can easily go online to review items or services and compare and contrast the options available to them.  But it was when reading an interview between small business consultant Matt McGee and national reputation management expert, Andy Beal that it hit home as to why this is an important area for lawyers particularly to pay attention to. In the interview Beal discusses how when speaking with his clients he refers to “reputation management” as “referral management.” This clarification is an important one, especially when it comes to marketing legal services.  Historically attorneys have depended largely on word of mouth referrals to obtain clients. Now, many people turn to online resources such as reviews and social media to try to get background on a business or service provider. So in a sense, online reputation  is the new word of mouth.

Within a few keystrokes, someone searching online for a “Los Angeles criminal defense attorney” is given a list of potential attorneys to consider. The first step is of course to make sure your firm is returned for that search through search engine optimization.  However you also want to make sure that what potential clients find there and in subsequent searches presents your firm in a positive light.

With natural search and online reviews you of course cannot have the same level of control as with other types of marketing where you are paying for advertisements that you have created and approved. On the other hand, this often gives online reviews more sway as they are not viewed as paid advertising by those seeing them.  With reputation management you need to be cautious, especially as an attorney that you are acting ethically and staying within your state bar regulations for online marketing. Obviously you want to avoid practices such as  impersonating clients to either promote your services or criticize your competitors.

With this in mind, whether you are small lawyer practicing locally such as an attorney in Fort Wayne or a trademark lawyer who is handling cases nationally, there are steps you can take to be pro-active about how your firm is coming across online. You can take these steps yourself, or hire a consultant such as Beal, to help you.

Where do I start?

Monitor your presence online. The first step to managing your reputation online is knowing what that reputation is. Search for your firm name and attorney names online and see what is returned. Check out what is being said about your firm on local directory sites that include reviews such as Yelp and see if there are any reviews attached to your Google local listing. You can also set up Google Alerts for your firm name and check out other reputation management tools.

What should I do about a negative review?

Answer them. Post a response to their review as way of explanation or to ameliorate if it is legitimate complaint. By responding, you are showing others who could read this review that you are actively engaged in working through their concerns rather than ignoring them completely.

Learn from them. An important lesson: learn and utilize those negative reviews to see what it is specifically that a client did not like about your business.  What was it about your service that they were unhappy with?  Was it too much time in between communication?  Was there a verdict or settlement that left the client unhappy?  Take these reviews and try to make sure that your new clients do not have the same experience.

Be Pro-active.Encourage satisfied clients to post reviews online about their experience working with the firm, and be proactive about soliciting testimonials for posting on your own websites’  testimonials page.

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Posted in Reputation Management, Social Media, Uncategorized, Websites | No Comments »

Using Twitter at Your Law Firm

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Using twitter can be a frustrating task for anyone if you are unsure of the most effective way to ‘tweet’.  Twitter IS for everyone – and it’s super easy to use.  It doesn’t matter if you work for a small or large law firm – twitter can work in just about any situation for any company.  Making the most out of twitter is really where the difficult part comes in but it’s not really that hard to “MASTER TWITTER”.

In an article by CopyBlogger.com it mentions how Cindy King, an international sales specialist, saw a huge boost in business inquires by implementing a strategic Twitter plan.  “Following the right people on Twitter was key. There are some people very gifted at building relationships on Twitter. As I followed these online community builders, I realized that some of them are also excellent direct response copywriters. They get their Twitter followers to take action,” said King.

Here are some tips to get started:

1. Explore lots of twitter accounts that are from the folks who are really good at effectively using twitter.  One example is http://twitter.com/Alicia_at_Honda (Alicia at Honda).

2. Don’t be afraid to jump in.  No matter if you are a mesothelioma lawyer or disability attorney – you can effectively use twitter!

3. Buy a book.  When all else fails pick up Twitter for dummies!

Thankfully BusinessInsider.com reported “Twitter has produced a special guide for businesses to help them get started on Twitter, called Twitter 101. It’s clean and nicely designed, and full of case studies about how companies JetBlue, Etsy, American Apparel, and Pepsi use Twitter. It’s a good resource for companies and, frankly, anyone who wants a primer on Twitter.”

You can find that guide here.  You’ll find great tips like:

  • Tip: Twitter can be “ground-breaking” for businesses—a big claim. We truly believe it because we’ve seen lots of examples, many of which we share here. But if you’re new to Twitter and still wondering what all the fuss is about, hang around the site (or a good third-party client) for a week or two and give it a few minutes a day. Twitter almost always delivers “Aha!” moments for people, but it can take some getting used to before you have your moment of enlightenment.

A lot of other outside companies are starting to use twitter effectively.  Let’s just take big business as one example:

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com said, “We’ve found that Twitter has been a great way for us to connect on a more personal level with our employees and customers. We use it to help build our brand, not drive direct sales. It’d be like asking how does providing a telephone number for customer service translate into new business when they are mostly non-sales-related calls. In the long term, Twitter helps drive repeat customers and word of mouth, but we’re not looking to it as a way of driving immediate sales.”

Don’t be scared – Twitter is easy and you can’t mess up.  All you have to do is actively engage in conversation with other folks who are talking about what you are talking about.  Use the search functionality and find people who are talking about the same subject matter as you.  Twitter gives a great tip for this:

  • Tip: To listen in on the conversations happening right now, search Twitter for the name of your company, product or brand. If you have a Twitter account already, your home page has a handy search box on the right side.

Most importantly – have fun and be genuine.  People will like you for that.

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Posted in Social Media | 2 Comments »

Microblogging Tips and Tricks for Lawyers – Best Legal Marketing

Friday, August 14th, 2009
Metal type spelling blog

Networking is an important practice for those in the legal profession, so it is no surprise that many lawyers find social networking and social media sites very useful. Microblogging is a fairly new concept and may be a little confusing at first, but once you learn a few tricks you’ll be able to get out there and make new and valuable contacts with ease.

We’ve included a list of tips below for you to follow which serve as an introduction to microblogging; and if you’re already a seasoned pro, you might find something new and useful here as well.

“Hashtags”

These are keywords established for specific groups of information. Simply use the # sign before a key word or phrase in your post, and that post will show up for other users searching for information on the same subject. For example, you can use the #law tag for any general law-related posts. A quick search online can reveal already established hashtags that you can utilize in your posts.

These tags can be likened to the keywords you enter into the “tags” section of your law blog posts.

Following and Followers

When following other posters and considering your own followers, include people you already know and try to facilitate new, geographically local relationships. While it is nice to have a group of international professional contacts, concentrating on more local interactions can yield more positive results in terms of client leads and professionally beneficial communication.

Avoid Spamming

The purpose of blogging and microblogging is not to directly sell – this will damage your community credibility with many contacts. Attempting to sell your legal services in this manner will turn off many of your peers and potential clients. You can, however, provide a link to your firm’s website in your profile information, for example.

Use your microblog posts to share pertinent legal news and information, details of useful professional conferences, and encourage discussion by asking questions and sharing concerns with your peers. It is also acceptable etiquette to provide a link to a new and relevant blog post you have written in your microblog feed.

A Learning Opportunity

While you may be tempted to just focus on putting out your own content, there are many useful resources available through popular microblogging sites that allow you to keep up with various topics relevant to your interests. Engage in conversation with the other professionals you follow, and use the many features available to stay up-to-date with government and court sources. You might learn something!

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Posted in Blogging, Microblogging | 4 Comments »

SEO

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Mouse Icon On Find Over Persons Eye Through Magnifying Glass

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO and search engine marketing (SEM) is the best long-term solution for getting your law firm’s website or blog to the top of organic search results and keeping it there. 

SEO and SEM involve many different approaches to web content and design, plus external methods, that all come together to ensure that you’re providing helpful information to the right people (your local clients) and generating as many promising, legitimate leads as possible.

Link-Based SEO

Providing links to your content and website from external sources such as other websites and blogs tells search engines that your site is popular and relevant.  This helps you achieve higher rankings and visibility in organic results. 

You can participate in link and article exchanges with colleagues or other relevant establishments, which also boosts your rank.

Keywords in Your Content

Keywords, keywords, keywords.  They’re everywhere, and you can’t overlook them if you want to be successful in the online market and get the leads you want.  You can try to compete with the millions of others who are going for a slice of the same keyword pie, or you can do a little research and find some niche keywords that apply more uniquely to your particular area of practice and geographic location. 

A skilled marketing professional can work the right keywords into natural and useful copy to not only attract users, but deliver worthwhile information.  Having good optimized content on your side is great for your online and offline reputation.

Optimize Your Social Media Content

If you actively share updates and law information on a micro-blogging site, consider utilizing (or having your marketer utilize) SEO for this type of communication, too.  You can make these posts keyword-rich and encourage them to be picked up in search results.

Social media content, such as a regular full-length blog, needs to be optimized too.  Clients can find you via your blog or website if you use keywords (especially geographical ones), exchange links, and emphasize words, among other methods.  Attempting to gain attention on a social bookmarking website can have its advantages, but over the long-term, simply putting in the effort to optimize your social content as well as your website’s content will pay off and consume less time.

This blog covers but a few of the many possibilities that come along with SEO.  There are quite a few solid approaches to the process that all work very well together and yield the desired results.  Utilizing the knowledge you have about your client base, you can use the right keywords to attract the attention of the leads you want.

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Posted in SEO | 1 Comment »

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