Because Your Law Firm Is A Business, Not A Charity
Google is shifting the way it ranks content online. We are beginning to see a shift from the ranking of websites and blogs to the ranking of individual authors. In other words, people seen as authority figures in their fields will find their content ranking higher across the web, regardless of where it’s located.
You should spend a few minutes watching this video about Google Authorship and Author Rank. It should change the way you think about your search engine placement.
Sitting in a darkened concert call, a familiar acoustic strum floated out to the audience. The artist was different, so it was an unexpected twist to the evening. Kind of like a 75 degree day in the dead of a Northeast winter.
I was immediately transported back to 1989, in the quad outside my college dorm. The entire quad was packed with kids singing, dancing and playing frisbee in the middle of the night.
Though it was nearly the end of the school year, there were a lot of new friendships being made over that shared rare moment.
I learned something that night that helps me every day as a lawyer. [Read more...]
Mention the word “selling” in the context of a law firm, and most people will recoil in horror. It’s as if you’ve danced on the graves of the Founding Fathers.
As a bankruptcy lawyer, it’s likely anathema.
Why? Because we, as lawyers, do not deign to sell. We inform, we educate, we offer our services meekly. But we do not, under any circumstances, get down into the mud that is salesmanship.
That’s why lawyers, in particular bankruptcy lawyers, don’t do nearly as well as they should when it comes to helping people who need them most.
Every bankruptcy lawyer needs to know how to do the two-step. [Read more...]
Seems to me we’ve all been taking a little break. Thinking about our personal lives or thinking about keeping our jobs. Breaks are good. It’s not a bad idea taking a break every now and then. I know how hard you all work. Break’s over. – President Josiah Bartlet
For the past few months I’ve been sitting on the sidelines, tending to my new home in Southern California and preparing to be admitted to practice law here. I’ve ordered business cards and letterhead, commissioned a reboot of my firm’s website, and gotten used to working with my partner at a distance of over 3,000 miles.
I’ve also been spending time meeting with new friends out here, getting to know colleagues and networking my ass off. Lots of online stuff, but a ton of offline work as well.
Good stuff. [Read more...]
Starting a law firm is tough when you’ve got a healthy network. What if you’re the new kid in town?
My friend Wendell Sherk says that bankruptcy lawyers are running the legal equivalent of a VD clinic. Nobody wants to visit us, nobody wants to admit needing to see us, and just about everyone would rather enter and exit through the alley to avoid seeing someone they know on the street outside.
The first time around, it was tough. This time, it’s a concerted effort to build a practice. [Read more...]
In New York, whenever you need something done – a car repaired, a tooth filled, a wall painted – you need to find “a guy.” This isn’t a sexist statement, mind you; there are plenty of women out there who can be the guy you need. But it’s always “a guy.”
Last I looked in the Yellow Pages there was no listed for “Guy.” And when I search online for, “a guy,” I end up with a bunch of search results that would make most people blush.
So here’s how it works in the real world. I tell someone that I need to get new brakes, to which they respond, “I got a guy.”
If you’re looking for more bankruptcy clients, you want to be the guy. Yes, even if you’re not biologically male.
Here’s how.
Most of my fellow bankruptcy lawyers are freaking out about the continued drop-off in filings. With fear in their eyes, they turn to a marketing consultant like me to get them fast results.
Though I understand the motivation and need to get things moving quickly, I tell everyone to take a deep breath before writing me a check.
You’re writing a check for the wrong thing, I tell them.
