whuffie factor — Legal Practice Pro

Legal Practice Pro Email Subscriber Contest – The Whuffie Factor

People ask me all the time where I find my inspiration. Rather than tell you, I’m going to out-and-out give you a piece of that inspiration. Email subscribers of Legal Practice Pro have a chance to win my copy of The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business (affiliate link).

What Is The Whuffie Factor All About?

Whuffie is social capital – that thing you get when you do good things for people. Do enough good stuff and the world thinks you’re very cool; they’re willing to help you out, hire your law firm, spread the word about how awesome you are, and things along those lines. The word comes from a book by Cory Doctorow, but Tara Hunt has brought it into the world of social media and offline business.

Hunt shows you how social media and the concept of social capital can help build a business from the ground up, and uses success stories such as the Obama campaign, online t-shirt boutique Threadless, Zappos.com and others to illustrate the power of social media.

Once you read this book you’ll “get” why Twitter and Facebook are powerful marketing tools that help you establish new relationships and build an army of loyal followers.

For those of you not interested in going online, Hunt talks about the power of seeking out and incorporating feedback, educating and empowering your connections, and treating your law firm’s message as a conversation.

It’s a great book, and well-written. In fact, I think it should be part of every bookshelf. So much so that I’d like it to be on yours.

Here’s How To Enter

On the left side of this page there is a box that says, “Enter Your Email Address And Get New Content Delivered Automatically!” Just enter your email address to sign up for email updates to Legal Practice Pro, and be sure to confirm your subscription no later than 5:00pm Eastern time on Saturday, May 1, 2010.

If you’re not sure if you already get email updates, feel free to enter your email address. The system will tell you if you’re already subscribed.

And if you’re already subscribed, you’re already entered for this contest.

That’s pretty much it.

I will choose a winner on Sunday, May 2, 2010 and announce the name in a blog post this coming week. The book will be shipped out on Friday, May 7, 2010 and should arrive within a few days after.

So go to the box on the left side of this page, enter your email address and confirm the subscription.

Good luck!

Is Marketing A Law Firm Easier For Solos And Small Firms?

If you’re a solo or practice in a law firm with fewer than 4 lawyers, it’s tempting to read advice on marketing your law firm through the veil of one without deep pockets or huge swaths of free time.

Big law firms have money to hire legal marketing consultants, public relations agencies, and the like. They can shell out the big bucks for the big guns, and trade time for money. They’ve got the advantage over the solos and small firms.

You’ve got payroll to meet, shallow pockets, and a ticking clock on the desk. Bill or die, right?

You may not realize it, but you have the same goals as the big firms. But you’ve got two major benefits – the personal touch and agility.

Big firms need to communicate their institutional vision to third party experts and hope that they can spin it into stories that match the true personality of the lawyers and staff.

Not you. You get to tell your story directly, without the filter of a copywriter or advance guard. If you’re doing it right then you’re out there, warts and all.

Those warts are what make you real. Approachable. A human being who connects with his or her audience.

In the end, your goal is to connect with your audience in a real way. You want to establish rapport with people and businesses that need what you’ve got to offer. Whether you do it with social media, blogging (which is part of social media, but I classify it separately), networking events, or just meeting friends for coffee and getting to know new people doesn’t matter.

If you get it right that’s great. But you can shift gears on a dime, move in a new direction without too much trouble, and explore new opportunities.

Can a big firm accomplish these goals with a legal marketing consultant and shock troops? Sure, but it’s more difficult because it is not the lawyer crafting the message so much as it is the marketer taking clay and molding it into something public-ready. If they don’t get it 100% right then it’s back to the drawing board – time spent planning the next great campaign while the clock continues to tick.