Take Hype in Stride

The article below supports the notion that Twitter is still teetering despite the recent surge in press coverage. I am following it closely, but think that Twitter's broad market applicability may be limited, this is why I have not been in too much of a hurry to grow my own contact list. I have found that much of the information shared on Twitter is not valuable and that many of the individuals who are sharing valuable information with peers have been unsuccessful at monetizing their efforts.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090429/tc_nm/us_twitter_6

Twitter started off as a means for techies to send one another brief messages. I can certainly see how celebrities would leverage it to stay in touch with their fan base, or a company sending periodic links to coupons, but it is also easy to see how one would quickly become averse to dozens of "industry experts" competiting for your mind share, sending hourly news flashes of "pertinent" information. After a while, this would cause many individuals to tune out.

People like to look at friends' photos and find out what they are up to. This is why Facebook works. LinkedIn works because it has direct practical, networking application. The jury is still out on Twitter...

Visionary application, or soon to be pop culture has-been? To be continued...

Getting Started with Online Marketing

How do you decide what type of online marketing, if any, is right for your firm, or business?

The first two things you should look at are: (1) who your target customer is, and (2) how would they normally seek out your product or service. If the answer to #1 is a consumer, chances are pretty good that you would stand to benefit considerably from some form of proactive online marketing. Search engine optimization and pay per click are among the most common methods used to reach consumers and should generally be explored before any other types of online marketing. Content and link building are typically tactics that are directly tied to improvement of search results and increase the size of your company's net. As a result, many organizations leverage blogs and other online articles to increase their exposure.

In your company offers products and services to other businesses, the online marketing strategies that work to generate leads are typically less clear. For example, a firm that offers printing services may easily be found online, by a business customer seeking this particular service. However, if the firm offers a novel or unique service (for example, a cutting edge software application for tracking marketing leads), your target audience may not know to seek out this service.

If you are offering professional services to other businesses, as is the case with most defense firms, reputation plays a critical role and it is therefore not likely that a search engine approach would yield meaningful results. However, leveraging online networks to develop relationships and joining groups that your clients are part of may be highly beneficial to this type of firm. Blogging to establish expertise in a particular area of law and sharing this with your clients may also be a highly effective tactic.

If you are uncertain about the online marketing tactics that are best suited for your type of firm, ask an expert. Some tactics will be more effective than others and ultimately you may have to test a few in small doses to see what type of impact they can have on your business

Marketing a Personal Injury Practice

First, check out the following article for several interesting perspectives from industry marketers on their preferred personal injury firm marketing tactics.

In 1998, the summer after my first year of law school, I obtained a job working for a plaintiff's advertising firm that focused primarily on generating leads for birth trauma cases. We focused on two key areas: bulk television advertising that was purchased on behalf of affiliate law firms and Web site search engine optimization.

I had first hand experience with how successful both of these tactics can be when used properly and the type of return that targeted marketing can generate. All marketing comes down to one important acronym - ROI (return on investment). Essentially, what you spend to bring in business vs. the financial value of your efforts. The top law firms track all incoming leads and know exactly which marketing activities generate the highest return on their marketing investment.

I will let you in on a little inside secret... for personal injury firms, online marketing can yield a higher return than TV, yellow pages, PR, etc... The reason why even many experts fail to recognize the true potential of online marketing is because most lawyers do not put their online marketing dollars where it counts.

Inevitably, some high priced marketing company with a big brand name will convince law firms to squander $50,000 on a Web site with fancy video and flash animation, and throw them into a Google key word (pay per click) bidding war and get listed in high priced directories, until ROI is so diminished that the law firm either loses faith in online marketing, or continues because other tactics in the marketing mix are covering up a flawed online marketing strategy.

The way to get dramatic returns on your online marketing is to focus on getting your Web site high in organic search results, while being very strategic with pay per click efforts. It is better to not engage in pay per click, than it is to do it incorrectly. With all the buzz about social media and new marketing trends, ORGANIC SEARCH IS STILL KING of ROI and it is the one place where smart can beat spend. To be effective, you have to understand the basics and you have to be plugged into the right resources. You also have to be patient - and many law firms seeking immediate gratification may miss out on huge opportunities.

If I can only give you one tip about achieving organic search success it is that a large firm working with dozens of competing firms, in the same geographic market, cannot possibly look out for everyone's interests. SEO is a dog eat dog game and you want a firm that will put your interests first and put in the time. This is one particular area, where I have the experience and contacts to help blog readers, but there are some business secrets that are too valuable to make public.

If you want access to the secrets of maximizing online marketing ROI for your personal injury practice, e-mail me at jzissu1-litigation@yahoo.com and we can set up a discussion where I can provide additional detail.

Think Marketing is an Expense? Think Again.

You have a proven product or service that is in demand. The recession has caused the demand to diminish by 10%. You reduced your marketing spend by 25%. Your new business is now declining 50%. Marketing is where many business owners and CEOs look to cut costs when the economy slides. If you are cutting marketing by a percentage that is disproportional to the decreased demand for your offering, it is very likely that your marketing program was either ineffective and not optimized to begin with (in which case you need to get a better grasp on your marketing return on investment), or that your organization is making a major strategic mistake that will end up costing clients and revenue.

I have a business colleague named Elliot Stone, who is the CEO of a firm called MedQuest MedQuest, a highly successful litigation support service company. His firm offers Medical Expert Services, Sanction Databases, Record Retrieval and other resources. Elliot deserves mention, because he put his foot on the pedal hard when the economy slowed and others who were similarly situated fell asleep at the wheel.

By increasing his marketing and even bringing on marketing resources when others pulled back, Elliot was able to take advantage of the reduction in noise to deliver his messages and is reaping the rewards in increased customers. This is not about the demand for his services increasing dramatically, rather about outperforming competitors through smart, timely and consistent marketing.

Can't find sufficient money to market? Cut your operating expenses. Want to know how, send me a note at jzissu1-litigation@yahoo.com and I will gladly discuss with you what your organization can do to cut operating costs in order to free up marketing investment dollars. Tip: Recession is a time to trim fat, but trimming productive marketing resources is a one-way ticket to lost marketshare.