Kate is a Chicago-based attorney, marketing consultant and writer with a passion for independent music, art and culture. When she's not assisting bands with legal needs or helping small firms and businesses with new media, she writes about all things that inspire her on her arts and life blog, Incinerating Diamonds. You can also learn more about Kate at www.ktbattle.com.
Many small law firms choose to ignore law firm rankings directories because they see these as strictly BigLaw marketing tactics. If your law firm wants to attract bigger (and often higher paying) clients, however, it might be worth your time to submit some of your accomplishments to one of these directories.
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For almost a year now, I have been searching for an easy-to-use static website builder. I can already hear my SEO pals cringing right now, but sometimes I need a simple, clean, static front page to post information about my business, special events or my portfolio.
While I like using Blogger and WordPress for sites that involve a lot of updates, neither of these sites work well when I need to build a static website. Luckily, I finally discovered Wix.
Like many attorneys, I spend at about 12 hours every day staring at a computer screen, smartphone and e-reader. I’ve been thinking about upgrading to a Kindle Fire, but I had some concerns about my eye health and I did a bit of research that yielded some surprising results.
One of the biggest selling points for companies that sell portable readers is that “e-ink creates less strain on the eyes.” But is this really true?
When you are starting your own firm or trying to build your practice, it is crucial that you build a brand, show off your expertise, and reach out to a large target audience. Social media and advertising can take you a long way, but with so many options in legal services, it is important that potential clients get more than just a sales pitch, and they want to know that their attorney truly lives up to his or her word.
This year at South by Southwest Interactive, Highlight made a big splash among conference goers. This new iPhone app was created to put the “social” back in “social media” by notifying users when they are near one another and providing information on mutual friends and shared interests.
Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past two weeks, you probably saw an email forward, tweet, or Facebook update referring to Kony 2012, a video that documents Invisible Children, Inc.’s efforts to make indicted Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony internationally known in order to encourage his arrest in 2012. In just 3 days, the video received almost 40 million views on YouTube, and the numbers continue to climb.
Now, many people are criticizing both Invisible Children and the campaign, but one thing is for certain: Kony 2012 is a brilliant marketing campaign, and any business that wants to build its reputation should start taking notes. Here are a few lessons we can learn from the Kony 2012 video campaign:
Many attorneys provide pro bono services for a variety of reasons: to gain experience, to transition into new areas of law, to network with other attorneys, and to do something good for others. Unfortunately, pro bono work can take up a lot of time depending on the case and client, and most attorneys would agree with Ben Franklin that “time is money.”
If you have taken on a lot of pro bono work, you might wonder whether the federal government values your time, as well. In other words, can the value of your time and services while providing pro bono legal services qualify as a charitable contribution that is deductible from gross income on your federal tax return? Unfortunately, in a word, nope.
A few months ago, Apple introduced iMessage, a nifty iOS 5 feature that allows you to send unlimited messages via WiFi or 3G from your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch to anyone else who has one of those devices. Not only does iMessage allow you to save on data plans, it also allows you to track delivery and receipt of messages, create and read messages on multiple devices, and “enjoy secure encryption for text messages.”
While document review work is an easy way to make money while you are developing your own solo practice or trying to pay bills between jobs, getting document review work is not always so easy. A few weeks ago, Randall Ryder gave readers great tips on how to stay assertive in your full-time job search. Similarly, it’s important to be aggressive with staffing agencies if you want to avoid those dreaded gaps in employment when you finish a project and want (read: need) a new project to begin soon.
After the Nixon-Kennedy debates, those who heard the first debate on the radio proclaimed that Nixon was the winner, but for the people who saw the debate, Kennedy won. Even though the candidates were well-matched in substance, Kennedy showed up for the debate tan, rested, and well dressed. Nixon showed up after spending two weeks in the hospital. He looked ill and underweight, he wore an ill-fitting shirt, and he refused make-up to improve his color.
While a law firm webinar or teleconference may not be quite as important as a presidential debate, we can still learn a simple lesson from this event: Your personal appearance can be just as important as having the right technology, backdrop, setting, and lighting when communicating with clients via video.
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