Congratulations, you have created a successful law blog, and you manage to post regularly but your blog needs a new jolt. Sociological research indicates that posts that inspire awe, have a positive tone, and share emotions are more likely to be shared by individuals.

Awe-inspiring

If you are going to swing, swing for the fences. Mention some a legal statistic that opens people’s eyes, a fundamental change in the way certain cases resolve, or even a compelling story of an one persons search for justice.

Stay positive

Lawyers tend to be cynics; reversing that mentality may lead to more readership. Write about your successes, not your failures.

Get emotional

Showing emotion will show readers a different side of you, and establish your personality on the internet. Emotion comes across as passion. At the same time, be careful about saying anything disparaging that can come back to haunt you in the courtroom.

(photo: hathu-)

Write Awe-Inspiring Blog Posts is a post from: Lawyerist

I am happy to become a contributing writer to Lawyerist and join up with an innovative group of thinkers on the forefront of law practice management.  I will be writing about virtual law practice, including ethics and technology issues, the startup and maintenance of a virtual law office, virtual assistants or virtual paralegals, un-bundling legal services online and other topics involved in the delivery of legal services using technology.

My experience in virtual law practice comes from operating my own web-based virtual law office for the past four years.  I am licensed to practice law in North Carolina and provide estate planning and small business legal services through Kimbro Legal Services, LLC, my virtual law office.  I have two young children and enjoy the flexibility that this form of law practice provides for my career and my family.  I work from a home office or remotely from my netbook depending on what the day holds.

Aside from my own busy law practice, I also enjoy the roles of entrepreneur and teacher.  As the co-founder of Virtual Law Office Technology (VLOTech), I work with other attorneys to set up virtual law offices nationwide.  VLOTech was acquired by Total Attorneys, a Chicago-based legal services company, in the fall of 2009.  Through this opportunity, I work as a consultant and technology evangelist on virtual law practice.  I also enjoy serving on the faculty at Solo Practice University where I teach a course on virtual law practice to law students and other attorneys interested in taking all or a part of their practice online.

There are a variety of ways to structure a virtual law practice, whether it is completely web-based or integrated into a traditional law firm.  Working with other attorneys on the ethics and technology considerations involved in this process has provided me with a broad base of experience on this topic which I look forward to sharing with Lawyerist readers. You can find me on Twitter: @StephKimbro or on my blog, Virtual Law Practice.

Lawyerist Contributor: Steph Kimbro is a post from: Lawyerist

If you are technologically challenged, or know someone who is, you probably do not communicate with them via email. But if you have a phone line and a fax connection, Celery may solve your problem.

Essentially, Celery is a glorified fax machine. Let’s say you have a small firm, but do not use email. Opposing counsel can still send you emails, but instead of coming to your computer, your Celery machine will receive them as faxes. When you want to reply, just place your document on the machine. It will scan the document and email it to your recipient.

The product is clearly targeted at people who never caught onto this whole “internets” thing and want to keep in touch with family. But it has utility for attorneys who still use fax machines as their main method of communication. You can also use the service to send Facebook and Twitter updates.

Use Your Fax Machine to Send Emails is a post from: Lawyerist

It has been an amazing year for Lawyerist!

In March, we relaunched the site as a part of Lawyerist Media LLC. Over the course of the year we added an amazing team of contributors from all over the country. They have provided all of us with great posts and ideas to consider.

We are grateful to all of our readers (old and new) for your support this year!

And so—for your reading pleasure—we present our Top 10 Posts from 2009:

1. Review: ScanSnap S1500 Document Scanner: A review of one of our favorite pieces of technology, the scanner that keeps us paperless.
2. Professional Facebook Privacy in Under 10 Minutes: How to set your Facebook account privacy so you can control your professional presence.
3. Applying to Law School? Please Reconsider!: The law school landscape is changing. Law school is not a good option for many prospective students. You are hereby warned.
4. Faceoff: Apple Macbook v. Lenovo ThinkPad T400 v. Dell Precision M2400: Reviews of a variety of laptop options to pick one that will work best for a law practice.
5. Yodle Takes the Hard Sell to a New Level: A critique of online marketing firm Yodle’s (since corrected) sales tactics.
6. Facebook 101: Why Lawyers Should Be on Facebook: Advice on how to set up a Facebook account and use it for professional purposes.
7. What I Use to Manage My Practice: A complete overview of the software tools to manage a law practice.
8. Fujitsu ScanSnap s1500 Document Scanner FAQ & Followup: A detailed followup to reader questions and tips about using a ScanSnap scanner to create a paperless law office.
9. To Do: Establish Your Google Profile: A quick tip on claiming your Google Profile to improve your professional exposure online.
10. Work From Home (or Anywhere Else) on Fridays: A detailed description of a mobile law office hardware and software setup.

(photo: c@rljones)

Best Lawyerist Posts of 2009 is a post from: Lawyerist

Lawyers are competitive, and it may be that we hate losing more than anyone else. Some lawyers never fail because they work harder than their opponent to ensure success. Other lawyers never fail because they are risk adverse. Being risk adverse, however, can prevent growth and longer-term success.

As Fast Company points out, little failures result in lessons, but big failures result in growth. Taking a big risk is likely to result in big success one way or another. If you succeed, the risk was worth taking. If you fail, the intangibles are well worth the loss.

The intangibles are numerous. Proving to yourself you can take a big risk. Proving to others you are willing to take risks. Breaking out of your routine. Perhaps most important, putting yourself on the line will create all sorts of introspection that is likely to result in personal development.

If confronted with a big risk, ask yourself “what is the worst thing that can happen?” Most of the time, the answer is not that devastating.

Take the risk, it is worth the rewards.

Big Risks Are Worth the Reward—or Failure is a post from: Lawyerist

It is now that time of the year when lawyers put together their list of who to send holiday greetings to. From a marketing standpoint, I have always thought that they were a waste of time and money.

When I was an in-house attorney, I usually received about fifty. I simply tossed most and rarely read them. Occasionally, they were even insulting. Some sent cards with their names already pre-printed  on the card. Couldn’t they spend a minute or two and write a few personal words or at least sign their name?

Get Noticed

If you insist on sending cards, do it at a time of the year when it will not be received with ten other cards on the same day. More importantly, make it memorable. Every year I receive a card from a lawyer I know who practices in Memphis, Tennessee. He is a huge Elvis Presley fan. Around the time of Elvis’ birthday (January 8th), I always receive a New Year’s card which has an Elvis theme photo and a short greeting. One year it was a picture of President Bush and the Prime Minister of Japan (a big Elvis fan himself) during a visit to Graceland. It certainly was memorable; I’m blogging about it five years later.

The purpose of the holiday card, as well as every marketing activity attorneys do, is to remind your clients that you are still around to perform legal services. You want to stay top of mind. Traditional holiday cards simply do not do it.

(photo: fortinbras)

Holiday Cards: Bah Humbug! is a post from: Lawyerist

The majority of big firms are not changing their business models, despite the economic downswing.

142 of the Am Law firms responded to a recent survey—56% saying the economic downturn has caused a change in the legal marketplace, but 70% also saying the downturn has not produced a shift in their firm’s business model. Over 66% of the firms were also optimistic about 2010.

Optimism is admirable, but reality is harsh. The survey seemingly reflects a stubborn mentality that big firms can just plug away and things will get better. If the firms refuse to change their mentality, they may be in trouble.

There is simply no way firms can continue with business as usual. Clients pockets are not as deep, and when the market is flooded, clients generally demand more for their money. Big firms might not need to close up shop, but they would be wise to alter their business model.

Change in the Offing — In BigLaw Models and Diversity | Legal Blog Watch

(photo: kbs478)

Changes in the Works for Big Firms? is a post from: Lawyerist

For five years, I owned and operated my own small law firm, but for most of that time, I had no idea what I was doing. I learned how to run a business, step-by-step, based on what I thought was most important at the time.

The first thing that was most important to me was learning how to attract and engage clients, because without revenue, I would really be up a creek.

It took me two-and-a-half years to develop a streamlined system and process for getting my phone to ring and converting those phone calls into money in the bank.

Lawyering in the dark

During that time, I was really doing business in the dark. There was no real business behind my business. I blindly delegated my bookkeeping, insurance, taxes, and even the legal parts of my business. I was not even a business until 2007, because someone told me that lawyers do not need to incorporate, and I believed them without investigation.

In those first years, if something did not have to do with earning revenue, I ignored it.

The importance of LIFT

Little did I know that it is the legal, insurance, financial, and tax systems of a business that make the difference between a real-deal serious business and one that is on the edge of crumbling. It began to hit me in 2007 that I had trouble on my hands.

By then, I was into my second year of making a 7-figure revenue (I got really good at that part) and I started to see the ramifications of not having a solid LIFT (legal, insurance, financial, and tax) foundation beneath what I had built. One of the first indications came at tax time in 2007, when I found out two days before taxes were due that I had a 6-figure tax bill. Yes, I owed $106,000 in taxes and had not set any money aside.

That was a very bad day.

Fortunately, I had done one thing right: I had a great relationship with my local business banker. So I called him up and asked for help. Because it was 2007 and the banks were lending money to anyone with a social security number and a credit score over 700, he could. Within 2 days, the IRS was paid and I was the lucky owner of a lot of debt.

That was just one of the ramifications of not having LIFT in my business. There were a number of others that ranged from an employee lawsuit that I had to settle because I did not have the right insurance in place, the sale of my business to the wrong person, and many other sordid tales.

Built a foundation with LIFT

I discovered that you can be a great lawyer—and even a great business person from the revenue-generation standpoint—but if you do not have your own legal, insurance, financial and tax systems in place, your business is built on a house of cards.

Most lawyers I have worked with over the past few years have little to no awareness of these issues.

As we go into 2010, make a commitment to yourself, your family, and your clients to get a LIFT foundation in place in your business. It is time to do business with your eyes wide open. If you are not sure where to start, listen in on my LIFT audio program.

Make a decision and get started. Your law practice deserves it.

(photo: ferran)

Confessions of a Bad Law Firm Businesswoman is a post from: Lawyerist

As we all know, the legal industry was hit particularly hard by the economy. Over 12,000 lawyers and legal staff members lost their jobs, entire firms have shut down and small and solo attorneys are working harder than ever to get new business in the door.

You may be wondering, ‘Is my practice next?” “How long will this last?” “Can I afford to ride out the storm?”

Here’s the good news about the economic shakedown:

I don’t want you to believe a word I’m saying here. I want you to test it out in your own business. I know it works because it’s what turned my law firm into a million dollar business within three years and has my Personal Family Lawyers and private coaching clients doubling and even tripling their income right now by making a few fundamental shifts in the way they do business.

And the really good news is that it doesn’t have to take a whole of time, effort or money to make this shift in your business. But, the return on your investment will be phenomenal.

So what does high concept/high touch look like in your law firm?

Essentially it means creating a WOW experience that appeals to all of your prospect’s or client’s senses, not just their minds.

There’s a new business model emerging as a result and if you are prepared to embrace what client’s really want . . . high concept / high touch and interaction, you will completely differentiate yourself in the marketplace and your business will thrive.

Try some of these out in your practice:

• Change the way your phones are answered. No more “Law Offices” barked into the phone by a surly receptionist. Instead, make sure that whoever answers your phone has a smile on his or her face and a script that immediately identifies your firm as different, warm and inviting.
• Walk into your office as a prospect and see what they see. How can you make the décor of your office appeal to your “ideal clients” on multiple sensory levels (ex. My practice helped families with little kids, so we had toys, fresh fruit, juice and muffins daily, scented candles burning, comfortable furniture to relax in, pictures of my family, etc).
• Automate your client engagement and client service systems so there is consistent follow up and communication with prospects and clients who will never again feel as if they’ve fallen into a black hole after calling or engaging you (I call this the ‘no client left behind’ initiative).
• Shift your billable hour model to flat-fee billing or a membership model so clients don’t feel “nickel and dimed” or penalized every time they contact the firm. It’s amazing what happens when your clients don’t have to worry about getting a bill in the mail each time they contact you.

If you’ve already started making these changes in your law practice, GREAT! You’re on your way to jumping off the cash flow rollercoaster/ marketing merry-go-round forever!

Remember, in a time of economic hardship, lawyers are a dime a dozen. People are choosier than ever as to who they do business with and what they spend their hard-earned money on, and most of that decision making is driven by the little extras that make people feel special.

To hear more about what having a high-concept, high touch office looks like—especially as it relates to dealing with clients on a daily basis, I invite you to download a free call I recorded here on setting up a client service system and how to take your firm to new and unexpected heights, even in this economy!

(photo: jeffbalke)

Give Your Clients the Red Carpet Treatment to Succeed in This Economy is a post from: Lawyerist

In every industry, there is an amateur who thinks they can do the job on their own. Whether it is a home project, real estate transaction or legal representation “doing it yourself” is not always the best option. The “DIY” movement has become enormous. With the advent of the cable network shows that illustrate how to “Do It Yourself”, we have become a culture obsessed with finding pride and ownership as well as saving money by completing our own projects.

DIY Legal

When it comes to complex matters such as legal representation it would seem obvious that a person should hire a professional, yet we have all heard nightmare stories of people who decided to appeal Pro Se and self represent. In rare instances it can prove to be successful, but the majority of cases create challenges and are less successful.

In my previous work in the real estate industry, the equivalent was a property “For Sale By Owner” (FSBO).  For Realtors, mentioning a “FSBO” was generally met with a shake of the head and a litany of reasons why they should consider hiring a professional. However, when talking to these same Realtors about their marketing it never occurred to them that they were attempting to “FSBO” their marketing plan. When illustrated in language they could relate to, it suddenly became clear. Using an equivalent example in the appropriate industry is the best way to relate the necessary concept of working with an expert.

DIY Marketing

DIY is great for experimenting in the kitchen and making a quilt, but what happens when people try to DIY their own marketing? Since marketing is usually part of the public domain, it appears to be a more generally understood profession than something like brain surgery. However, consider the critical role it plays in the success of your business: is it critical to hire a professional and do it right.

Put in real estate terms: sure you can try to sell your house on your own, but should you? When putting together your law firm you only have one chance to make a first impression. You are a professional and want to convey your expertise, so don’t promote yourself as an amateur. After all, what kind of client do you expect to recruit if your marketing looks cheap and/or trendy?

Reasons to work with an expert

Developing your marketing strategy, branding and market presence is time consuming and complicated. Trying to figure all of this out is a waste of your time and money. Most people “don’t know what they don’t know” until it’s too late and they’ve created a mess. Calculate your hourly rate multiplied by five or six hours of time spent just trying to figure out the basics. Suddenly hiring a marketing professional seems financially reasonable.

The reasons you want your clients to choose to work with you are the same reasons you should choose to work with a professional for your marketing. Ensure that your own business lines up with the message you are attempting to convey to potential clients. Hiring an expert give you access to the hours, months and years of their research and experience. The expert lives and breathes in this environment and knows the tips, trends, unique ideas and horrible flops currently happening in the marketplace. The most likely place that an amateur starts is with the most obvious and trendy. Your marketing should be unique; trendy is not how you want to present yourself.

The bottom line is basic economics: let’s all spend our scarce amount of available time doing the activity that we are the best suited for. This logic should be used when talking to potential clients as well as when developing a marketing strategy for your firm.

(photo sroemerm)

Pro Se Your Marketing is a post from: Lawyerist