Lessons from the Recession: How Marketing Practices and Priorities Can Make the Difference

The latest feature article at Legal Marketing Reader is a summary of findings of a recent survey by the Alterra Group showing that despite the sour economy, a number of professional services firms actually held their revenue steady or even increased it in the past year. What separates the firms that thrive? Their research found that the more successful companies had distinctly different marketing practices and priorities than those whose revenues declined in the past year. To read the full article, click on:
Lessons from the Recession.

Changing of the Blogs

Hello readers,

I apologize for the “broken” square  (bottom center) on the Top Blogs tab, for so long. I’ve finally replaced the broken RSS feed with a new blog… In Search of Perfect Client Service by Patrick Lamb. Blogs come and go in the LMR universe based on who is actively blogging and providing value-added and practical content, and whose syndication feeds are compatible with the LMR programming. The Trust Matters blog continues to be a great one, but until we can bring it to you without technical interruption, please enjoy In Search…

Thanks for bearing with me,

Amy Campbell

Do-It-Yourself Marketing Tips for Small Law Firms

Legal services consultant and writer John O. Cunningham has published another feature article on Legal Marketing Reader, this time aimed at small law firms. “Small law firm practitioners often lack a mega-firm’s arsenal of marketing resources,” according to Cunningham. “But there are many ways to compete effectively for the attention of clients and referral sources without expensive advertising,” he said.

Read the article, by clicking on the title below:
“Do-It-Yourself” Marketing for Small Law Firms.

Welcome to The Legal Water Cooler!

One of Legal Marketing Reader’s blog feeds went off the air recently making room for a new blog in our “Hollywood Squares of Legal Marketing.” Check out our newest feed from The Legal Water Cooler written by Heather M. Milligan in the bottom right “square” on the Top Blogs tab. Heather takes her theme of sharing info around the office water cooler and brings it to the web — providing loads of industry talk on hot topics for law firm marketing types. All with a sense of fun and fancy. Give it a look and let us know what you think.

5 Great Articles You Might Have Missed

As a reader of Legal Marketing Reader, you might be overlooking the list of Legal Marketing 101 links in the bottom right of the home page. These articles are chosen for being especially timely, helpful and practical — full of great advice or reporting. We consider them “best of the web” material. So just in case you missed them, we’re pointing  out 5 recent articles we’ve added to the pot.

• 25 Value-Added Free Services to Offer Your Clients
• How to Beat a Better-Branded Firm in a Business Pitch
• Overturning the Downturn: How to Make This a Great Time for Business Development
• Big-Firm Partners Go Small to Keep and Attract Frugal Clients
• Lawyers Using the Web to Network

And if you know of an especially good article on a law firm marketing and business development topic, please drop us a line at editor -at- legalmarketingreader.com.

Thanks for reading.

10 Ways to Boost Lateral Partner Integration by Katie Rutter

The latest guest feature article on Legal Marketing Reader is written by marketing consultant Katie Rutter. Ten Ways to Boost Later Partner Integration is a timely topic and provides tips on creating a lateral integration program to make sure law firm laterals hit the ground running, get up to speed, and find their fit in the new firm culture.

Check it out at: Lateral Partner Integration.

Recessionary Thinking: 12 Smart Marketing Tips for Tough Times

The latest feature article on Legal Marketing Reader is authored by Deborah Scaringi.
Recessionary Thinking: 12 Smart Marketing Tips for Tough Times
In difficult financial times, running a successful service firm and business requires more than hard work. Careful decision making, cautious purchases, improved efficiency and streamlined budgeting sit at the top of the list. Adding marketing expenditures to this list may not seem prudent during down times, but you must reconsider. Maintaining and increasing marketing activities in a difficult market will help your business soar when the economy bounces back. In fact, research by the American Business Press shows that companies that continue to market themselves during a down economy grow four times faster than companies that don’t.

Read the full article here: Recession Marketing.

Getting Marketing and Business Development on the Same Page Using the Same Game Plan

A new feature article has been added to Legal Marketing Reader. It is written by consultants Robert Buday, Bernie Thiel, Susan Buddenbaum, and Tim Parker — and is essentially a large excerpt from the book Thoughts on Thought Leadership. It is an excellent argument, and based on real research, on the why and how of getting marketing and sales effort to work in concert for maximum benefit. In the difficult times ahead, now is the time to turn ad hoc marketing and business development activities into a strategic and systematic effort. Check it out here:

Getting Marketing and Business Development on the Same Page.

Legal Marketing MetaSearch Tool — New and Improved!

What do you get when you combine the power of Google search with the collective wisdom of Legal Marketing Reader? A powerful 1-2 punch! With the new Legal Marketing MetaSearch tool you can “Google-search” all 27 sites we aggregate in addition to LMR’s own article backlog. So now, in addition to using LMR to stay up on news and industry talk, you can use it to dig deeper and search all 27 sites for answers to specific queries.

The idea is essentially the same, we’ve narrowed the choices to our favorite, most useful and most reputable resources to give you more information in less time — with more relevant results and less clutter! We think it’s pretty great! Give it a try. It’s in the top right corner of every page.

What Every Lawyer Needs To Know: 6 Facts About New Business

The latest feature article on Legal Marketing Reader is sound advice from consultant Jim Hassett. The article, “Six Facts About New Business — What Every Lawyer Needs To Know,” is an entire free chapter from his book, Legal Business Development, A Step by Step Guide. And just like the book, the article provides basic and easy to understand and apply tips on how to win new business. As the article states, learning how to sell isn’t something attorneys learn in law school, but it is a learned process. Check out the article, download the chapter, and share it with attorneys at your firm. And remember you learned about it here at Legal Marketing Reader!