Todd William, founder and CEO of Reputation Rhino, a leading online reputation management company in New York City, delivered a powerful presentation about online marketing for lawyers and how attorneys and law firms can leverage social media to turbocharge their practice.
2. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Rule 7.1 of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct governs
appropriate
use of “computer accessed communications” – defined very broadly
In general, Rule 1.0(c) of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct
defines computer-accessed communications as any electronic
communications made by or on behalf of a lawyer or law firm, including:
• Websites / Blogs
• Chat Rooms
• Forums / Comments
• E-mail / Instant messaging
• Banner Ads
• Pay Per Click Advertising
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3. RECORDKEEPING AND RESPONSIBILITY
• A New York attorney or law firm is required to pre-approve any
advertisement, including websites, and they must retain a copy of the
website for at least one year.
• A copy of the contents of any website are required to be preserved
upon
the initial publication of the website, upon any major redesign, or upon a
meaningful and extensive change in the content, according to Rule
7.1(k).
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4. WEBSITE DO’S
• Under Rule 7.1(h), at least one attorney or law firm's name,
telephone
number and location of the principal law office is required on all
advertisements, including websites.
• According to Rule 7.1(f), the home page of the attorney's website
that is
used to advertise or market the services of the attorney shall be labeled
with the phrase, "Attorney Advertising.“
• If your website has a case evaluation or similar form, include a
disclosure that submitting a form does not create an attorney client
relationship.
• The meta-tags or other hidden computer codes on an attorney's
website
must follow the same rules that would apply if the meta-tags were
visible.
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5. WEBSITE DON’TS
• According to Rule 7.1, an attorney's website cannot contain any
statements
or claims that are false, deceptive or misleading or that violate any Rule.
• Statements about the level or quality of services provided should be
factually supported by the lawyer or law firm as of the date on which the
advertisement is published or disseminated.
• Rule 7.4(a) of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct states that
an
attorney is prevented from using the terms "recognized," "certified" or
"specialist," unless certain specific requirements are met.
.
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6. ATTORNEY TESTIMONIALS
• According to Rule 7.1(e), the testimonial cannot be false or
misleading,
the information must be able to be factually verifiable, and it must
include a disclaimer that says "Prior results do not guarantee a similar
outcome.“
• If a legal matter is still pending, the client must provide the lawyer
with
informed consent that is given in writing to use the testimonial or
endorsement.
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9. WHY LINKEDIN FOR LAWYERS
• Get found by potential clients
• Connect and engage existing and potential clients
• Promote content (law journal articles, firm communications, blog
articles, news mentions, major settlements, videos, photos)
• Demonstrate thought leadership
• Generate leads
• Firm recruiting
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10. WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW ON LINKEDIN
• Build your LinkedIn network
• Connect with clients and companies
• Join groups
• Participate in groups
• Give and get recommendations
• Create a company page
• Create a LinkedIn group
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12. WHY TWITTER FOR LAWYERS
• Get found by potential clients
• Professional networking
• Connect and engage existing clients and followers
• Promote content (law journal articles, firm communications, blog
articles, news mentions, major settlements, videos, photos
• Demonstrate thought leadership
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13. WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW ON TWITTER
• Create a Twitter account
• Post a headshot or attractive logo
• Create a Twitter account for your firm
• Follow colleagues, friends, news publications
• Post at least 3 x day
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14. WHY FACEBOOK FOR LAWYERS
• 1 out of every 8 minutes online is spent on Facebook – your clients
are already there
• Get found by potential clients
• Connect and engage existing clients
• Promote content (law journal articles, firm communications, blog
articles, news mentions, major settlements, videos, photos
• Generate leads
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15. WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW ON FACEBOOK
• Create a personal Facebook page
• Create a Facebook business page
• Add friends
• Join networks
• “Like” companies
• Manage privacy settings
• Post relevant content
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16. 7 SOCIAL MEDIA STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. 91% of online adults use social media regularly
(Source: Experian)
2. 1 out of every 8 minutes online is spent on Facebook
(Source: Comscore February 2011)
3. Internet users spend 3x more time on blogs/social networks
than email
(Source: Nielsen Company - Nov 2010)
4. 3 out of 4 consumers seeking a lawyer last year searched online
(Source: The Research Intelligence Group (TRiG), March 2012)
5. 95 percent of lawyers are on LinkedIn for professional purposes
(Source: 2012 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report)
6. 38 percent of lawyers use Facebook for professional purposes
(Source: 2012 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report)
7. 11 percent of lawyers use Twitter for professional purposes
(Source: 2012 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report)
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17. WHY BLOG?
• According to Hubspot, companies that blog get 97 percent more
inbound
links, 55 percent more website visitors and generate 88 percent more
inbound leads than those who do not blog.
• Companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages
• Blogging frequency has a direct impact on lead generation –
companies
that blog weekly get twice the median number of leads of companies
compares to companies that blog monthly.
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19. WHAT ABOUT PAY PER CLICK?
Source: Covario – January 2011
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20. DOES PPC ADVERTISING EVER MAKE SENSE?
• For highly competitive keywords
• While you are implementing your SEO strategy
• For time-limited offers/promotions
• To capitalize on breaking news
• PPC advertising is made to measure
• Analyze keywords and competitors carefully and demand metrics
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21. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
The top 10 organic search results receive 89% of all clicks from users.
SEO has changed forever – are you still doing the same thing?
Here are seven simple steps to improve your SEO:
1. Determine relevant keywords for your practice
2. Analyze your competition
3. On-page optimization (titles, tags, keywords, coding)
4. Blog to increase frequency of new content
5. Get social (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+)
6. Off-page optimization and linkbuilding
7. Monitor results and repeat
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22. ABOUT REPUTATION RHINO
Reputation Rhino is a leading online reputation management consultancy
and digital agency based in New York City.
We have an extraordinary team of experienced legal, public relations,
marketing and technology experts who have worked with the largest brands
in the world.
Our company has been featured on Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, Fox
Business, Politico, U.S. News, Bankrate, InformationWeek and WABC
Radio.
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23. WHAT WE DO
Reputation Management
Online Public Relations
Social Intelligence
Search Engine Optimization
Web Design & Development
Blogging & Social Media
Online Advertising
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24. WHY REPUTATION RHINO?
We are a results-driven digital agency with over 25 years of combined PR
and marketing experience working with some of the world’s largest brands.
We create fully integrated public relations and online marketing campaigns
based on our clients goals and consistent with their legal and regulatory
obligations.
We have unmatched expertise in online public relations and online reputation
management for individuals and business.
We build a strong relationship with our clients and maintain close involvement
and regular contact.
We take pride in our strategic planning, achieve measurable results and
deliver a return on investment.
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25. LET’S CONNECT
Reputation Rhino LLC
711 Third Avenue – 12th Floor
New York, New York 10017
(p) 888.975.3331
(e) info@reputationrhino.com
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