Saturday, April 25, 2009

Bankruptcy Searches Are Spiking Across The Nation



Acording to Google Trends, the United States is currently witnessing a spike in online searches for "bankruptcy lawyer" and "bankruptcy attorney" that have not been seen at these levels since late 2005.

The top ten states for bankruptcy lawyer searches are: Las Vegas NV, Southfield MI, Littleton CO, Miami FL, and Rancho Santa Margarita CA, Orlando FL, Tampa FL, Richardson TX, and Atlanta GA. Note: St Paul is not mentioned since they tend to display for technical reasons only on this list.

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Friday, April 24, 2009

ABA Journal: Law Blogs Are ‘Cheapest Thing You Can Do to Market Practice, Lawyer Says

Consumer law firm Pritzker Olsen in Minneapolis has one blog at present but is in the process of developing several others because its Food Poisoning Blog has proven itself.

“We know we are getting business [from the blogs]. It’s really easy to track,” Pritzker Olsen attorney Brendan Flaherty told Dolan Media Newswires for an article appearing in Wisconsin Law Journal. “As compared to other marketing sources, it’s the cheapest thing you can do. That’s what is so great about it.”

The monetary cost of setting up a blog is negligible, so the true expense is based on how much a lawyer can bill per hour, since developing and writing regular posts requires some nonbillable time.

“That is the most intimidating thing for most lawyers,” said Minneapolis solo Sam Glover, who authors Lawyerist and Caveat Emptor.

Seattle attorney William Marler, who handles food-poisoning cases, told Dolan Media Services he spends up to two hours per day updating his firm’s 10 legal blogs, which get between 8,000 and 10,000 hits per day.

But more well-known bloggers see more intangible benefits to blogging. Robert Ambrogi, a writer, lawyer and media consultant in Rockport, Mass., told Dolan Media Newswires that he started Media Law—one of five blogs he either authors or contributes to—to stay current. “It forces you into this regular exercise of keeping up with the news and developments in your field,” he said.

And University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor Ann Althouse told the ABA Journal in December that she started her blog, Althouse, “purely to express myself for the sheer pleasure of it.” Five years later, that has translated into 50,000 page views a day and a marriage proposal from one of her commenters (which she accepted).

http://www.abajournal.com/news/law_blogs_are_cheapest_thing_you_can_do_to_market_practice_lawyer_says/

Over 25% of AmLaw 200 law firms have blogs

This according to LexBlog. Also of note:
- 10% have more than one blog
- 36% growth over the past 6 months

This will be very interesting to see how the growth of blogs and social media play out over the coming months and years ahead. I have seen a number of attorneys try these out - but many really need to have a strategy around these to make them effective. The growth of law firm blogging

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ABA Journal on Websites That Work (April 2009)

Pretty interesting read here. Law Firm Websites that work I get more questions every day about law firms trying to understand the use of Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, etc. with their practice. Although this issue gives a good overview on Twitter, it is important to note that all of these tools should be utilized as part of a more comprehensive personal, business, marketing, and growth strategy for each firm.

I am working on an overview of this subject right now and hope to have something released on the subject soon...


Dustin Ruge

Friday, April 17, 2009

New Article: Creating Powerful & SEO Friendly Blogs

I published a new article today on creating SEO friendly Legal Blogs - with special instructions on how to optimize Blogger. The article is posted on the SEO Consultant Firm website at: http://www.seoconsultantfirm.com/Law-Firm-Seo/Creating-Powerful-&-SEO-Friendly-Legal-Blogs-for-Your-Law-Firm.html