LinkedIn offers a number of applications (apps) for members to connect with other members and promote their expertise. Four that I think are especially valuable for attorneys are:

Events
The Events application adds a box to your profile that shows what events people in your network are attending. This helps you find events based on your industry and job function. You can sort by most popular events, search for events, and create new ones.

Answers
LinkedIn Answers is a tool that allows you to ask questions and answer inquiries posed by other members. It is a valuable place to share knowledge and expertise. To try it, click on the “Answers” tab.

Groups
Nearly 18 million members are a part of LinkedIn Groups, with 1.5 million joining groups every week. Groups are an opportunity to participate in conversations that are relevant to your firm’s practice areas and to answer questions that match your expertise.

SlideShare
With this app, you can share presentations and documents with your LinkedIn network and upload PDFs, presentations, video or more. You can also browse and comment on the presentations of others in your network, and see the latest presentations from your network on your homepage.

Most attorneys are fantastic natural networkers, connecting with current clients and prospects through colleagues, peers in other professions, trade and bar associations, and networking events. They know it’s a necessary part of generating leads and growing their practice.

Only a few attorneys have chosen to use this ability to attract and retain clients via the Internet. These early adopters are using Facebook, Twitter, Google Places, Avvo, Justia and other social media to gain a competitive advantage online. And they are reaping the benefits. Taking advantage of social media to build a network can help you improve online visibility, outrank your competition, get the most out of your digital assets, retain loyal customers, and generate leads efficiently and cost-effectively.

By completing a profile on mainstream and legal social networks and optimizing properly you can dominate the search engine results pages and make it easier for potential clients to find you. This consistently strong online presence will build awareness of your expertise, generate traffic to your website, and create a flow of inquiries that will grow your business.

Our email inboxes fill up quickly these days, often with unwanted junk mail, solicitations, ads and special offers. Although most email providers are working diligently to filter out this spam, some get through and it’s not always easy to identify a legitimate inquiry. Attorneys are especially prone to receiving this type of email.

Many of these spam emails are intended to get you to give them your email address (by replying) so they can spam you with other solicitations or for more elaborate schemes. For example, one scheme involves sending you a fake check for an agreed upon amount. The check arrives $1,000 too much and they request you wire or send a check for the overpayment.

Here are some strong signals, usually in combination, that can help you identify and filter out spam quickly:

1. Country of origin.
Emails from another country can be a sign of spam. Look at the address extension to see if it ends in .org, .com, .edu or .net, the four standard American extensions. If it ends in .co.uk (United Kingdom) or another country it may be spam.

2. Lack of specifics.
Using general terms like “Dear Counsel” in the greeting and “your jurisdiction” etc. show that they don’t know you and are fishing for more specifics. [Read more...]

We all grew up with the familiar yellow book. Now there are many variations on the original and it’s still on the shelf in my house. But when was the last time you opened it up to look for something – a vendor, restaurant, or service?

If you’re like most people, you haven’t done that in a while, and I suspect most of your clients haven’t either. With more than one billion searches a day, most questions are answered with a quick trip to Google. Even more importantly, one study says almost 70% of people search online before making a purchase.

Because of this shift, companies that manage Yellow Pages are trying to maintain revenues while pitching advertisers to appear on increasingly popular online sites. These companies try to convince advertisers like you that their prospects don’t have access to computers or aren’t likely to search online for an attorney.

Advertising in Yellow Pages can be expensive, with many attorneys spending thousands of dollars each year for print listings or display ads and even more for online listings.

Most attorneys can avoid this expense. Depending on your particular practice area, geographic location, and client base, I recommend cutting back or eliminating Yellow Pages ads entirely. Do a two-month test. Track your incoming leads to find out how many are coming from yellow pages. Reduce your annual spend and see if you see a variation in lead type or volume. Or reallocate a portion of your advertising budget to online advertising and track it. You may want to move completely online.

Bear in mind not only the number of prospects and clients your advertising is generating, but the type and consider the source. You may want a certain kind of clientele that you just won’t reach from the phone book.