Los Angeles Trust and Probate Litigation Attorney, SirkinLaw

What law schools don't teach you about the science of marketing

Law firm marketing is a science.  Law school was not intended to teach you how to practice law and certainly was not meant to teach you about marketing.   You can easily create a marketable law practice using the "Law Firm Marketing Science Systems (TM)."   If you are looking to ethically grow your book of business, and want clients who will refer to you again and again, join us for this audio seminar.   We will cover the introduction to the Science of Law Firm Marketing:

1. Learn how to identify your highest pay-off activities.

2. Learn how to identify your highest time-consuming activities.

3. Learn to build law office virtual team members for your highest pay-off activities.

4. Blog marketing: Find out what works and how to leverage your blog to create new business.

5. Create law firm products which will create passive income long after you retire.

6. Using articles to promote your legal services.

7.  How to use simple public relations tactics to promote your legal services.

8.  How to send two monthly follow-up emails to clients to promote your new legal services and to keep clients happy.

9.   How Social Marketing differs from Social Networking; What methods work in a law office setting.

10.  How to build a marketable, and scalable business model for your law firm.

11.  Developing an effective "Thank you" method for to your clients after case completion.

Email to inquire and to register:  [email protected] (att:  Anthony)

Date: March 18, 2008. Time: 12:00 p.m.-12:20 PST

Cost:  $150.00

Place:  Internet; This is a virtual seminar.   If you are unable to attend at the above time, you may request the virtual location MP3 file and the Pdf course material when you register.

Speaker:

Mina N. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law, by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.  She was the legal expert to Prime Time News, CBS / K-CAL9 on the death of Anna Nicole Smith.  Ms. Sirkin practices in Los Angeles County, California.  [email protected].  http://www.SirkinLaw.com.

This seminar is a production of Peter Port Publications, Inc.

Anna Nicole Smith Estate to be Inherited by Daughter

Money of late husband still being contested

"By Matthew B. Zeidman

 

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Today) 3/4/08 – A Los Angeles judge has made it official; Anna Nicole Smith’s 18-month-old daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead, is entitled to her late mother’s estate. However, the future of the $1.6 billion belonging to Smith’s deceased second husband, J. Howard Marshall, is still uncertain.

Tuesday’s legal ruling ensured that Birkhead would receive her mother’s inheritance, worth approximately $710,000 at the time of Smith’s February 2007 death of a drug overdose. Her status as heir had been the subject of legal wrangling, as Smith’s will, written in 2001, named her son, Daniel, as sole heir. Daniel died of a drug overdose in September 2006, three days after his half-sister’s birth.

The judge also ordered a trust established for Birkhead, to be administered by her father, Larry Birkhead, and Smith’s executor and companion, Howard K. Stern.

As for the hundreds of millions of dollars Smith claimed Marshall promised her before his death, her legal team will continue the 13-year fight for the fortune on her daughter’s behalf. Other members of Marshall’s family have been fiercely fighting the claims of Smith and her estate amidst allegations that the former “Playboy” model married the elderly oil magnate solely for the inheritance."

In a ruling on Tuesday, Judge Mitchell Beckloff's ruling clarified that Anna Nicole's daughter was intended to be the beneficiary of her estate as an afterborn child and will be entitled to the entire estate.

Mina N. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.  Ms. Sirkin practices in Los Angeles, County Los Angeles.  She was the legal expert to PrimeTime News, CBS / K-CAL9 on the death of Anna Nicole Smith.  [email protected].  http://www.SirkinLaw.com. Tel: 818-340-4479.

Los Angeles Probate Attorneys, Los Angeles Probate, Los Angeles Probate Lawyers

Nasty charities lost $8M battle over couple's fortune

One of my ABA friends sent this Boston Globe article to me by email.   I thought it was worth sharing it with this comment:   Family comes first in estate planning.    Where there is legitimate gripes against families, that's where charities get it ALL.   Litigation by charities against family members is distasteful and adverse to charitable marketing, and leaves estate planners with a sense of mistrust of the charities.   Moreover, the bad publicity also makes people NOT want to leave assets to them.    After all, you can buy a lot more with honey, than you can by litigation.

"Charities lose court fight for $8m estate Late stockbroker's will bequeathed his fortune to couple
By Sacha Pfeiffer

Globe Staff / February 27, 2008
Five weeks before his death, after a yearlong battle with cancer that
left him deeply depressed, 85-year-old Leonard R. Brener made a
startling decision.

Instead of bequeathing his $8 million estate to four local charities, he
changed his will to give the entire amount to his niece and her husband.
It was this couple, he explained, who had cared for him in his dying
days. Brener, a former Boston police lieutenant who later become a
wealthy stockbroker, left no heirs. He said the money was his thanks to
the Rosens for their love and assistance.

The change of heart stunned the four nonprofits that had previously been
the stated beneficiaries of Brener's estate, spurring them to try to
have his will overturned. And this week, after a legal fight lasting
more than five years, the state Appeals Court rejected their effort,
concluding Brener had been mentally competent and his decision to leave
his money to Lois and Herbert Rosen, who are in their late 60s, should
stand.

"In the final stage they functioned as his closest family," Judge
Mitchell J. Sikora Jr. wrote of the Rosens. "They comforted him through
the bleakness of terminal illness. His gratitude would be natural."
The Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center in Boston, and Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton
said they do not yet know whether they will request further appellate
review by the Supreme Judicial Court.  The fourth plaintiff, the
Maimonides School in Brookline, a Jewish day school, did not return a
call.

Beth Israel spokeswoman Judy Glasser said the hospital joined the
lawsuit "because we felt at the time that we were acting on the
intentions of the gentleman."

Perkins president Steven M. Rothstein said the school's board had not
yet reviewed the decision. But, he added, "We felt it was clear that
[Brener] has expressed support for Perkins and the other nonprofit
organizations and that he wanted to make a lasting impact by supporting
our work."

And Rachel Rosenbaum, the president of Carroll, said she was "very
disappointed" in the decision and described Brener's changed will as
"contrary to everything he had done in his lifetime while he was alert
and healthy."

She reiterated the plaintiffs' argument that Brener's revised will was
"unnatural" because it would trigger significant estate taxes, which he
had previously said he wanted to avoid. She also said Brener visited the
school unexpectedly several years ago to make a $5,000 gift and told her
then that, "My relatives are very opposed to me giving away my money to
charity, but I made the money and I'll do what I want with it."

The Rosens, who live in Sudbury and were present when Brener died on
Dec. 8, 2001, did not return a call. But their Boston lawyer, C. Peter
R. Gossels, described them as "wonderful people, both of whom work, and
people who are modest and generous and public-spirited."  "They are
very, very nice people and this has been an enormous strain on them,"
Gossels said. "They had no idea how much money he had, and they knew
nothing about his private finances."  Gossels also noted that the case,
which began in November 2002, has cost "an enormous amount of money" for
all the parties involved.

Rosenbaum said litigation costs for Carroll were under $100,000 but
"well over that" for the other plaintiffs, because their legal bills
were calculated based on the percentage of the estate they would have
received. Maimonides, Perkins, and Beth Israel each had been designated
to receive 30 percent of Brener's estate before he changed his will, and
Carroll had been designated to receive 10 percent.

Judge Edward F. Donnelly Jr. of Middlesex Probate and Family Court,
where the lawsuit originally was filed, also ruled against the
plaintiffs, prompting them to appeal.

Brener, who lived in Newton, never married or had children. In early
2001, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and began to feel hopeless
and suicidal.

Following his diagnosis, the Rosens - with whom Brener had maintained a
close relationship for many years - began to drive him to doctor
appointments, to restaurants, to visits with his friends and former
clients, and to their home on Cape Cod. Lois Rosen had known Brener her
entire life, her husband had used him as his stockbroker since 1969, and
Brener frequently spent holidays at their home.

As his health declined, they began to monitor his care, once driving him
to the emergency room in the middle of the night when he was having
trouble swallowing.

In October 2001, about a week after Brener suffered what seemed to be a
stroke, he told an executor of his estate that he had given Maimonides
"enough" and wanted the rest of his estate to go to the Rosens "in
appreciation of all of the attention and assistance that they had given
him during his illness." At the same time, Brener added to his will a
$10,000 gift to one of his nephews and a gift to an office friend.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs presented medical opinions by two
doctors who said Brener had lacked the mental capacity to change his
will. But one of the doctors never met Brener. The other, Bernard
Kosowsky, chief of cardiology at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, had been
chairman of the Maimonides board of trustees for the previous 15 years.
Another one of Brener's executors, David Shaw, later testified that
Brener knew "what he was doing" and "didn't show any confusion" when he
made the change.

The court also noted the Rosens were not present when Brener changed his
will, and that Brener had instructed Lois Rosen to leave him alone for a
business discussion with one of his executors the day before he made the
final change."

The moral of the story is, family comes first, especially family who takes care of you in your dying days, as opposed to charities.

Mina N. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.   Ms. Sirkin practices in Los Angeles, California.  [email protected].  http//www.SirkinLaw.com.

Philathropist bequests $65M of his estate to gay rights groups

Microsoft pioneer Weiland's estate gives $65M for gay rights, HIV/AIDS groups

By: ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE - Associated Press

"SEATTLE -- The estate of Ric Weiland, a high school classmate of Microsoft Corp. founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen and one of the first five people to work at the software giant, has left $65 million to gay rights and HIV/AIDS organizations.

The bequests were announced Sunday by the Pride Foundation of Seattle, where Weiland was a board member for several years. The foundation called it the largest single bequest ever given to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender causes.

Gates and Allen hired Weiland in 1975, the year they founded Microsoft. He worked as a project leader for the Microsoft Works word processing and spreadsheet software, and was a lead programmer and developer for the company's BASIC and COBOL systems, two of the first personal computing interfaces. He left Microsoft in 1988.

Weiland donated tens of millions to various organizations -- from gay rights groups to environmental and education organizations -- before he died in 2006. He committed suicide at age 53 after a long battle with depression, and survivors include his partner, Mike Schaefer.

The $65 million is among bequests totaling about $160 million -- the bulk of Weiland's estate-- to various charities and Stanford University, his undergraduate alma mater, according to an estimate provided by the Pride Foundation.

In the latest bequest, the Pride Foundation said Weiland's estate had established a fund at the foundation that would give $46 million over the next eight years to 10 national gay rights and HIV/AIDS groups, including Lambda Legal; the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; and amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.

His estate also bequeathed $19 million directly to the Pride Foundation for scholarships and grants supporting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in the Pacific Northwest."

Weiland by sharing his wealth left a mark on the gay, lesbian and transgender communities.   His legacy will be that of a generous person who made a real difference in others' lives.

Mina N. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.  She practices in Los Angeles County, California.  [email protected].  http://www.SirkinLaw.com .

Why do some ideas go viral and others don't, Ben Bernanke?

Exactly what makes an idea go viral?  Is it that it is original? No.  Is it that it's important? No.  So what is it?  Even some real bad ideas which create panic in people, go viral.  Why?

Here is what Seth Godin wrote on this subject in one of his posts:

"For an idea to spread, it needs to be sent and received.

No one "sends" an idea unless:
a. they understand it
b. they want it to spread
c. they believe that spreading it will enhance their power (reputation, income, friendships) or their peace of mind
d. the effort necessary to send the idea is less than the benefits

No one "gets" an idea unless:
a. the first impression demands further investigation
b. they already understand the foundation ideas necessary to get the new idea
c. they trust or respect the sender enough to invest the time

This explains why online ideas spread so fast but why they're often shallow. Nietzsche is hard to understand and risky to spread, so it moves slowly among people willing to invest the time. Numa Numa, on the other hand, spread like a toxic waste spill because it was so transparent, reasonably funny and easy to share.

Notice that ideas never spread because they are important to the originator.

Notice too that a key dynamic in the spread of the idea is the capsule that contains it. If it's easy to swallow, tempting and complete, it's a lot more likely to get a good start.

But that doesn't mean that there's no role for mystery or ideas that unfold over time. In fact, the unmeasurable variable here is style. Howard Dean's ideas spread at the beginning--not because of the economic ramifications of his immigration policy, but because of the factors above. The way they were presented fit into the worldview of those that spread them.

A key element in the spread of ideas is their visual element. iPods and visual styles spread faster in the real world than ephemeral concepts. Pictures and short jokes spread faster online because the investment necessary to figure out if they're worth spreading is so tiny.

And of course, plenty of bad ideas spread. Panic, for instance, is a superbad idea at all times, but it spreads faster than most. That's because spreading an idea is rarely a thoughtful, voluntary act. Instead, it is near the core of who we are, and we often do it without thinking much about the implications."

After I read Seth's post, I had almost concluded that the most important element of making an idea viral, was to actually "send" it.   After that, if the receiver understands the idea, it has to benefit the him/her, and lastly it has to be easy for him/her to send it to others.   I had it all figured out till I talked to my local baker about the economy. 

After I talked to some local people, including my local French baker on Ventura Boulevard who was clearly upset about the economy and the cost of flour which had gone from $10 for a 50lbs bag to $27 for the same in just one year, I wondered about the conclusions I had made.  Is it that there is really less wheat available, or is it that the news of increased transportation costs and a bad economy has gone viral and set people in such a tizzy that we can't seem to think straight? 

Then I thought, if the Federal Reserve keeps dropping that short-term interest rate like there is no tomorrow, and that news is definitely one that benefits everyone, then why can't my local baker get his flour at a reasonable price yet? 

A little voice in my head said, it's because the Chairman of the Federal Reserve isn't REALY on Facebook (or is he?)!!! (Ben, you there?) 

Then another voice said, it's because most people trust their inner economist, Mr. Cost of Goods, per my local baker, and not some idea which they don't understand, like the "short-term interest rates."   If it's going to work, Ben, the Fed. better start holding short courses on the Economy on Facebook!!!

Mina N. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Specialization of the State Bar of California.  She practices in Los Angeles County, California. [email protected].  http://www.SirkinLaw.com.

This post was written in loving memory of Fred Nosrati.

"For an idea to spread, it needs to be sent and received.

No one "sends" an idea unless:
a. they understand it
b. they want it to spread
c. they believe that spreading it will enhance their power (reputation, income, friendships) or their peace of mind
d. the effort necessary to send the idea is less than the benefits

No one "gets" an idea unless:
a. the first impression demands further investigation
b. they already understand the foundation ideas necessary to get the new idea
c. they trust or respect the sender enough to invest the time

This explains why online ideas spread so fast but why they're often shallow. Nietzsche is hard to understand and risky to spread, so it moves slowly among people willing to invest the time. Numa Numa, on the other hand, spread like a toxic waste spill because it was so transparent, reasonably funny and easy to share.

Notice that ideas never spread because they are important to the originator.

Notice too that a key dynamic in the spread of the idea is the capsule that contains it. If it's easy to swallow, tempting and complete, it's a lot more likely to get a good start.

But that doesn't mean that there's no role for mystery or ideas that unfold over time. In fact, the unmeasurable variable here is style. Howard Dean's ideas spread at the beginning--not because of the economic ramifications of his immigration policy, but because of the factors above. The way they were presented fit into the worldview of those that spread them.

A key element in the spread of ideas is their visual element. iPods and visual styles spread faster in the real world than ephemeral concepts. Pictures and short jokes spread faster online because the investment necessary to figure out if they're worth spreading is so tiny.

And of course, plenty of bad ideas spread. Panic, for instance, is a superbad idea at all times, but it spreads faster than most. That's because spreading an idea is rarely a thoughtful, voluntary act. Instead, it is near the core of who we are, and we often do it without thinking much about the implications."

After I read Seth's post, I had almost concluded that the most important element of making an idea viral, was to actually "send" it.   After that, if the receiver understands the idea, it has to benefit the him/her, and lastly it has to be easy for him/her to send it to others.   I had it all figured out till I talked to my local baker about the economy. 

After I talked to some local people, including my local French baker on Ventura Boulevard who was clearly upset about the economy and the cost of flour which had gone from $10 for a 50lbs bag to $27 for the same in just one year, I wondered about the conclusions I had made.  Is it that there is really less wheat available, or is it that the news of increased transportation costs and a bad economy has gone viral and set people in such a tizzy that we can't seem to think straight? 

Then I thought, if the Federal Reserve keeps dropping that short-term interest rate like there is no tomorrow, and that news is definitely one that benefits everyone, then why can't my local baker get his flour at a reasonable price yet? 

A little voice in my head said, it's because the Chairman of the Federal Reserve isn't REALY on Facebook (or is he?)!!! (Ben, you there?) 

Then another voice said, it's because most people trust their inner economist, Mr. Cost of Goods, per my local baker, and not some idea which they don't understand, like the "short-term interest rates."   If it's going to work, Ben, the Fed. better start holding short courses on the Economy on Facebook!!!

Mina N. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Specialization of the State Bar of California.  She practices in Los Angeles County, California. [email protected].  http://www.SirkinLaw.com.

This post was written in loving memory of Fred Nosrati.

Secrets of marketing any good or service to women

Are you selling goods or services to women?  If so, here are some of secrets why women may or may not buy YOUR goods or services:

1.  Women seek security.   Whether you are marketing goods or services, you must be able to appeal to women by assuring them of the security they will feel when using your product or service.    While women may seem very complex in their decision-making, they are wired to internalize all stimuli to lead to two basic goals, security and accountability.   

If you really think about it, going back to caveman time, women were not equipped to deal with the threat of the animals outside of the cave and hence came the great desire for security.   Overtime, we women, came up with the concept of "marriage" to create a sense of security in our daily lives.   Marriage while not a good, is treated much like a service by women.   As crazy as it seems, most marriages break-up over the concept of security (financial or physical).   If a woman is unsure as to whether the man will adequately provide for her financially, the chances of the marriage surviving get exponentially smaller.    More interestingly, if a woman feels that her husband or mate is risking her (and her kids') financial or physical security by sharing those resources with other women, the relationship is doomed.         

Now, apply that concept to any kind of good or service.   Women want to know that the product they are purchasing will a) last, and b) fulfill SOME basic level of the need for security and accountability.    Regardless of whether you are selling a refrigerator or music CDs you must be able to communicate and implant the concepts of security and accountability of your product to your female audience. 

For example, if you are marketing music to women, the music has to evoke emotions which touch the sense of security and accountability for women.    This means that the message the artist communicates must evoke the feeling of security women seek to feel when they look for a mate.    Love is a resulting feeling or emotion women experience when they feel secure.  Gentlemen, don't get love mixed up with lust.   Lust is the resulting signal women give to men, when they think they guy has a potential for making them feel secure!!!  Therefore, the more emotionally charged the music, the more likely that women will buy it.   

When business manager and lawyers negotiate on behalf of musicians for example, they need to evaluate the demographics of the audience for the artist, and incorporate marketing goals in music distribution and marketing contracts, as well as the service contracts they create on behalf of the artist.

2.  Women seek accountability. You must show women that A) your good or service will be there in the long-run, and b) that you and your firm are accountable to them.   Take buying a refrigerator for example, if your audience is made-up of mostly women, you have to appeal to them to show that if the refrigerator breaks down, you will be there to fix it.   This is why one of the most successful ads was the Maytag ad showing that the Maytag man will be there to fix the product.   

In the service area, University of Michigan hospital initiated a policy of immediate disclosure  and accountability to patients.   This meant that if any hospital staff suspected medical malpractice, the policy was to immediately contact the patient and try to correct the problem.   The University discovered that this policy significantly decreased the number of medical malpractice claims as well as the potential amount of damages.   

In selecting a long-term mate, women subconsciously test their potential mate to see if he is accountable.  In a nutshell, if the male a) is late in showing up or is a no show; b) wastes family's financial or physical resources; b) does not create financial security; c) does not communicate frequently; d) can't display his ability to provide security; e) can't communicate his ability to be accountable, his services will soon depreciate in the eye of the female.

3.  How does this apply to law firms?    Law firms who want to provide services to women are no different than potential mates.    When women look to to hire law firms, they test their potential service provider to see whether or not the he/she is a) late in showing up to meetings or deadlines or is a  no show; b) preserves the family's financial or physical resources; c) communicate frequently; d) is likely to create financial security;  e) communicate his/her ability to provide security or at least the desire to provide security; f) communicate his/her ability to be accountable for issues which arise in cases and be able to provide simple solutions to those issues.

Mina N. Sirkin is a Certified Specialist attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.  She practices in Los Angeles County, California. [email protected].  http://www.SirkinLaw.com

Top ten reasons why you should hire female superstars!

My friend, Guy Kawasaki (yes, from Garage Technology Ventures) says you should hire female superstars.   But the real reason why you should hire female superstars is actually in another one of his blog posts quoted below:

"An email pitch from an entrepreneur named Sherry Couch of BizNiche brought a big smile to my face. First of all, how could I skip an email with a subject line like this one: “Everything you should know about me as an entrepreneur you could learn from my OB/GYN”? Sherry went on to write:

1. I am very good at conceiving an idea.

2. I can commit to something mind, body, and soul for at least nine months.

3. I have the ability to over come adversity, such as eating healthily while puking all day.

4. I can adapt quickly to changing and expanding situations.

5. I stay focused and motivated even with a lack of oxygen to my brain.

6. I am creative: Did you know with satin pajamas and satin sheets you can roll over in bed even with an extra sixty pounds.

7. I am patient—ever known anyone ten months pregnant?

8. I am cool under pressure: I gave birth to a ten-pound baby without a C-section or a properly functioning epidural and did not curse out my husband.

9. I am resilient: I went back to work at my company four weeks after giving birth.

10. I create meaning in the world! Even with all the trials and tribulations of becoming a parent I have chosen to do it twice so far because each new life gives hope and meaning to our world. Just like each new business.

Children are the ultimate startup. And when they leave for college, it’s their IPO. And when they get married, it’s an M & A deal. And like most startups, these milestones usually take longer and cost more than you predicted. Parental success rates, however, are much better than even the best (seed-stage) venture capitalist’s."

I know I'm going to get an email box full of emails on this one, so go ahead email away!!!!

Mina N. Sirkin is a Certified Specialist attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.   She practices in Los Angeles County, California. [email protected].  http://www.SirkinLaw.com.

Socially Adapt or Die

Changes in expected corporate and client communication require law firms to adapt their marketing strategies to new social networking marketing methods, or perish

The new era of marketing relies heavily on the web and social networking.  Additionally, the new marketing methods heavily rely on building relationships in new ways, specifically social network relationships.   This requires a significant portion of law firm resources to be put toward development of new socially effective marketing programs.   Research indicates the web medium will continue to grow.   For example, we now know that regardless of how prospective clients find us, at some point in the various stages of the buying process, 95% of those prospects use the web ot make the buying decision, even in the professional service markets.  This is a statistic that no law firm can afford to ignore.  Most importantly, future generations who natives to the web, will expect that any law firm, regardless of its size be able to adapt to the new socially adept and reliant prospects.   

If your law firm is complaining about lessened revenues in the recession, it probably has not fully explored and developed the its new social marketing tactics:

For each firm which complains about a reduction in billables, there are those firms which have embraced the opening of new markets by the use of social networking media on the web.   Just think, 10 years ago, only the large law firms were advertising on a national basis.   Now, solos and small firms are able and are advertising on a national level on the net.   If your marketing strategy has slowed, your firm must rethink and develop new marketing strategies beyond its current ones.

Here is why:

Even if the type of legal service you provide limits you to the local client, the new marketing strategy enables you to establish lawyer-to-lawyer contacts and bonds throughout the United States which ultimately get you to develop a larger local market.   

Limitations:

Social networking on the is not a substitute for a plan or strategy, this is simply a newer method of markeing with a variety of tools which need to be mastered.  This article does not prioritize, nor should it be considered formal analysis. A marketing strategist should first identify objectives, develop a plan only then choosing tools, and in that order.

The Stats:

Online ad spending was expected to reach 20 percent of the total U.S. ad spend in 2007.  That's according to an annual ad spending study for 2007 released by Outsell.

A survey of marketers found companies plan to increase their online spending 18 percent in 2007. The Internet channel is expected to reach 20 percent of total ad spend. Online will continue to chip away at print, which is expected to maintain 40 percent of ad spend.  The share held by TV, radio, and movie ad spending is expected to slip 3.5 percent this year.

Pay-per-click (PPC) ads will take a one percent hit this year due to concerns over click fraud and almost half of the advertisers surveyed (49 percent) have reduced or plan to reduce their PPC spending. 

Online sponsorships are expected to increase by 12 percent.

Total ad spending is likely to increase by 5.8 percent. That's an optimistic outlook compared to 2.6% grown estimated by TNS Media Intelligence. The TNS data excludes search and sponsored listings.

New Web Era Marketing Methods:

The Master of the Domain
Domain ownership has been the standards since the late 90s.  Nearly every company, large, small, medium, and mom and pop boutique law firm now has a web presence.  The main purpose of domain ownership is to provide the public with information about your company, it’s services, staff, products, and anything else they may need. Corporate websites must compose of several features that are listed below.

Corporate Site
Law firms continue to establish websites around their brand, building the content around marketing products, support, and corporate information. Despite the mass effort to perfect the corporate website, much of the content is irrelevant which drives prospects away from the site.

Portal Strategy:  A widely popular strategy was intended to serve up all user information on one page, and keep users on one’s domain.  A few well known portals now exist such as MyYahoo which is a form of a feedreader. Most modern marketers realize that content is now distributed.

Microsites for Segmentation:  Typically deployed around new product launches, and new services, these campaign focused sites targe specific market segments.  These often short term websites are used for calling specific attraction.   They typically have a unique URL and are tied to an integrate campaign. See Microsoft’s Origami microsite.  The problem with this strategy is that when it is over deployed, these microsites and end up with an unfocused web strategy.

Interactive Web Marketing: We tend to forget that we have 5 obvious senses (altough my kids would tell you, I have 6) and not everyone responds positively to marketing targeted to the sense of vision.   Because prospects differ in the ways they absorb the message, companies which make the website interactive, through new dynamic engagement tools are most successful.    There are varieties of technologies to use from uses of Javascript, AJAX and Flash based.  Of course, one can only go far where the limitation is that it is still a ‘user to computer’ interaction. 

Intranet:  Because the web is not just for communicating to prospects and customers, similar strategies apply to your employees.  You can get more information by joining the intranet user experience groups, or find other online resources to this specific field.

Extranet: Used for communications with partners, or customers, extranets are secured websites that companies grant access to. Features could include dashboards, updates, support information, and detailed product information.   In-house marketing is a tool which many large law firms tend to underemploy when developing a marketing strategy.   

Regionalization: In today’s global legal markets, websites are translated, reformatted and segmented by region, culture, class.  Be sure to focus on France, China, and Japan as fast emerging languages.   More locally, firms are creating sites which include spanish versions of the content to allow the spanish speaking clientelle to emotionally connect with the firm.

Search Marketing:
Many prospects use Google in the ‘hunt’ phase for a product.  I’have heard a variety of stats demonstrating success of natural vs paid results, however the ROI is usually positive. It’s likely your firm's competitor is also present on the Search results page.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Many web groups at large corporations have a document, a process, or even a dedicated resource who’s goal is to make sure web content is easily found, indexed, managed and correctly served in search results.   The main problem with SEO is that search engines constantly change their search algorithms and SEO strategies have to be constantly revised.  This can get extremely expensive.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM): Frequently, companies will hire a specialized search company to purchase keywords that will help drive contextual links in search results. These ads are contextually displayed based upon the search query.

Email Marketing: Modern email campaigns for law firms must be aware and incorporate the anti-solicitation laws.  Therefore, the most effective use of email marketing is lawyer-to-lawyer email marketing which is geared to keep your name in front of other lawyers who will over-time refer to you.

Lawyer-to-lawyer email marketing involves personal emails blasted out to individuals on a mailing list. These modern versions typically have the option to be HTML based, and have hyperlinks brining users back to the corporate site or Microsite.   I hear the conversion rate for these are 2-5%, and typically deploy a positive ROI. 

Syndicated Content and RSS: You can lump Syndication into this category as I see it as being an evolution as marketing shifts from Push to Pull.   RSS is quickly becoming a method where users can opt-in for additional content.

Brand Extension: This is not a new concept. It has simply been applied to various web properties.   A consistent brand is one which includes an identifiable logo, and a phrase which prospects have no choice, but to identify with your firm.

Web Advertising: Law firms need to be familiar with the banner, tile, or skyscraper advertising (IAB) model on websites.  This age old strategy simply suggests that if there are eyeballs your brand should ‘impress’ upon the users.  Click through rates are typically in the 1% or lower rate, sometimes success is measured by brand impressions, (visitation by traffic). These ads are static and do not change even if the content on the webpage changes.

Contextual Advertising: These targeted ads will be served up on the webpage depending on the content that’s on the page. This is a more ‘intelligent’ and therefore more relevant than Web Advertising, which may not be targeted at specific content. This form of advertising can be text, images, media or other form and are common on websites, blogs, and are now appearing on web based emails sites.

Sponsorship and /Cross branding: This is a method of promoting your law firm brand with the right audience in which the property is rewarded for integrating your brand. This will occur on content sites, shows, media properties, blogs, podcasts, and just about everything else.

Social Advertisements:  Having just appeared this year from Facebook, it uses contextual information from users who become "fans" of the brand, then ads are served to their network, in an endorsement. This has been highly controversial, and the return on investment is not yet known.

Widget Advertising: This form of advertising has appeared in sites like Facebook, Bebo, LinkedIn, and Friendster, widgets have proliferated at an amazing growth rate. Expect advertising networks to form over the next year, where a brand can purchase space on any number of widgets across different social networks and communities, groups such as: RockYou, Slide, Widgetbox, and Watercooler to start with.

In-Firm Affiliate Marketing: In firm, affiliate marketing programs compensate partners and alliances that bring referrals, leads, or sales. While it overlaps with other forms of marketing, the goal is to provide each partner, and each associate, the right content or products to the target demographic and an incentive to earn.   In firm affiliate marketing may be used to encourage associates to write e-books on specific legal tactics, and to market the e-books to other attorneys for a percentage of a the profit.

Community Marketing and Social Media Marketing:  Research has indicated that social media marketing is the fastest growing area of growth in marketing.  Typically, the awareness rate is around 25% and deployment 10-20% for most corporations.  Some of the tools listed below are not new, while some become critical in how prospects find information about products. 

Social Networking, Forums, Wikis, and the use of Collaborative models:  My firm is trying many of these strategies together.  More of these strategies are starting to merge in many modern versions.  While founded from early usenet days, forums allow for communities to form around similar ideas and collaborate.   Approximately 33% of companies deploy forums. Wikis have also been used to tie industries together as well as. Savvy marketers have realized the power of social networking sites in every flavor of focus, including image sharing sites like flickr for marketing.

Syndicated Marketing:   Article syndication is another strategy which needs regular attention.   Posting and sharing articles on other lawyer's blogs and sites can be combined with your social networking strategy.

Podcast Marketing: Many firms are reaching their community though on demand content on mobile devices, the key to this medium is certainly in the ‘pull’ strategy.

Blogging:  I estimate about 30% or less of businesses are considering blogs (web logs) as forms of business communication. The subject has been the topic of controversial discussions among lawyers in determining whether actual "legal advice" is being rendered, and whether a prospective client can be educated without creating an "attorney-client relationship."

Widget Marketing: Widgets are light weight web applications that are being embedded in websites, blogs, forums, and social sites. Flickr badges, MyBlogLog, and in ways even the Firefox community marketing campaign are companies that are engaged in this way. This isn’t anything new.  See Widgetbox as an example.

Online Video and Live Streaming:  Online Video has existed for many years on the web.  What has been notably gaining traction is video blogs, or video sharing sites of great popularity such as Google Video, or it’s recent acquisition YouTube.  This also includes live streaming where participants can webcast video in real time, often accomplished by chat features.

Instant Messaging, and Presence: Some savvy legal marketers are figuring out how to involve real time conversational media using Instant Messaging tools, presence, and status tools, such as Twitter . These tools tie to online and mobile devices. My experience with Generation Y lawyers is that they are using IM as their primary way to communicate over all other mediums.

Tagging, Collective Tools:  Tagging can be used to harvest marketing intelligence as well as help your SEO results.  Properly tagging content as well as researching how tags are used will help communities find your content.

Voting Features: Popularized with the website Digg, members submit news stories and they are voted up by the community. More representative than democratic, there’s criticism that only a few hundred users can control the content that makes it to the front page.

MicroMedia: Microblogging tools allow users to share bite-sized information with their social network or from mobile phones.   With the launch of Twitter spring 2007, it started to gain traction, as well as Pownce and Jaiku.   Expect this form to be a major form of communication for lawyers in 2008, as it starts to gain hold.  The downside of sites like Twitter are that more of your privacy will be eroded as your secretary, your spouse, your significant others, business affiliates, and clients can follow you around on Twitter.

Virtual Worlds: Tied to social networks, the virtual world emulations have gone from experimental to a haven for some immersive communities.   Many law firms are now interacting with clients and prospects in the virtual worlds.   The virtual law offices which use these virtual worlds tend to offer services such as patents, copyrights, and immigration where the market is more national than local.

Second Life is being tried by large companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Sun, Sears and a variety of retailers, although there are many other virtual worlds such as ViOS, ActiveWorlds, Entropia Universe, Utherverse (Redlight Center & more)

Online Games:  Gaming networks have started to create mini-flash games such as mini-clips, Yahoo Games, and other networks. Supplemented with advertising or sponsored branding, these can be embedded and spread to other websites.

Related Mediums:  The web will be a platform and will extend to other mediums as well as create new ones.

Internet TV (IPTV)
While still emerging, the web will marry the TV and content, communication will evolve to a new form of media we’have not not yet seen yet. I doubt it will be as simple as ‘TV content online’ or ‘Reading websites in the living room’. Something new will appear, and it will impact your web team.   In my opinion, YouTube will likely replace TV in most households at some point, but this will take a while to occur.

Mobile Content:   Law firm sites are already being viewed on mobile devices, either full browsers, or fast load browsers.  Many executives, decision makers, road warriors and techies are accessing the web using mobile devices, so a strategy to deliver correctly to this medium is necessary.

To Watch:  Here are some following emerging forms of advertising and marketing to watch this coming year:

Portability of the Social Graph
Social network members have to add new contacts, and inaccuracy between various social networks is fairly common.  Most of the social sites will soon have members interacting with each other as the social graph extends to static websites.

Vendor Relationship Management:  As a new concept, you can expect a systems to emerge which rely on the socially communicated intents of prospects or buyers to emerge, which will anonymously signal to vendors to bid for the needs of customers.

Mina N. Sirkin is a Certified Specialist Attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.  She practices law in Los Angeles County, California.  [email protected].  http://www.SirkinLaw.com.

Social networking is moving you closer to a culture of collaboration

As lawyers increase their presence in the social networks, more opportunities present themselves which were not so apparent before the social networking revolution.   My personal experiment of 4 weeks has resulted in 80 more friends, among which are lawyers, ebook writers, pod-cast producers, and advertising gurus who have all offered their collaborative services for my blog effort.    Before diving into the social networks, I didn't  known about most of the different avenues of social networking on the Internet which I have learned over the last 4 weeks, nor would I have been able to develop friends who share the same hobbies, and interests in a completely collaborative and non-competitive setting.   

As a nation, we are transitioning into a "knowledge economy," which is the economy where knowledge is power, and it is even more powerful when shared.   Ask yourself, "how can I share my knowledge with lawyers across the United States?"  When you answer that question, you will experience the power of the "knowledge economy" and will be able to create a collaborative product or service that can bring you referrals from other lawyers.

Mina N. Sirkin is a California Certified Specialist Attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California, practicing in Los Angeles County, California.   [email protected].   http://www.SirkinLaw.com.

Social Marketing 101 for Lawyers

By: Mina N. Sirkin, Esq.

What on earth is Social Marketing?

Social Marketing is simply the act of marketing by digital connections to others on the Internet who are themselves connected to people with whom you want to associate.

How is social marketing different that advertising?

Unlike advertising which produces immediate results, social marketing does not produce immediate results.  It is geared to produce long-term bonds, which if cultivated properly, will result in new clients, but which results may not be immediate.

How do you participate in social marketing?

1.  Join some social networking sites.

2.  Link to your friends and business associates.

3.  Start a relationship with the those who can influence ("Influencers") lots of people on social networking sites, blogs and social tag sites.  Exchange ideas, documents, videos, web links with your "Influencers."

4.  Cultivate the relationships which you built by a stream of regular contact by using either a CRM product, or sites such as ConstantContact.com. 

5.  Meet, greet and email your Influencers and social networking contacts whenever you can. 

What are the better known social networking sites?

a.   LinkedIn.com

b.   Facebook.com

c.   MySpace.com

What are social tagging sites?

Social tagging sites are the social sites where you can share "found content" or your "favorites" with others who share the same interest.   Some examples of Social tagging sites are:  Technorati.com, Del.icio.us, and Digg.com.   There are many others if you wish to explore this.

What are social document sites?

There are many to sample.  I have recently joined is Scribd.com.   This type of site allows you to make new friends by sharing documents with other like-minded people.

What are social video sites?

One great example is YouTube.com.   You can make new friends on YouTube who share your interests.  For example, if you are targeting an audience in their 50s, you can search for music or topics of interest particular to that age group.   Additionally, you can post your practice videos or introduction videos on YouTube and link them to your site.

How to use blogs in social marketing?

Write articles for blogs and post comments on other relevant blogs.  Send links of your articles, blogs and blog comments to your social network.

This article is part one of five articles on this subject.

Mina N. Sirkin, is a Certified Specialist Attorney in the areas of Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.   She practices in Los Angeles County, California. Email: [email protected]