The Rainmaker Blog : Law Firm Marketing and Business Development : The Rainmaker Institute : Stephen Fairley : Professional Legal Marketing

Of the major social media networks, the one that seems to confound attorneys the most is Twitter. Perhaps it’s because there’s a limit (140 characters) on what you can write that frustrates lawyers, or all those #hashtags and @ symbols that confuse. 

What you need to keep in mind about Twitter is that it’s all about getting followers. You want to push out ideas and insights that people will want to follow, which is establishing trust, which is bringing you leads.

I recently blogged about How to Boost  Your Law Firm Marketing SEO with Twitter.  This HubSpot infographic tells you exactly how to structure your tweets to Get More Clicks on Twitter:

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FREE REPORT: 8 Reasons Small Firms 7 Solos Should Publish an E-newsletter PLUS 3 Steps to Get Started

In less than a few hours a month, you can produce an effective electronic newsletter, also known as an “E-newsletter.”

An E-newsletter is a customized electronic newsletter that is commonly used in business, but rarely in the field of law. If you are truly interested in the long-term success and sustainability of your practice, you need to learn how to leverage technology and the Internet to build it.

Here’s what you’ll discover when you read this report:

• The cost benefits of an e-newsletter
• How to incorporate your e-newsletter with your social networking
• How an e-newsletter supports your marketing efforts
• How to get started right away with your e-newsletter
• And much, much more!

To get your free report now, click here.

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Social media is all about sharing, so when I come across a thought-provoking post on another of the many social media blogs I frequent, I like to share it.

Today’s shared post is not only entertaining writing, it also imparts some valuable information that attorneys who are considering outsourcing their social media efforts should know.

These are the 10 Questions to Evaluate a Social Media Expert; you can read the full post with the answers to these questions here.

1. Do you have a blog?
2. When did you start in social media?
3. What is social media?
4. What is a social media campaign?
5. How do you monitor social media for clients?
6. How to you measure ROI?
7. How do you build an audience?
8. Do you offer a guarantee?
9. How did you learn social media?
10. How does social media impact SEO?

A growing number of attorneys are outsourcing their blogging efforts and social media campaigns to organizations like ours (full disclosure: yes, we have a program for attorneys to manage their blog and social media). When you outsource, you can focus on end results, not the process and hopefully you will be working with professionals who do this for a living. It’s not just another item on their to-do list, it is the very service you are paying them to provide for your firm.

When you interview an outsourced legal marketing company, be sure they meet these 5 criteria:

• They can point to other attorneys they work with;
• They have a written blueprint for how they intend to generate leads for your law firm;
• They clearly integrate blogs and social media and see one as an extension of the other;
• They charge a flat fee that’s reasonable based on results;
• They have clearly identified strategies to track and measure actual results from your blog and social media.

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Get All the Law Firm Marketing Strategies You Need to Create A 7-figure Law Practice with Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2!

Newly released! Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 2 includes:

8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals


Discover the proven step-by-step system used to double your referrals from current and former clients and how to build a network of strategic referral partners. Top attorneys have used this exact system to double their referrals in 6 months or less!

7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm


Watch and learn as I walk you through the specific strategies top lawyers are using to increase their revenues in this tough economy-and it doesn’t include reducing their fees!

6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media


Social media has emerged as the fastest way to build a massive platform of prospects! I pull back the curtain and let you in on little known secrets of how attorneys are generating dozens of leads every month from social media.

5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs 


My interview with nationally recognized personal injury attorney John Bisnar on how his law firm uses search engine optimization and internet marketing to drive tens of thousands of unique visitors every month to his 30 websites and 10 blogs. Discover proven techniques for converting website visitors into paying clients.

Data DVD: 
Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you experience these information-packed DVDs!

Click here now to order!

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A new study by Hubspot of more than 5,000 B2B and B2C companies shows that LinkedIn far outpaces Facebook and Twitter as a lead generation engine, serving up almost three times as many leads as the other two networks:

Since LinkedIn is the leading business social media network, it stands to reason that B2B marketers would find more gold for their social media marketing efforts. But the Hubspot researchers also say that B2C firms benefit because there is less “personal” clutter on LinkedIn and people who visit are more likely to be in a business frame of mind.

So how do you leverage LinkedIn to generate leads for your law practice?

1.  Build out your profile.  Take your purpose and craft your profile to reflect that purpose.  The key is to compel the people you know and the people who are looking for someone like you to reach out and connect.

2.  Connect with the people you know.  Use LinkedIn’s built-in tool to import your connections.

3.  Get testimonials.  Take advantage of LinkedIn’s built-in Recommendations feature to give and receive testimonials.  Third party endorsements carry much more weight than your marketing message alone.

4.  Include CTAs within your content.  Strategically place some calls-to-action (CTAs) in your updates but don’t go overboard – you don’t want to look like you are just there to sell something. Relevant CTAs could include a free whitepaper or report you’ve just uploaded to your website, or a relevant post you’ve just made on your blog.

5.  Build your network out strategically.  Each connection you make with someone you know grows your overall reach exponentially. Start or join Groups inside LinkedIn where you can connect with thought leaders, experts, prospective clients and prospective referral sources.

6. Leverage your networks.  LinkedIn is a social network and a search engine.  Connected individuals can see and search for the people in each other’s networks.  You can use those connections for business development and for finding your ideal social target market.

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Free CD: Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices

Get your free CD on Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices by #1 Best-Selling Author And Nationally Recognized Law Firm Marketing Expert Stephen Fairley, and listen as he reveals A Proven System To Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice! Discover:

• How 1 piece of simple technology in your practice will drastically increase your communication with prospects, clients and referral sources – resulting in a major revenue boost
• 5 ways to market and position yourself as a recognized expert
• How 2 Attorneys promoted their law firms to over 100,000 people for less than $100 in 2 hours
• The 1 item you must absolutely have to create a Million Dollar Law Practice (hint: Not having this will almost guarantee your failure!)
• 6 BIGGEST secrets to generating more and better referrals
• How to create a proven network of 30 new Strategic Referral Partners in the next 90 days

To obtain your free CD, click here now.

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Second day here in Las Vegas at our January Rainmaker Retreat and I grow heartened at each successive session at how the interest in social media marketing for attorneys is growing. 

One of the biggest stumbling blocks that busy lawyers have is learning about the individual social media networks and what each has to offer then in terms of generating leads for their practices. 

The clever folks at Flowtown released a Small Business Social Media Cheat Sheet this past week, and although it doesn’t include LinkedIn (hopefully it will be updated to include it; this, to me, is a BIG exclusion), it does provide social media newbies with some great guidelines and attributes of the most prevalent social media networks:

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FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal

One of the secret tools of Internet marketing for attorneys is the power of having a targeted blog. In a new report on the influence of blogs, eMarketer.com found that in 2010, 51% of Internet users in the U.S. (that’s over 91 million people) read blogs, and they project that usage will go to 60% (150 million) in the next four years!

Still think blogs are a fad?

Here’s what you’ll discover when you read this report:

• Why you must have a blog in order to stay relevant
• 3 keys to successful blogging
• 7 Guidelines for achieving ROI
• Your 3 choices for managing your blog and social media efforts
• And much more!

Click here to order your free report now!

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Yes, YouTube is so ubiquitous its name is now a verb. And important enough that a senior YouTube executive was the keynote speaker this month at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where he predicted that video would soon account for 90 percent of all the traffic on the Internet.

According to Nielsen, in November 2011 there were 167 million unique U.S. video viewers who spent more than five hours during the month watching online video. YouTube had the lion’s share of this audience, with 131 million unique viewers. 

But YouTube is so much more than just a video channel. It is now the second largest search engine on the Internet, just behind Google. Another big reason why attorneys who are nowhere to be found on YouTube are missing great opportunities for branding as well as for SEO.

Here are some tips on how to get started marketing yourself and your law firm on YouTube:

Create a branded channel. Name your channel in a way that explains what you do, not with the name of your firm – for example, if you are a family law attorney in Phoenix, you may want to call it something like Phoenix Divorce Legal Network. 

Tag your video content with keywords. Tagging and titling your video with the keywords your target market uses to search for the information you are providing is key. YouTube has a keyword system called Tags that is a useful tool for helping you do this.

Use annotations. YouTube offers several different ways for you to annotate your videos: Speech Bubbles are graphic pop-ups you can use to highlight what someone is saying during the video, Notes are boxes that you can locate anywhere on your video where you can embed a link to your website or blog, and Spotlights are transparent boxes with text used to highlight specific areas of a video that appear when a user rolls their mouse over them.

Use Promoted Videos – this is a paid search option similar to Google Adwords, allowing you to create ads for your videos to promote them across the network.

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Get All the Law Firm Marketing Strategies You Need to Create A 7-figure Law Practice with Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2!

Newly released! Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 2 includes:

8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals


Discover the proven step-by-step system used to double your referrals from current and former clients and how to build a network of strategic referral partners. Top attorneys have used this exact system to double their referrals in 6 months or less!

7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm


Watch and learn as I walk you through the specific strategies top lawyers are using to increase their revenues in this tough economy-and it doesn’t include reducing their fees!

6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media


Social media has emerged as the fastest way to build a massive platform of prospects! I pull back the curtain and let you in on little known secrets of how attorneys are generating dozens of leads every month from social media.

5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs 


My interview with nationally recognized personal injury attorney John Bisnar on how his law firm uses search engine optimization and internet marketing to drive tens of thousands of unique visitors every month to his 30 websites and 10 blogs. Discover proven techniques for converting website visitors into paying clients.

Data DVD: 
Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you experience these information-packed DVDs!

Click here now to order!

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I understand that, when confronted with something someone tells you that you really should be doing, your first reaction is, “Why? What’s in it for me?” 

And so it is with social media. Most attorneys I talk with want to know what’s beyond the hubbub, and if social media marketing will deliver true value for the investment in time and effort that it takes.

The short answer is, most certainly.

But to cut to specifics, here is what social media will – and won’t – do for your legal practice:

Social media will help you build trust, but it will not make a “bad” reputation better. Social media is a meritocracy – if you’re good, people will know it. Conversely, a bad experience will also get talked about. Building trust is crucial for attorneys, and social media helps you build trust by providing a robust platform for sharing your particular insights and knowledge. Once people trust that, they will use you and recommend you to others.

Social media will get you leads, but it will not turn them into paying clients. People who follow you on Twitter, are a fan of you on Facebook or interact with you in any way on a social network have indicated an interest in what you have to say. These are leads. To capitalize on them and turn them into paying clients, however, requires effort on your part in following up.

Social media will give you visibility, but it will not replace a good client experience. Social media is a 365/24/7 world, allowing you to engage with prospects at any time, and they with you. You must be vigilant about responding to posts and questions the same way you would in responding to a prospect who calls or emails you. Every point of contact is an opportunity to make a great impression.

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Free Report: 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys From Building A Referral-Based Practice

Referrals are the lifeblood of many law practices, and building a good referral program takes a proven process.  Stephen Fairly unveils the 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys from Building a Referral-Based Practice in his new free report.  Read and discover:

• How to determine the best source for your referrals
• How to explain your ideal target market to a referral source
• How to get referrals from other attorneys
• Whether online directories are a good referral source
• How to network effectively
• And much, much more!

Click here to get your free report today.

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If you build a legal marketing blog, will the readers come? That is a common question many neophyte law firm marketing bloggers must address – not just by posting and hoping, but taking specific actions to attract a following.

Here are some tips on building an audience for your law firm marketing blog:

Pick the low-hanging fruit. Send an email to all your current clients, contacts, family and friends letting them know about your blog. Make it easy for readers to share with friends by adding a Share button feature to your blog. Include your blog address in your email signature as a subtle promotion.

Create good quality content. The best way to grow readership is by creating high quality content that your readers value and will pass along to others. Make your headlines informational and relevant to your subject, instead of serving up sensational headlines that try to “trick” readers into following you.

Write for a target audience. Pick your target and stick to it. Just as we encourage you to niche your practice to attract more quality prospects, you should be applying this same reasoning to your blog audience.

Invite guests. Guest bloggers can provide a new unique voice, keeping your blog fresh, and can also direct their followers to your blog, thus providing you with a new source of readership. Just be sure you choose guest bloggers whose message is relevant to your core audience.

Post consistently. Publishing your blog on a regular schedule helps build loyalty and makes it easier for your audience to integrate you into their daily readership routines.

Be relevant. Blogging about topics that are top-of-mind – a celebrity divorce, a high profile criminal case, a controversial court decision – helps you connect with readers and encourages them to pass your blog along, which in turn increases your reach. 

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Want to Learn More Internet Marketing Techniques for Attorneys? Attend a Rainmaker Retreat!

If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then come to one of our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:

February 10-11, 2012 – Orlando, FL

March 30-31, 2012 -- San Diego, CA

April 27-28, 2012 -- Chicago, IL

If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 8,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then register now for one of our one-hour complimentary teleseminars:

Thursday, February 2

12pm PT | 1pm MT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET

Wednesday, February 8

11am PT | 12pm MT | 1pm CT | 2pm ET

Thursday, February 16

11am PT | 12pm MT | 1pm CT | 2pm ET

Wednesday, February 22

1pm PT | 2pm MT | 3pm CT | 4pm ET

Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!

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Blogs are one of the best ways to get to the top of Google for targeted search results. Google loves fresh content and when done right, a blog is the best way to push fresh content into the search engines.

In addition, social media research indicates companies with blogs generate 67% more leads than companies that do not have a blog!

There is no denying the value of blogging when it comes to law firm marketing.

When used properly, it becomes a clear, consistent voice for your practice. It entices prospects, referral sources, colleagues, clients and thought leaders to engage you in dialogue.

It keeps you top of mind. It builds visibility among your target clients. Ultimately, it earns you more of the kind of client you most desire.

Blogs hold a unique position in the online media landscape because they have become an accepted source of information. Here are some tips on how to successfully grow your blog:

Engage with other online communities. Become known on other relevant blogs by contributing valuable content to pick up audiences for your own blog.

Write about what you know. If you are passionate about your law practice, share it.

Provide engaging content. Be the spark that starts smart conversations online.

Answer questions. Solicit feedback and keep the conversation going.

Offer real value. Dive deep into your subject matter to keep readers wanting more.

Create content to match needs. Speak to your target market in your blog about the legal issues that concern them.

Make readers feel good. If someone posts a thoughtful comment, respond to it with appreciation. If you disagree, do so gracefully.

Give more than you get. Offer readers something of value like a free e-book or newsletter subscription. Post on a regular schedule so your readers are always getting something new from you.

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FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal

One of the secret tools of Internet marketing for attorneys is the power of having a targeted blog. In a new report on the influence of blogs, eMarketer.com found that in 2010, 51% of Internet users in the U.S. (that’s over 91 million people) read blogs, and they project that usage will go to 60% (150 million) in the next four years!

Still think blogs are a fad?

Here’s what you’ll discover when you read this report:

• Why you must have a blog in order to stay relevant
• 3 keys to successful blogging
• 7 Guidelines for achieving ROI
• Your 3 choices for managing your blog and social media efforts
• And much more!

Click here to order your free report now!

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The results of a survey by Burson-Marsteller, commissioned by LexisNexis, finds that social media adoption – at least by what is classified as “leading law firms” around the world – is still lagging behind many professions.

Here’s an infographic snapshot of the results:

Perhaps what is most surprising is the low usage of two of the most powerful social media tools for attorneys: blogging and online videos. These tools are terrific for attorneys to help establish credibility and authority, to speak directly with prospects and to get your voice out there. So why are they lagging behind LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook?

My guess is, the amount of effort it takes to produce blogs and videos.   Which is too bad, because this kind of content is what Google and other search engines reward the most. 

I recently posted a blog giving 26 reasons why social media should be a part of law firm marketing programs. If you didn’t read it here, perhaps you picked it up in the latest LexisNexis Best Practices in Lawyer Blogs newsletter...they graciously included my post in their roundup.

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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book

In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors. 

Get your complimentary copy online here.

Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice. 

We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.  

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Mark Herrman, who is VP and Chief Counsel-Litigation at Aon and writes the Inside Straight blog at AbovetheLaw.com, wrote a tremendously insightful post yesterday about building a law practice from scratch. 

I recommend you read the entire piece here.

Herrman’s post resonates as a candid glimpse into the reality of what it takes to build a solid, profitable practice – namely, lots of hard work and plenty of persistence! For Herrman, who built an eight-figure pharmaceutical product liability practice from nothing at his former law firm, there are no magic bullets for picking off the big clients he was finally able to attract...just years of nose-to-the-grindstone effort in marketing and business development.

Herrman boils success down to two actions: get famous and make contacts. Getting famous means establishing your authority in a niche practice area, so you can carve out a true competitive advantage and really focus. 

Hermann “got famous” by authoring articles, co-authoring books, giving talks, meeting people in his field of practice and blogging. One great piece of advice for article marketing: “Don’t do it alone. Contact in-house lawyers, and explain that you’d like to co-author articles with them. That gives you a chance to impress an in-house person with the quality of your mind and written work, and it lets the two of you work together. That’s a good way to convince a potential client that you’re competent.”

In fact, the client that launched Herrman’s pharmaceutical product liability practice came as a direct result of his business development efforts – his firm was invited to participate in an RFP from someone he had co-authored articles with and spoken with on panels. 

But that first client came only after seven years of work by Herrman to “get famous and make contacts”! My takeaway from Herrman’s career case study:

• Marketing and business development are hard work, not magic.
• Persistence pays off.
• It’s the niches that lead to riches – go deep, not broad.
• Article marketing works (this free report gives more details on how to do it).
• Blogging works, but is a long-term investment (Herrman started in 2006), not a get-rich-quick scheme! You must do it consistently. If you’re not ready to do that, then give us a call, because we can help.

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Free CD: Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices

Get your free CD on Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices by #1 Best-Selling Author And Nationally Recognized Law Firm Marketing Expert Stephen Fairley, and listen as he reveals A Proven System To Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice! Discover:

• How 1 piece of simple technology in your practice will drastically increase your communication with prospects, clients and referral sources – resulting in a major revenue boost
• 5 ways to market and position yourself as a recognized expert
• How 2 Attorneys promoted their law firms to over 100,000 people for less than $100 in 2 hours
• The 1 item you must absolutely have to create a Million Dollar Law Practice (hint: Not having this will almost guarantee your failure!)
• 6 BIGGEST secrets to generating more and better referrals
• How to create a proven network of 30 new Strategic Referral Partners in the next 90 days

To obtain your free CD, click here now.

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The world recently celebrated (depending on how you look at it) the arrival of the 7 billionth person on the planet. With Facebook now at 800 million users worldwide and growing, it won’t be long before one-seventh of the world’s population is on this robust social media platform.

Here’s a deeper look at the numbers:

Want to Learn About Social Media Marketing for Attorneys? Attend a Rainmaker Retreat!

If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then come to one of our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:

• November 11-12, 2011 – Chicago, IL  ***4.25 Hours of General MCLE credits***
• December 2-3, 2011 – Los Angeles, CA
• February 10-11, 2012 – Orlando, FL

If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 8,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then click here to receive a free DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat.

Yes, we know you are skeptical.   So instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your business, you can listen to your peers describe their experiences in their own words.
 
Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.

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Small businesses are rapidly learning how social media can enhance the bottom line when it comes to retaining and attracting new customers. It is currently estimated that 75 percent of small businesses now participate in social media – primarily for lead generation and client retention.

One of the most revealing statistics is that a majority of consumers who follow a brand on social media are more likely to buy the brands they follow – 64 percent of Twitter users and 51 percent of Facebook users. Here’s an interesting infographic that shows how small business is using social media:

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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money

Feel like you don’t have time for marketing?  Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.

Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan. 

After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.

There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. 

Click here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!

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If you dig down a little deeper into the most recent Social Media Report released by Nielsen & Co., you will discover some interesting information about the role social media plays for consumers as a source for product and service information.

According to Nielsen, more than 60 percent of social media consumers use these sites to gather information on a product or service, with ratings and reviews from others ranking as the two top sources they trust:

Nielsen research shows that three out of five active social media users create ratings and reviews of products and services, with women being more likely than men to do so (81 percent of females vs. 72 percent of males).

Consumers are increasingly using social media platforms to express their satisfaction – or dissatisfaction – with a product or service. A majority – 61 percent – said they do this to provide companies they like with recognition for a job well done; 58 percent of users post negative reviews to protect others if the user has had a bad experience with the particular product or service.

As I have noted previously, social networks are being used more and more as personal search engines mainly because Google has become too generic and consumers often don't trust what they find there.  

This trend is especially true in the under-30 age group. In fact, many social media experts are starting to point to Facebook as the new Google! Tens of thousands of searches are conducted every day on Facebook for resources and reviews of products, services, and service providers.  

This long-time phenomenon of asking your friends and colleagues for a referral has simply gone viral and online. Social networks are quickly multiplying the number of connections a person can ask when seeking a referral to a trusted advisor.  

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FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal

One of the secret tools of Internet marketing for attorneys is the power of having a targeted blog. In a new report on the influence of blogs, eMarketer.com found that in 2010, 51% of Internet users in the U.S. (that’s over 91 million people) read blogs, and they project that usage will go to 60% (150 million) in the next four years!

Still think blogs are a fad?

Here’s what you’ll discover when you read this report:

• Why you must have a blog in order to stay relevant
• 3 keys to successful blogging
• 7 Guidelines for achieving ROI
• Your 3 choices for managing your blog and social media efforts
• And much more!

Click here to order your free report now!

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Lawyers looking to increase their number of referrals and size of their revenues should consider attending an upcoming Rainmaker Retreat this month. We have two in October – this weekend, Oct. 7-8 in San Francisco and Oct. 21-22 in Livingston, NJ.

These extremely popular 2-day law firm marketing boot camps are tailored for small and solo law firms and teach techniques for building your business and taking it to the level you desired when you started your practice. The Rainmaker Retreat teaches you our proven Rainmaker System that has helped more than 7,000 attorneys from hundreds of law firms across the country discover how to generate more referrals and find new clients fast.

The Rainmaker Retreat is a working retreat that will help you:

• Create a written 90-day Marketing Action Plan (MAP) for your law firm
• Discover your firm’s Unique Competitive Advantage (UCA)
• Identify a profile of your Ideal Target Market (ITM)
• Have written strategies for improving your Internet presence and search engine optimization
• Develop your own plan for leveraging the power of blogging and social media following the Rainmaker Social Media Blueprint
• Create a letter of introduction to potential Strategic Referral Partners (SRPs)

Some of the topics covered in each Rainmaker Retreat include:

• Achieving Expert Status as an Attorney
• Building a Strategic Referral Network
• Creating Credibility in Your Practice Area
• Secrets of Highly Successful Attorneys
• Social Media for Small Law Firms
• Leveraging Technology: Beating the Big Firms on the Internet
• Generating More Clients Using the Power of Speaking
• Advanced Technology Tactics for Small Law Firms and Solo Practitioners

If you are unsure about attending a Rainmaker Retreat, I encourage you to join our FREE Preview Call on:

Thursday, October 13 -- 12pm PT | 1pm MT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET 

Wednesday, October 19 -- 11am PT | 12pm MT | 1pm CT | 2pm ET  

These free, one-hour calls will give you a taste of what you will learn during a Rainmaker Retreat. Click here to register for a Preview Call.

You can also request a free Rainmaker Retreat Preview DVD, which will give you a look into the Rainmaker Retreats and an opportunity to hear from the participants. Click here to order your free Preview DVD now.

Each Rainmaker Retreat runs from 8:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. on Friday and 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.  Early-bird registration for the Rainmaker Retreat is still available for a limited time. A special VIP registration is also available for attorneys looking for more personalized attention.

Additional Rainmaker Retreats are scheduled for:

November 11-12, 2011 – Chicago, IL

December 2-3, 2011 – Los Angeles, CA

Registration information is available by visiting the Rainmaker Retreat website, www.RainmakerRetreat.com or by calling 888-588-5891.

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In their recently published book titled Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier (ABA, 2010), authors Carolyn Elefant and Nicole Black found only 12% of law firms are using social networks to actively promote their law firms, while 83% of non-legal, consumer focused companies and 77% of business to business companies are actively using social media to generate leads and market their services and products.  

There is definitely an opportunity here for law firms who enter the fray early. As one of my clients says, this is like being one of the first attorneys to put up a website on the Internet back in the 1990's.  As you look around, there's relatively little competition from other law firms, but it's a target rich environment!  

For most practice areas there are more than enough prospects for it to make sense for your firm to take another look at how to use social media.

Social media is the fastest way to build your "platform" or sphere of influence.  Your platform is defined as how many people know:

• Who you are
• Who you help 
• Why you are different

If you only have 20 people who know enough about you to send you the right referrals, then you are severely limited in how much you will be able to grow your practice. The scary part is that most attorneys rely on less than half that number to generate most of their referrals.   

Social media allows you to rapidly grow your sphere of influence.

 I was speaking with a client recently who is the Managing Partner at a small, full service law firm with several attorneys. They practice primarily in the areas of personal injury, family law, estate planning, and more recently they started up a bankruptcy practice. Several months ago they hired The Rainmaker Institute to build and run their social media campaign on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Avvo.com and JDSupra.com.

Before we started this program they only had a dozen or so active referral sources. By building their platform on social media, we have been able to connect them with well over 20,000 prospects and potential referral sources on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter in their local area.   

Just a few months into starting this program, their referrals had doubled and they had received 67 leads for their brand new bankruptcy practice!  While I'm not suggesting all of these leads came from social media, building their platform on those networks has created a much deeper pond to pull prospects from...and most attorneys I know would love to launch a new practice and have 67 leads the first month!

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Looking for more proven tactics from The Rainmaker Institute?

Then subscribe to our FREE monthly e-newsletter. One click of your mouse will take you to our site where you can see the current issue and subscribe to our complimentary monthly e-newsletter that will be delivered to your inbox.  Each issue is chock-full of legal marketing information you can put to use right away. I think you will find the information in every newsletter something you will want to share with your staff to maximize the effectiveness of your legal marketing plan.

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When I talk to attorneys about the Rainmaker Retreat, our two-day law firm marketing boot camp, I always find a few who are not really sure what we teach will apply directly to their practice.

The objections I hear range from “my area is really specialized” to “I’m not sure that the marketing techniques you teach would work in (fill in name of city).”

Let me tell you that, based on my experience of teaching more than 8,000 U.S. attorneys the law firm marketing strategies and tactics that really work in today’s legal services marketplace, what you will learn at a Rainmaker Retreat will translate directly into more business for your practice.

And if you don’t believe me, perhaps you can take it from two of our past attendees who practice on different sides of the country:

Bob Lesuer, Partner, Personal Injury litigation practice, Erie, PA:

Erin Tenner, Business Law attorney, Los Angeles, CA:

I invite you to attend a Rainmaker Retreat, where you will leave with a comprehensive marketing plan for your practice that will deliver new prospects and clients to your door wherever you may practice. Here are the upcoming dates:

October 7-8, 2011: San Francisco, CA

October 21-22, 2011: Livingston, NJ

November 11-12, 2011: Chicago, IL

December 2-3, 2011: Los Angeles, CA

Registration information is available by visiting the Rainmaker Retreat website, www.RainmakerRetreat.com or by calling 888-588-5891.

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FREE Rainmaker Retreat Preview DVD – Learn Before You Go!

If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 7,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then click here to receive a free DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat.

Yes, we know you are skeptical.   So instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your business, you can listen to your peers describe their experiences in their own words.
 
Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.

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Nielsen has just released its Q3 2011 Social Media Report, which looks at patterns of consumption and trends across all social media platforms in the U.S. and other major worldwide markets to more closely examine the influence of social media on consumer behavior.

Here’s an infographic of the U.S. market:

Highlights of the latest report include:

Social networks and blogs continue to dominate Americans’ time online, now accounting for nearly a quarter of total time spent on the Internet

Americans spend more time on Facebook than they do on any other website – 53 BILLION total minutes per month.

Nearly 40 percent of social media users access social media content from their mobile phone

Internet users over the age of 55 are driving the growth of social networking through the Mobile Internet

Across a sample of 10 global markets (including the U.S.), social networks and blogs are the top online destination in each country, accounting for the majority of time spent online and reaching at least 60 percent of active Internet users.

You can download and read the entire report here. If your target market is one that participates heavily in social media, then social media marketing needs to be an important focus for your law firm marketing plan.

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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book

In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors. 

Get your complimentary copy online here.

Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice. 

We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.  

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As I’ve said here many times, Google loves fresh content, and rewards you for it, too, by increasing your search and page ranking.

But sometimes the juices just aren’t flowing, you’re short on time or (add your latest excuse here) – the end result is, your blog is not getting fed fresh, relevant content and is therefore not doing the job it’s supposed to be doing for you as a primary law firm marketing tool.

Here are 5 steps to producing consistent, high quality content for your law firm marketing blog:

1. Schedule time to write. Pick a time when you are most likely to have 30 to 45 minutes of uninterrupted writing time and put it on your calendar. Maybe it’s early morning or at the end of the day, or even the lunch hour. Schedule it at least three times a week. 

2. Create a fodder file. You can use a tool like Google Reader to subscribe to RSS feeds of news organizations or other blogs, set a Google Alert for topics in your field of practice, or use a free program like Evernote to clip web pages when you come across something online that would be a good blog subject. 

I’ve even taken photos on my iPhone of articles in magazines or newspapers – the image in this post is a perfect example of a good post for a personal injury or car accident attorney.  Blogging about news from larger organizations and associations is a perfect way to tie your blog into timely news subjects.

3. Write and schedule ahead. If you have an extra hour, turn out a few new posts and schedule them in advance – WordPress, LexBlog and most blog publishing platforms allow you to do this.

4. Invite a guest. Invite someone else whose expertise your target market is interested in to blog as a guest. This could be as simple as walking down the hall and asking another partner to join in!

5. Publish an interview. Email some experts in your field a series of questions and ask them to respond, then publish that response as an interview on your blog. In return, you can provide them with links back to their website, book or blog to give them the extra exposure to a new audience.

Click here to get my free report on Advanced Internet Marketing Strategies for Attorneys: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal.

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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book

In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors. 

Get your complimentary copy online here.

Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice. 

We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.  

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According to the latest GlobalWebIndex report out this month, social media behavior is shifting from content creation to distribution, providing those who create professional, informational content with a distinct advantage in marketing to consumers via social media.

The GlobalWebIndex is derived from data collected from the largest and most detailed ongoing market research study ever conducted into online and social media. It is conducted three times a year, providing both trend data and large local samples from more than 30 global markets.

Here are some interesting nuggets from the latest report:

The earlier adopters of social media explored new ways of creating and sharing online content, however, the research across the last few reports shows that now most users focus their contributions and activities on consuming and redistributing content.

Contrary to expectations at the outset, the rise of social media has led to the evolution of a retransmission culture online whereby the content that people consume is created by professional sources but filtered and curated by social means.

Micro-blogging and social networking are the first and second fastest growing social media activities. So much of the activity on these platforms is retransmission of content, retweeting, re-posting of video clips, etc. and so little is the actual creation of content. This presents great opportunities for professional content creators to harness social channels to spread their content.  

Real-time is moving the emphasis away from creating content to transmitting other peoples content.

This graph from the latest report shows what consumers want from brands (yes, you are a brand). Note how the most popular category – the desire to improve knowledge -- grows with age:

Distributing your expert knowledge via social media platforms will become an increasingly important tool in your law firm marketing arsenal as social media usage continues to shift from content creation to distribution.

Click here to get my free report on Advanced Internet Marketing Strategies for Attorneys: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal.

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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money

Feel like you don’t have time for marketing?  Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.

Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan. 

After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.

There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm.  Click here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!

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Today’s Wall Street Journal yielded an interesting article about changes that Facebook is thinking about making to its news feed, that continuously changing scroll of information that appears on your Facebook home page from your friends, fans and brands you’ve “liked.”

Marketers have become increasingly frustrated with Facebook’s algorithms that don’t display every bit of content that is shared, so marketing messages may never be seen, even if you’ve signed on as a fan or “liked” a particular brand. 

Facebook is now exploring ways it can help marketers stand out in the News Feed, and allowing users to determine how much – or how little – they want to see in their Feed. 

Other changes Facebook is working on include expansion of the “like” button to include other gestures or expressions, so consumers can be more specific about the products or services they want to purchase or recommend.

No timeline yet on when these changes may be implemented, but if the news buzz is already building, it could be soon. 

Making Facebook a friendlier place for marketers is a definite “Like”.

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Get All the Law Firm Marketing Strategies You Need to Create A 7-figure Law Practice with Rainmaker In A Box: Volumes 1 and 2!

Want to discover Proven Marketing Strategies that Top Law Firms are using right now to generate more leads and referrals and convert them into paying clients?

Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 1 and Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2 contains highly valuable legal marketing information you absolutely need to know!

Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 1 includes:

• The 5 Immutable Secrets to Building a 7 Figure Law Practice
• Secrets of Building a Referral-based Law Practice for Busy Practitioners:
• The Top 6 Most Powerful Online Marketing Strategies for Attorneys:
• Action, Accountability and Next Steps
• Data DVD: Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. 

Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 2 includes:

• 8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals


• 7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm


• 6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media


• 5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs

• Data DVD: 
Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. 

SPECIAL:  Purchase both sets on our website and get 25% OFF!

Click here now to order!

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One of our Rainmaker Advisors, Kara Smith, brought a post on the Google+ Terms of Service flap to my attention the other day. It’s by Rory Webber, who writes the Social Media for Lawyers blog at Martindale.com and the title pretty much says it all: “Google+ - Great Tool, Scary Terms of Service”. 

Actually, the Google+ TOS is the same as the Google TOS, so if you’re using Gmail or any one of the many useful Google tools, you’ve already agreed to it. Here’s the “scary” language Webber and some others in the Internet world are buzzing about, under Google’s TOS Section 11: Content License from You:

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.

11.2 You agree that this license includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.

11.3 You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this license shall permit Google to take these actions.

11.4 You confirm and warrant to Google that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the above license.

Another post dismissing the hubbub by Tom Anderson, former president of MySpace, features a graphic by LiveJournal comic Ryan Estrada that attempts to explain the Google TOS in plain terms:

Still scary? Maybe. Maybe not. The fact is, Google+ already has 20 million users and it’s still in Beta rollout stage. While Google has stumbled a few times in launching social media tools, they may have succeeded this time out with Google+.

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Free CD: Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices

Get your free CD on Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices by #1 Best-Selling Author And Nationally Recognized Law Firm Marketing Expert Stephen Fairley, and listen as he reveals A Proven System To Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice! Discover:

• How 1 piece of simple technology in your practice will drastically increase your communication with prospects, clients and referral sources – resulting in a major revenue boost
• 5 ways to market and position yourself as a recognized expert
• How 2 Attorneys promoted their law firms to over 100,000 people for less than $100 in 2 hours
• The 1 item you must absolutely have to create a Million Dollar Law Practice (hint: Not having this will almost guarantee your failure!)
• 6 BIGGEST secrets to generating more and better referrals
• How to create a proven network of 30 new Strategic Referral Partners in the next 90 days

To obtain your free CD, click here now.

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Google is field testing its Facebook clone, Google+.  You only need to see this chart to understand why:

Actually, Google says it is not trying to replicate Facebook, but trying to improve a critical aspect of the Internet – online sharing – which they believe is “broken” and “awkward” and “rigid”.   Here’s how they’re doing it:

Circles – these are groups of people you organize by how you know them: friends, colleagues, family, etc.  The drag-and-drop feature makes it easy to plop your contacts into each circle.  What’s different about this feature is you can choose which circles you want to “share” posts with...on Facebook, your updates go to everyone.

Sparks – this is Google Reader reinvented and better organized.  You indicate your interests and each of those interests gets its own Sparks page.  Google then fills each page with relevant articles, videos and photos.

Hangouts – this is where you video chat with people who are in your circles.

Huddles – a group messaging app where you can select your group and everyone can chat with each other. 

Instant Upload – for Android only; lets you upload photos from your phone to Google+.

Google+ is by invitation only right now and you can request an invitation on its Google+ project home page.  If there’s a message that says capacity has been temporarily exceeded, you can try again another day.

Eventually, Google+ will be rolled out to everyone with a Google account.  You’ll know you have access when you see a “+You” button on your Google toolbar when you log in.

Only time – and users – will tell if this latest Google social media platform will rival Facebook, so stay tuned.

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Free CD:  Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices

Get your free CD on Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices by #1 Best-Selling Author And Nationally Recognized Law Firm Marketing Expert Stephen Fairley, and listen as he reveals A Proven System To Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice!  Discover:

• How 1 piece of simple technology in your practice will drastically increase your communication with prospects, clients and referral sources – resulting in a major revenue boost
• 5 ways to market and position yourself as a recognized expert
• How 2 Attorneys promoted their law firms to over 100,000 people for less than $100 in 2 hours
• The 1 item you must absolutely have to create a Million Dollar Law Practice (hint: Not having this will almost guarantee your failure!)
• 6 BIGGEST secrets to generating more and better referrals
• How to create a proven network of 30 new Strategic Referral Partners in the next 90 days

To obtain your free CD, click here now.

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Bing is betting we’d all like a little more help from our friends when it comes to search, so it has added even more Facebook into its search results in an effort to steer more search traffic from giant rival Google.

Microsoft, the owner of Bing and a minority owner in Facebook, thinks that making this data available in search will prove to be a large competitive advantage since Google does not have access to this data, and is unlikely to anytime soon.

To integrate your friends’ likes into your search results, you’ll need to let Bing access your Facebook account.  Then, every time you search, you’ll see which sites your friends have liked for that search term.  If you want to ask one of your friends a question, you click on their profile picture to send them a Facebook message. 

If you’re shopping on Bing and happen to be one of those people who likes input from others, you can post a photo of your choices to your Facebook wall and ask just one or all your friends what they think. 

There’s also a new Bing toolbar with a “universal Like button” that allows users to more easily “Like” a web page.  And if you’re looking for something in a particular city – say, Orlando hotels – images of your friends who live in the Orlando area will pop up, just in case you need to ask their opinion on your choices.

With social media becoming more integrated with search, it is even more important for attorneys to integrate social media into their law firm marketing programs.  The fact is, many attorneys cannot devote the time necessary to become educated about it, nor devote the time it takes to do it effectively.  This is why we developed the Rainmaker Automated Blogging and Social Media Program.  You can get new leads for your law firm through blogging and social media done for you, for one simple and affordable monthly investment.

The Rainmaker Institute will develop, maintain, manage, track and measure your blogging and social media program across multiple platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, JDSupra, Avvo, YouTube and more. 

To learn more about the Rainmaker Automated Blogging and Social Media Program, click here.

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Get All the Law Firm Marketing Strategies You Need to Create A 7-figure Law Practice with Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2!

Newly released!  Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 2 includes:

8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals
Discover the proven step-by-step system used to double your referrals from current and former clients and how to build a network of strategic referral partners. Top attorneys have used this exact system to double their referrals in 6 months or less!

7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm
Watch and learn as I walk you through the specific strategies top lawyers are using to increase their revenues in this tough economy-and it doesn’t include reducing their fees!

6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media
Social media has emerged as the fastest way to build a massive platform of prospects! I pull back the curtain and let you in on little known secrets of how attorneys are generating dozens of leads every month from social media.

5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs
Stephen Fairley's interview with nationally recognized personal injury attorney John Bisnar on how his law firm uses search engine optimization and internet marketing to drive tens of thousands of unique visitors every month to his 30 websites and 10 blogs. Discover proven techniques for converting website visitors into paying clients.

Data DVD: 
Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you experience these information-packed DVDs!

***For Blog Readers, Facebook Friends, Twitter Followers and LinkedIn Connections – we are offering you a $50 discount for Volume 2 and a $100 discount for both Volume 1 and Volume 2 because of your social media presence with The Rainmaker Institute.

Click here now to order!
 

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Out earlier this month was the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, authored by Michael Stelzner, founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com.  Stelzner surveyed over 3,300 marketers, nearly half of who were either self-employed or small business owners.  Half of the respondents marketed B2B; the other half B2C.

These findings should resonate for solo practitioners and small firms:

Marketers place high value on social media: 90% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business.  67% of self-employed and 66% of small business owners strongly agreed that social media was important to their business

Social media marketing takes a lot of time: The majority of marketers (58%) are using social media for 6 hours or more each week, and more than a third (34%) invest 11 or more hours weekly.  Unsurprisingly, those who invest more time reap greater rewards.

Video marketing on the rise: A significant 77% of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube and video marketing, making it the top area marketers will invest in for 2011.

Marketers seek to learn more about Facebook and blogging: 70% of marketers want to learn more about Facebook and 69% want to learn more about blogging.

The top benefits of social media marketing: The number-one advantage of social media marketing is generating more business exposure, as indicated by 88% of marketers. Increased traffic (72%) and improved search rankings (62%) were also major advantages.

The top social media tools: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs were the top four social media tools used by marketers, in that order.

Social media outsourcing underutilized: While only 28% of businesses are outsourcing some portion of their social media marketing, that number was a 100% increase over 2010.  Experienced marketers (3+ years experience in social media marketing) are more likely to use outsourcing than the less experienced.

I’ve always said that social media marketing can be the great equalizer for solos and small firms in competing with larger firms; this study appears to validate that belief.

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Want to Learn More Social Media Marketing Techniques for Attorneys? Attend a Rainmaker Retreat!

If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then come to one of our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:

• May 13-14, 2011 – Scottsdale, AZ
  
• August 19-20, 2011 – Las Vegas, NV

If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 7,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then register now for one of our one-hour complimentary teleseminars:

Thursday, April 28, 2011
11am PT | 12pm MT | 1pm CT | 2pm ET  

Wednesday, May 4, 2011
1pm PT | 2pm MT | 3pm CT | 4pm ET  

Thursday, May 12, 2011
12pm PT | 1pm MT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET 

Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!

 

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With over 100 million professional members, LinkedIn is a great way to stay on top of what is happening with the people in your networks, as well as a great source of professionals to grow your networks.

Chances are, many of the professional you already know are using LinkedIn.

Here’s how to use LinkedIn to build and expand your professional network:

1.  Decide why you are using LinkedIn.  Do you just want to connect with people you know? Are you building a referral network?  Do you want to drive people to your website or blog? 

2.  Build out your profile.  Take your purpose and craft your profile to reflect that purpose.  The key is to compel the people you know and the people who are looking for someone like you to reach out and connect.

3.  Connect with the people you know.  Use LinkedIn’s built-in tool to import your connections.

4.  Get testimonials.  Take advantage of LinkedIn’s built-in Recommendations feature to give and receive testimonials.  Third party endorsements carry much more weight than your marketing message alone.

5.  Learn the system inside and out.  Pay special attention to the search engine under the People tab.  This feature allows you to search your extended network for all the resources you need to be successful.  Also, learn about the Groups feature.  There are thousands of special interest groups inside LinkedIn where you can connect with thought leaders, experts, prospective clients and prospective referral sources.

6.  Build your network out strategically.  Each connection you make with someone you know grows your overall reach exponentially.

7.  Leverage your networks.  LinkedIn is a social network and a search engine.  Connected individuals can see and search for the people in each other’s networks.  You can use those connections for business development and for finding your ideal social target market.

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Can’t Make It to a Rainmaker Retreat?  Then Have One Delivered to You!

Over 7,000 attorneys from hundreds of law firms across the country have discovered how to generate more referrals and find new clients by simply applying our Rainmaker Marketing System.

Here's just a sample of what you will discover in our Rainmaker Retreat Live! 6 CD set audio program:

• Over 22 proven strategies for attracting more and better clients
• How to create powerful relationships with over 30 new Referral Sources in the next 90 days
• 7 ways to find more clients fast and how to select the best ones for you
• 2 ways to promote your firm to 100,000 people for only $100   
• 5 ways to automate your marketing using technology and the Internet
• 6 secrets top Rainmakers use to dominate their competition
• 8 steps to creating a 6-month comprehensive marketing plan for your firm
• Much, much more!

This live recording of our highly successful 2 day law firm marketing boot camp will inspire you with practical examples, motivate you with sample case studies, walk you through best marketing strategies used by top Rainmakers, and provide a guide for you to quickly implement proven tactics in the next 30 days.  You will also get the same 70-page marketing manual used at all our Rainmaker Retreats.

Click here to order your copy of Rainmaker Retreat Live!





 

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A senior analyst with the digital intelligence firm eMarketer gave a presentation recently on the Top 10 Trends in Social Media for 2011.  Here are the second five:

Trend #6:  Consumer Usage of Social Media Still Rising
More people than ever across all generations are using social networks, and usage frequency is on the rise as well.  85% of U.S. Internet users ages 45-54 are engaged in social media; 79% of the 55+ group use social media.

Trend #7:  The “Like” Button Only Starts the Conversation
“Liking” something is easy and popular – currently, Facebook serves over two billion “like” buttons every day and over two million websites have incorporated the “like” button into their sites.  But firms need to have strategies for taking consumers from “like” to love.

Trend #8:  ROI Measurements Will Get More Targeted
Traditional metrics like website traffic, fans and leads are still the most common things to measure; however, 47% of marketers still do no measuring at all.  However you choose to measure social media, it is imperative that you have a success metric in mind before you begin. Without some sort of benchmark, determining your ROI is impossible.

Trend #9: Growth of Mobile Social Network Usage
Mobile social network usage will more than double by 2015, and marketer spending around location and local search is starting to ramp up.

Trend #10:  U.S. Social Network Ad Spending Expected to Rise 55% in 2011
Social network ad spending is expected to be up 55% in 2011, and will total 11% of total U.S. online spending.  Facebook alone will control 68% of worldwide social network ad spending in 2011.

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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book

In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.

Get your complimentary copy online here.

Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.

We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too. 
 

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Sometimes I can’t believe it, but I still occasionally hear attorneys discount the use of social media for law firm marketing by saying, “My clients are not into social media.”

A recently released Pew Internet report, Generations 2010, examined how the different generations use the Internet.  Here are a couple of eye-popping charts that show the dramatic growth in the use of social media and online video:
 

If your current clients are not “into” social media (and how do you know?), then most certainly your future clients are.  The important question is, if you’re not there, how will they find you?

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A Turnkey Approach to Social Media and Blogging for Attorneys

Don’t understand social media or have time for it, but know that your law firm marketing program desperately needs to include it?

Then you need the Rainmaker Automated Blogging and Social Media Program. Get new leads in your law firm through blogging and social media--all virtually done for you for one simple and affordable monthly investment!

The Rainmaker Institute will develop, maintain, manage, track and measure your blogging and social media program across multiple platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, JDSupra, Avvo, YouTube and more. 

To learn more about the Rainmaker Automated Blogging and Social Media Program, click here.



 

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Blogs are one of the best ways to get to the top of Google for targeted search results. Google loves fresh content and when done right, a blog is the best way to push fresh content into the search engines. 

In addition, social media research indicates companies with blogs generate 67% more leads than companies that do not have a blog!

There is no denying the value of blogging when it comes to law firm marketing.

When used properly, it becomes a clear, consistent voice for your practice. It entices prospects, referral sources, colleagues, clients and thought leaders to engage you in dialogue.

It keeps you top of mind. It builds visibility among your target clients. Ultimately, it earns you more of the kind of client you most desire.

In a recent report on the influence of blogs, eMarketer found that in 2010, 51 percent of Internet users in the U.S. -- over 91 million - read blogs, and projects that usage to go to 60 percent (150 million) in four years.

The report found that blogs hold a unique position in the online media landscape because they have become an accepted source of information.

So, are all blogs successful?  No, and I will tell you why: The problem arises when you begin blogging without a clear strategy behind you.

Blogging should be a part of, but not your entire law firm marketing strategy. It is your forum to connect with the community at large and to make it clear that you are an expert in your field.  But to make it the highly effective medium you need it to be, your law firm marketing and promotion strategy should include:

• A topic list designed to engage your target audience;
• A list of social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) to promote it;
• A list and schedule for article marketing services to add visibility and to feed it to reporters and thought leaders;
• An up-to-date blog that you write articles for at least 2 to 4 times per week;
• A search engine optimization formula to increase your page rank.

When you have all these things in place, you will be well on your way to creating a blog that will enhance your overall law firm marketing efforts.

Want to get started started blogging, but need some help?

Click here to find out how you can get a jumpstart on your competition in the next 30 days.

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Are you looking for specific marketing strategies you can use in your law firm?

Then order the Rainmaker in a Box 5-DVD set!

Some of the information and strategies you will learn include:

The 5 Immutable Secrets to Building a 7 Figure Law Practice:
How to create an automated marketing system to transform your law firm from a practice into a business. Stephen has studied best practices in law firm marketing and shares with you the 5 unchanging secrets they use to build a multi-million dollar law firm.

Secrets of Building a Referral-based Law Practice for Busy Practitioners:
Every lawyer wants more referrals, yet for many the steps to get there remain an elusive secret. Listen in and watch as Stephen lays out his 8 step proven system to triple your referral sources in 90 days or less!

The Top 6 Most Powerful Online Marketing Strategies for Attorneys:
Internet marketing is one of today's fastest growing and most powerful marketing tools for lawyers. Yet much of how to generate more business and attract more clients online is still a mystery. Watch as Stephen pulls back the veil and walks you through the core concepts and key principles every attorney must understand in order to dominate their competition online and build a powerful Internet presence on a shoe string budget.

Action, Accountability and Next Steps:
Knowledge is power. The most difficult part for most attorneys is putting that knowledge into action. In this DVD you will discover an 8 step system for creating your law firm marketing plan and how to take action immediately.

This program includes a data DVD which includes the PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations.

To order this information-packed set click here.
 

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Here is an advertisement placed by Indiana attorneys Calvin Fletcher and J.A. Breckenridge in the Indianapolis Gazette, which ran in 1822:

Which goes to show that legal marketing can be done incorrectly no matter what the medium – a fact that may have been a bit lost on the author of a recent ABA Journal article with the titillating title, Seduced: For Lawyers, the Appeal of Social Media Is Obvious. It’s Also Dangerous.  

Seduced?  Dangerous?  As in, run for your lives?  Puhleeze.

The article does a thoughtful job of pointing up some of the dilemmas attorneys can face when diving into social media.  But as I’ve said before, social media should be no more consternation-causing than any other form of legal marketing.  There are rules.  You follow them.  No matter what the medium.

Or, as NYU Law School legal ethics professor Stephen Gillers said in the article, "Many of the rules are at a high-enough level that they can be applied to new technology without revision."

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Becoming a Rainmaker Seminar Comes to New Jersey on March 9

The Rainmaker Institute in coordination with the New Jersey State Bar Association and the Hunterdon County Bar Association present Becoming a Rainmaker: Practice Development Strategies for Small and Solo Law Firms on Wednesday, March 9 from 4-6 p.m. at the Historic Court House in Flemington, NJ.

More than 7,000 attorneys from law firms all over the country have experienced powerful results from attending the Becoming A Rainmaker seminar, which been sponsored by more than 24 of the largest state and local bar associations.

Join us to discover:

• The 7 Ways to Find More Clients and How to Pick the Best Ones for Your Firm
• How to Build a Network of over 30 new Referral Sources in the next 6 months   
• Change Your Website from just an Online Brochure to a Money-making Machine   
• Passive Versus Active Marketing and why you need both
• Creating Client-generating Surveys: When to Use them and How to Leverage them   
• Automating Your Marketing System
• How to Ethically Position Yourself as a Specialist in Your Area   
• How to Promote Your Firm to 150,000 people for $140
• Avoid the Most Deadly Marketing Mistakes Attorneys make
• Why Advertising Doesn't Work and what to do instead
• Where to Find and How to Create Positive Media Coverage for your firm and your clients
• The #1 Reason why Attorneys Don’t Receive More Referrals and how to overcome it
• Using Visibility Events to Attract Highly Qualified Prospects to Your Firm

Please call 888-816-8935 or click here for registration information.

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The ABA Journal recently posted a marketing article on social media asking if social media measures up to the hype.  The article – rightly, I think – says that the conundrum is that those on both sides of the argument may be right. 

Is social media overhyped?  Perhaps.  But you can’t ignore the fact that it is the way consumers are communicating these days.  And that big pool of consumers is where the vast majority of attorneys get their clients.

One comment I found spot-on was by Terrance Barkan, who has a couple of websites dedicated to research and discussion about how professionals use social media.  His comments got me thinking about my own observations on why some attorneys succeed and many more fail at social media. 

The fact is that social media is like any other marketing tool – if you don’t use it right, with forethought and follow-up, it is not going to work.  And how you do it right can be gleaned from how so many do it wrong, in what I call:

The 10 Deadly Mistakes Attorneys Make When Using Social Media

1. No clear objectives and specific goals.
2. Too short of a time frame: social media is a long-term play of building relationships it's not a get rich quick scheme.
3. No budget allocated: most social networks are free, but you either have to do it yourself or you have to pay. someone else to do it for you.
4. No responsibility or accountability.
5. No tracking of results.
6. No blueprint of what works and what doesn't so you end up reinventing the wheel by trying to do it yourself.
7. Only using 1 network: most attorneys are attracted to LinkedIn but more consumers are on Facebook. Don’t try to just use one -- you need to experiment with all of them to see where you get the best ROI.
8. Not using social media to build your database: s/he who has the biggest list wins!
9. Not taking your social media contacts “offline”.
10. Hiring a company to handle your social media that doesn't work with attorneys.

While #10 may be a bit self-serving (see below), it is important for attorneys who outsource their social media programs to ensure those executing the programs understand and abide by the rules and regulations attorneys must adhere to in their marketing.

The bottom line with social media is that – like most things in life – your return on investment is directly related to the effort expended.  Or, as most of us heard from our parents growing up: you get out of it what you put into it.

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NEW!! Introducing the Rainmaker Automated Blogging & Social Media Program

Now you can get new leads for your law firm through blogging and social media--all done for you for one simple and affordable monthly investment!

The Rainmaker Institute has helped over 7,000 attorneys from hundreds of law firms generate more and better referrals and fill their practice through cutting edge legal marketing programs.  Now, nationally recognized law firm marketing expert Stephen Fairley has designed a turnkey blogging and social media program for attorneys that includes:

Rainmaker Automated Blogging Program

• We will meet with you each month to determine targeted topics.
• We will do the research and write 5 unique blog posts every week.
• You edit and approve the posts and then we will post them on your blog.
• Every blog post is keyword optimized and specifically written to attract your target market and encourage them to pick up the phone and call you.
• We will push your blog content out to Google and to all of your social media networks.

Rainmaker Social Media Program

• We will set up and manage a professional presence for your law firm on the 6 major social media networks: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, JDSupra.com, Avvo.com and YouTube.
• We will build your online platform giving you direct access to hundreds of potential leads and referral sources. 
• We will manage your social media inboxes, track incoming leads and pass them on to your law firm.
• We will build inbound links from other websites to your weblog and social media sites.
• We will show you how to track the incoming leads.
• We will set up and manage specific tracking tools to measure all incoming leads.
• We will teach you how to effectively follow up with every lead, every prospect, and every referral source consistently, frequently and automatically.
• Don't currently have a blog? Don't worry, we can design a custom WordPress blog for you.
• Plus much, much more!

To learn more about the Rainmaker Automated Blogging & Social Media Program and to sign up, click here or call 480-553-8398.

NOTE:  Right now, we only have room for 10 new clients in this program at the low introductory price. We apologize, but we cannot take on more than 10 people at this time. If you delay, you may be placed on a waiting list. We will then notify you when we reopen the program at a later date.
 

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A survey conducted by email marketing firm Lyris has found that a majority of marketers surveyed say their marketing results were either significantly or somewhat better when they integrated email campaigns with social media.

What exactly is social media integration?  It’s promoting your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts in your email marketing.  It’s “tweeting” your email newsletter.  It’s broadcasting  your blog entries to your email list.  It’s also inviting the recipients of your email messages to share them on social media venues.  You’ve probably seen all those little social media site icons in the emails you receive – I know you see them if you’re on our list.

The study also found that Facebook was the favorite social media platform for email integration, followed by Twitter and LinkedIn.

Most of the respondents were also using social media marketing to build their opt-in email databases.  Almost one-quarter of them said that social media provided the greatest rate of opt-ins, after website registration forms and email marketing itself.

Let us know if you want some help in figuring out how to get started or how to leverage social media to build your list and generate leads for your law firm.

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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book

In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.

Get your complimentary copy online here.

Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.

We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too. 
 

Tweet

 

Enter your email to receive our complimentary monthly newsletter, the Rainmaker Report.

For Email Marketing you can trust

 

 

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A recent online marketing study by Hubspot.com of 33 different industries and associated keywords included the legal profession, utilizing the keyword “lawyer”.  Here are the findings:

How to interpret the data:

Absolute Activity means how many actions take place in a given channel for the keyword “lawyer”.
Competition is how much competition exists for the keyword “lawyer” in each channel.  A score of 50 is an average level of competition; higher numbers mean more competition and lower numbers mean less. 

To be effective, your law firm marketing plan should include a marketing strategy for each channel.  Using keywords that have lots of traffic – like using “lawyer” in your search engine marketing – is usually a losing strategy for all but the biggest firms.  Small and medium-sized firms can score a bigger win by developing a group of keywords that strike the right balance between having reasonable levels of both competition and traffic.

Learning how to create online marketing strategies is a key focus of the Rainmaker Retreat, our two-day legal marketing boot camp.  There are two more Fall sessions of this popular program:

• October 22-23, 2010    Scottsdale, AZ
• November 5-6, 2010    San Francisco, CA

Early-bird registration for the Rainmaker Retreat is still available for a limited time. A special VIP registration is also available for attorneys looking for more personalized attention. We also offer special discounts for two or more people attending from the same firm.

Registration information is available by visiting the Rainmaker Retreat website, www.RainmakerRetreat.com or by calling 888-588-5891.

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Learn Before You Go: Rainmaker Retreat Preview Call

If you are still unsure about attending a Rainmaker Retreat, I encourage you to join our FREE Preview Call on:

Wednesday, October 20, 2010
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 4-5pm Eastern

The call will give you a preview of the valuable material that is taught at our 2-day Rainmaker Retreat.

Click here to register for a Preview Call.
 

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A tip of the hat to Kevin at LexBlog’s Real Lawyers Have Blogs for bringing this new study to our attention: the Corporate Counsel New Media Engagement Survey conducted by American Lawyer Media, Greentarget and The Zeughauser Group.

This insightful survey polled a group of corporate counsel across the U.S. on their use of and reliance on social media. 

Of particular interest is how In-house counsel ranked the following activities “most important” for helping them to vet and research outside counsel for potential hire:

1. Recommendations from sources you trust: 73 percent
2. Articles and speeches the lawyer has authored: 38 percent
3. Bios on the firm’s Web site: 30 percent
4. Blogs published by lawyers: 27 percent
5. Rankings and directories: 25 percent
6. Twitter feeds from lawyers: 22 percent
7. Endorsements and connections on LinkedIn: 18 percent
8. Quotes by lawyers in relevant media outlets: 15 percent

If this all sounds strangely familiar, it’s because ALL of these activities are what we cover step-by-step at every Rainmaker Retreat!  For example, here are some of the subjects covered during our two-day law firm marketing boot camp and how they correlate to the above ranked activities:

• A Step-by-Step Approach to Create Dozens of Strategic Referral Partners in less than 6 months (#1)
• Submitting Articles Online to Increase Your Website Rank (#2)
• 4 Ways to use Speaking to Attract More Clients (#2)
• How to Change Your Website from just an Online Brochure to a Marketing Machine (#3)
• Using Blogs to Increase Your Website Rankings and Find More Clients (#4)
• Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media for Lawyers (#5, #6 and #7)
• Where to Find and How to Create Positive Media Coverage (#8)

We have three Rainmaker Retreat events on the calendar for the rest of this year:

October 8-9, 2010        New Brunswick, NJ

October 22-23, 2010    Scottsdale, AZ

November 5-6, 2010    San Francisco, CA

Don’t let another year go by without learning the strategies that will get you hired!

Click here to register or call 888-588-5891 to learn even more about our two-day law firm marketing boot camp.

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Register Now for NJSBA Becoming a Rainmaker Series Oct. 5-7

The information-packed Becoming a Rainmaker seminar is coming to New Jersey, October 5, 6 & 7, 2010 in a series of presentations sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Association, the Bergen County Bar Association, Burlington County Bar Association, and the Morris County Bar Association.

These 2-hour seminars show small and solo practice attorneys how they can take charge of their practice and begin to build the business they have always wanted.  The Becoming a Rainmaker seminar has been sponsored by 22 of the largest state and local bar associations in the country, and teaches the proven Rainmaker Marketing System, which has helped more than 7,000 attorneys find more and better clients and establish a law firm marketing system for generating more referrals.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010, 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Burlington County Bar Association

Burlington County Court House, 49 Rancocas Rd., Mount Holly, NJ

Click here to register.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Morris County Bar Association

Old Court House, Washington and Court Streets, Morristown, NJ

Click here to register.

Thursday, October 7, 2010, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Bergen County Bar Association

George W. Newman Law Building, 15 Bergen St., Hackensack, NJ

Click here to register.

Admission to each presentation is $77 for Bar Association members and $97 for nonmembers.

For more information, call 888-816-8935 or email info@therainmakerinstitute.com.
 

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Social media...is it a fad or a fundamental shift in the way we communicate and market? Every time you turn on the television, advertisers are encouraging you to “become a fan on Facebook” or “follow us on Twitter”—what does that mean and why should you do it?

We have all heard the staggering social media statistics:

• Facebook now has over 500 Million registered users!
• LinkedIn adds another 1 Million users every 12 days!
• Over 75 Million people have set up a Twitter account!
• YouTube has surpassed over 104 Million unique visitors per month!

As a law firm, should you “jump on the bandwagon” and get in before your competitors do or should you “wait and see” if social media really takes hold? If you wait, what will you miss and how will you know when to jump in? What are the risks you need to be aware of? What about the ethical rules and regulations? How do you get started? How much time, energy and money should you devote to social media? How do you measure a return on investment? What expectations should you have?

Attorneys have lots of questions about social media and in this 2-part webinar series I will give you all the answers. Get what you need to know while avoiding common pitfalls and time wasters. By the end of this series you will know if social media is right for your law firm and if so, precisely how to use it to market your law firm, build your online platform, connect with prospects, clients and potential referral sources.

2-Part Live Webinar

Part 1: Wednesday, September 15th at 3:00 pm ET
(2:00pm CT, 1:00pm MT, 12:00pm PT)
Duration: 60 minutes

Part 2: Tuesday, September 21st at 3:00 pm ET
(2:00pm CT, 1:00pm MT, 12:00pm PT)
Duration: 60 minutes

Wednesday, September 15th

In Part 1 of this fast-paced 60-minute law firm marketing webinar you will learn:

• The 7 Fundamentals of Social Media you must understand to market your law firm
• What kinds of practice areas benefit most from social media? Litigation or Transactional? Business to Business or Business to Consumer?
• Research on the Benefits of Using Social Media
• Understanding the “Dark Side” and Risks of Using Social Media
• Actual case studies and real world examples of how law firms are using social media outlets
• The 6 Major Social Media Tools Lawyers Can Use
• An in-depth Analysis of LinkedIn for Lawyers
• Insightful Demographics of LinkedIn Users
• 8 Steps to Get Started Fast on LinkedIn
• Why Facebook is Becoming the New Google and Why They Turned Down a $1 Billion Buy-out Offer from Google
• How to Fix Your Facebook Profile
• Unbelievable ways to target your exact perfect client on Facebook (you won't believe it even when I show you)
• Case Studies of Lawyers Using Facebook Fan Pages to Promote Their Law Firm
• Benefits of Facebook Fan Pages
• Why Facebook is causing a “New Gold Rush”
• Measuring the Return on Investment of Social Media

Tuesday, September 21st

In Part 2 of this information-packed 60-minute law firm marketing webinar you will discover:

• The Rainmaker Social Media Blueprint: A How To Guide for Marketing Your Law Firm on Social Media
• Review of 6 Major Social Media Tools
• Is Twitter a waste of time and do people really search for attorneys on Twitter?
• Twitter Terminology for New Users
• The Do’s and Don’ts of Using Video on Your Law Firm’s Website
• Creative Ways to Use YouTube to Promote Your Practice
• Why 68,000 Attorneys are already on YouTube
• The Importance of a Comprehensive Profile on Avvo
• Should You Consider Advertising on Avvo?
• One of the “Secret Weapons” to Rapidly Build Your Online Presence
• Using Online Article Marketing to Dominate Your Competition
• A long-term strategy to position yourself as an expert on the Internet
• Case Studies of Attorneys Using Social Media
• What works and what doesn't on each social media network
• Why legal blogs can give your firm a huge advantage over the competition
• Using your blog to generate quality leads for your law firm
• The 3 biggest mistakes attorneys make when blogging
• How to get started in 30 days with a new blog
• Why the research says having a blog is a “must have” for any law firm
• Why the frequency of your blog posts determines your lead generation
• How to Keep Social Media in Perspective

Online Registration

I really encourage you to register for both sessions, but if you can attend only one, rest assured that each one-hour session is a great standalone presentation on social media strategies for law firms.  Here’s the online registration information:

Register online here for Both Sessions on Wed., Sept. 15 and Tues., Sept. 21, 2010.

Register online here for Part One on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010.

Register online here for Part Two on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010.

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