GUEST BLOGGER: Merrilyn Astin Tarlton, Co-Publisher - Attorney at Work

Child development experts call it “impulse control.” A key measure of a child’s maturity, the traditional test for it involves marshmallows. A 4-year-old is offered two marshmallows if he can wait 15 minutes for them. If he can’t wait, he can have a marshmallow right away—but just one. At four, some choose two and work hard to get through the wait and others just want one and want it now.

Would you want to talk to you at a cocktail party?

I often ask our law firm clients this question when discussing their brand messaging strategy. However, the question seems even more pertinent when addressing their lawyers’ bios. With most traffic on law firm websites going to lawyers’ bios, it’s the perfect place to add that “human touch” that engages and connects with clients—making them someone clients want to work with rather than have to work with. You know, the kind of thing that makes people want to talk to you at a party. And yet, so many lawyer bios have all the warmth and interest of a slab of concrete. Why?

GUEST BLOGGER: Debra Baker, Principal - Legal Vertical Strategies

My first job in legal marketing was as a “writer” for Heller Ehrman. They wanted someone with a law degree who could work with the attorneys to strengthen their messaging. At the time I was a senior writer for the ABA Journal and was doing pro bono work on the side. The fit seemed perfect.

Every time I hear someone in marketing or advertising talk about "best practices" for website design, I roll my eyes.

Now granted, many of the do's and don't's of web design have merit. They've been tried, tested and proven to work. And I believe that certain best practices such as ease of navigation, making good use of white space, ensuring that site text is easy to read and building for fast loading times are sarcosanct. But I also believe that best practices are helping to hold marketers back.

GUEST BLOGGER: Kimberly Alford Rice, President - KLA Marketing Associates

How wise would it be to leave on a road trip without programming your GPS first with the “end location” or without Google driving directions? Not very wise, but that is essentially what law firms do when they spend on marketing without a written plan and annual budget.

We hear it all the time in blogs, white papers, newspaper articles and from industry experts. “….marketing budgets continue to be slashed, programs are being dropped and marketing staff are being laid-off.” This creates the challenge of strategically choosing the marketing tactics that make the most sense for your firm and your brand.

GUEST BLOGGER: Jonathan R. Fitzgarrald, Director of Marketing - Greenberg Glusker

Five tips for turning introductions into opportunities

It is 7:45 a.m. Cup of coffee in hand, you find a seat and wait for the networking meeting to begin—you are visiting for the first time. The group leader welcomes everyone and says, “With so many new faces today, I thought it would be a good idea to go around the table and have everyone take a few moments to introduce themselves and what they do.”

Would you build a white picket fence around your beautiful new home without knowing the dimensions? Let me answer the question for you –  “most likely, no”. You would never cut corners building a home. Having a sound structure that is functional and keeps your family safe is essential, right?

Last week, Moiré Marketing Partners attended the Los Angeles Legal Marketing Association’s Continuing Marketing Education Conference, where law firm leaders and marketers gathered to discuss the pressing issues facing their firms. One of the most common themes we heard was the need to update law firm websites and improve their search engine rankings.

GUEST BLOGGER: Cheryl Bame, Principal - Bame Public Relations 

Many professionals want to see their names in print, either by being quoted in the press or by writing a bylined article. If you want to take the latter route, then there are some important questions you need to ask yourself before you set out to write your masterpiece. And these questions go beyond the traditional tasks of identifying your target publication and getting your topic approved by an editor.