TechnoLawyer: TL Editorial

Chris Cardell has published an insightful article entitled Destroy Your Business in Five Easy Steps, which certainly applies to law firms. The five steps?

• Not communicating effectively with your existing customers.

• Relying on just one or two main forms of marketing.

• Running ineffective advertising.

• Failing to focus on the benefits that your product or service offers your customers and clients.

• Not using e-mail marketing effectively.

Read the article.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

One Sunday this past January, we had a blizzard. So I stayed at home and spent the entire day in front of my laptop, mostly playing with iTunes. The next day I woke up with neck pain so I resolved to buy a laptop stand that would place my laptop screen at the correct height.

After researching the many options, I bought the Dexia Rack, which we had covered a few months before in TechnoLawyer NewsWire. The Dexia Rack looks quite elegant, but as I soon discovered, it has two design flaws — a slippery surface and no height adjustment.

The company quickly sent me some rubber feet, which solved the surface problem, but the stand was simply too high for me when used at my desk. I decided to return the stand, but to my surprise, Dexia agreed with my criticism, refunded my money, and told me to keep the stand. Perhaps Dexia entered my name into Google and learned about my role at TechnoLawyer, but even so, it was a smart if calculated move. Why? Because I have since come to love the Dexia Rack when placed over my lap. In that scenario, it works perfectly. So, if you enjoy using your laptop on the sofa or in bed, buy the Dexia Rack.

But what about my original quest — a laptop stand for my desk? I eventually found a solution completely free of charge — the Verizon Yellow Pages. For me at least, the Yellow Pages lifts my laptop to the perfect height. It's nice to see that phone books can still serve a purpose in our increasingly paperless world (click image for full-size photo).

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Recently, my out-of-warranty PowerBook stopped working properly. I suspected a dying hard drive. I performed a final series of backups and immediately began looking for an overnight repair service.

First, I tried to visit PowerBookResQ, which has received rave reviews among users over the years. I say "tried" because the Web site was down. So I called instead and left a voice-mail message.

Second, I ran a Google search and found TechRestore. I clicked on the ad to find a poorly-designed Web site that didn't answer all of my questions. So I called and left another voice-mail message.

Third, I visited some Mac Web sites and found an ad for a company called MacService. Finally, a well-designed Web site! However, I couldn't find any user reviews on the Internet so I decided to call. A human being — strike that — a knowledgeable human being actually answered the phone and answered all my questions.

At this point, PowerBookResQ returned my call, but it was too late — MacService had me at "Hello." I placed an order on MacService's Web site and dropped off my PowerBook at FedEx. (TechRestore also returned my call, but not the same day I left my message.)

The next day, MacService e-mailed me to let me know that the hard drive was indeed the culprit. The day after that, I received my PowerBook with a new hard drive. MacService also cleaned the exterior of my PowerBook — it looked like new. My PowerBook has worked well ever since.

This Post is not just about overnight laptop repair services. It's about marketing and service, and how they must work together. You can provide the greatest service on Earth, but it won't matter if prospects cannot find you on the Internet. Likewise, you can have the world's most pervasive advertising campaign, but if your service doesn't measure up, word of mouth from disgruntled clients will eventually catch up to you.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

A few months ago, we took some flack among bloggers (despite being bloggers ourselves) for publishing a TechnoFeature article entitled A Contrarian View of Legal Blogs.

Now comes a Forbes cover story entitled Attack of the Blogs that has generated a storm of controversy. The article discusses bloggers who try to sabotage companies, products, and people.

Fine, but just as many if not more bloggers also praise companies, products, and people without disclosing their financial ties in the same — an equally serious problem.

Transparency is always the best policy. That's what we aim for here in TechnoLawyer. Shills sometimes elude our "doesn't smell right" detectors, but we squelch most such attempts.

When it comes to blogs, no one can screen them for you so keep this advice in mind — if you cannot ascertain the identity of the blogger, don't trust what you read without corroboration from a trusted source. Common sense goes a long way whether you're reading a blog, newsletter, newspaper, prospectus, etc.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

About 100 legal vendors recently participated in a survey of ours. In one of the questions, we asked them to rank TechnoLawyer and 4 other legal technology publications with regard to power and influence. Although Law Technology News received a few more first place votes than TechnoLawyer, we ended up with a higher overall rank. This got me to thinking — if we're now the first or second most influential legal technology publication, why is it that Microsoft never reaches out to us as it does to Law Technology News?

Sure enough, a few days later, I received a call from Weber Shandwick, Microsoft's public relations firm. From my conversation, I learned that Microsoft wants to get the word out among lawyers about OneNote, its outlining/notetaking application. During the course of our conversation, I learned some interesting information.

First and foremost, I had always assumed that OneNote works only on a Tablet PC, but in fact it works on all PCs. My assumption stemmed from the digital ink feature, but it turns out that you can use any pen-input device, not just those that come with Tablet PCs. You can also use OneNote without digital ink.

I also learned some other interesting tidbits. With OneNote, you can start by just entering freeform ideas, and then later convert those ideas into an outline within OneNote or into any other Office document (Word document, PowerPoint presentation, etc.). Also, OneNote accommodates real-time collaboration through simple file sharing (or via SharePoint). And OneNote supports drag and drop from other applications, such as your browser. Thus, you could use it to organize legal research.

Finally, David Allen fans will like the fact that you can designate items in your OneNote documents to show up as tasks in Outlook. Well, I guess public relations works. OneNote sells for $99. Learn more.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Most television journalists know their limitations and their audience so they tend to conduct five minute interviews. Only a select few such as Charlie Rose have both the talent and audience to pull off longer format interviews. (It's no surprise that Charlie Rose has a law degree — lawyers receive much better interview training than journalists.)

Lawyers who create podcasts should also heed their limitations and their audience, but in my experience, most don't.

Definition time — a podcast is an audio or video program delivered over the Internet to which you can "subscribe" using an RSS feed. Podcasts have existed since the dawn of the Internet. The new twist is the ability to receive them automatically and download them to your iPod or similar device.

When various legal bloggers began offering podcasts (lawcasts?), I was genuinely excited by the possibilities. My excitement didn't last long, and I have pretty much stopped listening.

The podcasts I sampled — mostly interviews — droned on and on for 30 minutes or longer. The lawyers producing these podcasts just don't have the material or experience to pull off a 30 minute or longer show.

Hence, my unsolicited advice — less is more, especially on the Internet. I suggest limiting each segment of a legal podcast to 5 minutes or less, and limiting each show to 15 minutes or less. Trust me — a remarkable 5-15 minute show will attract a larger audience than a mediocre 30-60 minute show. (Also, invest in a decent microphone and don't allow interviewees to use cell phones or IM clients.)

My advice comes from personal experience. Before we launched TechnoLawyer 2.0 in 2002, you had only two choices — subscribe to all of our newsletters or none. Nowadays, you can customize your subscriptions. Many of you subscribe to just one newsletter.

My advice also comes from observation. For example, the online entertainment company JibJab produces hilarious videos, none of which ever exceed five minutes in length. An even better example — John Chambers' One Minute Tip podcasts.

Some lawyers may argue that the complex material they cover demands a longer format. I don't buy it. Just as you can break up complex concepts in a brief with headings and subheadings, so too could you serialize a podcast that explores complex legal topics. As all litigators know, people digest information better in small, discrete chunks.

I could write more, but this Post is beginning to make me look like a hypocrite. Enough said.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

For years, many in legal profession have urged law firms to move beyond the billable hour and instead charge by the project or task. Despite the fact that ad agencies, investment banks, and management consulting firms routinely earn more per hour than law firms using this business model, I doubt lawyers will give up the billable hour anytime soon.

However, I do believe that the billable hour model will soon undergo its biggest transformation ever thanks to "mobile billing automation" (MBA). Quite simply, MBA refers to using technology to automatically track "mobile time" — the time you spend working on your Blackberrys, Treos, and other such devices.

Two competing companies that offer MBA solutions recently launched advertising campaigns in TechnoLawyer — Airtime Management and Element55. On Airtime Management's Web site, you'll find a clever demo of its MBA solution, and on Element55's Web site you'll find a brief white paper entitled Zero Click Time Capture. Also, those of you with TechnoLawyer Archive subscriptions can read each company's TechnoReleases.

If mobile billing automation becomes as big as I think it will, remember you heard it here first.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

You don't have time to track 100 business and technology magazines and blogs. We do. Below you'll find five excellent articles we've recently come across plus a link to a site for law firms displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Why Not Guarantee Professional Services?

Exponential Growth in Legal Outsourcing: The Numbers Tell the Story

Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting 2006

Tax Breaks for Angels

Stevie's Little Wonder

Help Katrina Lawyers

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Brian Livingston of Windows Secrets fame has written an excellent quartet of articles about new legislation in Michigan and Utah that amounts to a tax on legitimate commercial e-mail. According to Livingston, these laws will have no impact on spam, but they will benefit their sponsors — "contractors seeking profits and state departments seeking more revenue." In his last article, Livingston reports that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) plans to pursue litigation to have these laws stricken. The EFF is currently searching for qualified plaintiffs in Michigan and Utah on whose behalf it can file a lawsuit.

Michigan, Utah Impose Dreaded E-Mail Tax

State E-Mail Taxes Begin to Bite

How Utah, Michigan Legislators Got Fooled

EFF To Challenge E-Mail Tax Laws

How To: Chill Speech and Association While Endangering Children

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

I've repeatedly cautioned lawyers about using a blog as marketing tool. When properly used, it can serve as a very cost-effective search engine optimization tool. But when misused, it can prove more harmful than helpful. BusinessWeek recently published a cautionary tale about a corporate blog misused to such a degree that you'll have a hard time believing what you read. The lesson — don't casually launch a blog. Instead, spend time learning how to use a blog or retain the services of an expert. We spent a year planning the launch of our blog. Okay, maybe that's excessive, but it has performed exactly as we planned. No nasty surprises.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.