The Red Velvet Lawyer

In for a Penny, In for a Pound In March 2013, I posted my first post on this blog.  After several months of business coaching with Christine Kane and exposure to the concept of "content marketing," I wanted to explore the platform and its uses. I wanted to run an experiment.  How long would it take the Google bots to find me?  I'd been told it would take a year of daily blogging.  So, I committed to that publication schedule.  In 2013, I made 182 posts over a ten month period.  Not exactly every day, but just about 20 posts a month or 4.5 posts a week.  In the process, I regained the voice I had had as a columnist for the magazine published for members of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL).  The coverage is eclectic, but then I promised broader coverage in my description of the blog:  "Discussing new ways to meet the needs of law firm clients, mediation parties, negotiators, and law students." Two years later, I have publis

Love this Guy's Advice! Marketing guru, Seth Godin, has a string of blog postings  on his Squiddoo website that every lawyer should read.  I am creating this blog posting just so I can go back to it again and again.   For a list of his books I found compelling on the topics of content marketing, permission marketing, and social media marketing, see here . 

They are Dying for Stories One of my favorite actors, Kevin Spacey, gave a speech that has run through the content marketing world with great enthusiasm.  In fact, he will now be a keynote speaker at the Content Marketing Institute's World 2014 conference in Cleveland, Ohio on September 8-11, 2014.  I'm going! If you have not watched this video, you can find it here . It's really great, especially if you're a House of Cards fan, like I am. Spacey explains the experience he had with marketing the series to the major networks before Netflix backed the project.  He then argues: The audience has spoken.  They want stories.  They are dying for them.  They are routing for us to give them the right thing.  And they will talk about it; binge on it; carry it with them on the bus and to the hairdresser; force it on their friends; Facebook; tweet; blog; make fan pages; make silly GIFs; and God knows what else about it. Engage with it with a passion and inti

Content, Permission, and Social Media Marketing:  What You Need to Know  to  Market Your Legal Services More Effectively As promised in an earlier posting , here is my list of recommended reading on content marketing.   Chris Brogan, Google+ for Business: How Google’s SocialNetworking Changes Everything (2013). Brogan explores this newer platform that allows you to follow influences (unlike Facebook where people must give you permission to follow them).   I joined it because I figure the Google bots were paying attention to the content (like my blog postings) that I reposted there.  I also follow Brogan through his website, http://www.chrisbrogan.com/ , which is very stylishly designed and includes an example of a “Valuable Free Offer” opt-in page.  By opting in, you get on his “list,” which then serves as permission for him to continue to engage with you.  He also has a podcast (available in iTunes) and blog . Kelby Carr, Pinterest Marketing for Dummi

More on Legal Marketing: Especially for You Visual Learners I really like these infographics about web-based marketing for lawyers over on The Rainmaker Blog .  Check out all twelve covering the following topics: How to do Keyword Research. 7 Website Essentials to Land You More Leads. How to Get More Likes on Facebook. How to Create Perfect Posts on Social Platforms. Increase Traffic to Your Website. Using Social Media for Lead Generation. SEO Copywriting: 10 Tips for Writing Content that Ranks in 2013. 14 Ways to Make Google Love Your Site. Breakdown of a Person's Google Results: How People Look in Google -- And How to Look Better. Mobile is the Future . . . Is Your Website Optimized?  How to Build a Credible Blog. Getting Past Your Social (Media) Anxiety. And,  here is a wonderful video depiction of how marketers can make it harder for your customers/clients to "buy" on line.