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Sixty Websites for Lawyers from ABA TECHSHOW 2012

 

Again this year, the always exciting 60 Sites in 60 Minutes plenary session concluded ABA TECHSHOW 2012. Natalie Kelly, Dan Pinnington, Catherine Sanders Reach and I shared variety of serious and funs sites with the packed room. For those that could not make it, here is a full list of the sites we presented:

Sites to help you do your job

• ABA Preview of Supreme Court Cases: Everything you want or need to know about what is happening at the Supreme Court, past, present and future. americanbar.org/publications/preview_home.html
• Fastcase and Mobile Sync: Legal research on your desktop, iPhone or iPad. Bar Association users can use the Mobile Sync feature to keep one research session going across all platforms. www.fastcase.com
• CellularAbroad is a helpful site to find the best mobile phone and coverage option specific to your phone and carrier when traveling overseas. www.cellularabroad.com
• Google Scholar adds treatment to citing cases scholar.google.com
• Jureeka: Turn legal citations in web pages into hyperlinks that point to online legal source material in Chrome or Firefox jureeka.blogspot.ca
• TinyEye: Reverse image search: find out source of an image, other uses of it, higher resolution versions, etc. www.tineye.com
• Google Images lets you search by dragging and dropping an imagewww.google.com/imghp
• Meevsu: Have a live confrontation or debate via webcam, with the audience voting for the winner meevsu.com

Helpful information

• Law Practice Today e-zine archives is full of terrific articles on all aspects of law practice management www.americanbar.org/publications/law_practice_magazine
• Room77: See what your hotel view is like, before you book the room www.room77.com
• Priceblink: Find lower prices while you shop and set notifications for desired price points. www.priceblink.com
• The Holotypic Occlupanid Research Group exists for one purpose. You’ll have to see for yourself because you won’t believe it until you see it. www.horg.com/horg/intro.html
• PMA Pipe: Keep up with all the law practice management blogs feeds.feedburner.com/PmaPipe
• MarineTraffic: Watch the movement of ships around the world, tracked by GPS in real time MarineTraffic.com/ais
• AllTop: See the top headlines on the most popular news sites and blogs alltop.com
• The World at 7 Billion: With seven billion people in the world, where do you fit in? Just enter your birthdate and find out! www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15391515
• Handsfreeinfo: See what your state’s cell phone and texting laws for drivers prohibit – or are about to prohibit. Handsfreeinfo.com
• WhoIsTheMostFamous:With just a first name, try to guess the most famous surname. WhoIsTheMostFamous.com
• Scoopertino is the parody blog of all things Apple (based in Coopertino, CA) that recently claimed Apple would replace the complete iTunes library with songs sung by Siri, starting with Stairway to Heaven! scoopertino.com
• US Department of State provides important travel information for every country in the world www.state.gov/misc/list/index.htm
• An American’s Guide to Canada tells you everything you want to know about life in the Great White North, including “Canadianisms” and how to immigrate. AmericansGuide.ca

Technology tools and sites

• Adobe provides great online tools for collaboration and converting and editing PDF documents acrobat.com
• Alternativeto: If you’ve decided to replace a software application, this site will recommend alternatives based on user feedback. alternativeto.net
• FollowUpThen: Schedule followups to emails you don’t need to deal with now, by simply forwarding them to this site. followupthen.com
• Snipreel: Clip YouTube videos so you can share just the best parts. Snipreel.com
• GreatApps: Helps you weed through the 1,000s of apps out there by featuring the best 25 at a time. greatapps.com
• “If This Then That” write “recipes” and tasks to automate actions between “channels” like Facebook, Twitter, Email, Dropbox, Evernote and more ifttt.com
• Thsrs Find shorter synonyms for longer words ironicsans.com/thsrs/
• Zamzar is an oldie but a goodie site that coverts computer files you upload into other formats; great for old WordPerfect docs you now need to access via MS Word zamzar.com
• Down for everyone or just me? Find out if a website is down www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com
• Ninite: Pick all the popular software you want to install right from one page www.ninite.com
• FacebookCheating: Read and share stories of cheating that happened via Facebook. Also access spying and therapeutic resources for online activity. facebookcheating.com
• Factory Reset Wiki: Find factory reset codes and procedures for all kinds of products. Factory-Reset.com
• Join.me is a free, yet robust screen sharing and conference call system that is extremely easy to set up and/or join. join.me
• TextMechanic allows you to manipulate and play with text in all sorts of different ways (for example, pick a random line of text) TextMechanic.com/Random-Line-Picker.html

Social media tools & resources

• Visual.ly: Generate a cartoon avatar and infographic for your Twitter account visual.ly/twitter
• Tips to surviving the zombie apocalypse (and other disasters) from the Centres for Disease Control blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/
>MemoLane: emails you reminders of your social media past memolane.com
• Frequency.com is a video aggregator that provides a convenient platform to find and view informative and humorous videos in one place. www.frequency.com
• Twylah creates a visually great-looking website out of your tweets and the links they contained. www.twylah.com
• MyPermissions lets you examine and clean up all the permissions you’ve given social media apps to access your private data mypermissions.org

Law practice management

• HBS Elevator Pitch Builder The good folks at the Harvard Business School have created the on-line pitch builder to help you hone your, well, elevator pitch. Try it! www.alumni.hbs.edu/careers/pitch
• Thinkstock: A huge supply of the best stock images thinkstock.com
• 99Designs is a new on-line graphics marketplace to have law firm logos and website graphics designed at extremely low rates, thanks to the winner-take-all nature of the marketplace. 99designs.com

Online privacy and dangers

• Google Privacy Tools: All the ways Google gives you control over the information you share and store with them: google.com/policies/privacy/tools/
• ScamTrends: Keep track of all the constant attemps to scam you by email, social media, phone, etc www.scamtrends.com
• AvoidAClaim This blog about law practice management and claims prevention also features warnings about the latest fraud attempts against lawyers www.avoidaclaim.com
• FCC Small Biz Cyber Planner: Information on how smaller companies can secure themselves against cyber crime www.fcc.gov/cyberplanner
• SecretSync is a great way to easily share proprietary, sensitive information using online synchronization utilities getsecretsync.com
• StartPage: A search engine that doesn’t collect your personal data startpage.com

Non-billable Time

• MapCrunch lets you randomly teleport anywhere in the world via Google Streetview Mapcrunch.com
• MyExWife’s Wedding Dress: Family lawyers will especially get a kick out of this site started by a man whose wife purposely left behind her wedding dress when they separated, and what he did with it to get even. myexwifesweddingdress.com
• VeryFunnyAds: Pretty self explanatory! VeryFunnyAds.com
• AbsolutelyMadness: collects the funniest pictures on the internet absolutelymadness.tumblr.com
• PhotoShop Disasters: A collection of the worst examples of bad Photoshop efforts PSDisasters.com
• Monk-e-Mail: In just a few minutes you can customize an animated message complete with your own voice to send a birthday greeting or other fun greeting. Hosted by CareerBuilder.com of all things, but why not? www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/default.aspx
• PoopSenders For friend or foe, res ipsa loquitor. www.poopsenders.com
• Craftastrophe:A collection of the tackiest examples of homemade crafts Craftastrophe.net
• WhySiriWhy? Amusing Siri quotes and awkward voice-text failures whysiriwhy.com
• AwkwardWorkplacePhotos.com. Go. Laugh. Get back to work! workplacephotos.com
• Devolve Me: Upload a photo of yourself (or someone else) and devolve it to see what you would look like 1.8 million years ago.www.open.ac.uk/darwin/devolve-me.php
• MultiPlayerPiano: Play the piano online with whoever else is on the site at the same time multiplayerpiano.com

If you liked these sites, you can see the sites that were featured in previous ABA TECSHOW 60 Sites in 60 Minutes presentations as well as the ABA TECSHOW 60 Sites in 60 Minutes Hall of Fame

Building Architecture or Building Clients?

I review a number of law firm web sites each month as part of my consulting with lawyers.  I continue to see a trend among web sites that gives me pause to opine here.  If this borders on a rant, please forgive me; however, if my rant hits too close to home, then I have accomplished my goal.

What is it with law firms putting pictures of their office buildings on the front page of their web sites?  True, such pictures avoid the cliché images of a gavel, Corinthian columns, or the scales of justice.  However, what do these pictures really accomplish?  Do they give a client (or potential client) a sense of the type or quality of the work done by the firm? Maybe clients can guess that the fancier the building, the higher the hourly rates?  Maybe it means the lawyers in the firm are camera shy.  I really do not know.  However, it says something else about such law firms--they need help with marketing.

Legal work is intangible. Clients cannot touch, feel or smell what they purchase from lawyers. Sure, they can feel the estate documents that cost them several thousand dollars, but they cannot touch or see the huge pile of money your expert drafting just saved them. 

Consumers want tangible.  They want to pick it up, feel the weight, examine the detail, and smell the freshness.  Moreover, the more they spend the more tangible the purchase must be. That's why car dealers have learned to spray "new car' scent into every used car they offer for sale, and why real estate agents often suggest painting at least one room in a seller’s house--it makes the house look and smell new! 

Although lawyers are not used car salespersons or real estate agents, it remains incumbent upon us as business people to metaphorically put the pile of cash on the conference room table and the "new car" smell into all our legal work.  It is up to us to take what is intangible to our clients and turn it into something that is tangible.  It is what our clients want as consumers.  However, it is not all they want.

While it is true that lawyers sell such things as documents, depositions, and advice, that is not exactly what clients are buying.  Clients are really seeking trust, experience, attentiveness, wisdom, security, understanding, loyalty, leadership, foresight, peace of mind, and certainty. These things provide value to the client for which they willing pay.  Again, note the list of client needs does not include building architecture.  Note too, that the list of what clients seek is just as intangible as the legal services a lawyer sells.  Now we are getting somewhere--neither buyer nor seller has a complete and distinct tangible concept of what it is they really want to buy or sell.  And we wonder why legal marketing is so difficult!

So how do lawyers convey their ability to meet the client's needs in such a way as to persuade clients we have what they seek? Even more important, how do we convey our abilities to attract potential clients?

The answer to the former question is easy: Once clients hire us, we must address our client's needs--sometimes characterized as "exceeding their expectations".  Not just produce the legal documents or represent the client in court, but address the real needs: In every aspect of the legal work, we must build trust, show loyalty, communicate understanding, instill peace of mind, reduce uncertainty, and provide leadership on the legal issues at hand.  We do that through such skills as active listening, effective case management, and strong client communication, just to name a few.

The answer to the second question--conveying our abilities to potential clients--is more difficult.

Until a few decades ago, lawyers could not advertise; they could not inform the public--i.e., potential clients--that they understood their needs and had the ability to meet them.  Instead, lawyers used visual cues to convey these concepts to potential clients.  They used icons and images such as gavels, marble hallways, dark wood paneling, and a close proximity to a courthouse to telegraph trust, respect, leadership, security and certainty.

However, with the restrictions on advertising long lifted, lawyers need not rely on these same icons and images.  They do not need gavels and scales.  They do not need pictures of office buildings.  Lawyers can use the right images to convey the right concepts, but better yet, we can now use words to tell potential clients about our services. 

This brings us back to pictures of office buildings on law firm web sites.  Instead of buildings or cliché images, I encourage law firms to use words. Simple, understandable words. Words that quickly create positive images in the minds of potential clients. Words like value, service, dignity, understanding, and integrity.  Words that address the client’s need for solutions, not a recitation of how good the firm thinks it is. And, yes, it’s OK to include pictures, but ones truly related to the firm and client needs. If lawyer web sites focus attention on needs of clients and potential clients, then web site visitors won’t need to focus their attention on law firm buildings. They will be too busy calling your firm for an appointment.

Saying Thank You to Clients

Now is the time to take a few moments to send a personalized message to your clients to thank them for their confidence in your firm.  While many lawyers wait until Christmas to send a holiday message, I prefer to send a Thanksgiving card. 

In any business, it’s the little things that count.  Those little acts or touches help distinguish your business from your competitors.  Sending a personal note of thanks is a great personal touch to help build on-going relationships with present and former clients. 

Many lawyers choose to do this at Christmas time, but that tradition is changing.  More and more cards reflect the changing religious diversity of this country, so now contain general wishes of peace and prosperity for the new year.  Nice, but a weak platform to deliver your message.  In addition, the holiday card may get lost in the flurry of cards that arrive the week or so before Christmas.  So the card does not give you much of a chance to stand out from the crowd.

A Thanksgiving card is a perfect solution.  The message of thanks is really the best message to send to a person who has purchased legal services from you.  And it arrives well before the Christmas cards.

I was quoted in Monica Bay ’s article on this issue in Law Firm Inc. Of course if everyone starts to send out Thanksgiving cards, you may need to try Halloween cards!  So get to work before everyone jumps on this bandwagon!