Among the findings for 2012:

78% of AmLaw 200 firms have one or more blogs, an increase of 297% since 2007.

The 156 AmLaw 200 firms that blog produce an average of four blogs per firm.

Firms with blogs improved their gross revenues at a greater rate than firms without blogs.

Blogs on employment law dominate among AmLaw 200 blogs.

Firms without blogs slipped almost a full spot in revenue rankings on average.

This graphic from the report illustrates the dramatic increase in AmLaw 200 firm blogs:

As the report notes, law firms appear to have caught up with other professions in using blogs and social media for marketing purposes and law firms that blog “are no longer perceived as being ahead of the curve; instead, those without blogs are now the outliers.”

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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. According to HubSpot, B2B marketers with a blog generate 67% more leads per month and B2C marketers generate 88% more leads per month than those without a blog.

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 now for your FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal.

You’ve been practicing over 10 years, you own a small firm with a handful of staff, you work hard month after month, but you never seem to get ahead.

You’ve tried all the traditional methods of marketing your law firm, but so far nothing seems to work very well.

You have goals, dreams and ambitions, but after all these years you’re still struggling to break or consistently break the million dollar mark…and every once in awhile you wonder if it’s really worth it all.

I need to tell you from one business owner to another -- the skills that helped you build a good 6-figure practice are not the same skills you will need to build a great 7-figure business.

So if you’re tired of beating your head against the wall and you’re ready to take a fresh look at how to break out of the negative cycle you’re stuck in, then you really owe it to yourself to attend our newest online seminar, 7 Strategies for a 7-Figure Law Firm, on Thursday, April 18 at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET.

Join us and discover:

• What it really takes to build a 7-figure law firm-no hype and no B.S.
• Insider tips from managing partners running multimillion dollar firms
• How to position yourself as a recognized expert and attract higher quality clients
• 3 biggest reasons why you’re not getting more referrals and how to overcome these hurdles
• The 2 things every Million Dollar Law Firm has in place (you will never achieve 7 figure revenues without both of these)
• 2 key metrics you must measure every month if you want to grow your law firm

Register here for the April 18 online seminar and discover how attorneys just like you are using this information to build 7-figure law firms.

If the time doesn’t work for you, register anyway and we’ll send you the recording of the full online seminar to watch at your convenience.

So how do you get more shares? This infographic does a good job of aggregating the latest tips on how to get your followers on Facebook to pass your wisdom around:

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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. According to HubSpot, B2B marketers with a blog generate 67% more leads per month and B2C marketers generate 88% more leads per month than those without a blog.

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 now for your FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal.

If you don’t already have a regular email marketing campaign in place – like a monthly e-newsletter – here are some tips on creating an effective law firm marketing email marketing program:

1. Build a good list at every opportunity – when you get a new client, from your website or blog, or via social media. Give away a free report on a topic of interest to your ideal client to collect email addresses.

2. Only send emails to people who have agreed to receive them. Include an opt-out option in every email you send.

3. Be sure your content is always relevant to your audience and always include one clear call-to-action.

4. Send your email on a consistent basis – a monthly e-newsletter is a perfect example.

5. Email marketing studies show that the best times for sending B2B emails is Tuesday through Thursday between 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

6. The best times for sending B2C emails is Tuesday through Thursday between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. or on the weekend. 

7. Keep the “from” name consistent – use your name or the name of your firm.

8. Use clear, concise subject lines that make it clear what your email is about. Don’t get too creative – studies show that open rates are much better for straightforward subject lines.

9. Be sure to include both a text and an HTML version of your e-newsletter to ensure all your recipients can see it.

10. Do not use ALL CAPS or exclamation marks in your emails as these trigger spam filters.

Everyone’s attention span is getting shorter as multiple mediums for messaging continue to grow. A significant percentage of us now read emails on our smartphones or tablets, so be sure you use an email delivery service like Constant Contact or iContact (two of many) that will help ensure your messages are delivered appropriately.

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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 Fairley 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 now for your free report on 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys from Building a Referral-Based Practice.

Last month, I participated in the LegalTech New York 2013 panel — "Taming the Wild West of Social Media: The Secrets of Social Media Success in the Legal Profession".

During the discussion, my fellow panelist, Larry Bodine (editor-in-chief of Lawyers.com and martindale.com), and I were asked to identify the primary barriers to social media adoption in law firms.

Here’s a video outtake of our answers:

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FREE Seminar: How to Attract Clients in Today’s Marketing Jungle

When it comes to law firm marketing, it is truly a jungle out there! Mastering social media, SEO and Internet marketing strategies – and making sure your efforts align with legal marketing rules – can give even the most eager attorney pause.

In his new one-hour seminar, Stephen Fairley will lead you through the step-by-step actions you should take throughout the course of the next 12 months to substantially increase your revenues. You will learn:

• How to target market to get your ideal client
• Why your firm is not getting more referrals and how to change it
• How to select the right marketing tools that will work for your practice and personality
• Effective online and offline marketing strategies
• How to create a financial plan to fund your marketing budget
• The 5 critical components of a Marketing Action Plan (MAP)
• 4 ways to create a unique competitive advantage
• What is critical to have in place today’s hyper-competitive online focused marketplace

This FREE seminar will also give you a preview of the 65 different marketing techniques and strategies taught at our 2-day legal marketing boot camp.

Click on this link to register now for the FREE How to Attract Clients in Today’s Marketing Jungleseminar.

Add original, high quality content to your blog and other social media networks.  As I’ve said many times, Google loves fresh content!  However, it’s not enough for it just to be fresh – it also needs to be original and relevant, and you need to post frequently, at least 3-5 times a week.

Add social sharing to all your online activities.  Adding a “Share” capability to your E-newsletters, website, blog and social networking profiles will help boost your visibility in social search.

Establish a Google+ Profile.  Set up a Google+ profile and create links to all your social content.  You’ll need a profile on Google in order to use the new Google+1 button, which is Google’s answer to the Facebook “Like” button.

Use videos and photos.  Video and photo files are more likely to be shared online than text, so be sure your website, blog and social pages contain lots of these files.

Understand the importance of the now.  Google has decided that real-time information is more relevant and rewards content posted on real-time networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn with higher search rankings.  If you are a Twitter user, activate your Twitter Location and use social check-ins on Facebook.

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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.

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

This infographic illustrates the results from the new GetResponse survey:

While the evidence clearly shows a propensity for email recipients to share on social networks, the GetResponse study says that only 29% of email marketers include social share buttons in their emails.

As Mom always said, it’s good to share!

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Secrets to Building a 7-Figure Lifestyle Law Firm: Proven Strategies from the Front Line

At The Rainmaker Institute, we define a “7 figure lifestyle law firm” as one that allows you to have the lifestyle that you want to live!

It’s more than just money or achieving a million dollars in revenue.

It’s about creating a lifestyle where you do what you love and building a business around your core values and interests.

In this recording of an interview between Stephen Fairley, CEO of The Rainmaker Institute, and nationally recognized attorney John Bisnar, Stephen asks John to share with us some of the secrets he has used to create a law firm that allows him to go into the office only one day a week and take, on average, 3 to 4 months of vacation every year - all the while managing a very successful, multi-million dollar law firm!

You will receive either a CD or MP3 recording, plus we will email you a pdf transcript of the interview.

This interview will help you discover:

• The difference between a law practice and a business
• How to identify superstar employees to help you run your business
• The difference between an Office Manager and a Business Manager
• The 7 essential systems your firm must have & how to implement them
• How to micromanage the client experience
• Critical keys to success
• And much more!

Click this link now to order Secrets to Building a 7-Figure Lifestyle Law Firm: Proven Strategies from the Front Line.

Law firms are under increasing pressure from clients to reduce costs and justify expenditures, and alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) are rising to the challenge. While AFAs aren’t exactly a new concept to the legal industry (personal legal services have been offering them for years), they are now becoming more prevalent in new practice areas, such as corporate law and litigation work.

It’s a major shift for a profession that has historically been married to the billable hour. If we go all the way back to 1958, it was the American Bar Association’s Special Committee on Economics of Law Practice that first recommended the billable hour approach, which was widely adopted and deeply entrenched in the legal industry for decades.

But the Global Financial Crisis brought with it significant changes for everyone, including law firms, which have responded in a resounding way. Budget conscious clients now have an endless array of options; fixed fee, phased fee, collared fee, value fee, holdback, blended rate, contingent fee, for just about any legal service.

According to a 2010 survey by Altman Weil, 95% of law firms now have some kind of alternative fee arrangement in place. Yet according to a whitepaper from Jaffe PR that same year, clients – not law firms – are spearheading the use of AFAs. So is the legal industry really ready to embrace the AFA model?

As a virtual data room provider used by law firms to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, Firmex takes a great interest in the AFA conversation. They’ve brought together a series of research findings to help paint a clearer picture of what impact AFAs are having on the legal industry:

NOTE: Go sign up for this great free report on LawMarketing.com’s home page: 15 Strategies for Attorneys to Increase Google Rank, Control Online Reputations and Maximize Content.

Well, actually, it kinda is. But not in the way you’re thinking.

Florida has long held the crown for some of the most convoluted and outdated advertising regulations for attorneys. So convoluted and outdated that even the FTC – hardly a bastion of liberal thinking – has stated that Florida’s attorney advertising regulations work against consumers getting good information about available legal services and don’t necessarily comply with the constitutional sniff test when it comes to free speech.

In a divided opinion, the Florida Supreme Court issued its own marching orders last week to the Florida Bar concerning lawyer advertising rules. In its order, the Court says that all advertising (including websites) that contains information about past results or testimonials must be “objectively verifiable.” 

Which means if you want to tout your successes, I suppose you will need to cite each case you won (but you’ll have to get the client’s permission first). Oh, and then there is this clear-as-mud instruction from the Court:

“...general statements such as, "I have successfully represented clients," or "I have won numerous appellate cases," may or may not be sufficiently objectively verifiable. For example, a lawyer may interpret the words "successful" or "won" in a manner different from the average prospective client. In a criminal law context, the lawyer may interpret the word "successful" to mean a conviction to a lesser charge or a lower sentence than recommended by the prosecutor, while the average prospective client likely would interpret the words "successful" or "won" to mean an acquittal.”

If this makes you emotional, then you need to simmer down, because emotion by attorneys engaged in marketing their practices will not be tolerated in Florida:

“A lawyer may not engage in unduly manipulative or intrusive advertisements. An advertisement is unduly manipulative if it: (a) uses an image, sound, video or dramatization in a manner that is designed to solicit legal employment by appealing to a prospective client's emotions rather than to a rational evaluation of a lawyer's suitability to represent the prospective client.”

And, as if to prove it is ruling via rear-view mirror, the Court even precludes lawyers from soliciting clients via telegraph...yet says nothing about social media.

So there goes all those job opportunities for telegraph operators in Florida!

If you’d like another take on this, read Josh King’s weekend post on Avvo:  Florida Whiffs (Again) on Attorney Advertising Regulation.

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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. 

To get your complimentary copy online, click 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.  

Easter Island was named by its first European visitor, Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who landed on the island on Easter Sunday in 1722. 

One of the most remote islands in the world, Easter Island is located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean and is most famous for its 887 monumental statues called moai, which were created by the early Rapa Nui people who inhabited the island in the 1st century.

Everyone here at The Rainmaker Institute joins me in wishing all of you a Happy Easter -- and hopefully many happy discoveries in the months ahead for your law practice.