OWLS Membership Committee Presents: Marketing for Lawyers Presenting Your Authentic Self to Make Meaningful Connections
Materials and CLE Credit: Materials Link: https://tinyurl.com/marketingclematerials CLE instructions: To obtain CLE credit, at the end of the CLE you will need to send a statement verifying your attendance and providing your 6 digit OSB number. The email address and instructions on how to do so are on the last slide. Send questions to the speakers via the chat window in zoom.
Sarah Freeman Sarah is a member of OWLS and the immediate past president of the OWLS Foundation, the 501(c)(3) sister organization to OWLS. Before launching her real estate career, Sarah operated her own firm as a personal injury lawyer. Sarah recently has transitioned to focusing on her work as a residential real estate broker working with home buyers and sellers in the Portland metropolitan area and assisting personal representatives with probate real estate sales.
Nedra Rezinas Nedra is a member of OWLS and the owner of Veritas Web Design, a web design agency that specializes in building websites for professional services in law, finance, and healthcare. Nedra also is an instructor at the Small Business Design Center, teaching in its Solo Business Builders Program.
Trisha Thompson Trisha is a member of OWLS and an attorney with Holland & Knight. Trisha’s practice focuses on ethics and risk management for law firms and lawyers, as well as commercial and employment litigation.
Today’s Topics: ❑ Creating a strong online presence and message, including strategies for creating an effective website, use of social media to enhance online presence, reputation management, and handling online discussions and reviews. ❑ Networking within your target industries and building a referral base, including tips on in-person networking, networking within professional organizations, and developing referrals. ❑ Avoiding ethical problems with marketing, including ethical issues and pitfalls to avoid with online marketing and other marketing efforts.
Nedra Rezinas
Presenting your Authentic Self to Make Meaningful Connections
Build Trust and Authenticity ● Functional ● High Quality ● User-friendly
Functionality 48% of users say that if they arrive on a business site that isn't working well on mobile, they take it as an indication of the business simply not caring. (MarginMedia)
Functionality
Action ● Go to https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly, enter your URL and see if your site is mobile- friendly. ● Have a few colleagues use all of your forms on your website. Do they work? What’s the results once they hit submit?
Quality 75% of user judgment about your business’s credibility is based on your website’s design. (University of Surrey)
Quality
Action ● Need a copyeditor, web designer or graphic designer to help? Contact me, I’d be happy to refer you to one of our trusted and reliable partners.
User-Friendliness A single bad experience on a website makes users 88% less likely to visit the website again. (Gomez)
User-Friendliness
Action Have a friend or colleague spend a few minutes on the home page. ● Are they able to contact you easily? ○ Are the call-to-actions easy to follow? ○ Are all of the pages easy to find? ○
Social Media ● Set goals/milestones ● Know and focus your audience ● Focus on your audience
Social Media ● Seek relationships, not followers ● Use an editorial calendar and automation tools such as Hootsuite ● Use quality content, images, and videos ● Respond in a timely fashion
Sarah Freeman
Sarah Freeman- Marketing for Lawyers: Making a Plan ❑ A marketing plan that works ❑ Setting reasonable goals ❑ Be intentional ❑ Blocking out time on your calendar- be consistent ❑ Use a mix of activities
Sarah Freeman- Networking Benefits of Networking ❑ Increases the number of people in the world who know and trust you ❑ Builds your referral network; referral sources can also become clients ❑ Business/referrals can come from anyone/anywhere ❑ Your “Elevator Pitch”
Sarah Freeman- Networking Types of Networking Activities ❑ In-person networking activities ❑ Meeting with a referral source ❑ Networking Events ❑ Networking Groups ❑ Community activities/ volunteer service
Sarah Freeman- Networking Types of Networking Activities ❑ In-person networking activities ❑ Meeting with a referral source ❑ Networking Events ❑ Networking Groups ❑ Community activities/ volunteer service ❑ Interacting with online network
Sarah Freeman- Networking Following Up: ❑ Thank you for referrals ❑ Networking is about relationship building ❑ In-person networking activities ❑ Online networking (social media) ❑ Phone calls ❑ E-mails ❑ Cards/letters ❑ Drop-ins*
Sarah Freeman- Networking Tips ❑ Keeping track of contacts ❑ Tailoring your follow ups
Trisha Thompson
Almost Everyone is on a Social Network 2.45B active users in 2019; 80% of lawyers used Facebook in 2017 510,000 comments, 293,000 status updates, and 136,000 photos are uploaded per minute; 330M active users in 2019; 59% of lawyers used Twitter in 2017 5.8 tweets per second; 500M avg tweets per day 1B active users in 2019; 21% of lawyers used Instagram in 2017 500M people use Instagram Stories every day 310.7M users in 2019; 4% of lawyers used Snapchat in 2017 3B snaps per day 575M users; 89% of lawyers in 2017 29
Marketing – How to Use Social Media ❑ The 21st century Country Club/Golf Course/Alumni Dinner/Bar Association Event/Happy Hour ❑ Building your brand has always required a deft balance of the personal social activity with the demonstration of professional competence and network credibility ❑ The rules are the same, but ❑ Think before you act ❑ Don’t give legal advice ❑ Respect client confidentiality ❑ Success is achieved the same way ❑ Be where the perspective clients and referral sources are ❑ Be smart about what you do and know what you don’t ❑ Be credible 30
Risk Management Considerations Unintended conflicts of interest Revelation of confidential client Discipline information and waiver Reputation Unauthorized management practice of law Advertising and Litigation risk solicitation 31
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You Are Always A Lawyer In re Carpenter, 337 Or 226 (2004): ▪ “[T]here must be a rational connection between the conduct that gives rise to an allegation of a rule violation and the purpose of the lawyer discipline system.” ▪ “We conclude that, in so conducting himself, the accused engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, because that conduct indicates that the accused lacks aspects of trustworthiness and integrity that are relevant to the practice of law” 33
Ethical Concerns - Competence Online ABA Model Rule 1.1 Cmt [8]: Lawyer must “maintain” competence by keeping abreast of changes in the law and its practice, “ including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology …” » 34
Ethical Concerns - Duty of Confidentiality RPC 1.6(a): A lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized in order to carry out the representation or the disclosure is permitted by paragraph (b). RPC 1.6(c): A lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, information relating to the representation of a client. 35
Advertising in Oregon – New RPCs (2018) ❑ RPC 7.1: focuses on what is “false and misleading” ❑ RPC 7.2: basic advertising rule ❑ RPC 7.3: no longer prohibits in-person, live telephone, or real-time electronic solicitation ❑ RPC 7.5: firm names and letterhead 36
Basic Advertising Rule: Don’t Be Dishonest Do these look real to you? 37
Ethical Concerns - Tweeting / Blogging / Listserves ❑ Biggest concerns: confidentiality and misconduct ❑ Lawyers who post, beware ❑ Calling a judge “evil, unfair witch” → $1,200 sanction ❑ Blogging about jury duty → fired + 45-day suspension ❑ Reference to public information, ok? ❑ See Hunter v. Virginia State Bar , 744 S.E.2d 611 (2013) ❑ Even if the information is public, what does your client think about your use of it publicly? 38
Ethical Concerns - Tweeting / Blogging / Listservs ❑ Ill. Public defender blog post: ❑ #127409 (the client’s identification number) This stupid kid is taking the rap for his drug- dealing dirt bag of an older brother because “he’s no snitch.” I managed to talk the prosecutor into treatment and deferred prosecution, since we both know the older brother from prior dealings involving drugs and guns. My client is in college. Just goes to show you that higher education does not imply that you have any sense. ❑ In re Qullinan, 20 DB Rptr 288 (2006): ❑ Lawyer is disciplined for posting a listserv message that disclosed a former client’s confidential personal and medical information and otherwise portrayed the former client in an unflattering light after the client had terminated the representation. 39
Posts May Constitute Legal Advice 40
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