Learning from Lawyers: AVVO Lawyernomics 2015, Day 1

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I am excited to attend AVVO’s Lawyernomics 2015 and gain insights into how I can continue to support not only my law firm clients but apply the concepts to my other small business clients  and consultants in their internet marketing efforts. Below is a summary of Day 1 presentations (Wednesday, May 13).

Getting the Most of the Conference

WIFI Network: Lawyernomics2015    P: 10million
Social Media Hashtag: #lawyernomics
Get the Avvo Lawyernomics 2015 App – to facilitate communication within the conference and contains all conference presentations

 

Presentation #1 – Opening Keynote: Mark Britton Founder and CEO, AVVO

CEO gave stats showing growth of AVVO and negative growth of competitors, including previously major names such as Martindale, Lawyers.com, NOLO.

AVVO stepping into TV advertising and focusing on On-Demand Economy with AVVO Advisor

AVVO Advisor – consumers can get legal advice from lawyers now only $39 (15 minutes) – a way to provide value and get reviews.

CEO using TV ads to tackle perception of 50% of medium to high income consumers that that avoid lawyers for 2 primary reasons:

  • They don’t understand what lawyers do and
  • They assume you cost too much.

Presentation #2 – AVVO Product Keynote:  Sachin Bhatia, AVVO VP of Product presented on “New Tools to Win New Business”

His presentation clearly emphasized “takeaway” ideas that he encouraged attorneys to steal and spoke of Progressive Enhancements to AVVO offerings
Explained the Simple Customer Journey/cycle:

  1. Find your Answers
  2. Find your Profile (to generate calls) – This step is being enhanced with Click Ads
  3. Become a client
  4. Post a Review – This step is being augmented by the AVVO Advisor product

Trends that motivate AVVO Product Development

  • Rise of mobile consumer
    (smart phone is most important purchase in past 10 years)
    Currently more people search on mobile than desktop
    Growing trend requires websites to be both:
    (1) Responsive (one AVVO for all devices/platforms/scenarios) and
    (2) FAST (Google speed penalty coming to mobile, with mobile networks still being slower), resulting in AVVO redesign with profiles loading faster.
  • Addressing long tail of Content (people searching with their Question in mind)
     30% of Google search volume is long tail in consumers own words…ie. Not just “divorce”, but
    “Divorce court”, “Divorce process,”DIY divorce”,”dividing assets”,  “alternatives to divorce”…attorneys should think about how they are answering the consumers’ questions
  • All paths lead to your profile
  • Ads create more paths – use of “native” looking ads, that look more like website content are more trustworthy. Ads = Q&A = Phone Calls
  • AVVO Advisor is entry level product allowing consumers to engage Attorneys: $39/15 minutes and lets attorneys show value for potential future appointments (the App, now available for iPhone allows consumers to upload documents)

Some useful or “steal worthy”  ideas presented for firms to consider:

  • Begin with the end in mind – fight conference idea overwhelm by focusing on your objectives)
  • Check – Is your firm’s website responsive?
  • Test your website’s speed with this Google tool: http://www.bit.ly/ln2015psi
  • Determine what unique valuable, long-tail content your firm can offer the web
  • Include 3rd party validation on your website (testimonials of real verifiable people, including colleagues and peers)
  • Make your profile your sales pitch that answers the question: “Why should I hire you?”
  • Determine your entry level offer

 

Presentation #3 -10 Secrets for Getting the Most out of AVVO by AVVO VP of Marketing, Leigh McMillan

Leigh presented 10 essentials that you can do to improve your marketing, complete with visual aids and stats to back up her points:

  • Get (and Use) a Good Headshot – It should be professionally taken, address the “squinch” factor where eyes can make you appear scary vs. confident, and include a teeth bearing smile  (indicating accessibility and openness)
  • Embrace Client Reviews – 90% say online reviews impact their decisions. Attorneys with just one review get 3 times the number of contacts. Consider an Email review request. 68% trust review more when they see mixed reviews. Mixed reviews give you an opportunity to provide a good response.
    Creative review approach by Saper Law Offices in Chicago was to encourage client video testimonials at their Holiday Party using their provided videographer.
  • Get Peer Endorsements – Top 5 ranked factors in deciding to hire an attorney are:
    • Responsiveness
    • Track Record
    • Respected in Legal Community
    • Cost
    • Personality
      7 -10 endorsements are the magic number, that let you show you are “respected in the legal community” and with the rise of LinkedIn Endorsements, peers are accustomed to honoring your request
  • Answer Questions – this can be considered an equivalent of blogging – AVVO sees 10 times more contacts for attorneys who answer 15 plus questions on AVVO Advisor. This shows you are: knowledgable, experienced and assertive. This AVVO opportunity allows you to leverage your down time.
  • Create a strong AVVO profile – complete with Headshot, Awards, Education, Experience, Associations…note that
  • Maintain a strong AVVO profile – Awards should be updated and displayed for all years given (Superlawyers) and some old awards that are given infrequently should remain evergreen on your profile (Top Lawyer of the Year – 1982)
  • Monetize your Marketing time and / or downtime with AVVO Advisor. 
  • Respond to Contacts ASAP – Leads convert 22 time more if you follow up within the first 5 minutes (consider using AVVO Ignite CRM or Auto responders)

Leigh also mentioned a new AVVO product offering (AVVO Concierge) currently in Pilot stage for personal injury and business attorneys that is designed to deliver the right customers to your door.

From the Lawyernomics2015 App

Presentation #4 – AVVO Attorneys Lightning Round – Panel Discussion moderated by Dan Lear, Director of Industry Relations at AVVO,  where participants discuss how they built their practice and use the AVVO platform

Featured Panelists:

Gabriel Cheong, ESQ (Family Law/Boston)  – who engaged the Chinese American community around Boston, generally first-generation and disinclined to use Google to find what they needed, by advertising in Chinese newspapers (with unique phone numbers on each ad) to get clients and then using AVVO backend stats to track which papers were and were not working for him.

Vanessa Vasquez de Lara, ESQ (Family Law/Miami) – Successfully grossed 300K last year and gains clients by answering questions in AVVO

Jason Beahm, ESQ (DUI/San Francisco) -Successfully grossed 300K last year while utilizing the AVVO Advisor opportunity to leverage his downtime with AVVO Advisor by (See video by Crisp)

Daniel Yaniv, ESQ (Family Law/NY, NY)  – Has generated a whopping 800 reviews that help him to generate business by building credibility and trust.

 

Takeaway: Use email signature to provide link to reviews.

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