One of the chief complaints I receive from the attorneys that I meet and work with is that they just don’t have time for legal marketing. While billable hours, day-to-day emergencies and time outside the office all add up, there are definite ways to go about making time for legal marketing and business development. The key is to think of it as an ongoing habit, not something to “make time for.” Rather than seeing marketing and business development as a burden, think of it as an integral part of your day-to-day life. The interesting thing about creating this kind of habit is that once you find the right system for your individual lifestyle it should simply become second nature.

The benefits to making time are numerous. Aside from building relationships with potential clients and referral sources, taking advantage of marketing and business development opportunities can help increase your visibility AND credibility in the legal arena and beyond. Writing articles and participating in social media help you create and build a personal brand—something that every lawyer should have. True dedication and time commitment can even bring you recognition as an expert in your chosen practice area or within a specific industry.

Below are a few suggestions and lessons from attorneys I’ve worked with, as well as my own observations and experience. Choose the path that make sense for you or adapt the suggestions to work within your own day, but give it a chance. Do something! The rewards you will reap are far greater than a 5-minute time commitment.

Multi-task. No one I know comes into the office and immediately gets to work. One solution to the time crunch is to fold your marketing and business development efforts into your morning routine. As you sit down to your desk with your morning coffee or tea (or breakfast…) browse through your contacts or referral lists and send a few emails; read a legal marketing blog; update your social media or even spend 10 minutes working on a potential article or speech. By 9 am you’ll have accomplished something solid and can focus the rest of your day on other endeavors. Alternately, you can do the same thing during a quick lunch at your desk or coffee break. You’d be surprised how far 10 minutes can go.
Save it up. One attorney I know has created a special folder in her email Inbox specifically for legal marketing emails. As the weekly or daily updates from the blogs and social media groups she subscribes to come in she simply directs them to the folder. Then, once a week she takes an hour out of her day to read through the week’s emails and respond to them accordingly. She’s able to keep up to date on legal marketing news and colleague updates, post articles and communicate about possible speaking engagements without disrupting the flow of her day.
End your day. A colleague of mine channels his efforts into work all day but integrates marketing into his nighttime routine. With the stresses of the day (and impending deadlines, phone calls and emails) over, he sets aside 15-20 minutes a night before bed to investigate marketing leads, send emails to potential referral sources and work on articles and social media.
Schedule it in… for the first month. If all else fails, treat legal marketing as a literal client. Put it on your schedule and make no excuses for not paying attention to it, just as you would a client. Whether it’s once a week or biweekly, set aside specific time for uninterrupted focus. After the first month I can guarantee that finding time for business development will feel effortless.

Simple in theory but never easy in practice, without a true commitment you can never reap the rewards of a solid marketing habit. Filling your pipeline with work, receiving recognition as an expert and gaining credibility and visibility won’t happen all at once, but you can be sure they will happen. Just as with any other endeavor, it takes focus and time to see results.

Paula Black has advised law firms around the globe on everything from powerful and innovative design to marketing strategy and business growth. She is an award-winning. Amazon-bestselling author and the force behind In Black & White (inblackandwhiteblog.com), a blog dedicated to clear, straightforward advice and open discussion of legal marketing issues. For more information on Paula Black, her books and her company please visit paulablacklegalmarketing.com.
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After one of the worst periods for sales in retail history, some of the largest retailers in the country are saying that this year they are going to work harder than ever at increasing sales while trying to contain marketing expenses, according to a Dow Jones story that ran this morning.

Their solution? The Internet.

“We’re looking at how we can be more targeted in how we talk to our customers,” said Barbara Hagen, senior marketing director for brand strategy and communications at Best Buy Inc., who was speaking at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention in New York City on Sunday.  She described marketing tactics designed to increase their visibility and drive people to their Web site to buy online or head to their retail locations. “It’s also a way of increasing loyalty and retention.”

She’s right – PR is the best way to leverage the Internet. It is the only marketing tactic that combines the power of print, both offline and online, with one stroke.  A single article in traditional print publications can also appear in their online publications and then can be republished and redistributed by numerous others on social networks.

The new media and PR are a match made in heaven for increasing awareness about your company and products:

1. PR is trusted – According to Forrester Research, 45 percent of people surveyed trust the editorial sections of the newspapers and magazines they read (offline and online).  But, 85 percent of consumers don’t trust the advertising that bombards them.
  
2. PR delivers credibility – If the reporter at your local daily newspaper sees fit to write about your company in a positive light, it amounts to a tacit endorsement of your company by the paper. That carries weight and trust that you just can’t buy with display ads in that same publication.
 
3. PR reaches the masses – In an age where more people are getting their news online than offline, it would appear on the surface that PR is losing its punch, but nothing could be further than the truth. Every newspaper and magazine repurposes its content online. In fact, the Audit Bureau of Circulation said the Internet readership of newspapers exceeded 75 million unique visitors last year, an increase of more than 23 percent over the previous year. People are STILL reading newspapers and magazines – and they are doing it online.
 
4. PR on the Web is closer to your customers – No matter your business or your potential customer, the ones who are ready to buy go to the Internet to research their decisions BEFORE they reach for their checkbooks.  Articles about your company and product can confirm their buying decision and, in many cases, put your consumers one click away from your Web site – your virtual storefront.
 
5. PR is Social Network Compatible – The best way to draw the ire of the millions of Facebook and Twitter users is to be too commercial in your updates and links. If you currently use social networks to generate new business, you already know you cannot be too overtly commercial in your posts.  Tweeting and providing links to legitimate stories in the media about your company is not the same animal, however. In fact, these postings typically help generate greater buzz and far more one-to-one contact with potential customers.
 
6. PR online is happening NOW – Right now, your competitors are working all these angles in growing numbers. No matter your business, companies – like Best Buy – are getting smarter about connecting the dots between their customers, the Internet, their message and their sales. Every day that you wait, they gain ground and you lose it.

The challenges of the new decade aren’t going to get easier, and economic recovery won’t be a magic wand waved by the government. We have to do what we know is smart, prudent and cost effective to drive our businesses forward. PR meets all those requirements more so today than it ever has before.

For 20 years Marsha Friedman has been a leading authority on public relations as CEO of EMSI. Go to www.emsincorporated.com to signup to receive her free PR Insider Newsletter today! Or call at 727-443-7115, ext. 202, or email at mfriedman@emsincorporated.com.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-tips-articles/how-can-businesses-increase-their-revenues-while-spending-less-1730836.html

Making revenue from article marketing is as easy as a – b – c! Really, it is not that difficult to make money online if you plug in to a simply 3 step system that I will summarise for you here today. If you will follow this system, then you too will be making cashflow in next to no time at all.

OK, let’s do it. I shall assume for the sake of simplicity that you already have a little knowledge of article marketing. But, should you be totally inexperienced, then this article will still make sense (hopefully) although you will maybe need a little more instruction which is freely available for you.

The first step is to write an article using notepad of approx 300-500 words. I saying notepad because it takes away the editing concerns away and you can simply think on the job at hand which is to create a quality article that has fresh ideas,Google loves this. Be sure to include your keyword phase at least 3 times in a natural way as this for sure helps with your SEO.

Second, paste your article to any high traffic online article directory under an appropriate category. If this is your first time, now take this time to create a free account for yourself. It is also worth while at this time to complete the profile page as you will definitely want prospects of the article to know a a lot more about the author.

The last step in order to build cashflow online is to place your article to a blog or blogs that you have about your opportunity,product,business, that you are busy creating this article for. Repeat, this gives you another marketing piece and more chances to be seen by your niche audience while all the while building credibility in yourself to your audience. This part of marketing should never be overlooked. Remember, people do business with people who they either know or trust, period!

Now if I did this correctly, this gives us a simple 3 step plan in order to create money online. By following this easy, free, duplicatable process, you can be up and running and driving traffic to your website, blog, whatever in no time flat.

And if you want to see more about this and other great ways for internet marketing, then I encourage you to take a good look at the information available here today.

To your continued marketing success.

A LOT OF MONEY can be made on the internet; it’s not hard once you know how things work. Obviously, you’ll need a sound PROGRAM to follow. If you are serious about changing your life on the internet, go to my website Internet Income. http://www.CoastalFreeLeads.com Dale Dupree

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-tips-articles/make-income-online-fast-easy-as-a-b-c-as-long-as-youre-using-article-marketing-1622507.html