JDBlogger | Legal Marketing | Blogging | Podcasting | Social Media for Lawyers and Attorney Entrepreneurs - John Skiba

Today on the JDBlogger Podcast I interview Elena Saris.  Elena has been a public defender with the  Los Angeles County Public Defenders office for more than 20 years - becoming one of the youngest attorneys in the office to handle death penalty cases.  From 2008 through 2012 she served as  President of the Public Defenders Employees Association, representing the interests of more than 700 lawyers in the office.  She has mentored new lawyers in the office for the past 15 years. Last year Elena started the Trial Lawyer Confidential Podcast, a podcast focused on educating the public on the criminal justice system and providing lawyers tips on how to be a better trial lawyer. Elena and I discuss why she chose podcasting over other mediums to get her message out, what she uses to record and edit her podcast, and why one of her clients has her name tattooed on his arm! If you are thinking of starting a podcast this is an episode you don't want to miss. Tools of the Trade Many in the marketing world deemed 2013 to be the Year of the Podcast.  And while podcasting grew bigger and better in 2013 I think that podcasting's best days are definitely to come.  Apple recently announced the release of Carplay.  Carplay will allow you to access your iOS apps such as your phone, text messages, maps, and podcasts directly from the information center in the dash of your car. Carplay will be found in 2014 Mercedes, Hondas, and Ferarris (for all you Ferarri owners out there) and will expand to several other brands going forward. One thing I found interesting is cars with Carplay will not have access to AM/FM radio.  While it may be premature to predict the demise of traditional radio, I think the future of talk radio will like come in the form of a podcast. Leave Your Feedback and a Review in iTunes by Clicking Here!

Lawyers are, for the most part, a cautious bunch.  After all, looking out for the pot holes of life is what we do best.  So when it comes to our own marketing many of us have questions as to what we can and can't do and say.  Can I respond comments on my blogs?  Can I put up someone else's photo on my blog?  Should I even have a blog?  What are some of the ethical considerations?  Is a blog advertising?  Should I have a disclaimer on my site? When it comes to online marketing it is easy to put information up on the web but difficult to control who actually reads it and what they do with it.  For some lawyers the perceived risk is too much and they either don't get involved or fill their blogs and websites with so many disclaimers that they lose all effectiveness. It doesn't have to be that way.  Today on the JDBlogger Podcast I interview attorney/author Ruth Carter.  Ruth's latest book, The Legal Side of Blogging for Lawyers, was just released by the ABA and she answers all the above questions and more. You can learn more about Ruth and her practice by clicking HERE. Tools of the Trade In today's Tool of the Trade segment I go over places you can get free photos to use with your blog posts that have the Creative Commons licensing.  I also discuss why I now purchase all of my photos through iStockphoto.com. Subscribe to the Podcast through iTunes!

In this episode of the JDBlogger Podcast I interview New York medical malpractice attorney John Fisher.  Mr. Fisher is the author of the new book The Power Of A System: How To Build the Injury Law Practice of Your Dreams.  In today's interview John discusses how he has used the two books that he has written to build a successful practice in the area medical malpractice.  He answers such questions as: How writing a book can gain media publicity for your practice. Why writing a book is not nearly as difficult as you might think. How writing a book can help you attract and retain more clients. You can learn more about John and his law practice at John H. Fisher, P.C.  You can also check out John's podcast, The Ultimate Practice Builder for New York Injury Lawyer by clicking on the picture to the right. Tool of the Trade This week's Tool of the Trade is somewhat self promotional.  I recently re-launched my Consumer Warrior Podcast and in today's episode I share with you some of the most recent episode of how you can use an audio podcast to grow your practice. Leave a Review for the JDBlogger Podcast in iTunes!

Today on the JDBlogger Podcast I interview California attorney Cathy Moran.  Cathy is a bankruptcy specialist and has operated her own solo practice since the day she graduated from law school.  She also currently writes for 4 different blogs on bankruptcy and consumer issues at Bankruptcy Mastery, Bankruptcy in Brief, Bankruptcy Soapbox, and Consumer Ledger.   In today's interview Cathy shares with us some of her insights in starting a law practice right out of law school, tips that will help any solo practitioner grow a prosperous law practice, and how she manages to run her firm and write for 4 blogs on an almost daily basis. Tool of the Trade In this week's Tool of the Trade segment I share with you the new audio branding that I just had made for my Consumer Warrior Podcast.  I hired the good people over a Music Radio Creative to create a custom intro/outro for the podcast.  I went a little unorthodox (OK, maybe a lot).  Check them out and let me know what you think.   Leave us Some Feedback and a Rating in iTunes!  

Recently I redesigned my law firm website.  If you have been through the process of launching a website or even redesigning a website you know that it can be a long and tedious process, much like building a house (okay, not that bad).  In this episode I am going to give you a peak into the strategy sessions I had with Skyhook Internet Marketing on the redesign of the website, why we made it mobile responsive, how we made it more helpful to potential clients, and why I refocused and even changed some of the areas of law I practice in. You can check out the newly designed by clicking below: Tool of the Trade This week's Tool of the Trade is My Social Book.  This website allows you to take the content from your personal or law firm Facebook page and create a hardcover book.  I thought this was a neat way you could capture the content you are putting on Facebook and would be a great thing to put in your waiting room.  Clients would not only see that you write on the various legal topics consistently but it may drive more people back to your law firm Facebook page and result in additional "likes". Subscribe to the JDBLogger Podcast in iTunes

On today's podcast I interview the Neil Armstrong of legal blogging - Greg Siskind.  Greg is an immigration lawyer working in Memphis who is credited with starting the first law firm blog ever back in 1997.  Further, Greg is credited with starting the first ever solo attorney law firm website in 1994.  In this interview Greg tells us his story on what blogging was like in a world before Google and shares his secret to maintaining an almost daily blogging schedule for the last seventeen years. Greg will also share with us his thoughts on mobile legal marketing, including mobile responsive websites, using apps to market a law practice, and his thoughts on how you can be an early adopter of upcoming technology to give you a leg up on the competition.   Recently Greg wrote an article entitled "Mobile Legal Marketing: Considerations Before Moving In" that appeared in the ABA Magazine "Law Practice". Tool of the Trade This week's Tool of the Trade is the new Facebook app known as "Paper".  Paper basically takes the regular Facebook newsfeed and displays it in a way that is much more visually appealing and focused on the photos in the individual post.  It also allows you to add additional "sections" that allow you to access information from around the web such as information on sports, tech, etc. This new app reinforced to me how important it is to have a good photo accompany each of your blog articles.  For my law firm blog I get my photos at Istockphoto.com.  I do have to pay for them but have found them to be much higher quality and simply much easier to find than when I was searching all over the web for a good photo.  Check it out and let me know what you think over at the JDBlogger Facebook page. Leave Me Some Feedback and Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes

In this episode of the JDBlogger Podcast I interview attorney Jacob Sapochnick .  Jacob is an immigration lawyer in San Diego, California and blogger on legal marketing and practice management at Enchanting Lawyer.com. The unique thing about Jacob's marketing plan is his focus on Facebook marketing and his staggering 99,000+ "Likes" on his law firm Facebook Page. In this interview we will discuss: How to get your first 10,000 "Likes" Business Pages v. Personal Pages Strategies on using paid Facebook Ads How to create engaging Facebook Posts Techniques for measuring effectiveness of Social Media How to increase "Likes" organically 20 Step Checklist to Help Your Business Facebook Page Succeed Jacob has provided a special link for JDBlogger listeners to access his 20 Step Checklist to Help Your Business Facebook Page Succeed.  Click HERE to access. Tools of the Trade This week's Tool of the Trade is using the promoted post feature for your Facebook posts.  Facebook allows you to "boost" your posts on your Facebook page by paying a fee for each boosted post.  By boosting your post you are able to dramatically increase the number of people who see your article in their Facebook newsfeed.  The price to boost your posts starts at $5 can can go up to several hundred depending upon the number of people you want to get your article in front of. Click on the picture below to review an example of the type of exposure a "boosted" post can have as compared to an organic or "non-boosted" post.   Leave Me Some Feedback and a 5 Star Review in iTunes!  

When it comes to trying to decipher SEO for our websites we lawyers have probably spent more than any other group on on earth!  Always searching for the perfect formula that will take us to that coveted first page of Google.  In today's episode of the podcast I interview Luke Ciciliano, attorney and co-owner of SEO for Lawyers, a Las Vegas based website development company that focuses on helping attorneys build and optimize their law firm websites.  Luke provides us with the three areas we need to focus on to keep our law firm website moving up the Google rankings. Tool of the Trade Today's Tool of the Trade is Perfect Audience.  This company refers to itself as a "retargeting platform" that helps you to capture more leads from the people who are visiting your website.  When people visit your law firm website it tracks each user with a cookie in their browser.  Then, when that user goes to Facebook a Facebook ad will appear in their news stream to remind them about your law firm.  This way you not only remind them of your law firm but give them an opportunity to come back to your site and hopefully give you a call. I am just starting to use this with my law firm website and will give you an update down the road on the results. Leave Me a Review and Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes!

I finally have recorded and uploaded my first legal marketing video into Youtube!  It has been a long time in the making, but I finally took all the equipment I purchased and shot, edited, and uploaded my first video.  I have several other videos already shot and am currently finalizing the editing process.  My goal with my videos is to create an online library of short 2-3 minute videos on various aspects of bankruptcy and debt collection law suits that will hopefully help potential clients out and encourage them to call me for help with their legal needs. In this episode of the podcast I go over a few of the tips/insights I have after finally getting everything together and shooting that first video. Resources Mentioned in this Episode Jenny H. Design - Custom Graphics Jenny Hamson designed the iTunes artwork for the JDBlogger Podcast as well as my Consumer Warrior Podcast (see below).  I asked her to create some graphics for use in my videos, which helps in streamlining the video editing process and frankly just speeds things up.  She does a great job, is very talented, and reasonably priced. Lawyers' Video Studio Gerry Oginski was a guest on the JDBlogger Podcast in Episode #4.  Gerry is an attorney and founder of The Lawyers' Video Studio that helps attorneys create videos for marketing their law practice.  Gerry also has an online Do-it-Yourself course that I used to help me get my first video launched - I highly recommend it. Video Equipment (Camera/Microphone/Lighting) Back in Episode #31 I discussed in more detail the equipment I purchased for my videos.  Click here to go back and check out that episode My First Youtube Video! Here it is, my first (real) attempt and producing my own video content.  Let me know what you think. http://youtu.be/sEpmEHMigdI Leave a Review in iTunes If you are a regular listener to the podcast I would really appreciate you takings a few minutes to rate the podcast in iTunes and leave me some feedback.  Thanks for listening.

I have really been looking forward to this episode.  Joe Pulizzi is one of the world's leading experts on content marketing.  He recently launched his third book, "Epic Content Marketing: How to Tell a Different Story, Break through the Clutter, and Win More Customers by Marketing Less" And on today's podcast Joe shares with us insights and strategies on creating your law firm content marketing plan and how to use social media to drive additional business for your law practice.  If you are getting ready to launch a new marketing plan for your firm or feel that you need to take everything to the next level this is a "can't miss" episode that will give you some great ideas and "take-aways" that you can implement immediately. Tool of the Trade  This week's Tool of the Trade is Evernote.  In order to be successful at content marketing you have to be in it for the long-haul, and that means blogging several times a week for years.  The struggle is coming up with relevant, interesting topics to write on day in and day out.  This requires that you adopt a mind-set where you are looking for topics to write on everywhere you go. Evernote is a great tool that can be added as an extension to your browser (I use Chrome) that allows you to "save" or "clip" articles, videos, audio, and other content to a folder that you can then access later.  I use Evernote simply as a way to organize potential ideas that I can use for blogging. If you want to learn all of the tips and tricks associated with Evernote I would also recommend buying the ebook "Evernote Essentials" by Brett Kelly.  It is a great step-by-step guide on how to get the most out of Evernote. Subscribe and Leave a Review for the JDBlogger Podcast in iTunes!

Happy New Year!   This is the time of year when we can look back on the preceding year and look at what went well, what was effective, and where we need to make changes.  Today on the JDBLogger Podcast I discuss three areas that I am currently evaluating as I go through my marketing plan and determine what changes I am going to make for the coming year.  Specifically I will discuss website/platform performance, taking content creation to the next level (including implementing audio/video content), and more effective use of social media. Tool of the Trade This week's Tool of the Trade is a new book I have been reading the new book by Gary Vaynerchuk called Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World .  It is a great book on providing detailed information on Facebook, Twitter, Google + and other social media platforms and how you can use them to grow your business.  I know there are a lot of books that cover this subject but I have found this one to be really useful and full of great information. Subscribe to the Podcast or Leave a Review through iTunes!    

I get quite a few emails from listeners to the podcast with suggestions for topics for the podcast and questions on marketing a law practice. In today's episode I have taken a handful of question I received most recently and give you my thoughts and advice on topics ranging from whether your blog should be part of your law firm website, the benefit of joining listserves, and whether printing your logo on mugs and T-shirts (SWAG) will get you any clients. If you have topics you would like to hear about or even guests you would like to hear interviewed on the podcast please don't hesitate to contact me at john@jdblogger.com Tool of the Trade In today's Tool of the Trade segment I share with you some of my most recent statistics from my blog and the benefits of blogging every day. Please Leave Me Some Feedback by Visiting the Podcast in iTunes!

I am always on the look out for attorney entrepreneurs that are creative in their legal careers and even in operating other businesses.  So when I met Leila Kanani I knew I had to have her on the podcast.  Leila has a solo IP practice and is also the founder of Intermix Legal Group - a company that places "freelance" attorneys with solo and small law firms for assistant on specific cases or projects. In today's podcast Leila tells us about her transition from BigLaw to a solo practice and how her company Intermix Legal Group is used by solo and small law firms as a marketing tool to attract larger clients.  You can learn more about Leila and Intermix Legal Group by clicking below:   Tools of the Trade Today's Tool of the Trade is the upcoming New Media Expo 2014.  Every year in January bloggers, podcasters, and all social media types gather together in Las Vegas for a three day conference.  I went for the first time this past January and it is a great opportunity to learn how to use all of the great new media tools that are out there to market your law practice.  If any of you are going please let me know.  It would be great meet some of the listeners to the podcast! Subscribe to the Podcast and Leave us a Review!  

Today on the JDBlogger Podcast I interview John Corcoran.  John produces the weekly podcast Smart Business Revolution which he uses to teach entrepreneurs strategies and tactics to grow their business.  John is also a practicing attorney in California. Prior to practicing law John had the unique opportunity of serving as an aide to President Bill Clinton and as a speech writer to the Governor of California.  In today's interview John tells us what he learned from high-level politics and how you can implement those same lessons and tactics in becoming more effective at networking. Free Book - How to Create Your Personal Networking Plan John has offered a special link to access his new ebook "How to Create Your Personal Networking Plan" specifically for JDBlogger listeners.  Click HERE to access the book. John also offers a more in-depth course on how to become great at networking.  The title of the course is "Power Networking System".  You can learn more about it by Click Here (affiliate link). Check out the Smart Business Revolution Podcast. Tools of the Trade Today's Tool of the Trade is really more of a tip.  We all want love in when it comes to our social media.  Admit it.  When someone retweets your post, likes your Facebook page, or takes the time to leave a meaningful comment it adds some energy to your day.  My tip is to freely give praise and share.  Leave the negativity at home.  The more you engage others on social media, the more your personal network will grow and the greater your return will be.        

The questions I get most often center around how to create an online marketing plan for those attorneys looking to start their own solo law firm.  Starting your own law practice can produce a lot of anxiety.  However, by putting together a solid foundation when it comes to your online presence can start you off in the right direction and provide you with returns on this investment of time years to come. In today's episode I will discuss the following: Why it is vital to focus the areas of your law practice How to plan your website and whether you will need more than one website How to set up social media pages for your new law practice What directories you must submit your website to, including how AVVO can get you clients Why you must master keyword research and have a solid content production plan Links Discussed in this Episode www.justia.com www.abajournal.com/blawgs www.LongTailPro.com Tools of Trade This weeks Tool of the Trade is a discussion on how to get more Facebook "likes" through the use of Facebook ads.  Many people understand that it is important to get "likes" but many aren't exactly sure why.  In this episode I talk about how you can rapidly increase the number of "likes" for your law firm website .