A Brand New Day...

...so said Bono. First day at Farber Financial Group as their new Director, Client Development. Totally excited to dig in. Thanks to everyone at Bereskin & Parr -- a great firm with great people.

@cabinets: #que font vos avocats sur Twitter

Patrick Bellerose of the Canadian Bar Association's award-winning magazine, The National, recently quoted myself and colleage Megan Langley Grainger in a story about lawyers using Twitter. The story is en francais. Page 16 and 17 of the April/May 2010 edition.

The Social Media Marketing Blog

The Social Media Marketing Blog written by Scott Monty is a spot where marketers can get practical tips and sage advice from one of the top people in the game. Scott's the head of social marketing for Ford Motor Company.

His latest post are social media tips for 2010.

Posted using ShareThis

Trust, is it Social Marketing's Biggest Challenge

Just finished reading an article that points to trust, as the biggest stumbling block (for employers). The author, Chris Kieff (Follow on Twitter) says on his blog, that companies have to give their employees some room to move: "Managers need to learn to trust that the inevitable mistakes your employees will make can be fixed because of the relationships they develop with your customers." However, not all employees have relationships with customers and as a result, any mistake, can become greater than it actually is...and the mistake, in the first place, can be a whopper, and really turn off a client.

Hence the need for a decent social media policy. I encourage you to check out the IBM Social Computing Guidelines here. I believe this is the grandfather of all social media policies and many organizations are using this not necessarily to prevent people from wasting time or inefficiency, but to prevent people from being human...from doing the dumb things we sometimes get up to.

So I agree with Chris that trust is an issue but, and Chris I hope I am reading your article correctly, I don't agree with leeway...rather, I suggest guidelines for employees. Sort of an ounce of prevention.

PS - Cute dog pic Chris. Looks like a Jack. I've got one myself and love the little guy and the breed.

Cheers!

15 Kick Ass RT (Re-tweet) Tips

I bumped into this blog post via the Twitter group on Linkedin. Thanks to Kathy Addison of Elite Media Group in Florida for posting (http://twitter.com/kathyaddison).

I wil assume that you know and use Twitter if you are reading this. If not, you should be if you are a marketer. This is a trend that is here to stay -- think pre-Google, pre-Yahoo. Social media is the new search engine.

Econsultancy, which bills itself as a blog to unite digital marketers, recently posted fifteen tips and tricks to get more and better followers. A chap by the name of Chris Lake made the post. He has lots of other interesting posts as well. Go here.

The blog is rated as the 40th ranked blog on AdAge magazine's Power150. This is astounding. My little blog, which I don't tend to much or often enough, is ranked betwee 950 and 1100.

Read his blog post for simple ideas that are both common sense (like shorten your URLS as Twitter can only handle 140 characters) to wading into other's conversations or just understanding timing.

Here's the link.

See you soon.

Why Blogs are Good for Law Firm Marketing

Larry Bodine posted a blog post on April 14th called Why Blogs are Good for Law Firm Marketing, in which he says that blogs influence buying decisions. Larry quotes a known study on readership which found that half of the respondents said that blogs were "useful" when considering purchases.

Larry also posted that:

Blog readers are also more likely to trust advertising on a blog than on a social network like Facebook, the study found; 25 percent said they trust blog ads, with 19 percent trusting social network ads.

No question that blogs have come a long way baby. In fact, companies like LexBlog and Kevin O'Keefe (@kevinokeefe on Twitter) have made a bundle building blogs for law firms. PS - I have the utmost respect for LexBlog and Kevin, but like most legal marketers, I am searching for high-end, statistically valid and reliable data on the impact of blogs and other social media on the buying decisions for corporate legal services.

Where I would like to see research is not on consumer buying decisions but B2B buying decisions, specifically those of corporate (general) counsel in North America, Europe and Asia. Now that my friends in legal marketing, would be worth reading.

Client Development - Making Time

Cordell Parvin on his Law Consulting Blog writes, "Figuring out the best time to work on client development is important. It will be different for each of you." For Parvin, when he practiced law, he made time on Saturday or Sunday mornings.

For those with full careers and family lives, this may not work for you. Then again, it might. Parvin's point is that you have to find your sweet spot. More importantly, you have actually do it. Billable hours are critical and keep the firm going -- but without marketing, business development or client development, whichever you prefer to call it, your dead in the water eventually. Clients come and go, if you don't work to fill the pipeline with new prospects, you'll eventually not have to worry about billable hours.

Peace.

Legal Marketers - 11 Reasons Why NOT to ignore Social Media

A Twitter friend Kara Smith (http://www.twitter.com/karasmamedia) just posted this interesting blog post. I think I agree with what she is saying. Certainly time will tell. I don't agree with point 7 that its cost efficient for firms -- time is money and it takes a tremendous amount of time to build up a following -- if you don't have a following, don't bother frankly or you might as well shout into the wind. I do agree with point 5 that when one social network falls, another arises. Plaxo and Myspace seem to be dying, but Twitter and Twitter aps are growing like mad.

Check it out here.

Thanks Kara. Great info.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

First Flock Post

Well here I am at lunch hour testing a new browser - Flock. Its a Mozilla beast that sucks in all your fav social networking feeds plus a host of other stuff and gives you everything on one screen. I like it.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

A Little Charity Goes a Long Way

This year, I am participating in the CIBC Run for the Cure as a Team Captain and the CN Tower Climb for the World Wildlife Fund as a participant.

The global recession has hit hard, but if you can and you’d like to donate to a cause, both of these are very worthwhile.

You can donate to either or both. Any amount would be most generous. Just click the links below.

October 4th at 8 am. (Bereskin & Parr – IP Law Team) CIBC Run for the Cure (Team Captain – Andre Mazerolle) : Click here.

(Note: If you would like to join the Bereskin & Parr Team, its open to employees, friends and family...go here to REGISTER as new participant or returning participant, click here.

For over 20 years, thanks to the generosity of Canadians, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation has been funding breast cancer research, education and awareness programs that are making a difference. You will automatically receive an electronic tax receipt for donations of $20 or more within 30 minutes. Please expect delays of up to 48 hours during peak periods.

April 16th at 6 p.m. (Bereskin & Parr Team) CN Tower Climb for the World Wildlife Fund (Team Captain – Dan Yang), click here.

Climate change is the single biggest environmental threat facing our world today! In order to help WWF-Canada fight climate change on behalf of people like you and me, I've decided to climb the 1,776 steps of the CN Tower. While I will do the climbing, I need you to help me raise needed funds. Remember, for every pledge of $20 or more you will get a tax receipt.

Also, I am waiting for the registration to open for the annual Paddle the Don, this year on Sunday, May 3rd. This will not be a corporate team, rather just me and my kayak. If everything goes well, I’ll be paddling in this worthwhile run — and I’ll send sponsorship info around. The ‘paddle’ helps to highlight the importance of healthy rivers in Toronto and the surrounding regions. Your support will help us protect and regenerate this famous urban river. Next time you are driving down the DVP, look to the right and you’ll see why this event is so worthwhile.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Pass this along to anyone you think might be interested in either cause.

Thanks,

Andre