You hear that, state bars? It’s the sound of the foundation crumbling beneath your creaky and outdated structures of attorney advertising regulation. While a number of states (including our more enlightened jurisdictions here on the West Coast) take a relatively benign approach to regulating attorney advertising, the seeds of speech repression still germinate in the rules kept on the books in these states. And other states – notably Florida – continue to roll forward with Kafka-esque levels of attorney speech regulation. Want to run an internet ad in Florida? You’ve got to wait 3 weeks, hope for approval from a kangaroo court made up of a mix of your competitors and non-lawyers and pay $150 for the privilege. And that’s just a glimpse of the thicket of ridiculousness awaiting those who would practice in the Sunshine State.

(photo by David Lat)

Miami’s own Brian Tannebaum and I wrote an article, published today in the Daily Business Review, exposing the farcical nature of the Florida Bar’s attempt to give lip service to Constitutional requirements while still maintaining its bizarre and repressive system of ad regulation. And what better to reinforce our point than yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc.? In Sorrell, the Court expanded the commercial speech doctrine, finding that otherwise-truthful advertising cannot be restricted simply because the state wants to prevent the public from making what it believes to be bad decisions.

To whit: “That the State finds expression too persuasive does not permit it to quiet the speech or to burden its messengers.” This is precisely what bars like Florida’s seek to do via review boards and restrictions on common advertising techniques such as testimonials, comparative ads and the use of compelling imagery.

So Florida – and all of the other states burdening attorneys and increasing the cost of legal services while diminishing the amount of information available to consumers – your attempts to wave your hands over the constitutional issues while quieting the speech of your members through advertising review boards and Byzantine regulation cannot stand. It’s well past time to give it up. Prohibit false advertising. Aggressively go after offenders. But beyond that, respect the professionalism of your members and stop making them worry about whether their advertising tag line or marketing campaign violates one of your pedantic little rules.

Next Wednesday, June 29th at 1PM ET/10AM PT, author and lawyer Ari Kaplan will join us for a free webinar all about Reinventing your Law Practice in the Recovery:

Find out how to reinvent your practice and build your profile in today’s changing digital landscape. Ari Kaplan, Esq., author of the newly released Reinventing Professional Services – Building Your Business in the Digital Marketplace (Wiley, 2011) will discuss:

• Strategic cost-effective suggestions for transforming your practice
• Innovative tips for enhancing your work productivity and job satisfaction
• Utilizing social media to be in the know and to be known.

Ari Kaplan is also the author of the Amazon.com bestseller The Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development (Thomson-West, 2008), which is about how law students, lawyers and other professionals can stand out in today’s stagnant economy. The New York Law Journal called it “[a] must-have treasure box of marketing ideas.” He has addressed thousands of individuals in the legal community worldwide, who identify with his sincere approach to marketing.

Kaplan offers strategic and cost-effective suggestions for immediately transforming one’s perspective, profile and practice. He spent nearly nine years with large law firms in New York City and understands the delicate balance between self-promotion and professionalism. He has interviewed hundreds of authorities on related topics and brings those perspectives to bear in each of his presentations.

As the principal of Ari Kaplan Advisors, he also provides legal industry research services, personal coaching, and training for students and professionals on publishing, communications, career enhancement, business development and networking. He is admitted to the bar in New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. He earned his J.D. from George Washington University Law School and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Boston University.

Sign up here!

Nearly three years ago, I wrote about the California Bar’s misguided attempt to limit public access to its records. By using a bit of lawyerly kung fu, the bar sought to occupy a little island of non-transparency unique among government agencies.

The first step was avoiding the Public Records Act. Easily done; as part of the judiciary, the Bar is exempted from the Public Records Act. But the problem is that court records are subject to similar openness requirements under both the First Amendment and common law. And that’s where the second step comes in: The Bar isn’t a “court”, so its records aren’t subject to these common law principles. Presto – no right for the public to see the bar’s records!

Yes, it’s embarrassing, a weasel-like argument that should shame any public servant who cares about accountability or the perception of the legal industry. But the Bar shamelessly used it against an attempt to access records, and I’ve certainly run across the same argument when dealing with regulators in other states.

So while it’s taken awhile, I was happy to see that the California Court of Appeals finally rapped the Bar’s knuckles and dumped its quest for lawyer-regulatory-exceptionalism. Score one for transparency.

If you missed our webinar last week with Sam Glover, worry no more, we’re happy to share the recording here. Also check out the schedule of upcoming legal marketing webinars. Next up is Adwords PPC Advertising for Lawyers this Thursday at 10AM PT!

Practice Management Software Solutions for Law Firms: Sam Glover from Avvo on Vimeo.

You’re on Avvo looking at your dashboard and thinking, “Wow this site is great!  I wish there was a way I could share these benefits with my colleagues and former classmates,” Or, you endorsed your partner down the hall and think, “That was really simple!  Who else should I endorse?”

Sound familiar?

If it does, or if you want an easy way to find people on Avvo you may already know, Avvo’s new People You May Know feature is the answer.

Launched this week, you can now see on your dashboard up to three recommendations of people we think you know based on information in the Avvo profiles.  For each recommendation, we show how you are connected to the person – your connections through local groups, law school or medical school, shared colleagues, etc.

If you know and respect the person’s work, go ahead and endorse them.  Not ready or interested in endorsing the recommendation, but think they’d benefit from Avvo? With a click of a button you can send them an email, encouraging them to claim their free Avvo profile.

To see more recommendations you can either refresh your screen or click the “View all people you may know” link to see a page of recommendations.

Endorse people.  Invite people.

And with all our new product features, please tell us what you think and how we can make it even better!

On June 2nd the daily deal king, Groupon, filed its IPO paperwork.  The company, which mails out daily discounts on behalf of local merchants, has turned down six billion dollars from Google and is close to generating almost a billion dollars in yearly revenue, even though it only started three short years ago.

What many don’t realize is that one of the secrets behind Groupon’s success is something that lawyers and doctors can also tap into.

Groupon: old trick, new spin

Groupon may be a new, high-tech business, but it’s built on one of the oldest, most common marketing tricks in the book: coupons.

Although it may not seem like it, Groupon has a lot to do with professional marketing, and I’m not talking about using it to offer 50% off Botox or $99 wills (not that there’s anything wrong with that).  I’m talking about using the power of discounts in your marketing in a way that doesn’t cost you much, and which is appropriate for professional services.

Discounts are a powerful motivator, even in the new age of social media

Razorfish, the interactive agency sold by Microsoft, did a study to answer the question of why people follow brands on Twitter and Facebook.  You might think the answer is because people love the brands and want to engage with them. But the real answer is much more cynical. The number one reason people follow brands on Twitter and Facebook is discounts.  So even in the modern age of social media, simple coupons still remain powerful tools—some things never change.

How can you offer discounts to expand your business?

One of the oldest marketing maxims is “Don’t compete on price.” While that advice seems to run contrary to offering discounts, it doesn’t have to.

The key to using discounts, without competing on price, is to give people value while costing yourself little or nothing.  My dentist is a great example of someone who does this well. He gives away free, at-home whitening kits to all new patients, which was enough to get me to switch to him.

Giving away a lot for very little

How much do you think a little tube of whitening gel costs? Maybe $20 bought in bulk? My point remains even at a multiple of that, but let’s assume $20.  So for a little tube of $20 gel and a custom teeth mold, I switched dentists.

Now, to be fair, it wasn’t just the free whitening that caused me to switch. My wife loved this dentist when she switched (and she did largely because of the whitening gel), so it was positive reviews plus free whitening that did it for me. I hate going to the dentist, and free whitening made me happy about going, for once in my life, because I felt like I was getting a deal.

Discounts encourage referrals

Shortly after I made my appointment to get free whitening, a coworker asked for dentist recommendations.  Naturally, I bragged about how I knew of a dentist who gives away free whitening because, of course, people love spreading the word about deals, since we all want to be seen as hubs of exclusive information.

So, for a mere $20, this dentist now has me coming in every six months paying several hundred dollars a pop for years, plus I referred another client who will do the same.  If I ever need more than simple cleaning, he’ll rake in even more.  The lifetime value of me, as a patient, is well into the thousands of dollars, and the cost to acquire me was a mere $20.

That’s the power of discounts.  You don’t have to slash your prices by 50% a la Groupon.  You don’t have to compete on price.  It as simple as finding something valuable that you can give away at little or no cost.  If the cost of your promo is small relative to the lifetime value of the customers it brings in, then it’s a winner.

Free consultations tap into the power of discounts

Lawyers already understand the power of discounts, which is why many offer free consultations.  Offering to chat with someone for free for 15 minutes has no hard cost to you, but it’s an easy way to lure clients in the door.  It’s also a way of building rapport.  But why not be more creative than that?

Let’s say you’re a lawyer who does wills. Why not offer a free living will? Or how about giving away a free guide or ebook in exchange for signing up for your mailing list? Or what about partnering with a non-competitive, complementary business? For example, if you’re an eye doctor, partner with a local glasses shop to give your patients a 50% coupon from the shop. You get patients, and the shop gets customers. That’s a win-win deal.  Of course, these are just examples, and you know your business way better than I do, so I’m sure you can think of something.

So just look around and think about the things you can be giving away that don’t cost you much in terms of time or money, but people value.  Those are the things that make for the best discount offers.

Should you give it away or sell it?

Most people’s reaction to the things that cost them very little isn’t to give them away. It’s the opposite.  They want to sell them for as much as possible, trying to turn them into high margin cash cows.  But in many cases that’s shortsighted.

In the case of my dentist, his $20 investment in giveaways bought him $4,000+ in new lifetime patient value, and those patients will probably go onto refer even more patients.  Besides my dentist, the only people turning $40 into $4,000 are drug dealers and Gillette.  I doubt my dentist would have been better off trying to sell me the same thing for $500 instead of giving it away.

Discounts supercharge all sorts of marketing

One of the biggest problems in marketing is getting people’s attention, followed by the problem of convincing people to take action. The beauty of discounts is that they help you solve both of these problems at once: They get people’s attention, because people love deals, and then they motivate people to take action, because if your discount comes with an expiration date, they’ll have to move quickly to get it.  That means no matter what your marketing medium is, discounts will likely make it more successful.

So the next time you try some advertising or ask people to join your Facebook group, and you don’t get the response you had hoped for, try giving something away.

Discounts have worked since 1888 and will still work in 2088 – even if you hear about them in your flying car.

Coca-Cola coupon from 1888

We’re excited to have Sam Glover present a free webinar this Thursday, June 9th at 1:00PM ET on software solutions for law firms.

Many of you may know Sam as Editor-in-Chief of  Lawyerist, a leading law blog that offers advice on legal marketing, practice management, technology, career development, law school success, legal ethics, and how to start a law practice.

Here’s what you can expect on Thursday:

Bootstrapping a New Law Firm with Free Software: Practice Management on a $0 Budget with Sam Glover

Sam bootstrapped his own law practice using free software, and will be sharing how he did it–as well as how to decide when to pay for software, instead.

Lawyers who attend this webinar will learn about:

• Free software that can augment or replace expensive proprietary software in your law firm
• Practice management using free software
• How to decide whether to use free or proprietary software

Sign up here!

Email from Ross in our sales team today:

In honor of today, Friday June 3rd being National Doughnut Day, I brought in some doughnuts with a touch of Avvo to help us celebrate.

Go ahead and grab yourself a doughnut that best fits your taste. They are in the back conference room next to Mark’s office .

1. “The State Bar” – For those few remaining bars giving Avvo a hard time with their sticky regulations and admittedly unconstitutional opinions to try to save their own bacon.  South Carolina Bar this means you! (raised yeast doughnut with maple frosting and bacon on top)

2. “The Pro Package” – Super charge your profile with intense flavor to market yourself to potential clients. (raised yeast doughnut with blue and white frosting and york peppermint patty mints on top)

3.”The Fake Client Review” – This doughnut brought to you by special collaboration with our friends at Medical Justice – try your luck with a fictitious client rating and worthless World’s Greatest Dad award to increase your Avvo rating.  Note:  neither of these will help your profile, but may raise some other eyebrows.  (raised yeast doughnut with white frosting and lucky charms on top)

4.”The Unclaimed Profile” -  The empty shell of a profile – if you need help upgrading, the engagement team is happy to work with you.  (raised yeast doughnut with boring on top)

Best Regards,
Ross

Medical Justice, the widely reviled company that forces patients to sign gag orders prior to seeing a physician, has gone from bad to worse. I honestly thought you couldn’t go any lower in America than tying an individual’s access to healthcare to their willingness to forgo their basic right of free speech, but I was wrong.

Turns out that Medical Justice is not only stifling the speech of actual patients, they have now allegedly introduced a product called “Review Builder Program” to fabricate positive reviews of fictitious patients.  John Swapceinski, co-founder of RateMDs noted a large number of reviews being submitted to their site from the same set of IP addresses – 84 reviews for 38 doctors in 14 different states in fact.  Those IP’s are all registered to Medical Justice.  John’s further investigation showed that some of these effusive-yet-bogus patient ratings were copied verbatim across multiple review sites.  Some research by Yelp confirmed those same Medical Justice IP’s were responsible for a slew of glowing reviews on Yelp.  You can access John’s post here.    (Fortunately Avvo was not vandalized by MJ.)

John ends his post with some “uncomfortable questions for Medical Justice”, but let’s call this out for what it is: Doctors using Medical Justice to lie about their credentials.  This is false and deceptive advertising – and rightly subjects the doctors to prosecution.  Its hard to say how this will develop – could individual patients file suit?  Will the State Medical Boards take action? (And they should.)  This confirms our stance that Medical Justice tries to protect the bottom of the medical barrel from public opinion.

For more on Medical Justice :

• Electronic Frontier Foundation – Stifling Speech of Patients with a Touch of “Privacy Blackmail”
• Technorati – Gag Orders for Patients – Silencing Online Patient Reviews
• Avvoblog-  Medical Justice Applies Gag Order to Their Own Blog
• Justia – Medical Justice or Doctored Reviews?
• Eric Goldman – Updates on Doctored Reviews and Medical Justice

In a completely unrelated, but tragically ironic development, Medical Justice ends their most recent blog post with the following line:

“Whether involved in a divorce or defending a medical malpractice claim, a person would be wise to re-evaluate his or her on-line postings.”

Jeff – you are both a doctor and a lawyer; you should know better.  Physician heal thyself!икони