Today, we released some pretty exciting data on the growth in participation in Avvo’s expert-only Q&A forum:

• 50,000 questions and answers are submitted to Avvo every month
• Avvo’s Q&A forum has a 90%+ response rate
• Every 90 seconds a user receives advice from an Avvo-rated and verified doctor or lawyer on the site

We’ve also put together an INFOGRAPHIC to show you how fast the Avvo Q&A forum is actually growing.

There are two important underlying trends that are in large part fueling this growth:

a) The continued momentum in the ePatient and eClient movements. More and more consumers are taking charge of their health and legal affairs, in part because of economic necessity, and in part because the Internet has made a wealth of medical and legal information available to the masses.  Consumers are become more educated and, as a result, are participating more in deciding the treatments and solutions.  They are also becoming more discerning about the providers they turn to for help.   Eight in ten Internet users have looked online for health information, according to a May 2011 study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, and ePatients say the Internet has had a significant impact on the way they care for themselves and for others.

b) The increase in importance and popularity of social media platforms, including Q&A, in these movements. More and more, these empowered consumers are realizing that while search engines and other Q&A sites serve up access to a wealth of information, they don’t make it easy to find trusted information or expert advice that addresses the person’s specific need.  As a result, they are turning to resources like Avvo that offer more personal, more reliable, and more efficient ways to get the advice they need and compare providers – all in one place.

These trends also provide significant opportunities for medical and legal providers as well.   For example, professionals that answer questions on Avvo receive 7 times the number of contacts from prospective patients or clients than those that do not participate in Q&A.

The reason for this lies in the traditional “conversion funnel” that is taught in Marketing 101 courses.  Consumers at the top of funnel researching a medical or legal issue are increasingly typing in longer, specific phrases or questions to get to the specific information they want.  Google recognizes this so it places a high value on Q&A content, which mirrors these searches.   As a result, professionals answering questions on Avvo show up in valuable long tail search results that are less competitive than very general keyword terms and convert better.

Avvo Q&A enables professionals to interact with ePatients and eClients researching providers in a significantly more meaningful way than a directory listing or website.  Q&A is a series of conversations.  And like any conversation, even a short one, Q&A provides insight into what it is like to interact with that provider, which is as important as experience or education. For those professionals seeking new business, Avvo Q&A is a competitive edge.  For those who want to ensure that the medical and legal information that is available online is accurate and who do not want to concede health or legal thought leadership to celebrities, quacks and cons, it is a very powerful platform.

We also launched a new version of our homepage today to make it easier for people to ask a question of our tens of thousands of experts or search our database of questions asked on their topic of interest. Try it out and let us know what you think.  We’d love to hear your feedback.

свети георги

My first year of being a lawyer, I did securities litigation defense and really didn’t like it.  Why?  For starters, I wanted to be a transactional lawyer from the beginning; but in the early nineties corporate law departments were still waiting out the junk-bond hangover of the late eighties.  So, I took a job in a securities-related area that was doing well (as there were a whole lotta lawsuits stemming from the high-flying eighties), and considered myself lucky to have a job.  It was a dynamic similar to today’s legal market, although probably (and sadly) less severe.

In that first year, I loved digging into the mechanics of a disputed deal and understanding what went wrong; but the never-ending coup-counting between opposing litigation teams was more than I could stomach.  Even in my mid-twenties, I found myself often saying, “This is so childish,” as I watched one-too-many lawyers engaging in less-than-civil procedure.

As a junior lawyer, I typically watched these tussles from the sidelines; but maybe that gave me the best perspective.  And, although I encountered many talented and respectful lawyers on the other side, I saw just enough of the dark side for me to take the first transactional offer that came my way.

Because I have many friends who really enjoy being litigators, I have often thought, “It was probably just me.”  However, every so often I am reminded that I made the right move (for me).  This often happened when I would get litigation reports as a general counsel or when one of my litigation-loving friends went off to be a sherpa.  

However, one of my more-poignant reminders showed up in my inbox the other day.  It was an order, sent to me by my uncle who is a judge.  It reads in part:

“Greetings and Salutations!

You are invited to a kindergarten party on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 2 of the United States Courthouse, 200 W. Eighth Street, Austin, Texas.

The party will feature many exciting and informative lessons, including:

• How to telephone and communicate with a lawyer
• How to enter into reasonable agreements about deposition dates
• How to limit depositions to reasonable subject matter
• Why it is neither cute nor clever to attempt to quash a subpoena for technical failures of service when notice is reasonably given; and
• An advanced seminar on not wasting the time of a busy federal judge and his staff because you are unable to practice law at the level of a first year law student.

Invitation to this exclusive event is not RSVP. Please remember to bring a sack lunch! The United States Marshals have beds available if necessary, so you may wish to bring a toothbrush in case the party runs late.”

Upon opening it, I laughed out loud and thought, “Geez, I wish we had that judge in 1992.”  With a little research, I found that the order’s author, Judge Sparks, has a history of calling out the dark side — often using dripping sarcasm as his light saber. 

All I can say is keep up the good work Judge Sparks.  The litigation world needs more judges like you.

Be civil.

Markиконописikoni

Join us for a free webinar this Thursday, September 8 at 10:00AM PT with Rich Sierra, a Florida business attorney and founder of The Law Firm of Richard Sierra & Associates.

We often cover online marketing and social media strategies and tactics, but thought it would be much more effective to hear a practicing attorney share his actual experience marketing his firm. Rich will share what has worked – and what has not worked – and how he is able to get more business with his lead management system.

Specifically, lawyers who attend this webinar will learn:

• How to keep track of the effectiveness of your website.
• Steps from initial client inquiry to client acquisition.
• Use of a Virtual Assistant to manage prospective customer inquiries.
• Applications to measure how you rank in the search engines compared to your competitors.
• How to integrate all your lead sources into one “sales funnel” to achieve your goals

Hope you can join us!

Sign up here! икони