Check out our latest edition of Avvocating on the Law.com Legal Technology Blog. I talk about “disaster differentiation” and essentially ask our lawyer readers to better market their expertise.

In addition to Kelly Chang Rickert, Stephen Fairley and J. Craig Williams (who I mention in the LTB piece), I want to thank all of our panelists from the Avvo West Coast Tour: Jill Pugh, Venkat Balasubramani, Candice Aiston, Jonathan Stein, Collette Vogele and Gordon Levinson. Because of our panelists, the Avvo tour was a resounding success (not to mention a lot of fun). We look forward to visiting the East Coast in the fall.

Be differentiated!

Mark

I often speak to attorneys about their Core Web Presence and how a website, blog or even an Avvo Profile can serve as an excellent core. Oddly when it comes to blogging, attorneys consistently have two knee-jerk excuses:

1. I’m too busy to even figure out where to start; and
2. I can’t spend thousands of dollars a year on something that I may not use.

I usually put the first excuse to bed by referencing blogs like Leanna Hamill’s Massachusetts Estate Planning and Elder Law blog or Craig Williams’ May It Please the Court blog. Leanna and Craig have successful legal practices, and yet they find time to blog numerous times per week. And for every Hamill and Williams, there is an Ambrogi , Elefant or Greenfield. They all support the notion that there are thousands of busy lawyers blogging effectively, and the excuse-laden lawyer should be too. The marketing benefits far outweigh any effort.

But combating the second excuse is always harder. That’s because, when it comes to blogging platforms and tools for lawyers, there are few reasonable alternatives. Lawyers can either (1) use a very basic WordPress or Blogger template that may not have the professional look and feel that lawyers need, or (2) have a custom blog built for them that is expensive to both build and maintain.

To fill this gap, today we are introducing Avvo Blogs, a simple, effective and affordable blogging solution for lawyers around the world.

Simple

The key for lawyers in blogging is to start blogging, and Avvo Blogs make that very simple.

Avvo offers 9 simple templates to start that run on WordPress technology – the blogging platform for millions of blogs, including the NFL, Time Magazine, Ford, CNN, The New York Times and Techcrunch.

Avvo pre-populates a customizable blog roll, and also allows additional customization of highlighted pages, categories, etc.

Avvo Blogs also are supported by Avvo’s great customer service team. For two years, we have been helping thousands of lawyers get more business and Avvo Blogs are no different.

Simply visit the Avvo Blog page, follow the instructions and, voila, you will be blogging in no time.

Effective

To be effective, lawyers’ blogs must be professional looking and tailored to the lawyer’s web strategy. Each of the Avvo Blog templates is very professional in its look and feel. Additionally, we have kept each template clean and simple so that your ideas, rather than the blog design, do the talking – much like the Avvo website.

Another important feature is that Avvo Blogs can go on the lawyer’s own domain, which allows you to pick a catchy domain url (e.g., bestPIblog.com) or to integrate the blog into an existing website or other web property (e.g., blog.wilsonjones.com).

Affordable

With Avvo Blogs, you can blog for less than $1 per day. You shouldn’t have to spend a truckload to showcase your expertise in a professional manner.

Many companies will try to sell you “more-effective” blogging technology for thousands of dollars per year, but few bloggers will need such a fancy blog. Think of blogging like buying a suit. You can spend thousands of dollars on a custom-made suit, or you can buy one off the rack at Macy’s that your client’s will love just as much. Clients will focus on the brains in the suit, not whether you have hand-stitching on your lapel.

As with all things Avvo, we would love to get your feedback. We have intentionally kept our Avvo Blogs simple, so they don’t have every bell and whistle. But they don’t have the multi-thousand dollar price tag either. With your feedback we look forward to adding just the right amount of bells or whistles that lawyers want and deserve at a reasonable price.

Let the blogging begin!

Mark

I need to warn everyone out there . . . Avvo turned two today. Wondering what we are all in for, I searched for the behavioral characteristics of your average two-year old and the outlook is grim. See the gory details below with my commentary on how we plan to manage this difficult period.

According to Bella Online, your average two-year old:

• Wants exactly what he wants when he wants it [Since Avvo’s launch, we have had high expectations for our products and the ongoing evolution of the legal profession. We have also been very impatient with these expectations. Upon further reflection, I see all of this as a positive and we won’t be changing anything over the next year.]
• Will not usually give in [If it relates to getting consumers better guidance regarding their legal issues and more business for top-notch lawyers, I don’t see us changing this either. Geez, I didn’t expect to be so unyielding!]
• Everything has to be done just so [Well, yes, we are particular. You can’t effectuate change by being wishy-washy.]
• Likes to give orders [We like to give orders as long as we are simply implementing the feedback of consumers and lawyers. However, if we ever come off as bossy, please let us know. We are here to serve passionately, not bossily.]
• Has trouble making decisions [Well, this is sort of true. Because we are a small company without the infinite budgets of some of our competitors, we make choices everyday regarding how to allocate our limited resources. It is always hard, but I think we have done a decent job to date. Stay tuned for some neat products we have coming down the line.]
• Wants to continue doing whatever he is doing no matter what [Well, that’s true. And if you talk to our customers, they want us to continue as well.]
• May begin to bite. [Hmmm . . . we’ll have to handle that one on a case-by-case basis.]

After thinking this through, maybe we’re in pretty good shape. Could it be that many of the behavioral characteristics of the “terrible twos” are actually required to succeed in the competitive marketplace? Paging Jim Collins: There is a best-selling management book in there somewhere.

Thank you to everyone who has helped make Avvo such a success. 2008-2009 was a banner year for us, and we look forward to 2009-2010 being even better. I am reminded of one lawyer’s quote that “Avvo may be the greatest thing for lawyers since the invention of a laptop.” I’m not sure how we are going to top that, but we will (greatest thing since cloud server architecture maybe?)

And finally, I would like to give the biggest of all shout-outs to Team Avvo, a highly talented group of individuals up here in rainy Seattle that has worked tirelessly to make the Avvo marketplace something special. It is my honor to work with each and every one of you every day – let’s just keep the biting to a minimum.

Giddyup!

Mark

Another update on the June 9th Legal Marketing Seminar in Portland and the June 11th Legal Marketing Seminar in Seattle: This free seminar has now been approved for one-hour of Ethics CLE credit in Oregon!

Here is an interesting video of an LA police chase that turns into a foot chase that turns into a Manchester United-quality free kick. What do you think? Is this excessive force or a justified response to our suspect stealing one car, crashing into another, wasting public resources and/or wearing capri pants in the commission of a felony?

Mark

As a native Montanan, my home state never ceases to amuse me. Montanans are great at keeping it simple, and here is one Montanan landowner keeping it very simple.

Amen.

Mark

What do you do when Burger King runs out of lemonade? Call 911 of course. I couldn’t stop chuckling while listening to this and had to pass it along. Possibly more amazing is how much time the 911 operator invested in the call. It must have been a slow night for everyone.

It looks like the dissatisfied customer ended up getting his own visit from the police. A word to the wise (taken from the call): “911 is if you’re dying.”

Be sane.

Mark

Massachusetts is the latest to file suit against the Fairfield Greenwich Group (FGG), one of the principal “feeder” funds for the now-infamous ponzi scheme of Bernie Madoff (pictured). Mass regulators are alleging a “profound disparity” between FGG’s alleged and actual due diligence on Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, the broker-dealer that implemented the mystical “split strike conversion” strategy (which everyone now realizes is similar to the more common “liquor store holdup” strategy).

In light of Massachusetts allegations of “profound disparity,” I wanted to share some of the FGG pitch documents (links below) that a friend forwarded to me a couple of months back. This is from a FGG pitch in October 2008 for their Fairfield Sentry, Ltd. fund (yes, “sentry” like “guard”) and it is full of some now-fascinating quotes, such as:

• “[FGG seeks] a more transparent understanding of risk from all managers . . . for FGG portfolio analysis and risk monitoring.”

• “Value Added by FGG: Independent verification of prices and account values”

• “Value Added by FGG: Systematic investment compliance monitoring of Operating Guidelines”

• “Value Added by FGG: Examination of option greeks to make sure the hedge is working as expected”

• “The services of [Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC] and its personnel are essential to the continued operation of the Fund, and its profitability, if any.” (emphasis provided)

Admittedly, I am not close to the case; but it feels like shooting fish in the Massachusetts barrel. Here are the pitch documents so you can form your own opinons. We shall see.

FGG Sentry Fund Pitch Powerpoint
FGG Strategy Description

Sleep with one financial eye open.

Mark

Last Call, our blood-alcohol estimator, has been getting some great press lately thanks to New York Times technology reporter, John Quain. First, John included Last Call in his round-up of great driving-related iPhone apps. See the article “Have Smartphone, Can Travel” which you can also find in the March 8th hard-copy edition of the Sunday NYT.

Then, John went on to highlight Last Call on CBS’s “Up to the Minute.” The segment is very similar to his NYT article, but it is much richer due to the visuals of John demoing the various products, including Last Call. For the attorneys billing by the hour out there, Last Call shows up at 3:27.

Thank you John for spreading the word about Last Call!

Mark

I am proud to announce that Avvo has launched in the esteemed states of Louisiana, Indiana, Kansas, Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada, Maine and Wyoming. These states will have full Avvo functionality with one twist: We are launching our *directory* in each of these states in “beta” form.

What is a beta directory?

Well, a beta launch is essentially a test launch. All of the directory features are there, but you will not find every lawyer like in other states. While we will have all of the lawyers in these states at some point, we decided to release each directory early so that it could satisfy the demand for Avvo Answers and Legal Guides in those states.

For example, a search for the term “Indiana” in Avvo Answers already serves 495 questions. With similar stories in the other states, it is important that we get our products in the hands of needy consumers. Also, by formally releasing the product in these states, more lawyers will join the marketplace and make it all the more robust.

If you are a lawyer in any of these states and would like to claim your Avvo Profile, simply follow this link, search for your name, and if you are not yet in our database click on the “Add your profile to Avvo!” link. We can have you signed up in no time.

To all of the lawyers in our new states, I offer my welcome to Avvo. It is a great place to build a great practice.

Onward!

Mark