iLawyermarketing Releases Video

Last year I sold my web marketing company,  Morris Web Marketing, to iLawyermarketing.  It was a very difficult decision, but one that I absolutely do not regret.   The talent and dedication of the ilawyermarketing team is amazing.   Our designers consistently produce the best designs in the industry and our SEO team continues to get top results despite unprecedented changes in the search engine algorithms. We also produce the best videos in the industry.   Our in house video team recently produced our own ilawyermarketing commercial - which I would put on par with anything Madison Avenue produces.   You can check out the full video here:

  http://www.ilawyermarketing.com/about/

Showcasing Your Videos

Congrats to Dwane Cates on the release of his new ilawyermarketing website:  www.azlaw4u.com

In the past few years, Dwane Cates has become something of a TV celebrity - becoming the go to legal analyst of choice for several major new channels including CNN, Tru TV, Fox News, HLN, and several more.   His new site does a great job showcasing his videos - giving the visitor the ability to scroll through scores of his appearances.   Then when you click on the video, a very slick video player pops out.  

Kristy Law Firm Releases New Site

Congrats to the Kristy Law Firm on the release of their new website www.kristylaw.com .   The site utilizes distinct practice folders to organize their 4 main practice areas: construction defect, insurance bad faith, employment law and medical malpractice.   The organization lends itself to better conversion.   For example if a searcher lands on their insurance Broker Agent Negligence page,  the searcher will only see other insurance bad faith pages in the side navigation - giving the perception of focus for the reader.    This is an elegant way for general practice attorneys to market themselves online.    

Awesome New Design

Congrats to Barnes Law LLP on the release of their beautiful new website:  www.barneslawllp.com

I have been a legal website design connoisseur for over 7 years - and I truly think this is a groundbreaking design.


The home page incorporates several design themes on the home page. The old paradigm was that key site content had to be seen "above the fold".  With the "fold" being the area of the site seen in your browser without scrolling down.  This logic is a relic from the old newspaper days - but has little relevance for the internet of  today.  Numerous studies have shown that internet users EXPECT to scroll down when they arrive on a website.

 The unfortunate consequence of this belief in the fold has been a deluge of boring legal designs.   Many major legal design companies churn out safe, unoriginal designs that look the same.   - One image, large contact us box, navigation down the right or left side and 300-400 words of content on every page.

This template approach to building websites is often defended as a necessary evil because of search engine optimization.    However, the Barnes site proves that SEO and a great design can co-exist.   Barnes Law LLP is a well known criminal tax attorney  who successfully defended Wesley Snipes in his tax fraud case.

Did You Know???  Robert Barnes attended Yale University on full academic scholarship.

A "Yankee" Lawyer in the Heart of Dixie

The Wininger Law Firm in Birmingham Alabama has been getting a lot of press lately.   For a personal injury firm that has recovered over 40 million for their clients, positive press is not new. However, the press they are gtting now has nothing to do with accident cases.

Last week the firm unveiled a mural on the side of their historic building in downtown Birmingham.   The mural depicts 5 famous New York Yankees - Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Derek Jeter.  You can see the amazing Yankee Mural on their website.

The mural is a product of the imagination of attorney David Wininger.   A life long Yankee fan, David has what is believed to be the largest Yankee memorabilia collection south of the Mason Dixon line.   Having been to his office, I can certainly vouch for the quality of the collection.   David has a whoole room in his building devoted to signed Yankee "Gloves".  

The local Fox affiliate did a great story on the Yankee collection and mural.  Congrats David.     

A to Z Lawyermarketing

A to Z Lawyer Marketing

A lot has happened in the legal marketing World since I stopped posting here a year and a half ago.     Major Google algorithm updates like Panda, Penguin and Penguin 2 have forever altered the legal search engine landscape.  Having a web presence that keeps up with the ever changing algorithms is now more important than ever.

To help make sense of these many changes I have enlisted the help of a number of legal marketing experts who will be contributing to the A to Z marketing BLOG:

-Eric Bersano  Owner of Omnipresent SEO and co-founder of www.criminallaw.com

-Craig Brooksby Principal of RedFalcon Web Marketing and former Operations manager at the largest legal marketing company in the United States

-Scott David Stewart  Founder of the Law Offices of Scott David Stewart.  Scott is a successful online marketer who runs a national attorney marketing mastermind group and is an expert on law firm CRM implementation.

A lot has changed for me personally as well.  I am now the national Sales Director for www.iLawyermarketing.com     In that role I am speaking to law firms across the country and have access to the top SEO and design team in the legal space.  

Remembering Joe McDaniel...friend, client, student, teacher, blogger, lawyer

Around lunchtime almost any day of the work week, you could find Joseph McDaniel at Baby Kay’s Cajun Restaurant in Phoenix. And every month or so, I would be at his table. It was one of the great pleasures of my life, listening to Joe hold forth on whatever topic was uppermost in his mind.

Sometimes it was about me. “Alex, you should lose weight.” And he would give step-by-step instructions on how. Or it was about the magical healing powers of Vitamin C. (Somehow, everything could be cured by taking vitamin C, according to Joe.)

But the topic could be just about anything: Politics. Shotokan karate. Getting a book e-published. The Society of Creative Anachronisms. No wine at mass? Really? But no matter what the topic, it was always entertaining and enlightening, delivered with great humor and typical Joe McDaniel flair.

Joseph McDaniel, a leading Arizona bankruptcy attorney, died suddenly, Tuesday, September 27, 2011. I will miss him more than I can express.

I met Joe because he wanted to know more about online marketing. In the beginning I was the teacher, sharing with him all I knew about the internet. Joe was an apt pupil. I told him to blog at least twice a week. A month later, he had written 57 blog posts. Joe absorbed everything I said and started studying on his own. It was the way he did everything – always learning, then studying and then sharing what he knew. He became a prodigious blogger and savvy web marketer – rising to number one for the most competitive bankruptcy phrases in Phoenix. Eventually, he was teaching me about web marketing.

Joe was the lawyer’s lawyer, sharing what he knew.
One of Joe’s great legacies will be that of a mentor to other attorneys. Joe cared deeply about the profession of law and his chosen niche, bankruptcy. He devoted his career to becoming the best at what he did. He became a Certified Specialist in bankruptcy, was AV rated by his peers and led the bankruptcy section of the Bar. His bankruptcy blog reflected his amazing bankruptcy knowledge. The blog quickly became a national resource for young bankruptcy attorneys everywhere. He once told me, “Every question I have ever been asked in 30-plus years of practice is a potential blog post.” Joe had a lot to say.

As a bankruptcy attorney, Joe thrived in the recession, but it bothered him that so many of his peers were suffering. Lots of attorneys were coming to him for bankruptcy, and “baby lawyers” were not getting jobs. He started a blog called http://www.justforattorneys.com/ that showed lawyers how to succeed. He also made sure that his beloved paralegal Heidi kept his lunch hour open so that he could meet with any attorney who wanted to learn from him. I cannot begin to guess how many Arizona attorneys benefited from his wise and generous counsel.

From day one, Joe was far more than a client. He was a dear friend of mine and countless others. And, Joe, I’ll get serious about losing weight. Thank you for always caring.

***

Joseph's Obituary can be found here:

A visitation is scheduled from 5:00pm to 8:00pm, Monday, October 3, 2011 at Messinger Indian School Mortuary, 7601 E. Indian School Rd., in Scottsdale. A funeral Mass is scheduled at 10:30am, Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 11300 N. 64th Street, in Scottsdale. Burial will take place at St. Francis Catholic Cemetery in Phoenix at 48th Street and Oak. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Catholic Charities of Arizona: www.pathsofhope.com/donations or The Cookie Company (Children's Theatre) at Phoenix Theatre: www.phoenixtheatre.com