In the age of the Internet where virtually all previous online contents lives forever, reputation management can pose its challenges.  That’s why it is important to closely monitor the Internet, social media and review sites to listen in to what is being said about you – or someone with the same or a similar name.  “Lawyers Struggling at Managing Reputations” as published in the Daily Business Review shows all of us what can happen to an unsuspecting attorney or businessperson, if they do not have a handle on what is being said online.  Simple tools like Google Alerts work well for some while others choose to subscribe to a reputation management monitoring service.  Boardroom uses MyRepMan for selected clients.  You should consider a monitoring program for yourself.

To read the full DBR article, please click here.

Boardroom Communications COO, Don Silver, participated at a recent event hosted by the Southeast Florida Caner Control Collaborative for healthcare professionals. He spoke about using social media and traditional relationship building and communications techniques to build your professional brands. Don suggests creating a brand for your company. “You want patients to always remember your facility over competitors,” explained Don. This can be achieved through repetition with their aggressive ad campaigns promising patients what they want – hope, caring professionals and innovative therapies.

 Another suggestion would be to create a strong message to build the brand. This message should represent what you want to be known for and where you want to take your career. Once you’ve done that, you need to define your various target audiences. The people you choose for this should be in the same field that you work with.

 At Boardroom Communications, we view social media as just one additional platform to convey your expertise, news and work with you to create the best strategy for your business.

There are over 126 million blogs on the internet according to a Miami Herald article. So the question is how do you make your business blog stand out? Tasha Cunningham, web entrepreneur and PR expert, suggests the following tips to help boost your ranking in the search engines.

Tip #1: “Be Free” – Creating free blogs through Wordpress or Blogger will increase your chances of ranking higher in search engines.

Tip #2: “Good words are key,” – Instead of using your companies name all over the blog, pick a keyword related to your business and center your blog around that word.

Tip #3: “Think like an editor,” – After you have found your key word, do not over use it. It is recommended to use it in every other post.

Tip #4: “Inform,” – Make sure that when you post you are informing your readers about your business, not just using the blog to post advertisements.

Tip #5: “Educate,”- In your blog posts, teach your readers something they didn’t already know. You can also post instructional videos.

Tip #6: “Persuade,” – In each post, end with something that persuades the reader to try something or view something else. For example add a link at the bottom of the post relating to what you just wrote about.

Tip #7:  “Compliment your competitors,” – It is recommended to comment on the blogs of your competitors. Do things like talk about how well an article was written and then post a link to an article you wrote on the same topic.

For more blog marketing tips visit www.BizBytes101.com

In the May issue of Website Magazine, Linc Wonham updated readers on the recent disruption of “shady” SEO tactics in his article titled, “Grow Profits From the Farmer Update.”  According to the article, nearly 12 percent of all Google searches in the U.S. were affected by this change. Google is encouraging all online businesses to reassess its own content because of the change, especially merchants. 

Many e-commerce sites have seen their rankings slip since the change, without knowing they were practicing shady SEO tactics. Now the goal is that merchants’ content will be original, and this will help online consumers easily find the business and products they are searching for on Google. 

To ensure your rankings go up, start by auditing the content. It’s important to review all existing content from recent to past blog posts and clean up or remove anything that has errors, copied from another site or both.Then check the links. Linking your business to poor content will hurt your rankings.

Finally, produce great content. In Google’s eyes quality, originality, authoritativeness, presentation and value make for great content. Make sure you avoid misspellings, factual errors and outdated information. Don’t copy what users can find somewhere else. Lend expertise, make it easy to consume and that it’s visually pleasing and engaging for users.

In February, Google announced major changes to its algorithm. The change is a response to recent questions over Google’s search quality and a direct attack against content farms. According to a recent article in South Florida’s Sun-Sentinel, Google was being flooded by spammers and hucksters who were manipulating the system which landed them in the top search results. With the revisions to its secret mathematical program, Google banishes pages littered with second-rate content or overloaded with advertising, among them were well-known retailers. JCPenney was punished for paying for links from unrelated sites to elevate their rankings in Google’s search engines. Google has won plaudits for promoting original research, analysis and encouraging websites to produce more useful and relevant content.

However, not everyone likes change. Hundreds of sites complained to Google that they had been unfairly lumped in with “content farms,” which are mass-producers of content designed exclusively to deliver rankings in search engines. Google responded by saying, “Our primary goal is to make sure we return the best websites we can.” “No algorithm can be 100 percent accurate.”  The article also reports that the change affects 12 percent of search queries in the U.S.

As for Boardroom Communications, we see that our efforts at keeping an updated website with relevant information have paid off. We remain as one of Google’s top search results for South Florida Public Relations Agencies.

We are all aware of the power and popularity of YouTube, which is now the Internet’s second most popular search engine behind Google.

With its 18 million daily US visitors, it is fast becoming a great outlet for Florida advertisers, hobbyists, social media users and PR pros.  Some use it for simple how-to videos while others promote viral campaigns to attract, educate, entertain and hopefully make some new relationships.

The following Fast Company article provides us with the back story on how former Google executive and current YouTube chief executive Salar Kamangar helped mold the concept and the company into an important part of Google’s current and future growth plans.

Click here to view article:

How YouTube’s Global Platform Is Redefining the Entertainment Business

Dan Fletcher wrote in a recent column in TIME Magazine that he has taken on a few freelance assignments for Demand Media.  He earned $15 for writing tips on hard-disc data recovery – and that was twice what he got for his article on the sacredness of the giraffe!  What does this all mean?

Demand Media has created an algorithm which is too complicated to explain – and too detailed to doubt – that discovers what people want to read.   The discovery leads to key words and then articles which are posted on Demand’s sites.  The sites include ehow.com and livestrong.com – and these get millions of hits

Is this really true?  Are behavioral patterns found from on line research really telling us what we want to read? At least that’s what Demand says. As PR consultants, we share Dan’s fascination – and skepticism.  Key word here: Conundrum.  Demand Media thinks so and people are listening.   But maybe Demand Media is simply creating its own PR buzz – and telling us THAT’s what we want to read.

What do you think? Click on the article below to read it in full.

Boardroom Communications COO Donald Silver was a panelist at this past week’s Gold Coast PR Council meeting that focused on the PR lessons learned from the BP oil spill crisis.  He was invited to address South Florida public relations professionals from PR agencies and in-house corporate communications departments because of his expertise and experience in crisis communications.

Silver spoke from the PR agency perspective about the widely publicized Gulf of Mexico catastrophe, which is unfortunately still impacting the region today.  He offered a balanced analysis and critique of the company’s crisis communications and management track-record and also offered recommendations on what they could have done better.   The panel, which included the Sun-Sentinel’s Marcia Pounds, Visit Florida PR Manager, Kenneth Morgan, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau Media Relations Director, Jessica Taylor and Moderator and Gold Coast PR Council President Gary Schweikhart,  was in agreement that in the very beginning, BP made the right choice of putting former BP CEO Tony Hayward at forefront of the crisis, but that he ultimately was not the best choice as day-to-day spokesperson.

Silver pointed out that although Hayward did the best job he could on combating the ordeal, other specialized experts should have been brought into play when it came to interviews, such as local, regional and international scientists, engineers and biologists.  He also made the argument that because this incident was such so large in scope and lasted for several months, that no matter what BP said or did, the perception was that the    company was doing a poor job.   Although BP acted as quickly as they could with hiring 20,000 workers and experts to cap the well, stop the leak and protect the Gulf and shorelines in five different states,  public and media perception were still negative.  That’s why the company instituted the much maligned multi-million dollar print and TV public affairs campaign.

A Q&A session followed the panel discussion and included additional critique and comments.  All and all, the program was very informative and thought provoking, something we have grown to appreciate from other high-quality Gold Coast PR Council programs in the past.

By Jennifer Clarin, Boardroom Communications

Florida law firm marketers know that marketing a law firm is a skilled task, and all law firms are NOT created equal. What works for one large law firm might not work for a small or solo law firm.  Deborah Hrbek and Jill Miller, each an attorney in a small or solo practice, authored a comprehensive article on this subject for American Lawyer Media, which brings up quite a few relevant issues and suggestions.

The most important point this article makes is, for a small or solo firm, business development is as important as client service—and both must be managed efficiently and effectively for a firm to succeed.  You can’t rely on the business you have to always be there.  You have to be constantly looking toward the next matter and obtaining the next client.  Identify your key markets and go after them, even if you have a steady client flow. The best time to look for business is when you have business – the busy attorney is always more attractive.   When you have a good business flow, you are less ‘desperate’ – and can be more selective, and more successful. 

Both authors are attorneys in New York.  Despite the obvious differences in climate and billing scale, New York has a similar competitive legal environment as South Florida.  They suggest that, in a crowded marketplace, you need to create a brand, stick by the brand—and stand out.  According to Hrbek and Miller, small firms have the unique opportunity to leverage inherent benefits in small firms including personalized service and accessibility. Use these items to your benefit in your branding and have one or two key points of differentiation from your competition. More will clutter your branding attempts.

Finally, they stress the importance of customer service and authenticity. Small firms have to arguably be more accountable and accessible than larger firms, because of the personalized approach. It’s the compelling reason companies use smaller and solo firms, so capitalize on this opportunity to the best of your ability.  Make it the hallmark of your firm. Remember, being smart is what gets you in the door, but how you handle the matter is what keeps you there.

The full article is available at http://bit.ly/c1nSUWl and outlines additional considerations in marketing a solo or small firm practice, that apply equally to New York and South Florida law firm marketing. The key is to find your niche, find your target audience and go for it—all while remembering that business development and client service should always play a large role in the practice.

By: Don Silver

So you have a good Web site. You use social media. You network offline, and tap Outlook to stay in touch with peers and referral sources. But could you be doing more to drive traffic to your site and generate even more leads? Some think “eCommerce” is for eBay sellers, Amazon and other online merchants. The truth is: Any service provider, attorney, accountant or real estate professional who uses the Web to generate leads, awareness, traffic – and sales, can maximize his or her Web presence to drive commerce. Some law or accounting firms are consumer focused. Some real estate brokers seek only commercial transactions. Web site and search engine optimization (SEO), search marketing and social networking all play a role in successful online practices, regardless of whether the professional is B2C or B2B. Success stems from maintaining your online presence, establishing your credibility, getting involved in online conversations, and tracking where all that is taking you.  The reality is that few law firms seriously consider the Web as a business and practice development tool.  This must change.  These 13 tips can help bolster your online presence and results.

1. You are a merchant. Think of yourself that way. e-Commerce might seem contrary to a professional like an attorney or accountant “sells” his or her services. But the basics remain the same: You must market yourself and your skills, generate exposure, awareness and traffic, and then close the deal.

2. Focus on driving traffic. If you rely on the Web for business leads, everything you do should help steer people to your site – and, more specifically, to your practice area anRequest for Information link on your site.

3. Listen to what clients are saying. You can learn a lot from a customer or prospect – where they network, who they know, the problems they’re facing, the help they need. Successful vendors and service providers learn to listen, anticipate problems, provide solutions.

4. Pool your data. Having listened to your clients, you no doubt have key data across you filing system. From email correspondence to your contact manager to conversation notes in a file, integrate this data into one source (like Notes in Outlook or an Excel spreadsheet) to know your customer better.

5. In the online world, email builds relationships. It’s as natural as breathing, and drives loyalty. Whether you create a formal electronic magazine (using services like iContact or ConstantContact), or just send emails to key names from your address book, email is a great first step.

6.Invite feedback. Outreach is a conversation. Whether via email, social media or other means, it’s a series of two-way streets that encourage dialogue. Engage your customers to better understand their needs – and let them know you’re listening.

7. Use search and paid search. SEO is vital. So, too, is paid search. Everyone competes for t come top natural search placement. Fewer compete for paid listings – the small ads tha up atop the search results. Since clients often start their hunt for a service provider with a search, paid search lets you pinpoint your target audience and pay to rise above the pack.

8.Partner with your P.R. or marketing firm. Work with your Web site’s developer to maximize your site’s – or your specific practice-area page’s – visibility. Often, lawyers or professionals within a big firm don’t have much say over the overall site’s content. But you should own your specialty area page.  8Know your keywords, get your webmaster to incorporate those words into tags, title tags, metatags and keyword implementation. Moreover, suggest (demand?) that your specialty area is placed as a button on the firm’s home page (or on the Practice Areas drop down menu) – so it’s easily navigated to by those who land there.

9. Get into social media. Twitter and a Facebook Fan page can be ways to feed news and opinion to followers and friends. LinkedIn’s connections and introduction capabilities are more compelling and powerful. Know the power of social media, whether your clients are using it, and how you can add to the conversation. The goal here is to stay on your clients’, contacts’ and referral sources’ radar screen, to keep them apprised of your new commentary and current events – and to create an ongoing conversation.

10. Communicate across channels. Outlook, Linked In, your Web site, Facebook, Twitter – reach out across all the channels where your clients to ensure your message gets delivered. Integrate this messaging with your media, community and industry relations. Why? Because social media and networking should be an extension of your traditional marketing.  It’s not one or the other; implementing the fundamentals of both will incrementally grow your online presence.

11. Request – and post – testimonials. Like a retailer’s restaurant reviews, people put faith in what others have to say. Opinions and positive reviews often can nudge people off the fence and help them make a decision.

12. Use analytics. Where’s your traffic coming from? What sites or engines are steering viewers your way? Get your webmaster to generate reports (using the Web site’s o analytics tool or a free service like Google Analytics) to determine which engines, words, terms, phrases or referring sites are most effective. Then pound away at those sources. This doesn’t stop with your Web site. Track the sources of calls, inbound emails and other inquiries. Use new, online relationships to bolster existing face-to-face relationships. Remember: Success online still is no substitute for marketing the old-fashioned way.

13. So the traffic’s arrived. Now what? Once visitors have arrived, seal the deal. Place calls to action on every page, including links, phone numbers, emails, short forms, and requests for information.

Professional services are not store-front or traditional ecommerce retailers. But some of the best practices of general commerce can boost traffic, awareness, and sales. Use the Web, social media, your contacts and networking to generate leads, maximize your Web presence, build your credibility, and close the deal.