So, how was your Indian summer/weekend, glorious wasn't it? How long before the snow arrives though I wonder?

Some of my friends ask me "Why the legal sector?" when they ask about my business. Their perception is that it's staid and perhaps a little boring. Well with legal zooming to the right and rocketing lawyers to the left, the market would seem anything BUT boring this year. The Legal Futures conference on Monday should be great, they have some really great speakers lined up. See you there?

It seems that event/conference season is back in full swing through October & November and we'll be pounding the streets as you can see below.

If you are interested in a preview of some new services we are bringing to our clients in the next few months, then see the article below on "new stuff" as well as our developments around mobile websites.

Our team is expanding in September with new technical resource and a new member of our Account Management team which has allowed us to promote Sarah Joyce to Head of Account Management who will now run the team as well as work with a number of clients.

As always, if there's anything you think we should be talking about, website design, online marketing, intranets, CRM, the weather, golf, then please let me know.

Regs....David.

P.S. If the LegalZoom and RocketLawyer references were too subtle for you ;-), then read this article and that article.

• New 38 Common Mistakes tips booklet
• Conscious on the road
• New websites live
• New stuff!
• Mobile websites
• How to say "No" on LinkedIn
• Weekly marketing tips - please vote!
• Website of the Month - Vumanity
• LinkedIn Discussion - Unusual Law Firm Marketing
• The Funny Bit at the End I - UK Citizenship Test

New 38 Common Mistakes tips booklet

We've rewritten the original of our series of tips booklets. The new one is called "38 Common Mistakes Law Firms STILL make with their Website (and how to avoid them!)". It was four years ago that we wrote the original one and in that time much as changed in the world of websites, and in particular what law firms are starting to do with their websites. Yet, in that time so of the best techniques have remained exactly the same. Download your copy now.

Conscious on the road

A few of our team spent two long days (& nights) on the road last week where we attended the 360 Legal Conference and the LawNet annual conference.

One of the highlights for me was a presentation at 360 Legal by Shaun Jardine, a partner at Brethertons who talked about "his babies", these were not just his two daughters, but his baby Brethertons and how they went about the marketing.

The other highlight was two of our clients winning awards at the LawNet Conference. Clarkson Wright & Jakes (Best Website) and Buckles Solicitors (LawNet Law Firm of the Year). There's more of a write up on our blog including a photo of Michael Portillo with one of our orange dogs (Michael, I can call him that as I shook his hand, was a BRILLIANT speaker).

As well as next week's Legal Futures conference, we'll also be at the TikitTFB User Group conference in late November.

New websites live

We've made a bunch of websites live since the last newsletter. Some examples are www.criticalinjurylawyers.co.uk, www.sghlaw.com and www.johnhodge.co.uk we've even done a pro-bono project with Bristol University Law School for their Bristol Law Clinic site - www.bristollawclinic.co.uk.

New stuff!

We've got lots coming shortly. Detailed website visitor analytics using a service called Net-Results. A website spell checking service from TextTrust. There will be more coming to our clients in the next couple of weeks and for the rest of you in the next newsletter.

Mobile websites

This is a bit of a hot topic for us at the moment. Over the last year we've seen page views from mobile devices more than double on our clients websites. It can now account for anywhere from 3 - 6% of all page views on a law firm's website. Our threshold for recommending a .mobi site optimised for smart phones was 5%. So in the last six months we've developed some smart technology on our CMS that allows us to produce mobile optimised website from a firm's main website in an inexpensive way. More about how the technology works on our blog but if you want to see a sample. Try going to http://www.buckles-law.co.uk on your computer, you see a normal website. Now, on your smartphone try accessing the same website, you will be redirected to http://buckles-law.mobi (if you are reading this on a smartphone, just click the link). See the difference?

How to say "No" on LinkedIn

No, really, it's OK to say "No" to people who ask to connect with you on LinkedIn. We teach a habit of only initiating connections of accepting connection invitations from people you have either met or spoken with. Other people teach a different habit.

You when you meet someone in person and they are "all over you", they want to be your NBF, buy you coffee, take you for lunch. You know all they want is access to your network. The same thing happens on LinkedIn.

So if you want a polite way of saying "No" to LinkedIn connection requests then get the text from our blog. There are a few other bits of text there aimed to save you time when accepting connection requests. Feel free to use & abuse my suggestions. Why not create a page on your intranet with this text on that your whole team can use?

Weekly marketing tips - please vote!

I met someone recently who was very complimentary about some of the marketing ideas we came up with for them. Both digital marketing and real world marketing. Now that begs a question. What's the difference any more, digital/real world, surely the lines are so blurred it's just "marketing"? Anyway, I digress.

So, please tell me what you think. I'm thinking of starting a "weekly marketing tips" email. Nothing flash, no posh layout, just simple tips & advice that you can implement immediately.

Now, have you ever tried committing to something weekly? Gym? Choir? AA? It's tough, so frankly unless enough people tell me they are going to read it, I have better things to do. Go to our blog and cast your vote.

Website of the Month - Vumanity

I had a demo of this service this week, not just the demo video you see on the Vumanity website. I tell you, it looks brilliant. Plug in a webcam, connect to the service and talk to someone. Press a few buttons and hey presto you get a "talk show" format video out the other end.

I know, I know. "We're a law firm, we have 'production values'". Oh, c'mon, get over yourselves, there's a whole generation coming along behind us (you), the YouTube generation who will "get" these kinds things. They don't want "polish", they want immediate, they want now, they want instant gratification. Vumanity will allow you to do that. Can't wait to try it out. Watch this space..well, this space. -----> Space, the final frontier..sorry, got carried away.

LinkedIn Discussion - Unusual Law Firm Marketing

There's a great discussion in the Legal Marketing Group on LinkedIn about unusual law firm marketing ideas. Which include the "bully" video, lettucelaw.com, rapping French lawyer, bulldogs in adverts & flash mobs. Have a read.

The Funny Bit at the End - UK Citizenship Test

Would you pass? Have a go at the version on The Guardian website. How many did you score?

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