Attorney Journal, San Diego, Volume 164 by Attorney Journals

SAN DIEGO

Volume 164, 2017 $6.95

2017 Survey Results: Lawyers’ Use of Social Media for Marketing

Joan Feldman

What Should Your Law Firm Be Doing with PPC and SEM?

Paul Julius

The Bright Line Between Marketing and Sales

Mike O’Horo

Using Evernote in Your Law Practice: Five Ways to Start

Heidi Alexander

Harness the Power of Media Publicity to Build Your Image as an Authority, Attract New Clients and Increase Referrals

Trey Ryder

Sabotaging Your Practice? Just Stop It!

Ruth Carter

Attorney of the Month

Michael Dallo True Tax Experts

Dallo Law Group, San Diego

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2017 EDITION—NO.164

TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 Sabotaging Your Practice? Just Stop It! by Ruth Carter

8 The Bright Line Between Marketing and Sales by Mike O’Horo

10 Using Evernote in Your Law Practice: Five Ways to Start by Heidi Alexander EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brian Topor EDITOR Wendy Price CREATIVE SERVICES Skidmutro Creative Partners

12 COMMUNITYnews

CIRCULATION Angela Watson

by Jennifer Hadley

PHOTOGRAPHY Chris Griffiths

22 Harness the Power Of Media Publicity to Build Your Image as an Authority, Attract New Clients and Increase Referrals

STAFF WRITERS Jennifer Hadley Patricia Klier Karen Gorden CONTRIBUTING EDITORIALISTS Joan Feldman Paul Julius Ruth Carter Mike O'Horo Heidi Alexander Trey Ryder Monty McIntyre WEBMASTER Mariusz Opalka ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Info@AttorneyJournal.us SUBMIT AN ARTICLE Editorial@AttorneyJournal.us OFFICE 30211 Avenida De Las Banderas Suite 200 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 www.AttorneyJournal.us ADDRESS CHANGES Address corrections can be made via fax, email or postal mail.

ATTORNEY OF THE MONTH

16 Michael Dallo Dallo Law Group, San Diego True Tax Experts

by Trey Ryder

26 2017 Survey Results: Lawyers’ Use of Social Media for Marketing

by Joan Feldman

28 What Should Your Law Firm be Doing with PPC and SEM?

by Paul Julius

Editorial material appears in Attorney Journal as an informational service for readers. Article contents are the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of Attorney Journal. Attorney Journal makes every effort to publish credible, responsible advertisements. Inclusion of product advertisements or announcements does not imply endorsement. Attorney Journal is a trademark of Sticky Media, LLC. Not affiliated with any other trade publication or association. Copyright 2017 by Sticky Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without written permission from Sticky Media, LLC. Printed in the USA

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Sabotaging Your Practice? Just Stop It! by Ruth Carter

ast month, I attended TBD Law, an invitation-only lawyer unconference. The purpose of the event was to take a step back and look at the future of law practice. For me, it was a chance to reflect and strategize about how to be more effective and efficient as a practitioner. It also gave me the kick in the butt I needed to focus on a big goal for me this year: bringing my first online course to market. Toward the end of the event, we were given a worksheet to write out our schedule for putting our plans into action. At the bottom of it was the prompt “I commit to stop doing these three things”—and three blank lines. Although challenging and painful, I resigned myself to writing “Watching YouTube and crap web surfing in the office.” I am the master of thinking “I’ll just take a quick brain-break,” and then losing hours of productivity to mindless videos. But I have too many projects and too little energy to waste bandwidth watching Fails of the Week or Irish People Taste Fritos (and I enjoy both those channels). Since returning from the event, I’ve stuck to my guns. I look to my to-do list on the Wall of Pain instead of YouTube when I need to refocus my mind. When I really need a brain-break, I walk a lap around the office or step outside for a few minutes; getting the blood flowing helps calm my restless mind.

What Lawyers Say They Need to Stop Doing In an anonymous survey, I asked my fellow legal eagles, “When you consider your future plans as a lawyer and a person, what’s the one thing you need to commit to stop doing?” There were some obvious themes in the responses I received. Setting Boundaries There were several responses about managing interactions with others. These lawyers said they need to stop: • “Saying yes to more work when my plate is already overflowing.” • “Completing tasks that I can delegate to a member of my team.” • “Entertaining crazy. I let my bleeding-heart rope me into helping people long after my brain says they are bad news, crazy or unreasonable, and to get out. I need to listen to my brain more, and my heart less.” One of the best pieces of advice I heard in my own career was, “You never regret the client you didn’t take.”

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

Avoiding Time-Sucks Like me, several respondents said they need to stop doing things that waste their time, including: • “Meeting with people for coffee or lunch who do not add value to my personal life, practice or clients.” • “Checking my emails more than four times on any day.” I agree with that email comment. When I travel, and don’t have 24-7 access to email, I see how fast I can clear new messages in batches. Looking at emails as they come in wastes time because it’s not just about reading the message—it takes time to figure out where I was in my other project, or to get back on track. Multiple people reported they need to give up time-sucks related to clients who balk at paying. They said: • “I’m done giving my time away for free. Oh, really? You want a consult with me to review your documents and give you advice? That’ll be $250.” • “I don’t work for people who complain about paying me, won’t pay me, or want to use my time for free. If someone doesn’t want to pay for what I do for them, I will redirect that time to my family or something I find more rewarding and beneficial.” Professional Confidence Interestingly, a few respondents said they need to stop denying their professional competence, saying they need to stop: • “Triple-guessing my abilities as a lawyer and editing everything to death.” • “Feeling like I’m not a real lawyer.” As lawyers, we are part of a profession. Yes, we have tremendous responsibilities and many of us are stricken with perfectionistic thinking (myself included). But it’s just a job. Being lawyers doesn’t mean we stop being human. So, what about you? What will you commit to stop doing? n Ruth Carter is a lawyer, writer and speaker. She is Of Counsel with Venjuris, focusing her practice on intellectual property, social media, First Amendment and flash mob law. Named an ABA Journal 2012 Legal Rebel, Ruth is the author of the ABA book The Legal Side of Blogging for Lawyers, as well as Flash Mob Law: The Legal Side of Planning and Participating in Pillow Fights, No Pants Rides, and Other Shenanigans. In Nothing But the Ruth, she writes about the lessons she’s learning while building her practice. She blogs at UndeniableRuth.com. Follow her on Twitter @rbcarter. Previously published in Attorney at Work.

Chihak & Martel MEDICAL MALPRACTICE | MAJOR PERSONAL INJURY | PRODUCTS LIABILITY | INSURANCE BAD FAITH

CYNTHIA CHIHAK AND AMY ROSE MARTEL

TRIAL LAWYERS, NOT SETTLEMENT LAWYERS Many personal injury lawyers who call themselves trial lawyers only settle their cases. At Chihak & Martel, our job is to obtain the best possible recovery, and nothing less. We are not afraid to try your case in court. Your recovery comes first.

Chihak & Martel celebrates its firm members being named to the San Diego Super Lawyers list, and to its principal Cynthia Chihak for being selected to the Top 25 Women Lawyers in San Diego for eleven consecutive years.

12555 High Bluff Drive, Suite 150 l San Diego, CA 92130 l (858) 481-7252 l www.chihaklaw.com

The Bright Line Between Marketing and Sales by Mike O’Horo For 20 years, Mike O’Horo has been known by lawyers everywhere as The Coach. He trained more than 7000 of them, generating $1.5 billion in new business. Mike can be reached at mikeohoro@rainmakervt.com.

hese days in the legal world, you don’t hear the terms “marketing” and “sales” very often. “Marketing” lost its luster during the severe cutbacks in law firms’ marketing communications programs during the recession. Firms lost their appetite for big investments that would take a long time to pay off (at least visibly) because they faced a rapid shrinkage in client demand. Lawyers needed work and cash now. That required an emphasis on Sales. In-house Marketing departments and outside consultants recognized that and made a massive and rapid shift away from marketing in favor of sales. However, since “sales” was a term that made many firms and lawyers uncomfortable, we adopted the less-threatening euphemism “business development.” Today, everything is BD. Does it really matter if you refer to your client-getting pursuits as “business development,” or “marketing,” or “sales”? Absolutely, and not merely because I’m a language zealot. Undefined terminology (such as “relationship-building”) provides cover for activity-for-its-own-sake, and enables us to delude ourselves that we’re making progress when we’re not. Here are my definitions of the three terms:

Marketing One-to-many communication that creates awareness of your value and stimulates prospects voluntarily to engage with a sales-decision process. Sales One-to-one direct interaction with the end customer that converts demand by facilitating an informed buying decision. Business Development Working through partners (channels) to sell to the end customer, in a scalable way. (From Andrew DuMont’s blog) The key distinction is that BD is selling through channels. BD teams work through existing partner infrastructures. The art of business development comes in identifying partners that fit your needs, while finding a way to provide value to the partner’s end customer and business.

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

Examples of Lawyer BD If you get most of your business through a distribution relationship with a trade association, you’re doing BD. Say you’re providing an incorporation package for startups through an incubator. You made one sale—the distribution agreement. The incubator is doing all the rest of the selling for you. This is different than referrals, where the source is providing you with leads, but you must still make each individual sale. If you’ve packaged legal advice with a technology company’s solution, that company is your channel. They’re selling your offering direct to their customer for you. That’s BD.

You’re Not Doing BD Most lawyers aren’t doing much, if any, of these types of things. Yet, when we describe our activity as “business development,” it makes us feel good that we’re, well, developing business. But we’re not. We’re marketing. There’s no way around the fact that, if you want more business, you have to sell. Successful marketing gives you a willing person to sell to, but you have to make the sale. The bright line is the decision. Unless you’re helping a prospect inform and make a specific decision about a specific offer, you’re not selling, you’re still marketing. It’s only when you progress to the point where the entire focus is on deciding whether or not to buy that you’re selling. Everything else is marketing. If it’s about your products or services, it’s marketing. You may have some overlap, i.e., where you have to do some ongoing solution discussion during the sale, but the important point is recognizing that if you’re not talking about a decision, you’re not selling yet, which means you’re not getting closer to getting business. Is the key pipeline-quality indicator how many decisions are in process? Not how many articles or blog posts you’ve written, or speaking engagements you’ve had. Not how many downloads of your eBook. And not even how many sales calls you’ve had. Until there’s a decision under discussion, it falls under “necessary but not sufficient.” Focus your efforts on getting more decisions under consideration and, more importantly, where you’re facilitating them rather than sitting on the sidelines awaiting them. n

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

Using Evernote in Your Law Practice: Five Ways to Start by Heidi Alexander

hen talking with lawyers about Evernote, I often get the same comment: “I heard it was a good productivity tool so I downloaded Evernote, but I haven’t figured out how to get started with it.” Fortunately, there are some simple ways to jumpstart using Evernote in your law practice. First, for those unfamiliar with Evernote, it is essentially a cloud-based information repository. It can be used to collect, organize and access data; save and store web articles and emails; take notes; draft content; collaborate with others; annotate PDFs; and much, much more. By syncing to the cloud, Evernote allows lawyers to access information they need when and wherever they need it. Lawyers can leverage Evernote in myriad ways, including storing and organizing legal research, administering firm business, archiving emails, drafting and storing marketing plans and materials, managing case and matter information, and tracking tasks. Let’s get started with five simple ways to use Evernote. 1. Drafting and Storing Meeting Notes Evernote is an excellent tool for quickly taking and saving meeting notes. Start a note with a click of a button from your computer or mobile device. Evernote automatically saves the note and syncs it to all your devices when you are connected to the internet. If you are taking notes on your mobile device, turn on smart note titles, which will predict the title based on your calendar, location and note contents. You can also save handwritten notes as searchable PDFs by using Evernote’s built-in mobile photo tool to snap a picture of them for direct upload to your Evernote account. 2. Saving Webpages for Future Reference Often, we stumble across interesting and important information on the internet that we might like to reference later, send to a client or pass on to a colleague. Evernote is an ideal place to store those articles and webpages. Evernote owes its popularity in part to its web clipper tool. With the web clipper, you can save articles, text and images from the web directly into Evernote from any device. If it’s an article you’d like to read later, save it to a “Read Later” notebook or give it a “Read Later” tag so you can easily find it in your Evernote repository. 3. Creating a Legal Research Repository Many attorneys who use Evernote use the web clipper to save and organize their legal research. You can organize your research into topical notebooks, such as Employment Discrimination, Landlord-Tenant, Search and Seizure and so on. Then, when 10

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

you save individual research files, such as case law, you can assign each one to the proper topical notebook and tag it with identifiers such as the matter(s) it references, its case proposition and disposition, fact pattern, and jurisdiction. The next time you need a SCOTUS case on sex discrimination, you can use Evernote search terms to retrieve it. No more wasting time searching through stacks of printed case law for that one case proposition you need, or reinventing the wheel by doing sophisticated searches in Westlaw or Lexis to locate something you’ve previously found. 4. Collecting and Storing Business Cards What do you do with all those business cards you brought home from last night’s networking event? Do you leave them scattered on your desk (so they’ll inevitably end up in the trash) or put them in a box (and never reference them again)? Instead, upload them immediately to Evernote using its business card tool. By snapping a photo of a business card using the Evernote app on your mobile device, all the relevant information is automatically collected and imported into your Evernote account, as well as other contact databases such iCloud or Outlook. You can also use Evernote’s one-click LinkedIn feature to find your business card contact in LinkedIn and request a connection. 5. Saving and Storing Emails Oftentimes, we receive emails with important information we need to reference at a later date. You can save those emails easily into Evernote. There are three ways to do so: 1) forward emails to your Evernote account using your unique Evernote email address (for Premium users only), 2) use the free Evernote web clipper with Gmail, or 3) use the free Evernote add-on for Microsoft Outlook (versions 2010 and 2013). If you haven’t already, sign up for an Evernote account, download it onto your desktop or your mobile device (or both) and get started using it in one or all of these five ways. n Heidi Alexander is the Director of the Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program, where she advises lawyers on practice management matters, provides guidance in implementing new law office technologies, and helps lawyers develop healthy and sustainable practices. She frequently makes presentations to the legal community and contributes to publications on law practice management and technology. She is the author of “Evernote as a Law Practice Tool,” an ABA Law Practice Division publication, and serves on the ABA TECHSHOW Planning Board. Previously published in Attorney at Work.

L AW Y E RS H E L P I N G OT H E RS

MATT HE W L I E D L E FIGHTING CANCER, PIECE BY PIECE

Matthew Liedle is a long-time board member for Hope For A Cure Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money to purchase and donate cancer research equipment. His countless hours of work have been instrumental in keeping HFAC moving forward in the fight against cancer. Since 2004, HFAC has donated 17 pieces of equipment to cutting edge researchers at local cancer centers, including UCSD Moores Cancer Center, Salk Institute, Scripps Research Institute, and Sanford Burnham Prebys Institute. Most recently, HFAC donated a sonic dismembrator to UCSD Moores Cancer Center. The device helps researchers discover genes that can be tested for mutations, in order to select treatment options for certain cancer patients. Visit www.hopeforacurefoundation.org to donate or volunteer. You can also support HFAC by playing in the Society of Marketing Professional Services annual golf tournament on June 2, 2017. Proceeds will benefit HFAC. Sign-up at www.smpssd.org. An AV Rated partner with Liedle Larson Lidl & Vail, LLP, Mattâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s practice includes construction, surety, general liability, product liability, professional malpractice, business disputes, and government matters Matthew Liedle is not affiliated with the Law Office of Steven C. Vosseller.

After each case, we donate a portion of attorneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fees to a nonprofit chosen by the client.

P L A I N T I F F P E R S O N A L I N J U RY

858-429-4062 www.vosslawyer.com

L AW O F F I C E O F

STEVEN C. VOSSELLER

COMMUNITY news n Kyle W. Nageotte, an associate in the San Diego office of Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has been elected as chair KYLE W. NAGEOTTE of the California Young Lawyers Association (CYLA). CYLA, the largest association of young lawyers in the nation, advocates for important issues, including legislative funding, educational programs and pro bono opportunities for young and new lawyers. As chair, Nageotte will work with the CYLA board of directors to establish priorities for the year, maintain member programs and services, and act as liaison with various State Bar Sections. He previously held the position of vice chair and District 4 representative on the CYLA board. In his practice, Nageotte represents and advises employers in a broad range of labor and employment law matters, primarily claims involving: class actions, discrimination, wage and hour disputes, and wrongful termination. He also serves as co-chair of the Tom Homann LGBT Law Association’s Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony and is a member of the University of San Diego School of Law’s LGBT Alumni Scholarship Committee. He earned his J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law and his B.A. from The George Washington University.

n CaseyGerry partner Robert J. Francavilla was named 2016 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego (CASD) during the organization’s 58th Annual Awards and Installation Dinner. Every year, CASD, a local organization of trial lawyers dedicated to preserving and protecting the legal rights of consumers, holds a dinner to install its board of directors and celebrate the accomplishments of San Diego ROBERT J. FRANCAVILLA attorneys. Also honored this year were Arthur H. Bryant as consumer advocate of the year, Honorable Ronald S. Prager as judge of the year and assembly member Shirley N. Weber as legislator of the year. The CASD Trial Lawyer of the Year Award is given to a San Diego Countybased attorney who has achieved outstanding jury verdicts involving a civil or criminal matter. Francavilla has achieved numerous high-profile results over the last year, including a $7.6 million jury verdict in a product liability case. Known for taking on high-profile, complex cases, he focuses his practice on serious personal injury, head trauma and wrongful death cases and has achieved dozens of multi-million dollar results in recent years. n Greco Traficante Schulz & Brick announces that Michael E. Rogaski joined the firm as an associate attorney. His practice involves representing and defending individuals and companies in all aspects of civil litigation. Rogaski’s experience includes contract and construction disputes, business litigation, insurance coverage and litigation, and personal injury litigation. He is A/V Rated by Martindale and was named a “Top Lawyer” by San Diego Magazine for 2013, 2014, 2015, MICHAEL E. ROGASKI and 2016 in the area of construction litigation. Rogaski received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis and law degree from McGeorge School of Law, where he graduated with distinction and a member of the Traynor Honor Society. n Multiple Duckor Spradling Metzger & Wynne shareholders have been named as 2017 Super Lawyers® including Scott L. Metzger, Business Litigation; John C. Wynne, Employment and Labor; and Cathleen G. Fitch, Professional Liability Defense. New shareholder William P. Keith was also named a 2017 Rising Star. Founded in 1977, Duckor Spradling Metzger & Wynne is an AV-rated, San Diego-based law firm representing clients in a broad range of matters involving transactions and litigation.

Have a Press Release you would like to submit for our Community News? Email it to PR@AttorneyJournal.us

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

JOHN C. WYNNE

CATHLEEN G. FITCH

WILLIAM P. KEITH

COMMUNITY news n Sullivan Hill Lewin Rez & Engel is pleased to announce that associate Priyanka Talukdar has been appointed to the South Asian Bar Association, San Diego Chapter (SABA-SD) board of directors for the 2017 term. Talukdar is a member of the PRIYANKA TALUKDAR firm’s commercial litigation and business transactions practice groups. Her practice focuses on providing legal services to businesses and commercial enterprises, located in the United States, as well as foreign jurisdictions. Prior to joining Sullivan Hill, Priyanka worked as a foreign lawyer and as an associate at several international law firms located in Singapore and India. Priyanka has worked in a wide range of cross-jurisdictional matters including commercial and contractual matters and disputes, shareholder agreements and disputes, joint ventures, derivative actions, and breaches of fiduciary duty. She also served as an associate for the National Judicial Academy (India), which is India’s foremost training institute for the judiciary.

n Dinsmore & Shohl LLP welcomes Of Counsel Attorney Aubrey A. Haddach to the firm’s San Diego office. Haddach joins Dinsmore from Venable LLP and will practice out of the Intellectual Property Department. Haddach has extensive experience in all aspects of patent law and AUBREY A. HADDACH related business matters and helps clients protect, patent and commercialize inventions, particularly in the life sciences. She also helps clients assert their IP rights and defend against infringement allegations. Her patent litigation experience runs the gamut from pre-litigation investigations through discovery, motion practice, trial and appeals to the Federal Circuit. Haddach’s technical knowledge encompasses pharmaceutical, medical device, agrochemical, clean tech and oil/gas industries. Haddach earned her J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law.

n Latham & Watkins LLP is pleased to announce that nine counsel have been elected to the partnership. The group consists of accomplished practitioners from around the world who advise clients on a range of corporate, litigation and trial, finance, regulatory HOLLY M. BAUER and tax matters. The new partners include Holly M. Bauer in the firm’s San Diego office. Bauer is a member of the Benefits, Compensation & Employment Practice in the Tax Department. She advises a wide variety of clients on the tax, securities and corporate law aspects of employee benefits and executive compensation matters—particularly in the course of corporate transactions including mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs and initial public offerings (IPOs). She regularly advises on the design, implementation and ongoing administration of benefits and compensation plans across industries, particularly for biotechnology, technology and real estate investment trust (REIT) clients. Bauer received her JD from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

& DD

Dunne & Dunne, llp D I V O R C E & F A M I LY L A W

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True Tax

Experts Michael Dallo, a Tax Attorney, Certified Public Accountant, Master of Tax, Certified Tax Specialist, Tax Professor, and Founder of Dallo Law Group, Provides Unequalled Expertise to Individuals, Businesses, and Corporations Facing Tax Trouble by Jennifer Hadley

“

I’ve seen how powerful the IRS can be, especially against people that are unrepresented, and it’s important that someone like me level the playing field. That’s what I’ve dedicated my life to doing,” says Michael Dallo, founder of Dallo Law Group, APC. Indeed, Dallo’s tax education, experience, and extra-mile efforts serve as testament to the fact that he has truly devoted his life’s work to becoming a bona fide tax expert. In addition, he says natural strengths have served him well, and now serve his clients incredibly well. “I have always been good at the two things that (to me) make a good attorney—conviction and numbers.”

Early Emphasis on Education and Experience As the son of an immigrant, Dallo says that his father Mike Dallo’s work ethic instilled in him both an entrepreneurial spirit and a deep respect for business owners, and how hard they work to create legacies for their families. “My dad is a businessman, who came to this country with nothing, and built a chain of grocery stores, so I grew up with an entrepreneurial spirit. He inspired me to take risks in my life,” Dallo explains. Initially, however, Dallo planned to forge a career as a CPA, given that numbers have always come naturally to him. As such, he graduated magna cum laude from the University of San Diego with both a Bachelor of Accounting and a Bachelor of Business Administration, all the while learning to speak Spanish, Arabic and Chaldean-Aramaic fluently, in part thanks to multiple studyabroad programs. After completing his undergraduate work, and earning his CPA, Dallo immediately went to work, beginning in the tax department of San Diego-based Sempra Energy, a multi-national Fortune 500 Company. He would also cut his teeth in accounting working in the Tax Department of Pricewaterhouse Coopers in Paris, with further experience garnered working for the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. 16

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

By 2006, Dallo had also opened a small tax preparation business, which he would run on the weekends in order to help San Diego taxpayers file income tax returns. Yet, he found the work restrictive in that he was unable to advocate for clients who reached out to him for help with IRS audit notices. “I felt trapped because these audit notices were so devastating to them, and I did not have the tools to help them. I decided then to become a tax attorney so that I could start a tax resolution firm and help my clients from start to finish,” he recalls. By 2011, Dallo was well on his way to adding the J.D. initials to his signature. A top student at the University of San Diego School of Law, Dallo was eager to start his career as a tax attorney, when a horrible catastrophe befell his family. “While I was finishing my last year of law school, I tragically and unexpectedly lost my brother, Branden Dallo in a car accident. During the lowest and most difficult point of my life, my passion for tax and the law was my driving force in helping me to not only finish school, but to graduate at the top of my class, magna cum laude and order of the coif. My brother always believed in me, and he was and continues to be a driving force in my conviction, passion, and hard work,” Dallo says. Likewise, Dallo says several others played a vital role in keeping him focused, driven, and inspired, as he continued to chase his dream of being able to help others face off against the IRS and the State of California’s Franchise Tax Board, Employment Development Department and the Board of Equalization. He counts Richard Carpenter, Professor at USD, Judge Laro, US Tax Court Judge, and his brother-in-law Ronson Shamoun as mentors, who championed his efforts to stay the course even during the difficult times. Yet even after earning his J.D. in addition to his CPA, Dallo still wasn’t done putting in the hard work to become a true expert. By 2012, he’d once again earned another degree, via earning his Masters of Law in Taxation (LL.M.) from New York University School of Law, the top tax law program in the nation. After years

ATTORNEY

OF THE MONTH

Â© Bauman Photographers

2017 2016

From left to right, Associate Attorney Coby Shirazi, Founder and CEO Michael Dallo, and Senior Associate Attorney Samuel Lemon. Not pictured: Associate Attorney Kevin Waldron. of gaining valuable experience and a premium education, the only thing left for Dallo to do was dive into his new career as a tax resolution attorney. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to do just that in 2012.

Boutique Tax Resolution Firm is Born “I knew that by opening up my own firm, I could create my own vision for the firm and be creative and flexible in advocating for my clients. I am an out-of-the-box thinker, and I knew that I needed to have the power to problem solve creatively, in my own way. I knew I wanted to be able to take any client that I wanted. I didn’t want to be forced to turn away clients due to things like billable hours. My motto has always been that no client is too small or too large for our firm to help,” Dallo says. Indeed, Dallo has insisted upon keeping his rates affordable, even as his star has continued to rise in the Southern California legal community. “Our clients include anyone with any type of current or potential tax problem, whether they are an individual, small business, or corporation. We represent people before the Internal Revenue Service, the Franchise Tax Board, the Employment Development Department, and the Board of Equalization. Our services include assisting taxpayers with ongoing tax disputes (such as tax audits, tax appeals, and tax court litigation), negotiating tax settlement and payments plans, and help with international tax matters (such as offshore voluntary disclosure and foreign asset reporting).” Every client who meets with Dallo can expect to leave the meeting with peace of mind, regardless of the type of tax problems the client may be facing. “In staying true to my motto of providing peace of mind, I will never make a guarantee or 18

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

promise a specific result to my clients,” Dallo says. “If I don’t believe I can find a resolution for my client, or if there is not a common ground on expectations, I will explain why. I have an obligation to tell my clients what they need to hear, even if it’s not always what they want to hear.” Continuing he adds, “Unfortunately I work in a field that is rampant with abuse. Many national ‘tax resolution companies’ that advertise on the TV or radio are not tax attorneys, and they make false promises, giving clients a false sense of security, unrealistic expectations and overall make matters worse for people who are already having a terrible time.” “I can’t stress enough the importance of having a CPAattorney do this work. Having the administrative background in IRS procedure and the financial literacy to understand how a tax return works is invaluable. This combination not only allows us to navigate through the return or audit efficiently and effectively, but we also have the necessary tools to advocate and defend a tax position. Accounting is the language of tax returns and law is the language of negotiation. Both are necessary to help clients facing these uphill battles. At Dallo Law Group, instead of making promises and guarantees, our clients can regain their peace of mind by entrusting in our expertise and the clear path that we lay out, which includes explaining thoughts on the case, reasonable expectations, and our strategy for resolution,” Dallo says. With offices in both Downtown San Diego and Del Mar, the attorneys Dallo has invited to join him at Dallo Law Group all share his same work ethic, enthusiasm, and dedication to being as educated as possible, so as to best help others through tax problems. Therefore, all four attorneys at Dallo Law Group hold LL.M. (Masters of Laws in Taxation) degrees, and bring significant experience and expertise to the firm. Like Dallo, Senior Associate Attorney Samuel Lemon, J.D.,

those years, and were forced to close their business. It was difficult to recreate the pieces to fight the IRS,” Dallo concedes. Fortunately, Dallo and his team prevailed. “During the course of our representation, we used our CPA skills to substantiate the tax despite a lack of accounting records. Then we used our skills as attorneys to defend and advocate for our client. In the end, we convinced the IRS to abate all the tax, remove all penalties, and were even able to get a refund back to our clients,” Dallo says. Other similar examples make his work immensely rewarding, according to Dallo. “In the winter of 2014, we represented a small business. A tough economy had caused them to fall behind on payroll taxes. During the week of Christmas, a revenue officer assigned to the case levied the bank account of the taxpayer and liquidated all of the cash of the business. As a result, our client was unable to pay their hard-working employees, who through no fault of their own, were victimized by this action. Although we had a very uphill battle, we could not allow the innocent employees to not have money for Christmas. We worked countless hours, all through Christmas Eve to convince the IRS to release the levy. We succeeded, and the IRS released all funds, thus saving Christmas for many employees,” Dallo says with a smile.

Ongoing Evolution of Expertise Even armed with superior training, education, and experience, Dallo continues to relentlessly pursue all opportunities

LL.M is also a CPA, who went on to earn his J.D. from University of San Diego School of Law, where he received the prestigious “CALI” award for the best written paper in Comparative Constitutional Law, along with the “Best Advocate” award for the school’s mock trial competition. Lemon also worked as a CPA and tax preparer for seven years before attending law school, working for a national tax firm and then for Intuit. Associate Coby Shirazi, J.D., LL.M, is also a USD School of Law alum, and spent time at the USD Federal Income Tax Clinic assisting low-income clients on a variety of tax matters. Shirazi is also fluent in Farsi, bringing the total number of languages the attorneys at Dallo Law Group speak fluently, to five. Kevin Waldron, J.D., LL.M is also an associate at Dallo Law Group who earned his Juris Doctor and Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of San Diego School of Law. While at USD Law, Waldron helped low-income taxpayers with their tax issues at the USD State Income Tax Clinic and VITA, for which he received the Alec L. Cory Pro Bono Scholar award. Together, the attorneys at Dallo Law Group work tirelessly to help those who are often blindsided by actions taken by the IRS. For example, Dallo recalls representing a client who was stunned to receive a bill from the IRS for hundreds of thousands of dollars, after the IRS had—unbeknownst to them—audited their small business and disallowed all deductions. “This liability would have wiped them out and ruined their lives. My clients had endured many life and business difficulties during

A proud family at Dallo Law Group. Pictured center is Michael’s daughter Celeste and loving wife Cortney Dallo, whom he credits as the biggest inspiration behind his hard work and dedication. Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

Contact Michael C. Dallo, CPA, Esq. Dallo Law Group, APC 406 Ninth Ave., #212 San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 795-8000 mdallo@dallolawgroup.com dallolawgroup.com

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

EXPERIENCE

for additional education. In doing so, he recently earned his Certified Tax Specialist in Tax Law designation from the State Bar of California Board of Legalization—making him one of the rare tax attorneys in San Diego to hold this specialization. He’s also dedicated himself to helping to educate the next generation of tax professionals through his work as an adjunct Professor of Taxation in the Masters of Tax program at the University of San Diego. Not surprisingly, with such a strong leader, and an equally driven team of attorneys sharing a unified mission of helping others, the legal community and the local community has recognized Dallo and Dallo Law Group many times. For instance, Dallo was named a Top Young Attorney by the San Diego Daily Transcript in 2013. In addition, he received the General Counsel Award from the San Diego Business Journal in 2015, for his work as General Counsel to Dallo & Co., Inc., the grocery store conglomerate his father founded years ago. In 2016, Dallo was also awarded the AVPreeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell and became one of the San Diego Business Journal’s 2016 Most Admired CEOs. As a firm, Dallo Law Group has also earned the distinction of being named a Best Tax Law Firm by the San Diego Union Tribune for the past three consecutive years. Likewise, in 2015 and 2016 Dallo Law Group was also named a “Best of the Bar” firm by the San Diego Business Journal. Today, just five years after officially opening the doors of Dallo Law Group, the expertise of Dallo and his team has already made them a powerhouse tax resolution firm. As they look towards the future, their dedication to providing tax resolution expertise to Southern Californians is only gaining momentum, according to Dallo. For his part, Dallo relentlessly pursues all opportunities for additional education, and in doing so recently earned his Certified Tax Specialist in Tax Law designation from the State Bar of California Board of Legalization—making him one of the rare tax attorneys in San Diego to hold this specialization. He’s also dedicated himself to helping to educate the next generation of tax attorneys through his work as an adjunct Professor of Taxation in the Masters of Tax program at the University of San Diego. In the coming years, Dallo plans to expand the firm’s reach through opening offices in Orange County and Los Angeles. “We will strive to maintain a boutique firm feel, while being able to serve more people throughout Southern California. Each office will retain the small firm feel, and provide the personal attention to detail that we’re known for in San Diego,” Dallo says. n

» EDUCATION • New York University School of Law, LL.M. Taxation – 2012 • University of San Diego School of Law, J.D., Magna Cum Laude, Order of the Coif – 2011 • University of San Diego, Bachelor of Accountancy, Magna Cum Laude – 2006 • University of San Diego, Bachelor of Business Administration, Emphasis in Finance, Magna Cum Laude – 2006

» AWARDS • AV Preeminent Martindale Hubbell Rating, 2016-2017 • San Diego’s Top CFO Award – San Diego Business Journal, 2017 • Most Admired CEO – San Diego Business Journal, 2016 • Best of the Bar – San Diego Business Journal, 20152016 • Best Tax Law Firm – Union Tribune, 2014-2016 • General Counsel Award – San Diego Business Journal, 2015 • Top Young Attorney – San Diego Daily Transcript, 2013 • Order of the Coif, 2011 • Ralph Gano Miller Award for Highest Excellence in Taxation, 2011

» RECENT SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS • San Diego County Bar Association, Taxation of Start-up Companies – 2016 • USD – RJS LAW Tax Controversy Institute, Navigating Through the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty – 2016 • University of San Diego – Young Tax Lawyers: Tax Aspects of Obamacare – 2014 • Endorsed by Carl DeMaio and La’Dona Harvey of AM 600 KOGO.

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Harness the Power of Media Publicity to Build Your Image as an Authority, Attract News Clients and Increase Referrals by Trey Ryder Trey Ryder shares his marketing method with lawyers through a wide range of publications. In addition, he writes and publishes his free e-zine, The Ryder Method™ of Education-Based Marketing. And he maintains the Lawyer Marketing Advisor at www.treyryder.com. He can be reached at trey@treyryder.com.

ublicity is the term I use to describe feature articles in newspapers and magazines—and interviews on radio and television. Publicity can be a powerful tool when you use it correctly. The idea of hiring someone to handle publicity goes back to Biblical times. In fact, the first press agent in recorded history was Samuel, who handled publicity for Moses. When Moses was leading his people to the Promised Land and they reached the Red Sea, he called for Samuel. He asked, “Samuel, where are the boats I asked you to rent for our journey?” Samuel looked down at the ground and said “I’m sorry, Moses, I forgot. With all the food I had to order, and the supplies I had to stock, I forgot to rent the boats.” Moses raised his voice and demanded, “Samuel, now what do you expect me to do? Do you think I can just raise my rod over the Red Sea and God will part the waters?” Samuel looked up, with a twinkle in his eye, and replied, “Boss, if you can pull that off, I’ll get you two pages in the Old Testament.” When I discuss publicity, the decision-maker at the print media is called the editor. The decision-maker at the broadcast media is called the producer. When I say “editor,” I’m referring to both. Media publicity benefits you in many ways. First, it establishes a high level of credibility and shows that you are an authority in your field. Otherwise, the editor would not have featured you in an article or interview. Second, it gives you a way to reach dozens, hundreds or even thousands of prospects, depending on the media outlet where your article

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

runs or your interview airs. Back in 1983, using education-based marketing, I was successful at getting my wife into Ann Landers’ advice column. At the time, my wife Stephanie published a monthly newsletter for people with diabetes. She offered free information of interest to people with diabetes. Ann Landers ran my wife’s letter, which included her offer of free information and her address. Stephanie received over 19,000 written inquiries the first week, 23,000 in all. The main Scottsdale post office opened their doors on Saturday just so I could wheel the mail cart out to my car. As a result of this staggering level of publicity, my wife skyrocketed to the top of her profession. She spoke at national conventions. She was named to the National Board of Directors for her American Association of Diabetes Educators. And two years later, she was the program chairperson for the nationwide convention, which that year was held in Phoenix. Several years ago, before I limited my work to attorneys, one of my clients owned a water damage restoration company that removed water from flooded buildings. He wanted to increase his credibility with insurance companies, so he asked me to write a news release for him. He sent out the news releases and within a week or so, while I was working at my computer, I heard my client’s voice. I looked up and he was being interviewed by CNN Headline News, following a flood in California. One news release immediately established his credibility as a national expert on flood damage and restoration.

One of my clients filed a multi-million dollar damage suit relating to an automobile accident. I wrote his news release and sent it to the appropriate media. The article about his lawsuit appeared on the front page of his local newspaper. Here’s a case history about an estate planning attorney I worked with for over five years. We mounted an ongoing publicity campaign and, as you can see from these results, his publicity program proved immensely profitable. His first opportunity for publicity was an interview on an hour-long radio talk show in Phoenix. The interview took place the day after Christmas, so the listening audience was larger than usual. He offered his free fact kit during the interview. Within ten days, he received 426 calls from prospects requesting his educational materials. Next, I ghost wrote an article that I submitted to a local senior newspaper under his by-line. When the publication hit the streets, he received over 400 inquiries from prospects. The largest newspaper in Arizona—the Arizona Republic— interviewed this lawyer and ran an article in an area section where he was presenting a seminar. As a result of this one article, 233 people attended his program. Later, a local television station interviewed him on the midday news. The news department put his telephone number on a graphic, which appeared on the TV screen. Within three hours of the newscast, he received 200 calls from prospects requesting his free materials. After two days, the number topped 500. In this lawyer’s case, the timing was right, prospective clients were eager, and his free materials were compelling. We were able to make excellent use of the media—and all this publicity was free. When you communicate with editors, keep in mind that they are often on deadline. They want to receive your message, but almost never have time to talk with you on the telephone. I suggest you communicate with editors exclusively in writing. This way they can read your query letter or news release whenever it’s convenient for them. If they’re interested, they will either call you or run your news release as is. You may have heard of a press kit, which is generally a twopocket folder filled with news releases, background material, photographs—anything the public relations firm can think to include. I encourage you not to spend money on press kits. The only opportunity a press kit affords is the opportunity for the p.r. firm to prepare it—and charge you $5,000 to $10,000, or even more. Many editors have told me they often throw press kits into the trash, unopened. Editors don’t have the time or desire to wade through lengthy materials. They want query letters and news releases that are newsworthy, to the point and well written. When you learn how to appeal to editors—and how to provide materials they want—you open doors that will serve you well for your entire professional career. n

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

2017

Survey Results: Lawyers’ Use of Social Media for Marketing

by Joan Feldman

acebook continues to gain fans in the profession, according to Attorney at Work’s 2017 Social Media Marketing Survey, conducted in February. This is the third year we’ve asked lawyers about their social media habits, preferences and attitudes, and 302 responded to this year’s survey. How are lawyers using social media in their marketing efforts? Here is what we learned.

WHAT’S THE SOCIAL MEDIA STORY FOR LAWYERS THIS YEAR? Nearly everybody is now using social media: 96 percent of responding lawyers say they do. What’s more, 70 percent of this year’s respondents say it’s actually part of their overall marketing strategy (compare that with 60 percent just two years ago).

Which sites are regularly used? Facebook is getting more love than ever—80 percent of lawyers responding say they use it regularly, up from 72 percent last year. Twitter use is growing, too. Last year, 47 percent of

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

lawyers said they regularly use Twitter—that count has jumped to 59 percent. LinkedIn is still No. 1 among lawyers, but it is falling behind a bit—89 percent reported using it regularly last year compared with 84 percent this year. As for Snapchat, 4 percent say they use the emerging platform regularly.

What’s used most often? When asked which platform they use most often, Facebook came out on top: 48 percent of the lawyers cited Facebook compared with 27 percent who said they spend more time on LinkedIn. (Perhaps that’s why LinkedIn is making big changes over there.)

BUT IS IT WORKING? Only 7 percent of this year’s responding lawyers say they believe their use of social media is directly responsible for bringing in new clients. (That’s an increase over last year, when only 3 percent said it was directly responsible.) However, 42 percent say it is “somewhat” responsible. As for which platforms are most effective for bringing in new business... Facebook again took first place—at 31 percent—with LinkedIn second at 27 percent. “None” was a close third, at 26 percent, and Twitter a distant fourth at only 5 percent.

media as part of their marketing plan, compared to 70 percent of all lawyers surveyed. Solos continue to use LinkedIn first (82 percent) and Facebook second (78 percent), but Twitter is gaining a greater following over past years. Almost 60 percent of solos reported using Twitter—a 14 percent increase over 2016. However, Facebook pulled into first place—at 34 percent compared with 22 percent for LinkedIn—when we asked which platforms are most effective for bringing in new business. Twitter was next, pulling only 3 percent.

MAKING THE LEAP TO PAID SOCIAL AND CONTENT-SHARING TOOLS Paid social advertising. For the first time, we asked respondents if they are using paid social media advertising to market their firms. Of the 40 percent who said yes, 50 percent regularly use Facebook Ads, the most popular platform for this by far. In contrast, only 8 percent pay for LinkedIn ads and only 4 percent purchase Twitter ads.

When asked, “Do you believe lawyers are actively using social media for marketing purposes or is it really more hype than reality?” lawyers were split: 44 percent say they do believe lawyers are actively using it, while 43 percent think it is hype. A little help here? Do lawyers handle all of their social media marketing activities themselves? Most do, according to the survey results: 67 percent do it all, while 23 percent say they get some help, and 10 percent say it is all handled by someone else. Management tools. How are lawyers managing multiple social accounts and scheduling their marketing activities? When asked, “Do you use any social media management tools such as Hootsuite, Google Analytics, TweetDeck, Buffer, etc.?” 38 percent say they take advantage of management tools, while 58 percent say they do not.

ABOUT SOLO PRACTITIONERS’ USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA Compared with last year’s results, more solo practitioners are talking the social media talk and walking the social media walk: 94 percent of solos say they are using social media—10 percent more than last year. In addition, 75 percent say they use social

Content sharing. We also inquired about content-sharing platforms—websites that help lawyers and law firms distribute articles. We learned that of the 31 percent who reported using a platform beyond their own blog, website or social media accounts, 32 percent are using LinkedIn’s publishing platforms and 26 percent are using Facebook publishing tools, while 9 percent use JD Supra and 7 percent use Medium. n Joan Feldman is Editor-in-Chief of Attorney at Work and partner at Feldcomm. She has created, steered and contributed to myriad leading practice management and trade publications, including the ABA’s Law Practice magazine where she served as managing editor for a dozen years. Joan is a trustee and fellow of the College of Law Practice Management, and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism. Follow her @JoanHFeldman, LinkedIn, and on Google+. Previously published in Attorney at Work.

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

Interview with an Expert:

What Should Your Law Firm be Doing with PPC and SEM?

by Paul Julius

onsultwebs recently sat down with Paul Julius, our resident expert on digital advertising, PPC and all things SEM, to discuss some important topics for our law firms. We hope you find the information he shared helpful to your firm.

CW: The terms SEM and PPC are used a lot in legal marketing circles, but there seems to be some confusion around them on occasion. Could you define what those terms mean? PJ: SEM stands for search engine marketing, which some people use meaning pay-per-click advertising, but it’s really evolved into a broader approach including any spot that you can buy on the web—AdWords PPC, Bing, as well as paid social media, or a direct buy where you negotiate to show your ads on a particular site, like a local news website, paid content marketing. We approach it like anything that is a paid marketing option online falls under SEM. So, SEM is paid, and by contrast, SEO (search engine optimization) is “organic,” where you are investing in a longer-term presence to try to get better visibility in organic search results. PPC is a part of SEM, and PPC stands for pay-per-click. That refers to the billing method that a lot of platforms use where they charge you for every time your ad gets clicked, regardless

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

of how many times it is shown. Then there is CPM (cost-perimpression), where you pay a rate per thousand impressions of your ad, regardless of how many times it is clicked. So PPC is a part of SEM and involves anything where you pay for each click.

CW: Lots of law firm marketers have said that PPC is way too expensive, seeing pricing in certain markets or practice areas that is well above $100 per click. If a firm doesn’t have a massive budget, is PPC even worthwhile for them? PJ: I think it depends. First, yes, a lot of people say that the clicks are expensive, but you need to keep in mind that there is a lot of intent behind a lot of those expensive keywords. So you need to determine if it’s worth the cost to get those people to your landing page. You always have to look at, “What is our ROI?” You don’t want to be running at a loss, although some firms also have the perspective that getting cases that competitors won’t get might be worth running at a reasonable loss. It all depends on your goals. Also, there are different kinds of things that you can do with PPC. Some PPC can get expensive, but there are some options that are less expensive. You can do display advertising on a pay-

per-click basis, for example. And you can get creative with a lower budget. You can hyper-target your locations. You can do some ad scheduling where you only run ads on certain days or certain parts of a day. Those are a couple of ways to work on a lower budget, but that’s not necessarily ideal. It’s important to keep in mind that the best PPC campaigns are the ones that have the budget to run consistently. You never know when that prospect will be looking for help, and so you want your firm to always have that presence. If you have unlimited budget, yes, you can dominate in PPC, but you don’t need to spend a ton to get some results.

CW: If a law firm has never done anything with PPC before, and they are wanting to try it for themselves, how do they get started? PJ: If you don’t know anything about PPC, I’d suggest getting AdWords certified. It’s free. There are a bunch of videos to get you started with the basics: how to set up a campaign, what all the different components are, the keywords, the ad groups, ad extensions, everything. With the legal industry, I’m a bit torn. There is no substitute for experience, but a firm could spend a lot of money just figuring things out. I would really recommend spending the time to do some research beyond just what AdWords certification will give you. Look around online. There are some other resources too. Certified Knowledge by Brad Geddes, PPC Hero, those are pretty good. I think once you get through that stuff and are comfortable with the basics, you can get into it. But, set yourself some limits for both time and budget. For example, say we’ll give this 30 days and a budget of $4,000. Then keep an eye on things and see what happens. Google has good support as well, so if you have questions, you can get answers.

CW: Following up on that, what are some landmines to avoid when getting started with PPC? PJ: A few things. Watch out for single-word keywords like “lawyer,” or “attorney” or like “Boston lawyer.” You could get into a lot of trouble with that. You’ll see a lot of volume, but most of it will probably be irrelevant to the practice areas you are going after and you could waste a lot of money. Don’t put too many keywords into an ad group. Every keyword term in an ad group should be pretty relevant to each other. You don’t want to have more than 10 or 20 keywords in an ad group because it’s going to be tough to write ad copy that is relevant to that specific group. That can affect your quality score and what you end up paying for your clicks. A low-quality score can cause you to pay a lot more. Lastly, make sure your landing page for every campaign is driving the actions that you’re looking for. You probably don’t want to point ads to your homepage or your “personal injury

lawyer” page. You just paid for someone to click on your ad and come through to a page, sometimes at a pretty high price. You need to do everything you can on that page to get them to take the action that you want them to take, most likely to contact you. Your firm’s homepage or practice-area pages may not have all of that. A big red flag is if you’re getting clicks and not getting anyone to contact you. You probably want to take a look at your landing page and make some changes. You can be much more direct, have more of a sense of urgency and use the page to alleviate some of the fears that people may have in contacting you. For example, you can say, “Free, no-obligation case consultation,” answer some of their questions, and include some strong calls to action that you may not want on other pages of your site.

CW: What’s the biggest mistake a law firm can make with PPC? PJ: Not paying attention. If a firm doesn’t track conversions, meaning they don’t know if people are contacting them because of their PPC ads, or any other marketing efforts for that matter. If you don’t know if your campaign is working, you can’t make adjustments to make it better, and you wouldn’t know if you were wasting money. So, that’s the biggest mistake. Also, some firms use the “set it and forget it” approach. That’s where they set up a campaign and then just let it run without checking on it. If you aren’t monitoring your spending, your different ad groups, your quality score, results and everything else, you can’t improve it, and you won’t see if you’re wasting your budget. You have to stay on top of it.

CW: Is there a type of SEM that every law firm should be doing, in your opinion? PJ: Every firm’s needs and goals are different, but if there is one thing that comes closest to “every firm should be doing this,” it’s probably brand protection. What I mean by that is bidding on your firm’s own name in AdWords, for example. What can happen is that a prospect may be looking for your firm, search for it specifically, and then see an ad for another law firm in their search results. Keep in mind, very often the first four results are ad results, and on mobile it’s pretty much all you see until you scroll. Especially if you are not running an ad for your branded terms, they may see another firm’s ad, click on it and hit another law firm’s site, and you may have just lost a case. If your ad is there at the top, and they were searching for you, that’s protecting your brand in those results. That might not apply to all law firms and may not be completely necessary, but it is something to be aware of. Remarketing, also, is something firms should look into to show people ads after they leave the firm’s website to keep your firm in front of them. It may not be applicable for all firms, based on their practice areas or their situation, but it’s something to explore. Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

IS YOUR LAW FIRM MAKING THE BEST IMPRESSION?

CW: Right now, what is the biggest opportunity for law firms in SEM? PJ: Facebook. But, you need to have an active Facebook page to make the paid side of Facebook worthwhile. Facebook has its own algorithm to see how active your page is, how many likes you have and everything, and that will affect your ads’ performance. The better your organic presence on Facebook, the better your ads will do too. If you have a dormant Facebook page, you won’t do as well as if you have an active page where people are engaged. There are lots of different types of ads and ways to boost your exposure on Facebook. They have carousel ads, they have ads where people can fill out a form right on Facebook and never even have to go to a landing page. And the ways that you can target people on Facebook are much more refined than you are able to get with other platforms. With targeting, for example, if your firm was looking for employment discrimination cases against a particular employer, you could target people who currently work there or used to work there. If it was only in a couple of states, you could target those states specifically. You can target by gender, education level, job title, interests and other information that’s available in Facebook, to narrow your audience to much more likely candidates for the cases that you’re looking for.

CW: Any other advice for law firms that can help them with their paid online marketing?

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 164, 2017

PJ: It’s important to note, and this may be obvious, that SEM is a “here and now” kind of strategy. You are paying for a presence on the web to get leads, most times, and when you stop paying, that presence stops too. With SEO, it’s a longer-term play, where you are laying the foundation to establish authority and get traffic from organic search results to get leads. It takes a bit longer, of course, so there are advantages to each approach. Ultimately, a strong balance between SEM and SEO is what I see works best. When a firm is really strong organically in some practice area search terms, but is still working on getting rankings up in another area, that is when they can use AdWords to get opportunities with those kinds of cases. And definitely make sure that the ROI is there for whatever you’re doing online. n Paul Julius has an extensive background in Web design and online marketing. He brings a unique combination of skills and perspectives to his role as a Digital Advertising Lead with Consultwebs. Paul is responsible for setting up, managing and maintaining all PPC campaigns for our clients, including campaign strategy, keyword research, bids and the analysis and reporting of results.

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