Mobile-friendly websites and mobile optimized websites are two different types of websites. If a website is Flash-based, it falls into neither of these categories. As the mobile space continues to see unprecedented growth, the importance of understanding the difference is becoming crucial. It could mean the difference between winning or losing a prospective client.

GUEST BLOGGER: Merrilyn Astin Tarlton, Co-Publisher - Attorney at Work

Child development experts call it “impulse control.” A key measure of a child’s maturity, the traditional test for it involves marshmallows. A 4-year-old is offered two marshmallows if he can wait 15 minutes for them. If he can’t wait, he can have a marshmallow right away—but just one. At four, some choose two and work hard to get through the wait and others just want one and want it now.

Would you want to talk to you at a cocktail party?

I often ask our law firm clients this question when discussing their brand messaging strategy. However, the question seems even more pertinent when addressing their lawyers’ bios. With most traffic on law firm websites going to lawyers’ bios, it’s the perfect place to add that “human touch” that engages and connects with clients—making them someone clients want to work with rather than have to work with. You know, the kind of thing that makes people want to talk to you at a party. And yet, so many lawyer bios have all the warmth and interest of a slab of concrete. Why?

GUEST BLOGGER: Michael Silverman, CEO, Duo Consulting

When most professional service firms think of social media, they envision Facebook and Twitter followings. Then again, how many new clients have you gained from these social channels? You could probably count them on your fingers.

Look at your law firm’s name on your business card. Say it out loud. Do you find it hard to pronounce? Think how hard it is for other people — potential clients? Almost every firm has a “street name” that everyone uses when they refer to your firm. Perhaps you and your partners even use it internally at the office as well.

At the beginning of this month, Nielsen officially confirmed the time that marketers have been waiting for. Smartphone ownership is now the majority. Feature phones are slowly being phased out in exchange for more advanced superphones. To put it another way: 1 in 2 Americans now own a smartphone.

QR codes and barcodes have been around for some time. As an agency and someone interested in the latest technology, we have been aware of them for years as a viable marketing tactic and as a part of a larger campaign.

It has only been recently that clients/prospects have recognized QR codes as a marketing tactic. However, there is a lack of education on how to appropriately use and implement them, causing distress among consumers in many different marketplaces.

As the NFL’s Super Bowl approaches this weekend, the game will draw millions of viewers. Many will be tuning in strictly for the TV commercials, with the game being secondary.

"Close to 50% of viewers tune in to actually watch the commercials, more than they watch the game," said Stephen Master, vice president of Nielsen Sports media research.

Once again it’s the time of year where we assess what marketing and business development efforts we have done over the course of the year so we can prepare our year-end reports for management, and to plan accordingly and strategically for the coming year. One of the marketing efforts that many lawyers as well as marketing professionals undertake each year is to serve on boards and do work with Associations where they may have the opportunity to meet and develop relationships with current and prospective clients.

I recently attended the LMASE Mini Conference in Houston. As a newbie to this mini conference, I was impressed with the attendance and the “players” that I met that day. Like most LMA conferences, I always meet some new legal marketers and I left the day with some solid takeaways.