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Editor: Ben W. Glass
Profession: Attorney at Law

Category: Marketing Advice

Tom Foster and I were in Orlando last year doing the NewslettersInk/ComPlus "Effective, Ethical and Outside the Box" marketing seminar.

We also had dinner with Mastermind Members (and fellow Internet guru's) Tom Young and Darren Wilson of (InjuryBoard.com). I like doing these seminars even though it takes a lot of time out of the house because I learn something from every seminar and from just about every person I meet.

As usual, there were several big plaintiff's personal injury firms in the audience. Also, Cindy Speaker (www.CindySpeaker.com), who is an expert at coaching the very large firms with their marketing, spoke.

One of the huge advantages that small firms have over the large firms is that we believe in the Internet. I've heard several big firms in big cities (and Cindy backs this up) say that the Internet is something that is "coming." The big firms generally don't have a system for getting their websites well placed in Google and they are lost at the whole idea of using the Internet to collect names for the herd and marketing back to them. (The least expensive to market to and the best ROI on your marketing dollar is to develop raving fans.)

This is key....we can compete by continuing to cultivate the group of people who already have given us permission to market to them. Be interesting and "remarkable."

Using tools such as Tom Foster's "DSS" or Tom Young's InjuryBoard.com, backed by a CRM software such as Infusion (Infusionsoft.com) will do two things. First, it continually will separate you from other small firms in your ability to be nimble, responsive and a "personality/celebrity to your herd. Second, it helps you do to battle with the mega-firms that are willing to spend anything to get a new client, but usually fall flat on their faces to cultivate the clients they already have to be "evangelists."

I also talked at dinner with my Internet friends about the "next great thing." I think it will be relatively inexpensive ways to get good video on your site. Check out www.Rapplaw.com. This is a Tom Foster site and I know he is working hard to bring that sort of video to his customers.