Functionality of social media and connectivity are growing on the Internet. Many businesses are creating Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. Direct marketing and relationship marketing thrive with these forms of interactive tools. Another innovative technique lawyers are using to market their firm is Google profile and alerts. These may seem foreign but setup is a breeze.

Google Profile allows anyone to create a personal, searchable page on Google. Once an account is created (if you do not have one already with Google), you begin by entering in data about yourself or business into the form and any links you would like displayed. Google allows users to upload photos and contact information. Click the ‘create profile’ button and you are finished. Here is an example of a Miami firm’s profile.

Google Alerts keeps you updated on stories or people you are interested in. It works by allowing users to isolate key phrases or words they often search for and emailing or delivering via feed new results. For instance, a VP at Pampers may want up to date information about its competitor, Huggies. By creating a Google Alert for “Huggies”, they no longer have to dedicate time to searching for themselves. Google will email them any new developments posted on the web about Huggies.

Other applications for Google Alerts include monitoring what others are saying about your business (or you). By creating an Alert for your name, any occurrence of it in the press will immediately be mailed or show up on a Feed Reader.

To create a Google Alert, first login to your account and go here. Proceed to type in whatever search term(s) you desire. Google gives you the option to search only news, videos, blogs, groups or all of the above (comprehensive). This can be useful as a filtering mechanism. Next, they want to know how often you would like updates. The choices are once a day, as it happens or once a week. Finally, Google needs to know how you want this information sent to you- to either a Google account email or feed.

These two quick and useful tools go a long way to monitor and market. They are both extremely powerful and user-friendly. To get an account with Google and get started go here.

For more information on Canadian Lawyers, Lawyer Marketing, Law firm advertising visit http://www.lawyerahead.ca/

When advertising online, many lawyers are beginning to use video. The internet has evolved to the point where video is in the forefront in part because of broadband connections becoming ubiquitous. Not even ten years ago, the idea of loading your website full of streaming videos that required high-bandwidth connections was preposterous, but as we have seen with Youtube and its competitors, video is now the status quo. And as some are finding out, utilizing this medium to advertise legal services works because it allows you to showcase the way you present yourself, connect better with viewers, and ultimately grow your business.

Online video feeds may be a new phenomenon, but lawyers have been using videos for years to advertise their law firm with television spots. By using video, you allow people to see the way you handle yourself. Unlike words, which are limited to effective word play, video allows you to exhibit your body language, mannerisms, inflections, and intonations as well which are all important parts of clarifying your message. These also tend to be important factors when litigating, and are selling points to prospective clients.

Connecting with clients has always been an essential part of the process. Online video allows a lawyer to send a more personalized message to visitors. You cannot smile with words. The use of video technologies sends a message to clients that this firm is successful and on the cutting edge of what is happening.

Online video is a way of separating yourself from the pack. There are tons of advertisements for firms in the phone book, a litany of commercial spots on television, and a plethora of other ways lawyers use to advertise themselves. Streaming video is a way to differentiate your firm from the herd.

Times have definitely changed. As one firm reports, they used to get about a four or five times return on their phonebook advertising. Now it is down to a $1.25 return on every dollar spent. However, after instituting streaming video to their website, they have seen a six or seven-fold return on their investment. Once again proving that video is a viable and fiscally sound form of advertising.

Video advertising to your potential client base is available with LawyerAhead Inc.  To learn more send an email to advertise@lawyerahead.com .

In the old days, advertising venues for lawyers were limited and expensive. Building clientele meant creating 30-second spots on television or renting billboard space. Thankfully, times have changed. Many lawyers find that publishing articles online is an effective means to grow their business.

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The old saying “The proof is in the pudding” applies and online venues are a great way for attorneys to show off their stuff. By publishing articles online, a lawyer can “show off” by allowing prospective clients and fellow lawyers to sample their work. This is a valuable way to get your name out there and build upon your existing network. One’s expertise is another’s weakness and some find that this can lead to lucrative referrals. Eventually, through enough exposure, clients searching the web for representation may run across your work.

Article archivers are springing up more and more. With a large network of lawyers, JDSupra may be the place to start. Their comprehensive site allows anyone to search documents for free. Registering takes no time at all and then you are ready to start uploading documents. For this, JDSupra has an intricate form, which makes the brief more searchable. Creating a detailed profile is a good idea as well. By sitting down for a couple hours and creating a strong profile.  Likewise Lawyerahead.com and Lawyerahead.ca provides lawyers with some of the best online Marketing tools available today for free.  A couple of other article archiving websites, Scribd and Docstoc are not directed at lawyers and clients, but are definitely worth considering to increase your firm’s exposure and searchability online.

Tagging is an important part of uploading your documents. These tags allow search engines to “see” what your article is about. Use as many tags as possible! The main idea of the document is not the only tag that is important. Remember, the more applicable tags you create, the more terms someone can type in to reach your work.

Starting a blog is another important step. Once you have uploaded articles and documents to an archiver, pasting them into a blog is made easy with the code auto-generated by the archiving site. Once you have a compilation of your work, you have a network that connects to a larger network and makes it easier for clients to find you with search engines.

The big issue is exposure. A thousand people may see a billboard and ten thousand people may view a firm’s television commercial, but millions are online. Opening up to the internet is a guaranteed way to get a firm’s name out there. With proper marketing through articles, blogs and tags, one can increase the traffic volume to their site and grow their business- for free.

Almost everyone at some point in our lives would require the services of a lawyer. For some, the requirement might be as basic as having someone to give legal advice before transferring or buying a property, creating a will or getting a legal opinion before commencing with a business deal. For some unfortunate ones, the requirements are more complex like getting a divorce lawyer, a criminal lawyer or getting the best possible lawyer before proceeding to take legal action against a company or an individual.

Whatever may be the requirement, one thing that almost all of us would unanimously agree is that searching for the right lawyer can be a real pain. In fact for most people just the thought of soliciting the services of a lawyer is enough to give them sleepless nights and most just dont know where to begin or how to go about contacting various lawyers and choosing the best one for their requirements or unique situation.

If you are one of those individuals as well who just dont know what to do in order to search for the best lawyers, then welcome to the world of web 2.0. The internet has already changed a lot of things in our lives like the way we communicate, the way we shop, the way we research about a particular subject etc. But now the next wave of internet websites, popularly known as web 2.0, are changing things even further and one of those is how we look at law, understand legal situations and best of all, how we solicit the services of a lawyer.

Lawyerahead Inc. have made the general public much more comfortable with all aspect of the law and made them realize the law is there to help them and is nothing to be scared of. One of the great features of Lawyerahead.ca and Lawyerahead.com sites is normal users can register for free and post their problems or grievances and not only can they get advice from fellow users, they can get accurate legal advice from real lawyers who are registered users of the website. You can even have lawyers who specialize in the field in which you have a problem contacting you and offering their services.

You can find lawyers of absolutely any specialization in these sites from personal injury lawyers to divorce lawyers, criminal lawyers, business lawyers, lawyers specializing in real estate, insurance, immigration, employment etc. The list is absolutely endless and you can not only have lawyers contact you, but the websites actually list the lawyers entire details like their specialization, distance from your postal code to their office and their exact location. Apart from this, any user can access the lawyers entire profile which has detailed information on their practice, experience and traditional resume.

Never before has interacting with a lawyer of your choice been so easy. Even those who have never interacted with a lawyer before are finding it really simple to now get expert legal advice and judging by the growth of these legal networking sites, it can be clearly seen how comfortable everyone has become with legal issues using web 2.0.

Hi All

We have been meaning to introduce our company blog for a while now - and what better day than 08.08.08. Since bringing our popular legal services in the US to the Canadian markets, we have seen tremendous number of responses from the Canadian consumers as we did in the US. Lawyerahead.ca`s goal is to help our Canadian consumers navigate through their legal matters in a simple, hassle free and guided process. Even better, unlike the Yellow Pages, we provide consumers with real choice.

Here is how it works.

1. Consumers submit case details in a form designed by qualified lawyers
2. Based on the case details, our well designed system sends email notifications to lawyers that have the expertise in the consumer`s legal matter and within consumer`s geographical region.
3. Multiple lawyers review consumers case and respond to consumers with their expertise.

Think about that. Simply post your case details completely anonymously, and have your legal matters reviewed by expert lawyers and have them contact you !

Since our launch in the Canadian markets in early June, we have already processed over 2000 + consumers legal cases by connecting those consumers to lawyers.

We know that selecting a lawyer is probably one of the most important decision anyone is faced with. This is why we have developed lawyerahead.ca - to help you find the right legal support.

Best of luck

Pete K.

Lawyerahead Inc.

www.lawyerahead.ca