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Thanks to Ryan Nelson of LegalWebExperts  for this guest post:

The ABA Law Firm Marketing Strategies Conference coming up on November 8^th and 9^th, 2011, will explore the ever growing importance of attorney website design in promoting three core elements of business success: reputation, referral and ranking. The conference has been named R³ after these three elements.

The conference is presented by the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association (ABA) and will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia. This is the third legal marketing conference hosted by the ABA as they continue to help law firms of all sizes grow their marketing for the future.

The event offers the opportunity to learn from the ABA’s faculty of attorneys and expert keynote speakers from the industry. Networking with other fellow attendees is a major part of the event as opportunities are provided before, after, and during the conference.

Over the course of the two day conference the keynote speakers and other presenters will delve into how law firm web presence and legal website design can grow your business, how the internet is changing everything, and how the secret to success can be reduced to reputation, referral and ranking. 

Reputation

The key to your success is having the world know about you. Keynote speaker Dan Hill, President of Sensory Logic, Inc. of Minneapolis, MN begins the conference addressing how law firm internet marketing can improve or hinder your reputation in his speech “Lie to Mie! ‘Emotion Management’ of Your Marketing Will Invite Trust, Not Contempt.” Dan Hill is an internationally recognized authority on the use of facial coding, the method of reading facial expressions to know what someone is really thinking. Hill is a prominent figure in the national media on facial coding analysis on a wide variety of topics such as presidential elections. 

Also dealing with reputation in the talk “Social Media: Does Your Firm Marketing Plan Need A Face Lift?”, Steve Silverberg, the moderator and partner at Silverberg Zalantis LLP, White Plains, NY, will discuss how to use Social Media in a way that you are comfortable with to help the overall reputation and awareness of your firm. 

Referrals

A large part of maintaining business is referrals. The second keynote speaker, Peter Shankman, Founder of Help A Reporter Out and Founder of The Geek Factory, Inc. New York City, New York discusses the impact of the internet on law firm marketing and how it has changed everything. Shankman, known for “redefining the art of networking” will explain how social media, legal website design, internet marketing and public relations are transforming client referrals and retention.

The process of internet rankings and ratings - not search engine rankings; rather, the various companies and resources that rank lawyers - is growing more complex as it gets more attention. The conference luncheon “Effects of Rankings & Ratings on the Legal Profession” will address many topics surrounding this issue such as how to sort through the thousands of companies (Chambers USA, Martindale-Hubbell and American Lawyer Media) that do rankings and ratings. Other topics include the pros and cons of participating in rankings, how to deal with ethical quandaries, and how to incorporate rankings into your attorney website design and even marketing campaign. The roundtable discussion will include perspectives from law firm management consultants, in-house counsel, traditional print and online entities, and other media.

You can still register for this even. Visit www.lawpractice.org/marketingconference for registration and conference updates.