Many law firms consider their receptionist as one of the least important positions in the office. They usually are one of the lowest-paid employees in the firm. They answer the phone, make coffee, order supplies, and make sure visitors get parking validations…. What is so important about that?

After almost two decades marketing for law firms exclusively, let me tell you… your receptionist is the most important hire you will make. She/he is the first point of contact with your firm for all new potential clients. How they answer the phone, and treat that potential client’s needs, will make all the difference in whether the client decides to hire your law firm… or not!

After almost two decades marketing for law firms exclusively, let me tell you… your receptionist is the most important hire you will make.  She/he is the first point of contact with your firm for all new potential clients. How they answer the phone, and treat that potential client’s needs, will make all the difference in whether the client decides to hire your law firm… or not!
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Why are you looking for a new marketing company?
What is it that your existing company isn’t accomplishing?
What are you trying to get out of your website?

These are EXTREMELY important questions that you need to ask yourself BEFORE you let a marketing company convince you to hire them. In fact, it’s important to remember that any marketing company that’s cold-calling you or reaching out with flashy mailers HAS NO IDEA what your current needs are. They’re going to talk to you about the services they offer, but they’re going to disregard what your website actually needs to be a success.

Don’t get suckered into paying for services you don’t need!

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?
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First… I apologize; this is a long post and more of a rant! I get a LOT of spam from other marketing companies – both through the SLS website and forwarded to me by our clients. Most are not worthy of commenting on, and some just tell flat-out lies. It is frustrating to see so many people trying to get rich with smoke and mirrors. Successful organic SEO is tough – really tough – when done right. I could absolutely tell you that we guarantee success, but not to ranking a few keywords on “page one” of Google results. We guarantee success because we work tirelessly, as a team of skilled professionals, to make sure that all of our clients get the best we can give.

Today I got an email from a company with the title quoted above. The body was confusing, basically telling you that SEO is like underwater kickboxing (?):

“If all you want is a Page 1 ranking on the Google organic search results, allow me to suggest underwater kick boxing as a possibility. You should be able to quickly get on Page 1 of the Google organic search results, print the page off and impress all your friends.” Not very encouraging… but then they go on to guarantee that they can get you ranked on page one – even though they just told you it was useless – brilliant strategy:

“Can’t believe it?  Been told it isn’t possible? We are happy to share our results from some of our current clients.  Did I mention that our results ARE guaranteed and you don’t pay anything until we get all of your keywords ranked on Page One.  Our goal is to deliver more traffic to your website than you ever thought possible.” 

If you aren’t thoroughly confused by now… there’s more!!!

“Investing in organic SEO is more important now than ever before, despite the current difficulty everyone finds themselves facing regarding the lack of rankings for organic keyword data and associated traffic. Your business definitely needs to have an SEO strategy in place if you are interested in succeeding in terms of online marketing; it remains one of the single most important components of any organization’s branding efforts and online presence.​

_____ is the future of Search Engine Keyword Ranking (SEKR)™. We even coined the phrase. Our turnkey system begins with real experts who research keyword usage for your business and then advances with our proprietary technology consistently keeping your business on page 1 of Google.

​Unlike other SEO companies, we go after high-competition keywords because they have the most traffic. The other SEO companies go after what they term “low hanging fruit” keywords that have 40,000 or less competing Web sites. Those “low hanging fruit” keywords have little to no traffic associated with them.​

If you’ve tried cheap SEO one or more times, you already know it does not work very well, very often or for very long. Maybe it’s time to quit wasting time and money and go with a professional search engine ranking company where EVERYONE gets on page 1 of Google for 10, 30 or 50 keywords in less than 30 days AND you pay NOTHING until you get those results.​

We initially send a list of keywords and we ask that you tell us what keywords that you don’t want to be ranked for.  We use our 40+ years of “Keyword Ranking Experience” and find the keywords that will rank quickly on Google and drive the most traffic to your website.  The keywords we send are “Raw” keywords and not necessarily the keywords that will be ranked in Google.  The keywords that will be ranked are the keywords that we determine will drive the most traffic.” 

My favorite phrase…. “The keywords we send are “Raw” keywords and not necessarily the keywords that will be ranked in Google”!

They go on to say ONLY THEIR CUSTOMERS HAVE 10, 30 OR 50 keywords ranking on page 1!  (SLS clients have hundreds of keywords ranking not only on PAGE 1 – but in POSITION 1.)

“Have you ever heard of any company having 10, 30 or 50 keywords on page 1 of Google? Only our customers have. And, now you can too. We are so confident in our SEKR services that your business will be ranking on page 1 of Google BEFORE YOU PAY.”

A very bold statement… BEFORE YOU PAY!!!  Of course they don’t guarantee exact keywords or anything beyond “Page 1” rankings – which they already explained wasn’t really worth anything.

But … anyone who is interested in this amazing opportunity is welcome to “Call Linda for more information!”

Gimmicks! I hate them. There are so many snake oil salesmen in SEO.  Don’t fall for a gimmick or smoke and mirrors.

This is the first in a series of rants from me….in 20 years of Legal marketing I have seen a lot!  Stay tuned…

We’re all used to the spam calls that begin, “This is the IRS. You owe this much money in taxes. Please call this number right now or they will file a lawsuit against you.” The voice is a robotic recording, and you sigh with annoyance and delete the voicemail for the millionth time.

What you may not know is that some marketing companies operate on the same “spray and pray” principles. Engaging in unsavory recruiting techniques is one thing, but trying to confuse or mislead potential clients is another.

Recently, one of our SLS clients passed along a message they received from another marketer. The marketer (a real human) claimed to be a Google partner, claimed that our client had “incorrect indexing of information” on their website, and that he (the marketer) could only speak to the owner of the website! Because only the firm’s owner has access to the checkbook, of course.
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If you only read one thing on this website, make sure it’s this article. Before you enter into any sort of marketing agreement, protect your investment by getting answers to the following questions:

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The Man in the High Castle and Catering to Your Audience

The Man in the High Castle has been a smash hit for Amazon Studios, and some of us at SLS Consulting really enjoyed the online series in our off hours. For SLS Book Club, what could have been a better choice than the 1962 novel the show is based on? It satisfied the purists who insist “the book is always better!”

Turns out, the show doesn’t have that much in common with the original book. But…we don’t think the show was worse.

That brings us to lesson three of Marketing Lessons from Book Club: sometimes, you have to edit the “original” to reach a wider audience.
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The most important thing to take away from this article is this…

A GUARANTEE CAN MEAN EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT IT TO MEAN, OR SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT AT THE SAME TIME.

How is that even possible? Allow us to explain…

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As summer heats up in sunny Southern California, we predicted that Google’s permutations would cool down heading into June. Were we right? It’s time for the MozCast wrap-up for June!

Remember, MozCast puts together 1,000 select keywords that help track when Google tweaks its algorithm. Every day on Twitter, Moz reports the temperature and outlook based on how well these keywords perform, and we bring that information straight to you, with our analysis, in this monthly blog installment. The higher the temperature, the more likely it is that changes are taking place behind the scenes at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California. The closer it is to 70°, the less your search rankings should fluctuate. Let’s dive in.
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Since 2009, PILMMA—also known as Personal Injury Lawyers Marketing & Management Association—has been helping personal injury and disability attorneys network and learn more about the fast-paced world of digital marketing.

And since 2017, SLS Consulting, Inc., has been on the ground at PILMMA’s once-a-year main event, meeting and greeting attendees and handing out FREE, no-obligation website audits. Unlike other lawyer marketing businesses, SLS is a boutique firm that practices true exclusivity—we only take one client per practice area in a geographic region, and devote ourselves to that client. Still, we’ll be happy to do your audit no matter where you’re located, and more than happy to point you in the right direction for your marketing.

Last year we had a great time in Nashville; this year, you can “meet us in St. Louis” for PILMMA Super Summit 2018. Missouri at the end of summer? Sure, why not? The Super Summit will run from September 12–14, 2018, so if you’re anywhere in the area, we’d love for you to come out and see us!
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We introduced “Ask SLS” last year, a new blog series that goes over common questions we get from our current clients, lawyers just looking for some quick advice, and former clients who still reach out to us for help from time to time. Each of our departments – Design, SEO, Social, Writing, and Video – will be scouring their email archives to bring you those questions and the answers we give.

Today, we’re tackling Avvo, arguably the most popular lawyer-ranking site out there. Unlike some other rating sites, Avvo does not allow a lawyer to “review” his or her way to the top, and the grading is more complex for a “superb” or perfect 10 ranking. Now, the advice we’re giving you today does not cover all situations, and we have to remember that Avvo is constantly fine-tuning or updating its formula to deliver better results to potential clients. But the name of the game is “comprehensive”…so, here’s our general advice for upping your Avvo rating the organic way.

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