I’ll let you know the results after a few different attempts at Facebook ads.
Here is the picture that I uploaded for this second ad:
And, of course, the copy reads:
Attorneys, Find out who’s hiring in the legal industry for less than $5.
Here’s the real question: Does it entice you?
Twitter’s e-mail was awesome.
Why?
1) I opened it.
2) I read through it.
3) It provoked my attention.
Twitter is so good. I can’t decide whether to even hold this against them.
Other questions that I’m wondering:
The Twitter team sent out an e-mail to Twitter’s users (Subject: “Update: Twitter Apps and You”) and posted a few updates about Twitter’s evolution on its official blog (e.g., The Evolving Ecosystem or A Better Twitter.) Each presents information about Twitter’s growth and changes but uses slightly different language to communicate or emphasize certain points. Does that make sense – should the same information be found in one place? Or, even if the varied perspectives/distribution methods are valid, is cross-referencing appropriate?
I love Google Voice. I use it for personal reasons so I figured I may as well try it for business reasons as well. Rather than go with a local number, I decided to go with a vanity number (local to Houston).
You can now reach me at 1.832.ESQ.JOBS (1.832.377.5627).
For the next week, I’m making all of my outgoing business calls via Google Voice just to test it out. I’m guessing it will sound more professional than calling people via a cell phone, especially because AT&T doesn’t work too well around my neighborhood.
For this project, I bought a cool, new pair of headphones (with laser-tuned audio!) that have a microphone (and a mute button!). So far, I’m pretty happy with my purchase although I could see a noise-canceling microphone coming in handy or a wireless headset or a headset that connects via bluetooth. Maybe that’s how I’ll upgrade.
This past weekend, I celebrated Yom Kippur. When I went to atone for my sins, I had no idea that my websites went down. My mind was preoccupied with fulfilling my promise to be nicer to my family this year and figuring out the ingredients in gefilte fish.
If you rely on your websites to generate income – whether directly by selling products or ads or indirectly by finding new customers or clients – you’re operating at a loss during the time your websites are down. Every second that a website takes to load or every error message a website reveals means another frustrated sale or client. To fix a website requires patience – patience to find the problem and patience to fix it. As the seconds tick on, the more anxious you become but the more you have to stay focused on the task at hand.
Whether it takes hours or days to fix your website, this is lost time. It’s hard to say the time spent is unproductive or a waste. There is no other choice: you must fix your websites before you can move on to other work. It’s nothing less than a prioritized task that rewards you by returning your site to its status quo – the same site you started with hours or days ago – with the added bonus that you now have to find time to make up all the work you missed.
…so that’s where I’ll be if you need me.
In case you missed yesterday’s tweet, I’ve updated the BigLaw 200 Job Listings for September.
For less than $5, the list includes:
190+ attorney positions including lateral partner, lateral associate, staff attorney, temp or contract attorney, and one or two entry-level openings.
45+ paralegal and/or patent agent positions.
35+ administrative positions at the law firms, i.e., conflicts, business development, practice support, professional development, e-discovery
I’ve created separate sheets for each type of position for easier navigation. [Note: In the picture, I opened the file in Google docs but the bottom of the page should look similar in Excel or Numbers.]
I’ve also made it easy to filter by city, state, and firm, if you click on these headers. You can also filter by practice type and years of experience columns… but, proceed with caution! These columns are still works in progress.
I know looking at job boards is a pain but is it a pain worth solving for $4? Tell me your thoughts!
After some thinking, I’ve decided to move my first webinar to next Wednesday, September 15th from 4-5 pm and my second webinar to Wednesday, September 29th from 4-5 pm.
I know this is the second time I’ve moved the webinar so let me explain my reasons:
1) We had a short week due to Labor Day
2) Those who celebrate Rosh Hashanah have an even shorter week
3) I’d like to be able to get the power point slides to the attendees before they attend so they can have questions prepared.
4) Along the same lines, I’d like to provide more information about what I’ll be presenting during the webinar so potential guests will know if it’s for them.
On Friday, I’ll post a brief blurb about my presentation so you can find out more about it and decide whether it’s worth while for you to attend.
In the meantime, I’ll send an update to everyone who already registered for the webinar (thank you!). You’ll get to either join for free next week or, if you can’t make it, I’ll hold a private “redux” for you.
And, no, I am not making a habit of changing times for webinars. But, like the title says, entrepreneurs make mistakes.
A new application – Twitter BFFs – shows you which Twitter users you @reply the most. While you can tweet the results of your top BFFs (your real BFFs versus mere BFs?), I found the entire list pretty awesome and worth posting here.
If you’d like to follow any of my BFFs – just promise you won’t steal them away from me! – here’s the links to ‘em.
@alexknowshtml @smallrivers @j_lavalley @legalninjakris @thesagecoach @farnoosh @recruiteresq @advertisinglaw @jkhoey @squirrelpants @letsfreckle @carolynelefant @radiocolin @memphisbar @anildash @legal rebels @vaultcareers @kimjessum @vark @cafepress @xanthippas @jsto @leoramaccabee @lawbill @legalweek @aellislegal @jusfonzin @thrillist @econwriter5 @cherylmckinnon @djillpugh @nancymyrland @gregminton @rapportive @richard_russeth @hannskk @emberr @markjlove @bobambrogi @richards1000 @lisasolomon @hubbardone @eric_b_meyer @wallstreetrock @umcle @robinmatthewfry @lawscribbler @nonpretentious @odubbeldam @youngamerican @reneefishman @lynn_adams @whatusk @scobleizer @lawyerkm @attorneyjobs @bren924 @lawjobchat @good @scarylawyer @hgmarketing @theWLA @taxgirl @glambert @shelbycountytn @commonrotation @hmriskgroup @kmhobbie @marinafeehan @tmj_usa_legal @orelawpracmgmt @posselist @martinstarr @nicole_brewer @jerry_levine @amyhoy @davepeck @slaw_dot_ca @jdickerson @insidelegal @scglprnetwork @thejurisdoctor
BONUS POINTS // SURVEY
How many of you found this post due to a Google alert of your Twitter handle? Would be interesting to hear from you in the comments!
Sidenote: Some of these folks I’ve tweeted to only once or twice and I’m not really sure how they made the list. (I’m looking at you, @shelbycountytn)
I promised earlier in the week that I’d have a mistake for you. Here’s a fresh one right off the RSS feed:
The way I have my site set up, I publish my posts for the general public by default.
In other words, if I’d like to limit the post to members – or a tier of members – I have to indicate that affirmatively. Pretty much, I have to check certain buttons, change certain settings, and choose who has access to the post before I press publish. This will hide the post from the public and also keep it off the RSS feeds.
Once I override the default and limit access to members, members will be able to log in to the site and read the entire post or, in some cases, the rest of the post. (E.g., there is a teaser excerpt.)
Last night, I wrote a post that I was supposed to publish exclusively for members only but I didn’t go through all of the required steps to override the default: I published my discount code for the world to see!
Thankfully, I caught the mistake within a relatively short period and took the following actions while most of the world slept: I deleted the original post and updated the discount code. I posted the new discount code and went through all of the steps to make sure it was accessible for members only and off the RSS feed.
This may not seem like a big deal but imagine the same thing in these scenarios:
On a larger scale: Instead of sending around a newsletter announcing that Lady Gaga will be in town, the arena sent out an e-mail offering half-priced tickets!
Explaining the mistake to your boss: Instead of you realizing your mistake, kicking yourself, and fixing it, your boss realized your mistake or found out about it somehow. Now, there’s even more fuss about how this will impact the project, the company, and everyone’s reputation. Fixing it takes way longer than necessary because everyone’s worried and scatter-brained.
This presentation is the bread & butter of your organization: You own a small business. Part of your stream of income comes from short (awesome!) campfires that are part webinar, part Q and A, and part chatter. Imagine you only have limited space and you accidentally advertised that all of the $200 tickets were $100 off.
Mistakes. Gotta live and learn.
[Note: Next week's campfire only costs $19.99 - site members & newsletter subscribers receive $10 off as explained here.]
Next week, I will host my first campfire, an hour long training session that will include a presentation, Q and A, and any chatter for which we have time!
On Wed, Sep 8 2010, 4:00p.m. – 5:00p.m. EDT, the campfire will focus on how to use WordPress 3.0 to create a business website. You can sign up here.
WordPress, Websites, and Your Firm
Site members and newsletter subscribers will be able to sign up at a discount.
If you don’t receive the announcement but believe you should have, send me an e-mail! melissa at recruiteresq
As I mentioned on Monday, this week I’m playing catch-up. Mostly, this means that I’m browsing through the ILTA coverage and presentations that I missed last week.
However, as I scroll through Twitter and Google Reader, I’m finding a few link nuggets worth sharing:
Lawyer Transitions: Talking About Compensation
Tips for when to bring up compensation requirements and what to say in response to questions about compensation requirements.
Legal Rebels $5,000 Essay Contest
How I wish I kept up with my ABA dues.
A New View of the Automated Law Firm
Guest blogger Andrew McLennan-Murray succinctly describes this 2010 ILTA presentation by Gerard Neiditsch, Jeffrey Rovner, Mary Abraham, and Ron Friedmann (PDF download) of the same name over at Legal Current.
The Art and Science of Lawyer Bios
Bob Ambrogi writes an excellent primer on how to write lawyer bios in response to Matt Homann’s Venn diagram on the issue.
Law School Grades More Important to Career than Elite School, Researchers Say
That’s been my advice to anyone who pursues a career in law: go to the law school that offers you the best programs for the cheapest amount of money.