Web Collaboration

In today’s issue of Business Week, it is reported that “My Space users are aging.”  Believe it or not, 67% of My Space users are over the age of 25.  That statistic really surprised me.  In the PI industry our average client is about 33 years old and that makes our clients avid web users.

So what is it that people are doing on the web?  The research shows that what we do at home and what we do at work differs a bit, but it’s clear that the web is an integral part of our lives.

Here’s what we’re doing on the web from home:

1. 75.5% use e-mail
2. 48.7% receive photos via e-mail
3. 15.5% watch internet video
4. 7.9% use social networking sites
5. 9.4% buy and download music files

At work, we use the web a little different:

1. 33% use message/bulletin boards
2. 24% online video
3. 27% social networking sites
4. 19% blogging
5. 17% wikis
6. 11% podcasting

So how do we, in the PI industry, leverage the web to build our businesses?  Begin by asking yourself how many of these strategies you are utilizing.  Do you have a blog?  Are you using online video?  Do you have an email marketing system to reach your clients and potential referral sources?  Have you tapped into the social networking sites?

Web collaboration is flourishing.  And nobody understands it better than our young people.  My recommendation to you is to have a web savvy young person as part of your team to make sure that you are growing your online visibility in a positive way and faster than your competition!

It’s Not Just About The Numbers…

Few in the PI industry study the numbers like I do, but I can tell you that marketing your PI firm is not just a numbers game.  It’s a process…a process that requires planning, execution, measurement, systemization, feedback and continual improvement.  Are you committed to the process? 

 

If you’re a PI attorney looking to grow your practice to the next level, you have a number of options, all of which will yield differing degrees of success or lack thereof.

 

The option that I see most commonly is to simply increase advertising.  Why is that the most common choice?  Because it’s the fastest and easiest. 

 

If attracting new case calls was the only goal of the marketing process, then advertising might be the best option.  But attracting and acquiring new calls are simply step one and two.  When we move to step three of the marketing plan, advertising falls short.  You see, step three is to grow relationships.  And that leads to step four which is to retain customers (clients) and generate a consistent stream of referrals.

 

I believe that your numbers are the foundation for gauging the effectiveness of each element of your marketing program.  But marketing is not just a numbers game.  Marketing is all about building relationships and that is a process.