Marketing business-to-business (B2B) communications for professional service providers, attorneys, legal marketers, public relations specialists and others seeking useful integrated marketing, social media and PR expertise to assist with integrated marketing and public relations campaigns. To learn more, visit http://www.FuriaRubel.com
To see all Furia Rubel event photos, go to our Flickr account.
About Furia Rubel
Furia Rubel is a public relations (PR) and marketing agency representing law firms nationwide. We're located in Doylestown, outside of Philadelphia in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Contact us at http://www.furiarubel.com/ or call (215) 340-0480.
People ask us all the time about Yellow Pages and the long-term outlook. According to the Yellow Pages Association, “Yellow Pages -- in print and online -- remains a go-to resource for ready-to-buy consumers.”
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ--(Marketwire - February 26, 2008) - The Yellow Pages Association™ (YPA™) today announced that industry research shows 2007 Yellow Pages usage grew to 17.2 billion searches in 2007, up from 16.7 billion in 2006.
Print usage remained stable with 13.4 billion print Yellow Pages references, unchanged from 2006, according to the 2007 Knowledge Networks/SRI (KN/SRI) Industry Usage Study, while comScore reports Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) searches increased 15 percent in 2007 to 3.8 billion, up from 2006's 3.3 billion IYP searches.
"The Yellow Pages medium is still a go-to resource for ready-to-buy consumers. Overall Yellow Pages usage increased in 2007 as Internet use continues to grow and print usage stabilizes," said Neg Norton, president of YPA.
Some of the other important statistics from the Association include: - Approximately 87 percent of the U.S. population used the print Yellow Pages in 2007. (KN/SRI)
- Average number of monthly IYP searchers up 16 percent: 73 million IYP searchers per month in 2007, compared to 63.1 million IYP searchers per month in 2006. (comScore)
- Of the 144 million people performing local searches online in December 2007, over half (51 percent) used IYPs. (comScore)
I recently met Mark Beese through the Legal Marketing Association and LinkedIn. He is the "marketing guy at Holland & Hart, a law firm in the Rocky Mountain West (www.hollandhart.com)." He maintains a blog focused on helping lawyers become better leaders at http://www.leadershipforlawyers.typepad.com/. He has great content on his blog - I highly suggest reading it!
I was doing some press material editing recently and read the phrase “state-of-the-art.” That’s a big red flag for me and I know it’s a media pet peeve. So I decided to come up with a list of words and phrases that you should avoid in your public relations outreach. This included press releases, media kits, pitching, blogs, etc. These words lessen the credibility of what you have to say.
- Organizing and localizing an event’s information - Improving links on search engines like Google - Increasing an organization’s ability to find niche audiences
Zvents increases a business’ ability to target specific audiences by featuring a database and search tool for events around the country. Ultimately, the site gives promoters more control over how the event is promoted which is always a challenge for PR professionals.
“New York Times Co. spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said Bill Keller, executive editor at the flagship newspaper, told staffers that newsroom jobs would be reduced by ‘not filling newsroom positions, attrition, buyouts and, if necessary, layoffs.’”
To read what the New York Times had to say, click here.
To recap on why we encourage every firm, no matter how big or small, to have a written media policy, is because law firms and their attorneys can and should control all messages provided to the media. Several reasons include managing your messages, ethics and, in the cases of trial publicity, to protect the clients’ best interests.
The following media policy tips are issues that your firm’s media policy should address:
How you handle calls about specific firm clients and/or cases
How you handle calls for third-party commentary on specific cases or legal issues
Crisis communications procedures
The ethics of dealing with the media
For more tips and advice from the Everyday Public Relations for Lawyers guide, stay tuned!
In Kowalski's article, he recognizes Gina Furia Rubel's latest public relations guide for lawyers, Everyday Public Relations for Lawyers, as a must read for new public relations strategies.
For more information, go to the Legal Post for the full article.
We are pleased to announce that Gina Rubel will be co-hosting a Public Relations for Lawyers and Law Firms Free Teleseminar on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 2 PM.
The free teleseminar will provide public relations advice targeting lawyers, chief marketing officers, law firm executives and all law firm marketing and public relations directors / managers to enhance their public relations knowledge.
The following topics will be discussed:
How to know what's news and what isn't
Best practices for getting news out about your firm to the various media
I encourage every firm, no matter how big or small, to have a written media policy. Simply put, law firms and their attorneys can and should control all messages provided to the media for reasons of message management, ethics and, in the cases of trial publicity, to protect the clients’ best interests.
Your firm’s media policy should address: part 1 • Who may speak with the media on the firm’s behalf • The procedures that members of your firm must follow when the media calls • Record-keeping procedures for media calls and interviews
The Bucks County Women's Journal, an educational and editorial newspaper providing categorized and objective information targeted to women, has featured Gina Rubel in the February/March 2008 issue - Bucks County Women In Profile section.
Published six times a year, the Journal serves its readers with valued information in a wide variety of special columns and features. It also offers local businesses the unique opportunity to reach an important, targeted consumer group through a focused educational and informational approach.
The Bucks County Women’s Journal is an essential resource for business women in Bucks County. For more information on Gina's profile, click here.
The PR Lawyer Blog ranked in the Top 50 PR Voices for Public Relations Blogs today! Thank you for reading and commenting. Please let us know via the comment tool what topics are of most value to you.
To some business practitioners, the thought of blogging is like getting your teeth pulled. In reality, blogging is a highly effective way to create credibility among your target audiences. In a Rueters.com article, Business of Blogging: How To Make It Work, industry experts give advice and tips on the do’s and don’ts of blogging for the everyday business practitioner.
Here are some of the tips provided:
Create credibility for your business by posting informative and educational industry news
Drive the content of your blog by compiling key debates and issues affecting your industry
Provide an outlet for readers to become part of the discussion by posting frequently
Monitor your traffic to understand your audiences’ wants and needs
John McCain: Not a Lawyer, But Loves a Good Lawyer Joke Posted by Peter Lattman
The Law Blog hasn’t focused much on John McCain because, well, he’s not a lawyer and the other leading candidates — click here for Law Blog art — all wield JDs. Perhaps it’s because he’s emerging as a front runner, but today we’re shining the spotlight twice on the Arizona senator.A Law Blog reader alerted us to a lawyer joke that McCain delivered on the stump today in Boston. We checked in with our WSJ colleagues on the campaign trail, who told us that he delivers the routine at many events, and even told it on the Tonight Show last week:What is the difference between a catfish and a lawyer?One is a scum sucking bottom dweller. The other is a fish.McCain then says, “There goes the lawyer vote.” (We wonder what Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of his closest confidants, traveling companions and an Air Force reserve JAG attorney, thinks of the bit?)Law Blog Question of the Day: Law Blog readers, what should we make of a leading presidential candidate going after the profession so aggressively? And while we’re at it, any wannabe presidential speechwriters care to give McCain more lawyer joke fodder?Update: We just heard from Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for the McCain campaign. When asked for clarification on the comment, she said, simply: “It’s a joke.”
Personally, I am so disappointed to read this. In response to Jill Hazelbaker's statement that negative stereotyping is a “joke,” then perhaps McCain’s speech writers should come up with some “jokes” targeted at other professions. While they’re at it, perhaps they want to “joke” about race, gender, religion, ethnicity, etc. There are a lot of great diversity training programs out there - perhaps it’s time the McCain camp invests. Until now, I was on the fence about who I was voting for. This has made up my mind!
A solid public relations program should: - Build awareness of your firm and your services - Position you as knowledgeable within your areas of practice - Position you as a valuable contributor to the legal profession - Create an environment that will enhance good will among your target audiences - Educate and persuade your target audiences - Have a measurable value to you and your firm
And these steps are essential to developing a measurable and sustainable public relations plan: - Establish your goals and objectives - Define how you want to be perceived - Determine your target audiences - Decide what you want your target audiences to do - Identify which tactics will persuade your target audiences to act in the desired manner - Implement each tactic to generate optimal results
For the next step in your public relations planning, check back next Monday for The PR Lawyer’s Tip #7. _______________
Excerpt from Everyday Public Relations for Lawyers, Copyright 2007. Furia Rubel Communications, Inc. To purchase book, click here.
The Gratitude Campaign... have you heard about it yet? If not, check out this amazing public relations awareness video. It's about saying thank you to all the men and women who serve our country.
Can you only imagine if we were able to thank all the parents, spouses, children, other family members and friends of those who have fallen? It is to them I say, "we remember."
