What Attorneys and other Professionals have to say About Foster Web Marketing

Got my first case from [my site] yesterday. ...I'm really into this. It's fun.

Alvin Wolff
St. Louis, Missouri Accident Lawyer

** Mr. Wolff's site launched December 20, 2009.  He began using our content management system, DSS, even before he had training.  He has been adding content regularly.  Something he was unable to do with his previous site.  **

Tom Foster is the only webmaster around who truly “gets it”

Here is an awesome video testimonial from my buddy Gerry Oginski. Gerry is a New York Medical Malpractice Attorney and a pioneer for helping other attorneys market themselves using video.

If you are an attorney looking to create a fresh, innovative and interactive website, then I strongly encourage you to contact Tom Foster at FosterWebmarketing.com. I’ve worked with Tom over the last 5 1/2 years and believe he is the only webmaster around who truly “gets it” and understands the most up-to-date, effective and ethical marketing methods for attorneys. I created this testimonial to help other attorneys benefit from Tom’s expertise. I was not asked to create this testimonial nor am I being paid anything for it. I encourage you to take a look at my own website that Tom maintains, New York Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury Trial Lawyer, and then, contact any of the 200 law firms who currently use him to see what they have to say.

Explore his newly revised website and click on each one of the attorney websites listed within his site to see for yourself how he helps them stand out from the crowd. If you have questions about using FosterWebMarketing, then I urge you to e-mail me, Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com.

Having A Top Rank Website Is Worth It

The "holy grail" of Killer Website Marketing for Attorneys is first page of the search engines in the search terms you want to be found for - or so they tell us. Is it worth the effort and expense?

My small firm practice in a remote corner of North America may be a good test case for hype.

Newfoundland and Labrador is a mainly island jurisdiction and relatively rural, with a population base of 500,000. Think parts of Alaska or West Virginia. Our reliable revenue stream comes from motor vehicle and malpractice cases, which enable forays into consumer class actions.

My earlier site was passive and ignored. My Foster Web Marketing site is not. With the assistance of Ken Pearce and Gretchen Upright, the new site was up and running in mid June 2008. For search terms like "Newfoundland injury lawyer", it vaulted from obscurity to first page of Google and other search engines within days of launch.

Warning: the following statistics (courtesy Google analytics) may appear puny to those with websites in sophisticated, tech-savvy urban areas. But 8% of my hits are from dial-up modems! In July, the first full month of operation, all traffic generated 464 visits and in November, 1,134 visits, with 3,794 visits for the six months to date of writing. That's nearly 4,000 contacts with the world that my firm did not have in the previous six months.

The main purpose of having a website (or so I suppose) is to convert hits into clients, either now or later. Six month result: of 58 cases accepted by my firm, three originated from the website. Or I should say, reported to my staff that they originated from the website, because that's the way I have been collecting the data and the clients aren't asked if the site was a secondary source, we just record their top-of-mind response (needs improvement, I know).

We received 363 book orders in the same period, 137 from my firm site or its cousin NewfoundlandInjuryBook.com, and 226 by telephone.

What do I make of this? Well, in a small island jurisdiction, people know each other. 21% of the terms used to find my site contain the words "Ches Crosbie" either alone or in combination with other terms. As well, prospects could be doing secondary "research" before making up their minds. I tend to think the site has generated more than the three self-reporters, but if it hasn't, is it worth the effort and expense? Well, at our average net profit per case, yes the site is paying for itself. That's the short-term analysis.

But as Ben Glass might argue, a comparison of the cost of the website (including the value of my time blogging and keeping it current) with average fees of cases generated, is too narrow a standard of evaluation. There is value in adding those clients to a herd of fans. There is value as well in capturing the contact information of the hundreds of people who have ordered books, and in staying in front of them by monthly mailings. That's the long-term view.

So yes, having a top rank website is worth it, even in a technology-constrained market environment where people know each other, provided your web presence is an integrated component of a marketing system with a unique selling proposition, which trades valuable free information for consumer contacts and does regular follow up to stay in front of the herd in an interesting way. Magic bullet, no; essential pillar of an integrated marketing strategy, yes.

Ches Crosbie

Newfoundland and Labrador PI Attorney

Canada

Tom Foster Far Exceeded My Expectations

Prior to joining Foster Web Marketing, Bob had his law firm's website with another company. After being with this company for some time, Bob noticed that his rankings on the search engines had taken a nose dive. Even more disturbing was the fact that Bob recommended a friend who practiced in the same area and did the same type of law who was getting very good results from this company. When Bob asked his webmaster about the discrepancy, the webmaster responded that he had been trying something different for his newer clients that was working very well and had not bothered to institute this for the clients who had been with them for a longer time! As Battle recounts, "So much for loyalty and sayonara to that webmaster."

Right off the bat, Bob Battle was impressed with Tom Foster's knowledge of Search Engine Optimization and his drive to be the best. Also, by doing an independent search of Tom's existing clients at that time such as Ben Glass, Bob was able to see that Tom was telling the truth about his ability to drive clients to the top of the search engines.

By the beginning of 2007, BobBattleLaw.com began dominating the search engine results for all the Richmond area jurisdictions under Google searches for "DUI lawyer" or "reckless driving speeding lawyer." Battle recalls, "Given the experience I had with my previous webmaster that led me to Tom Foster, I consider myself to be an extremely demanding client. Despite this predisposition, Tom Foster far exceeded my expectations and I was thrilled at how rapidly I began to get tremendous results for all relevant search terms in my practice." Bob Battle counts himself today as a "raging fan" of Tom Foster and Foster Web Marketing. In fact, when Battle, who has moonlighted as a professional comedian for over 20 years, was asked by Foster Web Marketing whether he wanted the Basic, Pro, or Premium Web Content Package, Battle responded "I'll take the Plutonium level! "

Given his background as a professional actor and comedian, Bob Battle is one of the first lawyers in the country to recognize the value of video on a website. Bob even had uploaded a homemade video on his previous website before switching to Foster Web Marketing. When Tom Foster announced that he had secured the services of the amazingly talented videographer Jim Folliard in a joint venture to provide video for Foster Web Marketing clients, Bob Battle jumped at the opportunity. Battle commented that he is still amazed at how easy that Tom and Jim are able to go from raw video footage to Web video that not only looks great but is optimized for the Internet search engines. In fact, Bob's video on BobBattleLaw.com was featured in an article in Lawyers USA in 2008.

Bob Battle has enjoyed such tremendous success through his affiliation with Foster Web Marketing, that he has has teamed with Tom Foster, Ben Glass, and other lawyer marketing gurus to start a national DUI lawyer marketing program called the DUI Marketing Success System. One of the focal points of this program is another Foster Web Marketing website located at www.DUIanswer.com.

When other lawyers are contemplating making the switch to Foster Web Marketing, one of their biggest questions is whether someone can put a number on how much more money comes into their practice as a result of having a top ranking website. Without hesitation, Bob Battle likes to tell the story of coming back from his initial Great Legal Marketing seminar and reading a book by Dan Kennedy which had an exercise requiring the reader to write down how much money they hope to gross in a year. Energized and pumped after attending the seminar, Bob chose a number that was $50,000 higher than any year he had grossed in his first 20 years of practicing law. Bob came nowhere near that number because he wound up making $250,000 more than he had made in any previous year of practicing law!

And what about the recession year of 2008? "Because of the great positioning my website gets in the search engines and the fact that most people who see the outstanding design and content on my website decide to hire me before I even speak with them, I have chosen not to participate in the recession of 2008," quips Battle. "In fact, 2008 was once again my most successful year ever, and that is not even including the additional income I make from the DUI Marketing Success System. Because of my position as a coach of other lawyers and someone who is honest and will always give a no BS answer, I speak with a lot of lawyers who tell me that they are not sure whether they can afford a website with Foster Web Marketing. My answer is always the same. I tell them they can't afford not to invest their money with Foster Web Marketing. In fact, it should be priority number one with any lawyer's marketing budget."

Bob Battle
BobBattleLaw.com
Richmond, Virginia

LaVan and Neidenberg

The Law Offices of LaVan & Neidenberg specialize in representing disabled individuals. Over the past several years the firm has maintained a website under the URL

www.DisabilityLawClaims.com. Prior to hiring Foster Web Marketing (FWM), LaVan & Neidenberg did not have much success marketing its website.

In April 2008 the firm retained FWM with a goal to start actively marketing the website. Building on Tom Foster's advice, our strategy revolves around adding content - mostly original. So the firm set a goal of adding a minimum of 50 items (e.g., library documents, news articles, case results, blogs, and frequently asked questions) per week.

We spread our website activities out across the week and our three practice areas - Social Security Disability, Veterans Disability and Long-Term Disability. Our focus is to load each document with as many keywords as possible while keeping the material relevant and interesting. And, rather than just add content about our practice areas, we look for information that relates to the diseases and disorders that ail our current and prospectus clients.

Our site's launch occurred in early September 2008. And though we were told that it may take about three months to be ranked by Google, we were ecstatic to learn that our website had been ranked by Google and attracting over 1500 visitors in its first month! In October 2008, the majority of our web pages rank between 3 and 4 out of 10 and attract close to 4800 visitors (an increase of almost 300%!)

The sudden success of our website has come to us in many ways...

Posting blogs is our favorite way to quickly broadcast our fresh content to World Wide Web. Use your blogs to express your thoughts and pique your visitors' interest. Use them to announce a new document you've added to your site. We know that blogs present an attractive source of entry to our site.

Our case results give us many opportunities to create web pages and exploit keywords. Because case results can be quite lengthy, we make sure we break our cases down to 400 words per page. When we're done posting one case we may have three to five pages of original content.

Google Analytics can be a powerful tool if you use it to your advantage. We review our numbers everyday and analyze what people are searching for which helps us tremendously when deciding what that week's content will be.

We've also uploaded our commercials on YouTube and MySpace and post a few ads on Craigslist everyday. Although we can't really track if these avenues lead to us, we figure we have nothing to lose since they are all free services.

Something else we believe has contributed to our website's traffic, is giving page titles the reverence they deserve. During a FWM webinar in September, Tom stressed the importance of page titles and we ran with it. By doing so we realized an immediate increase in the number of visits to our site.

Ken Lavan

Law Offices of LaVan & Neidenberg, P. A.

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

Phone: (954) 523-3870

The Results Speak For Themselves

I have operated a successful bankruptcy practice in St. Louis since 1994. I have strictly used television and radio advertising as my source of clients and until about 3-4 years ago, I never had a website. I didn't see the need for one. But with the growth of the Internet and the continued invention of technology like the Tivo, I believe in a few short years, people will simply not be watching television commercials. When I did decide to put one up, I had no clue what it took to make it seen, so I slapped up the page the Yellow Pages rep designed and left it be. They charged my $400 per month for that site.

More recently, at a Great Legal Marketing seminar, I had a chance to hear Tom Foster present a session about web presence and all that goes into it. I also heard most of the other lawyers in the group that were taking a different approach to marketing their practices. That being educational marketing. I was overwhelmed with the ideas I had heard and before I left, I set up a site review with Tom and his crew.

During that initial site review, it was pointed out to me what an incredibly useless site the Yellow Pages did for me. In fact, they had not even powered the site with meta keywords or other ways for the search engines to even see me. Tom's crew sent over a contract and we went to work developing a site that would begin attracting clients from the Internet. The site launched in late April, 2008. It is now October, 2008, and I have diligently followed the guidance provided by Tom's staff and tuned in to his webinars and newsletters to learn everything I could about attracting traffic from the Internet. And I wasn't interested in paid traffic, but how to get the free organic traffic. I write content at least 3 times per week and follow all of the tricks and tips to help us to be seen. According to my Google Analytics account, my site has grown from averaging 100 unique visitors per day to, as of yesterday, 1,076 unique visitors per day. In addition, the people that come are spending an average of almost 5 minutes on the site and looking at over 4.5 pages per visit. My current bounce rate (# of people that bug out quickly) is about 40% which I understand is very good.

For the month of September, we had 77 unique prospects fill out contact forms from our website and ask us to either send out our book package or call them for an appointment. As they say, I think the results speak for themselves.

James R. Brown
Castle Law Office of St. Louis, P.C.
500 N. Broadway, Suite 1400
St. Louis, MO 63102
(314) 446-4650
(314) 446-4677 - fax
www.CastleLaw.net

DykstraLaw Website Going Strong in British Columbia, Canada

That said, I was still convinced that the best investment in marketing for our firm existed online ... but I had no idea where to start. I signed up for a legal marketing web seminar - a "webinar" - and the presenter succinctly explained successful online marketing for lawyers. He then said "Foster Web Marketing gets it". The presenter, a lawyer himself, had used Foster Web Marketing with great success.
Within a week, I called Foster Marketing and set up a telephone conference with Ken. Ken was great because he took the time to navigate our existing website and our competition's websites. He explained the weaknesses and strengths of all the sites we visited. He also explained SEO in more depth.
He sold me on the idea that we needed to hire Foster, even though at the time the price seemed pretty steep. In retrospect this thought seems odd because many lawyers, including us at the time, spend anywhere from 2 to 10 times the Foster price quote on print directories such as Yellow Pages every year.
While the firm's site was being built, I researched and read dozens of books blogs, websites (including the Foster website), and articles on web marketing. I knew from Ken that once our Foster site was up and running, I would have to spend a great deal of time to keep building and maintaining it.
By the time our site launched at the beginning of June 2009, I had about 20 articles ready to upload. I was determined that our firm would be on the first page of Google for all four of our practice areas. That was my personal challenge.
I'm very happy to report that for nearly each intended search term for our site, we are located on the first Google page.
It's been only three months since our site launched. During the last 30 days (as of August 26, 2009), our site has received 1,300 visitors. The result: We've opened dozens of files and we get at least one call every day from someone who found us on the internet.
Since our site went "live", we've opened a satellite office and hired additional staff. Needless to say, we'll be dumping our Yellow Pages account when our contract expires.
I'm also really pleased and impressed with the ongoing support from Foster Web Marketing as our site grows. I'm constantly trying different things on our Foster website. I'm in DSS (Foster's content management system) everyday, and I often have questions for Connie about my ideas and changes. Connie always acknowledges and puts in my requests promptly.
In fact, the more I use DSS and the more I study our Foster site, the more impressed I am with the entire setup. I love that I can so quickly add content, video, images, and links, among other features. The versatility in DSS enables me to get creative with our site - to the point where I've accepted the fact our site will never be finished as it's constantly growing and developing.
I'm a fairly young lawyer, and I can tell you that jumping both feet into web marketing has really helped out my law practice in a big way. I'm delighted to tell my detractors that I was right about web marketing: done properly, web marketing is probably the best marketing opportunity right now for growing law firms. And there is no question in my mind that Foster Web Marketing indeed knows web marketing.
Jon Dykstra | www.DykstraLaw.com
Abbotsford, BC, Canada
Tel (604) 853-4793 • 1 (877) 753-4793

Brian Beckcom, VBAttorneys.com
I have an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and so I've been interested in computers, the Internet, and technology for a long time. I guess you could say that I am our firm's "Technology Partner."
When we first opened our practice, we hired an attorney directory business to design our firm's main website. The website design was not that good, frankly, the company overcharged us for its service, and we didn't generate any cases from the website.
After a year, we hired an independent website designer to re-design our firm website to make it look better. The website looked real nice but the designer didn't do anything to optimize our website for search results. The result was a beautiful electronic firm brochure and nothing else.
I discovered Foster Web Marketing through Ben Glass. I was skeptical at first, given our previous experiences, and given the high start-up costs. However, Tom and Ken convinced me to give them a try, and I can tell you it's one of the best technology decisions I've ever made. In fact, we now have two Foster Websites (www.vbattorneys.com & www.maritimeaccidentattorney.com) and have two books sites in the works.
My practice is pretty specialized. I focus most of my work on maritime injury and death cases and representing injured railworkers (What do the two have in common? Surprisingly, they are based on the same federal statute!).
The maritime industry is global and so is my practice. I handle cases and accept clients from all over the country, indeed all across the world. That's why having a website that can reach anyone with an Internet connection has been such a boon to our practice. I have accepted cases that were generated from our Foster sites from Dubai, Saipan (an island in the Pacific), Oklahoma, Nebraska, Oregon, Alaska, California, lots in Texas and in the Gulf Coast, and Florida.
Since we started with Foster two years ago our web presence has been outstanding. We come up high in the search results we focus on and are working getting even better rankings with George Murphy's help.
The Japanese have a philosophy described by the word "kaizen," which basically means "constant improvement." Tom's team applies that philosophy to their website work and are constantly improving their products and services.
I have looked at, bought, and used a lot of technology products, including websites and blogs, and Tom's team is far and away, hands-down, no comparison the best company I've ever dealt with in terms of constant improvement and listening (and implementing!) their user's suggestions.
Vujasinovic & Beckcom P.L.L.C
1001 Texas Avenue
Suite 1020
Houston, TX 77002
Phone: 713.224.7800
Fax: 713.224.7801

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Mike Schafer, Louisville Accident Attorney Serving all of Kentucky
Last year I had zero web presence. A friend had offered to build my web site several years ago. I reserved www.mikeschaferlaw.com as my domain name and the site was on the web with an under construction notice for 3 years. Talk about procrastination. I decided 2008 was the year I was going to enter the Internet Age. I interviewed several web site developers. When all was said and done I chose Foster Web Marketing, although it was really not much of a choice. Ken Pierce was easy to work with and more interested in providing me the information I needed to make an informed decision rather than trying to make a sale. I guess you can do that when you have a product like DSS.
When I received the copy for my site from Gretchen Upright I was disappointed. There was nothing about what a fantastic lawyer I was. It was all about the accident victim and answering their questions. After a couple of phone calls I grudgingly agreed to the content, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. At that point I knew nothing about SEO and organic search engines. I figured that is what I was paying Foster Web Marketing for so I followed their advice.
My web site launched on 6 25 08. Based upon the advice of Tom Foster, Ben Glass and Mischelle Davis I hired my wife who has a degree in English, Yulee, to help me with my marketing and adding content to the web site. We have posting, on the average, five blogs a week along with adding articles and other content on a regular basis. This is following the road map that Tom Foster laid out for us. The results have been unbelievable. Within 3 weeks I signed up my first case form the web site. When asked how he found me the response was that he had done a Google search, found me on the first page, liked the web site and called.
After I this call I started doing some of my own google searches. I typed in phrases like ‘Louisville truck accident Lawyer', ‘Jefferson County car wreck attorney', etc. I couldn't believe it. The first 2 searches I showed up on the top of the 2nd page of Google. On one search I had 2 entries on the 2nd page. Yulee did a search and I showed up 3rd on the 1st page. This was after only three weeks. I have continued to show up high on google and I have been signing up about two new clients a month.
I can definitely see results from our activity. Tom's guidance on blogging and adding content have lead to great results. The web site designed by the Foster team is making some web noise. I know I have a lot of room to improve. Tom has tweaked my site on several occasions. With the changes made I am confident that I will be on the top of google for a long time to come.
The Schafer Law Office
440 South Seventh Street
Suite 200
Louisville, KY 40203
Phone: (502) 584-9511
Fax: (502) 589 -9472

When we first heard the word "blog," it sounded like such a foreign term. But Tom Foster insisted that we blog, blog, blog to increase our Google ratings. What the heck was a Google rating?
Well, after months of blogging, hyperlinking, tagging, and content adding, we can now say that we have easily the best website amongst all the lawyers in northwest Ohio.
We are certainly not quitting there. We know that a website is a constant work in progress, but it is nice to know that we are at the top in our area.
We recently got a great case from writing one blog on hunting accidents. With the help of Tom Foster and DSS, along with the blogging guru Larry Buckfire, we wrote a blog on Ohio hunting accidents and tips on how to avoid them. We hyperlinked like crazy and a few weeks later we got a call from a young man who was shot by his cousin while hunting. The man clinically died three times and has serious permanent injuries. The man found our website by doing a Google search for an Ohio hunting accident lawyer. And there we were.
Other six figure cases that we have obtained from the Internet include those involving products liability, work injuries, car accidents, electrocutions, and slip and falls. In each instance of these high dollar cases, the injury directly reflected what we blogged about on our site. Spending time adding content to the site has resulted in not only huge revenue for the firm, but justice and peace of mind for the client. We tell clients at settlement time that we hope that they never need our services again for an injury claim, but encourage them to come to us should they ever have a problem in the future. And nine times out of ten they do come back, or send their family members, coworkers, or neighbors to us. These Google-searchers have now become lifelong clients.
While majority of our cases come from existing or past client referrals, the Internet and our website has really helped to boost our exposure in this area. Having the built in network that comes from being a member of Foster Web Marketing has not only helped us to place on Google's first page of virtually all practice areas that we handle, but it has also helped us get great blogging ideas, newsletter content, and important links in and out.
Since we started with Foster Web Marketing three years ago, our web presence has skyrocketed. We have noticed a massive difference in the number of cases we are getting from Internet referrals, which is very difficult to do in an area like Toledo where many people are slower to use technology. But we are hoping to dominate the market before everyone in Toledo hops online instead of using the coveted Yellowpages. And with the great exposure and Google ratings our website has brought us so far, we are on schedule to be a sure pick for the younger generations in northwest Ohio.
Charles E. Boyk Law Offices, LLC
405 Madison Ave., Suite 1200
Toledo, Ohio 43604
419.720.4452 Direct Dial
1.800.637.8170 Toll-Free
419.241.8731 Fax
www.charlesboyk-law.com

Professional & Sincere

Ken Pearce is great. He has been a real pleasure.  He is professional and sincere, committed, dedicated and loyal to his work.” I also told Tom, “I am not sure what all of Ken’s responsibilities are, but as  salesperson – he is a superstar – and he is persistent. Jeff Rasansky
Rasansky Law Firm
Dallas, Texas

I Trust Foster Web Marketing

"When I joined Foster Web Marketing, my goal as a solo DUI and Reckless Driving lawyer in Richmond, Virginia was to gross $200,000 in a year. I actually wrote that number down in an exercise in a Time Management book by marketing guru Dan Kennedy. I also wrote that $200,000 number down while writing down my goals for 2006.

Last year, in a recession, I grossed in excess of $450,000 while reducing the number of hours I worked to just over 30 hours/week. In 2009, I am on pace to gross around half a million dollars, have worked 0 weekends and averaged 4 days in the office per week while running my law practice and a lawyer marketing program. My wife and I just purchased and are building a dream second home in the beautiful mountains of Wintergreen, Virginia. Our children, who are 8 and 4, already have their college education paid in advance.

My website has dominated the Search Engine results for my practice areas for several years now. The Foster Web Marketing team has also taught me the skills to remain dominant for as long as I desire. In addition to the unmatched and awesome talent that the Foster Web Marketing Team possesses, the quality that is equally important to me is TRUST. I absolutely know that the Foster Web team is dedicated to delivering not just good results, not just a positive return on my investment, but to constantly blow me away with the results they deliver. That being said, my advice is simple. When Tom Foster says jump, I say 'How high?' Thus in 2009, even though my results were already great, Tom offered his "SWAT  conversion program" to turn more website visitors into clients. I signed on without hesitation. The results, as usual, have been off the charts. I have gone from under 10 requests a month for my consumer guide for Reckless Driving/Speeding, to 62 requests in May and 76 requests in June 2009. My website already has convinced hundreds of clients per year that I am the best choice for their case before they have even spoken to me!

Thank you Tom Foster and all of my friends and partners in success at Foster Web Marketing." Bob Battle
BobBattleLaw.com
Richmond, Virginia

Shocked!!!

I just wanted to drop a line of thanks and praise for the job you all did in creating my site.  This morning I Googled "Marietta Accident Lawyer" and was SHOCKED to see my site listed in the middle of the FIRST page of Google.  Keep in mind I got the email from Gretchen saying my site was launched on May 11.  For those without a calendar close by, that was only 8 days ago!!  That is CRAZY.  And Marietta isn't some remote out-post on the third moon of Jupiter.  It is one of Atlanta's largest suburbs with a population of over 600,000, about a third of which I think are lawyers.

Anyways, very, very impressive work and thanks to Ken and Gretchen for all their hard work.  Gretchen, in particular, needs specific mention because I know I was very particular with what I was looking for in my site.  And of course, thanks Tom for working with me to get it launched. Great work guys and thanks again.
Michael Terrell
Marietta, Georgia

With Foster Web Marketing I feel that my firm is way ahead of the curve

Like many of us Luddite types I was skeptical about internet marketing. I had a website but it didn't seem to produce results. I thought the site looked pretty good but it didn't convert into business. I knew very little about SEO (search engine optimization) or how the web worked in general. I had invested some money in in programs designed to refer internet business to my firm both directly and through my website, but I got very little return on my investment. I got tired of hearing that I needed to be patient, that it took time to establish a presence, etc. They weren't patient when it was time to get paid were they.
 
Then I was introduced to Foster Web Marketing. What Tom and his group had to offer sounded intriguing but based on my previous experiences I was gun shy to say the least. Nevertheless I decided to give it a go and entered  a contract for Tom to redesign my site and provide services that would improve my SEO ( I was gradually starting to understand the importance of these things) and my site content. There were glitches at first and my skepticism started kicking in. But, something told me that this was worth sticking with and I decided to give it more time. I am delighted that I did.
 
Here's the thing. Tom Foster and his group know this stuff cold. He went ahead and developed a site that to my mind is equal  to the best legal sites on the web. As importantly,  he designed the site to improve SEO - that's what makes the search engines find your site- what's the point of having a great site if no one sees it. Tom made me understand that there are only two essential aspects to this type of marketing. SEO and Site Content. SEO to get the people to the site and content to make them want to contact you once they get there.
 
Then there's DSS, which allows us to add and edit content ourselves and not have to pay each time we want something done. This means we can make the site as big as we want it. The sky's the limit. And, the more content the better for SEO and the more helpful it is to site visitors. Then there is the customer service: when you call Tom's team you get answers and fixes to your problems.
 
They say the proof is in the pudding. Here's the pudding. We've just finished our first year with Foster Web Marketing. Our cases have increased 40% from the average of the last 5 years. In the past 5 years, new cases from the internet averaged about 5-10% of all new cases added. This year the internet accounted for 30% of our new cases. We've more than tripled the number of good cases we've gotten from our website, and I feel we are just getting started. With Foster Web Marketing the marketing cost per case if very reasonable compared to other web marketing services and other advertising outlets, especially TV and the Yellow Pages.
 
So, this year I've upped my membership with the Foster Group to CPM. These are the first class seats with gold star services. If my experience last year when I had only the economy class membership is any indication its going to be well worth it. Now that I think of it - its like having a personal concierage service for my website and internet marketing.
 
There's no doubt in my mind that all of us are depending more and more on the internet for services we need. (I can't remember the last time I looked in the phone book for something) and with Foster Web Marketing I feel that my firm is way ahead of the curve. My goal is to stay there. Edward M. Van Dorn, Jr
Certified Civil Trial Attorney
National Board of Trial Advocacy
Licensed in Vermont and New Hampshire
Van Dorn & Curtiss
P.O. Box 263
Main St. Route 10
Orford, New Hampshire 03777
(603)353-4000
(877) VAN DORN
email:evandorn@nhvtlaw.com
website: www.vandornandcurtiss.com

“I'm so glad to be working with such honest and reputable people at Foster Web Marketing.  Your professionalism as well as everyone else I have worked with on my websites is outstanding!”Andrew Kim
Bellevue, Washington
www.wainjurylaw.com

Brain Dead Easy

"I am convinced that today's Internet consumer starts their search for an attorney by typing phrases into a search engine, not by going to an ‘attorney directory' that no one has ever heard of.

Attorney websites need to do two things:

• Rank highly on popular search engines for relevant search engine terms.
• Have compelling and interesting copy which establishes you as the "obvious choice" to be their attorney.

Foster Web Marketing has made it brain dead easy for lawyers to achieve both goals. Either by using their revolutionary DSS system (and doing it themselves, as I do) or subscribing to the Content Management Program, attorneys can exploit the advantages of the web as a critical marketing medium. Small to medium firms who don't take control of their web sites using one of these two methods are just throwing money out the window.

I have been using DSS for years and our site consistently ranks highly and, more importantly, lures qualified potential clients to our firm. If your website isn't making your e-mail ‘ding', call Foster today."

Ben Glass
www.vamedmal.com
Fairfax, VA

#1 on Google in 24 Hours

"Tom, your DSS system is phenomenal.  By adding so much content to the library, we are moving up in the SEO rankings daily.  Many times, I'll do an article at night and by the next evening it is #1 on Google." Lawrence J. Buckfire
buckfirelaw.com
Southfield, Mich.

Vaults From Page 4 to Page 1 on Google

"Three days after launching, our new website was number one on Google for “Newfoundland Injury Lawyer” and “Newfoundland Class Action Lawyer”, but second for “Newfoundland Accident Lawyer”. Number one for that search term was a law firm in Newfoundland, New Jersey (our jurisdiction is Newfoundland, a province of Canada). Oh well, Google isn’t perfect. Vaulting straight from page four to the top was exactly what I was aiming for, and thanks for your assistance in achieving it."

Ches Crosbie
Ches Crosbie Barristers
www.chescrosbie.com
St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

Success in Seattle

"This time last year Chris and I were using FindLaw to manage our firm’s website.  We were with FindLaw for more than three years and it was a constant uphill battle.  Their website management tool was very difficult to use; it would take the account management team months to make simple changes to our site; they offered no real SEO support; our website was periodically down; there was constant turnover in our account management team; it was difficult to get a customer support representative on the phone; and it was very, very expensive.

I would email them lists of software bugs and errors, feature requests, and wish lists that always seemed to go into a black hole.  For most of the time that we were FindLaw customers I was still working at Microsoft running marketing for the US Services Division.  On numerous occasions I offered to connect the FindLaw development team to groups at Microsoft that could help them and they ignored the offer.  I later found out that they didn’t develop the software themselves but bought the tool from another software company and thus had no control over fixing the software or adding features.  By the time that I decided to come help Chris manage and grow the firm I was completely fed up with FindLaw.

We met Tom Foster last June.  I was instantly impressed.  He was giving a presentation on Web 2.0 and he seemed to be really putting into practice the concepts that I knew about from my high-tech days—things that had flown over the heads of the FindLaw guys.  And he helped to put many things into a practical usable perspective for me.  I learned a great deal from Tom.  

But I was still gun shy from my experience with FindLaw.  I was afraid to move our site to Foster Web Marketing.  I was afraid to give up control again.  So I spent several months trying to manage our website on my own using Microsoft FrontPage.  But I just couldn’t shake the feeling that the Foster web management tool and the Foster team was somehow different.  So I began talking to Tom and Ken.

We moved our site to Foster Web Marketing in mid-December.  When you move your website there always an initial dip which can be scary.  But within several months we saw a 68% increase in our web traffic (from Dec 07 to April 08).  And our website placement in Google search results began to creep up higher and higher until we now show up in the top 4 search results for most of the search terms that we track.

But what is just as important (and probably a huge contributing factor to our success) has been the relationship that we have with the Foster team.  They welcome feedback about the DSS tool.  In fact, they are proactive about asking for feedback from customers.  They quickly return calls or emails about support issues or my silly questions.  They offer educational opportunities to help customers successfully use the DSS and understand critical Web 2.0 and SEO concepts.  They truly understand that their success as a company is directly tied the success of their customers.  They know that collaboration is key.
 
We couldn’t be more pleased about our decision to work with Foster Web Marketing and we are happy to be an active member of the DSS user community." Chris & Mischelle Davis
www.injurytriallawyer.com
Seattle, WA

A Katrina Story

"Foster Consulting was instrumental to my practice when I needed help most – right after Hurricane Katrina…"

On August 30th, 2005, the day after Hurricane Katrina destroyed my hometown of Biloxi, Mississippi, and changed much of the Gulf Coast region forever, the first thing I did was contact my insurance company. I initiated my claim for the extensive damages and losses Katrina had caused to my family’s home and personal possessions.

Relatively speaking, the claims process wasn’t so bad for me, but I knew that was because I am a plaintiff lawyer who has worked with (or against) the bad faith practices of insurance carriers everyday for seventeen years. I realized that for the hundreds of thousands of newly displaced and homeless people of the Gulf, the responsive help they so sorely needed from their insurance companies would come neither quickly nor in full. I knew that in the wake of this disaster, my fellow Mississippians would need an attorney on their side who had lived through the crisis with them, and understood their dilemmas first-hand. But how could I best reach them? That was the big question.

To help me answer it, I turned to Foster Consulting, a company in Virginia that I’ve relied on since 2003 to help me establish an effective Internet presence for my website on the major search engines. After providing a few brief instructions to the team at Foster Consulting about what I needed to do, within two days they had a web page prepared for me that skillfully conveyed the exact message I wanted to deliver to my neighbors:

"Are you facing delays or denials from your insurance company in your Hurricane Katrina Insurance Claim? Don’t despair. You aren’t alone. Contact my office today and I will help you."

Within a week of posting the information on my web site, I was on page 1 of Google, MSN and Yahoo for a variety of keywords related to Hurricane Katrina insurance claims. Throughout the fall of 2005, these prominent listings for my site helped triple my web site traffic flow. More importantly, their work on my site facilitated contact with hundreds of property owners struggling with the bad faith practices of their insurance companies.

Foster Consulting helped me make a positive difference in the communities of the Gulf Coast during the most critical time in the region’s history. I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending Foster Consulting for any attorneys seeking to use their websites to expand the business they obtain through the Internet.

Jay Foster
jayfosterlaw.com
Biloxi, Mississippi Attorney

Drudgery No More

"I've been focusing on top content by title and regularly review top search terms then follow up with posts that include those terms. I'm watching the numbers climb.

Here at Lombardi Law Firm to assist with blogging we hired a law student and a recent graduate of the University of Iowa School of Journalism. I send each of them reports and ask who is getting the most attention with what they are writing.

We are always amazed by what blogs have the most PageViews. Commentary does real well along with responding back to commenters. In the end for us it's all fun and has made legal marketing sort of exciting, after years of it being drudgery.

The good news is our traffic has picked up every month."

Thanks,
Steve Lombardi
www.LombardiLaw.com
Des Moines, Iowa

Skeptical At First

"Tom:  I just wanted to say what a great idea your webinar is and how effective is can be in educating us on how to improve our websites.  Although I have been conflicted from listening live to the first couple of sessions, I just had the chance to listen to the first one from your archives.  I plan on implementing those changes this week, and then move on to the next webinar for more information.

Although I had to drag my feet in the first year after we met at Ben Glass' conference in August 2006 due to finances and was also a little impatient and skeptical about the potential success of using web based marketing, I am now starting to see in the last several months a significant increase in new clients as a result of the website.  Of course, this gives me even more incentive to listen to your advice on how to improve and enhance this as a marketing tool." Dan Monahan
monahanlawpractice.com
Philadelphia, PA

Super Impressed

"I want to reiterate what I said the other week--you guys are doing a great job and I'm super impressed with the results. Keep it up."

Brian Beckcom
www.vbattorneys.com
Houston, Texas

Surprised The Salesman

"We had a salesman in the office from FindLaw yesterday who wanted to sign us up. I explained to him that we already had in place most of what he was offering and we checked the search engines together. Of course, he was thinking that he would make his sale because the web sites wouldn’t come up in the top 5 or 10 or whatever, but sure enough, there we were, consistently in first or second position. He looked at the websites as well and said, “well, your guy has done a really good job for you.” Just wanted to let you know that your work is appreciated. Thanks."

Linda Purdy
www.erisa-claims.com
Salt Lake City, UT

Paid For The Trip

"Tom is quite simply 'the man' when it comes to the web! Through his presentation we were given a window to the mystery of web success. I was able to take action on his recommendations while sitting at the airport on the way home. Taking action on Tom's insight paid for the trip several times over!" Vaughan de Kirby
www.deKirby.net
San Francisco, California

Thrilled With Customer Service

"Just wanted to drop you a note to tell you how happy I’ve been with the terrific customer service provided by Ken Pearce and more recently, Gretchen Upright.  In the last week or so I’ve been busy with the site and had a few glitches related to e-mails, formatting, programming, etc., that I needed to have corrected right away.  Glitches happen. Nothing’s perfect.  That said, Ken & Gretchen got right on the problems and fixed them immediately.  That’s excellent customer service and I appreciated it.  I told them as much, but I thought you should know as well.
 
Going forward, as I learn how to use the DSS better, and train the other attorneys and staff here as well, I suspect I will have more questions, and undoubtedly more issues will occur.  I believe that’s natural, and, in case you haven’t been told, I can be a persistent mild pain in the rear.  Just ask my wife.
 
However, I also suspect that Ken & Gretchen will still be there, displaying their uncommon patience with me and will guide me through.
 
They are a true credit to Foster Web Marketing and a huge reason why I am a happy customer.
 
My guess is that you have received e-mails like this in the past about Ken & Gretchen, but if you haven’t that is a reflection on their clients, not them." Michael J. Robinson, Esq.
www.srtflaw.com
Sayer Regan Thayer & Flanagan, LLP
Newport, RI

Very Professional

"Thank you for the great work and meeting the first self imposed deadline. So far, our experience with Foster Web Marketing has been very professional and productive. I look forward to continuing to work with you and the team."

Frank Crivelli
Frank Crivelli www.crivellilaw.com Trenton, NJ " target="_blank">www.crivellilaw.com
Trenton, NJ

Well Worth The Money

"When I contacted Foster Marketing I had only a vague idea about designing a website for our firm. From a technical point of view I had heard of web optimization but did not understand the complexes that go into the background development. Ken Pearce spent a significant amount of time patiently and thoroughly fielding my questions regarding the development process to the point where I felt comfortable. Ken was available almost 24 hours 7 days a week, and returned my numerous calls and emails within a short period of time.

Foster Web Marketing is not the least expensive of web developers that I have contacted. However, the education that I received so far, as well as their initial responsiveness to someone new to web marketing, has inspired confidence that hiring this company to design, maintain and host my website is well worth the money." Tony Sheffy
Sheffy, Mazzaccaro, DePaolo & DeNigris, L.L.P.
Southington, CT

Quickly Moving Up

"Just wanted to thank you for all of your help. I am moving up quickly in the atlanta ga car accident attorney searches  and I don't think that anyone in Atlanta is doing the kind of blogging that I am. Thanks again for all your help."

Jim Murphy
www.murphylawyer.com
Douglasville, Ga

You Are Awesome!

"My website launched after I got back from The Great Legal Marketing Super Conference. I believe it was on 6-25-08. As you are aware I had no web presence prior to you and the rest of the gang at Foster Web Marketing designing my site. Since my return I hired my wife and English major, Yulee, to help me with all of my marketing. We have posted a blog a day for the last 2 weeks, following what you taught. The results have been unbelievable. Yesterday, July 15, I received a call on a premises liability case. When asked how he found me the response was that he had done a Google search, found me, liked the web site and called.

After I got this call I started doing some of my own google searches. I typed in phrases like ‘Louisville truck accident Lawyer', ‘Jefferson County car wreck attorney', etc. I couldn't believe it. The first 2 searches I showed up on the top of the 2nd page of Google. On one search I had 2 entries on the 2nd page. Yulee did a search and I showed up 3rd on the 1st page.

I can definitely see results from our activity. Your guidance on blogging have lead to great results. The web site you designed is making some web noise. I can't wait for another 3 weeks to pass to see where I am. I have just purchased the video equipment I needed and should be on you tube in the next 10-14 days. Gretchen thanks for all your help in designing the site and answering my frequent stupid questions. You are awesome!!!" Mike Schafer
www.mikeschaferlaw.com
Louisville, KY