Moving on up!
Published by Cristin Carey in General
In the summer of 2012, it was announced that Avvo would be moving office locations for the fourth time in six years. We’ve zig-zagged all over downtown Seattle, and this latest move had us headed to the International District – just south of the downtown core. Moving is exhausting and exciting, and we keep doing it because we keep out-growing our spaces. We had maxed out the space in our last office to the point where any new hires would have had to sit on someone’s lap!
Hello, I’m the content manager for Avvo. I started working here about three years ago (Saint Patty’s Day is such a great day to start; add that in with the March Madness craze and the two together really make for a hell of a first impression of the company culture), and it’s been an interesting experience seeing the wide variety in the different kinds of content that attorneys create on the site.
What’s the difference between a vulture and a lawyer?
Published by Sachin Bhatia in Marketing with 1 Comment
I’d like to introduce you to Leigh McMillan, VP of marketing here at Avvo. Leigh asked us if she could share some breaking news on a new ad campaign, so we’re happy to give her the floor.
The spice of life
Published by Amit Bapat in General
For some time, mankind has been known to consume products that aid in increasing memory, removing fatigue and depression, and looking younger. At Avvo, we don’t concern ourselves with such frivolous stuff. We’re focused on more important things, like giving an extra kick to the spice levels of our hot sauces to amuse and abuse our taste buds.
Avvo Account managers: Rockin’ it since 2009
Published by Cristin Carey in Product with 3 Comments
I’d like to introduce you to Scott Heric, one of the key members in our amazing team of Avvo Account Managers. We love working with Scott because everyday he has a smile on his face and energy in his step. Nothing frazzles this guy (probably due to his yoga practice) and he can figure out a solution to any problem. It’s because of this track record that Scott recently jumped into the position of Sr. Account Manager for Ignite. When he’s not answering questions about SEO and client conversion, you can find him on the basketball court or organizing events for charity—this guy knows how to throw a party! Scott asked us if he could share a bit about how the Account Management team works with everyone, so we’re happy to give him the floor.
Terms of Use Changes
Published by Josh King in General with 2 Comments
For my inaugural post on the newly-redesigned Avvoblog, I thought I’d start with everyone’s favorite topic: Terms of Use changes! “Where,” you ask, “are these ‘Terms of Use’ of which you speak?” Why, they are everywhere on Avvo–go to the bottom of any page and look for the “Terms of Use” link. Click, and read away.
Go ahead, I can wait.
Viva Las Vegas!
Published by Sachin Bhatia in General
You’re invited to the Lawyernomics 2013 Conference in Las Vegas.
Today is the last day to purchase your tickets at the early bird price.
It’s our fourth annual legal marketing conference and this year we’re at an exciting new location: the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas!
Over the course of two days (April 26–27), you will hear technology leaders, digital media experts and web-savvy practicing attorneys cover everything you need to know about how to market your practice online. And it’s all taking place in a city that offers great dining, nightlife and recreation!
Designing for emotion
Published by Vytas Gaizutis in Product with 1 Comment
Brand and emotion go hand in hand. The feelings a product or service elicits from us can make or break its brand. We’re influenced by our moods, level of stress, color, smell, sound, past experiences, associations, and more. Despite how rational we think we are, our emotions influence decisions we make and the impressions that remain.
Emotional response is as important as task success in building long-term relationships with Avvo’s two communities: consumers and lawyers. Each group has different expectations and task goals for using Avvo. Usability and task success are key, but so is emotional response. Last year, we set out to define target emotions for each group that would guide our design process and help us begin to evolve the site’s colors and visual elements. We wanted our users to “feel” the right things. To do this, we used a variation of a method described by Carnegie Mellon professors Jonathan Cagan and Peter Boatwright in their excellent book, “Built To Love: Creating Products That Captivate Customers.”
It’s still too hard to hire an attorney.
Published by Sachin Bhatia in Product
Today, we’re making it easier.
A lot has changed since we launched Avvo nearly 6 years ago. Our goal was to shine a flashlight into a dark place. Clients of legal services didn’t have the information they needed to search, select, and hire great attorneys. We changed the game by giving consumers access to key information in a way that is easy to understand and use. We’ve since layered on an expert-only Q&A forum that just broke the 2 million answer mark. By offering a forum to prospective clients, it’s easier than ever to find a great lawyer. However, we think it can be even easier. Over half of those that have a legal problem choose not to hire a lawyer. And, in many of those cases, they’re making the wrong decision.
Hello!
Published by Tim Ahlers in Introduction and Greets with 3 Comments
Hi, my name is Tim Ahlers, and I’m the new guy on the block—I joined the product management team at Avvo late last year.
I’ve spent most of the last 20 years building software—desktop, mobile and web, consumer, business and enterprise. What I hadn’t done is work on a large-scale, customer-facing website, and the opportunity to do that is one of the things that attracted me to Avvo. In addition to learning about a new industry and adding some new product management skills to my quiver, what I’ve enjoyed the most so far is getting to work with the great team of people here.
Welcome to the new Avvo blog
Published by Sachin Bhatia in Introduction and Greets with 7 Comments
Hello. My name is Sachin Bhatia and I manage the product team at Avvo. I’d like to welcome you to the new Avvo Blog—thoughts, announcements, and explanations of the world of Avvo.
The reintroduction of the Avvo Blog is centered on our desire to have a dialogue about the products of Avvo. This blog hasn’t received much attention over the past few months; instead, we were actively pursuing conversations via webinars, Twitter, Facebook , and LinkedIn. We will remain active on those venues, as well as continuing to blog about consumer legal issues on NakedLaw, and the business side of the law on Lawyernomics.