The American Marketing Association (AMA), in collaboration with the Duke Fuqua School of Business and McKinsey and Company, recently reported, via The CMO Survey, that marketing budgets consume almost 11 percent of firms’ annual budgets.

As the CMO Survey provides analytical data to support the cost of marketing for business to business models, is there a way that small firms or solo practicing attorneys could slash their marketing budgets to provide cost-effective social media marketing practices?

There is, and it is referred to as cross promotion. This essential marketing strategy can and should be utilized in every type of professional social media marketing campaign. The strategy is quite simple. Cross promotion provides a quick and relatively cost-free method of increasing traffic to already established social media profiles.

From Alton to Wheaton, the HG.org provides a directory of practicing Chicago attorneys all vying for new business. Locating prospective clients can be a challenge. How attorneys accomplish this may depend heavily on the online marketing firm they hire to define and achieve their social media marketing goals. As each attorney is unique, so should their recipe for success when it comes to contracting an experienced online marketing firm.

As social media marketing expands how do you know you are choosing the best online firm? One that is the perfect blend of meeting your needs but also achieving the highest rate of return on your investment?

If you are in the research phase, take a moment to review the following key ingredients before scheduling an initial consultation. Having a clear composite of your goals will not only save you time and money but will help avoid the danger of becoming a casualty of yet another generic online marketing firm.

For many in the legal industry, Google remains a constant in search engine marketing. You may rely on Adwords, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Google+ just to name a few methods, but is Google’s privacy policy in everyone’s best interest?

According the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), technology gurus have familiarized themselves with Google's privacy policy revision, effective March 1, 2012. Perhaps we may ask, as a technological layman, what does it mean for legal marketing efforts?

Google consolidated over 70 individual privacy policies, covering separate services available to publishing on the Internet. It now blankets a one-size-fits-all privacy policy for Google users. It allows Google to “data mine” a user's Internet activity across the Google playing field instead of through specific service options. This policy has sparked controversy and has even been labeled as possibly illegal according to an article in The Huffington Post. So what exactly is the bone of contention for Google users?

Consumerism or how we Americans fit into the social and economical order that encourages us to purchase goods and seek out services surprisingly heightened after World War II with the introduction of believe it or not, Tupperware.

According to a recent article published by the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), Tupperware cleared the way by promoting hearth and home but also as a product line that could ease the burden of the busy post-war housewife. It also opened the door to the long-term indulgent relationship with American consumerism.

Although we may not be experiencing the rate of economic growth as witnessed by the baby boomers of our society, Americans have burrowed a new course of consumerism through the technological advancements of the magical World Wide Web.