Have you read these?

A smattering of interesting and timely posts from the blawgosphere and beyond

• “10 Clues Your PR Pro is Worth the Dough” from David Mullen’s Communications Catalyst blog. Lawyers: don’t let the title fool you, you need to read this. Your clients are evaluating you using these same criteria. Doesn’t it make sense to get ahead of the curve?
  
  
• “L.L. Bean Understands “Perceived Value” Versus Discounts” from Idea Sandbox. L.L. Bean gives a good lesson in value. Hint: it’s not about playing games with prices. The added bonus? L.L. Bean also knows how to use social media: here’s their reaction to the first Idea Sandbox post.
  
  
• “Law firms question cost of responding to corporate RFPs” from The National Law Journal. According to a new Altman Weil report, RFPs typically cost firms $35,000 to $65,000, or 100 to 200 partner hours. That’s a lot of money for an effort that fails 70% of the time, and probably doesn’t even take into account staff time, supplies, and other “hidden” costs of responding to RFPs. Do clients really think this is in their benefit?
  
  
• “The Problem with Most Fixed Fee Proposals” from In Search of Perfect Client Service. Patrick Lamb doesn’t just criticize the problems of the billable hour, he built a firm around providing realistic solutions. So it makes sense that this isn’t just another chapter in the ongoing “the billable hour must end” saga. Read it and you’ll agree.
  
  
• “15 Things I Wish I Had Known When I Started My First Blog” from Quick Sprout. File this in the “it’s never too late to learn” category. You can also file most of it in the “useful ideas for relationship-building, no matter what the medium (but especially Twitter)” category. One more? How about the “I now have Quick Sprout on my RSS feed reader, and you should too” category.