Business Card Publisher Gets Vizibility

After one year as business partners, legal office supplies company All-State Legal and online identity management firm Vizibility Inc. enjoyed their alliance so much they decided to take things to the next level in August.

In a deal announced August 7, All-State agreed to purchase Vizibility for an undisclosed price. The companies first came together in June 2012, when they began offering mobile business cards for professionals with special emphasis on the legal industry. The companies offered the vizCard, an electronic business card that included contact information, photo, biography, and links to social media profiles, articles or blog posts belonging to the user. The vizCard could be shared via email or text, or by scanning a QR (quick response) code printed on backs of traditional business cards.

"A recent industry survey from BTI Consulting Group showed that one out of every two buyers of legal services reported that they would be less likely to hire an attorney if their credentials could not be validated online," said Susan Jacobs, director of marketing & client services for All-State Legal, in a press release. "It is no wonder that a growing segment of our customers are seeking innovative ways to share their rich online content and social media activity right from traditional networking tools like business cards."

Jacobs told Law Technology News that mobile business cards are more dynamic than traditional cards and allow lawyers to engage more deeply with clients and others professionals. "For lawyers, their personal brochure is their business card, and there's only so much you can put on a traditional card," said Jacobs.

Jacobs said that All-State Legal lists over 20,000 law firms as clients, including approximately 75 percent of firms listed in the National Law Journal 350. She said determining the usage of the vizCard among the company's clients was complicated because mobile cards come free with the of a box of printed cards. "In today's competitive world, it's about greater value for clients," said Jacobs. "We wanted to enable every one of our clients to get a vizCard free of charge because we believe it provides our clients with greater value."

Joanne Theisen, marketing and office manager at Miller Canfield told LTN that the vizCards have been an important tool for attorneys at her firm. "They can use [vizCards] to schedule meetings, send texts, connect multiple accounts, and include them in every email- they're very versatile," said Theisen. She said that a growing number of lawyers are asking her about getting vizCards, and printed cards with QR codes on them. She said that the cards serve more than a practical function. "They help our attorneys present themselves as tech savvy," said Theisen. "They show that we're leaders."

Jacobs also singled out McCarter English as an "early adopter" of the vizCards. In a press release from March 2012, Vizibility announced that the firm would include the company's QR codes on its attorney business cards and printed biographies. "Adding tools that provide quick access to the online content of our attorneys just makes economic sense," said Alitia Faccone, partner in the e-discovery practice group at McCarter, in the press release. "We know from website analytics that our professionals are being researched online extensively; and we know from industry studies that legal decision makers are less likely to hire an attorney if their credentials cannot be verified online."

Jacobs, meanwhile, declined to comment on the financial terms of the deal. As for future plans, she was coy about specifics, but mentioned that All-State Legal had conducted a recent study which found that under 30% of the NLJ 350 had mobile-optimized websites. "Right now, we don't offer a service to create mobile-optimized websites," said Jacobs. "However, that area is in our area of expertise, and it could be a natural extension for us. I guess anything is possible!"