How to Write Blog Posts People Actually Want to Read [INFOGRAPHIC]

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The purpose of having a blog is to foster an online dialogue with prospects, clients and referral sources so that when they need someone who does what you do, they will think of your first. Drawing people into your conversation requires you to often step outside your comfort zone, since most attorneys write the way they were trained to do in law school.

But when it comes to writing blog posts that people actually want to read, that just doesn’t cut it.

The most important thing to remember when writing for those who don’t practice law for a living is to be authentic. And the best way to do this is to write the way you talk. As you sit down to craft a new post, imagine you are talking to a friend who needs your guidance on a legal issue. Use the same words you use in your everyday life. Forget the grammar rules and write your draft, then go back over it to correct any glaring grammatical errors.

The infographic below, courtesy of Copyblogger.com, outlines the other essentials for writing blog posts. Print it off and keep a copy by your computer to refer to as you write. Following these simple guidelines will have you authoring a compelling, lead-generating blog in no time.

Blogs Social Media

Article by: 

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

The Do’s and Don’ts of Investing in a Lead Generation Service

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In order to grow your firm, you need to invest in a reliable marketing and advertising program. Lead generation services are a great alternative to investing and managing your own campaigns, which can be both costly and time consuming for the average attorney. Lead generation services can not only offer you consistent, quality leads but also provide you with a total marketing package that allows you to manage those leads. There are a slew of companies that will make you a lot of promises, but how do you know which ones are legitimate?

What steps should you take before you decide the right company for your firm’s needs?

Lead Generation Service Marketing Law Firm Legal

Do Your Research

Not all lead generation services are equal. Some will scam you. Some will give you old or undesirable leads. Some will give you leads but don’t offer additional marketing services and support that will ensure continued success.

Research several companies and find out their reputation. Look for a company with longevity, positive client testimonials and a desire to see your law firm succeed. One who knows that their best interest as a marketing firm is to do whatever it takes to grow your law firm; their success is 100% dependent upon yours. No other lead generation service will be worth your hard earned dollars if they don’t care enough to be the best.

Do Make a Long Term Commitment to Your Firm’s Success

Be wary of companies that encourage a short-term approach to your advertising needs. Marketing and advertising is an ongoing commitment. Any successful advertising program, whether it’s done internally or through lead generation services requires two things: patience and time. A consistent stream of new potential clients is the key to long-term, sustained growth for any firm. This can’t be done with a stop and start approach to your marketing.

Don’t Ignore Industry Trends

Effective marketing for a personal injury practice is changing and evolving. It is imperative that you invest in an advertising service that follows closely with potential client’s search behaviors. The firm must employ a diversified approach that will reach at anytime a wide variety of potential clients. Advances in media means potential clients use various devices to stay connected. Whether it’s TV, internet or mobile, the right company will employ more than one of these sources to generate leads for your firm. Using an agency that employs only one of these methods means you are putting all your eggs in one basket – which is never an effective way to spend your advertising dollars.

Getting your firm’s name out there and making it effortless for potential clients to reach you in their time of need is critical to growing your practice. Paid lead generation can be beneficial when used and managed correctly.

Finding the right legal marketing firm that can provide you the ultimate lead generation service, that has exclusive, quality leads in your geographic area in combination with a marketing package that is all inclusive, can be a challenging process.

Article by:

Anush Alexander

Of:

RW Lynch Company, Inc.

The Top 25 Law Marketing Cliches to Avoid

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As a whole, lawyers are very literal, often too literal for good marketing.  As a result, many firms simply opt for the obvious icons that represent the general concept of “Law,” just like most of their closest competitors.  The logical rationale seems to be, “Well, if everyone else is doing it this way, it must be right.”  But that’s wrong.

Your marketing should set you apart, help you stand above the crowd.  And doing exactly what they do buries you in the anonymous middle.  Sure it’s safe, but ”safe” doesn’t help generate revenue.

That is, if your website home page shows a skyline or column, you’ve immediately convinced everyone who sees it that (1) your firm is mediocre, and (2) there’s nothing worth reading inside.  If you want to claim to be a high-end, A-tier firm, then you must look like it, and a photo of a handshake, map, or pen resting on a document won’t cut it.  No exceptions, unless you’re, say, Wachtell or Cravath.

So here they are, the 25 most typical and tedious clichés law firms use (and what they actually convey to the average reader):

The Image (What it means.)

  1. Globe/Map (We did a deal in Toronto once)
  2. Shaking hands (We’re your partner.)
  3. Building/Architectural detail (We work in a building!)
  4. Skylines (We work in a city!)
  5. Columns/Courthouse (We’re lawyers!)
  6. Gavel (Yup, we’re lawyers.)
  7. Light bulbs (We have good ideas.)
  8. Chess pieces (We’re strategic.)
  9. Diverse conference room (Stock photo)
  10. Smiling lawyers (People work here!)
  11. Scales of justice (Still just lawyers.)
  12. Dart boards (We’re on target.)
  13. DNA/Test tube/beaker/gears/CD (We have an IP practice.)
  14. Man/Woman walking, in suits (That’s our profession’s action shot.)
  15. Vacant lobby/Conference room (We go home at 5:00.)
  16. Books (This might be 2012, but we still use books.)
  17. Laptop/Computer (Look!  We use computers!)
  18. Eyeglasses or pen on a document (We work on documents.)
  19. Boxing gloves (We’re tough.)
  20. Rowing/Musicians (We work as a team!)
  21. Crayons/Flags/Circle of hands (Diversity!)
  22. Grinning PI or divorce lawyer (Lost a limb? Wife left you? Good for me!)
  23. Cheetah (We move fast.)
  24. Maze (We solve puzzles.)
  25. Blurry man running up steps (Out of my way! Late for court!)

The fact that you immediately recognized all or most of these, and perhaps laughed embarrassingly at a few, proves that these images have lost their impact.  So, if you’re using any of these in your marketing materials, from website or blog to print ads or brochures, stop immediately.

Either change your tag line to “Average skills. Average price.TM” or, preferably, come up with something that really sets you apart.  Create something else, something great.  Something that helps you stand out in a way that generates real revenue. If you can’t do it, hire someone who can.  But it must be done, it’s important.

Figure out who you really are, then build your marketing around that.

Article by:

Ross Fishman

Of:

Fishman Marketing, Inc.

Last chance! Register now for the Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum: A Catalyst for Stepping into Your Power

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum hosted by KLA Marketing Associates.

1.24.14

When

For your convenience, 3 dates and times:

February 17 – Late Afternoon

Feburary 19 – Morning

Februrary 27 – Late afternoon

Where

Philadelphia / New Jersey / Virtual

Join us – a safe, intimate forum where Women in the Law “lean in” and access much-needed resources to develop a prosperous and rewarding practice. Make 2014 the year to take control of your career. 
Join for our popular Forum to:
  • Learn critical rainmaking techniques
  • Brainstorm opportunities
  • Dig deep into your business challenges
  • Tap skills/experience of others  

Four 2-hour sessions to change the

way you do business – and win business!

Special Pricing: $499* for all 4 sessions – – and more. Register now to claim your seat that will change the way you do business!

About the Trainer/Coach
Kimberly Alford Rice, Principal and Chief Strategist of KLA Marketing Associates, has successfully trained hundreds of lawyers to build and grow a prosperous book of business over the course of her 20+ year legal services advisory practice. She deeply understands how to engage the organizational and human factors that drive successful implementation and change through her work. To learn more, check out KLA Marketing Associates website.

The 20 Best Law Firm Tag Lines

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Is your firm “Committed to Mediocrity™”?

Tag lines are hard – a few strategically selected words that encapsulate everything you stand for and want your target audience to know about you. It’s the slogan that tells your own people how to act, what makes them different, and help them bring in business. Does your firm have one? Does it stand out? Is it unique and memorable?

Consider FedEx’s brilliant “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” Nine simple words that tell FedEx buyers precisely what they’re going to get, while simultaneously informing all of its employees what their mission is, and its vital importance.

Law firms tend toward weak platitudes like “Committed to clients” or “Results Matter!” or “When Success Matters!” These vague “we’re totally awesome” statements makes a firm feel good about itself but aren’t specific enough for your lawyers or employees, or differentiating for your target market. They apply equally to nearly every firm in the market (when don’t results matter…?). They’re easy for a committee to agree on (“Good idea; let’s tell people we’re smart!”), but they don’t set you apart in a strategic way that generates revenue. What if FedEx’s slogan was “We mail things!”?

Would Nike be as successful if it allowed a marketing committee to red-pencil “Just do it” into “When you need great shoes”? How would BMW’s vision change if “The Ultimate Driving Machine” became “Your Car Matters!”

Here are law firm tag lines from the Feb-April 2011 issues of Inside Counsel magazine, a publication where many large firms advertise.

  • National Firm. Midwest Value.

  • Driving Business Advantage.

  • The confidence to proceed.

  • Canadian Lawyers.

  • Deep relationships. Forward thinking. And not just one lawyer. A team.

  • More together.

  • Top of Mind.

  • Singular focus. Outstanding results.

  • Intellectual property law by the numbers.

  • Driving Business Advantage.

Do you know which law firm is “More together?” Which firm gives you “the confidence to proceed” or “drives business advantage”? How does “Top of Mind” benefit a client?

Here are some examples of brand-related messages we’ve created that are clearer and catchier. They help define the firm internally and externally. They set the tone and help the firm stand out in a meaningful way. They give the lawyers something to say in new-business meetings when the prospects ask, “How is your firm different?”

They act as the platform for a larger campaign that helps the lawyers sell new business. It aids recruiting by defining the personality type and skill set of the laterals they should seek to hire.

Below are twenty law firm tag lines to compare and consider, that support a range of firms, practices, industries, and strategies. They are, of course, just a small part of larger campaigns, but their role can be significant in setting the tone, breaking the ice, and helping create a dialogue. OK, maybe they’re not the nation’s 20 absolute best law firm tag lines, there are some pretty good ones out there, but these are a pretty good start.

Two hours. Period.™

Laner Muchin, Chicago. The world’s most-responsive law firm. A labor and employment boutique where every client phone call is returned within two hours, even less in emergencies.

Seriously Unbelievably Client Service.™

Sandberg Phoenix, St Louis. The nation’s first firm to offer clients a written service guarantee. Their clients rate them an A+ in objective surveys.

Small but mighty.™

Novack and Macey, Chicago. A small litigation powerhouse with an amazing record of success at trial.

Article by:

Ross Fishman

Of:

Fishman Marketing, Inc.

How a Smartphone App Aims to Replace Attorneys

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A smartphone app that allows users to create, sign and send legally binding documents is the latest tech tool developed to shake up the delivery of legal services.  And its name, aptly enough, is Shake.

Shake is the brainchild of Abe Geiger, an entrepreneur who found that standard contracts were too cumbersome and complicated to meet the needs of today’s business world, even though he has access to all the free legal advice he needs (his wife is an attorney).

As with so many other inventions, Shake started with the thought that, “There has to be a better way.”

Smartphone App Legal Services

With some Silicon Valley VC funding, Geiger and his team set out on their mission, which is posted on their website:

Our mission is to make the law accessible, understandable and affordable for consumers and small businesses. We want to empower our users to share ideas, goods, and services without the fear of being stiffed for a freelance gig or putting their business at risk.

Geiger said he believes that change in the legal industry will be driven by small businesses and consumers, not by lawyers and law firms.  He says that the legal market is huge, inefficient, underserved by technology and begging for change.

Sounds like he has more than one reason to shake things up.

Carolyn Elefant, who blogs about solos and small firms at MyShingle.com, wrote recently in an Above the Law post that the app won’t displace real lawyers because the people who want to use an app or a website for their legal documents are not likely to hire an attorney anyway.  I tend to agree.

I also agree with Geiger’s assertion that people are looking for more technology-based solutions for their legal problems, even if that “problem” is only a freelance contract or a NDA.

What attorneys should take away from this is that the market is moving toward technology much faster than most lawyers are, and making technology solutions available to clients – something as simple as downloadable documents off a secure website – is the new way your clients are defining good customer service.

Article by:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

One week until the final session! Register today for the Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum hosted by KLA Marketing Associates.

1.24.14

When

For your convenience, 3 dates and times:

February 17 – Late Afternoon

Feburary 19 – Morning

Februrary 27 – Late afternoon

Where

Philadelphia / New Jersey / Virtual

Join us – a safe, intimate forum where Women in the Law “lean in” and access much-needed resources to develop a prosperous and rewarding practice. Make 2014 the year to take control of your career. 
Join for our popular Forum to:
  • Learn critical rainmaking techniques
  • Brainstorm opportunities
  • Dig deep into your business challenges
  • Tap skills/experience of others  

Four 2-hour sessions to change the

way you do business – and win business!

Special Pricing: $499* for all 4 sessions – – and more. Register now to claim your seat that will change the way you do business!

About the Trainer/Coach
Kimberly Alford Rice, Principal and Chief Strategist of KLA Marketing Associates, has successfully trained hundreds of lawyers to build and grow a prosperous book of business over the course of her 20+ year legal services advisory practice. She deeply understands how to engage the organizational and human factors that drive successful implementation and change through her work. To learn more, check out KLA Marketing Associates website.

How Can You (Safely) Shorten a Law Firm’s Name?

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Below are two logos – before and after the redesign, obviously.  Note, they’re exactly the same width. 

Which one stands out?  Which one are you more likely to notice and remember?

law firm branding logo

law firm branding logo

It’s obviously the right decision, there is no scenario where the top version is a “better” or more effective logo than the new one below it.  There are too many equal-sized names, and your brain can’t process all that visually similar information.  There’s no focal point, so your eyes don’t know where to go.  If you put it on tschotchkes like a hat or mug (see mock-ups below), or used it on business cards (also below) or a website, there’s a clear contrast.  If you looked away, you wouldn’t remember the firm’s name.

The bottom version with the larger name obviously helps the reader remember the firm’s name.

And that’s what a good logo is supposed to do.  It tells you what to remember, how to find them.  You know what to call them.  Which of course is the whole point – it’s a strong, interesting, unusual, and memorable name.  It’s what The Street has always chosen to call them – either “Lugenbuhl” or “The Lugenbuhl Firm.”  But changing a logo to reflect that reality is still extremely difficult.

law firm branding logo

Executing it requires teamwork.  Commitment to the firm.  Trust.  Strong leadership.

Here, Messrs. WheatonPeckRankin, and Hubbard are all still practicing.  They’re dynamic lawyers with great practices, leaders in their various industries (marine, bankruptcy, environmental, and energy). The latter Name Partners must have the professional security, integrity, and confidence to allow their names to be reduced in size compared to the first lawyer’s.  They all have to sublimate their egos for the sake of The Firm.  They must understand and accept that enlarging the first name over the others isn’t a comparative value judgment.

It doesn’t suggest that Mr. Lugenbuhl is “better” than they are. 

It’s not saying he’s more important, smarter, more valuable, or better looking.  It’s just that his name was first on the door and that having too many names of equal visual weight simply makes no strategic sense. It makes it harder to grasp visually and remember later, which hurts everyone’s business development.  The only possible explanation for keeping a design like this is the ego and insecurity of the latter-named lawyers.

law firm branding logo

And that’s not an insignificant thing, especially not in a professional-services firm. 

In a law firm, having your name on the door is the brass ring.  No one screws with a lawyer whose name is prominent on the letterhead.  Candidly, in their position, I wouldn’t want my name shrunk or eliminated from the logo either.  Regardless, it IS, of course, the right thing to do.

And that’s how we always pitch it – it’s not about Mr. Lugenbuhl.  ”Lugenbuhl” simply becomes a word, a noun, the corporate name.  It’s no longer about the person, it’s the word that represents the firm.  People don’t wonder who “Mr. McDonald” is when they buy a hamburger.

That’s certainly a challenge in first-generation law firms when one or more of the names on the door are still practicing.  This is particularly true when the firm has gradually added the firm’s top billers or rising stars to the end of the name.  The people in the front may no longer be as powerful or relevant. But it’s still the right thing to do.

Good for S. Rodger WheatonStewart F. PeckS. Frazer Rankin, and Ralph S. Hubbard, III.  They did the right thing for the firm.  I sincerely respect their sacrifice.

Here are two business card options with similar layouts.  The point is pretty obvious, don’t you think?

lawyer attorney business cards

lawyer attorney business cards

Article by:

Ross Fishman

Of:

Fishman Marketing, Inc.

3 Ways for Law Firms to Advance Their Brands In a Post-Recession Environment

 

The post-recession state of professional services branding is like living in a bland, empty room. Wherever we look, we see reduced brand activity and sameness. Once creative and compelling, professional service brands (via websites, advertising and other channels) now seem less visible. Sadly, it appears to us that both the quality and quantity of firm branding efforts are regressing.

Are past failed efforts to blame? Is the stumbling economy a disincentive to act? Or is it the pendulum swing to business development, the tremendous pressure on CMOs to drive revenue? Has anyone else noticed the fall off in brand awareness and memorability? Do we still believe brand is critical to creating preference?

Good questions, we thought. So we polled CMOs and CEOs at law, accounting and consulting firms around the world for their opinions. Respondents included leaders of local, regional, national and international firms with an average size of 382 professionals (full survey results at http://www.greenfieldbelser.com/research-page/brand-regression#).

Questions, answers and insights

Here, we’ve summarized four of the most important findings, including the questions asked, the answers received and the top line takeaways.

1. Brand Health. We asked how important is brand to the success of your firm, how helpful is your brand in achieving that success, and is your brand understood by key audiences?

  • 95% of CMOs and 92% of CEOs/managing partners believe their brand is moderately or extremely important to success
  • But only 26% find their brand “very helpful”
  • On understanding, only 21% replied that their brands were well or perfectly understood by prospects.

The takeaway? Yikes! How can something perceived to be so important yield such poor scores in helpfulness and understanding? In live presentations of these findings, some of our CMO friends suggest that the answer lies in the degree of difficulty of executing branding efforts properly in any professional services firm.

One respondent shared this comment, “These days if you wish to undertake any sort of brand exercise, it must be titled ‘Strategic Positioning Initiative’ to avoid the factious response that sometimes arrives as talk turns to brand.”

Whatever you call it, our view is that pioneering brand efforts among professional service firms have given way to safer, less expensive efforts that suffer from unoriginality and are easy to ignore. Conventional wisdom suggests that in times of recession it’s better to tighten the belt and cut marketing and branding expenditures to focus on sales. However, when firms stop investing in the brand and marketing, they have fewer opportunities to sell. Healthy firms require strong commitment to both brand/marketing and business development—they go hand in hand.

2. Brand Distinction. Is your brand promise—the value proposition—unique? Is your brand expression (look, feel and voice) unique? Do you consider your brand to be innovative?

  • Only 20%say their brands are “very” or “extremely innovative.”
  • 66% respond that their promise of value is “marginally” or “moderately unique.”
  • 54% say their brand identity or expression is “marginally” or “moderately unique.”

The takeaway? Unicorns and innovative brands are as rare as hens’ teeth. Again, responding CMOs and CEOs believe brands are important to success but say uniqueness is hard to come by in the professional services space. Perhaps this relates to the fact that lawyers and law firms typically follow precedent (and one another). Meanwhile, marketers toil in the business of  awareness building and differentiation.

That’s the rub. The most innovative firms and best marketers have the courage to take risks, break with convention, and inspire interest in the brand among their audience.

3. Brand Quality. How do you rate the quality of your firm’s brand communication tools (things like websites, advertising, content marketing, etc.)?

On a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) CEOs and CMOs graded their own efforts:

  • they gave websites a mean rating of 3.6 on the five point scale
  • core identity (logo and such) scored 3.5
  •  proposal and pitch materials were 3.5
  • videos, 3.1
  • thought leadership and content marketing, 2.8
  • advertising, 2.8
  • social media, 2.5

The takeaway? On average, brand communications quality is, well, average. Given the Type-A personalities in leading professional services firms—those accustomed to performing at the head of their class and fields—the low scores might be hard to figure. But the effect of the economy sheds light on the tough grading. During the great recession, we saw marketing attention focused heavily on business development. And why wouldn’t we? During that time, sales were hard to come by as firms hunkered down among bleak predictions. We saw marketing communication investment devalued and more do-it-yourself branding within firms. Yes, that led to savings, but at what cost to quality, awareness, memorability and preference for firms?

Previous research shows that professional services firm clients and prospects have preconceived and immediate feelings about the quality of a firm solely based on the quality of brand communications. This, in turn, can have a noticeable impact on opportunities and on revenue.

4. Brand channels and investments. Which communication channels are most important and where do the greatest investments go?

  • 85% believe firm websites are the most important channel; 92% say it is the greatest area of investment.
  • 67% rate proposals and pitch material as the second most important channel; but only 30% say it is an area of greatest investment.
  • 59% say substantive alerts, speaking and thought leadership are very important; 32% indicate investments here are highest.
  • 35% viewed firm and practice advertising as most important; 45% reported it as an area of greatest investment.

The takeaway? Tuning the channels for the clearest return is a challenge. Website investment matches its perceived importance (shocker) but other communications are either overfunded or underfunded relative to perceived importance. Major events are viewed as much less important but still command a disproportionate financial commitment (boondoggle, anyone?). Pitch materials are not getting the love CMOs and CEOs feel they deserve and blue sky thought leadership is short-changed, as well.

What to do about brand progression?

While our study and data does not prove that branding in the business-to-business services sector has regressed following the recession, it does confirm that there is significant room for improvement for professional services firms.

Firms can advance their branding by considering these three tips:

1. Increase investments in marketing and business development simultaneously:We should start by mentioning that, increasing investments does not always demand higher dollar figure. It could (and often should) be a reallocation of funds from unimportant or ineffective programs to the ones that have the most impact. Think of it as finding couch money; the dollars and cents may be rattling around your firm, but you  need to collect them from underneath the cushions and spend them wisely. This often requires doing less and doing it better.

2. Have the courage to do memorable, engaging and high quality brand communications. The great ad man, David Ogilvy, said, “You can’t bore people into buying your product or service.” Firms need to take greater creative risks in order to achieve differentiation. For those of you who see branding as lipstick or worse, take the words of another “counsel.” Andy Warhol commented, “I may be superficial, but I’m deeply superficial.”

3. Demand that the investments made in marketing and business development yield measurable results:   When better branding initiatives are carried out, leads increase and create an improved conversion ratio.   Our study looked at brand tracking and found that the bottom line is that few in the professional services have the patience or budgets to do tracking research well(link to the study is below).

For brand skeptics, keep this in mind—following the U.S. Stock Market crash of 1987, Nike tripled its marketing spend and emerged from the recession with profits nine times higher than before the recession started. Yes, we know Nike is not a legal, accounting or consulting firm, but they are great at executing groundbreaking marketing plans—.And you have to admit a 9x increase in profits is a compelling argument to “just do it.”

Article by:

Of:

Greenfield/Belser Ltd.

How a Lawyer can Start a Successful LinkedIn Group for Business Development (Part 2 of 3)

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In my previous post, we looked at some preliminary steps attorneys can take to plan a LinkedIn Group. Once you’ve laid this foundation, it’s time ask yourself three questions:

LinkedIn

  • Has the niche you seek to fill with your group been addressed by existing, active groups?
  • Is the focus of your group going to be broad enough to attract a reasonable amount of participants, while being narrow enough to attract your target audience?
  • Are you able to commit to starting meaningful discussions on a daily or weekly basis, encouraging group members to participate in the conversation and removing posts that are spammy or overtly sales-oriented? (This is your last chance to back out!)

Now that you are ready to take the plunge, you’ve got some housekeeping items to attend to:

1. Develop a Strategy

Draft a brief outline of your group’s focus, target audience and goals (both for the group and for yourself). State some objectives for the group, such as, “Inform members of timely news and events” or “Enhance the interaction among professionals in this industry.” Your outline should include a content plan that identifies, for example, the types of timely issues and events your group will track. Identify how you will track this information. Put as much detail into your group plan as you can prior to launching it, to ensure that you have a clear roadmap to guide your efforts.

2. Name Your Group

LinkedIn Groups are used to attract and coalesce like-minded people, so the group name should reflect the interest area. The name is also important as a search term – what words will your target audience type to find your group? Spend some time searching LinkedIn Groups to see what is already being used and what would work best for your group. Also, keep it under 54 characters – if it’s any longer, the title will get cut-off in a search.

3. Get a Logo

A logo is a key element in presenting your group as a professional entity. If you have an in-house designer, talk with him about your group and share your strategy so he can design something appropriate. If you don’t have an in-house designer, ask around for a freelancer. This process shouldn’t take long, but it will go a long way toward giving your group an identity.

4. Create Your Group

When you create your group on LinkedIn, you’ll not only want to have your logo ready to upload, but you’ll also want to post a group summary and a list of group rules for members to refer to.

5. Finally – Invite Contacts to Join!

  • Use your existing network to build an initial membership base. Invite coworkers, past colleagues, and clients (who fit the group’s profile) to join the group. LinkedIn will allow you to send out up to 50 announcements per day to your connections.
  • As manager of the group, regularly support group members who start, and contribute to, discussions. Do this by commenting, liking and sharing their posts.
  • It is permissible to visit similar groups of which you’re a member and mention your group. Politely compliment the group and then mention that you’ve got another group that members in your group’s niche may want to consider joining.

This is the second post in a three-part series detailing how lawyers can start successful LinkedIn Groups to foster their business development efforts. For Part one, click here.

Article by:

Aileen M. Hinsch

Of:

Knapp Marketing