Category: Legal Business Development

Law Firm Business Development Must Mature in an Increasingly Competitive Market

Featured Business of Law Blogger this week at the National Law Review is Angela Spall of Williams Mullen.  Angela provides some great specific points about business development for law firms during these trying economic times. 

The legal profession continues to find itself in increasingly competitive markets.  The focus on business development has by necessity sharpened.  The key to a successful business development program in a law firm is to provide lawyers with the best possible competitive advantage in a highly competitive marketplace.

Vital components in building a successful business development program encompass the following:

Business development professionals, in a fully supported marketing department, must be as focused as the lawyers they serve and experts on the practice areas and industries they are assigned.  Credibility will be a key factor in working successfully with lawyers. The following are the recommended requirements for an effective business development professional:

  • Assigned to practice areas and industries where they must become experts.
  • Conduct comprehensive research to identify challenges and opportunities within a client entity, an industry or a target prospect.
  • Support and coach their lawyers in business development techniques.
  • Understand the sales process and most likely have had a background in sales or sales support.
  • Regularly engage in client feedback or end-of-matter interviews.
  • Regularly present proactive ideas to practice and industry groups.
  • They must be in an integral strategic role in all business development activities working alongside the lawyers they support.

Teamwork is vital in successful business development in law firms.  Business development professionals and lawyers must work together in client and industry teams for successful results. Teamwork must be rewarded and compensation systems must take into account the whole team that brought the business in or expanded a client relationship.  Encouraging teamwork ensures all levels of expertise and skills are used effectively and rewarded accordingly.

Keep your targets organized. Targets, whether they are prospects or clients, must be worked across the board. Use technology to access and store information on targets and clients and their industries so that it is readily available 24/7.  Opportunities can happen at any time.  In business development, making your own luck by being prepared and ready to act quickly without too many prior meetings or discussions, is imperative.  A window of opportunity can be jumped through by a competitor and can close quickly.

Clients will always be THE top priority.  Clients want all the things that clients or customers in any industry want: value for their dollar.  Providing value is more about results than it is about cost; it is more about knowledge, expertise, and trusting relationships.  Clients are the number one business development source and law firms must be competitive in how services are offered and delivered to their clients.  Expanding client relationships is still an under-utilized business development action.  Client feedback and end-of-matter interviews are a necessity.

It has been said that many law firms succeed despite themselves.  But, after a deep recession and the economy experiencing a slow recovery, it is time for law firms to invest in key areas to be competitive.  You will need technology to help streamline the business development process.  You will need to invest in qualified and experienced individuals, attorneys and non-attorneys alike to be successful. These areas of investment include:

  • Installing technologies such as Contact Relationship Management (CRM) and Email Relationship Management (ERM) and the newer add on tools that assist lawyers and business development professionals in providing ways to organize and utilize client and target contact information.
  • Research software that can quickly access business information of all kinds to pull together business and industry information.
  • Motivate lawyers and practice and industry teams by investing in appropriate reward systems through innovative approaches to compensation programs.
  • Ongoing training for lawyers and staff in business development, client service, technologies, the business of law, etc. Effective business development techniques can be learned.  While innate skills are highly valued, training lawyers in business development at an early point in their careers will benefit the firm in the long term.
  • Invest in people by hiring the best qualified and providing them the tools to be effective in their responsibilities.

And finally, and this has been said and written time after time by so many other marketing professionals, business development professionals must encourage their lawyers to accept and embrace business development as an essential part of their professional lives. No other time in the last 20 years has it been so critical to take care of your clients, participate in activities that get you in front of clients and prospects, take care of reputation management, and becoming known in your communities through building practice expertise and volunteering time in community organizations.  These activities will pay off.

Originally published in the Fall 2010 issue of LMA Practice Marketing Newsletter Copyright 2010 Legal Marketing Association –The Virginias Chapter

©2010 LMA Virginias. All rights reserved.

Marketing and PR Social Networking Best Practices

The Business of Law Blog Spot at the National Law Review recently featured Amy Juers of Edge Legal Marketing who shared a great top ten list of Social Networking Best Practices and a great video on businesses implementing social media strategies: 

When should your team get involved in social networking marketing tactics, and which sites offer the most appropriate venue to shorten the sales cycle? Many marketing departments are still holding back on this initiative for good reason, it is practically impossible to manage what you do not understand.

Determining the right time to jump in is not as important as investigating the sites to determine if your involvement would complement your legal technology marketing or legal services marketing, sales, client communication, or any host of business initiatives. Simply jumping in for the sake of getting your feet wet is not a strategic social networking tactic.  You should do research to gain an understanding of your options, match options with organizational goals, and then consider launching initiatives through multiple outlets. If you do not have time to research this or determine if or how to weave social networking into your organization, call experts in legal marketing and PR services and ask them for social networking strategy advice.

Whether or not sites that are popular today will evolve and remain popular next year cannot be predicted, however, given every teenager knows of this technology and actively uses it, your customers and prospects of the future are developing social networking finesse and will expect to connect with you in a few years in these ways.  If the popular “must have” social networking sites of today fade into the abyss, rest assured, new “must have” networking outlets will emerge to satisfy social networking needs in business. Think of today’s big buzz social networking websites like a wave that has water in it that you can choose to ride or let pass. If you miss this one, certainly there will be another. Because no one knows how long this wave will be upon us, rather than simply waiting for this to pass, there are plenty of good reasons to investigate and consider getting involved today.

Why use Social Networking for Legal Marketing and PR

Connections through social networking sites allow groups to quickly catch up on each other’s business, while also allowing for the free-flow of information.  People are increasingly becoming more excited about checking their social networking page rather than checking email for good reason, spam has a difficult time finding its way into your “friend” list and the platform for interaction is growing increasingly dynamic.

How extensively you get involved with social networking initiatives depends upon how these initiatives align with your firm’s goals. Your firm may want to leverage a site like Facebook to create a client group, post news, share client success stories or post YouTube videos of client testimonials and demos. LinkedIn has recently added greater flexibility into their site as well. For any firm sending out electronic newsletters, or client communications, creating a chat group or client networking group on these sites provides another outlet for sharing important content that may otherwise get buried if it were delivered as an email message.

Top 10 Social Networking Best Practices

  1. Conduct your own investigation. Before you determine whether or not to invest resources or any energy into creating a business profile and joining a site, investigate the leading sites and kick the tires! Social networking sites require zero “real cash” outlay, costing only the investment of research time.
  2. Select social networking opportunities that support business goals. Test the waters before you dive in, ask your prospects, clients and employees which social networking site they prefer. Not every site is going to be a fit and align with your firm goals.
  3. Get the word out – and if needed – educate your clients! Connect to your prospects, clients and who’s who in your channel. Introducing a “chat” group on Facebook for clients makes little sense if your clients have no understanding of how to create a profile or get connected.
  4. Structure or limit the time invested in managing a social networking site.Whether responding to posts, making connections with people, or adding content to your profile, make regular updates once or twice weekly. Calendar for 15-minutes one time per week to maintain each site.
  5. Avoid getting personal. Publish content relevant to your expertise to establish thought-leadership status. No one really wants to know if you just finished a cup of coffee or if your dog has fleas.
  6. Don’t over-stimulate with too much content. Keep postings brief and informational.
  7. Resist begging. Create a consistently informational space and followers will line up to “friend” you.
  8. Avoid posting on what may be sensitive topics. Events will unfold in the industry or within a competitors business that may be highly tempting to post about. The safest approach is to stay neutral, be informative and remain professional.
  9. Measure your activity. You cannot analyze what you cannot measure. Track your tweets, followers, time spent, and conversions.
  10. Keep current on social networking trends.Subscribe to a social networking blog or legal industry RSS feed  to receive legal industry social networking, marketing and PR updates daily or weekly.

Recommended Social Media Resource Webcast

Watch this YouTube webcast video, The Business Value Behind Social Media featuring social media experts Charlene Li, David Meerman Scott and Chris Brogan as they weigh in on social media and discuss the latest strategies and opportunities that executives face when considering the implementation of social media initiatives. This webcast was recorded at the Premier Business Leadership Series in Las Vegas in November 2010. Please note, although informative this video is approximately an hour long.

© 2010 Edge Legal Marketing

Article Marketing Tips for Attorneys: The Power of the Pen

Margaret Grisdela of Legal Expert Connections guest Business of Law blogger on the National Law Review provides some great tips on legal writing for maximum exposure for legal professionals. 

Writing an article on a newsworthy topic is an essential part of any legal marketing program. If the thought of public speaking causes you to break out in a cold sweat, a strategic article placement gives you long term business development benefits without the stage fright.

Speaking engagements, webinars, white papers, enewsletters, and blog posts are just a few of the many ways that the material covered in your article can serve as the basis for additional marketing communication campaigns.

Like many aspects of our “Courting Your Clients” approach to legal marketing, getting published is a process. Here are some guidelines to help you climb the learning curve.

Step 1: Select your topic. You can gain rapid visibility by focusing on emerging issues that challenge the status quo, like pending legislation or controversial industry trends.

Step 2: Spend some time researching current literature to identify the best “angle” for your article. Evaluate other articles written on the same topic and determine how your article can stand apart.

Step 3: Determine the approach that works best for the material you intend to cover. Here are a few article formats proven to capture audience attention:

  • Top 3 reasons to …
  • 10 mistakes to avoid …
  • 7 steps to achieve …
  • The pros and cons of …
  • An interview with …

Step 4: Select and prioritize three or four trade or legal publications for your article, focusing on those that you know welcome outside submissions. Write a friendly email to the editor of the most prestigious publication on the list, after reviewing their “author guidelines.” Describe the proposed article in no more than two to three paragraphs, and ask if they have an interest in publishing it.

If the first publication turns you down, or simply does not respond, move on to the next one sequentially. Editors usually want fresh material, so do not expect to publish the same article in more than one place. Once your article is accepted, you will usually be asked to sign an “Author’s Release” that identifies your reprint rights and other related matters.

If writing is not your strong suit, or you simply do not have the time, consider engaging the services of a ghostwriter to convert the outline of your article idea into a full-length composition. (Some publications do require the author’s original work, however.)

Once you submit your finished article, a good editor is likely to suggest some changes to your headline or copy. Do not be offended. If you feel strongly that any modifications will change the meaning of your message in a significant way, speak candidly with the editor. Most editors will give you a chance to rewrite a portion of your article if they feel it is unclear, but keep in mind that the editor’s decision is final.

Step 5: Upon publication (and not before), mail your article to clients and prospects as a means of staying in touch and reinforcing your reputation as an expert in your field. Proudly add your new article to your CV and post it on your website also, all in keeping with your reprint rights.

Any time is a good time to start or expand your publishing career. Young attorneys who start write articles on a regular basis will enjoy career-long benefits of visibility, an expanded prospect base, and possibly a faster track to the coveted partnership level.

© Legal Expert Connections, Inc.

Hidden Assets: Finding New Business in Your Client List

This week’s featured Business of Law Blogger at the National Law Review is Margaret Grisdela of Legal Expert Connections. Margaret provides some great tips on how to do more which what you’ve already got – your client list. 

Your greatest source for new revenue in 2011 is likely to be hidden in your law firm’s client list. Increased business from current or past accounts tends to be more profitable, due to its lower cost of acquisition, higher degree of client satisfaction, and better return on your business development time.

Here are 7 legal marketing strategies to help you tap into this potential goldmine at your fingertips:

  1. Cultivate future Tier 1 accounts. You obviously have been successful in attracting and retaining today’s top accounts, but what about tomorrow? Even big accounts can leave unexpectedly for reasons beyond your control. Segment your current accounts into five tiers, and then devote a significant portion of your business development time to identifying and cultivating those Tier 2 current clients that have the potential to move into Tier 1 within five years. In the process, try not to get distracted by time-consuming small prospects.
  2. Increase client retention rates. If you lose 5 clients out of 100 every year, your retention rate is 95%. This means you need to find 5% new clients just to maintain the status quo. A concerted effort to add 1-2 points to your retention rate can fall right to the bottom line, even for transactional firms.
  3. Identify and protect “at risk” accounts.In any book of business, some accounts are in danger of leaving. You can identify these accounts by a decrease in billing patterns, news events, or less frequent communication. Proactive efforts to prevent these clients from jumping ship will improve your profitability and retention rate.
  4. Re-establish inactive accounts. It’s natural that over time some clients drift away. Identify these accounts and contact them to see what happened. Invite former clients to start using your law firm again or at least to refer others who might use your legal service.
  5. Ask for referrals. New clients await you; all you need to do is ask. Build the request for a referral into multiple stages of the fulfillment process. Natural asking points are the beginning and end of an engagement, as well as at key milestones. Track your referral sources, give them thanks, and reciprocate if appropriate.
  6. Stay in touch. No matter how many times you communicate with your clients, chances are they do not remember the full scope of your services. A monthly or quarterly newsletter will keep you top of mind with substantive content to make your clients more educated consumers of legal services. Social media marketing also offers a wide range of cost-effective marketing techniques.
  7. Up-sell and cross-sell legal services.At the attorney, practice group, or firm level, identify specific services that legitimately represent enhanced value to a client. Family law attorneys may up-sell clients on wills and estates, for example, while intellectual property lawyers can suggest trade secret protection through employment agreements. Compensation plans may complicate the effort, but the rewards can be worthwhile.

Here’s another secret to successful legal marketing: not every client is a good client. Create an “ideal client profile” and do not accept cases that you know from experience are not right for your law firm. Remember the five client tiers mentioned in the first tip above? It’s OK to fire your worst clients in the low level Tier 5.

Of course, all marketing and business development campaigns must be compliant with attorney advertising guidelines. Check with the state bar associations in those states where your practice or solicit business for specific requirements.

© Legal Expert Connections, Inc.

National Law Review's Student Legal Writing Contest Deadline is Friday November 12th

Everybody’s talking about how abysmal the job market is for law students – why not build your resume while still in school?  Young lawyers are under increasing pressure to start thinking about business development activities earlier in than ever in their careers.  One tried and true way of building one’s professional reputation is by publishing.  One sure way to get noticed and to help others is to write  in a style which is helpful and educational to prospective clients.  The National Law Review is one of the nation’s premier resources for secondary legal analysis for businesses and twice a year we offer students the opportunity to submit consumer-friendly articles for publication.

The winning articles will be published online starting in Mid November 2010. The top article(s) chosen will be featured on the NLR home page. Up to 5 runner-up articles will also be posted in the NLR searchable database.

Please note that although students are encouraged to submit articles addressing Labor & Employment Law, the featured topic for the November issue, they may also submit entries covering current issues related to other areas of the law.

 

Why Students Should Submit Articles

  • Students have the opportunity to publicly display their legal knowledge and skills.
  • The student’s photo, biography, and contact information will be posted with each article, allowing for professional recognition and exposure.
  • Winning articles are published alongside those written by respected attorneys from Am Law 200 and other prominent firms as well as from other respected professional associations.
  • Now more than ever, business development skills are expected from law firm associates earlier in their careers. NLR wants to give law students valuable experience generating consumer-friendly legal content of the sort which is included for publication in law firm client newsletters, law firm blogs, bar association journals and trade association publications.
  • Student postings will remain in the NLR online database for up to two years, easily accessed by potential employers.
  • For more Information and contest rules, please click here.

Law Firms Should Syndicate Social Media for Maximum Results

From the National Law Review’s  Business of Law Featured blogger Margaret Grisdela of Legal Expert Connections  provides some nice specific things to do for attorneys getting started in social media: 

Attorneys who want to make time for social media among the competing demands of court deadlines, client meetings, and practice management can increase their online visibility with a few simple publishing techniques.

This article shows you how to create and implement a social media syndication plan that will increase your law firm’s Internet marketing visibility. Learn how you can develop and leverage your firm’s customized content to populate a broad range of social media outlets.

Common social media applications for lawyers include LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. Broadly speaking, social media refers to any type of Internet and mobile-based tool for online networking, collaboration, and information sharing among web-based communities.

Getting Started With Social Media

Launching a social media campaign is actually quite simple. Signing up for LinkedIn, Twitter, and even a blog can be done in a few minutes. Momentum may quickly wane, however, when a busy attorney faces the on-going challenge of creating fresh content.

Start strategically by creating a 6-12 month editorial calendar. Let’s say you have an intellectual property law firm, encompassing several types of services. Pick one topic for each month.

Topics for three months of a calendar quarter could be: 1) copyright law; 2) patent protection; and 3) trademarks. Next, break each monthly topic down into four weekly supporting articles. For example, copyright law topics could be: a) fair use guidelines; b) protecting a copyright; c) international copyright issues; and d) negotiating licensing agreements.

Now that you have your calendar, you can start to write your articles in advance. Of course, the schedule can be interrupted or supplemented as needed to reflect breaking news.  Each blog post should be at least 250-300 words, including strategic use of keywords to attract visitors through search engine marketing. Writing for the web actually means writing for both Google and your actual site visitors.

Leverage your Social Media News Feed

Select one primary point of publication for your social media news feed. A blog works well for this purpose through the use of the “RSS” feed.  RSS is an acronym for “really simple syndication,” which means that your blog acts as a real-time news feed that can be used to distribute your content to other social media applications. Interested readers can also automatically subscribe to your blog using the RSS feed.

As a starting base, make sure all your social media accounts are properly set up and populated with a description of your law firm.

Plan to publish one main article from your editorial calendar to your blog at least once a week (more is better). It is fairly easy to use free services like HootSuite orNetVibes to then automatically transmit your blog posts to your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts. Alternatively, many social media services make it easy for you to automatically import blog posts by simply specifying the RSS feed within your profile.

You can easily extend your reach to multiple social media outlets without the need for additional time or effort when you leverage your original blog articles using these techniques.

Appoint a Social Media Manager

An essential ingredient in social media success is to put someone in charge of your campaign. Lawyers should be practicing law, so even the best laid plans for an attorney to manage a blog or other Internet marketing campaign will quickly fall to the wayside in the face of court and client demands. Look for a seasoned legal marketer with Internet marketing skills who understands the importance of complying with attorney advertising and other ethical guidelines to help manage your social media campaigns.

Business development through thought leadership marketing is a leading reason many attorneys are attracted to a blog and other social media services. The right legal marketing partner will understand strategic planning issues, the importance of keyword placement in blog posts, and the type of audience you wish to reach. They may even help you draft preliminary blog posts for your editing and publication.

Monitor Social Media Feedback

Social media is interactive, meaning that prospects and followers will comment on your posts and otherwise interact with your material. Prompt responses will make a favorable impression on your audience.  In addition to publishing fresh content regularly, you will want to watch for direct comments, republication (like “retweets”), and independent commentary. 

© Legal Expert Connections, Inc.

About the Author:

Margaret Grisdela is President of Legal Expert Connections, a national legal marketing agency serving law firms and litigation experts in the U.S. and internationally. She is the author of the legal marketing book “Courting Your Clients,” which presents a proprietary methodology for business development. An accompanying guide, the “Courting Your Clients Legal Marketing Playbook,” will be available to clients in November. Ms. Grisdela brings over 30 years of experience in marketing, publishing, and information technology to each engagement. She helps clients launch or expand successful practices in the legal field through integrated marketing programs including article placement, speaking, search engine optimized websites, publicity, and direct mail. A leader in professional organizations, she served as 2008 Co-Chair of the Legal Marketing Association South Florida City Group, and 2005 President of the Florida Direct Marketing Association. She holds a B.A. from Wayne State University and an MBA in Finance from The George Washington University. www.legalexpertconnections.com / 561-266-1030

Fast Track Mastership of Legal Social Media- One Day Seminar / Webinar Oct. 21st Washington DC

The National Law Review would like to make you aware of a one day seminar / webinar presented by MyLegal.com designed to help lawyers gain a fast track mastership of legal social media. 

“I don’t think it’s too late to embrace social networking, it just rather disappoints me that other professions use these technologies, and lawyers for some reason are always rather late to the party. I have little doubt that within five years, social media, social networking systems, will play a central role in the daily lives of lawyers.”  Richard Susskind, September 2010.

The conference will be held on Thursday, October 21, 2010, at the Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center in Washington, D.C. The conference will sell out at 300 on-site participants, so we will be introducing to the legal community a new technology called SMASH.  This technology aggregates the video stream of the sessions, along with the tweets, blogs and photos related to the conference, in one convenient landing page, allowing off-site attendees to experience the conference in a unique and interactive way.

By following the conference Twitter conversation directly from the SMASH page, off-site attendees can join in the live conversation while simultaneously seeing the speaker and checking out the live conference photos.  These are interactions and connections that might not otherwise have been made. 

After the conference, registered users will have access to the video of the sessions, along with the speaker presentations.  The sessions will also be available via iTunes, allowing registered users to listen and learn while on the way to work, running errands or housework (ugh)!  Multi-tasking is King!  After listening to the sessions, users can continue the conversation and commentary online.

Conference speakers / topics scheduled to be included are:

Matthew Asbell, Esq., Certified Legal Social Media Strategist will speak on the use and protection of trademarks in social media marketing.

Nicole Black, Esq., founder of lawtechTalk.com and co-author of “Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier” will speak on social media for lawyers.

Larry Bodine, Esq., legal marketing expert and author of the Lawmarketing Blog will speak on business development with LinkedIn.

Steve Crandall, J.D., expert in digital media and business applications of social networks will speak on social media and the law.

Adrian Dayton, Esq., author of “Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition” and the “Legal Marketing: Social Media Edition” blog will speak on starting to bringing in business with social media

Carolyn Elefant, Esq., creator of MyShingle.com, the longest running blog on solo and small firm practice, and co-author of “Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier” will speak on social media for lawyers.

Sharon Nelson, Esq., author of the electronic evidence blog “Ride the Lightning” and co-host of the ABA podcast series “The Digital Edge:  Lawyers and Technology” will speak on on social media: ethical, compliance, E-discovery and liability implications.

Conrad Saam, runs marketing for Avvo, where he oversees the firm’s SEM, SEO, social media, online marketing, email and web analytics initiatives will speak on getting the most out of Avvo.

John Simek, co-author of “The Electronic Evidence and Discovery Handbook: Forms, Checklists and Guidelines” and “Information Security for Lawyers and Law Firms” will speak on on social media: ethical, compliance, E-discovery and liability implications.

For more information, conference schedules and registration forms, please visit:  http://mylegalmedia.com or call 253-405-7910.

Powerful Prospecting Starts with a Plan

The Business of Law Featured Guest Blogger this week at the National Law Review is Margaret Grisdela of Legal Expert Connections.  Margaret provides some great, concrete ‘things to do’  for effective legal business development.  Read On:  

Social media is all the rage these days, and it is indeed an effective way to maintain high visibility in the legal marketplace. Social media is only one piece in the business development puzzle, however.

Rainmaking success works best with an integrated marketing plan. There are many communications channels available to build your prospect list, and finding the mix for your law practice will reward you with new business opportunities.

Here are the top seven proven lead generation techniques for legal marketing:

1.  Speak.

Addressing an audience of prospective clients is one of the best possible ways to demonstrate your legal knowledge. While most of your preparation will focus on the presentation itself, lead generation is accelerated when you make the time to promote the event in advance and then quickly follow up on all your leads after the event. Make a point to get a list of all audience members, even if you have to give something away in exchange for a business card.

2.  Publish.

Getting your name in print as an author essentially provides an independent third party endorsement of your legal expertise. A well written article in a highly regarded legal or trade publication will contribute to your business development efforts for years to come.

3.  Prioritize your referral network.

Most attorneys maintain an informal list of referral sources. Take this a step further by writing down your best 5-10 referral sources, and assigning a priority to each contact person. Schedule a meeting with your “A” sources every 30-45 days, your “B” sources every 60-90 days, and stay in touch with your “C” sources with less time-consuming methods like email or a phone call. Constantly work to refine your list to maximize performance, and remember to reciprocate with qualified leads for your referral partners.

4.  Market to current and past clients.

Your best source of new revenue in the short run is hidden in your client list. Stay in touch with clients at least 4-6 times per year through newsletters, client alerts, or events to increase retention rates, up-sell, and cross-sell.

5.  Maintain a prospect list.

Refine your “ideal client” profile to the point that you can compile a list of at least 25 key prospects, identified by firm name and contact person. Work this list diligently in a continual effort to move to the “next step” of gaining the client. Start by identifying a mutual acquaintance who might provide an introduction, or an organization where your prospect is active. Move from getting acquainted to building trust, assessing needs, suggesting solutions, demonstrating your value equation, and closing the deal. The entire process may take months or even years, so be patient but politely persistent.

6. Leverage organizational memberships.

Whether it’s a bar association or an industry organization, turn your memberships into new business through speaking opportunities, newsletter articles, webinars, or by serving on a committee that gives you access to decision makers.

7.  Internet marketing.

Your website bio page is a good starting point. Make sure it is current and provides a recent headshot. Next evaluate your website to confirm that it is easy to navigate, frequently refreshed, and structured for search engine visibility. Online legal directories abound. LinkedIn is an easy first step into the social media scene, followed by blogs. There are so many Internet marketing options that space simply does not permit full coverage.

A strategic attorney marketing plan can serve to tie all of your business development efforts together around a focused practice.

While all these marketing activities can seem like a juggling act, there are a few techniques that will streamline the process.

Create a marketing calendar that includes your desired frequency for each campaign. For example, you should try to speak at least 2-4 times per year. You may want to get published twice a year. By putting these goals on your calendar, they are easier to manage and achieve.

Take a few minutes to identify 3-5 newsworthy topics within your area of expertise. You can then incorporate these topics into all your marketing efforts, such as speaking, publishing, newsletters, blogs, social media, etc.

A database can be your best friend in recording and tracking your prospects, outreach efforts, and follow up dates. This can be a simple Excel file, Microsoft Outlook, or a more complex customer relationship management system.

© Legal Expert Connections, Inc.

About the Author:

Margaret Grisdela is President of Legal Expert Connections, a national legal marketing agency serving law firms and litigation experts in the U.S. and internationally. She is the author of the legal marketing book “Courting Your Clients,” which presents a proprietary methodology for business development. An accompanying guide, the “Courting Your Clients Legal Marketing Playbook,” will be available to clients in November. Ms. Grisdela brings over 30 years of experience in marketing, publishing, and information technology to each engagement. She helps clients launch or expand successful practices in the legal field through integrated marketing programs including article placement, speaking, search engine optimized websites, publicity, and direct mail. A leader in professional organizations, she served as 2008 Co-Chair of the Legal Marketing Association South Florida City Group, and 2005 President of the Florida Direct Marketing Association. She holds a B.A. from Wayne State University and an MBA in Finance from The George Washington University.  561-266-1030 / www.legalexpertconnections.com

 

 

Twitter Do’s & Twitter Don’ts

As included in the Business of Law Section of the National Law Review Tom Ciesielka of TC Public Relations provides some solid Do’s & Don’ts for Twitter:  

With millions of unique visitors each month, Twitter is still at the top of the social media game. Some people still use Twitter to catalog boring details of the day. However, savvy and smart users realize Twitter’s usefulness as a concise way of marketing and reaching out to consumers and media.  Read the following do’s & don’ts to continue being one of the savvy and smart users.

  • Do make quality friends. Capturing an audience on Twitter is important, but don’t start following 857 people in one day. Start with a few friends, some movers and shakers of your industry, some legal reporters—listen to their tweets, and offer relevant replies. Then continue to follow a few new people week by week. Don’t just follow to follow, but actually think about why you want to connect with a certain person – think “strategic following.” Then contribute meaningful posts each day that others might find interesting as a way to build your own following.
  • Do protect your reputation. Twitter can be used to solidify your brand image, and it is an indispensable medium when crisis hits. Maintaining a Twitter account can help your firm when a damaging story hits cyberspace because a response on Twitter is often the fastest way to acknowledge the problem or issue. Failing to address any breaking news that involves your company makes you look at best, incompetent and at worst, guilty. Confidentiality laws may render tweeting a bad idea, but you should always pay attention to what’s happening and be prepared to do damage control when necessary.
  • Do be efficient. Building relationships on Twitter can facilitate communication about your legal specialties and expertise. However, using Twitter effectively and appropriately can be a time-consuming job, so try and implement applications that will help you be more efficient like TwitterFeed, TweetDeck and ÜberTwitter. It is also more efficient to partake in niche topic conversations about your practice areas instead of tweeting about the world of law in general. Specificity trumps generality.
  • Don’t be boring or narcissistic. Stick to tweeting about pertinent topics and find ways to express your personality through the links you post, rather than tweeting about how many briefs you’ve written that day or what color tie you’re wearing. Share links to legal headlines or comment on stories related to your expertise. Participate in discussion, reply to other users’ tweets, re-tweet their tweets—Twitter is not a one-person game, so don’t try to be the center of the universe.
  • Don’t turn off your censor. In cyberspace, a record of your most inappropriate tweet will live on in infamy long after you’ve cooled down. Never forget that what you say on Twitter can come back to haunt you, so rude or tasteless comments can come back to haunt you. Play it cool and don’t tweet anything you wouldn’t say in public; after all, Twitter is incredibly public.

Copyright © 2010 TC Public Relations

This posting is republished with permission from the Chicago Lawyer Magazine Blog “Around the Watercooler” located at:  http://h20cooler.wordpress.com/2010/

About the Author:

Tom Ciesielka, President of TC Public Relations, has worked in public relations, marketing and business development for more than 25 years and has enjoyed working with clients ranging from law firms to distinguished authors to national and local companies. He feels privileged to have established trusting working relationships with these clients and values every opportunity he gets to help businesses grow.  He is also a former board member of the Legal Marketing Association in Chicago and has spoken at Chicago Bar Associations CLE programs.  312-422-1333 / www.tcpr.net

Top 10 Rainmaker Best Practices to Win in 2010 – Part 3

In the final installment of her three-part Business of Law guest blog posting at the National Law Review, Deborah Knupp of Akina Corporation details the final four steps to help focus and streamline legal business development.  

This week’s posts are identifying the Top 10 Rainmaker Best Practices, that when focused on with discipline and intention, distinguish you and your firm and help you gain a competitive sales advantage.  Our previous posts Part 1 and Part 2 focused on the first six Rainmaker Best Practices.  Today’s article focuses on the last set of four Best Practices and discusses WHAT works in any market and HOW to implement the best practices to impact your business with increased revenue, increased leverage of time and resources and improved accuracy and predictability in your sales pipeline.

7) Networking and Working a Room

Networking effectiveness has less to do with personality and more to do with readiness.  Simple answers to questions like, “What is my goal or objective for the event?”  “How many people do I want to meet at the event?”  “How might I follow-up after the event if I make a connection?” turn networking situations into productive treasure hunts.  Networking basics include having your Quick Pitch ready, having business cards accessible and managing your time to meet your objectives.  When possible, ask for the attendee list in advance and peruse the day’s headlines (news, sports, current events) to have small talk ready to break the ice.

8) Campaign Thinking

The ethos of Campaign Thinking is any single act of marketing or business development should be leveraged minimally for a 3:1 payback.   3:1 leverage could be turning an article into a speech and a webinar.  3:1 leverage could be turning a single event into a 3-part communication plan: pre-event communication, during the event conversation and post event follow-up communication. 3:1 leverage can also be geography based by utilizing travel as the authentic reason to connect, i.e. one meeting in NYC turns into three meetings in the Northeast Corridor.

9) The 6 Silver Bullets for Closing and Managing the Red Zone

Unfortunately, there is no magic phrase or silver bullet to close business.  There are however, six qualifiers that can be like silver bullets to understand when business should close.  Business will generally close if there is:

1)     A legitimate problem

2)     A good fit solution

3)     A sense of urgency attached to the timeline to make decisions.

4)     Access to the decision makers and their decision-making criteria

5)     Expectations that are in alignment regarding the level of effort it will take to initiate a relationship and work successfully with you

6)     Budget that fits with your fee structure

When your prospect’s interests align with your six qualifiers, business has a way of closing itself.  If you aren’t sure if your prospect’s interests align against a specific qualifier, asking additional Discovery Questions will provide clarity and a sense of what the appropriate next steps might be.

When business does close, it is understandable that when a prospective client gives you a verbal “yes,” it is tempting to celebrate and step back from your selling efforts.  However, managing the Red Zone means that you recognize that when you get the “yes”, the incumbent has gotten the “no,” which can often lead to desperate decisions and measures to retain the client.  Business is not truly closed until work has started.  Therefore, when you receive word that you have been hired you are on the 20-yard line.  You will want to continue to stay connected, step-up communication and set clear definitive next steps as you ready for the actual work.

10) Create SuperFans through Client Experience

Many professionals assume that if they do good work, clients will continue to hire them for more work. However, reality tells us that just doing good work is not enough.  The competitive market tells us that we need to continuously manage the client relationship to inspire client loyalty while simultaneously looking for additional problems to solve for the client. Recognizing that loyalty is usually a result of an accumulation of good experiences rather than one outstanding moment, we can create SuperFans by finding ways to deepen value within the client experience in seven areas of innovation:

1)     Client feedback

2)     Client intake process

3)     Communication and expectation management

4)     Client appreciation

5)     Knowing a client’s business

6)     Non-legal client project participation and facilitation

7)     Alternative fee arrangements

Summary

Whether you are new to business development or a seasoned veteran, the Top 10 Rainmaker Best Practices are designed to give you greater focus, greater control and greater results with more predictability.  When you remember to focus first on building authentic relationships and solving the problems that should be solved, you will have greater joy during the journey and greater impact in the communities in which you serve.

To see Part I of Top 10 Rainmaker Best Practices to Win in 2010 click here.

To see Part II of Top 10 Rainmaker Best Practices to Win in 2010 click here.

COPYRIGHT © 2010 AKINA CORPORATION

About the Author:

Deborah Knupp has worked globally with CEOs, executives, managing partners and attorneys as a coach and business executive for over 20 years. She has helped these leaders align their people systems and business objectives to create cultures based on the principles of accountability, integrity and authentic relationship building. Her work has focused on making the work environment a place where employees “want” to be; where clients “want” to buy; and, where leaders “want” to serve a bigger purpose in their communities and families.www.akina.biz /312-235-0144