I recently got on my first flight since the pandemic. I had been avoiding travel and conferences for many reasons, but it’s time to stop hiding at home and behind my computer screen.

Over the next few weeks I am speaking at several lawyer retreats and industry conferences – I’m excited but nervous.

I feel like a fish out of water (I accidentally let my TSA pre-check expire as well as my passport during Covid). It’s also the first time I’m leaving my pandemic puppies (I think it’s more traumatic for me than them).

I’m looking forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones, and getting to know my clients in a setting other than Zoom because human connections are important and powerful.

In-person networking is essential – it is the secret sauce to building long-term and meaningful relationships. Those relationships can lead to opportunities of all kinds.

Even as an extroverted extrovert, I’m a bit rusty on networking.

I have been doing countless presentations to a computer screen since March 2020 and so being able to see and interact with real people is a much welcome change. A return to “normalcy.”

But after years of being an “expert” network, I’m not actually sure what to do when I actually see people again in a profesional group setting.

Do I hug? (I’m Italian, we like to hug) Shake hands? Fist bump? Just smile and nod? So glad we aren’t bathing in hand sanitizer anymore or cloroxing everything with which we come in touch.

Many of us are in the same position after the past few years, and we don’t feel like the same person we used to be. But that’s okay. Let’s collectively give ourselves a break (and some grace). We are all in the same boat – together.

Here are 12 tips for effective in-person networking I plan to use:

1. Ask people about themselves more then I talk about myself.
2. Practice active listening.
3. Say their names a few times when talking to them – it helps me remember them and makes people like you more.
4. Write notes after each meaningful conversation.
5. Exit conversations gracefully.
6. Follow up and connect on LinkedIn with new and renewed contacts.
7. Put my LinkedIn QR code on my iPhone home screen to facilitate easy networking. Here’s how.
8. Add new contacts to my CRM.
9. Immerse myself in the programming. I am not going to check my email every second or do unnecessary work.
10. Write a key takeaways blog and LinkedIn post from the sessions I enjoyed and tag the speakers.
11. Create an email OOO message that supports my brand and business (see example from Paula Edgar).
12. Have an intimate dinner with my clients/colleagues to get to know them better.

Do you have any tips for in-person networking in the post-pandemic environment?

The post Twelve Tips for Effective In-Person Networking in the Post-Pandemic World appeared first on The National Law Forum.

Given the current circumstances associated with the coronavirus (COVID-19), a law firm has three choices when it comes to executing on their 2020 event calendar: cancel, postpone, or just change the format. My vote would be for you to change the format wherever you can to stay top of mind and relevant to your client base and referral sources while still practicing a responsible form of “social distancing.”

In-person business development and communication through event marketing involves creating an experience that attendees look forward to, get value from, and associate with your brand. Through hosting various types of business development activities, you can set your law firm up as a networking hub for diverse practices, become a thought leader in your legal niche, and establish a history of credentialing activities that will keep you top-of-mind in your legal community. Virtual events for law firms can, and will, do the same.

It is known that law firm marketing has evolved rapidly in the last decade. In a recent study, 67% of legal marketing professionals and 45% of attorneys listed firm-hosted events as one of the most effective ways to get new clients.  Even with all of the new marketing strategies and techniques, face-to-face connection remains one of the most effective ways to network and gain new clients. In the time of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that is requiring all industries, even the legal industry, to take a second look at how they will continue to operate effectively under quarantine conditions, law firms need to be flexible in how they market. Event marketing can still take place in the spring and summer of 2020, it will just look a little different than originally anticipated. Excluding large luncheons, parties, and galas, for the most part, technology can allow a law firm to move forward with most of their planned events.

Virtual Business Development Events for Law Firms

Every type of business development event attracts different stakeholders, networking opportunities, and ways to strengthen your law firm’s market dominance. Some types of business development activities for law firms that can be transformed into virtual events include the following:

• Seminars. Conferences that provide training or updates on legal changes in your area of practice. Many seminars and conferences have scheduled downtime and social time, allowing attendees to network and nurture connections that may lead to future referrals. This networking aspect of a seminar can be done in a virtual manner through private chat rooms or even through a special area of your website that allows for “booths” to be created for information sharing.
• Legal CLE events. Continuing legal education is an essential part of attorney growth, and since continuing legal education is required for lawyers in most parts of the United States, these events offer clear value to attendees. Speakers at continuing legal education events also have the opportunity to demonstrate their expertise, strengthen their image as an authority in their field, and connect with others in relevant areas of practice. CLEs have been webcasted and recorded for years and the coronavirus outbreak really should have no effect on your law firm’s CLEs schedule. All that is necessary to proceed is to tell your audience it will be a webcasted program rather than a live program, hire a professional videographer, and then add then video and handouts to your website.
• General education events. These events strengthen a firm’s credibility within the community and demonstrate the firm’s expertise to its target client base. For example, an immigration attorney could host an online Q&A seminar through their Facebook page on recent changes to immigration laws and invite affected community members to attend through that medium. An estate planning attorney may host an informal brown bag luncheon that is webcasted on long-term care options to caretakers of aging family members.
• Brown bag lunch and learns. Lunch and learn events take advantage of the fact that many attorneys have extremely busy schedules. These events last between 30 and 60 minutes and take place over the lunch hour, letting attorneys fit education or networking into their busy day. Brown bag lunches can also take place in a virtual environment. Attorneys can provide a memorable brown bag experience online through the sharing of relevant documents beforehand that they will go over and using screensharing to direct attention of attendees. Law firms will want to make sure that they pay special attention to small things such as consistency in their lawyer screen names and the background portrayed in their videoconference (i.e. what is behind you or what is around you that the other participants will see and does this portray your law firm in the best way possible).
• Panels. Panel discussions let attendees learn from multiple experts simultaneously. Question-and-answer sessions provide additional value, allowing attendees to get answers to specific, relevant questions. Panels are easy to convert to a digital format. Be sure to have your moderator use the first name of the person that they are addressing when a question is asked as the conversation has to be directed a bit differently than it would in person when you can connect with body language and eye contact. Also, the audience should know beforehand how their questions can be posed and if they are required to have their computer on mute to control outside noise.
• Collaborations. Collaborating with businesses relevant to your area of practice expands attorneys’ opportunities for networking. For example, an estate planning law firm may collaborate with a senior activity center to help attendees better understand the needs of aging clients, or an intellectual property law firm may run a seminar with a venture capital firm. These types of collaborations can be moved into a digital format by prerecording them for the audience. The business can easily gather questions that come up from attendees and send them to the attorney or law firm afterward so individual phone calls can be made to the guests as follow-up.

Rather than seeing the need to change the format of their existing events to be virtual as a problem, marketing savvy law firms are seeing this as an opportunity. They are utilizing their existing commitments to being modern law practices with functional, time saving technology to continue to connect with their audience. They are using videoconferencing, webcasting, and video recording to continue to host relevant programming for their community. The real challenge in pivoting an event marketing strategy to be entirely digital for the next 3-6 months will be working with the right type of marketing and videography professionals to engage the audience and drive attendance.

Preparation and Follow-Up

Event success, even for virtual events, is more than just choosing the event for your audience. It is critical to have a clear strategy about how to prepare for your event, execute a successful activity, and follow-up to ensure that it is doing the business development work you expect it to.

Know what success looks like. Prior to the event, you should know which benchmarks you want to reach and have ways to measure those. For example, you may want to hit a certain number of attendees, have representatives from a set number of firms, or yield a specific number of networking connections.

Promote your event strategically. Look into different ways to promote an event including traditional invitations through mail or email, social media, and broadcast or print advertising. Be sure to create a custom hashtag to encourage social media engagement before, during, and after the event.

Expect the unexpected. From technology glitches to presenter snafus, being underprepared can end up turning your potential networking opportunity into a PR nightmare. Make sure to give yourself time to work out all the kinks well in advance of your event date and hire a professional to guide you through the process.

Strategize follow-up activities. Following up with attendees after an event provides valuable information on how successful the event was and whether or not it is worth repeating. Some firms use automated email sequences to gauge the results of an event. Reviewing social media engagement, lead generation, attendance numbers, and other metrics provides valuable insight into the success of the event.

Conclusion

Event marketing in 2020 will need to look a little different for law firms but it still remains an effective tool for fostering professional networking and client connections. With the wide range of events to choose from and also the technology available to today’s law firms, there are many options to help firms continue with their previously planned activity calendar. In addition, when law firms are strategic about how they structure, prepare for, and follow up from their virtual business development event, it can be an incredibly powerful form of marketing that is inexpensive, engaging, and memorable.

The post Coronavirus and Law Firm Event Marketing: Cancelled, Postponed or Just Different? appeared first on The National Law Forum.

Reflections from the past and top tips for the future

The close of each year naturally encourages reflection, evaluation and fresh perspective. As 2019 draws to an end, it’s enlightening to look back on developments and innovation in legal marketing from not only the past year, but also over the past several decades.

After the 1977 decision in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, in which the Supreme Court held that attorney advertising was a form of commercial speech protected by the First Amendment, restrictions on lawyer marketing diminished significantly. Today, according to the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) – Bloomberg Law Joint Survey Report, 62% of law firm respondents said their firms were increasing emphasis on business development and marketing initiatives. Further, 41% of attorneys reported hiring or increasing marketing staff as one of the top new investments over the past two years, and 63% said the continued investment showed not just in headcount but also in budgets that are projected to increase in the coming years.

I recently had the pleasure of hearing Sally J. Schmidt, an esteemed founder and first president of what is now the LMA (National Association of Law Firm Marketing Administrators, or NALFMA, at the time), speak about her legal marketing journey and about the organization’s very first meeting in 1985. The event drew 15 marketing directors from across the country. Schmidt’s audience laughed as she recalled that several of the early members were not permitted to disclose the firms they represented because, at the time, law firm partners felt legal marketing carried a stigma and was somehow frowned upon. Some were worried that firm secrets would be shared and others thought that a firm conducting proactive marketing might earn a scarlet badge of shame in the industry.

My, how times have changed! Today, the LMA has more than 4,000 members in 33 countries, and unites industry specialists from firms of every size. The community of consultants, vendors, lawyers, marketers from other professions and students encourages camaraderie, connectivity, support and sharing of knowledge.

Schmidt, who has published numerous books about legal business development and client relations, proceeded to guide her captivated audience through a variety of prompts that encouraged candid and even therapeutic dialogue about challenges, successes and epiphanies of individual legal marketers from their own professional journeys.

In her book Marketing the Law Firm: Business Development Techniques, Schmidt writes:

If you mention the word “marketing” to attorneys, it conjures up a wide and disparate range of reactions. Marketing is related to such positive aspects of the practice as client satisfaction, client retention and lawyer training. At the same time, it is associated with activities considered distasteful by many attorneys, such as selling, television advertising or direct mail … One of the great myths in the legal industry is that marketing is a new phenomenon. In its emerging formal and institutional state, perhaps so, but marketing activities have been performed in every successful law firm throughout the ages. Only the techniques and level of sophistication have changed. A close look reveals that the traditional marketing activities of corporate America are being performed in the law firm setting.

As the legal industry continues to evolve, so too must those who support the success of each law firm, both big and small. Here are some top tips that will ensure success and continued progress as you and your colleagues enter the new year.

1. Listen and learn — Take the time to listen attentively and glean insights from those around you. Listen to your colleagues, to your attorney clients and to their clients. Many of the smartest minds work in the legal industry, and a fresh perspective is invaluable. No matter how many years of experience your résumé boasts, seeking the input and opinion of respected colleagues and acquaintances is always worthwhile. Accept feedback with an open mind and make an effort to get to know, and genuinely connect with, those around you. Even individuals who don’t work in your department will have something meaningful to share.
2. Unlock your “Yes, and” — Second City Works, the professional services arm of the world-famous comedy theater and improvisation school Second City, teaches the practice of “Yes, And.” They challenge professionals to designate time specifically for exchanging ideas and brainstorming freely, without judgment and without rejection. This practice can lead to great discoveries and a whole new mindset when it comes to tackling workplace challenges and driving innovation — in legal marketing, in client service and in life.
3. Set goals — Goals are truly the roadmap of your career. Getting lost is unavoidable if you don’t take the time to identify and chart short- and long-term goals for yourself, your team, your practice and your firm. Further, it’s affirming to look back and celebrate goals that you achieved and to renew or adjust goals that are still in progress.
4. Ask “why?” — All too often, we do what we do because it’s what we’ve always been doing. The best legal professionals have the wherewithal to ask “why?” It’s helpful to question your own habits and your routine. Why are you doing what you’re doing? Where can you make changes that would be beneficial?
5. Be positive — Every occupation has highs and lows, as well as pros and cons, but those who maintain an unwavering positive outlook prove to be resilient, successful and immune to burnout. Embrace challenges and growing pains, and reframe anything negative as positive every chance you get.
6. Keep the big picture in mind — Sometimes we can get so bogged down in our day-to-day routines that it’s hard to step back for an accurate perspective. Today’s greatest legal visionaries strike a balance between the macro and micro components of this field. Preserve a big-picture outlook by using all resources available, delegating well and remaining abreast of trends.

The legal world is fast-paced, fascinating and ever-changing, and the story of legal marketing is sure to continue with twists, turns, innovations and new heights. Whether you’re a legal marketing veteran of 30 years or just stepping into your first legal marketing role, you are on a professional journey that’s entirely unique to you. Whatever your piece in the legal puzzle, now is the opportune time to plot your own strategy for blazing a trail in the legal marketing evolution.

The post The Evolution of Legal Marketing appeared first on The National Law Forum.

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For more information and to register, call 1-800-308-1700.

Why You Should Attend

• Hear from venerable thought leaders both within and outside of the legal industry.
• Network with colleagues and enjoy the family-friendly adventure of Universal Orlando®.
• Broaden your horizons through a number of interactive seminars that ask participants to collaborate.
• Participate in a number of compelling sessions designed for law firm partnership.
• Interact with clients and network for new business.
• Focus on global business development and the impact of “glocalization” on legal services.
• Depart the event with practical takeaways to share with peers and firm leadership.

Who Should Attend

• Law Firm Partners
• Managing Partners
• Marketing Partners
• Practice Group Heads
• Chief Marketing Officers
• Senior Business Development Professionals

The post Legal Executive Institute 23rd Annual Marketing Partner Forum – January 20-22 Orlando appeared first on The National Law Forum.

For more information and to register, call 1-800-308-1700.

Why You Should Attend

• Hear from venerable thought leaders both within and outside of the legal industry.
• Network with colleagues and enjoy the family-friendly adventure of Universal Orlando®.
• Broaden your horizons through a number of interactive seminars that ask participants to collaborate.
• Participate in a number of compelling sessions designed for law firm partnership.
• Interact with clients and network for new business.
• Focus on global business development and the impact of “glocalization” on legal services.
• Depart the event with practical takeaways to share with peers and firm leadership.

Who Should Attend

• Law Firm Partners
• Managing Partners
• Marketing Partners
• Practice Group Heads
• Chief Marketing Officers
• Senior Business Development Professionals

The post Legal Executive Institute 23rd Annual Marketing Partner Forum – January 20-22 Orlando appeared first on The National Law Forum.

For more information and to register, call 1-800-308-1700.

Why You Should Attend

• Hear from venerable thought leaders both within and outside of the legal industry.
• Network with colleagues and enjoy the family-friendly adventure of Universal Orlando®.
• Broaden your horizons through a number of interactive seminars that ask participants to collaborate.
• Participate in a number of compelling sessions designed for law firm partnership.
• Interact with clients and network for new business.
• Focus on global business development and the impact of “glocalization” on legal services.
• Depart the event with practical takeaways to share with peers and firm leadership.

Who Should Attend

• Law Firm Partners
• Managing Partners
• Marketing Partners
• Practice Group Heads
• Chief Marketing Officers
• Senior Business Development Professionals

The post Legal Executive Institute 23rd Annual Marketing Partner Forum – January 20-22 Orlando appeared first on The National Law Forum.

When – November 12-13

Where – Hyatt Regency Boston

Register today!

The post Join LMA New England for their annual conference – November 12-13 in Boston appeared first on The National Law Forum.

When – November 12-13

Where – Hyatt Regency Boston

Register today!

The post Join LMA New England for their annual conference – November 12-13 in Boston appeared first on The National Law Forum.

When – November 12-13

Where – Hyatt Regency Boston

Register today!

The post Join LMA New England for their annual conference – November 12-13 in Boston appeared first on The National Law Forum.