It should go without saying that it’s not how often you post content to social media that makes a true impact, but rather what you say and how you say it. The quality not the quantity of your posts should always be your primary focus.

But it’s not always easy to generate a steady stream of strong content to fill your editorial calendar year-round, especially when you work at small- or mid-sized firm.

That’s where owned media or evergreen content can come to your aid, or what I often refer to as my “what to say when you have nothing to say” content strategy.

Evergreen content is SEO-optimized content that doesn’t have an expiration date, or lose its relevancy and value over time. It is high-quality, helpful content that provides value whether it is read today, next week or a year from now. Like the trees with its same name, evergreen content is considered sustainable and lasting.

Creating an evergreen content strategy is easier than you think because you already have all of the content and most of the tools that you need. It just requires creative thinking on how to effectively repurpose them. For example, content opportunities (and the visual assets that go along with them) such as lawyer bios, holidays, office openings, firm history, timeless client alerts, case studies on matters/practices, careers, professional development, pro bono and diversity, events, as well as information from transcripts can all be used to fill in content gaps in your editorial calendar.

Leveraging evergreen content will reinforce your brand, differentiate your firm and can lead to new business and it will delight your lawyers (score!). And the best part? None of these require a big budget or tons of resources. I love these examples – especially the Hanukkah greeting from Stroock – it was one of the only firms that I noticed did a Hanukkah greeting. Here are some ideas on how to do this at your firm.

 

bouncing back

No matter how brilliant, hard working or passionate you are, you will fail at something or majorly screw something up at some point.

I wrote this article because a few friends of mine have recently lost their jobs, and I wanted to share some of the important lessons I learned as a result of a similar situation because I believe that every dark situation has a silver lining. Also, here’s the thing – getting let go can happen to anyone at any time. You think it will never happen to you until it does. It can also be the best thing that ever happened to you, setting you on an entirely new path.

When the failure is work related, and it’s a major one – such as getting fired or let go – sometimes it’s just that it wasn’t a good fit. Other times it’s because of something that you did that led to things not working out. And then there are times when you lose your job due to circumstances that are out of your control, like for example your job was eliminated or your new boss didn’t like you and pushed you out.

Please know that you’re not alone in experiencing speed bumps along your career path and you can fail at times but still have a successful career. Remember – just because it didn’t work out for you in one position doesn’t mean that you are doomed for your entire career!

Read my article for tips on how to bounce back from a professional setback.

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I hope you’ll join me next Wednesday, January 22 during lunchtime for a LinkedIn master class for the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) New York City chapter – it will be held at the New York City Bar Association. I’m so thrilled they invited me back to do another session.

I’ll be covering how to use LinkedIn to build your brand and professional network, become a subject matter expert and how to create and manage an effective company page as well as how to train your lawyers to use LinkedIn more effectively.

In this workshop, attendees will learn the tools and tips to build a stronger brand through this popular digital platform.

My program will explore quick and easy actions you can take today on LinkedIn to more meaningfully engage with your connections, strengthen your brand, position yourself as a subject matter expert and generate leads, including, mastering the art of the “humblebrag,” using LinkedIn search more effectively, sponsored posts and LinkedIn navigator and how to adopt a client-centric LinkedIn strategy.

  • How to build a strong profile to engage with prospects and clients
  • How to use the platform to generate business and new connections
  • How to share successes to demonstrate value
  • How to use LinkedIn to become a thought leader/subject matter expert
  • How to use status updates and notifications to build your brand and drive new business
  • Explore how to master the art of the “humblebrag,” use LinkedIn search, sponsored posts and LinkedIn Navigator effectively
  • How to adopt a client-centric LinkedIn strategy

There will be time at the end for a Q&A session for specific attendee questions. I hope to see you there!

Sign up here.

I had a great time speaking about how in-house counsel can use LinkedIn more effectively at Thursday’s In-House Connect event in NYC, “LinkedIn Strategies for Supercharging Your In-House Legal Career.”

LinkedIn has more than 500 million users and growing daily, including in-house counsel and other key decision makers across every conceivable industry. Whether your goal is to position yourself for advancement at your current company, land your next big in-house role or just polish up your personal brand, LinkedIn can help you in ways no other tool or platform can – but only if you understand how to harness its power to maximum effect.

If you’re just passively using LinkedIn as a digital version of your resume, you’re barely scratching the surface of what the platform can do for you.

I discussed the latest in LinkedIn profile optimization and the top actionable LinkedIn strategies for career-minded in-house counsel, including;

  • LinkedIn profile optimization fundamentals
  • How to proactively form and cultivate truly valuable connections and job leads using the platform
  • How to successfully position yourself as a subject matter expert or thought leader using the platform
  • The importance of LinkedIn “All-Star” status and how to achieve it
  • Mastering the art of the “humblebrag” (a/k/a sharing your successes and demonstrating your value on LinkedIn without being boastful)
  • Getting the most our of LinkedIn groups
  • Unlocking the full potential of LinkedIn’s advanced search

Thank you to all who came and to the group’s co-chairs Shai Mehani and Brian Greenberg for asking me to speak. Also thank you to Whistler Partners’ Sean Burke snd Sarah Wyman for partnering with me on the event.

Stay tuned for a full recap with actionable takeaways and tips!

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One of my favorite business networking books is Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi, because you really should never eat alone if you can avoid it.

Everyone has to eat lunch, so why eat alone when you could be using your lunchtime to reconnect with VIP contacts? I’m all for online networking but there really is no better way to develop close relationships than by meeting up in person.

So, each month, commit to making a list of five individuals with whom you’ve lost touch or would just like to simply develop a stronger relationship, and reach out to them for an in-person lunch, breakfast or dinner – whatever they prefer. Ask questions about their personal life and company. Do research beforehand on your own time and dime to be up to date on developments at the company and your contacts there. You should never have to give an elevator pitch on your expertise and firm – your goal is to ask smart questions, listen intently, be helpful and find commonalities between each other.

Also, you should be using the LinkedIn notifications section to your advantage, using it to look for promotions, job moves and other professional successes of those in your network. Celebrating someone is a great hook to get back in touch with them, suggest an in-person get-together and strengthen your relationships. I’ve seen this type of interaction lead to new business over and over – and the best part is that you can do it right from your desk.

For more tips on building your business and brand, take a look at my latest JD Supra article: http://bit.ly/2N3OL8Z

This is photo is me two years ago today happy in Miami Beach. So much has changed since this photo was taken, most notably that the person taking this photo is no longer in my life and with someone else.

Someone wise recently said I should embrace the idea of “it is what it is”, she also said, “you don’t have to like it.” Instead accept that you can’t control what others do and how they feel, and just be happy in the present finding moments of joy.

Use everything that happens to you as a learning experience to make yourself a better person.

Life will throw you curveballs. Sometimes life will go sideways. The only thing you can control – and the key to not falling into a negative cycle of self-blame – is your reaction to these challenges and how you handle it. See everything that happens to you whether good or bad as a teaching lesson. Commit to learning from everything, paying attention to red flags, doing your best, assuming good intent, being kinder and moving on faster. 

I thought it was a good message that I wanted to share.

failure

Can I be honest? I’m not perfect. Sometimes I make mistakes. I mess things up. I get in my own way. And I’m guessing you do too.

Every single one of us has failed at something either professionally or personally, or most likely, both, and often. Of course, no one likes to fail, especially since so many of us are Type-A driven individuals. But the truth is that if you try, sometimes you will fail. The key is how you deal with situations when things go wrong or sideways whether they are in or out of your control. Your failures can either hold you back or propel you forward to great things if you use them as learning experiences.

I came across a quote the other day from Dimitri Mastrocola that really resonated with me. It said, “If you want to be truly unstoppable, look at each so-called failure for what it really is: an opportunity to learn and grow. See it as a learned lesson that can drive you forward and ultimately get you to where you want to be.”

I think this is a great way to reframe things when they don’t go your way or turn out as you had hoped.  You can learn a lot from your failures, if you really are honest with yourself and take an introspective look at the situation and how you could do better next time. Taking responsibility for your role when something fails is how you’ll grow and become a better version of yourself.

To do this, look at a specific situation that’s bothering you as if you were an outsider. Make a bulleted list of what went right and what went wrong, and which of those things are your responsibility. Then really take an introspective look at yourself to see if these issues have come up before – have you heard the same feedback? Have you been in a similar situation? What can you do to avoid this outcome again? You must put your ego aside and be honest with yourself if you really want to become a better version of yourself. You also need to stop beating yourself up for past mistakes – learn from them and move on. I know it’s easier said than done, but remember, it is what it is – you can’t change the past – you can only control the here and now and your responses to adversity and challenging times. Use them as life lessons that will help you be more successful.

Remember, it’s never too late – or early – to adopt a positive mindset to think of our mistakes as learning experiences. Also, please don’t beat yourself up too much when failure happens to you – take positive actions to learn from it but the answer is not to wallow in the negativity associated with failure. Ruminating about it can hold you back from moving forward – trust me, I’ve been there. Be kind to yourself but hold yourself accountable for the decisions you made and the actions you took.

Like I said earlier, failure happens to everyone at some point, even to Oprah and Steve Jobs, who count their failures as the watershed events that helped push them to achieve great success. With success comes failure – use those lemons in life to make not only lemonade but ways to make you into a stronger, smarter, better version of yourself.

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Every professional should always be thinking about ways to build their book of business and brand, as well as how to develop stronger relationships with clients and referral sources.

Maintaining strong relationships and staying top of mind with clients and referrals are often at the heart of this kind of business development work. There are many paths to success, but the key is to be consistent and visible, and most importantly, to make time for business development.

Whether it’s writing an article or client alert, chairing a conference, or committing to having a certain number of in-person client development activities per month, the key is to actually do it and not let work get in the way.

Here are some things you can do to build, cultivate and rekindle relationships with current clients, potential clients, the media and referral sources in my latest JD Supra article, “15 Ways to Build Your Business and Brand.” Remember – most of the business you will obtain will come from clients with whom you work today – either more business from existing clients or recommendations from clients – so client development should be at the very top of your to-do list.

I hope the article is helpful to you!

One of the most important ways you can enhance your social media efforts, see real ROI and increase engagement is to always include an image with your social posts.

You should never post anything to social media without an accompanying image. Why? Images greatly increase engagement on your posts, they capture the attention of your audience as they scroll through their feeds and they can bring your content – especially dry content – to life. Stats show that posts with images get more engagement than those without them and this translates to more visibility for you and even leads.

The images should be relevant to your content, include your branding and use photos or other visually arresting elements, such as icons, big numbers/callouts and stock images, which are often available for free or at a low cost.

Canva.com is my go-to online resource when it comes to easily and inexpensively creating social media images – the best part is that you don’t need to be a graphic designer to use it – it’s for non-designers who want to take their creative elements to the next level. You can even add your logo and branding and custom imagery to each image you create.

Try it and let me know what you think!

Client Service

Here’s a client development tip for you as everyone heads back to work and gets ready for 2020 – carve out the time in your schedule to do client site visits with your most important clients.

One of the intellectual property lawyers with whom I work recently told me that his new client requires outside counsel to tour its plants and offices before being assigned to a matter. He said to him, “To really know how to best help us with our legal needs, you need to understand our business and more importantly, our products inside and out.”

There is an important lesson here for everyone – offer without being asked to go to your client’s office/facility/warehouse – whatever it is – to see firsthand how they do business and how they make what they make. I think this is very important for those in the IP/patent/copyright area but it is equally important for other industries such as healthcare, entertainment, sports, pharma, financial services and many others.

In addition, while you’re there, suggest meeting in person with the individuals at the client with whom you work each day to get to know them better and forge stronger relationships. Putting an actual face to a name really does make a difference. Ask them about their business goals and challenges, and what you can do to help them.

Going the extra mile will demonstrate how much you care about the client and provide you with valuable information that will enable you to do your job better, which is a win win for everyone involved.