Law360 recently published an article of mine, “Don’t Be Social Media Distancing: LinkedIn Tips For Lawyers” that I wanted to highlight on the blog. These tips can be used by lawyers and other professionals for appropriate brand building and marketing during the coronavirus outbreak. I live in NYC, which has seen the most cases of COVID-19 in our country, and it is a very strange and sad place to be right now.
Here’s an excerpt of the article:
In this new normal of staying home and social distancing, I’m finding that I need to limit how much news I read and watch to maintain balance in my life.
I started the Women Who Wow series to coincide with Women’s History Month, but since news related to COVID-19 has consumed us, I’ve decided to continue running the series throughout the year, because there are just too many amazing women to fit into one month.
One of those amazing women is New York-based Brandie Knox, the principal and creative director of Knox Design Strategy. I met Brandie several years ago through the Legal Marketing Association, and we hit it off right away. I admire her for her entrepreneurial spirit, her creativity and her kindness.
Learn more about Brandie and her career path.
I read a great article in Social Media Today, which brought to my attention the fact that LinkedIn is providing free mindfulness courses on its LinkedIn Learning platform to help individuals cope with the coronavirus and the isolation many of us are feeling. I wanted to pass along this information to you as I know I could sure use some extra tips on how to practice mindfulness, calm my anxiety and stress levels and be more, well, myself again. Stay safe.
If you’re like me and have a pet who you adore, you want to do everything you can to protect them during the COVID-19 outbreak. My veterinary hospital sent out this helpful guidance that I wanted to share. I know it’s off topic for my blog, but as a dog mom, I thought it was important to share it. Stay safe.
Take time now to make plans and prepare your pets in case you need help caring for them due to
COVID-19. For a downloadable guide you can complete to help with emergency planning for pets, see NYC Emergency Management’s Pets page.
I know so many of you feel out of sorts right now. Me, too. Our daily routines have been thrown a huge curveball, but this is not the time to
As someone who no longer has grandparents and feels so deeply for all of the elderly in nursing homes right now who are alone, this warms my heart.
Alexis Robertson is the next Woman Who Wows. I met Alexis through LinkedIn and have admired her thoughtful posts. It’s another reason why online networking is so important – she lives in Chicago and I live in NYC but I feel very connected to her.
She is currently the director of diversity & inclusion for Foley & Lardner LLP where she provides firm-wide strategic direction and oversight on all diversity and inclusion related matters.
Alexis joined Foley from Baker McKenzie, where she was North America manager of Diversity & Inclusion. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Alexis spent two years as a Legal Recruiting Director for The Partners Group where she focused on placing diverse attorneys with law firms and corporations.
Alexis earned her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and practiced with Kirkland & Ellis and Seyfarth Shaw following graduation. She earned her undergraduate degree from the American University in Washington, D.C.
Learn more about her.
I asked Orange County-based Gia Altreche to be part of the Women Who Wow series because she is a leader in the legal marketing industry and an advocate for the profession and diversity & inclusion. Gia is the Director of Business Development and Marketing at Newmeyer & Dillion LLP and serves as co-chair of the Legal Marketing Association’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee and Shared Interest Group. Learn more about her below.
Why did you choose your profession?
Technically it chose me. It was during a post-college adventure to find a marriage between the legal field (initially intending to go to law school), and human communication (a love I found in my last year in college, which slightly derailed the initial focus) that ended with my resume miraculously in the hands of my now mentor, who was the Head of Business Development & Marketing at a major law firm in Phoenix, AZ. Talk about the power of networking!
At the time, I didn’t know legal marketing existed, but quickly learned it offered access to both play a role in advocating for my community, while continuing to study and nurture the role of human connection in business. Plus, being surrounded by the crème of the crop legal minds across a variety of industries, seeking out continuous education on the ever evolving role and how I could support their efforts was greatly satisfying. Learn more about her and her career path below.
When I speak at conferences or conduct client trainings, I usually end my presentations with “homework” for attendees. While not actually required, I always suggest that attendees take the time to do these to-do items, because I always want to leave attendees with actionable takeaways they can implement right away to enhance their business and brand.
I know so many of you feel out of sorts right now (that includes me). Our daily routines have been thrown a huge curveball and staying home is our job right now to keep ourselves and others safe against the spread of the coronavirus.
That being said, this is not the time to stop marketing yourself or your firm. In fact, you want to be top of mind, and you can easily do that through the many online channels available to us – with LinkedIn being the most powerful social platform to build professional relationships. The key is to be helpful, non-boastful and to provide value-added content and information.
I am seeing the lines between our personal and professional lives become blurrier by the day as many of us want to be more connected to people in general. This may result in you receiving friend requests on Facebook and follow requests on Instagram from colleagues and clients – it’s up to you how you want to handle these but please always exercise caution with what you post on any social media platform, and stay away from discussing politics and religion.
In case you are looking for some “homework” in the marketing and business development area, here are a few ideas to keep you busy. Reach out to me with any questions.