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I’m often asked how to develop a social media strategy aligned to business development goals, so I thought I’d share a few ideas that I hope inspire you. 

  • Partner with the business development team. Meet regularly with them. Become imbedded in their work and priorities. I always say that every communications person should think of themselves as a business developer too. The number one priority of each of us in legal marketing should be to help lawyers and the firm bring in and retain business. Think of yourself as a revenue enabler.
  • Review practice plans so you understand practice and industry goals – your social strategy should directly come from ideas from these and support business development efforts and the firm’s growth strategy.
  • Become well versed in your firm’s strategic plan so that you know the bigger picture
  • Define your audience, plan approach and set clear, measurable goals
  • Select your platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram) but ONLY focus on those where your clients and target audiences are otherwise it’s a waste of your time and effort.
  • Adjust your content for each medium – one size doesn’t fit all – what I mean here is don’t post the same language on each of the social channels. Instead take the time to draft language that fits each unique platform. It will result in better engagement rates and show your audience that you really do have mastery of these social channels.
  • Build an editorial/content calendar to manage mix of posts and ensure you have a steady stream of interesting content to post
  • Train employees (especially lawyers) on how to use social media to tap into their valuable networks
  • Create timely, client-centric, educational content: Explain and anticipate what developments mean
  • Reuse and repurpose content to make it work smarter for you
  • Effectively use visuals, hashtags (hashtags are so important on LinkedIn to help your content be discovered) and calls to action.
  • Use new media such as videos/podcasts to engage with your audiences Incorporate paid/sponsored content & LinkedIn Navigator.
  • Understand how SEO works and use it wisely
  • Use analytics/data to refine strategy.

Remember, only create and share content based on business development goals – everything else is secondary. 

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I am often asked to show how communications efforts can show real ROI. Why should firms invest in PR, social media, content marketing or branding instead of focusing on business and client development? The answer is that all communications efforts – if done right – will show ROI because they will be aligned with your business development initiatives and goals. It may take some time to see actual ROI and it is often hard to know if a piece of business directly came from your communications (such as a client alert, a social media or a blog post or an event), so patience and a little creativity is key. Plus following up is essential – you can always ask someone how did they find out about you or why did they decide to hire you.

I always say that everyone in legal marketing should think of themselves as a business development professional regardless of their title, because the true guiding light of everyone in our industry should always be how can an initiative bring in leads, retain clients and support existing BD efforts. If you can’t figure out how a communications project – even a simple social media post – can lead to new business and support client development, abandon it.

That being said, I’m a big believer in the power and importance of value-added content that supports your practices and brand. This is the kind of content that clients will truly find helpful. Materials that show, don’t tell how great your firm and its lawyers are. In this crowded market with many firms vying for the attention of the same decision makers, firms simply must stand out and resonate, and they can so by demonstrating their value and market niche through content. You can’t be everything to everyone. You will likely fail if you try. It’s better to pick certain areas based on issues or practices/industries that are core marquee to your firm or those that you want to grow.

Remember for communications to be effective you need:

  • Well-written, engaging content
  • To post content only on the social channels used by your clients
  • To bring together social and traditional media to produce results
  • To believe in your content
  • To be creative about how to share your content (reuse and repurpose, adapt content for various mediums)
  • To be patient on the results.

Happy content creating!

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I’m thrilled to once again present a session at the New York City Bar’s Small Law Firm Symposium, which will be held on November 7. This year I will be speaking about “Enhancing Your Online Presence to Grow Your Firm (and Your Brand) Without Breaking the Bank,” exploring how social media marketing and its accompanying content have made it easier (and more effective) than ever for firms of all sizes – especially small firms and solo practitioners – to gain a competitive edge in building relationships, which can lead to new business, new referrals and new connections. I’ll provide attendees with actionable tips, strategies and tactics on how to market themselves and their firms online without breaking the bank or sacrificing quality to have a real impact on enhancing their brands and leads. I’ll cover how to:

  • How to create a more compelling LinkedIn profile than your peers and competitors
  • How to generate new business and retain existing business using content/social media
  • Best practices for creating and distributing compelling content to engage with your most important target audiences
  • Secrets to effectively writing social posts that resonate with your clients and prospects.
  • How to use evergreen content, repurposed content, visuals and hashtags to enhance content marketing efforts
  • How to use analytics to measure and track results
  • How to use press mentions, speaking engagements and published articles to enhance your branding efforts

Learn more and register.

When it comes to content distribution and amplification, I really do get by with the help of my friends.

Many law firms (and their lawyers) invest considerable time writing great content, but are disappointed by the results. Either their thought leadership efforts don’t lead to new business, or they fail to garner media attention or the attention of clients/prospects.

This isn’t necessarily because the content is poorly written. Often it is simply because not enough of the right people, your target readers, have the chance to see the work. Fact is, we operate in a competitive and saturated market and simply getting someone to open your email and read your content is very difficult.

So, what can you do to stand out from your peers?

Bring in the special forces to take your content efforts to the next level. If you are at a small-or mid-size firm, like I am, with less content than Big Law competitors and a smaller in-house team, you definitely need JD Supra to support your efforts.  Continue Reading Why Your Firm Needs JD Supra to Extend the Reach of Your Content

Sometimes the small things right in front of us, by nature easy to do, are the smartest things to advance your marketing and business development efforts. Though these actions may seem small, they can be incredibly rewarding. Sometimes all it takes is picking up the phone or crafting a thoughtful email or just letting Google work for you.

Here are some easy, “low hanging fruit” ideas that can lead to success:  Continue Reading How Small Actions Can Yield Big Benefits In Your Marketing & Business Development Efforts

If you are a LinkedIn company page administrator, you now have a new tool available called LinkedIn Pages Employee Notifications to easily let your employees know when you’ve posted an update on your company’s page. Note – that this is rolling out to users and may not yet be available to you – so stay tuned! I just happened to realize I suddenly had it earlier this week, when a notification appeared on the company page I manage – LinkedIn often doesn’t announce when it makes enhancements nor does it happen at the and time for every user, which is why I wanted to write about it here ASAP.

You can track the effectiveness of your posts through your company page update analytics (which give you helpful information on update highlights, metrics and engagement). Learn more about update analytics here.

To notify your employees about a notification:

  1. Post an update on your company page. Here’s more on how to do that.
  2. Click the three little dots on the upper right hand side of the specific post. This will bring up a menu bar with options, and the last one is now “notify employees of post”
  3. Select “Notify employees of post” and you’ll be prompted with the below screen. When you say yes, those employees of your company who are on LinkedIn will be notified that your organization has shared a post with them through their notification updates.
  4. An admin can notify employees once every 7 days per update.

Why is this a good thing? Well, many employees miss your company posts because they are busy even if the firm has a process whereby it sends them by email each day, Sending them directly through LinkedIn is efficient and smart.

One caveat is that this new feature does not seem to work with third-party vendors (like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, etc.) – you have to be in LinkedIn in order to take advantage of it.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

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As co-chair of the 2019 LMA Northeast Regional Conference, I was so excited when James Kane agreed to be our keynote speaker. I have had a huge professional crush on him for years. James is considered the leading researcher and authority on what makes someone truly loyal – to another person, to an organization or to a cause.

Many of us in the LMA were introduced to James – and impressed by him – when he was the keynote speaker at the 2013 LMA Annual Conference. I remember thinking to myself that if I was ever in the position to select a keynote speaker, it would be him.

Fast forward six years later, when I had that very opportunity, reached out to James and he said yes(!). Here’s a sneak peek of what he has planned for us at #LMANE19 – the icing on the cake is that we get an extra bonus session with him too after the keynote on “How to Use Loyalty to Retain Clients in Tough Times,” so make sure to stick around for that session on November 15!

Read the full Q&A with James: http://bit.ly/2mHicmY

And register for #LMANE19! http://bit.ly/2XZOMm1

Women can be so hard on each other in (and out of) the workplace doing things such as backstabbing, gossiping, purposely excluding someone from a meeting, taking credit for someone’s work or helping to push someone out of a job. Maybe you’ve been the target of some these behaviors at the hands of another woman at work. Please know that you aren’t alone.

I call this the dark side of working with women. I’ve been there too, and not just at work. This behavior can also rear its ugly head in your personal life. It’s deeply disturbing, and one of the worst parts is that it can be contagious, like a fast-spreading virus. What I mean by that is that one mean girl in a group can then serve as the “bad egg” and turn others against a target. And if you have ever been the target of mean girl behavior, the effects can be incredibly damaging on every aspect of your life – I don’t care how old you are, this behavior never gets easier to deal with.

Although outside of the office, women consider their girlfriends among their closest confidants, they aren’t always each other’s biggest supporters within the workplace. In fact, they can be each other’s worst nightmares and saboteurs, if they view each other as rivals.

Today there are Regina George-like characters in every industry, simply because there are more women in the workplace. Their catty behaviors such as gossiping, backstabbing and sabotaging can turn an otherwise pleasant workplace into a place of daily dread.

The silver lining is that while you will inevitably encounter mean girls throughout your career, learning how to manage them will make you stronger and more resilient. Dealing with someone like this enables you to emerge a more confident version of yourself.

Today, I am lucky enough to work in an environment free of mean girls (thank goodness!), but I do come into contact with them from time to time – just like we all do – and I carry with me the memories of working with some very toxic females, which have helped me develop a thicker skin, and learn how to navigate them – these are important skills to have throughout your career because you will inevitably encounter mean girls personally and professionally. I want to make it clear that are plenty of amazing, supportive women in the workforce, and I’ve been very lucky to work with a number of them. They aren’t threatened by other women, and instead they go above and beyond to help others succeed.

It’s important to remember that while you cannot can’t change someone else, you can change your own behavior, and this article will teach you how to do just that.  Continue Reading Effective Strategies for Dealing with Mean Girls at Work

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I’m excited to speak at the ARK Group’s Competitive Intelligence in the Modern Law Firm conference this Wednesday 9/25 in NYC with Amanda Loesch the CMO of Porzio Bromberg & Newman P.C.

We will be discussing, “How to Identify Your Firm’s Real Competitors and Use That Information to Your Advantage.” Amanda and I both have big law and mid-size law firm experience, which gives us diverse perspectives on CI and how to effectively use it to your advantage.

We hope you will join us for our session as well as the other stellar sessions and speakers throughout the day. The conference will be held at New York Law School.

Learn more and register.

A great benefit about marketing is that sometimes the lowest hanging fruit can yield major benefits with little effort. First thing’s first, what does “low-hanging fruit” mean? It is “a thing or person that can be won, obtained, or persuaded with little effort.” Since we spend so much time and effort on most of our marketing and business development strategies, it’s nice when we don’t have to work so hard on everything all the time! Sometimes all it takes is picking up the phone, or crafting a thoughtful email or just letting Google work for you.  Continue Reading How Taking Advantage of Low Hanging Fruit Can Yield Major Benefits in Your Marketing Efforts