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In this installment of Women Who Wow, meet Wilmington-based Jennifer Smuts, the Chief Marketing Officer at Connolly Gallagher. Jenn has been a longtime volunteer of the Legal Marketing Association and has held various leadership roles in the organization. I met Jennifer through the LMA, and we clicked right away. I admire her for many reasons, including the fact that she truly is supportive to other women in the industry and is one of those people who gives to others without expecting anything in return.

Recently, Jennifer joined 2020 Women On Boards, whose overall goal is to educate women about how they can navigate their own contacts to get on corporate boards and be a part of the larger national conversation, an incredibly worthwhile cause to give women a seat at the table (you can read more about her work with them below).

Jahna Barbar is a Woman Who Wows for many reasons – she has a successful career as the regional Marketing & Business Development Manager at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, she dedicates her time to volunteering for the Legal Marketing Association, where she has held multiple leadership roles, and she is a role model for women in many ways.

I met Jahna though our mutual work for the LMA, and I was immediately impressed with her – she was not only smart, but she was kind and she has the wholehearted enthusiasm for what she does – whether in the office or in her volunteer work that I recognize in myself. She is the kind of person who gives 200% to everything she does. I’ve seen her support other women and be an advocate for future leaders, and that’s a trait that we need more than ever today. Learn more about Jahna.

Crisis Plan

We have entered an unprecedented time with the recent coronavirus outbreak. There’s a lot of uncertainty and as a result, office closures, postponement or cancellations of meetings, events and just about everything else.

Law firms and other business organizations are trying to function in a volatile and rapidly changing environment. So how do you conduct business as usual during the COVID-19 crisis? And is it okay to market your firm and lawyers during this time?

My answer to this is yes, it is okay to market and that you should – but it should be done differently than before the virus.

If you are going to market your firm and your lawyers, showing support and empathy should be at the heart of everything you do. This is not the time to announce the relaunch of your web site, your latest rankings or a new brand.

Your guiding principle should be to show compassion and care to your employees, clients and the greater community and to educate, inform and help others through thought leadership and educational seminars. If these activities lead to enhanced branding and new business by demonstrating your position as an authority in a particular area, then that’s great – but firms that do heavy marketing during a global crisis can be seen as insensitive and out of touch.

It is important to remind your employees and clients that you care about them, you’re here to help them and that it is business as usual at your organization, even if most of your employees are working from home. Companies often struggle with getting this balance right.

In this article, I’ll discuss strategies for marketing your firm during the coronavirus – as well as any crisis – that may arise.

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It hasn’t been an easy year for me.

Right about this time last year, I was packing up the last of my boxes to move into my boyfriend’s apartment.

I was so excited that I had finally met “the one.” I had never felt this way before and we moved fast. We were so different personality wise and a 10 year age difference. We were talking about marriage and kids, but my intuition knew something was up.