Social Media: Tools for Being Remarkable

I have linked to the Law Consulting Blog numerous times. Cordell Parvin is absolutely essential reading for all attorneys, green and seasoned, on every aspect of working and living as a lawyer, and particularly in the area of client development.

In a recent post Parvin explains that client development is still about "doing great work and building relationships" (as it has been since he began practicing many years ago), but that the tools for becoming known for those things are vastly different.

And Parvin quotes Seth Godin, another "indispensable linchpin" (puns intended) of this Blog, in explaining the importance of these tools:

"How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?".

Read Parvin's Practical Guide to Social Media article for more information.

Telling Your Story Frequently

Two articles caught my eye this morning. First, Seth Godin asks "What story do you tell yourself about yourself?" in a post entitled Self-Marketing May be the Most Important Kind. As Godin emphasizes (again and again), frequency is an integral part of telling a powerful story. And just as telling that story is crucial in marketing an idea, a product, or a service, it is just as important in marketing ourselves to ourselves.

Then I saw this post on the Lawyerist by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk of BBR Marketing. Ruszczyk points out that a successful marketing plan has to be planned and executed just like a workout regime, with specific goals before you start, specific and varying tactics to reach those goals, and perhaps above all frequency and consistency: "It takes regular, consistent and well-directed exercise to reach your goal just like it takes a marketing plan, clear goals and multiple tactics to grow your firm."

Bottom line: whatever marketing you are doing (self-marketing included), you will need to do the right things many times in order to create results.

Make the Case for Your Law Firm With Case Studies

Nolo's Legal Marketing Blawg provides a step-by-step guide.

Presentations from Ignite Law: 2010- The Future of Law Practice: in Six-minute Increments

Videos, each limited to six minutes in length, about the future of the practice of law.

Agenda:

1. Larry Port: Agile Legal Management: What Law Firms Can Learn from the Software Industry
2. Ed Adams: 50 Lawyers, 1,000 Miles and 2,000 Tweets: The Future of Legal Journalism
3. Joy Heath Rush: Law 2020
4. Marc Lauritsen: Choiceboxing
5. Kevin Chern: The New Ethics of Legal Marketing
6. Tom Mighell: No Lawyer Left Behind: A Realistic Approach to Practice Management Education
7. Carolyn Elefant: The Biglaw-Solo Partnership: Outsourcing Innovation and the Lessons of Tommy Supreme
8. Ari Kaplan: What I Learned About the Future of Legal Marketing From Playing Wii Bowling with a 4 1/2 Year Old

1. Jack Newton: What a Law Firm Can Learn From Zappos. Hint: It isn’t About Selling Shoes
2. Will Hornsby: Lawyer Advertising, From Here to Eternity
3. Teresa Rosado: Self-service, Full Access Society: Technology and Social Media Implications for the Jury Box
4. Rebeka Stafford: Necessity is the Mother of Innovation: the Legal Profession in a New Economy
5. Steve Newsom: Can Legal Research be Free?
6. Niki Black: Boldly Go Where No Lawyer Has Gone Before
7. Doug Sorocco: Slaying the Beast: Using Small Firm Thinking to Beat Big Firms Every Time
8. Ernie Svenson: Information Processing for Lawyers

Linked in Is More than Just Your Profile

Lawyerist piece on how you have to actively use LinkedIn to benefit from it.

Key Points from the Article:

"Some quick tips for using LinkedIn:

* Upload your contacts and invite others to link with you
* Personalize your invitations; let the contact know how you know them
* Customize your profile page url: include your name, firm name or brand
* Join Groups and follow what’s happening in your area(s) of interest and in your clients’ industries
* Update your profile periodically; make sure it reflects how you help your clients and how you are different
* Let your personality shine through
* Keep your status current
* Join discussions to share your expertise and learn from others
* Post events and invite others to participate or attend
* Consider recommendations; even if you don’t want to ask for them, be generous about giving them to others
* Use the Questions and Answers section to share information and build your expert status
* Use search features to find people in industries or businesses you’re interested in
* Look at your connections to see who they are connected to and ask for introductions
* Follow up and take your LinkedIn relationships offline; pick up the telephone or meet for coffee"

Marketing and Social Media

From the Lawyerist. Lots of ways to get out there, follow and be followed, and create content to drive traffic to our site.

Potential Clients Don't Believe What You Tell Them

From the Law Consulting Blog:

Marketing expert Seth Godin once said:

People don't believe what you tell them.
They rarely believe what you show them.
They often believe what their friends tell them.
They always believe what they tell themselves.
Seth Godin, Seth Godin's Blog, 07-29-06

So, what is the take away for you and your law firm? Put simply, if you are using your firm website and branding tag lines primarily to tell your potential clients things about your firm and you, they won't believe you. If on the other hand, you are using your firm website to share with clients what they need to know about potential problems and offer potential solutions, your potential clients may tell themselves that you are the lawyer and law firm to use.

Eight Ways Staff Can Participate in Business Development

Must-Read from Leadership for Lawyers. This contains a number of ways in which your staff can help you market.

Use Press Releases Before (and After) your Presentations

From the Rainmaker Blog. The online buzz leads to more press about the event.

Your Online Presence Can Make or Break Your Legal Marketing Plan

Article from the Rainmaker Blog

Law Firm Marketing 2.0-Internet Marketing for Rainmakers

Article from ABA Journal by Stephen Fairey, author of the Rainmaker Blog A number of very important tips for our website and marketing.

Mastermind Groups and Law Firm Marketing

An article from the Rainmaker Institute about how the collective efforts of several attorneys are the key to a firm's success. Just a broad overview for sure, but consistent with the idea that practice groups/teams with the right goals, the right means to implement those goals, and the constant and continual review of the efforts to achieve those goals are crucial to a firm's success.

“A mastermind is a group of mutually supportive, mutually accountable professionals who realize the value of collective thought and accountability. They meet regularly to identify and define goals and review achievements along the path to reaching those goals. The members provide input, insight resources, experience and constructive criticism to ensure each person the best chance of reaching his goals.”