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Archive for the ‘Legal Marketing’ Columns

The Thing About Value Is…

The value we create is directly related to how much valuable information we can produce, how much trust we can earn, and how often we innovate.”
– Seth Godin, Author

I have been thinking a lot about value lately. For so many of us, work is busier than ever and our social calendars are finally starting to fill up again. But, as legal marketers, it can sometimes feel like you are doing everything in the world but, accomplishing virtually nothing at all. How does one maximize and demonstrate their value? How can a law firm provide meaningful value to . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing

Big New Ideas: The Best Gig for a Legal Marketer

“Any idea can be a great idea if you think differently, dream big and commit to seeing it realized.”
– Richard Branson

I would consider myself an idea person. It’s not a gift. I see it as experience coupled with enthusiasm, curiosity, and most importantly, a complete understanding of how to execute. Surrounding yourself with other idea people and consistently exercising the muscle helps too. Given the nature of the role, legal marketers must be skilled at generating new ideas and supporting other ones across the firm. At Lenczner Slaght, our marketing team is fortunate to have more new ideas . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing

Celebrations and Anniversaries

I was speaking with a colleague the other day who was celebrating a significant wedding anniversary. For fun we started looking up the modern vs. traditional anniversary gifts. As I’m sure you can imagine, they vary! But as much as we may like the gift to celebrate the moment, it is the sentiment that is really important.

Milestones and anniversaries should be fun. In our world, law firms have special histories that should be celebrated. Milestones also offer an opportunity to look forward.

For a firm celebrating a milestone, the first questions to ask is who do we want to . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing

Leadership Advice for Lawyers

Based on a SLAW post I wrote in 2017, I was recently asked to speak at a conference for women lawyers on leadership. The article focussed on how to effectively lead practice groups and client teams. The date of the original article serves as evidence that I’ve been encouraging leadership skills development in lawyers for a long time, but it really began in the early 2000’s when I developed my initial processes for practice group management. Back then, I quickly realized that most of my training and support would need to be with the practice group leaders. They set the . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing, Practice of Law

Annual Business Planning: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

“Set your business plan to win; raise the bar or you’re not going to be prepared.”
– Swizz Beatz

Anyone else working on their 2022 business plan? If you’re like me, you’re in the thick of it right now – pulling data, plotting year-to-date results, analyzing what’s gone well and what hasn’t, and reflecting on why certain things just couldn’t get done. Business planning can be motivating when the exercise is aligned to a clear and simple process.

Know your firm’s strategic plan inside and out – Marketing and business development are generally a focal point of a law firm’s . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing

Listening to the Client

In over 30 years of working with law firms on improving productivity and profitability, I’ve seen countless marketplace surveys on the incredible value of client feedback mechanisms. In many instances it’s been labelled as one of the fastest and most effective ways to boost firm revenue. So, you’d think that law firms would be all over this business practice as a standard operating procedure. But…not so much. Two decades ago, law firm management expert Jim Durham conducted a survey of 100 MPs to see how many of their firms had client feedback programs. Around 20% of them did (or were . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing

Tips to Improve Your Business Development Writing

Persuasion and law go hand in hand with the use of language that is often very complex. Writing has long been a go-to option lawyers use to build their personal brands. Some of their writing is meant to be consumed by other lawyers while other content is written for client and business development purposes. Writing for a file, however, is very different than writing for business development. Below are nine tips for improving business development writing. Understanding these tips—and the differences in writing styles—will make writing for business development much easier.

  1. Have a purpose: Create content that is useful and
. . . [more]
Posted in: Legal Marketing

Why the Olympics Had Me in My Feels About Collaboration

“I’m glad I didn’t win it in an individual [event] because this just makes it 10 times sweeter knowing that I’ve accomplished this history with girls that are also making history.” – Penny Oleksiak, Canada’s Most Decorated Olympian

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were full of lessons – ones of perseverance, patience, and teamwork. There were countless stories of teams having to adjust training schedules, transition to virtual coaching, manage endless health and safety rules, and more. Watching them rise to the occasion was inspiring and had me thinking about some of the obstacles that my own marketing and business . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing

Back to the Office

As I write this, there is a very positive look on where we will be in September. Many firms are looking to a new hybrid work model. Companies are doing the same albeit maybe a little later in the year. We have gone from jokes about touching our faces, to complete lockdown, to a progressive work environment many have been asking about for years.

What does this mean for your relationships with clients and co-workers? No longer will you have to meet on Zoom. It will be possible to meet for a coffee. Once again you may “bump” into someone . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing

Is Remote Work a Thing Now?

My son recently announced that the small law firm website design company he works for will be giving up their trendy office space in Vancouver’s Gas Town and permanently moving to a remote work environment. He was ecstatic, as he LOVES working from home. But my husband (a school teacher near retirement) insists that most workers prefer the sociability of a traditional face-to-face workplace and that despite expert predictions, remote work won’t be a serious thing after the pandemic. It made me wonder where law firms might fall on the scale. (I learned that the answer has significant marketing, HR, . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing, Legal Technology, Practice of Law

Strong Relationships, Strong Foundation for Success

I often think about how my role as a legal marketer draws a lot of similarities to the role of a lawyer. Legal marketers are driven by clients, are relied upon for our unique expertise, and our success is tied to positive outcomes and results. But, perhaps the most significant similarity is the simple idea that if you can build strong and trusted relationships with your clients, it can mean the difference between an ordinary career and one that truly thrives.

I canvassed some of my colleagues about how they perceived relationship building in our industry and how, in practice, . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing

Small Talk Is Coming Back

Over the past year, have you noticed your ability to chit chat has changed? Those conversations you have with someone in a store, with a server at a restaurant, or at a dinner party have all but gone away. Small talk is an important workplace skill that has many benefits. Yes, we are connecting with people virtually, but those conversations are different than when we are in person.

There have been many studies on the effects that the pandemic has had on people’s social skills. From a business development perspective, our ability to connect with clients and prospects is a . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing