Companies have stories to tell, pitches to make and information to be shared. Using a “multichannel communication” program sounds pretty cool, but what is it? Is this new? And what channels are available?

To understand multichannel communication, it is important to appreciate that there are different ways of sharing information – push, passive and interactive. Email and social are great ways to push content, whereas as passive methods such as an intranet or posters require people have to seek your content. In person, either through meetings or tools such as YouTube Live, allow for interaction which generally offer the most . . . [more]

When asked, most firms would say that their #1 business goal is to get more work. The only way to get more work for the firm is to get it from existing clients, or to develop new client relationships. It’s well-documented that it’s far easier to get more work out of an existing client than to try to land a new client. But how? Doing good work for your client is a great start, but if it hasn’t expanded the work by now, it probably won’t in future.

Over the years I’ve seen a range of studies by research organizations . . . [more]

Do something every single day, has been my mantra for many years. Why, because it’s much easier to commit to small tasks. And those small tasks can accumulate and become a tidal wave. As the saying goes, How do you eat an elephant… one bite at a time.

That is what business development can feel like… eating an elephant! It doesn’t have to feel that way if you do something every single day. So here is a 7-Day Action Plan to get you started.

In this 7 – Day Plan I present you with the tools to make marketing a . . . [more]

If your firm has been around for a while, how has it changed? Let’s say you’re in a mid-sized Canadian city and the firm has been in existence since the 1970s. Chances are that at least one set of partners has retired from the firm and new recruits have brought new interests (and new clients) into the firm. New industrial developments on the outskirts of town have yielded new clients, who in turn have referred other new clients from even further out of town. Before anyone has realized it, your firm is serving clients province-wide, yet you’re still promoting yourselves . . . [more]

Building an effective resume for proposals is hard but it doesn’t have to be. Resumes used for proposals and resumes used for job seekers may offer similar content but they are two very different documents. Understanding the difference and how to present “you” is key to delivering an effective proposal resume.

Often the marketing team is tasked to draft resumes for the lawyers that will be part of a proposal. The goal should be to balance the desire of the lawyer to include what they want while ensuring brand consistency that the firm requires. Resumes are personal and people have . . . [more]

Law firm marketers have been fundamental to the establishment and management of many law firm practice groups and client teams in North American law firms. Critical to the success of these efforts has been the ability to help train team members in their respective roles. Toward the end of my time in-house, I conducted research on what makes for a successful or failed team. The number one reason in both instances? Leadership. If you are charged with starting, running or overseeing a practice group or client team – or if you have any leadership role in your firm (such as . . . [more]

You may find it comforting to know that, despite all the talk about innovation and disruption in the business of law, some of the long-standing tactics of legal marketing and business development remain effective. Last month, two client contacts independently forwarded the same competitor’s legal update to lawyers in my firm and asked for advice on the subject.

The publication had the desired effect in that it caught the attention of exactly the kind of client it was targeting, but unfortunately for the competitor, it generated two leads for our firm instead. It was an instructive reminder of the value . . . [more]

So often, law firm marketing discussions go something like this: “Billings are down, we should be doing more marketing” or “The associates aren’t busy, they should be marketing themselves” or “We need to grow the firm, we have to get out there and market.”

OK, good, fine, now what? The most common response is to leap straight to tactics: “Let’s do a seminar!” “We need a brochure.” (Yes, some lawyers still say that.) “The website sucks, we need a new one.” But without a strategy, these tactics are random, uncoordinated acts that will end up costing a lot of money, . . . [more]

Due Diligence is something lawyers know a thing or two about. It is engrained in them from the first day of school. Due diligence includes the reasonable steps taken by a person to satisfy a legal requirement. It is an investigation. The theory behind due diligence is that by doing research the amount and quality of information available to decision makers improves. Lawyers are very good at doing this for clients yet spend little time doing it about clients.

Lawyers spend a lot of time understanding the law – and so they should. However they tend to spend very little . . . [more]

We spend so much of our time, energy and money on attracting and keeping clients that the thought of firing one seems defeatist. But firing clients can be good for business. Here’s why.

1. Bad clients waste out time. One of the annoying elements of a bad relationship is that it tends to take more of our time to manage than a good relationship. This, in turn, lowers our productivity which has consequences to our overall financial performance and activity goals for the year. And really, who needs that kind of drag in their life?
2. Bad clients almost always dispute their

As a public service, I solemnly swear to write this post without using the word influencer.

Not sure if the backstory helps, but here it is…. I was recently asked if I had any ‘general advice’ or tips on how to get a new blog moving in the right direction. “To the next level.” It was an interesting question, perhaps partly because of the individual from which the question came. The blogger asking had been writing for more than a year now, and at least by my account, was doing exceptionally well on her own.

After getting through . . . [more]

So by now the parties are in full swing, the eggnog is flowing, and most of your law firm partners have already taken off for the holidays, while insisting that associates and staff work until the last minute before the statutory closing.

One thing that may NOT yet have ground to a halt, though, is the Dreaded Holiday Card process.

Have you ever wondered how law firm holiday cards get to be so generic? Or how many emails the Marketing Department gets begging for a more creative card this year? Or how many versions they go through, losing creativity at . . . [more]