Legal Marketing Studio

LMS host Michael Meyer follows up with Jennifer Manton after the Brand Strategy panel at LMA Northeast Conference. She discusses how asking questions as part of the firms rebranding process opened up new opportunities for surveying partners and building buy in for initiatives beyond the rebrand.

LMS host Michael Meyer follows up with Bill Schroeder after the Brand Strategy panel at LMA Northeast Conference to discuss the importance of solid research in building a strong firm brand that can not only inform its marketing collateral but can positively shape its culture and point the way towards a firm's future.

LMS host Michael Meyer sits down with Jeff Leitner following his keynote speech at the LMA Northeast Conference in Philadelphia. Building on the themes of his keynote, he discusses how to spot opportunities to challenge existing norms and push firms' cultures forward.

There has been a tidal wave of disruption in every industry driven by digital technologies. The legal industry has not been immune to these changes and there is much talk about innovating in the face of them. Leigh Ollman, co-director of Akerman X, joined me to discuss how Akerman is using design thinking, or human centered design, in creating innovative solutions to the challenges of today's business environment and doing so with their clients' needs top of mind. The focus of our conversation is on design thinking and creating a culture of innovation.

Networking is a crucial part of most business development toolkits (in any business). A graphic designer I met through my own networking told me about the Women's Empowerment Networking Group founded and run by Janice Roven and Davida Perry. I was struck by the founding story of the all women group; Janice and Davida generously offered to come on the show to discuss their reasons for starting the group, the value of being at its center, the logistical challenges and a bit about diversity and empowerment.

One aspect of legal marketing that I have always found fascinating is the career shift that occurs as it becomes incumbent upon associates and new partners to begin selling their services and those of their firm in order to move their careers forward. Chris Seleski and Frank Francis join me to discus their experiences navigating this shift. We discuss the strategies they have employed, the firm resources they have taken advantage of and the role played by various bar associations to which they each belong. Experienced partners at small and mid-size firms will find this conversation useful as it hints at ways they can employ to support and encourage their associates' business development efforts.

A strong personal brand can help attorneys and executives to develop new business for their firm or company. Jasmine Sandler, keynote speaker, trainer, author and consultant in digital marketing and social selling for global organizations, joins me on the latest podcast to discuss her process for helping attorneys, executives and entrepreneurs build, grow and protect this sort of personal brand. Our conversation touches on the kinds of goals and initiatives served by building a personal brand, the interaction between this personal branding and firm branding, and the buy-in and commitment required to succeed.

Podcasting is a growing segment of the content marketing pie, and one that law firms are beginning to exploit in earnest. Akerman's Matt Steinberg visited the Legal Marketing Studio podcast to discuss Akerman Worked Up, the employment law podcast he hosts. Our conversation covers how the podcast fits into his personal marketing and the larger Akerman brand, the rewards he's found in producing and hosting the podcast, and the challenges that he and Akerman have overcome in launching the podcast. The episode runs a bit longer than usual, but it is packed full of valuable insight for everyone from veteran podcasters to those just dipping their toes into the podcasting waters.

Daniel Timins's approach to content exemplifies its ability to extend one's marketing reach while amplifying one's influence and reputation. Building on several years of blogging, Dan began placing articles with mainstream media outlets and online content portals. His work appears frequently in Kiplinger, Yahoo Finance and Investopedia among others. In this episode we discuss how he gained access to these outlets, what kind of support structures he took advantage of, and the challenges to maintaining an active writing habit and to measuring its quantitative impact on a firm's bottom line.

Today's social media and content platforms offer a valuable opportunity to build an audience and build a kind of celebrity within a niche. The breadth of the internet means that even a narrow topic area presents a deep well of interested and engaged people. Michael Schein of Micro Fame Media joins me on this episode of the Legal Marketing Studio podcast to talk about building celebrity through strategic niche content creation that extends one's marketing reach and amplifies one's influence.

Content requires purpose. Reframing content as part of the sales process helps it to drive lead intelligence gathering and ultimately generate more qualified leads. Jason Myers of Flightpath joins me on this episode of the Legal Marketing Studio to discuss why he frames content marketing in this way and walks us through his approach to content. Whether your firm is just starting to consider a content marketing campaign, pumping out content to no avail or driving significant business from content already, Jason's insight will prove incredibly useful. Be sure to visit "legalmarketing.studio" for access to one of the white papers that Jason mentions.

Good photography echoes and amplifies your marketing messages while effectively boosting engagement with written content. In this episode, I encourage attorneys (and marketers working with attorneys) to expand their concept of how they can and should use photographs or other visual content in their marketing. It is no longer enough to have a mediocre attorney portrait; nor is it enough to have only one's attorney portrait. At the very least that portrait should be built around the firm brand; ideally it will be built around the firm brand, support its marketing strategies and exist within a library of like images that can be repurposed across the full range of communications that an individual attorney or larger firm is making use of. The images discussed in the podcast can be viewed at "legalmarketing.studio." (That is the full URL; please copy it into a new browser window. It isn't a live link as SoundCloud doesn't allow links.)This episode is an adaptation of a presentation I made to the New York County La

Tanya Pohl defines herself very specifically as a social media attorney. In this episode of the Legal Marketing Studio, she describes how she came to see this niche of IP law as the basis for a viable practice and as a form of effective marketing. Our conversation wends its way through the language that she uses across various marketing channels and the subtle ways that she modulates this messaging for each. We discuss also the nuts and bolts of moving out of big law and starting a solo practice.

Naree Sinthusek and Jake Dore of the Court Square Law Project joined me on this episode to discuss the Project's mission of providing quality legal services for people who believe they can’t afford a lawyer and the market opportunity presented by this representation gap. We discuss the business and social justice aspects inherent in that mission and the difficulty of balancing them.

In early 2017 LinkedIn began rolling out its new interface. The changes were met with a mix of delight, acceptance and gnashing of teeth. Regardless of how one feels about the changes, in what ways is it necessary to adapt one's business development strategy on the platform? What will continue to work? What will get a lower response? And what new opportunities are there? Bruce Segall of Marketing Sense joins me on this episode to explore what the changes to LinkedIn's interface portend for users and suggest about the direction the platform will move in the future.

As a bonus to last month's web design series, Alex Acker and Nathan Crandall of Adventure House join me to discuss the importance of simplifying content in order to effectively engage a firm's website users. The challenge of focusing the wide range of content available on most law firms' websites is one that has come up often in my conversations with legal marketers. Alex and Nathan discuss in detail their approach to content from a user experience (UX) perspective. The bottom line is that a considered approach to a site's UX can lead to increased engagement and, ultimately, new business.

Digital marketing tools are increasingly sophisticated with ever expanding capabilities, yet at the end of the day the goal of business development is to build and strengthen human relationships in the real world. In this fourth and final episode of the Legal Marketing Studio's monthly mini-series on web design for law firms, Todd Rengel of Animus Rex takes us through the expanding potential of digital tools over the past two decades while reminding us of the need to remain grounded in the underlying strategic goal of all business development business: cultivating human relationships.

The nature of the web is constantly changing, giving law firms significant opportunities to leverage their websites in new and innovative ways. In the second episode of a four part mini-series on web design for law firms, Robert Algeri of Great Jakes joins me to talk about his agency's vision for law firms' websites as publishing platforms and their use of Attorney Microsites as one means of achieving this. There are some terrific insights on the potential for law firms' web presences.

Launching a four week mini-series on web design for law firms, this conversation with Janet Odgis tackles the case for beautiful design. Janet's cross industry experience gives her an expansive perspective on how to effectively communicate a firm's story through its website. She sees a websites functionality inextricably linked to its form: good design leads to effective functionality.

Eva Wisnik, founder of Wisnik Career Enterprises, launched the 2017 Legal Marketing Studio season with a conversation about what she saw from a training and placement perspective in 2016 and what these insights suggests we'll see in law firms' priorities in marketing and business development in 2017. Key takeaways: leadership and a clear vision is key to strong firms' performance; with many larger firms having clarified their branding and collateral, the emphasis in hiring is on PR and business development roles; alumni programming is being brought into the BD fold and writing skills and a service orientation are key to succeeding in marketing and BD roles.