This article I found today on abovethelaw.com is a thoughtful look at answering the questions – ‘what would a blog do for our firm?’. It’s an interesting and positive read.
(In short – if you have realistic expectations, a blog is right for every firm.)
Posted by Dana Minter
Staring at a blank page?
This blog post from Law Firm Internet Marketing outlines the basics of creating contend for your website. Of course, if time is an issue, you could always appoint a copywriter to do the job for you (naturally, we’d be happy to help).
Posted by Dana Minter
Not the lawyer lookalike - this really is Malcolm Turnbull
He’s quite a distinguished looking gentleman, who from some angles looks remarkably like ex- Liberal leader, Malcolm Turnbull (no, it isn’t him).
I’ve lost count of the number of law firm websites I’ve seen him on, smiling confidently to his fellow colleagues. I can determine this from their expressions that this fellow is a natural born leader of men and women and, no doubt, much admired throughout his chosen profession.
Except, I’m not quite sure what that might be – this week, I saw that same winning smile in a boardroom full of accountants, and elsewhere, I saw him taking control in a meeting of engineers.
The truth is, of course, he’s a photo library model, someone who probably couldn’t tell the difference between a law book and a lollipop.
In fact, a major law firm we worked for did some research into this issue and discovered that clients actively rejected seeing carefully posed images of beautiful people in any kind of law firm communication. What they want to see is humanity – to see the real lawyers, with real personalities, who they want to meet and whose experience they can trust.
Library sourced images can often make your firm look like a faceless, generic organisation, without unique values, or a true personality.
Having worked on highly effective marketing campaigns for many firms, I know that a considered strategy that highlights your strengths, together with well -crafted copywriting and professional photography of your key people, will produce by far the most effective results.
Posted by Ian Minter
I found this interesting self-promotion film on one of my favourite websites – www.trendhunter.com. It’s really a mini-documentary, featuring a pro-marijuana defence lawyer called Allison Margolin, who’s based in Hollywood.
Putting the controversial subject matter aside, I can imagine it probably works very well and, I must admit, found it quite interesting and informative. It’s not the right approach for every lawyer, but I can see something like this being quite effective for, say, environmental lawyers.
What do you think?
Posted by Ian Minter
What do Mad Men and legal marketing have in common?
Read this great post from the US lawyers marketing blog ‘The Legal Watercooler’ to find out (and make sure you forward it to all of the lawyers in your firm).
Posted by Dana Minter
Who says ‘Partners Announcements’ photography needs to be all the same? We say, declare your independence – think beyond the typical ‘head and shoulders’ portrait image.
Take this Vanity Fair style portrait announcing the new Partners at Baker & McKenzie in Australia. Used in an advertising campaign, on their website and with an accompanying video “The Making Of The Ad”, this clean image utilises white space and an unusual perspective that helps to make a multi-national law firm look personable and contemporary. We should add that the “Ladders” campaign brought Bakers unprecedented response, universally positive.
Click on the photo to enlarge.
Tags: Creative Law Firm Marketing, Law firm photography, Lawyers photography
Legalese, I hear you say, is a ‘tool of the trade’. Lawyers work in a fact based area that often needs to use technical terminology: specialised words and phrases need to be adhered to. And, legalese can be used for a purpose (but that’s another post).
Here’s the problem for you, the lawyer (or the person who works daily with lawyers): it becomes a habit that’s hard to break. And soon, legalese creeps into emails, letters, newsletters and other everyday correspondence pieces.
“Experts get paid better than generalists.” says US lawyer marketing expert Dave Lorenzo in this thoughtful article.
He goes on to say exactly what we tell clients on a daily basis: identify your strength, leverage it and use it build your business. (Not sure how? Give us a call.)
Posted by Dana Minter
Just for fun (or for cringing) – click here to see a collection of The World’s Worst Lawyer TV Commercials.
If you’re the marketing manager of a large or mid-tier law firm, this article isn’t for you – but if you’re a single practitioner or a partner in a small law firm, this might kick start your thinking.
To many law firms, the idea of marketing their services sends shivers down their spine. That’s because when they hear the term ‘marketing’, they think it means the style of advertising that personal injury or “no result, no fee” lawyers use. To them, marketing is for ambulance chasers’ and a no go zone.
In fact, for any business to become successful, marketing is an essential element of a business plan. This applies to soft drinks and law firms alike. It’s just the form of marketing that differs.
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