(In short – if you have realistic expectations, a blog is right for every firm.)

Posted by Dana Minter

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

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

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.

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.

Do you (or the lawyers in your firm) deserve a place in the Legalese Hall of Shame?

Here are a few tips to communicating with your clients and your colleagues in a more clear, understandable manner.

• Take some time and read some previous correspondence you’ve written. Or, ask someone close to you to give you constructive feedback on the language you use (not another lawyer).
• Do you think you could simplify your language? Good. Acknowledgement is the first step.  Now, you just need break old habits.
• Why use a string of words when one word will do? ‘A large number of..’ = ‘many’. “In light of the fact” = ‘because’.
• Aforementioned. Heretofore. Notwithstanding. Ask yourself – do you really need these words?
• The overnight test. If you can, leave correspondence overnight and have a look at it the next morning with fresh eyes (and an open mind).

Make no mistake – writing simply and concisely isn’t easier – in fact, it’s quite the opposite.

However, your clients will love you for it. And, at the end of the day, this site is all about marketing for lawyers and law firms. And what’s the best form of legal marketing? Word of mouth.

For more on this subject (although written specifically about contracts), this article from Bloomberg Businessweek is an interesting read.

Posted by Dana Minter

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

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.

What is a Marketing Programme?

Your name is part of your marketing programme. Your logo is part of your marketing programme. Your reception area is, too.

In fact, every single element that your clients and potential clients are exposed to will project an image about your firm.

And so, marketing your law firm isn’t a radio campaign, or a double page spread in the AFR. It’s not a strip ad in your local newspaper, or a Yellow Pages ad.

It starts with you. Then, it works its way up to your staff, the phone manner of your receptionist – even the lift in the building your offices are in.

And so, you need to ensure that you, and your firm, are comfortable with the single most important element that will both attract and retain clients – an identity.

If you do nothing else, ensure that you have a strong brand personality.

What is the personality of your firm?  What do you stand for?  Do you have your own unique identity? More pointedly, do you even have an identity, or are you just another law firm offering a list of services?

Even if your firm offers more or less the same as many of your competitors, you will still have a unique personality. You just don’t know what it is yet. This is where an external marketing company can help. Marketing workshops, where you and the marketing experts can examine your strengths and build a strong individual identity for your law firm, are an invaluable tool.

If you have a limited budget but recognize the need to position yourselves in the marketplace, a marketing workshop is a cost-effective way to begin your journey. Once you have your own, unique personality, you have your all-important strategic foundation set.

Your strategic foundation is the solid ground on which every single piece of communications – both internal and external – should be built on. A strong foundation will support your business for many years to come.

What does your visual identity say about you?

The area of law is, by nature, a conservative one. Because of this, the logo or visual identity of most law firms err on this side.

Unfortunately, many firms interpret ‘conservative’ as boring. Deadly, dull boring. Just type ‘law firm logo’ into Google images and see what comes up. If your logo looks like it could fit right in (and, therefore, disappear) then it’s time for a re-brand.

Your logo and visual identity should stem from your strategic foundation. A professional graphic designer will ensure that your logo reflects the personality and image of your business.

Your most important tool – your website.

And let’s not forget what is rapidly becoming the most important marketing tool for any company – the website.

What does yours say about you? Websites are no longer a mere ‘on line presence’ that fills a gap. For small and medium sized law firms, they are the most important marketing tool for generating new business.

More and more, people are using the internet, not the Yellow Pages, to find services. You have one chance to attract their attention – if your website is generic, you’ll be immediately forgotten. An opportunity wasted.

Large law firms also know the importance of their website – many use theirs as a CRM tool, or an in information portal to drive their current customers to their site on a regular basis.

Whether you’re a one-man band or a multi-national, you need to ensure that your website is the very best it can be.

Build on your foundation.

Once your firm has all the elements in place – a unique personality, a logo and visual identity which reflects that personality and the most basic marketing tool, a professional looking website which represents your company properly, can begin building the bricks of your marketing plan, bit by bit.

A marketing plan doesn’t need to break your budget. However, to ensure that your law firm remains competitive in the marketplace, it does need to exist.