I received an email this morning from the CMO Council on its “Marketing Outlook for 2011.” While the research study made more sense to report in Q1, it’s worthwhile to use as a check-up as we edge into August 2011. The Study reports that marketing budgets are on the rise, with […]
Social media for introverts – Guest post by Paul S. Grabowski
I have worked with Paul Grabowski, Esq. at two well known Texas law firms, Andrews Kurth and Porter Hedges, where he led the marketing departments. He just wrote this post for Thom Singer’s blog (Thom Singer is also an Andrews Kurth marketing team alum), which should resonate with many of the lawyers who […]
How you can monitor social media buzz about you
Rob Kahn, Director of Business Development at Fenwick & West LLP, and Elizabeth Lampert, owner of Elizabeth Lampert PR, just wrote an article for the National Law Journal about social media. The publication date was July 4, 2011. After reading it, I searched for "social media" on the NLJ site - http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/index.jsp - and got […]
Commentary on Law360 Post, “How to Make it Rain by Marketing Individual Lawyers”
A legal marketing friend, John Eix, head of Regional Business Development – Texas for Hunton & Williams, sent me a June 24, 2011 Law360 article that I finally had a moment to read. It covers the age-old question of, “Do clients hire law firms or lawyers?” I have always insisted that they hire both, […]
What lawyers can learn from the high standards at Niman Ranch
Last night I attended a special event at Abacus, one of my favorite Dallas restaurants — a Niman Ranch dinner hosted by chef Kent Rathbun and Niman Ranch farmer, Paul Willis. If you enjoy four and five-star restaurants, you will be familiar with Niman Ranch products and its mission of: “… raising […]
Calling in-house legal marketers and business development professionals – A Survey
There is one day left to be a part of Content Pilot’s survey called, “Survey on Law Firm Proposals, RFPs and Managing Experience.” This is the second such survey, the first being conducted on a smaller scale in early 2010. Prompted again by recent conversations with C-level marketing/BD leaders and marketing directors […]
Three tiers of law firms and the Transatlantic Elite “Sweet Sixteen”
Given that we are still waiting for the results of the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament, I thought it was apropos to mention TheLawyer.com’s Transatlantic Elite Sweet Sixteen that it published in Q4 2010. Read about the firms that have been elevated to this coveted position. Briefly, they are: Allen […]
The secret to becoming a rainmaker – Part 2
On February 15th, I wrote a post called, "The secret to becoming a rainmaker." It was one of the highest read posts since I started my Law Firm 4.0 blog. I plan to add to this from time to time and will, very simply, call them Part 2, Part 3, and […]
Lawyers Beware: You’re being heard and watched (and read)
This morning I read a blog post from a great resource for lawyers published by legal marketing veteran Merrilyn Astin Tarlton and colleagues Joan Feldman and Mark Feldman, “Attorney at Work.” It reminded me of two recent experiences. Today’s Attorney at Work post is called “Wireless Hot Spot Safety Tips” and […]
Law Practice Management Class – SMU Law School. What’s on their minds?
I taught a course this week – Marketing on the Internet – at Mark Shank’s Law Practice Management Class at Southern Methodist University Law School. The LPM course was new last year – it attracted 14 students. This year, it has 49, and I expect next year it will exponentially grow again. […]
The secret to becoming a rainmaker.
I mentioned in my last post about civility that I have worked with lawyers nearly three decades. I’ve worked with a lot of brilliant, thought-leading and profession-defining lawyers. It’s a pleasure to have called them clients and friends. Not all of these remarkable attorneys could be called rainmakers. Some are, […]
Most days, I mourn the loss of civility.
I know you’ve seen it and have felt its sting. Rudeness by travelers, drivers, shoppers, waiters and others in the service business. It’s one of the most troubling, yet widely accepted conditions of our times, and unless there is a Peter Finch-style “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to […]
It’s time to make business personal.
In our world of computer-generated auto-replies ("I'm on vacation" or "I went to the dentist" or "Thank you for your question. In a week and a half, someone will surely get back with you" or "I can't help you, call Susie Drum, and if she's not available, leave her a […]
It’s not easy being green: Green initiatives in AmLaw 100 Law Firms
I just read about a recent Harris Poll of nearly 2,400 adults in which the results showed that Americans are less likely than they were in the summer of 2009 to be “green” and engage in various environmentally-friendly activities. A comparison between the 2010 and 2009 surveys reveals that fewer Americans […]
How low can you go? Guest post by Leigh Dance, originally published in LEGAL WEEK
One of my dear friends and a leading international legal marketing consultant, Leigh Dance, published this article in the January 13, 2011 issue of Legal Week. She is the Editor of the recent book "Bright Ideas: Insights from Legal Luminaries Worldwide," which was a compilation of 26 essays by global […]
“Why does marketing have to be so damned hard?” Asks Pat LaPointe (Metrics Insider Blog)
I have quoted Pat LaPointe in past blog posts about metrics and marketing. Pat is Managing Partner at MarketingNPV — specialty advisors on marketing metrics, ROI, and resource allocation, and publishers of MarketingNPV Journal. He starts out today’s post like this: Fact: Failure rates in marketing are astronomically high. Only […]
How does your firm define diversity? Read this article that appeared in The Lawyer.
One of my favorite legal industry consulting friends, Ann Lee Gibson, sent a link to this article this morning with the subject line, “You say potato, I say tater.” Thinking that funny, I couldn’t imagine the referenced article could be anything but. The article is stunning in how un-funny it […]
Let’s talk about lawyer biographies – 2010 AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices
The fourth Foundational Best Practice is lawyer biographies. (If you are new to my blog and that opening sentence doesn’t make sense to you, please read these earlier posts about the 2010 AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices Research: one, two, three, four and five – in chronological order […]
Measuring the value of social media in driving traffic to your law firm website
It’s mid-December and much of the country is buried in a cold snap. It’s also the time of year where we all seek frenetic joy in the holiday shopping, eating, drinking, socializing Spirit. And, it’s also budget season – still – for many law firms. While we are seeing an […]
Managing Partners Appreciate Strategic Role of Marketing Department – By Janet Ellen Raasch, guest blogger
The Rocky Mountain Chapter of LMA has always had robust programming, but one of the best things they do is have a local chapter member, Janet Ellen Raasch, write synopses of the programs (Janet’s byline and contact info are below). I thought this one was especially well done, and it’s a […]