Late yesterday Greg Lambert published a post on the 3 Geeks and a Law Blog called "Visualizing the Dewey & LeBoeuf Implosion." He includes several charts that track where the Dewey lawyers have landed. While the reports of departures have gone on for months, it's handy to see it all […]
How long do CMOs last in their organizations?
When I took my first marketing director position in a law firm in 1987 (I know! A million years ago.), the function and position were so new, no one was measuring average tenure of senior marketers. Five years later when I moved to another firm to take its top spot, […]
If it were REALLY a good idea – Part 2
This is a continuation of yesterday’s blog post http://lawfirm4-0.typepad.com/law_firm_40_blog/2012/04/if-it-were-really-a-good-idea-.html . . . Tom Fishburne, the Marketoonist, who designed the cartoon I posted yesterday, wrote his own blog post about it. He says something that we’ve known in legal marketing circles for a long time: “In innovation, we often fixate too […]
Do the leaders of your law firm use social media? Employees trust leaders who do.
By now, most law firms have inked social media policies, yet leaders’ fears are still cresting at the thought of firm employees’ fingers running amok and damaging the firms’ reputations in some way. It seems this trepidation is a one-way street, however, as BRANDfog’s 2012 Social Media and Leadership Survey […]
Brilliant strategy and brilliant execution – are they strange bedfellows?
The CMO Network on LinkedIn has an interesting discussion sparked by the question: What is your opinion on Execution trumps Strategy?…Do you agree?… This is both a rapid and rabid-responding group, and those who have come down hard on the side of strategy (as they slap-slap the faces of the […]
Columbia Business School study proves that ROI is an elusive partner to marketing departments
Senior law firm marketers have been seriously talking about ROI since at least the mid-1990s. Believing in its relevance and importance to financial decision-making, this “proof” has frustratingly been like a mirage in the desert. For years we have relied on anecdotal data and stories – an RFP or pitch […]
Your vote and opinion really matter to me! Deadline to vote: Friday, March 30
I am proud to announce that my company, Content Pilot, has been included in the first-ever National Law Journal list of legal vendors for 2012. We have worked hard to be a part of this important national list – and we’ll work even harder to stay on it. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NLJBest2012 If […]
Loads of Buzz: What happens if an employer asks for your Facebook password?
Since I first read the story last week of the employer requiring an applicant to share his Facebook password during an interview (a condition for employment), business, government, politicians and loads of lawyers have commented on its appropriateness and legality. The article, in the March 20, 2012 edition of The […]
Content Pilot’s “Velocity” wins IAC Awards – Best Legal Mobile Application
NEWS RELEASE – March 26, 2012 THE 2012 INTERNET ADVERTISING COMPETITION AWARDS (iAC) HONORS CONTENT PILOT’S “VELOCITY” The first mobile app to drive sales in the legal industry wins “Best Legal Mobile Application” Dallas, Texas — Content Pilot LLC announced today that Velocity™, the first mobile application that drives sales […]
What does a Chief Strategy Officer in a law firm do?
I reconnected with Janis Nordstrom, Chief Strategy Officer at Wolf Theiss, at the Marketing Partner Forum in Miami in January – and peppered her with questions about her globe-trotting legal marketing career. It’s different, mainly, because she is an American LMA member living in Austria and working for a non-U.S. […]
Bits and Pieces from James Kane’s LMA Keynote Presentation – March 15, 2012
Like nearly 1,000 other LMA members last Thursday morning, I listened to our conference opener keynote, James Kane, speak about “loyalty.” It could be the best keynote I’ve ever heard in my life. Thanks to Mark Usellis and Jill Weber, conference co-chairs, and Betsi Roach, LMA Executive Director (plus the […]
The Elephant in the Room: Marketing Technology Trends you can’t Afford to Ignore
That's the title of our ILTA/LMA panel at the Legal Marketing Association's pre-conference CMO session tomorrow. (This is the first formal joint venture between LMA and ILTA – the first of many, I hope.) Starting at 11 CT, Kate Cain, the new Director of Market Intelligence at Sidley, will kick […]
SMU Law School Law Practice Management Class 2012 – What’s on their minds?
Last week I taught Southern Methodist University’s Law Practice Management class – for the third year in a row. In 2011, the students were mostly 2Ls, but this year, there was an equal mix of 4Es (evening students who have fulltime jobs during the day), second and third years. They […]
Richard Hsu – a master communicator who happens to be a lawyer
I just read Richard Hsu’s blog post about Life Sciences Collaboration Agreements. You might wonder why my usual interests in marketing and technology (or food/wine) are veering in that direction. When you watch his presentation, you’ll know why. Watch the one with the music (the music Apple used to introduce […]
Attorney business development: Here’s proof – it’s all about face time.
In my last post, I wrote about metrics and reports you can create to get your arms around the value of various forms of attorney business development. My post prompted a phone call from the President of a leading training company, where we discussed digging deeper into these business development […]
How valuable is each hour of attorney business development time? The answer: It depends.
Last month I attended a panel workshop called “Building Reporting: Marketing and Business Development Metrics” at the 2012 Marketing Partner Forum in Miami. Presenters were Steve Bell, Chief Client Development Officer, Womble Carlyle, Adam Severson, (then) Director of Business Development & Marketing at Faegre (and now Chief Marketing & Business […]
What law firms can learn from my wonderful experience at Davio’s in Philadelphia.
For the second year in a row, I spent Valentine's Day in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. (Appropriate enough on this holiday where "love" is front and center.) And, for the second year in a row, I had dinner at Davio's. Davio's is billed as a Northern Italian Steakhouse. […]
What is the dollar cost of directory referrals to your law firm website? And are the visitors worth it?
Senior marketers have been questioning the value of Martindale-Hubbell listings with increasingly loud and passionate voices. For AmLaw 100 and 200 firms, the cost ranges from a bare-bones listing in the $20,000-40,000 range to a comprehensive contract that costs well into the six-figures. And many firms have eliminated it altogether, […]
Mobile apps or mobile websites: What’s a law firm to do??
When my company, Content Pilot, last conducted the AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices research in Q2-3 2010, there were only four of the country’s largest law firms that had mobile apps. A few more had mobile websites, which were typically poorly designed, bare-bones renditions of their big site. […]
What law firms can learn from my disappointing experience at Del Frisco’s in New York.
I met LMA friends after work at Del Frisco's last week in New York. It appeared that most of Manhattan was in the tight surroundings – we were elbow-to-elbow and four or five rows of people back from the bar. Patience and a booming voice were required. That isn't the […]