I’ve written a lot of posts that start with, “What lawyers (or law firms) can learn from …” Search by that phrase on my blog and you’ll find posts about fabulous and lousy expensive restaurants, unexpectedly terrific hotel experiences, travel, dentistry, vacuum cleaners, brand launches and more. It’s always grounded and […]
Results – 2016 Global 50 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices – Executive Summary
Introduction We have finished the 6th analysis of the world’s top law firm websites based on Ten Foundational Best Practices. The first study in 2005 set precedent by identifying the top ten foundational things law firms must do to ensure their websites were satisfying what visitors wanted. It was the […]
Marketing Technology is the new Black – but success in a law firm requires some rules
I just spoke at the sold-out-standing-room-only LMA Tech Midwest (#LMATech) conference in Chicago. It was the first Legal Marketing Association tech conference held in the Midwest, but it followed in the very successful footsteps of its older brother, LMA Tech, which takes place in San Francisco each year. The audience […]
Content Pilot Announces “2016 Global 50 Law Firm Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices”
Content Pilot announced that it has begun the research for its next study, “Global 50 Law Firm Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices.” This is the 6th such study, which focuses on identifying and establishing foundational best practices that matter to visitors, and that, based on client interviews, move the needle […]
When millennials become law firm leaders, how will they communicate to clients?
It’s no surprise that millennials like to text. I do, too, and often I prefer it – and the more deliberate emailing – to speaking on the phone. It just depends on what I need to accomplish. My goal of effective communication (i.e., understanding and being understood) always trumps the medium […]
“Don’t Waste a Perfectly Good Crisis”
"Don't waste a perfectly good crisis, " is what I heard from a law firm managing partner whose firm has recently gone through some challenging times. It's not just a great lesson in optimism, it's important for us all to remember as we encounter and confront challenges – and identify […]
Experience Management is not an “initiative” – it’s got to be in your firm’s DNA
Here is a snapshot of how law firms approach the topic of “Experience Management:” It’s someone else’s job – “Put a few people together from IT and marketing and see what you can come up with. Make a recommendation. Don’t bother the lawyers.” Toe in the water – “See if you can […]
Lawyers and CPAs – This January, resolve to make your bios move the needle – Make them 3-D
Doing anything that moves the needle is hard. All the “I resolve to do this and that (eat more kale / break a sweat / cook more / drink less)” business requires so much diligence and determination that, by now, most resolutions are on the cutting room floor. I used […]
Lawyers as the “Wounded Healers” – and other reasons they suffer from depression and addiction – Guest Post by Jim Dolan
Working with lawyers more than 30 years has taught me that they are as different as snowflakes or fingerprints. Any attempt to broadly categorize them as this or that is neither helpful in gaining a better understanding, nor fair. After all, I wouldn’t want someone to look at me and […]
Website Case Study: Kaplan Kirsch – Not your typical law firm
Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell is a 17-lawyer firm with a remarkable story to tell. Operating out of two offices in Denver and Washington, DC, lawyers’ work and clients span the U.S. Kaplan Kirsch handles the legal work for the country’s most visible and important infrastructure, transportation and landmark projects. And, […]
Branding and Website Case Study: Louisiana Litigation Boutique Keogh Cox
Investing in smart strategy isn’t just a big firm luxury. Increasingly, aggressive, ambitious boutique firms with a good story are spending time and money to design plans to make smarter short- and long-term choices. Keogh Cox, with one office in Baton Rouge, LA, is one such firm. With a 45-year […]
“Lean Data” makes more sense for law firms than big data.
Big Data is getting bigger. According to research firm IDC, big data services and technologies will grow at a compounded rate of 27%, exceeding $32 billion by 2017. The greatest challenge is knowing how to make it work for us in a law firm – how can we learn from it, […]
What Lawyers can learn from “A focus group of one” – and dispelling the illusion that you’re right
I’ve taken a hiatus from my blog for a variety of reasons – other than my normal workload, I’m co-authoring a book with Greg Siskind (The Lawyer’s Guide to Marketing on the Internet, 4th Edition, published by the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association), and I fell, […]
What law firms can learn from OpenTable’s new Brand
OpenTable has become ubiquitous among busy professionals who want a personal valet to make reservations for us, check menus for gluten-free options, find out what other like-minded diners had to say about food, service, atmosphere and noise – and to fundamentally make our lives easier. The promise they make is […]
Law firms+data+marketers: the love-hate relationship between marketing and math
The first “marketing and math” presentation I gave was for the now-defunct Marketing Directors’ Institute conference 15 or so years ago. It was, looking back on it, rudimentary – but it was a start. I told the law firm marketing audience to care about client and matter profitability, realization and […]
Good ideas, true creativity and brilliant design – how are they received?
For every dazzling creative idea we have, for every unique and differentiating strategy, we need an audience. People who have open hearts and minds who will see that our approach is precisely what they need just when they need it. It actually happens sometimes, and it’s exhilarating to be on […]
5 pieces of year-beginning advice from 5 top legal marketers – a/k/a the “5x5s”
There is a blizzard of year-end advice and year-in-review recaps on blogs, news reports, Twitter and other media. I am fatigued by looking back, so I offer these 5x5s that were presented at the November 7, 2014 LMA Texas Regional Conference by five senior legal marketing and business development authorities. […]
What courage looks like in a law firm.
Jordan Furlong, legal industry consultant and popular blogger, and I have recently been emailing about “courage” and what it means to lawyers and their clients. He just published a penetrating post called “What Leadership Really Means,” that gets to the heart of courage and why it’s so important for lawyers to […]
Law firm innovation – Read the TED takeaways and 10 “Shark Tank” presentations from the 2014 Futures Conference
I am happy to share this “insider’s” view of the 2014 Futures Conference at Suffolk University Law School October 16-17 in Boston. Following Tom Sager’s keynote, three TED-style speakers (Jeff Carr, Abe Geiger and Ron Staudt) each spoke for eight minutes, then 10 facilitated teams of attendees dispersed to classrooms […]
Still buzzing about the 2014 Futures Conference at Suffolk Law School in Boston
If you want a running commentary of the 2014 Futures Conference, search for #COLPM2014 on Twitter. It’s an excellent, real-time, meat-of-the-matter summary of the six TED-style talks, Tom Sager’s keynote, our ten facilitated breakout teams and their “Shark Tank” presentations to our judges. The program was designed around innovative thinking […]