Doerner Saunders Daniel & Anderson LLP (“Doerner,” which rhymes with burner) is the oldest law firm in Oklahoma – its founding and Oklahoma’s statehood happened at about the same time. It is a fresh-thinking, contemporary firm and it has been from the beginning – working with clients who were shaping […]
“My lawyers commit little acts of murder everyday.” So said a Fortune 100 GC.
It's startling to read that, isn't it? I heard this Fortune 100 General Counsel of European operations speak several years ago on a panel about client service and client relationship management. I wrote about it before in this blog, and I've mentioned it many times in speeches. I'll never forget the eerie […]
What lawyers can learn about messaging from an unlikely source — Dentistry.
I attended a wedding in Vancouver last weekend and met a successful and seasoned dentist from Abilene named Dr. Christie Leedy. Being one of those rare people who actually likes going to the dentist, I didn't hesitate to engage her in conversation. She said one of the most riveting phrases […]
Charlatan SEO company gets sued by its unhappy law firm client
From the very first days of Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines, lawyers have wanted to appear at the top of search results – “above the fold.” That spawned a slew of hucksters forming companies that promised unwitting lawyers that they could get them to show up on top […]
The best lawyer videos I’ve seen – watch Richard Hsu
“Video” comes up in every website conversation I have with lawyers and marketers. Everyone wants to add video to their websites, but few know how to approach it strategically, uniquely and so that the end result is superior to what you had without the added media. I have written about Richard […]
The Fifth Annual AmLaw 200 Trends Analysis
This post was originally published by Content Pilot’s Patrick Fuller on the Deductive Intelligence blog. This is the fifth year that he’s published, through various sources, his take on the AmLaw 200 trends. The 2013 AmLaw 200 was released in early June, and to borrow a line from Led […]
Website visitors don’t read (and we’ve known this for a long time)
Law firm website analytics show that visitors don’t read the content that we painstakingly create. Visitors are scanners – they efficiently scale the pages with their eyes in a big F pattern, catching a headline, keywords or infographics that catch their eye. We hope that something registers, and that there is […]
Managing Partners Share Forecasts and Insights – LMA Texas – Dallas City Group
Guest post by Lisa Whitley Coleman Four Texas Managing Partners recently discussed industry trends, marketing and business development roles and necessary changes to fundamental law firm business models at an April Legal Marketing Association Dallas City Group panel luncheon hosted by Haynes and Boone LLP. The room was filled with attorneys, […]
“Like” law firm Benesch and help fund Red Cross Disaster Relief
Smart law firm Benesch is raising money for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and its Facebook visibility at the same time. If you “like” Benesch, they will donate one dollar – up to $5,000. Such a smart and good move for the law firm. Spread the word, “like” Benesch and […]
What law firms can learn from my experience with the strangest dessert in San Francisco (maybe the world)
While In San Francisco to speak at the monthly San Francisco LMA luncheon on Website trends (with Barbara Abulafia, Keker & Van Nest, Jeff Yerkey, Right Hat and Per Casey, Tenrec), my colleague Keith Wewe, another couple and I were hosted by Elizabeth Lampert for dinner at Twenty-Five Lusk. This modern and tony restaurant, located […]
The most startling finding from the 2012-2013 AmLaw 100 Websites research – A troubling deficiency
Content Pilot is just releasing the findings of the 2012-2013 AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices research. Objectively reviewing the websites of the nation’s largest law firms is an arduous process. There are Ten Foundational Best Practices – must-have features and functionality for today’s law firm sites – and each FBP […]
Competing On Intelligence
Originally published in Strategies, The Journal of Legal Marketing, issue no. V15.N02 Guest Post by Patrick Fuller April is a great month for sports fans. It begins with the NCAA Final Four, followed by the start of the Major League Baseball season, the NCAA Frozen Four, the start of […]
What lawyers can learn from “passage des crapeaux”
My friend and extraordinary international legal marketer, Leigh Dance, described an event or rite of passage that occurs every year in Brussels (where Leigh lives) – the “passage des crapeaux.” Leigh noticed “big orange traffic signs at both ends of the huge forest saying that the main/only road across the […]
What Law Firms Can Learn From John Patterson
Guest Post By Patrick Fuller John Patterson is one of those historical figures that very few people are familiar with, but whose legacy has impacted both the business world as well as the legal profession. Patterson was educated at Dartmouth, and following graduation, joined his brother in the coal business […]
What law firms can learn from Banana Joe
On Monday, February 11, no one outside the dog-show world knew of “Banana Joe,” the affenpinscher who won Westminster Dog Show’s platinum crown – “Best in Show.” Two days later,the five-year old super-pooch is ubiquitous, appearing on all the major networks and in every brand name online and print news […]
The future of CMOs – according to FORBES
A Forbes blogger posted an article called, "Is the CMO Role Dying or Thriving?" Here is how it starts: What’s happening to the CMO role? This question has been hot for a couple of years. Some suggest the role is nominal and “dying” while others suggest it is bigger, more […]
Embrace Life – The most moving YouTube video
Today's post is not about marketing and business development technology, knowledge or experience management, websites, marketing strategy, lawyers or law firms. It's to share a link of a remarkable and powerful advertising campaign promoting the use of seat belts. It could be one of the finest, most moving ads I've ever […]
Experience management/databases – best practices in content gathering
Gathering and managing content that is relevant to a firm's buyers of legal services is the bane of every marketer's existence. I've seen this one activity paralyze entire departments. The team is flummoxed by finding the most efficient way to engage lawyers so they provide the information that marketers need […]
Year-end website bio housekeeping for lawyers in 30 minutes or less
People don’t like to start on new projects the last few days of December. The pre-holiday bustle that focuses around family, food, faith, fa-la-la and folly has subsided, and we look ahead to the first full week of January to really start work. This year, these last December days are “lost” days […]
2013 advice for law firms to ensure a bright future
My friend and colleague Leigh Dance published a terrific article in AmLaw Daily structured as advice for global law firms. But most of it applies to law firms of any size. Leigh’s advice comes from more than 20 years consulting to corporate legal departments in multinational companies and global law […]
Experience management and databases – The results of a survey of CMOs
Experience management and how to get one’s arms around it surfaces in every conversation that I have with firm leaders and senior marketers. As I noted in a February 2012 blog post “Experience Management – it’s been elevated to mission-critical,” cross-selling and revenue growth are the two top concerns of firm leaders […]
Stuffing v. Dressing – an unnecessary war of words
Thank you for reading my blog! Truly, I am so grateful. I take your comments to heart, and invite suggestions to improve it and recommendations for future topics. As a thank you, I share a favorite poem about the ubiquitousness of our kitchen tables and my special Cornbread and Sausage […]
The Secret of CRM Success in a Law Firm – Guest Post by William A. Smith
Marketing technology implementations are challenging in a law firm for a variety of reasons. The demand for trusted data for use by lawyers exactly when they need it is increasing, and the pressure on marketers to deliver just-in-time, relevant information and intelligence is greater than ever before. I recently spoke at the […]
Waller: A successful law firm website case study
Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP is a 200-lawyer firm headquartered in Nashville, with offices in Birmingham, AL and Austin, TX. The work that “Waller” does in the healthcare industry belies its relatively small size. It is known throughout that industry as the leader, the number-one firm, the “player” in […]
Mine human capital to raise law firm revenue and profit – guest post by Jim Dolan
I have written several posts that focus on how lawyers can improve their business development success. The secret to becoming a rainmaker and The secret to becoming a rainmaker – Part 2 are two recent examples. In both posts, the advice is simple – something every lawyer could do. Yet, […]
What law firms can learn from my surprising experience at the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia
I haven’t always had a stellar experience at Ritz-Carlton hotels. In fact, in a lifetime of hotel stays, I’ve had three very disappointing stays at three different Ritz properties. They stand out in the blur of my business travel, however, because they were aberrant — Ritz-Carlton personnel are trained to stretch the […]
5 Tech tips to increase your productivity – Courtesy of Attorney at Work Blog
David King Keller surveyed a few of us at the Legal Marketing Association’s Tech Conference in San Francisco on October 10-11, 2012 and published an article on the Attorney at Work Blog. The focus of the conference was for speakers to share big and little ideas that “can increase your visibility, your productivity […]
Love your law firm marketing job more – Part 2
I intended to share the skeletal Smart-Work Matrix worksheet that Allen Fuqua uses in my last post. Here it is. This is an example of how Allen and his marketing team plot their tasks and projects at Winstead.
Love your law firm marketing job more (or the “Smart-Work Matrix”) – Guest post by Allen Fuqua
I spoke about project management and how it can be used in business development at the LMA SE Mini-Conference in New Orleans last Friday. After having a glass of Pinot Noir with Allen Fuqua last week, I decided I had to include more about his Smart-Work Matrix in my presentation. In my […]
A TED Conference LMA-style – Part 1. Guest post by Allen Fuqua.
If you aren’t a TED-head yet, it’s time you become one. TED Conferences are described by attendees as “The ultimate brain spa” and “A 4-day journey into the future, in the company of those creating it.” TED stands for technology, entertainment and design – three huge subject areas that are shaping […]
CMO or Super Hero? (Guest blog post by Aleisha Gravit)
One of my favorite blogs, 3 Geeks and a Law Blog, originally posted this on September 25, 2012. It was posted by one of my favorite bloggers, Toby Brown (one of the 3 Geeks and the Director of Pricing and Analytics at Akin Gump) and written by one of my favorite […]
What’s your message? No, really – What’s your message?
Is your message what you say it is – let’s say, your positioning strategy that results in a tagline – is that your message? Or, is your message what others say about you, or post about you on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest? Marketoonist Tom Fishburne spoke at Google’s marketing conference […]
Bloomberg Law video — Law firm predictions for 2013 – opportunities for the nimble.
Kent Zimmerman, a consultant with the Zeughauser Group, was featured in an interview with Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia about the state of the legal industry in Q4 2012 and 2013. Using the recent Citi Private Bank Annual Survey of Law Firm Performance data, plus insights gleaned from Zeughauser Group’s law firm […]
How law firms can grow revenue in a more client-friendly way
In a catch up conversation with Ed Schecter this morning, we discussed a subject about which we are both passionate: how law firms can strategically grow revenue. This isn’t a new conversation at all. In fact, it’s a tired one that we’ve both had countless times in our careers. The […]
Content Pilot announces NEW Law Firm Website Ten Foundational Best Practices – 2012-2013
As Content Pilot and Right Hat gear up to conduct the AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices research for 2012-2013, the two companies have combined forces and released the latest list of “must-have” attributes for your law firm website. This has been substantially overhauled from the 2010 list. “Mobility” is […]
Back in America
I've just returned from two weeks touring and cruising Italy, plus other countries that are on the coastlines of the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. It was a great immersion in ancient cultures and centuries-old cathedrals and basilicas, combined with the joy of spontaneous, contemporary exploration and choice-making. But this post isn't about […]
Client service tips that will make a difference in your relationships today – from Ritz Carlton and more
Anyone who has stayed at a Ritz-Carlton property appreciates why the company is twice a winner of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award winner. And if you are fortunate enough to frequent the same hotel, the next time you arrive they make you feel like they missed you — really missed […]
The Twitter logo: 2 years old and over-the-hill
Twitter leaders decided that the old bird was over-the-hill. And too fat. No more tubby, toddler-appropriate tiny “Ts,” either. Logo refreshes aren’t unusual, but they typically happen over decades, not months. For example, take the evolution of the NBC logo (all the NBC logos below are the property of […]
The yin of the web designer and the yang of the client – whose ego wins?
For nearly 30 years, I have bought and sold design services, and since 1996, I have worked with website designers. Wait, I shouldn’t count those first years of web design, because they were horrifying experiments in this crazy new medium, but I can legitmately herald 2000 as the year that I […]
One of the most important lessons that “connected” lawyers must learn
I just read an HBR Blog post by Peter Bregman that I've had on my imaginary "to-do" list for three days. The title caught my attention: Two Lists you Should Look at Every Morning. Finally, early Saturday evening I "found time" to spend three minutes reading it. To Bregman's point — […]