www.helpareporter.com

I just learned about a great resource for anyone looking to do some public relations for their law practice (i.e. without hiring a PR firm).  Helpareporter.com is a website where reporters post requests for sources (for articles they are writing.) You can sign up to get daily feeds and scan them to see if there are any subjects where you might be an expert.  It looks like reporters from some of the top news sources use this so it is not just for obscure publications.  This service does not put PR firms out of business.  But for attorneys who have a limited amount of money to spend on law firm marketing, this looks like a no-brainer (of course I’ll report back if I see any problems with it after I start to use it.)

I’ve been observing JD Supra from a distance for a while.  The general business proposition has always sounded attractive (JD Supra provides a way for lawyers who create content to get that content distributed far and wide).  On its face, that sounds like a no brainer for anyone who cares about law firm marketing.  Automating your distribution channels can only help, right?  If more people see that you have written an article on something having to do with your area of expertise, then your reputation grows.

But that is only true if the “right” people see what you have published.  And that is what has always given me pause about JD Supra–until now.  As of a week ago, JD Supra and LinkedIn have joined forces to create what say will be the “world’s largest legal content distribution network”.

With the marriage of JD Supra and 70 million members on LinkedIn, lawyers who upload content can be assured that their articles will be distributed to individuals by industry.  Individuals who want to keep up with legal trends in a particular industry (e.g. real estate, financial services, biotech), can elect to receive “Legal Updates” that pertain to their particular interests.

The mechanics of how this all works is far beyond the scope of this blog post.  And it is way too early to tell how this will work.  But after seeing a demonstration in a live webinar, I’m convinced that this “power couple” is going somewhere that neither have ever been.  For the first time, I see very compelling reasons for lawyers in private practice to be involved in both networks.  By actively publishing on JD Supra, lawyers can reach professionals who are not yet in their LinkedIn network but who have interest in their subject matter.

There is absolutely a learning curve in all of this so don’t expect to jump on and see immediate benefit (also, anything that helps to build your reputation generally takes time).  But it is an exciting development and not one to push aside for a rainy day.

Several years ago, I was listening to a presentation on time management.  The speaker was talking about making time for exercise.  While that has never been a big issue for me, I took to heart what the speaker said because for most people, exercise is one of those activities that can easily fall to the bottom of the to do list.

The speaker’s suggestion was to schedule exercise on your calendar.  That will greatly increase the chances that you will actually get to the gym.

Business relationship building is similar.  For lawyers who are busy with paying client work, it is easy to let small acts of kindness get put off for a rainy day.

So what is the solution?  Schedule time each day (or several times a week) to look at your contact list and do something to make a connection.  The good news is that you don’t have to schedule a lot of time.  If you spend the first 15 minutes of each day going through your contact list and thinking of good ways to connect with clients, prospective clients or referral sources, you will stay connected in a way that greatly increases your likelihood of marketing success over time.

There are many small things you can do including making a quick phone call to say hello, sending along an article or link that you think might be of interest to someone, acknowledging someone’s promotion, birthday or other good news.   But making a habit of doing these things each day will greatly increase the likelihood that they will get done.

There has been a lot of discussion about alternative fee agreements in legal circles in the past year.  Corporate Counsel clearly want to see more of it.  But how do law firms incorporate these arrangements while still maintaining a high level of profitability?  That is the subject of my latest article in Lawyers Weekly.

I picked up a new law firm client yesterday with the help of Google.  I know a number of the lawyers at the firm and I even have a relationship with the Managing Partner.  I communicate with him on a regular basis and he is on my mailing list.

When I met with the marketing director who hired me, I asked him how he had gotten my name.  I assumed that the managing partner had recommended me; but as it turns out, the marketing director had not even spoken with the MP.

In the end, the marketing director identified me as someone who might be able to coach partners simply by doing a Google search.

The moral of the story:  make a plan and stick to it.  But understand that in the end, there is a lot of luck involved in generating new clients so make sure you are using a multi-media approach which includes live networking and social networking.