Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog

Just out: MLF Top 50 Best Law Firm Marketing Programs

The hotly-awaited rankings Marketing The Law Firm top 50 best marketing programs were just released.  You can find them online at

http://www.ljnonline.com/pub/ljn_marketing/20_7A/news/147710-1.html

Out of the hundreds of law firms with marketing programs, these 50 firms have attained the status of being considered the best programs in the country.

It is a testament to the fabulous strides that law firm marketing, business development and media programs have achieved over the last year. There is good news here: "Marketing is alive, well and prospering at many of the AmLaw 200 firms. This year, the MLF 50 showcases a wide range of firms and their marketing activities that can best be described by using a sports metaphor — a full contact sport. The profession has come a long way in terms of sophistication, depth and creativity," said MLF Editor-In-Chief Elizabeth "Betiayn" Tursi.

In the report, each firm is also listed by their AmLaw100 ranking. Interestingly, the firms that were MLF 50 top marketers were not in the top 10 of the AmLaw 100.

The firms were judged on their:

• Marketing strategy
• Results
• Marketing department staffing
• Communications/PR/media relations
• Commitment
• Advertising
• Web site and blogs
• Client service programs
• Outreach

Congratulations to Ed Schechter, CMO at Duane Morris, Anne Malloy Tucker, CMO at Goodwin & Proctor, Theresa Jaffee, CMO at Jenner & Block, Robyn Radomski, CMO at Sonnenschein, Beth Cuzzone, Director of Business Development at Goulston & Storrs, Susan Stone, Director of Marketing at Manatt Phelps, and the marketers and partners at all the other top-ranked firms.

BlawgSearch Makes Finding Lawyer Blogs Easy

Until now, the best option to look up lawyer and law firm blogs was Blawg.org.  Now, thanks to Tim Stanley, we can use BlawgSearch.  This handy new search engine filters out most of the irrelevant searches, so that visitors can find strictly legal blog content.

Tim is a legend in the online world.  He invented Findlaw.com, sold it to Thompson and now operates Justia.com, which designs Web sites for law firms.  He's also an expert at search engine optimization.

Tim Stanley's search engine puts organization and structure onto the anarchic blogosphere. BlawgSearch is currently tracking 900 blawgs in 40 categories. It lists the most popular blawgs, recently-used blog search terms, resources for blawgers, and the option to suggest a blog to track.  The search engine also lists recent posts and spotlights a "featured blogger."  This week it's Michael J. Hassen of Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro, the author of the Class Action Defense Blog.

Blawg.org, now found at http://www.blawg.com/,  just redesigned its site to display choices by category, recent posts, new blogs and "Most Popular Legal Blawgs."  I found it a little difficult to navigate.

In a head-to-head test, I typed "litigation" into the search boxes of BlawgSearch and Blawg.com. BlawgSearch found 998 listings, whereas Blawg.com found an anemic 48 listings.  Based on the simplicity of its interface and the powerful reach, BlawgSearch is the best option for I recommend lawyers and marketers.

Test Your Networking Expertise

Networking is a very good way for a lawyer to get new business. In fact I always include it when I'm working with a lawyer to develop their personal business development plan. So the question arises: "Are you any good at networking"?

The answer can be found in the online "Networking Quotient," invented by Thom Singer of Austin, TX, marketer and networker par excellence. It's a free quiz is designed to help you learn about your social networking skills for business and how your skills compare with those of your peers in several demographics.

The 30 question quiz takes about 8 minutes to complete and your results will be presented immediately. You visit www.networkingquotient.com, enter your email address, and a link to the survey is sent to you. Interestingly, the questions will pinpoint the areas that you need to work on. Your score is presented in a bar chart.

The highest possible total is 62 points:

• 51-62 points: Expert Networker.
• 40-50 points: Good Networking Skills.
• 30-39 points: Needs Some Improvement.
• Below 30 points: Networking Not A Priority.

The survey told me "You are on the right track with your networking, but it would be beneficial to your career if you made your professional network more of a priority." 

Many thanks to Thom for creating this sophisticated and fun test.  Thom writes an excellent blog, Some Assembly Required, and is author of a book by the same name, available in the LawMarketing Store for only $19.95

Lawyers Sound Off in the Pepper Pod

"The Pod Center," launched by 450-lawyer Pepper Hamilton, sets a new standard in podcasting by law firms. The Center itself is set up as a blog so that listeners have the option of subscribing to RSS feeds that feature audio only, or audio plus text (see the right sidebar). Readers can also listen to broadcasts directly from the blog using a convenient "Play" bar.

The podcasts themselves are structured as interviews of attorneys who are experts in the topic covered. Recent topics include:

• Dividend Recaps (Private Equity)
• Online Software Purchase Taxes (Tax)
• Criminal Background Checks (Labor and Employment)
• Workplace Smoking Policies (Labor and Employment)

"We think the new Podcast Center is an innovative program that positions the firm as cutting edge and tech savvy," said Brian Dolan, Marketing Manager for the firm, which has offices in seven states and the District of Columbia.

The lead podcast is "A Conversation with Spencer Abraham." He is a former Energy Secretary and U.S. Senator, currently heads The Abraham Group, an international consulting firm. Pepper Hamilton and The Abraham Group have recently formed an alliance to offer legal and business consulting services focusing primarily on the energy sector. The main Pepper Podcast Center is at: http://www.pepperpodcasts.com/.

Flash Greeting Cards Wow Clients

With the holiday season upon us, many marketers are fretting over holiday cards.  Some marketing-savvy firms are "wowing" their clients with something innovative and special. One of the coolest new holiday greetings options I've seen recently are Flash holiday cards. (Click the picture to see a larger image.)

These animated productions feature sharp graphics, live music and classic holiday themes, and can be a great supplement to your traditional print card mailing or as a standalone option that brands your firm as tech-savvy and cutting edge.

Take a look at a sample from Milbank (550 lawyers headquartered in New York) produced by eLawMarketing:

http://www.eminternet.com/ecards604/

(Be patient to allow time for loading).  It features a bright red envelope opening amid swirling snowflakes.  Contact eLawMarketing at 866-833-6245 to produce one of these for your own firm this coming holiday season.

Your Blog May Be Dead

That's right, your blog may dead online and have no real readership.  It could have fallen vicitim to one of the five most common snafus that can dead end your blog. 

Wake up, fellow bloggers, it's almost 2007. The halcyon days of blogging are over. There are 55 million blogs, according to Technorati.com (97 percent abandoned), and 1,430 law-related blogs, according to Blawg.org. The novelty has worn off. To truly succeed at blogging, you must avoid making the five most common snafus.

As I point out in an article in the November Law Technology News, the blog killers include:

1. Being boring.
2. Blabbiness.
3. Under-posting or abandoning your blog.
4. Tardiness.
5. The blog is not bringing in any new business.

For the full story, see http://www.larrybodine.com/articles.asp?Action=GetOneArticle&ArticleID=8.

GCs say "Learn My Business"

I kept hearing the same phrase over and over.  I was attending the LMA New England Conference in Boston last week, in the audience at the program "Understanding What Drives Corporate Counsel." Again and again the panel of corporate general counsel delivered the same message:

"Learn my business If you want me to retain you."

I've been hearing GCs saying this for years.  It is not an indication that GCs have nothing new to say.  It's a sign that lawyers and law firms have not been listening for years.  It's basic Marketing 101: know your customer's business, inquire about their business needs, and offer to help them.  But it's not getting through to the legal profession.

"Learn my business before you come to my office to present a dog and pony show.  If you talk to me about your firm but it’s not what I need, the conversation is over in 5 minutes," said Emily D. Dickinson, Senior Vice President & General Counsel of Hannaford Bros. Co., a retail supermarket company.

Echoing the point, Eric I. Cohen, Senior Vice President & General Counsel of Terex Corporation, said, "Sometimes a law firm will come to my company and they haven’t’ even looked at our Web site, learned who my management is, or learned what products we make.  They’re sending a message to me that they don’t care about my business." Terex makes mining trucks and excavators.

"The better RFP proposals I receive are not boilerplate.  The law firm has made an effort to know my business. The proposal is more than just their resumes right off the Web site; instead, they list similar kinds of work the lawyers have done to match the RFP," said Gregory B. Butler, Senior Vice President & General Counsel of Northeast Utilities, which is New England's largest utility system, providing electricity to more than 1.7 million people.

"I want to have a law firm partner who shares my dreams and expectations, shares my ups and downs, and shares my goal in making my company successful.  We’re going to be joined at the hip," Butler continued. "I measure responsiveness, quality of work and knowing my business."

There you have it: this is the key to getting new business from corporations.  Find out what products and services your target offers, inquire into the business needs and then offer to help.  Bingo: you've opened a new file.

The session was moderated by John Lipsey, the new VP of Corporate Counsel Services for LexisNexis.

The Importance of Search Engines in Marketing

I've been called as an expert witness on marketing in a court case, and was completing my report when I was struck by a Pew/Internet study, "Search Engine use in November 2005."  Granted it's a year old, but it dramatically shows where law firm marketers should be focusing their strategy: search engine optimization. The report states:

• 60 million American adults are using search engines on a typical day.

• The number of those using search engines on an average day jumped from roughly 38 million in June 2004 to about 59 million in September 2005 – an increase of about 55%.

• The use of search engines ranks second only to email use the most popular activity online.

Suffice it to say that the Web is the predominant source of information about businesses in today's world. The Web has become an important force in the commercial marketplace. Search engines are the first choice for business executives when they research a purchase for their business -- including legal services.

If your firm is not on the first page of search engine results when general counsel and business executives are looking for a law firm, you are invisible. Check yourself out -- Google your own firm.  Don't use your exact firm name, that's not a valid approach.  Instead use search terms that describe your firm, like "Chicago intellectual property law firm" or "insurance policy enforcement law firm."

If you're not on the first page of the search results, you have a big marketing problem.  You must fix it immediately by putting on your Web site the content your clients want to see, eliminating Flash graphics (which are search engine repellent), using your chosen key words throughout the site, and updating the site frequently.  You can also spend money and start a Google ad word campaign; they work.

But you've got to do something to be found by search engines.

A Marketing Lesson from Teddy Roosevelt: The Big Stick

I'm an admirer of our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, and have read many books about him.  His most famous quote is, "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."  This is applies directly to business development in law firms.

The issue arises when a law firm decides how they should hold their partners accountable for generating new business.  In my experience, some law firms are willing to put incentives in place to encourage partners to market or complete a personal business development plan. 

But most firms I've advised is loathe to hold lawyers accountable, by making business development a major issue at the partner's compensation review.  I call this carrying The Big Stick.

To have a business development program, it is absolutely essential that lawyers be held accountable.  See "Increasing Marketing Effectiveness At Professional Firms," a 2006 research study conducted by Suzanne Lowe and me. Accountability makes business development count; without it, biz dev is an optional activity.

Yet many partners are unwilling to include The Big Stick in their business development programs.  They don't want to be the ones to hurt another partner's feelings.  Some want to avoid responsibility and don't want to be measured themselves. But this is not the way to run a business.

If your firm truly wants to earn more revenue and get more business, you must have The Big Stick. My friend and co-blogger Patrick Lamb, a partner of Butler Rubin in Chicago, told us in our study, "We review marketing plans, because it’s something measurable. Every partner has a certain number of base points (a guaranteed income) plus discretionary points. We took a certain amount of points of the base points and put them at risk – 4-7 points – and it’s proven to be enough of an incentive. If a partner has not done anything, they do not participate in the bonus points; they are losing $30,000 to $40,000. This year, if they don’t qualify to get at least half of the credit, the gate to the discretionary bonus is closed, and it becomes a six-figure monetary loss."

And here's the kicker: "If they ultimately don’t reform, they won’t remain with the firm," Lamb said.  When I hear this, I know that his firm is serious about making money.  The are carrying The Big Stick.  Teddy Roosevelt would be proud.

Drinker Biddle Acquires Gardner Carton

They're calling it a merger:  Philadelphia-based Drinker Biddle & Reath and Chicago-based Gardner Carton & Douglas have announced their marriage. Details are in the press release. Steve Barrett is the CMO of Drinker Biddle, an AmLaw 100 firm with 450 lawyers. David D. Southern is the Chief Marketing Officer of the smaller Gardner Carton, with 150 lawyers.

But I view it as an acquisition: The new firm will maintain the Drinker Biddle name, except for its offices in Illinois and Wisconsin, where it will be known as Drinker Biddle Gardner Carton until 2008. The Web site URL will be www.drinkerbiddle.com. Drinker Biddle & Reath had $223 million gross revenues in 2005.  In comparison Gardner Carton & Douglas had $127 million gross revenues the same year.

The combination will take effect on Jan. 1, 2007, creating a firm with 650 lawyers and 26 other professionals across 12 offices.