HP, Dell, and Lenovo make great computers.

But Apple is a great brand. Adidas and Converse are excellent shoes. But Nike just does it.

BMW and Toyota make amazing hybrid cards. But Tesla? Well, they’re Tesla.

Some brands seem to be born leaders. Forged in the fires of competitive marketplaces, they find a way to rise above the competition. They grow fast. They become more profitable, more quickly.

But possibly the most powerful asset they develop is the intangible. They have “it.” The right stuff. Marketing mojo. Southwest. Amazon. Fitbit. Chipotle. GoPro. Starbucks. However, the list is not endless. In fact, it’s very limited. These are these brands “Alpha Brands.” Like the Alpha Dog, they are leaders of the pack. The may be bigger, or not. They may be tougher, or not. But one thing is undeniable—they are recognized by all as leaders.

And lead, they do. They lead in style and substance. What they do is not always successful, but it is always substantial. And significant.

Walmart is a market leader because they sell more. But they don’t have “it.” Toyota is a powerful brand, but not an inspirational brand. Jet Blue is innovative, but not a major force in its industry.

What makes an alpha brand standout, not just as successful but as an icon? What makes us go from liking or wanting their products to intense desire, respect, and admiration? What makes people “disciples” or even evangelists of Alpha Brands?

This was the basis for a meta research project I embarked upon with an elite group of graduate and undergraduate students at Pepperdine University. Thus began our search to decipher the Alpha Brand code.

THE ALPHA MENTALITY

We’ve all heard of the Alpha Male. It comes from studies of wolves, originally by Rudolph Schenkel in the 1940s. It was then greatly updated and expanded with a book called The Wolf: Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species by David Mech.

The actual theories have migrated away from the aggressive dominance of these wolves into more of “leader couples” that procreate new packs of offspring. The concept of “alpha” has since taken on an identity of its own in modern business.

Today we think of Alpha Brands as companies, brands of products that are leaders. They are not just leaders but they are powerful leaders, leaders with distinct points of view, with the power to stand up to others, and with an unrelenting sense that leadership is in their brand DNA. Our studies have indicated these brands share key traits, traits that become almost synonymous with their markets, or certainly innovation in their markets. They command respect, market position, and excessive brand value far beyond competitors.

Armed with an understanding of these traits, we set about to find what actions caused them to emerge. Our goal was to final causal relationships—things that these brands did that caused them to be who they are.

The result is a list of nine different business practices and attitudes that are found in all of our Alpha Brand examples. Remember that some companies may in fact be larger. Others may command great marketshare, mindshare, or brand equity. But Alpha Brands seem to transcend simple financial success, and they win over the hearts and minds of customers.

Here’s a rundown of the traits our findings revealed about Alpha Brands.

Innovation

Clearly this is a dominant trait. Alpha Brands appear to gain large and rapid followings as a direct result of innovation. As an example, this is the hallmark of Apple. Their products are cool, hip, problem solving, and innovative. While some will argue who the inventors of products actually were, the collective consumer mindset sees Apple as the innovator of the GUI (graphic users interface) personal computer, the iPod (and MP3 players), the iPad (and media-based tablets), and the iPhone (smartphones in general).

Differentiation

It takes guts, but it pays to take the risk and be different. CNN changed television and news forever with the 24-hour news channel. Prior to CNN, news was only found a certain hours on television, or in a pinch, “news breaks” when things when there was breaking news to be found. But CNN opted to be different. Many thought they couldn’t fill the 24 hours and that viewers would tire.

Rapid Rise To A Leadership Position

Fitbit enjoys one of the rare-air branding perks of being a product that has become a common term. Just as Kleenex is often used as a term for facial tissue, Fitbit leaped on the scene shortly after the great recession, and emerged as a cool tech/fitness device. The company has had operation and financial issues, but less than a decade later, it is still synonymous with fitness tracking.

Response to Hidden Customer Wants/Needs

Listening to demands of a customer or client is key to building a better mousetrap. For decade upon decade, sports fans devoured the sports pages of newspapers. As television moved into media dominance, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network emerged as a sports-lovers dream channel. Whereas newscasts only devoted only a small percentage to sports scores, and newspapers and magazines offered deeper though less timely sports coverage, ESPN was the fix sports addicts secretly hungered for. ESPN recognized a deep desire and fulfilled it with what is still to this day, some 30 years later, a market leading media property.

Fearless Perseverance

Sticking to what you passionate about is critical to becoming an Alpha Brand. I remember attending a tradeshow where the fledgling company GoPro was giving away free cameras. They looked like little toys, and people literally handed them back when they got them. Little did they (and me) know what was to come. These little cameras were revolutionary. They were easy to use, durable as heck, and launched a whole new category of photo product. GoPro has not sat back on its laurels. It has in fact continued to lead and dominate the action camera market, despite the entry of from large companies like Sony, Garmin and Polaroid.

Profound Belief In The Concept

Much has been written about Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman, creators of Nike. But unless you have read about their early history, you might not realize that they started business as Blue Ribbon Sports. They operated that way for years before parting ways with their major supplier. Renamed as Nike, their first ad campaign, “There is no finish line,” launched the brand into a new direction. Rather than rely on features and specifications of shoes, Nike embarked on created a brand attitude. This morphed into “Just Do It” a few years later, and the rest is truly brand history. Phil and Bill brought intimate market knowledge to their brand and let that emerge as a primary force for selling the product.

Clear Understanding of What Their Customers Value

As airlines fought to provide new services, including many tied to upper class service and new large-scale aircraft like the Boeing 747, Southwest Airlines bucked the trends. By researching, studying, and testing new services (or lack of) Southwest realized that their customers wanted cheap flights, lots of them, and would give up assigned seats, meals, and priority boarding to get what they wanted. It was only by knowing this that Southwest was able to innovate and dominate the short haul air business.

Accept Risk (Fight)

Steve Ells worked in food, and witnessed the rise in popularity of taquerías and mission-style (oversized) burritos, but a burrito-focused restaurant was an iffy proposition at best. Launched with a loan from his father, Ells figured he needed to sell about 100 burritos a day at his restaurant Chipotle. While not impossible, this was in the face of competition around literally every corner. By his second month, he was selling more than 1,000 burritos a day. Growth was rapid and soon he was seen as a challenge to major chains. But thanks to the innovative assembly line, a huge following among college students and millennials, not to mention an influx of investment from McDonald’s, Ells beat the odds, and the competition, to brand leadership.

Clear Understanding of Market Positions

A century ago, furniture was an investment. Craftsman built tables and chairs and sofas, many of which are still around today. By mid-last century, economy versions were appearing. Ikea, a Swedish startup in the 1940s, wove its way into a unique niche. They created furniture with modern Scandinavian design, easily transported and assembled, and affordable. With this unique positioning and product offering, Ikea was able to avoid head-to-head competition in many furniture niches, and found this unique brand was easily exported to other companies. They still operate on basically the same concept with more than 400 stores in more than 40 countries, selling nearly $40 billion a year. •

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“A professional service firm without a website is one that will be out of business in a year…two tops,” said an accounting firm managing partner recently when discussing marketing online.

Five years ago it might have been an option, but not anymore. Not having that online presence is arguably like not having a phone, it just limits your communication with the rest of the world.

Social media, though, is not the same. Yes, social media is popular. Pew Research estimates about 70% of adult Americans use some type of social media. Broken down by age, nearly 90% of millennials use social media, with Gen X at about 80%, younger baby boomers about 65%, and the biggest fall off comes at those over 65, with just 35% using social media.

Using social media is not required marketing for professional service firms, but they are, as a group, moving very rapidly in that direction. But with so many social media options, where should businesses and service firms go in the social media universe?

We counsel a lot of clients, and we have found no two are alike. What social media works for one firm, might be totally different for others. Even within the same practice area, or geography, it varies widely.

We have found that there are 5 primary social media platforms that professionals need to be aware of, monitoring, or active on, if they want to be seen as relevant with the marketplace.

We have determined these are the big five:

Now nearing the 2 billion user mark; very popular, all purpose social media; accepts text, images, and video; rapidly growing marketing tools such as advertising and boosted posts

Arguably the most respected professionally; excellent tool for pier to pier connections; used heavily in recruiting and job hunting; nearly half a billion users

Originally “image” oriented, now using video, too; used by more than 25% of Americans; currently a favorite of millennials; used by half of all major U.S. brands

More than 300 million active monthly users, but more than 700 million registered users; appeals to users when news or frequent updates are important

Yes, YouTube is social media; more than 1 billion users; reaches more 18-49 year olds than cable TV network; generating billions of view of hundreds of millions of hours of content…daily!

Social Media info graphic. Image courtesy Walter Lim

Our experience is that each company, firm, or brand, typically has one social media that is used the most by their clients and customers, but that it takes some research to determine which. Additionally, firms are well served by exploring what customers and clients are using social media for. Is it news, entertainment, images, videos, text, or interaction?

Typically we recommend that firms and brands create a presence on each, but focus on the one that proves most engaging with clients and customers. The reasons for being on the others, are that social media tastes change, and you don’t want someone social media “squatting”—opening an account in your name and treading on your reputation.

There are wildcards, too. For some industries and for some audiences, Pinterest has become a big player. For Digital Natives, the next generation after millennials, Snapchat is growing rapidly. Blogging is another often overlooked social media many firms are finding customer and client engagement with.

If being vibrant, relevant, and attractive to a variety of potential markets and demographics, think about social media platforms and which ones might work best for your firm. Start with those mentioned in this article, and you’ll be well on your way to social media success! •

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During my many years of learning about networking and fostering relationships, I have probably heard every networking myth (i.e., excuse for not putting forth the effort to network). Let me dispel at least some of them.

One More Contact

“I have enough contacts. I do not need to establish one more.”

That may well be true for you, so you think. What a burden it is (he said, factiously) to spend the time to connect with another…(fill in the blank).

My answer is “You Never Know.” That very next person may be your very best connection, friend, business client, etc. Why not be open to at least a phone contact, especially if you trust and respect the person who is giving you the connection? Do you have confidence that she knows you well enough to make the effort to connect you?

In our business and personal lives, there are obvious direct links, people with whom we can develop meaningful relationships. So what about the randomness of a next contact? Many network groups have copied the ProVisors troika concept; that is, arranging a meeting of three people outside of the large group meeting. This setting typically enhances the in-depth understanding of one another’s business and personal life. If a relationship is meant to develop, the troika is a key ingredient.

Now, suppose that one person in the troika is not a direct link, referral source, or resource. Yet, that person has a family connection to a large business, one which really needs your services. The randomness of making connections occurs more often than you might think. Besides, even if there were no direct link or the “random” family business, you can still show up and find out how you can help that person.

Many people resist that one more contact because they feel it is a burden or obligation. How can they befriend someone new, send them business, or serve as a resource to them? You can always find ways to give to someone else. That giving does not have to include a new client.

Don’t Like Small Talk

“I hate small talk. It is tedious and boring. So how do I avoid it?”

Most people want more than chitchat or small talk. But some of it is necessary as a way of greeting others or not being awkward in social settings. Small talk can lead to deeper conversations, or you can direct it there. The art of the segue is probably the most underrated personal communication skill. Often, humor is a good way to switch topics or focus in a conversation. Use it if it is a natural part of your personality. False or stilted attempts at humor are worse than not invoking humor. Be true to your self. The best way to improve your communication style and impact is to get help from a professional coach who can personally train you.

I do not consider myself the most inspirational or ideal public speaker. I am much better, and more comfortable, leading a group setting, whereby I can interact with others and respond to their dialogue and comments. Prior to presenting to an audience, I have the natural or normal trepidations. I find it interesting that some people are perfectly comfortable giving a prepared speech, but very insecure in a first one-on-one meeting. Find your level of comfort and work to improve it. It may be the difference between being average or successful. Like most speakers/presenters, the more I practice my delivery, the better the outcome. In Own the Room, the authors explain that good preparation does not mean memorization or reading from a teleprompter. It does mean knowing your materials, capturing a tone and rhythm, and then sharing yourself with your audience. To that end, I enjoy presenting at least a part of me in every talk.

Networking is Beneath Me

“I am a senior professional/executive. I will likely never meet or connect with someone on my level.”

Maybe not, but why preclude the possibility of making that connection? EVERY HUMAN NEEDS AND WANTS TO BE CONNECTED TO A LIKE-MINDED COMMUNITY. I think even Henry David Thoreau left the wilderness to return to some societal connections; and, maybe to get his writings published!

Each of us knows or knows of high-powered, well-connected people who were born into privilege. Some have been mentored by industry or political power brokers. Some have just insinuated themselves into and among high level connections that provide a continual flow of capital, opportunity, career moves, or access to the right resources. Still others have parlayed family members or legacies, or offspring of the wealthy, into situational success. At the same time, the above examples of apparent access to money, power, or higher levels of achievers were really accomplished by connections to the “right” people. The central tenet is still about relationships. My supposition is merely that, at some time, everyone needs help from someone. Starting with clubs or sports as kids, people begin to belong and make friends. There are numerous types of loose or well-structured organizations that proliferate in our personal and business lives.

Margaret Wheatley, a consultant who studies organization behavior, concluded:

Relationships are all there is. Everything in the Universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone.

Author Mitch Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie), stated: “Build a little community of those you love and who love you. We all need that core community of love. Without it we are either lost, adrift, or without purpose and meaning in our life.” The stronger that love corridor, the easier it is to put yourself out there, and fail.

As a junior and senior in high school, I had been told by a local business person that I would receive a full scholarship to the University of Michigan for basketball and baseball. Looking back on that time, I was never in direct contact with the head coach for either sport. I was relying on the word of a local “scout,” since I did not understand the recruiting process. How naïve of me, or maybe how relatively unimportant I was to Michigan.

The only other school to which I applied (and was accepted) was Dartmouth. My high school football coach and Athletic Director talked briefly to the Dartmouth coach when he visited our high school. Though I played football in high school, I was not planning to play that sport in college. He knew I also played basketball and baseball, so he emphasized the academics and the fact that I could play these other sports.

I made a recruiting trip to Dartmouth with my parents. What a stark difference in athletic emphasis and facilities between the two schools (Big 10 and Ivy League), to say nothing of the talent disparity.

When I was sent a letter by Michigan’s basketball coach and asked to walk-on (not granted an athletic scholarship), I was extremely disappointed. My entire life’s focus and athletic dreams had included playing at The University of Michigan. The Ivy League, which included Dartmouth, did not (nor does it today) provide athletic scholarships. I was granted a student loan to Dartmouth, which allowed me to matriculate there.

How did that setback or failure turn out? It wasn’t all bad. I played both sports at Dartmouth, earning All-Ivy honors for three years in basketball. And, I got an excellent education.

Whenever I have been forced to take a new or different path, I have made it work. But not without “falling down” on occasion, or struggling financially. Remember why I created the networking organization. I was forced to figure out how to survive and build a business, unlike any of my other past experiences.

Too Young To Network

“I lack the experience to talk with or share anything with most of the people I meet. They will not pay attention to me.”

As PNG was growing slowly throughout the 1990’s, there was some thought to attracting younger professionals with great upside potential. But the older pros were resistant, wanting to keep the community serving their needs. The strong younger ones persisted; a few even became group leaders. It is at this level, group leader (GL), that you are accorded an elevated level of respect. You not only decide which persons can join your group, but how the meetings will be conducted (given the basic framework within which all groups operate).

ProVisors has adapted well to accommodate all types of professionals, including many in their ’30s and even late ’20s. The pressure is on these younger members to deliver ideas, connections, and referrals. So long as they share first or pay it forward, age differentials disappear. In fact, many groups target younger people, attempting to create a more energetic, fresh communication.

Obviously, you are never too young or too old to begin networking. Parents should encourage their children to build relations and friendships very early and often in life. As you find your passion/occupational path, you may want to reach back and out to these prior connections. When I left ADLV in 1987, I had no more than 6 names in my Rolodex. From that paltry number, I contacted a senior person at KPMG. He was kind enough to hire us for one of his clients, a valuation engagement that was large enough to carry our firm for several months. But no one should be in that desperate a strait. I was very fortunate for the great business jumpstart. I will never be in that dire position again, nor should you.

What else can you do as a younger professional or executive? Most importantly, get out of the office. Even if your primary job is not to generate business, will anyone in your firm turn down a good assignment that you originate?

Here are a few ways to start branding yourself, even as a younger person:

1. True passion trumps all. Express what you are passionate about, though in a matter-of-fact way. We are drawn to the person who can articulate why she enjoys her work. That makes us more curious about how we can help her.
2. Give. Give. Give. Find out what is meaningful to others, even seasoned veterans (old folks!), and reach out to offer something. Giving to others triggers the “human guilt switch.” When we receive something of value that we did not solicit, our brain receptors are wired to record that occurrence in our long term memory. Especially unforgettable are those key introductions you make that result in a new friendship or business relationship.
3. How many actors who “suddenly” become famous did not toil in some anonymity for years? Very few.
4. Arrange meetings with your elders and learn from them. Find out how they forged a career, and what can you do to best present yourself. People want to help eager younger people. So ask.
5. Organize a mastermind group of younger professionals. Develop a chemistry with those in the group most likely to be resources and referrers for you and your clients. While you should always be open to receiving, the best way to be a receiver is to start by being the giving quarterback.
6. Start your own firm or move to one where your value is better appreciated. There may be a time when you are ready to go on your own, or with a few partners. Choose those partners wisely, with clearly defined roles, compensation, life style, decision-making procedures, etc. The ultimate arbiter of a successful venture is the trust in one another. If complete trust is lacking, wait for a better opportunity.

I have experienced good to awful (painful, in fact) “partnerships.” Spanning my business career, I have started five firms, bought one, and sold four. That leaves two companies that I continue to own and operate. Most of us need to work cooperatively with others, in our firm or outside. The least successful of my ventures were those whereby my reliance on others to deliver their promised output did not match my expectations.

No Need to Network

“I have no desire or need to network. I am busy enough.”

I wonder how many people who said that before 2008 can say the same thing today. For the vast majority of professionals I know, there is a new normal of activity. The hectic pace of work from 2003 to 2008 has been replaced with periods of less demanding workloads, punctuated only periodically by high activity reminiscent of that five year period.

I also think that those who go to lengths to avoid meeting with others outside your firm are just more reclusive. If you never have to worry about your next engagement or where you need to spend your work time, you are blessed.

However, you are also missing the opportunities to learn vital and current information from others, often useful to your clients and/or other executives in your firm. And, you are not taking advantage of the personal growth which occurs each time you interact and refine your message or brand. These interactions are constructive in terms of furthering your career and your connections with key persons in your “space,” industry, or the community at large. Reframing an old adage: “Never turn away a potential gift-horse in the anticipation that it is a Trojan horse.”

My Work Sells Itself

“The quality of my work sells itself. I will always have clients come to me based on my professionalism.”

They may, and they may not. Clients are more fickle these days, requiring more attention, positive reinforcement, and some fee concessions. Since 2008, in most professions there is increased scrutiny of our services and fees. The downward fee compression is particularly vexing, since the financial, accounting, and tax standards for quality and work product are much more stringent.

The best way to ensure a steady stream of prospects and repeat clients is to perform to the utmost of your ability and standards. That is axiomatic. However, without our at least highlighting the benefits of our work, some clients will never know how well we performed. You can be a major “megaphone” for other professionals simply by reinforcing the high quality of their service to common clients, prospects, or referral sources. A complement from a respected person usually carries more clout than self-proclamation. •

Naked Without A Network is Davis Blaine’s second book and is available on Amazon.com.

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There has been an argument of attorney advertising ethics since the Supreme Court opened the doors for attorney advertising back in 1977 (Bates v. Arizona State Bar 433 U.S. 350). To this day, many senior partners feel resentment toward any kind of advertising, even to the point of resisting the use of websites for many years. Just a few short years ago, many attorneys thought that having a website was optional. Today many consider working without a website to be “business development suicide.”

With the rise of social media, the legal profession is again facing conflicting opinions on social media’s place, its rules of use, and the ethics involved in participating. What appears to be different from the initial wave of attorney advertising of the after the 1977 ruling, and even different from the Internet wave that first hit in the 1990s, is that many attorneys are rushing into the social media space rather than avoiding an online presence.

Social media has the lure of being not only a great source of legal and case-specific research, but also as a business development tool. To begin to understand the minefield of social media ethics, it’s important to go further back to understand just how social media has transformed our way of communicating online.

Social Media, Web 2.0 And What They Mean

The first wave of the Internet, what might be called “Web 1.0”, was not so much a new form or communication, but rather a new media platform. For many it was simply another “place” to post information.  When the first websites came out, they basically mimicked ads, brochures, newspapers, and even broadcast programs in style and content, only they were accessed through the Internet. Law firms, if they had websites, typically posted general information about the firm, its practice areas, and profiles of the key attorneys.

Web 2.0 and social media is different is because actually changed the way we communicate via the Internet. Most importantly,  what was one-way communication online has become two-way communications and conversations. Formerly companies, brands, media companies, and yes, law firms controlled the flow of information on their websites. Now viewers and users have easy access to more information as well as the ability to engage in conversations or post their own information.

ABA Commission Proposal On Use Of Technology

State bar associations have been rushing to keep up with social media, and the first wave of case law has been hitting the courts. In an effort to create some kind of national standards, the American Bar Association’s Commission on Ethics 20/20 has just released its initial proposals relating to lawyers’ use of technology based client development tools. While not likely to be adopted until fall of 2012, the proposals are seen as a general indication of where the ABA sits on several keys issues.

The Commission is seeking to clarify the difference between a “potential” client and a “prospective” client. The Commission’s proposed wording of Rule 1.18 (a): “A person who communicates with a lawyer about the probability of forming a client-lawyer relationship and has a reasonable expectation that the lawyer is willing to consider forming a client-lawyer relationship with respect to a matter us a prospective client.”

While the term “potential” client has not been fully explained yet by the commission, it is believed to indicate the universe of all public persons.

The general idea here is that use of advertising, websites, and social media are okay when directed at “potential” clients. This becomes important in light of the ABA rules on advertising, whereby the ABA identifies a difference between “communication” and “solicitation.”

Advertising Rule 7.3 (a) states “A lawyer shall not by in-person, live telephone or real-time electronic contact, solicit professional employment from a potential client when a significant motive for the lawyer’s doing so is the lawyer’s pecuniary gain” with a few exceptions, such as contact with another attorney, family member, or has a prior professional relationship with the lawyer.

The Commission seeks to define communication as less targeted than solicitation, such as advertising toward the general public rather than a single person or entity. So general advertising, Internet advertising, or responding to requests for information, even when automated via the Internet, are considered communication, and not solicitation, when targeted to the general public.

Another area addressed by the Commission is recommendations, but unfortunately it did not address the most common one of the day, the LinkedIn recommendation. Rule 7.2 (b) currently prohibits a lawyer from giving anything of value for recommending a lawyer’s services, with a few exceptions. The commission noted that many law firms are now using websites and social media, and that recommendations are becoming more of an issue. On note of the Commissions was the use of promotional t-shirts, and offering a prize to anyone posting a picture wearing the shirts. For the moment, the Commission has indicated that the wearing of a t-shirt does not inherently constitute a recommendation, but this is an area the Commission will be looking to address more carefully before adoption of rule changes.

Other Ethical Areas Of Social Media To Keep An Eye On

Several social media areas have become “hot spots” for attorneys using social media. Here’s a brief survey of some of these, and while they may have originated in other states, many social media ethicists and legal journalists believe these to be the main areas attorneys need to stay current on no matter what state an attorney is practicing in when engaging in social media activity.

1

Social Media As Advertising

The trend in classifying social media communication is social media is governed by advertising rules and regulation. As such, it’s prudent to review not only The State Bar of California rules and regulations, such as Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1-400 on Advertising and Solicitation, but also the California Business and Professions Code from the Legislative Counsel of the State of California.

While some advocate “Advertising Material” disclaimers, others have adopted more simplified disclaimer statements. ABA rules require this for some advertising applications, As law in this area emerges, it appears prudent to assume that social media activity is very likely to be considered advertising, and therefore attorneys should use the same cautions as any other public communications, such as websites, advertisements, business materials, brochures, etc. As basic guidance, this includes general tenets such not making untrue statements, not presenting matter in confusing or deceitful ways, not omitting necessary facts, using incorrect titles for “specialization,” or failure to properly disclose the nature of the communication. While disclaimers are not fool-proof, it is better to have a well written one than not at all.

2

Unauthorized Practice Of Law

As simple as it seems to not practice law online in a social media context, this appears to be a slippery slope. Attorneys active in blogging and social media “Q&A” sites, especially in back and forth communications, can inadvertently create the possibility of attorney-client relationships.

Particular attention needs to be paid to two-way communication, such as blog comments, Q&A areas, and chatrooms. Depending upon the information that is shared, attorneys can run the risk of chatting or connecting with clients or potential clients. One tactic being used by some legal bloggers is to either not allow comments, or if comments are allowed, they are not responded to by the blogger, allowing for information and opinions, but not ongoing conversation.

3

Location & Geography

With the Internet, there is no geographic protection. Conversations by attorneys online in the San Fernando Valley can be shared with people across the country and even internationally. When discussions or conversations emerge, they may and will very likely cross geographic boundaries, and possibly even resulting in unauthorized practice of law in a state in which you are not admitted to the Bar.

On the flip side of this issue is another potential location problem, only this time it’s too much knowledge. Recent cases have come to light where attorneys posted on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Foursquare, or other sites that identified their locations through GPS devices. In some cases, this has been interpreted as violation of confidentiality.

4

Blogs Vs. Websites

Is a blog a website? In common usage, a firm’s website is place that holds information about a firm, its practice areas, and biographical information of attorneys and personnel at the firm. A blog is a type of website, typically one by which the blogger disseminates news, information or opinion on a frequent basis. A blog can be a part of a firm website, or separate.

With requirements to archive legal communications, law firms have begun using blogs more actively for news feeds, because many of the popular blog platforms, such as WordPress and Blogger, have automatic archiving. Using blogs has made this easy and inexpensive.

The biggest problem in blogging is that some attorneys have used blogs as soapboxes, and offered public opinions in areas that have later come to cause problems with clients or cases. The use of blogs to relay news or information without comment is becoming a more common use, even to the point that many newsfeeds on legal websites actually use blog software, though opinions and comments may not even be featured as blog content. A suggested approach is to treat your blog as any other official communication, avoiding confusing, misleading, or false claims.

5

Social Media As Research

Social media has been a great new research resource for many attorneys. The ability to connect with large numbers of other attorneys and non-attorneys very quickly has made it one of the primary uses for many attorneys.

Trouble has arisen for some attorneys who have sought to acquire information through less than ethical means. Cases have emerged where attorneys anonymously conducting questioning via social media. Courts have not had a favorable view of this.

Conclusion

The most important point to put into practice in social media is that if you’re unsure of usage or ethics, contact the state bar association for clarification.  Using caution is definitely recommended when embarking on new social media “campaigns” or efforts. By minimizing exposure to some of the areas identified here, attorneys will be able to maintain a prominent social media presence while staying clear of several pitfalls that social media, even in its infancy, has placed in the legal profession’s way. •

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As a CEO, a president, a managing partner, you are the figurehead for your company. You are the leader, the north star, and the light to which your employees look to show the way.

Today’s business leader is under great pressure to grow revenues and profits. The economy, the Internet, globalization, and deregulation have teamed up to push us to move faster and grow more quickly, something much easier said than done.

So how does today’s business leader embark on a path of growth? Where does here or she turn for the science, strategy and support to move the company forward? It the past, the first step was leaning on sales. Maybe you push them a little harder. Maybe you try to incentivize them a bit more. These strategies can and do typically work—temporarily. We’ve learned that you can only push sales departments so far before they break, and then you’re worse off than you started. A quick read of Daniel Pink’s Drive, a great book about what really motivates people, teaches us that the old “carrot and stick” approach is quite limited in its effectiveness. In fact, it can train employees to actually perform worse.

During the recent economic down turn CEOs increasingly turned to the CFO for assistance. When the top line isn’t growing, squeeze the books to improve the bottom line. Cut here, cut there. Heck, slash and burn if you have to. Many companies were able to increase profits, but those profits did come at a price to the firm. In the wake of cuts, company morale, benefits, inventories, R&D, and vendor relationships paid a dear price.

At a certain point, the business leader really must find a way to steer the ship toward more profitable waters, where revenues can grow and so can the company as a whole. That path is most direct when the CEO focuses his or her efforts on strategic marketing as a growth initiative. (Marketing, in this sense, is different than sales. Sales is the direct action of interacting with clients and customers to generate a sale. Marketing is the collective set of all activities, short term and long, that creative all of your business activities and driving revenue.)

The challenge for many CEOs, company presidents, and business leaders, is the same as that in our schools. Great teaches know how to teach, but when they are “promoted” to become school administrators, they often lack the skills necessary to run a school. They’re out of their element.

Today’s business leader has most likely come up through either the financial ranks or sales. While bringing lots of important and valuable knowledge and experience to the C-suite, those resumes also have their downfalls, and we’re witnessing that more and more in today’s business world.

As CEO, president, or managing partner, you rely on your management team to help you execute plans and assist with strategic decisions. To work with your financial team, you need to know how to read financial documents, balance sheets, cash flow projections. To work with sales, you need to know your accounts, your products, services, and pricing.

But to create, initiate, and drive a successful marketing strategy in today’s business world, you really have to understand three key marketing factors.

Marketing Strategy Is Not A Luxury—It’s A Necessity

There was a time when a great new product or service could “sell itself.” Word of mouth was all it took. In the past there were fewer product offerings, less marketplace clutter, and less opportunities to advertise.

Not so much anymore. There are new products, new services, new companies popping up all the time. Some are near, and some are far, but thanks to the Internet, they all seem just a click away.

This has force everyone to have to fight harder to get customers and clients. Some professions, such as medicine, law, and accounting, have learned this in painful measure. For a long time, marketing and advertising in these professionals was frowned upon, unethical, and even illegal. Now we see these fields “catching up.” Who hasn’t seen the banner across a bus saying, “Accident?” or the magazine ad offering to reduce wrinkles, increase bust size, or restore sexual vitality.

As people rush to advertise products and services, unfortunately it creates huge amounts of wasted expenditure. John Wannamaker’s famous quote, “half of all my advertising is wasted…I just don’t know which half,” comes to mind. Without research, knowledge, or a good strategy, I’d bet that more than half is waste.

Rather than “just trying something,” today’s business needs to have a specific marketing strategy. Where as “advertising” refers to just placing an ad, marketing is sum of all your marketing activities, including advertising, PR, promotions, networking, pricing, R&D, and distribution.

A good marketing strategy will look at both the short term and longer needs and goals of the company. All to often CEOs are reactive with short term tactics, which sometimes harm long term strategies. Done correctly, research into customer needs and wants should dictate a clear marketing strategy that is then implemented through specific tactics. Jumping prematurely into tactics results in the classic “Ready, Fire, Aim” mentality.

Another common error that often accompanies a lack of strategy is the lack of action. Many companies that are playing marketing “catch up” become confused, indecisive, and slow to implement. It’s the “paralysis by analysis” syndrome.

In my experience as a marketing and brand consultant, almost any strategy is better than no strategy. Companies with wrong strategies are often disciplined enough to change and improve strategies, while companies lacking a clear strategy tend to wander aimlessly in the marketplace.

Jack Welch, when asked about strategy and vision, admitted it was important, and that GE had worked hard on it. He then went on to say that once you have the strategy you’ve got to, “implement like hell.”

A good marketing strategy should identify who your target audience(s) is/are, and how your product or service will address a want or a need of that target audience. It should also identify key strengths and weaknesses, both yours and those of your competitors. And finally, it should reflect what makes you and your brand different, interesting, and valuable to your target audience. Once you’ve determined these important bits of data, your marketing strategy needs to find the best way(s) of communicating that with your customers.

To Focus On Marketing, Focus On Your Customer

James Carvel will forever be remembered as the guy who orchestrated Bill Clinton’s presidential election strategy with the simple line, “It’s about the economy, stupid.” In marketing a product or service, we just need to change it to, “It’s about the customer, stupid.”

Companies tend to focus too much on themselves. They focus on what they have done, what they want, and how they want to do things. Well, again, the Internet has made that attitude a death wish for many companies.

Today’s customer controls the information flow. The public, via the Internet, chooses where they go, what they read, and what information they want to find. They have also found a voice that formerly didn’t exist. Now they can write, post, blog, comment, and review just about any kind of product or service. And don’t think those don’t matter. Reading those customer comments have become an very important part of the customer “shopping” experience.

Today’s successful companies have adopted a customer-centric point of view. Rather than creating a product or service and trying to sell it to the public, they do research into what the public wants and needs, then delivers. Today’s marketing posture is about solving problems, filling needs, and delivering upon wants.

While we’re on the subject of wants and needs, lets be clear. Most companies try to sell things people need. Most people buy things that they want. Only sometimes do the two intersect. Selling needs is about logic, whereas wants are about emotion. We may need socks, but if we’re not emotionally attached to them, we just buy the first pair that fills the need. But shoes? Marketing shoes is all about fashion, and fashion is about emotion. We want them to look good, feel good, and most importantly, we want to feel good in them!

To create a customer-centric marketing strategy, you must learn everything you can about your customers (and potential customers). What do they like? What do they need? How old are they? How and where do they shop? At then end of purchasing your product or service, what will make the transaction successful?

A recent survey of investment professionals revealed something most brokers didn’t know. When the economy tanked, many investors began switching brokers and wealth managers—not because of losses, but because their trusted advisors didn’t return phone calls on a timely basis! The study also found that most investors would gladly give up a little in earnings in exchange for a bit more security. Those are critical bits of information you would want before creating a marketing plan for wealth managers.

One more aspect to becoming customer-centric is to provide customers with ways of communicating with you. Having an 800 number and a street address are just not enough. Communications through websites, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are becoming the preferred places for customers to begin conversations Today’s marketing is less about telling, and more about two-way conversation. Make sure your strategy involves listening to what your customers have to say.

Perception Is Reality

It’s a sad truth for many, but a truth nonetheless: perception is reality, even if it’s not the truth. Are you perceived as being a top lawyer or accountant, of making a better product, or delivering a better service experience? If you are, that’s great. If not, can you achieve that position before your competition does?

I recently saw a demonstration of this. A speaker told a group that Apple was coming out with a new coffee cup. It was going to be made by Apple, and would cost around $20. When asked who would buy it, without any additional information, most people in the audience raised their hands to say they’d purchase it. When asked why, one response summed it up: “Because it’s Apple, I know it would be the coolest coffee cup made.” That coffee cup doesn’t exist, and no one had ever seen one, but they all had the perception that it would be worth $20.

I had the recent experience of consulting with a law firm about websites. I identified competitive firms, as listed by the local business journal. I then showed the managing partner a few of the best competitive websites. He saw one, and jumped out of his skin shouting, “You can’t compare us to them. I know that firm and they’re half our size.” I then showed him how his large firm’s “little” website was dwarfed by the size, content, and design of the smaller firm’s website. The perception was that the smaller firm was much bigger, much better, and much more progressive than the older, larger firm. It was perception, not reality, but to those looking at the website, that perception became their reality.

So how do you control perception? For one thing, you need to have a significant “share of voice”. People who don’t do marketing aren’t heard in the marketplace. In today’s business world, customers what to see you, hear you, find you, and reach out and touch you. So make it easy by letting your voice be heard. Websites, blogs, press releases, articles, and social media are great at keeping your voice in the marketplace.

One way of boosting perception is to find ways of gaining “3rd party” endorsement. You can say how good your product or service is, but it will be much more believable if someone else says it for you. Getting testimonials, write-ups, and endorsements from experts are incredibly powerful ways of gaining perceived stature.

Another way of controlling perception is “shape” conversations. People don’t want to be dominated in conversations, but they do like learning and being guided to new understanding. A family law mediator, for example, may write an article or blog on the high cost of litigation, and discuss advantages about mediation. Accountants can talk about changes in tax laws. Product manufacturers can have engineers or researchers create white papers or reports on product issues customers are concerned with.

Shaping perception is easier when you are able to position yourself of your company as experts. If you become a source or information or insight, customers and potential customers are much more likely to listen to you. Writing articles, teaching, and public speaking are good ways you push information out, and they typically help you gain perceived because the magazine, school, or organization sponsoring it is, effectively, endorsing you.

As a business leader, you don’t have to be an expert at marketing, provided you have a good marketing director or a good marketing consultant, and provided you have a good understanding of what these three key forces that are affecting today’s marketing efforts. By using them, you can put the power of marketing on your side.  •

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Valuation

FACEBOOK AT $90+ BILLION

As of our release date for this issue, Facebook was in the final prep stages for its initial public offering (IPO), and puts valuation on the social media site a little north of $90 billion. Investment experts are predicting this will add about $17 billion to Mark Zuckerberg’s personal worth.

Going Mobile

Global Cellphone Subscriptions: 6 million

Mobile Web Users Worldwide: 1.2 billion

Percent of Global Website Hits from Mobile Devices: 8.49%

Global Mobile Advertising ­Revenue in 2010: $1.6 billion

Global Mobile Advertising Revenue in 2015 (est.): $20.6 billion

* Source: mobithinking.com

Ones To Watch

TUMBLR.COM

This microblog social network platform is a real up-and-comer. Launched in 2007, Tumblr is now averaging 13 billion views per month (yes, billion with a “B”). Why do people like it? Users say it’s like all the others rolled into one easy-to-use site, it’s app friendly, and best of all, it’s cool.

PINTEREST.COM

Pinterest takes the ease of photo posting from Instagram and combines it with the posting of comments like the Facebook “wall,” to create a surprisingly new and fun social experience. On paper, it doesn’t sound like much (what social media does?) but users seem to get addicted very quickly. You can “pin” images, websites, and just about any content to your “pinboards” in a virtual bulletin board environment. Companies are quickly jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon, and while not confirmed yet, some Internet reporting agencies are indicating Pinterest, which was a startup in 2009, may already be the third largest social network in the U.S.

Global Social Media

­­WORLD’S BIGGEST SOCIAL SITES (estimated users)

Facebook: 900 million

YouTube: 789 million

QZone (mainland China): 480 million

Twitter: 300 million

Habbo (global, launched in Finland): 200 million

Google+: 170 million •

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All strike fear into the souls of business owners. Having a well-thought-out crisis plan can help you avert a business-threatening problem.

What happens when there is a natural disaster? There are injuries, there are hundreds missing and the city is in shambles.

As a business leader, you have to disseminate information immediately. The messages must be succinct and cohesive for multiple constituents to understand and respond quickly. This is why individuals and organizations should make crisis planning a priority. Emergencies are not only limited to physical disasters. Rapid response is also required for crises such as civil disorders, labor unrest, criminal charges, death, illness, system failure, scandals, indictments, convictions, lawsuits, hostile takeovers and bankruptcy.

From Ponzi schemes to Occupy protests; from unpredictable weather patterns to factory explosions; from terrorist attacks to mall melees; from celebrity mishaps to sinking cruise ships, crises happen every day. This is why comprehensive crisis planning is imperative for saving lives as well as saving brands. But where to start? Service professionals and corporate executives from the smallest mom-and-pop to the largest multinational organizations often find it daunting to roll up their sleeves and facilitate a crisis plan.

Crisis Planning Road Map

Crisis planning begins with ethics and trust-building in the community. Identify your organization’s core values reflecting your dedication to serve with honesty and integrity, then you can easily develop your mission statement, defining your organization’s reason for existence. Effective mission statements include purpose, value, contribution and distinction. If a reporter should call a food manufacturer, asking for a comment related to a food-poisoning incident, a well-constructed mission statement serves as the foundation for the company’s response. For example, “We are committed to providing quality product with top-line inspection techniques to guarantee the delivery of healthy, fresh goods.” Without a mission statement, the manufacturer would have to scramble for a response.

Before setting the date for your crisis management planning session, consider viewing Steven Soderbergh’s feature film Contagion about a fictional bat virus pandemic that kills millions. The lesson learned is how quickly the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and medical researchers respond. They begin immediate research of the problem. They are proactive with the media. Public Schools become quarantine centers. FEMA sends food trucks. The National Guard is on the scene. They activate emergency hotlines.

Social media’s influence was not lost on director Soderbergh either. He includes in the film a blogger who might not have been the most credible journalist, but is loved and respected for entertaining his 12 million followers through the darkest days of the outbreak.

Where To Start

Now you are ready to create your plan. Bring together your top executives and agree that your crisis plan will:

The first step is to designate an Emergency Incident Leader to oversee and direct plan creation and later operations and logistics in a crisis. Boxer Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they are punched in the face.” Remember that every emergency is unique and the team must be ready to improvise when things go sideways—because they inevitably will.

Alan B. Bernstein included this overview in his Emergency Public Relations Manual published 30 years ago, but the application is still relevant today.

Overview

The Overview section of a crisis plan usually includes these items:

1. Purpose: Identify what emergencies the plan covers.
2. Authority: Identify what laws, policies and regulations support and govern the emergency response.
3. Approvals: List the individuals who wrote the plan and those who approved it.
4. Command Structure: List the management hierarchy in command of an emergency along with contact information and keep it updated.
5. Scope: Define the exact emergencies and disasters covered in the plan. This should include delegation, collaboration and technical experts for each.
6. Policy Statement: This statement confirms who has the authority to provide breaking news and information on behalf of the organization in the event of an emergency.
7. Concept of Operations and Executive Summary: A mission statement designed to familiarize internal audiences, crisis assistance partners and the community with an organization’s preparedness efforts.

The Basic Plan

These are a few items the basic emergency PR plan will address:

1. Continuity of Operation: Define a succession plan if responders can no longer carry out their duties.
2. Risk Assessment and Information Communication: Identify your organization’s vulnerabilities and the methods planned for dissemination of information. In a crisis, it is critical to tell the truth and tell it fast.
3. Command, Control and Coordination: Clearly identify the Emergency Incident Leader and the people in charge of operations, logistics and public relations by title, function and name.
4. Procedures and Guidelines: Identify the primary and secondary re­sponders by title, function and name.
5. Duties and Responsibilities: This section lists the emergency action tasks along with the names of the individuals responsible for carrying them out. The list of those within the organization should include legal counsel, public relations, financial officer, human resources, IT and systems management, telecommunications coverage and security. The list of those outside your organization should include hospital liaison, police, fire department, Red Cross, Federal, State, local jurisdiction.

Communications

Emergency PR plan communications should include these items:

1. Designated Spokesperson: Idealy you will have one individual represent your company, respond to media questions and release statements. In addition, designate technical experts to provide supplemental information and support to the spokesperson.
2. Mission Statement: This reinforces the manifest goal of protecting your company’s integrity and reputation. Core values and trust play a crucial role.
3. Spin: A company must empathize with how the public perceives the crisis. An immediate apology wins sympathy and allies. Organizations can even preposition their responses to crises such as:
   • Unauthorized procedures
   • Misuse of confidential information
   • Errors in judgment and honest mistakes
   • Attacks from hostile competition
4. Media Procedures: Your PR director’s strong relationships with the media will be helpful in the midst of a crisis. The PR staff must know how to handle the barrage of inquiries via telephone and social media. Your emergency PR plan must establish a media center with designated areas for press briefings and interviews before an event ever occurs. This plan must also designate media representatives to ensure smooth traffic, safety and information control.
5. Media Training: Anyone authorized to speak on behalf of your organization must be media trained. A glaring example of someone untrained for interviews on prime time network news was Sarah Palin during the 2008 Presidential campaign. When Charles Gibson asked Palin about her insights into Russia, viewers were aghast when she said that Alaskans could see the country from their windows. Had Palin trained and prepared, her answers to questions about foreign policy experience would have been credible. Your emergency PR plan must anticipate the toughest questions from the media and rehearse the best answers.
6. Prepared Statements: Statements and news releases should include the answers to who, what, where and when in response to a crisis.
7. Collateral Materials: The press will ask for fact sheets about your organization. When they cover a crisis, reporters want to know a company’s history. Simplify any technical information and make it easy to understand. Members of the media appreciate illustrations, pronunciations of uncommon words and flow charts explaining what went wrong. Provide reporters with credible information they can use for their reports. Absent credible, accurate and usable information, you risk them constructing their own interpretation of the story. Make these collateral materials part of your emergency PR press kit.
8. Key Audiences:The media is usually an organization’s toughest audience. Even so, consider your other constituents when constructing a statement. Change positioning of your statements to address the concerns of specific stakeholders such as:

• Local, national, international, digital and trade media
• Employees
• Shareholders, analysts, bankers, stock brokers, investors
• Customers
• Community organizations
• Distributors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers
• Suppliers, trade associations, strategic alliances and licensees
• Legislative, regulatory, judicial and government bodies
• Special audiences, including physically challenged, minorities, senior citizens and religious groups

Now that you have reviewed the components required for a comprehensive crisis plan, you might consider hiring a professional media trainer to master messaging and delivery. Distilling memorable messages from complex ideas made Albert Einstein one of the most popular figures in history. Make sure that your organization has its own website to control the messages and that your PR department has learned to master social networking to monitor and market the brand. Using the Internet and social media, your company can identify and respond to negative press immediately, in real time and while it is happening. In today’s Web 3.0 world, the majority of information about us already is or quickly can become public. Bad news spreads like wildfire, so communication response has to move even faster. Building your own content bank filled with an accurate chronology of events and impressive references can work in your favor when it becomes necessary to diffuse a negative incident. •

CASE IN POINT:

PLAYBOY ENTERPRISES:
How A Mission Statement Saved the Day

Large companies such as Playboy Enterprises have many mission statements written for specific divisions. Playboy magazine developed its mission statements through authoritative editorial guidelines developed by their founder, Hugh Hefner, and adhered to for decades. When Playboy magazine expanded its global reach through 17 international editions of the publication, the U.S. editorial guidelines were clear and concise in every contractual agreement.

In April 2000, Playboy Enterprises learned that major international women’s groups were protesting against the company for violent graphic images in the newly released Romanian edition. The offensive article was entitled “How to Beat Your Wife Without Leaving Marks.” The misguided Romanian editor intended the piece as an April Fools’ satire.

Playboy’s senior management team responded immediately to defuse the situation. This rapid response with a clear and focused message was possible because the company’s editorial policies pertaining to violence toward women was clear and unequivocal:

“There is no place in Playboy for any kind of violence whatsoever, and most particularly violence against women. Playboy Enterprises and Playboy Magazine has zero tolerance for the depiction of violence, or the use of threat or coercion against women in any form. It violates the very essence of our message of the joy of life and freedom between the sexes.”

Additionally, CEO Christie Hefner issued an immediate apology for any anguish this ill-conceived satire caused. She reinforced Playboy’s long-standing history as a powerful corporate proponent of women’s rights and an enterprise that has worked closely with many groups and organizations in support of women’s rights. These swift and clear actions mollified the women’s groups and the media. Indeed, the public and media applauded the fact that the company took punitive action against the editor of the Romanian edition.—C.R.

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Young attorneys and accountants have traditionally been a firm’s worker bees. Senior partners throw tons of work at them, and they’re expected to crank out the billable hours. And if they do that long enough, one day they may become partners—some of whom bring in new business, while others just continue on the “worker bee” route.

“It’s all changing,” a managing partner at a Los Angeles firm recently declared over lunch. “Finding new clients isn’t something just for senior partners anymore. The economy has taught us that we have to market the firm, and everyone has to do their part.”

When asked about new hires and associates, he responded, “If they ever want to make partner at our firm, they need to learn how to bring in clients. The day will soon be here when you won’t make partner at a firm without a developed book of business.”

Two Reasons It’s More Important

The economy downslide of 2008 triggered a series of actions that caught law firms and accounting firms off guard. Business slowed, clients were slow to send in their payments, and the phone wasn’t ringing like it had before.

Law firms felt the effects almost instantly, and 2009 was a down year for many firms. Divorce became “too expensive” for some law firm clients. Litigation gave way to settlements and mediation, which reduced billable hours and workloads. Bankruptcy attorneys did well, but real estate transactions dried up, which affected a lot of Southern Cali­fornia law firms.

Accounting firms felt the effects a little later. Many accountants had a profitable year in 2009, when clients locked-in losses and needed to account for them. The following year, 2010, was the year that many accounting firms felt the slowdown.

The second trigger is marketing itself. Until Bates v. Arizona State Bar (1977), it was considered unethical to advertise legal services. And while attorney advertising seems to be everywhere, there are many firms that have personnel who still reject the notion, feeling it belittles the firm.

In the early 2000s, attorney marketing began to increase. This, in large part, has occurred in the more “retail” oriented areas of practice, such as personal injury, class action litigation and family law. But in the past five years, more traditional areas of law have adopted the practice. Law firms focused on business and transactions have joined the ranks, and today marketing and business development is on the rise in most areas of practice.

It’s interesting to note that this rise has also paralleled the shift of marketing dollars from traditional advertising to Internet and alternative forms of marketing. Firms that traditional advertised in “yellow pages” phone directory ads have diverted their budgets to more website, Internet and search engine advertising.

The pressure of a slowing economy and the rise of marketing is forcing senior partners to work harder to bring in business, and that’s given rise to asking even more of younger attorneys and accountants.

What’s In It For Young Professionals?

Other than maintaining a Facebook presence, a lot of young professionals don’t like the notion of marketing. At a recent training session, a young accountant asked, “What’s in it for me? Why should I bring in business if I’m not a partner?” There is not one reason—there are three.

First, learning to bring in business increases your value to the firm. Cranking out the client work is important, but learning client service, client development and new business techniques makes you a more rounded professional. Learning what attracts clients to a firm will help you become better at taking care of the clients you already have. This is particularly important when you consider that it takes far less time and money to keep an existing client happy than it does to go out and find a new one.

Second, business development increases our chances of upward mobility in your firm. Once senior members of your firm see you not only handling your current clients, but bringing in new ones, you will be marked as a long term asset to the firm. They will want to keep you. And to keep you, sooner or later they will invite you to the partners’ table.

The third reason young professionals should learn business development is to prepare for a career future that may include breaking out on their own. A legal recruiter recently mentioned that she is seeing an increase of younger attorneys leaving firms, sometimes solo and sometimes with a few others, and opening their own shops. Generation Y (also known as millennials) are on a fast track to life. They live faster and communicate faster. They want to achieve, but they are also concerned with the environment, family and quality of life. This leads to some Gen Y professionals to feel less inclined to stay in the trenches at big firms for long periods of time.

Three Key Strategies For Young Professionals

If you’re a senior partner, you don’t need to worry about teaching young associates how to network online. Gen Y created social media, and they own it. You may help them focus their efforts, but they’ve got the technology down.

Possibly the most important strategy you can teach a young professional is offline social networking. While conducting a recent training session for young professionals at a firm, the managing partner made it extremely clear to, “Get your butts out of the office and go see our clients—in person!”

Millennials have grown up with emails, instant messages and texting. While this works well with their network of friends, it does not work so well with clients. A client recently complained that one of his best young accountants had a bad habit of expecting clients to email him back quickly, and if they didn’t, the accountant just emailed again. It never dawned on him to pick up the phone and make a call, or better yet, go see the client face to face.

Part of offline social networking means getting face time with clients, pressing the flesh, and learning to have a chat over a cup of coffee. While these things are less comfortable for young professionals, this is the way most clients want to network. Study after study shows that people who hire attorneys and accountants not only want a referral, they also want to meet and get to know their trusted advisor before beginning the engagement.

Senior professionals tend to market themselves. Even if they work at a large, well-known firm, they market themselves because they know one true thing: if the client comes in, they will enjoy the largest share of the profits.

Younger professionals have less experience, so it’s harder for them to be perceived as experts and therefore justifying higher rates. This makes business development harder for many young professionals.

One strategy for clients with younger associates is to get them to market themselves as part of a larger team. Associates can ride the coattails of senior partners, leveraging the team’s experience and expertise. By doing this, potential clients can feel much safer engaging a firm because they know there is a depth of experience. They also feel more confident that there are several people working on their account. This also helps justify different billable rates, as most clients will understand that the rate of an associate three years out of school is different than a senior partner with 25 years in the field.

Young professionals can succeed using this technique by learning as much as they can about the senior partners on their team. They should know what schools they went to, what articles they have written, the latest case results they have achieved.

A third strategy for associates is to begin developing an expertise very early in their careers. This works very well when a young associate can focus on one specific area of a practice, and learn anything and everything about it. For example, an accountant who, in addition to his general tax practice, studies the tax strategies of Internet start-ups. In this case, since many Internet startups are engineered by young entrepreneurs, they are generally much more open to having a young accountant who can speak their own language.

Final Thoughts

The days of associates working in the background and not generating business are a thing of the past. Young professionals will increasingly need to generate income for the firm beyond their billable hours.

Senior management needs to know that young professionals will be most effective when they combine their own knowledge and skills with tried and true practices of the past. By learning what motivates them, giving them the tools to succeed, and compensating them for success, you can turn your younger staff into a business generating team. •

What Makes A Potential Client Choose You?

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Social media has added a new demand for employer protection from cyber activities.

 

Today, technology is growing by the nanosecond, far too quickly for employers to keep up. Long-standing privacy considerations are at near-constant tension with the advent of the Internet, social media, e-mail and other electronic communications tools.

To be competitive in today’s market, business owners must make effective use of social media. Current marketing trends almost require that businesses have an on-line presence, and volumes of encyclopedias have long since been replaced by Google searches. To protect their businesses, however, employers should set boundaries on their employees’ internet and social media activities, both inside and outside the workplace. Consider these protective methods to avoid damage to the company from employees’ electronic communications and social media activity:

Documentation. Implement effective and thorough policies on social media activity, confidentiality and electronic communications. Employees should be reminded in writing that all electronic communications created on company equipment or accounts will be monitored by the company, and that they have no privacy rights in these communications.  Have your policies reviewed by legal counsel – technology moves faster than the law ever will, and today’s courts are deeply challenged by litigants’ rapidly-developing arguments over newly-discovered electronic media.

Ownership. When an employer provides cell phones and laptops to employees and pays for the cell phone account and the wireless access, the employer owns and controls the cell phone number, e-mail inbox, internet accounts, and all social media or other electronic communications created by the employee while on working time, using company equipment, or otherwise controlled by the employer.

Included in “ownership” is the company’s brand, logo, customer information or other trade secret, confidential or proprietary property. While the employer may not prevent the employee from engaging in social media activities on his own time and while using his own equipment, the employer does have the right to pursue a claim against an employee who posts defamatory content on the internet.

Similarly, although an employer cannot safely terminate an employee who vents about a fellow employee in his social media posting, the employer can certainly terminate the employee who harasses a fellow employee in violation of the company’s anti-harassment policy, even when that harassment occurs during the employee’s off-duty conduct.

Monitoring. Employers can actively monitor their employees’ communications and internet activity, both internally and externally, as long as employees have been warned in writing that employers can and will do so in their discretion. Employers should also conduct their own internet searches using tools such as “Google Alerts” to track the information that has been published about the business and its personnel. 

Ultimately, business owners should keep in mind that you are (or should be) the owner of your company, your technological equipment, your electronic communications accounts, your employees’ working time and your reputation. With the advent of technology, we are drowning in information, but starved for knowledge. Make sure that the information publicly available about your company is not the information your employees choose to post, but instead is the knowledge you want to publish. •

CASE IN POINT:
Why Have A Systems Use Policy?

An insurance agency allowed its new agent, Cindy, to use her personal laptop computer and iPhone to conduct her business activities. The agency was thrilled to avoid the cost of a new computer, and was more than happy to reimburse Cindy for her business calls made on her personal cell phone.

Unfortunately, Cindy didn’t perform to the level the agency expected of her. Her sales results were substandard, and she seemed to be wasting an inordinate amount of time on personal matters in the workplace. Her supervisor reviewed her Internet activity while at work and discovered that she was spending several hours each day surfing the Internet on shopping sites, Facebook, and other personal search activities. Much to the agency’s surprise, they also discovered that Cindy was downloading customer lists and files and sending them to her home e-mail address. She was planning to move her business to a competitor agency.

The agency terminated Cindy and sued her for unfair competition activities. The court refused the agency’s demand to recover its customer list, because the agency had previously permitted Cindy to download it to her personal cell phone without restriction. The court also refused to consider the agency’s computer search results in its action against Cindy, because the agency permitted her to use her own laptop for business and personal use. The agency had failed to implement a “systems use” policy notifying Cindy in advance that her computer could be monitored at any time without prior notice. •

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Today, professionals have to market themselves more than ever before. Barriers, whether legal, cultural, or otherwise, have been torn down. And whether professionals like it or not, their competition is doing it. Lawyers, accountants, and other professionals are all seeing erosion in their client rosters.

What can you do to attract more new clients as well as retain the clients you currently have? There are lots of ways to approach the problem, many of which involve more phone calls, more advertising, and more networking. There is one way that has proven over time to help people in many professional service industries build their practices without feeling like they have sold their souls to sales. When you are able to position yourself as an “expert,” selling comes easier and clients stay longer.

Perception Vs. Reality

The marketing of professional services is all about ­perception. It really has very little to do with how good you are at your craft, and while that always puts a few off, it’s a marketing truth.

So if marketing is about perception, how do you get people to perceive you as an expert? The trick is to find a way of getting someone else to do it for you. This gives you what PR professionals refer to as “third-party endorsement.”

It’s a very simple concept: When a potential client sees someone else who recognizes you as an expert, it makes it easier and more reassuring for them to engage you for your services. Simple, right? Yes, but not always easy.

There are three ways you can jumpstart the perception that you are an expert. They take a little effort, but any one of these strategies can have a dramatic impact on new client generation.

Strategic Speaking: How, What & Where

Public speaking puts you in front of others in a way that physically and mentally places you in a position of authority. Experience has shown that even people who see themselves as awkward or uncomfortable in social situations can often be powerful speakers.

How do you use speaking as a strategic marketing tool? The first thing is to do what Nike tells us and “Just Do It.” If you’ve never spoken, you need to start. Find a Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, or networking group that would like to get a free speaker. Test the waters in terms of your speaking abilities and your subject matter. Use every speaking opportunity, big or small, as a chance to sculpt your message and hone your speaking skills.

What should you speak about? Professionals typically make one of two types of public speaking mistakes: 1) They are way too technical, or 2) They try too hard to “sell” in their speech. In order to avoid these mistakes, there are a couple of ways to create understandable content. One solution is to think of yourself on some sort of public transportation, say a bus or subway, and speak at a level that the average person will understand. Another solution is to limit your speech to three key points or less. It’s far better to connect with the audience on one thing really well than to pepper them with too many concepts that they have little chance of remembering.

On the point of selling, you don’t need to sell. Instead, give a small amount of valuable information freely. People will come back to you wanting more, and then they’ll pay you for it.

You want to be prepared for people to come up to you after the speech or presentation, and you want to be sure to have business cards and brochures handy. But even then, use them strategically. For example, don’t just shove something in their hand. Point to the website on your brochure and say something such as, “We’ve posted some information about that on our website. If you just go to myweb.com and click on ‘resources’ you’ll find it.” That personalizes it and makes the other person feel that you value their question.

Regarding business cards: A great way to get more mileage is to take a card out, then point out a direct line or extension or e-mail, and say something such as, “Feel free to call me on my direct line, and we can set up a time to go over how this might impact your estate plan.” When you make it personal, you’re not selling. You are responding to their needs and driving the conversation to the next level, a meeting.

Another aspect of public speaking is creating your own event. While this has more cost and effort involved in the planning and implementation of the event, you also get complete control over the content.

Teaching & Training

Signing on to teach or train is another excellent way to gain third-party endorsement. I teach one night class a semester at a local university, and with that I will always be able to say that I’m a member of the university’s adjunct faculty.

Teaching positions are not easy to come by, but they are available. You may choose to start small with a community college. If teaching is something you’d like to do, you can also start by contacting a university’s department head and offering your services as a guest speaker. At the university I teach at, we frequently get emails about professionals who are open to speaking in our classes.

The value of teaching, as a marketing tool, doesn’t just come from teaching in a school setting. Continuing professional education is an excellent way of gaining a training title on your CV. Teaching MCLE or CPE courses are great ways for attorneys and accountants to become involved in training. This works particularly well when you have an area of specialization.

To maximize the impact, make sure to update your website, personal one-sheet, and other marketing materials to reflect your teaching experience. It is good to add a line about teaching or training even in the shortest of bios.

As mentioned in the discussion on public speaking, you can also create your own training or seminars. One variation on this theme is to create a Webinar. Using a third-party service, you can create Webinars where you teach or train on a topic of your choosing. The best part: Unlike seminars in person, if no one shows up, it’s no big deal. In fact, I know people that have created and recorded Webinars and posted them just to gain credibility as a trainer, not to charge money or try to get clients.

Publishing As An Expert

The third strategy of positioning yourself as an expert is to do it through writing and publishing. When you author an article or a book, it places you in the public eye as someone recognized for his or her knowledge, skill or talent. The subconscious thinking is that an editor hired this person to write for his or her knowledge and skill, and therefore must be good.

Book publishing takes time, but can pay dividends in business generation for years. On the other hand, articles take far less time, but can have a similar impact. An ­article can shine a light on a problem common to your clientele, offer insight into remedying the problem, and give them cause to contact you for more information.

Once articles are published, they can be reprinted, copied, posted on websites, and sent out as PDFs. Marketing people call these “DOKs” or “Displays Of Knowledge,” and they work very well with both new and existing clients. While some articles are very timely, others have an “evergreen” quality, and can last a long time.

Publishing does come with challenges, which include topic selection, finding the time to write, editing, finding publishers, and promoting your articles after publication. But getting published is one of the most effective ways to gain standing and stature as an expert in your field.

When writing in professional journals, one needs to be very careful with writing, source citation, and resisting the hesitation to “practice” your craft in writing. When writing for consumer publications, the concern is typically more about being interesting and discussing “hot topics.” Likewise, articles for consumers tend to be less technical, and often designed by editors as providing more general information.

Getting More Marketing Mileage

Once you’ve begun teaching, speaking, writing, or some combination of activities, you will want to begin promoting what you’ve done. Some recommended ways include updating website bios, placing notices in calendar sections, linking to website articles, and having copies or reprints readily available.

A great technique to get more marketing mileage is to make copies of articles or summaries of speeches and put them in a mailing to existing clients. It’s best done with a personal note that says something along the lines of, “Hey, I recently wrote this piece for a magazine, and thought you might find interest in it.” I have seen a mailing of articles generate thousands of dollars in billings. And what’s really nice is that mailing articles often triggers clients to call about something else. Even if you don’t think they need the article for their situation, it may stimulate some conversation that will result in work for you.

Rise Above The Clutter

Our firm has seen a significant increase in professional service marketing over the past five years. Professionals who never did anything other than a holiday card and an occasional client lunch are now faced with changing websites, creating promotional materials, and finding new ways of getting (or keeping) clients.

By positioning yourself as an expert in your field, you can begin to rise above the clutter. You may find that you don’t have to market as much, as often, or expensively, and that your marketing efforts are more focused toward the kind of clients you really want to approach. •

Speaking and Publishing Resources

Speaking & Presentation Help

A great read on the topic is Own the Room: Business Presentations that Persuade, Engage, and Get Results, a book by communications consultants and business advisors Deborah Shames and David Booth. The book combines their years of expertise at their firm Eloqui, where they work with professionals, CEOs, and others on being more effective in speaking, presenting, and persuasion through verbal communication. Find the book at leading bookstores or online at Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com. For more information on the book, the authors, or their consulting practice, visit www.eloqui.biz.

Webinar Assistance

GoToWebinar is the Webinar arm of GoToMeeting, the online meeting service. GoToWebinar is an easy-to-use Webinar service that lets you conduct very professional Webinars. It has great features like guest registration, custom branding, recording, and even a question and answer feature for your attendees. Best of all, you can try it absolutely free for 30 days to see if it will work for you. For more information visit www.gotomeeting.com/fec/webinar.

Publication Marketing Services

Want to write an article or book? Do you want help promoting something you’ve already created, such as an article, book, Webinar, or seminar? NGI Publishing Services at Newman Grace Inc. can help you manage your message across the entire spectrum of your marketing and media universe. Together with its sister company, Newman Grace Inc., the team creates traditional marketing and social media campaigns for law firms, accounting firms, financial professionals, consultants, and business professionals. While NGI Publishing Services creates publications and publication support, Newman Grace’s services include the creation of promotional materials, website, and Facebook and Twitter campaigns. For more information, visit the websites at www.ngipublishing.com and  www.newmangrace.com. •

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