In this, the first of three posts on how to choose a legal PR agency, I’m writing about selecting an appropriate agency based upon its legal PR expertise. In posts two and three I’ll write about chemistry and avoiding conflicts of interest. One thing I’ve noticed since creating LexRex is the sudden proliferation of other agencies moving into the legal PR marketplace. Of course, there were other legal PR agencies before LexRex so I can’t complain; and a little bit of competition never did anybody any harm. However, as with any other PR specialism – retail, hospitality, trade – an understanding of the industry and the work it does, is a vital part of the job description. Any lawyer knows that to an outsider, the law can be (amongst other things) complicated, weird, logic-defying and frankly, confusing. That’s why, when it comes to promoting your firm, it’s important to appoint a team that appreciates the rules that bind you, and most importantly, that knows what you do and what you don’t do. I recently overheard an anecdote of a PR agency that had worked with a family law team and, during the course of the retainer, had never quite worked out the difference between public and private family law. I rest my case. Now, I’m not suggesting that PRs should have been through law school or anything like that. However, they do need an understanding of what they are promoting. 99% of PR agencies will have the requisite expertise, and that’s why they are happily and rightfully promoting their legal PR service. However, as the client, and before you enter into a 6 – 12 month retainer with your chosen agency you should consider undertaking the following actions: 1. Ask for testimonials from previous clients 2. If media coverage is important – request clippings 3. Agree targets – any good PR firm will automatically set targets without you asking 4. Meet the team you’ll be working with and have a conversation about their previous legal PR experience 5. Discuss specifics – talk about the areas you want to promote and ensure that everybody understands what you do. It’s reasonable to expect a basic knowledge across the proposed team. By Victoria Moffatt For more information about the legal PR services that LexRex can offer, please contact us at info@lexrexcommunications.com
LinkedIn… It’s been written about before, by many people, with lots of different things to say… Mostly covering the ‘how’ rather than the ‘why’. Well today baby, I’m all about the ‘why’. “Why do I need to be on LinkedIn?” Because as a client, potential introducer, business influencer or even future employee I want to know whether you’re any good, who you work for, why I need to know you, and whether anybody in my network knows you, or has recommended you. If you’re not on LinkedIn, my immediate thought is – WHY NOT? I’m probably going to think that you have something to hide, that you’re dodgy, or perhaps worst of all; that you just can’t be bothered… “Ok – I’m ‘on’ LinkedIn but I don’t have a photograph…” WHY NOT? You wouldn’t turn up to a networking event with a paper bag over your face. Would you? “Oh… well how about this 10 year old photograph from my honeymoon. I’ve cropped my spouse out – that’s ok isn’t it?” No. It’s not ok. For a start, you look pretty different now, that mullet is dreadful and you’ve definitely been to Specsavers since then. Get a professional shot taken. It’s not expensive and you can use it on LinkedIn, on your website, for press shots, for Twitter and on your blog if you have one. Your money is always well spent on a great professional photograph. “Right. I’ve now added in every role I’ve had since Uni. Do I really need to complete the summary section?” I would say so. This is where you talk about what you do and what you’re good at. It’s also where you get to paint a bit of a picture of yourself. If you don’t do this, you miss an opportunity to grab my attention, possibly make me laugh with your sparkling wit and help me to decide whether I like the look of you or not. “What next?” Well, that’s up to you. I’m not going to force you to use LinkedIn, but I would recommend that you use it to keep a record of your contacts. You could also post interesting content on your page every now and again, as well as any media coverage of you/your firm. Maybe add links to your blog posts every so often. If you wanted to, you could endorse or even recommend a few people. Or join groups, set up your own group, or create a company page for your firm… Sorry – just realised, I’ve passed from the ‘why’ into the ‘how’.Hope you don’t mind too much… By Victoria Moffatt For more information about the LexRex LinkedIn profile drafting and training service, and legal PR, contact us at info@lexrexcommunications.com
f you ‘do’ PR, then you should make sure you do so in way which is strategic… That’s the wisdom of today’s post. “Why?” I hear you ask – “Surely all PR is good PR”. Well, yes… and no. Media coverage is a huge part of the PR skillset, of course, but if the aim is simply to ‘get coverage’ then you may actually be doing yourself a disservice. All law firms should know what their key messages are. Key messages are the grounding for the associations they want their key audiences to make when they think or read about the firm. They can be as simple as: “Niche North Yorkshire firm that offers strategic employment law support to businesses with 10 – 30 employees within a 10 mile radius of York” Key audiences are the people the firm want to engage with. They will typically include clients, potential clients, referrers and business influencers. Law firms should identify their key audiences and then make sure their PR activities are relevant to, and connect with these audiences. For example, there would be little point in the above firm (which is invented, of course) securing a feature on ‘bringing an employment tribunal against your employer’. Such an article would be on entirely the wrong topic, would be in front of the wrong audiences, and would give the impression that the firm specialises in employment law for employees. Of course, this is a throwaway example and wouldn’t happen in real life. However – next time you ask your marketing manager or PR firm to write a release, or next time they approach you with a suggestion for an article – just think about your key messages and audiences and ascertain whether the action proposed is appropriate… By Victoria Moffatt For more information about mapping your key messages and audiences, and planning strategic legal PR for your law firm, contact us at info@lexrexcommunications.com.
Well, it’s back to the LexRex blog after a foray back in time over on the VicMoffatt blog last week. This week I started thinking about the clients I work with at the moment, and the law firm clients that I’ve previously managed in an earlier life working in PR agencies. This made me think about ‘value’ and how lawyers can ensure they get the most of this from their legal PR activities. I’ve always found that the most successful campaigns involve a combination of great PR expertise (that’s a given), sparkling imagination and a sense of humour, and from the lawyers; interest, enthusiasm, a basic understanding of PR and a willingness to stand up and be counted. To get straight to the point of this post; PR needs top-level buy in and continued support. That’s the bottom line. So what can lawyers do to ensure they get the most out of their agency or in-house team? Tell us about your business. We need to know what’s going on – good and bad. If you’re merging, making redundancies, or experiencing huge growth; then tell us. We can maximise the good news, and manage the bad. Trust us, it’s part of our job to keep secrets. Commit to regular (but effective) meetings. Ideally these should combine elements of review and forward planning and last no more than 45 minutes. Actions should be clearly defined and deadlined. Respond to requests quickly and clearly. A ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer is usually enough in the first instance. For example – do you want to provide comments on the Budget to one of the key local business publications? ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ = SIMPLES. A quick ‘yes’ allows your PR to approach the publication, write comments, seek approval for these, and amend them if necessary. Little effort required from you – just a few moments to review and approve. Be enthusiastic. If you have something interesting and different to say, people are more likely to listen. We act as your media filter – say what you want in front of us, and we’ll polish it and make it media-friendly. Allow us to write content from scratch. Expecting us to rehash something you’ve written wastes both your time (scratching your head and then typing/ dictating) and ours (trying to polish your comments, whilst also avoiding offence). Don’t be afraid to have your own ideas – but listen to us when we say no. We absolutely appreciate input, but trust us to know what works and what doesn’t. Expect and embrace targets. The days of ‘we’ll give you x days per month for £x’ are over. As the client (of an agency or in-house team) it’s reasonable to expect deliverables. Admittedly, PR success can be difficult to measure on a budget, but it is possible to set basic targets such as outputs, target publications, key messages, sentiment. And for social media such as Twitter – audiences, follower numbers, conversation levels and retweets. For those with more money to spend, it’s possible to measure audience awareness on a ‘before’ and ‘after’ basis, as well as a whole host of other things. All things considered, a pretty straightforward list of things to think about – so what are you waiting for? By Victoria Moffatt. For more information about LexRex and our legal PR service, please contact us at info@lexrexcommunications.com
Another week, another post on Twitter. They just keep on coming… Feel free to complain to the management. It’s a pretty short one this time though. Anyway, over the last seven days, I got thinking about Twitter (again) and in particular my most recent post about how I use Twitter to build lasting relationships. That particular piece made me stop for a moment, and think about the importance of being ‘yourself’ on Twitter. So, do people do this? I’m not sure. I suspect that many of the lawyers I see on Twitter are there because they think they should be, and I do see a lot of streams that I just think – ‘really – why bother’. They are typically made up of RTs, don’t really involve any interaction with other accounts, are rarely used and are frankly boring. It’s a bit like going to a party and refusing to speak to anybody – you’re there, but you’re not. If you see what I mean. So in a roundabout way, I think what I’m saying is this: to be the belle of the Twitter ball, a sparkling, sociable Twitter-ite; just try to inject a little personality into your tweets. I know we can’t all be on Twitter 24/7 – in fact, I often miss the 5 – 10 tweets per day minimum as spouted by a variety of social media ‘gurus’… Views, anyone? By Victoria Moffatt For more information about the LexRex strategic Twitter consultancy and training sessions for lawyers, please contact us at info@lexrexcommunications.com.
Last week I wrote about Twitter, and why I use it. This week I’ve decided to examine one of my points in more detail, that is; how I create and build lasting relationships with Twitter. Twitter is many things to many people, but for me, it’s really just a massive, ongoing networking event. When I say networking, what I really mean is ‘socialising with a purpose’. In fact, that’s pretty much how I define any of the networking activities I take part in. I’m not one for ‘working the room’ – I think it’s cheesy and people hate feeling like they’ve been looked up and down, sussed out and rejected as a non-prospect. For me, Twitter is the same. I will talk to anybody friendly, interesting, chatty etc. Sometimes though, I will have a conversation with a person I realise I would like to meet (and also that it’s practical to meet – there are some fabulous people I’ve come to know well over the years that I would dearly love to meet, but who simply live/work too far away). Anyway – back to my point. I’ve probably been in contact with this person over a fair amount of time, perhaps days, weeks or even months. They are probably somebody working in the same sector as me, I may be able to help them with something, perhaps it’s somebody I can refer things to, or even somebody I can potentially work with. Either way, I’d like to meet them. Now – to me it’s obvious, but in the same way as I would if I met them at a networking event, I ask them if they’d be happy to meet for a coffee. This can go one of three ways – they say yes, say no or simply ignore me. Well that’s absolutely fair enough. Most of the time people say yes – apart from one chap who said no, because he thought I was asking him out on a date. Ouch. Maybe I should have been a little clearer in my approach on that occasion… So once we’ve agreed to meet for coffee, it’s email time and then meeting time. The relationship has now been taken offline and into real life. It is now ‘proper’. It’s also now up to me to maintain it and ensure it lasts. Twitter has done it’s job. By Victoria Moffatt
This week – I’m all about the strategy. Twitter strategy for lawyers, that is. The past few years have seen a huge increase in lawyers and law firms using Twitter. Is this a great thing, or all just a terrible misunderstanding? Well… that depends. Twitter is a wonderful thing for business development and great for raising your personal profile or your firm’s profile, but – used without strategic direction – ultimately a brilliant time-waster. So, a word from the wise – before you jump in – consider what you’re trying to achieve. I’m not suggesting you should write a 1000 word strategy document, just have a think about what you want to achieve by joining Twitter; an ROI if you will. I didn’t do this when I joined – but then I was quite an early adopter. Back then, I’m not sure any of us knew what we were doing. Nowadays, I know that I can use Twitter for the following: Breaking news: time and time again I discover things on Twitter before they are reported anywhere else. Often hours before. Meeting people (yes really): By responding to tweets and chatting away with people I don’t know, I build on-line relationships. I then take these off-line and start to grow ‘proper’ relationships IRL (in real life). Business development: I say this cautiously. I don’t sell on Twitter. Never have, never will. However, I do promote this blog there, and I also have a dedicated LexRex account which I sometimes use to spread good news and business achievements. I suppose really this heading should be ‘raise awareness of LexRex’. Whatever. *Another word to the wise – don’t sell on Twitter. Spreading news: A lot of people do this on Twitter now, and it’s a quick and easy way for you, or your firm to be associated with a certain industry, theme or trend. I try and tweet breaking legal news – it’s of interest to the people I want to appeal to, and it means I’m associated with the legal profession. So – Twitter strategy. Do you have one? By Victoria Moffatt
In this, the third instalment in the Why Should Lawyers Enter Awards? series, we’re providing some handy tips on writing winning award entries. By now, you should have found an award you want to enter, as a team, individually or as a firm. You’ve analysed the criteria, looked up the previous winners and you’re feeling pretty confident about your prospects. So, first things first; read the application pack thoroughly and ensure that you have all the information you need to hand. You may be asked to supply basics such as turnover, profit, employee numbers – as well as an email address and telephone number for the lead contact. Don’t fall at the first hurdle by failing to provide these basics or getting them wrong. Next up – the nitty gritty – also know as demonstrating how you, your team or your firm meet the award criteria. At this point, you should check that you do meet these. If you don’t, think seriously about your prospects of success and if necessary, dump the entry. Now everybody writes differently, but a little strategic thinking can go a long way. Consider writing an ‘award plan’ or ‘road map’ to ensure that you properly deal with each of the criteria. Back up each point with facts and figures where possible. Be excited about the entry – invite the reader to take a metaphorical ride with you, illustrating your successes, and the reasons you deserve to win. If you have a great writer in your team – utilise their skills. If you struggle with this sort of thing, and (being honest with yourself) just don’t have the ability to write creatively – outsource. There are plenty of PR firms and freelance writers who will help you out and you don’t have to blow the budget. In fact, you are likely to spend less getting an award drafted than you would lose in fee-earning time if you were to struggle on alone. Once you’re happy that your entry meets all of the criteria, carry out some further basic checks: Word count: don’t exceed this. The judges will have enough work to do already so don’t make it harder for them – they’ll hate you, and they may disqualify your entry Spelling and grammar: it’s obvious but check, check and check again. Style: Print the entry and read it out loud – this may sound like bonkers advice but it enables you to gain a different perspective and is likely to throw up a few areas requiring attention Once you’re happy with the entry – submit it – making sure you follow the submission guidelines: if they say email, don’t post it. If they don’t ask for supporting evidence, don’t send it. And – last but by no means least – don’t miss the deadline… Good luck! By Victoria Moffatt
So – why should lawyers enter awards? Well, last week we covered that basic point and this week, we’ve written about finding good awards for lawyers to enter. First up, sounds (and is) obvious – but do a Google search to see whether there are any local business awards you can enter. Once you’ve ascertained whether there are – check out the categories. Typical categories include: 1. Business of the Year and potentially Small, Medium, Large and Family Business of the Year 2. Employer of the Year 3. Start-up of the Year 4. Most Innovative Business 5. Rising Star There may also be more specific categories such as: 1. Legal Services Provider of the Year 2. Advisor of the Year 3. Deal of the Year Or individual categories such as: 1. Entrepreneur of the Year 2. Lifetime Contribution 3. Young Achiever Your next step should be to think about which categories you could enter. At this stage, take a step back from the obvious pride you have for your business, and sense check your prospects of winning. Of course – winning isn’t everything. Well, actually – when it comes to awards – you want to at least be shortlisted, and ideally you want to win. Nothing wrong with that. If possible, find a neutral third party to consider your prospects. Work through each of the criteria and be completely honest with yourself as to whether or not your business meets them. If it doesn’t meet the majority of them – dump the category. Many awards entries come with a fee to enter, and they can be very time consuming to draft. Apply common sense here or face disappointment in the long run. Now you know which awards to enter – congratulations! Next week – writing winning awards entries. By Victoria Moffatt
This week’s post is the first in a series of three about awards for lawyers, and the part they play in promoting lawyers and law firms. The Manchester Legal Awards, which took place on Thursday 7th March 2013 – and which we were lucky enough to attend, made us think about the importance of awards, and how they can be used to help promote law firms. These days there are any number of awards evenings, and most towns and cities have at least one set for local businesses. In Manchester, we have The Insider Dealmakers Awards, The North West Business Masters, The Salford Business Awards, The Downtown Manchester Business Awards – the list goes on. Business awards are important as they provide independent recognition for a whole range of different things – most successful, newest, most innovative, lifetime achievement, biggest deal, most inspirational. Chosen well, and in conjunction with other PR activities, awards can help law firms to raise awareness of their existence, but also to promote specific elements of their brand. For example, a law firm that has decided to really focus upon its customer service is likely to be able to find an award which recognises exceptional service. A firm that specialises in legal aid, and which has handled a number of challenging cases is likely to be able to find an award for that too. Awards are great because they provide multiple opportunities for publicity. Most awards events have a media partner to write about the awards in the run up to submission deadlines, on announcement of the short list and following the event. There are at least 5 potential opportunities to raise your firm’s profile if you enter and win an award: 1. On short listing – the media partner will announce the list 2. On winning – your representative may be invited to make a brief speech to the audience. If you’ve chosen a suitable award, this should be full of potential clients 3. On winning – your representative will be photographed and may be asked for a quote. The image (and potentially the quote) will appear in the media partner’s coverage of the awards, on the website and probably on the website for the awards the following year 4. After winning – you can cross-reference the coverage, or even better, write your own blog post about the experience 5. After winning – you can use the award logo in your emails, on letterhead and on your website Bingo! If you’ve decided to enter awards, the first step is working out which ones are most relevant for your firm, and which you stand the best chance of winning. We’ll cover this next week. By Victoria Moffatt
