Marketing with articles; asking friends for biz

Ellen Keiley, BridgeTower Media Newswires

Q. Is it worth it to write articles as part of my marketing efforts?

-A reticent writer

The answer is yes! However, consider how much you enjoy writing articles against other marketing activities, such as speaking, networking, and professional and community involvement. Focus your marketing and business development time on where your strengths, interests and energy are.

If you love writing, by all means write as many articles as you have time for, get them published internally and externally, and leverage the power of social media to promote them. If you absolutely dread the thought of writing an article, you may want to spend your time on something else. If you are OK with writing, perhaps write one article per quarter, or at least two a year.

Published articles help position lawyers as experts on whatever the subject matter they are writing about. Articles are a great way to gain visibility for both lawyers and their firms. Some lawyers are skeptical, and ask, "Is there really a return on investment on writing an article?"

Put yourself in a potential client's shoes. Let's say you're considering hiring two different professionals at firms with very similar rates and expertise. One has published numerous articles in the area you need help with, and the other has bio and media pages that are blank. It's safe to say you would think the person who's regularly writing articles is more of a subject matter expert.

I have seen lawyers gain new client work as a result of someone reading their article, and I've also seen lawyers very pleased when their clients, potential clients and colleagues reached out to them saying they saw their article somewhere.

Some attorneys avoid publishing articles because they lack confidence in their writing ability. What you can do in that instance is co-author an article or simply ask one or two others to review your draft and give feedback. That will provide an added comfort level.

Getting out of your comfort zone and pushing yourself to write an article can be difficult, but it often takes extra drive and effort to build your brand and bring in client work on top of doing excellent legal work.

If you have any interest in writing articles, at least try it. Chances are you'll be pleasantly surprised at the outcome and keep writing future articles.

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Q. I have a friend who's in-house counsel, but I feel uncomfortable asking her to hire my firm. Any suggestions? I have a very hard time asking for business.

- Stuck in the friend zone

This is not uncommon. Many lawyers have a hard time asking for business.

First, I suspect your friend would want to help you. It may never have occurred to your friend to work with you or your firm, believe it or not, because you haven't asked.

People get caught up in their own busy worlds and develop tunnel vision at times. This is an example of why it's important to talk about exactly the type of law you and your firm practices. Don't assume everyone knows.

If you ask your friend for business, worst case is your friend says the company is happy with its current counsel and she will keep you in mind if anything changes. I am sure your friend would understand you asking.

Something very well could change in the future. The general counsel could end up moving on; or your friend's company could suddenly become unhappy with the service, the quality of the work, or the bills it's receiving. Current counsel could even stop paying attention and take the relationship for granted. Even if you think relationships are cemented, don't give up.

I'll never forget a while back when I worked internally at a large law firm, and an in-house counsel friend of mine asked, "Ellen, why haven't you ever asked me to give legal work to your firm? My friend Vicki does all the time, and we send work her way."

At first, I was in shock. I initially was afraid to ask her for business, because I didn't want her to think I was using her to get legal work for my firm. After my friend approached me, a light switch went off and I laughed about it. I then realized friends like to help friends, and I reframed my mindset after that.

It is worthwhile to do your research before approaching your friend to better understand how her company's needs may align with the legal services you and your firm can provide. Do a Google search and learn past history and anything that may be in the works. For example, ­perhaps the company has plans to expand or move.

There are also extensive research reports available that provide this type of information, including legal and litigation history, and the legal providers the company uses. This critical information can set you up for a better conversation by providing you with knowledge about the company, identifying pain points, and even giving some insight on the rates the company is willing to pay based on the firms it uses.

Asking for business can be very uncomfortable, but you have to get comfortable with it - and you will with practice over time. Be genuine and honest about it, and don't overthink. If you don't ask, you may never get that legal work.

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Ellen M. Keiley is president of EMK Consulting Group, which offers business development coaching and consulting, public relations, and training for law firms. If you have a question for Ellen, email her at ellenkeiley@ emkconsultinggroup.com.

Published: Mon, Feb 25, 2019