Jaffe PR's Marketing Tips for October 7, 2009
Shine a Spotlight on Your Associates’ Client Development Successes
While the focus of most law firm marketing is naturally on your partners, remember to highlight your future partners for their business development achievements. How? When an associate delivers a presentation, publishes an article, or lands a new client, tell the entire firm. Public recognition from colleagues and opinion leaders can be just as important as monetary compensation to a budding attorney's sense of worth and value. Plus, those kinds of pats on the back will not only encourage other attorneys to increase their marketing efforts, but will also send a signal to the rest of the firm about the importance of business development and the culture of success you’re building.
Recognizing Associate Accomplishments on LinkedIn
Public recognition from on high can do wonders for motivating staff, and Web 2.0 offers additional avenues for accolades. Along with public praise within the firm, encourage your associates to update their social network profiles as a way to showcase their growing expertise. For example, when an associate publishes an article, even as a co-author with a partner, she should update her LinkedIn profile with the title, publication, and article link if possible. JDSupra is another network that allows lawyers to upload published articles that other readers can then share via email, Twitter, Facebook, and a host of other social media vehicles. These links serve to enhance the associate's online visibility, and an enhanced online reputation translates into multiple listings among Google and Yahoo! search engine results, as well as higher rankings for those hits - which prospective clients will notice. In the end, encouraging an associate to engage in a bit of self-promotion will benefit the firm overall.
For more information, contact Monica Smith at smithm@jaffeassociates.com, or 407-644-1337.