Media & Communications: Spring Awakening

Spring is in the air and, whether you experienced a long and snowy winter or a mild one, it is a wonderful, much-welcomed change from the winter doldrums.

As your law firm heads into a busy and active spring season, here are'several topical issues that can remind us of how we can add some rejuvenation and much-welcomed change into our legal marketing best practices.

Spring Clean Your Law Firm's 'Online House'

According to Wikipedia, the origins of spring cleaning date back to Norouz, the Persian new year, which falls on the first day of spring each year and involves the practice of khooneh tekouni, meaning “shaking the house,” just before the new year.

Spring is a great time to give your law firm's “online house” ' its website ' a rejuvenating cleaning as well. To start, evaluate your website's SEO strategy and optimization efforts. Since SEO is a constantly evolving field, your goals and strategy behind optimization efforts from last year or the year before may now be outdated.' For example, until now, keyword usage has been the primary driver in SEO optimization to ensure higher Google page rankings, but recent changes to Google Panda, a tool incorporated into Google's search algorithm to promote high-quality original content sites over low-content sites, have changed that.

The Google Panda algorithm now emphasizes sites with original and regularly updated content over sites with lots of links, keywords and the same repetitive information on them. Keyword usage will still be a factor in obtaining higher Google ranking search results, but maintaining original, continuously updated content and showing engagement through your site, such as social media and regular blog posts, will be increasingly important to keeping your site highly ranked in search results.

In addition, many of the same tools you already use to help with your firm website's keyword research and link building can also be repurposed to help content marketing efforts without having to create all-new content.

What a New Pope Can Teach Us About Incremental Change

The Roman Catholic Church's recent selection of Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now known as Pope Francis, has been widely lauded by Catholics and non-Catholics throughout the world. As the first Latin American and Jesuit pope, Francis is known for his humility and his advocacy for the poor in his native country of Argentina. In recent years, while the church has faced scandals and increased opposition from many for its seemingly out-of-touch stance in today's modern, fast-moving world, many hope this spring's selection of Pope Francis will take the church in a refreshing new direction.

Perhaps the best indicator of that new direction so far are the simple yet effective gestures he showed the world within his first 24 hours as Pope ' making a special trip to pay his bill at the hotel where he stayed before he was elected, rejecting the papal limousine, proactively engaging in friendly banter with journalists, engaging with a crowd.

Likewise, whether your law firm's brand is relatively unknown or well-known, encouraging change in its marketing efforts through incremental steps is a sound strategy. If your firm fears social media, focus on LinkedIn ' the most practical social media tool for law firms ' and engage some active LinkedIn users within the firm to help you rally support of a 100% participation rate. If you are tasked with writing LinkedIn bios for attorneys, use this thorough checklist as a starting point.

Incorporate Gradual Change Into a Media Outreach Strategy

If some of the firm's senior partners fear speaking with reporters, start by identifying younger partners who can do so, covering their practice areas and serving as examples for how effective media outreach can be. By rallying support one attorney or one group at a time, you will gain marketing advocates within the firm who can help you affect more widespread change in the long run.

Get Ahead of the Game on Regulatory Changes Affecting Your Firm's Clients

With many federal agency and White House vacancies to fill in his second term, President Obama has spent significant time this spring nominating individuals whose work will have a direct impact on how businesses comply with the law. For instance, a high-profile nominee, Gina McCarthy, proposed administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will face a huge number of regulatory decisions in next few years, many required under the Clean Air Act.

Whether or not your law firm's clients will be forced to comply with rules under the SEC, EPA, or another agency expecting new rule-making, a lot is up in the air and firm clients will surely have questions about how this will affect their business. Use these regulatory changes as a way to showcase your firm's knowledge and commitment to keeping its clients informed and updated. Work with select attorneys to identify and research a key issue of concern to many firm clients when it first comes out (before all of your law firm's competitors start talking about it).

Then, make the issue multitask for you. Work with the attorney to turn this topic into the focus of a practical client alert on the topic, a bylined article in a key industry publication, blog and LinkedIn posts, and a firm-hosted seminar.'

The key to staying on top of such regulatory changes is timing. Be the first to tell your clients how a critical issue will affect them. Your firm will only benefit by earning a reputation as an authority and go-to resource among its clients.

Springing into Change

This spring will surely bring more changes that will affect your law firm and your clients. The key is to simply expect the change, prepare for it and be ready to stay ahead of it. Just think of these changes as a chance to shake off any doldrums, awaken your mind and enjoy an opportunity to reevaluate, renew, grow and learn. Keep your eyes open this spring ' inside and outside of the office ' and try to identify more methods to awaken and rejuvenate your law firm marketing best practices.

As a vice president in Jaffe PR's Public Reputation Group, Michelle Samuels specializes in raising the visibility of law firms through strategic media relations campaigns. She is based in New York and can be reached at [email protected].

'

Spring is in the air and, whether you experienced a long and snowy winter or a mild one, it is a wonderful, much-welcomed change from the winter doldrums.

As your law firm heads into a busy and active spring season, here are'several topical issues that can remind us of how we can add some rejuvenation and much-welcomed change into our legal marketing best practices.

Spring Clean Your Law Firm's 'Online House'

According to Wikipedia, the origins of spring cleaning date back to Norouz, the Persian new year, which falls on the first day of spring each year and involves the practice of khooneh tekouni, meaning “shaking the house,” just before the new year.

Spring is a great time to give your law firm's “online house” ' its website ' a rejuvenating cleaning as well. To start, evaluate your website's SEO strategy and optimization efforts. Since SEO is a constantly evolving field, your goals and strategy behind optimization efforts from last year or the year before may now be outdated.' For example, until now, keyword usage has been the primary driver in SEO optimization to ensure higher Google page rankings, but recent changes to Google Panda, a tool incorporated into Google's search algorithm to promote high-quality original content sites over low-content sites, have changed that.

The Google Panda algorithm now emphasizes sites with original and regularly updated content over sites with lots of links, keywords and the same repetitive information on them. Keyword usage will still be a factor in obtaining higher Google ranking search results, but maintaining original, continuously updated content and showing engagement through your site, such as social media and regular blog posts, will be increasingly important to keeping your site highly ranked in search results.

In addition, many of the same tools you already use to help with your firm website's keyword research and link building can also be repurposed to help content marketing efforts without having to create all-new content.

What a New Pope Can Teach Us About Incremental Change

The Roman Catholic Church's recent selection of Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now known as Pope Francis, has been widely lauded by Catholics and non-Catholics throughout the world. As the first Latin American and Jesuit pope, Francis is known for his humility and his advocacy for the poor in his native country of Argentina. In recent years, while the church has faced scandals and increased opposition from many for its seemingly out-of-touch stance in today's modern, fast-moving world, many hope this spring's selection of Pope Francis will take the church in a refreshing new direction.

Perhaps the best indicator of that new direction so far are the simple yet effective gestures he showed the world within his first 24 hours as Pope ' making a special trip to pay his bill at the hotel where he stayed before he was elected, rejecting the papal limousine, proactively engaging in friendly banter with journalists, engaging with a crowd.

Likewise, whether your law firm's brand is relatively unknown or well-known, encouraging change in its marketing efforts through incremental steps is a sound strategy. If your firm fears social media, focus on LinkedIn ' the most practical social media tool for law firms ' and engage some active LinkedIn users within the firm to help you rally support of a 100% participation rate. If you are tasked with writing LinkedIn bios for attorneys, use this thorough checklist as a starting point.

Incorporate Gradual Change Into a Media Outreach Strategy

If some of the firm's senior partners fear speaking with reporters, start by identifying younger partners who can do so, covering their practice areas and serving as examples for how effective media outreach can be. By rallying support one attorney or one group at a time, you will gain marketing advocates within the firm who can help you affect more widespread change in the long run.

Get Ahead of the Game on Regulatory Changes Affecting Your Firm's Clients

With many federal agency and White House vacancies to fill in his second term, President Obama has spent significant time this spring nominating individuals whose work will have a direct impact on how businesses comply with the law. For instance, a high-profile nominee, Gina McCarthy, proposed administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will face a huge number of regulatory decisions in next few years, many required under the Clean Air Act.

Whether or not your law firm's clients will be forced to comply with rules under the SEC, EPA, or another agency expecting new rule-making, a lot is up in the air and firm clients will surely have questions about how this will affect their business. Use these regulatory changes as a way to showcase your firm's knowledge and commitment to keeping its clients informed and updated. Work with select attorneys to identify and research a key issue of concern to many firm clients when it first comes out (before all of your law firm's competitors start talking about it).

Then, make the issue multitask for you. Work with the attorney to turn this topic into the focus of a practical client alert on the topic, a bylined article in a key industry publication, blog and LinkedIn posts, and a firm-hosted seminar.'

The key to staying on top of such regulatory changes is timing. Be the first to tell your clients how a critical issue will affect them. Your firm will only benefit by earning a reputation as an authority and go-to resource among its clients.

Springing into Change

This spring will surely bring more changes that will affect your law firm and your clients. The key is to simply expect the change, prepare for it and be ready to stay ahead of it. Just think of these changes as a chance to shake off any doldrums, awaken your mind and enjoy an opportunity to reevaluate, renew, grow and learn. Keep your eyes open this spring ' inside and outside of the office ' and try to identify more methods to awaken and rejuvenate your law firm marketing best practices.

As a vice president in Jaffe PR's Public Reputation Group, Michelle Samuels specializes in raising the visibility of law firms through strategic media relations campaigns. She is based in New York and can be reached at [email protected].

'