Merry and bright: A blueprint for creating your AEC firm’s 2024 holiday card

November 5, 2024

For architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) marketing teams, wrapping up a successful holiday card campaign feels like a sip of hot cup of cocoa on a snowy, blustery day — a comforting relief! However, developing a holiday card concept, securing firmwide support, and executing the plan can feel more like that after-shave scene in Home Alone. You know the one.

via GIPHY

While you may be tempted to send a quick email with an AI-generated image of elves, a wreath, and some mistletoe, that isn’t the personal touch your clients and business partners will melt over. Holiday cards give AEC firms the chance to express their gratitude for the support and collaboration received throughout the year. They can also communicate your company’s values. You don’t have to overcomplicate it but don’t phone it in.

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Attorney bios are a business development tool. Here’s how to use them

October 31, 2024

It’s probably one of the first things you handle when a lawyer joins your firm, but our guess is that most attorney bios haven’t received much love since then. 

Hey, we’re not here to judge. We know the attorneys have been busy doing all the stuff they were hired to do. The thing is, that bio is one of the most important marketing tools your firm has. Done right, it can be a passive business development asset, drawing in potential clients and contacts without lawyers having to lift a finger.

Attorney bios are among the most frequently visited pages on a law firm’s website, used by decision-makers to compare and contrast firms and gauge attorney skills and compatibility. If a prospective client is looking at your firm’s bio pages, you’re halfway there, but you will lose them with unengaging, complicated or outdated copy.

Your attorneys know how their training and experience have shaped them into the professionals they are today and how that makes them an invaluable resource to clients. But do their pages tell that story? 

Here are five secrets to crafting attorney bios that resonate.

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These 12 AI tools can help professional services firms create thought leadership content

August 28, 2024

Ah, the blank page. It’s been taunting humans ever since we invented writing. The desire to fill it can be strong, but, oh, the excruciating frustration of actually putting pen to paper — or hands to keyboard. 

We can’t all lock ourselves in a remote cabin with nothing but a feather quill and log fire in order to create fantastic content. That’s especially true if you’re running a law practice, architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firm or any other professional services business. Clients are gonna client, and billable work must take priority.  

However, there is unique value in creating regular, insightful thought leadership content. When done right, it can set your firm apart, demonstrate its authority in an industry, build trust with new prospects and keep existing clients engaged. 

With the support of artificial intelligence (AI), tasks such as idea generation, research, writing and editing can be streamlined. The key is not to automate the entire process but to be strategic about what you outsource to AI and what you continue to do the old-fashioned way. 

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Keeping your emails out of the spam folder

February 27, 2024
Keeping your emails out of the spam folder

Congratulations! You’ve successfully implemented an email marketing strategy to connect with your clients and prospects. Email marketing is a potent tool for getting a high return on your marketing investment. 

But, wait! 

Just a day after hitting ‘send,’ you receive that dreaded message: “So-and-so didn’t receive the email; it went to spam.” Even worse? Your supervisor got the email in their spam folder, causing some pointed questions about just why you’ve been spending time on this.

Don’t panic just yet. 

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Do’s and don’ts of podcast interviews

September 14, 2023

I love a good podcast. The ones that make me feel like the host and guest are standing in the same room are instant favorites — doesn’t matter what genre it is.

Personal entertainment aside, they’re also a fantastic business opportunity for B2B companies. Not only does running a podcast enable you to build brand awareness while creating content for your business and your guest’s, it’s also a great way to build relationships and have meaningful conversations with industry leaders and potential prospects.

But how do you do good podcasting?

I didn’t think this question would be so hard to answer when I first started producing our agency’s podcast, “Spill the Ink.” After all, I’m an avid consumer of plenty of great podcasts and have a background in production and storytelling as a former TV journalist. Why wouldn’t it be easy? While a lot of my skills were transferable, I had to come to terms with the fact that podcasts are unique pieces of content that require their own skillset. 

In my opinion, one of the most important skills you can develop is learning how to conduct an interview. I won’t lie and say that this isn’t going to take a lot of trial and error. But I can at least help get you started on the basics.

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How to grow your law practice with a podcast

August 28, 2023

When our Principal and President Michelle Calcote King began Reputation Ink’s “Spill the Ink” podcast in November of 2020, she wanted to try something new. Over several episodes, she began to see the benefits of the podcast, and stuck to it. Now with more than 70 episodes, Michelle has learned a lot about the benefits of podcasting, particularly in the legal field. Her number-one benefit she says? Networking. 

There are many other benefits as well – here’s Michelle’s top five reasons why law firms and attorneys should consider creating a podcast: 

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How AEC employees can contribute marketing videos with their smartphones [infographic]

May 31, 2023

You don’t need a Hollywood movie studio to be a B2B video marketer. In fact, you already have a team of videographers at your disposal: your employees. And they already have access to a high-powered video camera in their purse or pocket: their smartphone.

After all, the best camera is the one that’s with you.

So why should AEC firms care about employee-generated video content?

Glad you asked.

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Why AEC firms need to know about the ‘excess share of voice’ rule

March 28, 2023

There’s a well-known principle in business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing: Brands that have a higher “share of voice” than their “share of market” will grow. This is called the “excess share of voice” (ESOV) rule. 

While market share is a widely known metric, share of voice (SOV) isn’t as clear. It’s defined a number of ways depending on the source, but it essentially means the number of conversations about a brand, divided by the number of conversations about a topic, industry or niche (i.e., whatever “market” you are measuring). 

Every time a brand is mentioned in the media, authors an article, posts on social media or runs a series of ads, a conversation is happening. The conversation is amplified when the audience engages by sharing the article, commenting on the social media post or clicking on the ads. All of this activity results in a certain share of voice. 

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What legal marketers should know about Google’s ‘helpful content’ algorithm update

March 9, 2023

Google recently launched a “helpful content” update to its search algorithm to prioritize unique and thorough content for its users. In addition, it will now automatically identify content that seems to have little value, low added value or is otherwise not particularly helpful. When Google identifies what it considers deficient pages and websites, it automatically moves them to the bottom of the search results. Think of it as a way for the search engine to separate the wheat from the chaff in the infinite web of information (and misinformation) that is the internet. 

For those in legal marketing and thought leadership, the update could mean fewer users will see your content if it’s not up to snuff. Cue the panic amongst content creators and SEO marketers.

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