26
Mar

How to build your speaking strategy before this year’s conference season

March 26, 2024
by: in Law , Marketing strategy , Lead generation No comments  

Legalweek. ILTACON. American Bar Association (ABA) section seminars. Sector-specific conferences. 

These eclectic events share two things in common: potential clients in attendance and invaluable speaking opportunities to reach them.

Leaders and professionals should consider joining the legal speaking circuit to amp up their profile and build their clientele. After all, speaking engagements are more than just additional CV bullets; they demonstrate authority and expertise to prospects.

However, lawyers and business leaders cannot expect panel invites based on reputation alone (unless they are U.S. Supreme Court justices or Fortune 500 CEOs). The average professional plebian can avoid the submission slush pile by approaching conference season like litigators: building a robust case with strong evidence of prior engagements and accomplishments.

Fortunately, a competitive submission does not need to feature a laundry list of prior speaking engagements — or any at all! What matters more is whether a speaker candidate made an effort to establish their expertise. Establishing third-party credibility through article writing, podcast appearances, smaller speaking engagements and more can give organizers the confidence and social proof they need to gamble on accomplished professionals with valuable insights.

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14
Sep

Do’s and don’ts of podcast interviews

September 14, 2023
by: in Law , Content marketing , Lead generation , Architecture, Engineering and Construction , Professional services No comments  

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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28
Aug

How AEC seller-doers can build relationships, drive revenue through podcasting

August 28, 2023
by: in Lead generation , Architecture, Engineering and Construction No comments  

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 for B2B professional services firms such as architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firms. Her number-one benefit she says? Networking. 

There are many other benefits as well – here’s Michelle’s top five reasons why AEC firms and their seller-doers should consider creating a podcast: 

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28
Aug

How to grow your law practice with a podcast

August 28, 2023
by: in Law , Content marketing , Lead generation No comments  

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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28
Jun

Architecture public relations: 6 publications every architectural firm should target to showcase projects, expertise

June 28, 2022
by: in Marketing strategy , Content marketing , Lead generation , Public relations , Architecture, Engineering and Construction No comments  

When prestigious architectural publications showcase an architecture firm’s work, it gives that firm an invaluable stamp of approval that can play a key role in business development. 

While these publications are read by other architects — and not necessarily by clients — the coverage in these publications acts like a coveted referral from a trusted expert. It sends the message that your firm does quality work. 

While coverage in publications that clients read — like your local business journal or trade magazines such as Building Construction + Design, Medical Construction & Design and Hospitality Design (depending on your industry focus) — is also important, the strategy is different. These publications, while helping to establish your firm on your clients’ radar and demonstrate expertise in their industry, don’t provide the same cachet as publications like Architectural Record or Metropolis. 

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13
Sep

11 ways attorneys can improve their chances of securing speaking engagements

September 13, 2021
by: in Law , Lead generation , Public relations No comments  
11 ways attorneys can improve their chances of securing speaking engagements

Several years ago, I set out to become an industry speaker to promote Reputation Ink’s law firm public relations services to prospective clients. I’ve now spoken to many professional organizations at the local, regional and national levels and can attribute those speaking engagements to winning several new accounts.

Securing speaking engagements may be one of the most effective ways for attorneys to showcase their knowledge and get in front of prospective clients. However, the higher-profile speaking engagements are competitive and are often monopolized by just a few of the top professionals in any given industry. That’s why you must work hard to stand out.

Here are the lessons I’ve learned in my own process of securing speaking opportunities that any lawyer can use to book their own gigs.

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02
Aug

Why you should focus your marketing on one (or a few) industries

August 2, 2021
by: in Law , Marketing strategy , Lead generation No comments  
Why you should focus your marketing on one (or a few) industries

This article originally appeared in DRI’s The Voice.

We’ve all heard the age-old adage: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” There’s a lot of truth behind this quote: it can be difficult to know where you should invest your marketing dollars. Should you invest in media relations? Social media? SEO? Videos? Email newsletters? Webinars? Speaking at events? There’s a lot you can do, but what’s going to make the most impact?

When working with clients facing this question, I often advise them to pick an industry (or two or three, depending on the firm’s size and budget) and focus their marketing efforts there. Here’s why:

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30
May

Why podcasting is an introverted lawyer’s dream networking tool

May 30, 2021
by: in Law , Marketing strategy , Content marketing , Lead generation No comments  
Why Podcasting Is an Introverted Lawyer’s Dream Networking Tool

The last time I went to a networking event (over a year ago thanks to COVID-19), I remember sitting in my car and giving myself a pep talk. “This is a party. Go inside and enjoy it. This is a party. Go inside and enjoy it,” I repeated over and over again to myself. 

While I’m the life of a party when I’m with my friends, I loathe networking events and dread small talk. Instead, I enjoy substantive conversations and don’t know how to achieve meaty, engaging discussions with people I don’t know very well. Thus, the topics stay in the weather and cute-things-my-dog-did-today categories. I inevitably go home exhausted and dreading the next time I have to discuss the weather with strangers while snacking on a charcuterie board. 

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06
May

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

May 6, 2021
by: in Law , Marketing strategy , Lead generation No comments  
Why law firms need to know about the ‘excess share of voice’ rule

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).

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21
May

6 ways lawyers can use downtime to build for the future

May 21, 2020
by: in Law , Marketing strategy , Lead generation No comments  

6 ways lawyers can use downtime to build for the future

While much has been written about how to network and build business during the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of the advice has focused on short-term activities and gains. And while the recommendations are solid (as marketing and biz dev are critical during a downturn), a basic principle of marketing cannot be ignored: Marketing and business development are long-term endeavors. In professional services like the law, those who succeed are consistent over the long term with their marketing and business development.

However, marketing is time-intensive and requires the involvement of the attorneys themselves. This becomes a Catch-22 — marketers and publicists need access to lawyers’ knowledge and expertise (I call our role in the process “knowledge extraction”), while lawyers’ time is stretched thin as they meet aggressive billable targets.

That’s why, as COVID-19 disrupts every aspect of our society, I see an opportunity. While some lawyers are busier than ever in areas such as bankruptcy, healthcare, insurance, employment and cybersecurity, others aren’t faring so well, as M&A deals and court proceedings are put on hold. For those attorneys, now is the time to focus on the labor-intensive marketing activities that form the foundation of any successful practice.

Here are six ways lawyers with coronavirus-induced free time can build for the future:

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