Lawyers May Love This Little Black Book

One of my favorite business development books for years has been Jim Hassett's Legal Business Development. This simple and direct outline of a marketing process for lawyers is going to have some company on the bookshelf from now on.

I've just finished Paula Black's latest "The Little Black Book: A Lawyer's Guide to Creating a Marketing Habit in 21 Days." Paula has a couple of "Little Black Books" already in print and has gotten wide notice and some kudos for her earlier work. The new one is the ultimate quick read, perfect for busy lawyers who have plenty of reasons to say their lives are too packed to develop a marketing habit.

Spanning the stated 21 days are Paula's 21 steps into a regular personal marketing habit. Each day, starting with the first Monday of the first week of the period, has a single word to start the day, couple of sentences to direct the lawyer's thinking about the step, an action to take that specific day and a tip that anticipates the need for a couple of words that will increase the effectiveness of the action.

There's no magic knowledge here, just pragmatic direction and advice that breaks down resistance to developing the marketing habit by enabling the lawyer to make incremental yet speedy progress and keeps the workload manageable. Paula's contribution is to recognize that each day must build upon the previous steps and yet be an complete element unto itself.

I think this might just work for both lawyers who cannot get started because the work of personal marketing seems too overwhelming in the whole and lawyers who claim there is just not time to attend to the mechanics. Paula's book gives them both something to do (but not too much to do) in an attractive and readable format. For the next 48 hours, she's giving away almost 40 gifts with each book order, so check it out at her Web site.

Should Marketing Be Expected Of Young Attorneys?

For all of those among the law firm ranks who think that marketing needs to be the province of the experienced and that it takes more than just excellent legal work to win the attention of potential clients, I recommend this post yesterday by Carolyn Elefant at the Legal Blog Watch.

Even we, the long of tooth and true believers of bizdev, can be impressed by the genuine rewards being reaped from good works done well. No matter how much you might discuss the nature of the issue, the timing and character of the representation, the results speak for themselves.

Do any of us have any doubt about this young lawyer's bright future as a rainmaker?

One Blog Says Blogs Can't Be Trusted

I ran across a very interesting piece at Forrester Research last week, thanks to an article by Josh Bernoff in the American Marketing Association's Marketing News of May 15. He reported on research that found blogs were the least trusted source of information among consumers.

Guess I should sign off now. But, wait, there's more.

One out of six consumers say they trust company blogs. These same people are generally more trusting of all media. Making them what? Gullible? Prescient?

One should really read Berhoff's Groundswell blog for the full story, but the Reader's Digest version (did I just date myself?) is that blogs that are entirely company information-oriented to a self-serving level (the reasons our dishwasher pellets simply work better and are environmentally pure) provoke a cynical mistrust in most consumers. Maybe that's to be expected.

Berhoff does report that there are very good ways to make a blog more trustworthy:

1. Cover customer problems.
2. Reach and incite comments from fans.
3. Explore core community issues...the community of readers and consumers.
4. Tout your celebrity (that's why I blog!).
5. Showcase your employees (as authors and heros).
6. Expand your content and channel, if you're a medium.
7. Have a voice in the conversation that's already about you and your interests.

Why do you blog? What blogs do you trust?