 Play Ball! Or at Least Get in the Game with a Marketing Plan
Have business development ideas in your head? Don’t toss them around like a baseball. Put them on paper and score a home run. Here are some items to include in your marketing plan so you can have a winning season. Executive Summary: What exactly are you trying to do? Who do you want to be? What are you trying to accomplish and why? Answer these questions in terms that relate to everyone in your organization. This isn’t abstract fluff. Make concrete statements that will guide your team in the right direction. Client Service/Retention Plan: What steps are you taking to keep the clients you have? How do you keep in touch 90 days and 365 days after the case closes? At what point during the process do your current clients get asked for more business? Who is responsible for the retention plan and how is it implemented? Write down each step of the process, including touchpoints between clients and staff. Note any weaknesses that make current clients feel disconnected. Target Audience for New Clients: What clients does your firm want as a whole? What types of clients does each practice team want? And within those practice teams, what sorts of clients does each individual attorney need to seek out? What problems do your potential clients have that you can solve? Where are they located? How do they interact with the community and their own clients? What industry publications are they reading? In order to find your audience you have to know their thoughts and feel their feelings, so take the time to figure them out. This isn’t the time for ambiguous thoughts. Be specific. New Client Action Plan: List specific opportunities and activities for business development in a 12-month timeline. How are you going to reach your target audience? Break it down monthly and embed it into everyone’s calendars so it’s in front of them. You can start simple. But start. Measurable Outcomes: Written plans are only good if you can measure their success. Whether it's web traffic, social media, advertising, sponsorships, referrals, or return on investment, start tracking some sort of progress. Still balking at marketing plans? Find more help here: How to Create Your Marketing Plan: An Eight-Step Approach to Your Success
Develop Your Marketing Plan (PDF)
 Clean Up Your Marketing This Spring
It’s that time of year again, when your closet needs cleaning out, your desk needs organizing, and your car needs vacuuming. It’s also a smart time to review your law firm's existing marketing efforts. Polish your online profiles: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Yelp – whatever profiles you have, review them for accuracy and make corrections. An up-to-date account shows visitors you’re active on the site and pay attention to details. Wash your website: We’re not saying you need to completely overhaul your firm’s site, just give it a thorough onceover. Are your company’s contact information and service offerings correct? Has a phone number changed? Did you open a new office? It’s also a good time to refresh your site with new testimonials, success stories, or any new practice areas. Go Google yourself: What comes up when you search your firm name? Are there results from Manta, the Yellow Pages, or other sources you didn’t set up personally showing outdated information? What are people or publications saying about you? Correct any inaccuracies you find. Update your ads: Did you recently change your website or contact info, making current ads outdated? Are your ads consistent across the board? Do they align with your brand strategy? Is it time for a fresh ad campaign? Purge unnecessary or ineffective tactics: More isn’t always better. From social media to Yellow Pages ads, list everywhere your firm has a presence. Look at analytics for each tactic. Ask your clients how they found out about you. Then consider stopping the marketing actions that aren’t delivering strong ROI. Find more tips here: The Marketing Spring Cleaning Checklist to End All Checklists
Spring Cleaning, Solo Style
Your 6-Point Spring Cleaning Content Marketing Checklist
5 Interesting CLE Sessions at AMC 2018 What if you could earn nearly half of your biennial required CLE credits in one place? You can! The 2018 Annual Meeting & Conference offers up to 12 CLE and 2.5 EPR credits, plus LPM and LAU credits. Find more than two dozen CLE sessions on a huge array of subjects. Here’s a closer look at five of them. Sexual Harassment Claims and Misconduct in the #MeToo Era – No one wants to be the next #metoo headline. Discover the duties and risks that come with protecting employers and employees from unwanted sex-based misconduct. Dig Deep and Extract the Truth: How to Use the Latest Digital Forensic Technology to Win Your Cases – With all the cool tools and techniques you’ll learn, you might think you’ve walked onto the set of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” Even deleted data won’t be able to hide from you after this session. A Conversation About Courageous Collaboration and Implicit Bias – Words can change the world. See how productive conversations can overcome barriers of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Acts of God: Legal Issues and Disaster Preparation – Are you or your clients ready when (not if) disaster strikes? Explore tools, services, resources, and steps for rapid recovery in the aftermath of calamity. Prioritizing Lawyer Well-Being: A Plan of Action for Wisconsin – Two national studies released in 2016 show lawyers have an elevated risk for mental health and substance abuse disorders. Learn how to make your practice a healthier place from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being. This year's AMC also includes sessions on: - U.S. Supreme Court petitions
- Mining vs. tribal rights
- Dischargeable debts in bankruptcy
- Wisconsin criminal law procedure
- Alternative dispute resolution
- Trademark law for business lawyers
- Succession planning for law firms
- Smartphones and privacy
- Cybersecurity
- Lawyers in politics
- And much more
See the full schedule and register at amc.wisbar.org.
Lawyers in the Movies Guess the name of the film highlighting the legal profession in which these actors starred. - 1973: John Houseman as a Harvard law professor whose daughter is dating one of his students
- 1993: Tom Hanks as the recently fired lawyer Andrew Beckett
- 1962: Gregory Peck as a lawyer whose family is stalked by a man he once helped put in jail
- 1990: Harrison Ford as a prosecuting attorney in this film based on a Scott Turow best-seller
- 2002: Richard Gere as a tap-dancing defense attorney
|  Book of the Week
Ends Friday, April 13Contract Law in Wisconsin Print Book:
List: $219 member / $269 nonmember
Sale price: $175.20 member / $215.20 nonmember Books UnBound:
List: $159 member / $199 nonmember
Sale price: $127.20 member / $159.20 nonmember To claim your discount, use priority code B5049BB when ordering online or mention it when calling (800) 728-7788.*
23rd Annual Advanced Worker’s Compensation Symposium Freedom of Speech in the Workplace: Exploring the Rights of Public and Private Employees An Introduction to Elder Law The Nuts and Bolts of Collections and Creditor's Rights Protecting Client Trade Secrets & Know-How from Departing Employees Step-by-Step Estate Planning II Wisconsin Insurance Law Year in Review 2017
The Road to Retirement Hosted by the Senior Lawyers Division Join your peers for this popular annual CLE program designed to help lawyers handle the challenges of retirement and aging. Since this program always sells out, we’re now offering it on two dates: May 2 – Madison, WI May 23 – Oshkosh, WI Topics include: - Financial preparation
- Medicare/Social Security considerations
- Addressing family finances in retirement
- Technology issues
- Transition planning
- Identifying diminished capacity
Save your spot and register today! Build a More Collaborative Work Environment Volunteer with the Construction and Public Contract Law Section on a Habitat for Humanity build on April 21 in Waukesha or take part in launching the section’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force at one of these kick-off meetings: Madison: April 17
Green Bay: April 30 For more information on these events, click here. Section Offers Scholarship to AMC The Family Law Section is offering a scholarship to a Family Law Section member who has not yet attended the Annual Meeting & Conference due to financial constraints. The scholarship will cover tuition for a first-time AMC attendee. To apply, fill out the 2018 AMC Scholarship Application. Not a Family Law Section member yet? Join today! Please submit your completed application to the Family Law Section Coordinator, Jane Corkery, at jcorkery@wisbar.org by April 27, 2018.
Indian Law Section Legal Education Scholarship Announcement The Indian Law Section is excited to announce their Legal Education Scholarship. The scholarship is for a deserving third-year law student (who will be a 3L in the 2018-2019 school year) who intends to practice Indian law in Wisconsin upon graduation. The award for the 2018-2019 school year will be $1,000. Applications must be postmarked by May 25, 2018. The application and further details can be found here. Please contact Megan Kenney with questions.
 Innovation Is Everywhere, So Let’s Recognize It
Today’s successful practitioners are dialed-in and adapting to the changing legal profession with creativity and innovation. Legal innovation is improving the client experience as well as the way lawyers provide their services. It can come in the form of a new or updated service, product offering, business model, delivery system, or internal operation. If you or someone you know is shaking up the status quo or revolutionizing everyday processes, tell us about it! We’re looking for nominees for Wisconsin Legal Innovator awards. You can nominate an individual, group, or even a law firm or other organization serving Wisconsin's legal community. Learn more and nominate someone today at ThatsAFineIdea.com. Nominations are due June 30. Meet the 2017 Legal Innovators.
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