What’s the difference between marketing, business development and client development?

Unlike most consumer products, selling services such as law, accounting, real estate, insurance, and consulting involve higher involvement and a longer process, especially for highly regulated professions like law and medicine. Knowing the difference between the tasks involved can help. There are three basic disciplines that apply to the sales cycle for selling services – marketing, business development and client development. These three disciplines are separate, yet inter-dependent. This is a fanciful slide deck I created to illustrate the difference. Credit for the marketing part of this concept is often attributed to a Reader’s Digest article, which is in the public domain, publication date unknown. Enjoy!

Looking for a more productive airline seat—not a quiet one where you can work, read, nap, or catch up on email, but one that puts you face-to-face with the CEO of your law firm’s most coveted prospect? Welcome to Social Seating. 

Some ideas are just meant to be born.

Imagine your dream prospect has just accepted your invitation to connect on LinkedIn. Over time you exchange a few inMails, but nothing really meaningful transpires to catch their attention. Then, as you are online booking a flight from New York to São Paulo an option appears on the screen inviting you to log on using your Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter account. You’re a bit adventurous, so you decide to check it out. Just to be “safe” you select to log in with LinkedIn – the business network. There beside your ticketing choices little avatars appear — squares with profile pictures in them. As you hover over one, basic profile information pops up. Fun. You scan some more avatars…no, no, wait. Can it be true? Is that Mr. (or Ms.) dream prospect? You run to the sink, splash cold water on your face and realize that you are not dreaming.

Back at the computer you find that he (or she) is seated in Row 6 Seat B. AND, much to your delight, seat 6A is available. You book it! Great. You’re all set up to spend some “quality face time” with your dream prospect—that is of course if he doesn’t change his seat to 10C beside that geeky looking guy who looks like he will sleep through the flight.

From a concept conceived in 2008 by Martín Varsavsky writing an article about airline affinity programs, social seating aims to make choosing your seat mates an interesting and social experience. Using social graphing—a graph that depicts personal relations of Internet users—social seating applications will suggest people with similar interests within your social networks (and beyond).

First launched by an international commercial airline in 2011, by early 2012 applications such as Facebook’s MHbuddy and SeatID were adopted by a handful of others, as well as by Ticketmaster (the music event ticket booking service) to socialize the seating experience, and add value.

How social seating works in a nutshell

For example, a passenger who books their KLM flight has from 90 days to 48 hours before departure to access the airline’s website and opt in to manage their booking, socially, through the Meet & Seat application running on SeatID. Within the application they can edit their profile and photo to display only the information they wish to provide to other passengers who have opted in to social seating on the particular flight. (You can opt out of social seating on any future booking at any time.) (See video clip at the bottom of this post for a more complete demonstration of how social seating works.)

As best I can tell from my research on the various social seating applications, most use your social network Settings (privacy settings) to define who will be able to see you. This is controlled within the social network, not the application. So for example, if your Facebook visibility is set to “Friends of Friends,” your social seating visibility will be the same. Only friends of friends will see you, but, for anyone opting in whose visibility is set to “Everyone” and that matches something in the social graph they will be visible to you. Facebook’s MHbuddy also tells passengers if any of their Facebook friends are planning on traveling to the destination (on a different flight) in case they want to meet during the trip. Aerosvit Airlines social seating solution, also developed by SeatID, allows passengers who opt in to see who else would be on different flights before they actually chose a flight and a seat. (Again, limited by a users’ network privacy settings.)

Airlines are hoping that serious business social networkers will find social seating a value add, especially on long haul trips. They also see it as a way to provide a more personal experience to their customers. Once a passenger has released their social networking data to the airline via these systems the airline has access to information such as upcoming birthdays or anniversaries that can be used to create a special experience. (All social seating apps that I’ve looked at have explicit terms of use conditions that preclude shared information from being used by other passengers or third parties. Good luck with that!)

The future for social seating

It is expected that other industries that provide seating will soon join the fun—trains, resorts, sporting events, and so forth. Ticketmaster already allows users to tag where they are sitting at events and share that information with their Facebook friends so they can pick seats close to where they are sitting. Last year they also added a new app which can recommend nearby concerts based on what artists a user listens to on services such as Spotify and Rdio.

Meanwhile, like everything new and digital there are risks. The most important thing you can do is to check ALL your social network settings frequently. Next, it should go without saying but I’ll say it again, be careful about what you publish on the Internet no matter what applications you use. Everyone has their own comfort level when it comes to sharing on the Internet. In many cases they are generational and peer driven. The under 30 crowd has a much lower threshold (few or no filters for what they post) than say someone who at 40 has built a career and a reputation that depends on a certain degree of decorum and privacy. Further, there is always someone, somewhere with evil intent. I’d say anyone using social seating should be armed with thorough understanding of the application, its settings, and its conditions and terms to avoid being extra vulnerable.

PS: As of “press” time here on the VMO, rumor of any domestic airlines introducing social seating is unconfirmed. Among those airlines mentioned in a number of earlier articles on this topic of social seating are Jet Blue and American.

You can join my network on LinkedIn and drop a note that you read this post. I’ll see you in the clouds – literally!

It is not a coincidence that the best ball players are the ones with the best throwing and catching skills. Good defense revolves around a team’s ability to throw accurately and catch the baseball. Watch any high school level team or below warm up in the outfield and you’ll see players using poor throwing mechanics and running after poorly thrown balls. If playing catch is such a core skill for defense [and everyone knows defense wins championships] why aren’t players better at it? One opinion is that many coaches don’t teach their players how to throw.

I really thought that by now, five years since I put my money on social media, I’d be seeing more skillful throwing and catching coming out of AM LAW 250 firms in their social media. Sad to report; I am not. This is not to say that a few individual lawyers (or marketers) have not developed into big league talent, but most of the team is still sitting on the bench or standing on the field watching butterflies.

Coaches: DO NOT assume your players know how to throw and catch.

A quick look shows me that almost 100% of law firm driven blogs do not have comments. Law firm Twitter accounts have no conversation, not even retweets, favorites (tweets by others that are marked for recall), or Lists (that simplify for others new people to follow by topic or category). Facebook Pages are littered with press releases, employee community service project photos (not dissing this), and static head shots of lawyers with self-congratulatory announcements. A few “pitch” some videos, a newsletter sign up, or their Twitter stream, which is just a repeat of everything posted to Facebook. There is little to catch here. Just a bunch of junk balls (random clicks and no follow up). Of course this may be what the manager wants—a risk free, conservative game. However, if you’re interested in winning, teach your lawyers to throw and catch—and help them practice.

Throwing in social media.

We know consumers of legal services such as corporate counsel, small business owners, and individuals visit social media. We know some even use it quite frequently. The most recent survey on social media usage by corporate counsel (GreenTarget survey) reported an uptick in usage, particularly reading—sourcing news and information. They are not, however, engaging. (Lawyers need practice throwing catch-able balls! Read on…)

So, the team goes out and writes substantive, factual articles on new regulations, laws, and other highly technical legal stuff. (They think its a blog post, though it is really an article—there’s a difference.) Then they send the articles to marketing to publish on one of the firm’s blogs and promote on the firm’s Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn company page. Done. No. This is incorrect throwing. The catcher, for example, corporate counsel, consumes the content and goes about their business with no interest in which law firm threw the ball. This just happened to fall in their glove with no consequence—easier than flipping through pages of the original legislation, thank you.

You’ve probably heard the phrase “throw like a girl.” What that actually means is that the thrower is pushing the ball with only the arm. That is exactly what 99% of law firms are doing with their social media—pushing the ball. It is ineffective. The key is to throw hard. In baseball, throwing hard requires that you get your hips out in front of your shoulders and create separation. This allows you to use your legs in a forward motion and create power in your throw—necessary for reaching the exact player anticipating the catch. To throw hard, and well, you must learn how to throw with your entire body, not just your arm. (I know this, too, because I play tennis. The serve motion is the same as throwing a baseball. Using the whole body and the power from your legs is critical if you want to ace your opponent.)

In social media, the correct mechanics of throwing require using all of your faculties—perception, judgment, discriminative feeling, mental activity, and even moral preference (if and when appropriate). Take a position. Challenge the reader. Tell them something they didn’t know, with conviction. Play catch. Be memorable. You’re not giving legal advice—remember that disclaimer you labored over—you’re only giving them a good ball to catch. The catch may not be an online conversation, but it could be the phone to call you.

If you don’t learn the proper throwing technique you’ll lose to information overload. Remember, everyone else is out there passively posting the same knowledge in similar articles. I know you have a lot “to do,” but if you’re simply pushing the ball, you’re not going anywhere near the major leagues.

Catching in social media.

Former Red Sox Outfielder Jonathan Van Every believes the three essentials of being a good outfielder are:

1. Get a good initial read

2. Get a good first step

3. Take a good route to the baseball

It takes less than two minutes to get a good read on well-written content, preferably content published by your clients on social media. You’re anticipating the throw, right? A good first step for catching the social media ball is to be aware of what your clients are saying and sharing on social media. A good route to the ball is to share that content among your networks from your firm accounts, adding comment that highlights something meaningful to them.

For example, law firm Twitter accounts devoid of client content, retweets, and possibly conversations are not winning plays. Many clients throw a really great ball, but their law firms are not paying attention. If you’re not paying attention, you drop the ball. No worries, a more athletic, practiced catcher from the other team will be there to back you up.

Playing ball requires both throwing and catching. Stop looking up at the scoreboard (followers/friends/fans) hoping the runs will appear magically, and get in the game! If you’re not good at throwing and catching, you’re not going to be major league. Respectfully, might I suggest a civilized game of croquet?

The LinkedIn Dream

In 2007 when I joined LinkedIn, I was hopeful, even optimistic, that an online networking site could provide an alternative to the endless round of rubber chicken networking events. I wanted so badly for it to become an essential, virtual venue where like minded people could meet and greet, exchange ideas, and develop meaningful business connections—24/7 from the comfort of their living room. To a lesser degree it has filled that niche—but like all things we “join,” the returns are proportional to our investment. The possibilities of LinkedIn are limited only by the clarity of your business case for being there (not always the right match), the time you are willing to invest, the networking skills you possess, and yes, to some extent, your imagination.  And, today perhaps, the amount of cash you are willing to spend each month for an “upgrade,” though this is debatable.

The upgrade business model is turning a profit for online destinations hungry to satisfy their investors, but does it make sense for you? Let’s explore….

Deciding whether to upgrade to LinkedIn paid account

I’ve personally harvested some interesting ideas from the free feature “Groups,” and I can easily pay it forward when I “like” or share my connections’ news or articles found on the status updates page—for free. It is also free to mine the who’s connected to whom feature, which I find helpful when researching a prospect, attending an event, accepting an invitation to connect, or preparing a proposal.

But, no matter what functionality LinkedIn provides—free or paid—the question that begs is: Are you ready, able, and willing to do anything grand with them? Unfortunately, purchasing the upgrade to LinkedIn will not make anyone a better net-worker or closer. It may help you work on these skills with purpose and it may inspire you to take the task more seriously, but in all fairness, there’s no magic wand here.

My experience with premium

I maintained my premium business-membership for over two years. That was slightly 18 months longer than I needed to determine that the return was marginal. However, I justified it because I advise clients about LinkedIn—my business case—and I thought it a small price to pay to be able to demonstrate how the premium features worked.

Your business case will be different. Once you’ve exhausted the free features and clearly identified a business case that would support your paid participation on LinkedIn (review of those features below), I recommend that you buy the upgrade for a set time period—say 4 months ($100 @ $25 a month)—work it faithfully and at the end of the period evaluate it’s usefulness. Simple.

Unraveling the premium features

Seriously, there are some LinkedIn superstars out there who are winning for free. They build their connections, maintain a presence, and leverage their Group activities with purpose and skill. They claim to have received (lots of) business as a result. Still others swear by the handful of features a paid subscription offers. What are those features? Let’s take a look….

(The following observations are strictly my own and do not reflect the universe of possibilities. Your results may be different. My comments are specific to the business development case for social networking, not recruiting or job hunting, a big component of the site. Your comments are welcome.)

Some industries are better suited than others

First, much depends on the industry. How a particular industry typically buys and sells their goods and services impacts the usefulness of LinkedIn generally and a premium account specifically. For the legal profession, expertise, trust, and frequency of contact are important for developing business. LinkedIn can support those needs, but only to a degree—it’s just the warm up, not the close. Lawyers should set their expectations low. This is not likely going to be your ticket to main event.

Do big numbers stroke your ego?

The true LinkedIn groupies get their kicks building a huge stable of connections, and then spend considerable time admiring (and promoting in some cases) their numbers. To them, it doesn’t matter if connections are qualified, appropriate, or useful. The mere fact that they “own” these numbers offers (self) validation.

Interestingly, LinkedIn knows this and even encourages this type of behavior. The latest being the introduction of “Endorsements.” I’ve seen profiles with over 500+ endorsements for a individual’s one particular skill. That has to be thrilling for them—albeit meaningless to me. Really, how hard is it to click a button?

Okay, I admit, I do check mine when I happen to be reviewing my profile. And, I appreciate the shout outs and try to reciprocate. But honestly, when I hear of people being endorsed for things they don’t even do, and it happens frequently, how serious can this be? (Note, LinkedIn not only uses the skills you claim in your profile, it also uses keywords from your profile to guess about your skills. Then, they prompt people in your network to endorse you for these skills, and oddly, expect people to be honest. Go figure!

Do you like big events?

No question, LinkedIn can be a decent icebreaker—if you can tune out the noise. Extroverts who enjoy a big event and lots of small talk often do well on LinkedIn. And, they can use LinkedIn to keep track of all those people in their Connections. They also benefit from the ease of dropping in to like or share the links to the news/blog posts of their huge networks—which are readily found on their landing page—and gain a little superficial touch point. At best.

While both of those features in their basic form are free, the upgrade gives serious networkers more inMails and almost unlimited invitations. An aggressive networker can Connect to people without having their email address or being associated with a common Group or employer. So, if you like big events, small talk, and do not have a problem reaching out to people you don’t know, this part of the upgrade will be important for you.

Are you an organized net-worker?

Of the premium features that had any value to me—keeping in mind my business case is different than yours—were (1) the ability to organize my connections into folders and (2) the option to save profiles.

Folders:

With the basic business-upgrade you get five folders for organizing contacts. So for example, a big, noisy network could be organized by “prospects,” “referral sources,” “experts,” “events,” and “close associates.” This definitely helps if you use the site for “mass” communications—sending broadcast emails to particular types of connections. (Most lawyers do not. They use their in-house CRM software to distribute those.) It is also useful if you are searching among your network for a needle in a haystack.

Saved Profiles:

For me, this feature was helpful for collecting examples of good profiles to use in my coaching and presentations, but I’m wondering what a lawyer would gain from that. If you want to retrieve a profile, just use search. For recruiters and HR directors, saving profiles can cut out steps when trying to recall good candidates, as you can tag each with keywords, but again, for the lawyer practitioner this is extraneous.

Do you need competitive intelligence?

With the basic upgrade you get additional search filters, search results, and profile views detail.

Filters:

The five additional search filters allow you to narrow results by categories such as Fortune 500 executives, industry, job title, and etc. Besides using this for streamlining your searches, one could use this for warm call prospecting, I did not.

More Results:

You also get MORE search results. That was not particularly helpful to me at the time, however I do notice the difference now that I do not have them. Still, not a significant feature for me.

Profile views:

Probably the most useful premium feature was seeing more detail of who viewed my profile. If I didn’t know the person, and it made sense to add them to my network, I would send them an invite or a note. Unfortunately, many invitations went unanswered. Worse, it made me overly curious about why they were looking at my profile. (I was, however, surprised at how often my competitors were checking me out!) Of those cold call invitations that were accepted, I was unable to engage them in any meaningful conversation—perhaps my fault, but more likely a fault of the medium. That’s not to say that seeds weren’t planted. I simply concluded I’d do better tending other gardens.

WIFM

I’m going out on a limb here, but, LinkedIn is as narcissistic as all the other social networking sites. It’s all about “look at me.” The prevailing attitude of most LinkedIn members is: While I’m interested in you, it is only to the degree that you can help me.

I know that the real business connectors (at least in the legal profession) are out pounding the street, shaking hands, exchanging business cards, and following up with phone calls and invitations to lunch, not browsing LinkedIn. And, so that’s where I’m investing my resources. Business connectors may have a presence on LinkedIn because it is expected, and it has some marginal effect, but this is not their go-to tool, nor is it mine.

I’m not giving up on LinkedIn. It’s a decent tool for general exposure and reference. But, I’ve got my eyes wide open…

Bottom line:

Buying the premium did NOT make me a better net-worker.

If you haven’t exhausted the free stuff with consistency (and have a few small victories you can point to), the premium features will be lost on you. Invest in a business coach or attend a live event instead.

If you need more advice on improving your networking skills, I’ve got plenty to spare. Contact the VMO!

A headline in the Marketplace section of Monday’s Wall Street Journal (1/7/2013) gave some sobering news: “Layoffs Threaten Law Firm Partners.

First it was staff, then associates, now partners?

Let’s blame it on the economic downturn.

According to the article (as well as a dozen others I’ve read lately), law firm partners are drowning in dismal numbers—billable hours down, surplus of under utilized lawyers up—and it’s cutting into their profits.

“Rate increases are hard to come by, demand is not increasing,” says the managing partner of a large Washington DC firm quoted in the article.

Further, clients, facing their own belt tightening, are waging a rather aggressive campaign against the very fabric of the law firm business model—the billable hour. They are asking for fixed fees, predictability, value, and cost control.

Damn that economic downturn. Such a spoiler. What can we do?

Out of the mouths of babes…

Yes, the economic downturn has forced law firms to re-evaluate some things. But, I’m not convinced that the economy is their biggest enemy.

According to one sacked partner quoted in the WSJ article:

“It isn’t enough to be a good lawyer. You have to make money for the firm.”

Ah….yes, Mr. Sacked, I think you’re on to something.

It’s not enough to be a good lawyer, you have to make money for the firm…in order for it to exist! (Did he think lawyers were above the law of the marketplace?) Everyone in the organization needs to be contributing to the economic engine—sales. And, while I genuinely feel compassion for the lawyer who just wants to be a good lawyer, the reality is…

IT’S ABOUT TIME!  Stop putting lipstick on the pig. Superficial changes (de-equitized status, re-assigning practice areas, or allocating extra committee work) are futile attempts to disguise the true nature of a partner that simply can’t (or refuses responsibility to) sell their services. When law firms stop buying lipstick and start investing in sales and marketing talent (or training), we will see a different headline.

“Law Firms WOW! Clients and Exceed Profit Projections”

Like all highly competitive businesses, law firms need to be stepping up sales teams and focusing on adjustments that allow them to produce, distribute, and sell their services more efficiently. They should be delivering a WOW! experience for their clients that spreads virally and attracts more prospects. They should be training their teams in how to handle those prospects; how to find common ground with other people, and how to recognize and act on selling opportunities. (Ugly words for the lawyer who just wants to practice law. Music to the ears of those partners who have been carrying the burden for all these years.)

How to reach WOW! and get some relief for that handful of rainmakers.

Step #1: Institutionalize the biz dev process.

Identify the players. Statistically, probably 20 percent of your lawyers are naturals. They’re probably extroverts with the gift of gab and an extensive network. They’ve figured out how to win clients on their own. Another 60 percent will need to be taught. The bottom 20 percent? They will likely never be successful at sales. This is NOT necessarily a negative thing if they are exceptional minders and grinders. Every firm needs a percentage of minders and grinders. But, this needs to be openly acknowledged and a respectful path created for them as they fill this necessary role. (See also sales teams.)

Once everyone is aware of what is expected of them, you’ll be on your way.

Step #2: Create sales teams.

An ideal sales team will include at least one extrovert with sales experience (a natural gift of gab), one with service senses (a good listener), and another with a skill set for the substantive. This can be a combo of attorneys and/or biz dev professionals, marketers or even other administrators depending on the type of client. It is rare that one individual can, or even should, occupy those three roles on their own.

Step #3:
 Encourage your teams.

All people need encouragement to some degree. Not withstanding recognition and reward, encouragement can come in other forms and through other vehicles such as during regular sales meetings (to review prospects and get people acting) and meaningful educational programs. Additionally, teams must have sales quotas and accountability.  Review and revise is mandatory.

Step #4:
 Be consistent.

Any lapse in consistency of the administration of a sales program—conducting reviews, evaluating quotas and providing encouragement—will kill sales. The reasons law firms fail to be consistent are many: procrastination, schedule conflicts, loss of interest, death by committee, and etc. Recognize the warning signs and persevere. If you don’t, your law firm will be right back where it started…losing revenue.

Step #5:
 Stop treating marketing and business development as a cost center.

Oddly, many law firms hire marketing and business development personnel who have NEVER SOLD A THING IN THEIR LIFE! This is a mistake. Sales in theory and sales in practice are two entirely different skills.

Anyone can attend sales seminars or read books, articles, and blog posts about sales that can make them feel capable of telling attorneys what they needed to be doing. But I believe (and have learned from my own experience) that talk is cheap. It wasn’t until I left my law firm job to start consulting where I had to sell myself every day in addition to “minding the store” —taking care of clients, delivering the service, and managing the finances (that aren’t always as predictable as you’d like them to be)—that I understood THIS is the reality for lawyers who—as Mr. Sacked would say—have to “bring in money.” It is only when business development professionals can feel their pain—be accountable for quotas, juggle the left and right brain activities, and learn how to implement theory—that they will truly earn an assist.

Here are some of the keys to transitioning biz dev to a revenue center rather than a cost center:

These talented professionals should be there in the pre-sale meetings and post-sale meet and greets. They should be given the equal respect they deserve as a member of the revenue team. They don’t need to be JD’s to understand the general gist of the client’s legal problem; give them a five minute briefing. Then, acknowledge their particular gifts or practical experience in connecting the business problems behind the legal ones. As a member of the revenue team they can enhance and assist the sales process and the customer experience.

If 8 people in your biz dev organization bring in 20 million, could 16 people bring in 40? If they are the right people with the right tools and support, yes. Build that team.

Layoffs may be de rigueur for law firms today, but cost trimming isn’t enough. Blaming the economy isn’t effective, either. Neglect the real issue—reinventing or recharging your sales force—and you may find the next headline about your law firm in the obituary.

Last May (2012), I blogged about the spectacular trial publicity move made by Mark O’Mara, newly retained defense counsel for George Zimmerman who is charged with 2nd degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin (State of Florida vs. George Zimmerman). O’Mara rocked the “legal” world by launching (I believe the first) social media campaign, in his words, to respond to the overwhelming public interest in the case. Within hours of announcing his representation he said his offices were “inundated with phone calls and emails.” So, he did what any logical person in the 21st Century would do: He published a Facebook Page, created a Twitter account, a website, and a blog to address the public interest, and “give Mr. Zimmerman a voice.”

And how did that turn out for you, Mr. O’Mara?

To update the issues, I’ve summarized the trajectory (and dive) of the George Zimmerman Legal Defense team’s social media experiment, including additional lessons about law and order in social media forums (the prosecution takes the stand), in this guest post, “[Is] Social Media The “New” Courthouse?”  over on the ABA’s LawTechnologyToday blog.

Here’s the tease…

“Let’s forget, for a moment, the magical marketing benefits of social media and talk about law and order. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are right now, as you’re reading this post, initiating, hosting, or contributing to social Web conversations with ordinary citizens (all potential jurors, I’d add). These officers of the court are, today, boldly intimidating criminals, rallying citizens, and managing trial publicity via social media.

“Critics fear that the attorneys who spawn such conversations will ultimately compromise the U.S. legal system. Fans applaud them for their transparency; and for the access to information that was formerly unavailable to them.

“It probably can’t be reversed. It’s hard to stop the arc of history. Humans seek connection and social media has become a voice of choice. In the realm of law and order, these are their stories…”

So, please, hop on over to LawTechnologyToday.org, read the post, leave your comments, and, while you’re there, subscribe—they’re beefing up their contributor list (I’ll be guest posting once a month ), and there’s some great content in the archives.

Thanks for stopping by the VMO. Stay tuned for more provocative, practical, content….

This post offers an inside look at traditions, tips and ideas for corporate holiday gift giving for law firms, lawyers, marketers, consultants, and other professionals.

Corporate Gift Giving at the Holidays

While holiday greeting cards, whether eCards and traditional, are always appropriate, taking the time to choose a gift for your most valued clients, vendors, and/or referral sources during the winter holidays is a great way to recognize and honor existing relationships. Now, if only it was so simple.

“They always gives me bath salts,” complained Nobby. “And bath soap and bubble bath and herbal bath lumps and tons of bath stuff and I can’t think why, ‘cos it’s not as if I hardly ever has a bath. You’d think they’d take the hint, wouldn’t you?”
― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

Offering holiday gifts of appreciation is often rife with unspoken rules, not to mention the juggernaut that can be created when a committee or team gathers to contemplate the why, who, what, and how much, not to mention the need to ensure that the gift is appropriate, memorable, and welcome* for broad, diverse recipients. (*Many companies have policies on what their employees can receive on the holidays. If you don’t know, ask.)

For gifts that come from “The Firm,” two things are foremost: (1) settle on your budget and (2) determine your recipient list. For gifts that come from individual lawyers, well, there’s more wiggle room as the lawyer will have more specific criteria as to who gets a gift, the personalization of the gift, and perhaps spring for part of the cost if it exceeds the allowed budget.

With a little help from my friends over at the Extraordinary Legal Marketing Pros Facebook Group, who recently contributed to a discussion on this topic, the focus of this post is on gifts that come from “The Law Firm.”

1. WHAT IS YOUR OBJECTIVE FOR GIVING A GIFT

Are gifts sent to clients and business associates over the winter holidays just a nice gesture or a smart marketing tool to remain top of mind and get your name in front? Maybe both, but in any case the pros agree on one rule of thumb: holiday gifts should represent a token of appreciation, not a bribe or a blatant marketing play. They should deliver good will, thoughtfulness, or thanks. The form of the gesture may vary, however, the pros say that sending any item with your logo boldly emblazoned in blaring letters across it has the potential to look cheap and worse, easily discarded.

“Nothing with your logo. I have received two fleece blankets, one just says happy new year. The whole family enjoys them.” Catherine Alman MacDonagh, Co-founder, The Legal Mocktail.

“I received a Nike + watch the other day–the client knows I like to ride outside. I was thrilled. So, customize the gift to the person where you can – nothing with your logo.”

Yes, you want your logo out there and you want your client to remember you. But sending a garish gift with little value will only make your gift seem cheap. Instead, the pros suggest that you select a high-quality item that is useful, and if you must, use only a tasteful engraving or stitching of your law firm name (not logo).

2. WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET FOR GIFTS

Forget the excess of the boom times and embrace the opportunity to select a holiday gift that makes the recipient feel as if you thought specifically about them.

It’s perfectly acceptable to choose a modest gift that is tasteful and maybe even a bit understated. Recipients are likely to remember unique gifts, especially those that show you are familiar with what they care about, no matter what the dollar amount.

“Most unique [gift]- a mason jar with a mechanical butterfly inside that moves when you tap the lid. Truly a conversation piece in my office too – looks life-like and fools many people.”

“Gifts for their dog and/or cat: If you know enough to know if your client has a dog or cat, you know your clients. Also, they will NEVER throw it away.”

Larger firms sometimes find that creating a gift catalog of vetted, appropriate selections allows lawyers to choose and personalize gifts for individual clients AND stay within the budget. Catalogs include gifts that appeal to basic themes such as sports (golf, tennis, boating, etc.), pets, families, hobbies (wine lovers, cooks, book lovers), and etc.

For the budget minded gift giver:

My first year in business as an independent consultant I had accumulated a lot of people (clients, referral sources, and industry friends) to whom I wanted to send holiday cheer but I had a very limited budget. So, to cover everyone, I designed and printed a holiday card with a festive cup ‘o joe on the front, a greeting inside that invited them to join me for a “virtual” cup of coffee, and inserted a (measly) $5.00 Starbucks gift card. I was surprised that it led to many quick thank you follow up emails. It was the thought that counted, not the dollar value.

General advice: Use common sense. Your business reputation is on the line. Your best judgment can make your gift a real success and enhance the relationship. When in doubt send only the very best you can afford.

3. WHO ARE YOU GIFTING?

If you can’t gift to everyone, how do you decide? There’s no ideal formula, but typically law firms will choose based on revenue generated. In addition to top clients, firms may decide to send smaller gifts of appreciation to valued vendors, media contacts, advisory board members, or friends of the firm (referral sources).

The key here is to start the identification process early. For larger law firms, you may want to consider using a request form that requires specific information about the intended recipient; i.e., questions about the depth of the relationship, the client’s community involvement, potential, and etc. (or you might find this information in your CRM).

If the relationship is strictly with an individual attorney rather than the firm, consider matching funds up to a certain amount and let the lawyer choose the appropriate gift on their own.

The president, CEO, or General Counsel may sign the checks, but the company works as a team. Who backed up the “boss” and made your year profitable? Did you work with a group of particularly helpful secretaries, account executives, or staff counsels? If so, then you should consider sending a gift everyone can partake in. The person with whom you have the client relationship will appreciate the gesture, especially where the company mission statement is team oriented: it can show that you are tuned into their philosophy and mission. (If you don’t know, check out their website!)

4. WHAT IS THE GIFT

Ahh…the great conundrum. Marketers are typically tasked with finding fresh gift ideas and something unique, yet one that suits most everyone on the list. The following ideas are not exhaustive by any stretch, but may start the wheels turning. If it’s not too late for 2012 (probably), you can file this post for next year! If you have examples of corporate gifts you’ve sent that have been well received, please share them in the comments. (No VENDOR pitches, please.)

Make it a contest.

Give employees a dollar amount and ask them to come up with ideas. The winning idea gets…

Charitable contributions:

“Donations are terrific.”

Let the recipient choose from several charities. You can do this via your holiday eCard after the greeting. Program a screen that allows the recipient to check off one from a list of four or more charities that the firm will donate to on their behalf. Better yet, customize based on the charities you know your clients support. (If you don’t already have this in your CRM – you should – you can look it up on their website, where most will list their pet charities or projects.)

“I spoke for Kohn Communications on a client webinar they had. A couple weeks later I got a thank you note where they indicated that a donation was made in my name to the Midnight Mission. It’s an organization they know that I personally support. It was completely out of the blue and so thoughtful, as it was personal to me.” Heather Morse-Geller, Director of Marketing, Barger & Wolen, blogger at The Legal Watercooler.

Food is always welcome:

“We’ve done Tiffany. This year we are trying a chocolate bar. We’ll see how it works.”

“We did the giant chocolate bars. Very much enjoyed. I will say that I miss getting food items at the office. A big basket of Mrs. Beasley’s might go far at the holidays.”

“One of my colleagues did giant gourmet fortune cookies once and people LOVED them. They are not only fun, they are actually delish.”

Desk stuff:

“A consultant I used to work with sent out nice silver boxes (small – like 2 or 3 inches square) with a different word engraved on the top each year – i.e., Imagine, Hope, Change, Dream, Vision, etc. The boxes were a different shape every year too. They are among the most commented-on items on my desktop. You can put paper clips, business cards, candy, etc. in them, but I have just left them as-is in a group. None of the consultant’s branding appears on the boxes.”

“Depending on what you want to spend, we did Simon Pearce clocks as speaker gifts after an event once (about $50 each at the time) and they were extremely well received.”

Functional:

“[My former law firm] used to produce a music CD of solo piano or jazz, performed by a Colorado musician. Clients loved them (to the point it was hard to stop making them).”

“I have been given custom tailored shirts. Very cool…the person came to my office, measured me and then we picked fabrics, collars, etc.”

“Most functional – picnic blankets and portable beverage coolers.”

Client focused:

“Don’t forget to take a look at your client list for those that might have products that would make cool/unique gifts. Supporting and promoting your clients’ businesses can be a great value add to the relationship.”

“Depends on the number of clients, but we personalize every client gift and make them all about the client. [Client logo] branded water tumblers for the conference room, branded cookie centerpieces (delicious too), branded tea cans filled with organic teas (www.teacancompany.com), media coverage plaques (In The Press), branded boxes of local specialty chocolates (www.johnandkiras.com), specialty cakes (think Ace of Cakes, but go local), etc.  – Gina Furia Rubel, CEO, Furia Rubel

Here are some other clever ideas that I’ve seen gifted (or personally received) with great appreciation.

• Museum memberships
• Coffee-table books
• Tickets to the theater or a sporting event
• Hand picked compilation CD of holiday music
• Environmentally friendly gifts (all the rage)
• Regionally themed treat baskets
• A fleece jacket
• A high quality tote bag
• Amaryllis bulb kits and an attractive pot (they bloom in January when you really need a burst of color in your office)
• Chocolates in a hand-painted box that was suitable for stashing things after the chocolates were gone, and still sits on my desk!

Happy gifting! And, happy holidays!

The Adam Smith, Esq. blog, published by Bruce MacEwen, covers the topic of law firm economics really well. His latest series on Growth is Dead lays out some pretty heavy schooling for law firms; stressing the need for experimentation, acceptance of failure, and the virtues of resilience, among other things that are not typically in the legal profession’s emotional wheel-house. Good thing he didn’t pick on marketing, too much. That’s my job and I’m going to pick up the slack today.

First things first.

How we, chief marketing and business development executives, are viewed by our organizations during these extremely tense times will depend on how well we integrate a marketing and client service mix that resonates with the needs of the well-informed, thank you very much Internet, consumer in the new order—including general counsels and procurement departments. Now-get-this: prime addresses, billable hours, and cross selling are no longer winning over clients, nor are they edging out the competition for new business. Yes, I understand that marketers often have to work with difficult and inconvenient truths to get their jobs done. But, don’t discount…

Product, Price, Promotion, Place IS DEAD.

Marketers around the world, beginning sometime in the 1940′s, subscribed to a popular mass marketing theory known as the marketing mix, or the 4P’s—product, price, promotion, and place—to identify unique selling propositions and position products and services among competitors in the marketplace to gain advantage.

• Product: A tangible good or intangible service that satisfies a consumer need or want. *Where the exact product or service is lacking consumer need, the marketer must attempt to fit the consumer into the product/service they offer by creating need, which is way more difficult: reference cross selling below.
• Price: What the consumer pays. (Company profits and market competition dictate pricing.)
• Promotion: Various methods used by marketers to broadcast information about the product or service to masses of consumers.
• Place: Giving your product or service a place that is easy for the consumer to access. Synonymous with distribution.

This methodology, which was fully embraced by law firm marketers when I entered the field in 1995, continues in some firms today. News alert: It’s dead.

The EMPOWERED CONSUMER is ALIVE.

Near the end of the last century, 1993 to be exact, the 4Ps and mass marketing were tossed aside in favor of more consumer-oriented model when Robert F. Lauterborn first wrote about integrated marketing using the 4Cs—consumer, cost, communication, and convenience. 

• It’s not about your product; it’s about the CONSUMER experience.
• It’s not about your price; it’s the total COST of ownership.
• It’s not about your promotions; it’s two way COMMUNICATIONS.
• It’s not about your place; it’s about making it CONVENIENT for your clients and customers.

Now, I know that legal services marketing isn’t cutting edge, but isn’t it a natural for a consumer centric model—we don’t need no stinking theory? Yet, I hear law firm clients question bills, question services and give the profession a thumbs down at every turn, today! Could we really be that far out of touch? Maybe it’s just a hold over from the days when law firms were charging clients for pastries served in their conference rooms and adding a 40% mark up—a 1991 article from American Lawyer magazine that documents that very thing is appropriately titled “Skaddonomics“—because,  just last Monday in the Wall Street Journal there was this article.

How can that be? Is all the copy on law firm websites touting “client first” jargon and “you’re number one” brands just lip service? Hey, marketers, you got the 1993 memo, right? But your hands are tied? Well, get this…it’s time to cut loose!

1. Today’s consumer is empowered.
2. Highly successful, younger corporations every day—think Zappos, Amazon, Apple, Southwest Airlines, and etc.—are beating out the competition by embedding exceptional consumer experience into their business and marketing models. Zappos doesn’t sell shoes, they sell service. And law firms need to take note: the consumer experience is HOT!
   
3. We’re also seeing it take hold, slowly albeit, in a few great, older American institutions. Two examples I cite here are AT&T and American Airlines. (Proving that even established law firm could ratchet it up a bit, yes?)

• Contrary to MANY earlier experiences with AT&T, I had a recent experience with an AT&T sales associate by telephone where the agent took the time to ask the right questions, listen to my answers, and really worked to customize their services to my needs—no kidding. And, that’s not all! When I ran into a snag shortly after I called her back (she gave me her direct line) to relate my issues. Good to her word she helped me find a manager who, again, listened to my concerns, gave me the equipment I needed, gratis, solved the issues and left me not only feeling like a valued customer but also singing their praises! Is AT&T perfect? No. Am I a prefect customer, no. But, they transformed the formerly frustrating user experience into a positive simply by trying harder to understand me and yes, making a few concessions. That’s solid marketing!

• Just the other day, I received a “surprise” phone call from American Airlines in response to a feedback email I sent regarding a safety issue on a recent American Eagle flight. After apologizing for not getting back to me sooner, the agent communicated that she was genuinely concerned about my experience with the airline. How do I know this? She didn’t give me the typical “we’re so sorry” speech but thanked me for my time. She took notes (I could hear the typing), she then explained the actions she would take, and again thanked me for my time—a 15 minute conversation. Then, she popped a biggie: She asked if I had any other feedback about how the airline is serving me overall! Being a customer service aficionado, I offered her a few ideas. At the end of our meaningful conversation, she told me she had expected to contribute 10,000 air miles to my Advantage account, but thought my insights were so valuable that she dropped in 15,000. In the immediate picture our conversation reversed my frustration, which I had previously announced to my Twitter network. But, in the big picture, after I believed the airline sincerely acknowledged my safety concerns, I Tweeted about that too! That’s great marketing!

When a consumer speaks up, great corporations listen. And, so should law firm marketers.

Construct your marketing around the 4Cs.

CONSUMER/CLIENT: In the P-Product model, the law firm dictated which services they would offer and the client had to fit into the service. In the C-Consumer model, a law firm will focus on satisfying all the client’s needs—offering substantive expertise and flexible logistics. For example, cross-selling doesn’t work if it requires a client to FIT-INTO-YOUR-SERVICES. Cross selling only works if you are willing to provide exactly the additional services they need or want. What happens when those services aren’t in your portfolio? That’s for you to decide. But, at the very least a meaningful conversation between the law firm and prospect/client will demonstrate with actions, not words, that you are genuinely interested working on behalf of the client, not the profit center exclusively. Marketers need to be telling that story.

COST: P-Price is replaced by C-Cost. The billable hour is a PRICE model. The alternative fee is a COST model, but don’t stop there. There is more than the fee in the “total cost of ownership.” Total cost to the client might include things like the cost to change and implement new processes, build new relationships (takes time), and adjust to different technologies. In some cases, cost of ownership may even include the cost for not selecting a competitor’s service should things turn south. As you build your marketing strategy take into account the total cost from the client’s point of view. Marketers need to be telling that story.

COMMUNICATION: P-Promotion is about broadcasting messages to the masses. C-Communication implies a two way conversation is being had, ideally where both the consumer and the law firm gain important knowledge about one another. In promotions, the marketer chooses the channel. In communication, the consumer chooses. Conversations occur at events, meetings, on the street, in the subway, on the telephone. Today they also occur online. Social media conversations occur through videos, surveys, educational content, and more. Okay, I know, there are reasons why conversations with law firms don’t happen on social media. But, the top reason, IMHO, is that you’re stuck in promotion mode. Do your followers start conversations with you around the fact that you have 20 SuperLawyers? No. It really adds nothing to their experience with your law firm. Communication is not just an auto feed or marketing assistant who is only authorized to tweet the promotions. ‘Nuf said.

CONVENIENCE: C-Convenience replaces P-Place in the consumer experience. Convenience will not focus on what your law firm thinks is the best place to deliver your services and marketing communications but will seek to satisfy the consumer’s wants and needs specific to what is convenient for them. Experimentation, flexibility, and resiliency to failure are critical in this regard. Why? It involves experimenting with hybrid channels to enable access ease to communications and resources. It involves flexibility in addressing issues such transaction service time, hours of availability, or process. How easy you make it for prospects to find your services, to find more information about your services, and to receive a prompt response to an inquiry all make a difference in the buyer experience. It’s your job to make marketing, feedback, and service channels integrated: mobile, email, text messages, the cloud, social networks, and proprietary technologies. It’s a huge role, but it’s yours. Make it convenient for others to do business with you.

Fit your service to the need, or become irrelevant.

Today, 20 years after Mr. Lauterborn introduced the empowered consumer model, many, many law firm executives are unwilling to accept the burden. How do I know this? I see them struggle with diminishing profits and blame it on the economy. I see them puzzle over process improvement and go on doing things in the “its the way we’ve always done them” mode. (Seriously, I heard that just a few weeks ago!) I hear marketers talk about crossing selling and when nothing happens they blame it on the lawyers who don’t seem to get it. Note to self: All of these issues are embedded in the old 4P model. It doesn’t work with today’s consumer of legal services who is being spoiled by other products and services that are willing to go the distance.

What can we do?

• Empowered consumers have many options. Your job is to be one of them—ideally the best and only option.
• Multiple offices in dozens of cities with prime addresses and impressive lobbies are NOT essential to great client relationships and great marketing. People are essential. Quit cutting staff. Train staff. Embed a culture of giving instead of taking. I can’t tell you how many times I hear law firm staff admit they are just collecting a pay check. They do not have job satisfaction, but in a tight job market they are just hanging on. In my two examples above, I truly felt as if those agents sincerely cared about how they could improve the customer experience to keep their business. Though they both took a small hit, giving me a few extra concessions, they have a customer that is paying the bill and flying the airline.
• Marketing is never independent of service. Marketing is not just about alternative fees, your Facebook Page, your mobile website, or the adjectives you slap on your website copy—you cannot write your way into culture. Marketing is about how well you are able to integrate the 4Cs into your culture to deliver a superior brand experience for every client, large or small. That in thumbnail is your marketing strategy. Then, tell your story. Your true story.

Marketers often have to work with difficult and inconvenient truths to get their jobs done. I know this. That’s why I am sincerely interested in sharing content at the VMO to open discussion and improve our profession and the experience of our clients.

© LawGravity.com

Lawyers with blogs that post fairly frequently often report a substantially high impact for their investment—new clients, media exposure, and even personal satisfaction. However, more often than not their clients also have blogs…and dozens of social media accounts. Do you friend, follow, subscribe, like, and engage with your clients’ social media, even if you don’t blog?

Statistically, B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month, B2C companies 88%, than those who do not according to data from Hubspot. Fortune 500 companies and small businesses alike are devoting more resources—spending more dollars, hiring more personnel—to create content and maintain their presence on all social media. Your clients consider this new breed of media an integral part of their corporate digital footprint, and in many cases an essential business channel for marketing, customer service, and even product/service development.

While social media can play an important role in your business communications and legal practice, you can’t afford to be in the dark about what your clients are doing.

Here’s a brief slide deck that demonstrates why, where, and how much your clients are using social media.

______________________

Does your law firm need strategic content assistance? Outsource your social media friendly content on a contract basis to the Virtual Marketing Officer. Contact me.

There’s one thing I’ve learned about being a blogger—the cost of entry may be cheap but it’s expensive to sustain.

And that’s why, more than we would like to admit, [law firm/lawyer/anybody] blogs are increasingly neglected or abandoned. Blogs are not necessarily expensive in dollars and cents, but are necessarily expensive in time—and as they say, time is money.

Despite the bill of goods you may have been sold, bloggers spend a lot more than “a-few-hours-a-week” drafting, editing, linking, posting, cross promoting, and in the best cases, responding to comments. Not to diminish the fact that demands on their imagination—keeping it interesting, relevant, and appealing—are also significant.

No wonder that for many bloggers “the thrill is gone.” Go ahead, browse the Internet for law blogs and tell me you don’t find a bunch of article archives where once lived an animated social media presence. Check out the Alexa statistics for some law blogs and you’ll find some very “long shots.”

Are there law blogs that remain highly active—absolutely, but, not without apparent reasons. They have support, motive, passion, and/or incentive.

For example:

• Many have content creation support; i.e. others write, they edit, approve, and pass it along to still others to post and promote—wrapped up neatly with their name in the by-line.
• It’s their primary marketing tool and it’s working—they’re motivated.
• They sell advertising to support their blog—they have incentive.
• They really like writing—it’s a hobby—it’s an outlet for their creative impulses that they can’t control. They’re passionate.
• It’s a combo-meal where a steady stream of blog content keeps coming in thanks to the efforts of multiple contributors—and the savvy marketers that coordinate and incentivize it.
• And etc…

But that’s not you? Okay, let’s put that behind us and move on….

You’re one of those solo bloggers who survived the recession, investing in low cost marketing tactics, i.e. your blog and other social media. Now you are busy with “real” work. You’re finding it easier and easier to disengage with your blog as the months go by. But is that wise?

I say that before you put that valuable real estate out to foreclosure and forfeit your original investment; hang on. I offer these suggestions—those I found to work for my own dip in interest as my time is limited—to revive and renovate your blog. If they work, let me know. If they don’t work, let me know—maybe I can help you sell your blog real estate at a deeply discounted price. (Just kidding.) But, seriously, you can breathe new life into your blog.

FIVE ACTIONS THAT WILL BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO YOUR BLOG

1. Be honest.

Take a quick reality check about the differences between what your blog once was when it was shiny and new and what it is now.

• Did you post more?
• Were the posts longer/shorter?
• Did you take the time to add more outbound links?
• Did you cross-promote to social media more often to drive traffic?
• Were your topics juicier?
• Did you spend more time creating an editorial calendar—you are a publisher, right?
• Were posts more organized, purposeful?
• Were you often the first out on a topic?
• And, etcetera…

Make a list. Create two columns and document then and now. You may be surprised and find actionable adjustments.

2. Reassess your objectives.

Go back to the beginning. Dig up your original proposal—the one you sketched out on your note pad, discussed with your blog developer/coach, or presented to the managing partner, your marketing committee, or CMO.

What was the top-ranked objective (TRO) of your blog strategy?

• Build your Google footprint?
• Attract clients?
• Gain qualified exposure among your known networks on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter?
• Promote a practice area?
• Push traffic to your website?
• Identify leads through email sign-ups?

Is your TRO still relevant? What’s different today? If reaching your Facebook network—friends and family referrals—wasn’t on there two years ago, maybe it’s time to add that to your secondary objectives—and while you’re at it, throw in a few dollars for some FB ads—a viable tactic to replenish the readers you lost while you neglected your blog.

3. Revisit what you are trying to convey to your readers.

Social media is evolving and so has your practice in the past two years. What are the high-impact business problems that you solve today? Are they the same or have they changed? Can you be writing about them with frequency and connecting the dots to your expertise? How frequently? Do you need to revise your topics?

Are you involving your readers with a call to action—join the conversation, comment, sign up for regular updates, and etc…?

Did you ever consider what a neglected blog conveys to readers when your most recent post is dated 2011? At the very least, IMHO, it conveys that you have disengaged. Believe it or not, that can be a stain on your personal brand. It may be better to cut your losses and delete your blog if you can’t revive that once-upon-a-time passion you had for your topic.

4. Re-evaluate your participation.

What is the minimum participation required to get a meaningful return on your efforts? For example:

• Maybe you need to shift your frequency-of-post strategy? The more you post the more over all traffic you get, and traffic boosts your search rankings. However, if you post three times a week, roughly 12 posts a month (lots of work), the aggregate of your monthly traffic is distributed equally among all those posts. One blockbuster post a month can return the same amount of monthly traffic—the monthly equivalent of many posts—and the search robots don’t care, they’re looking at the overall traffic activity when they rank your primary blog URL. (Note: any individual post, whether it is one of twelve or one of two, will rise in the rankings if it is popular, however the home URL is weighted on an aggregate of traffic and will lift all posts.)

The first question you need to answer is: does your topic(s) really fit best into more frequent but shorter posts OR can you transition to fewer, more detailed posts, say even once or twice a month?

• To answer this question, study your site analytics at both the post and over all traffic levels. Do a public search on your topic(s) and compare how others are handling the topic—short frequent updates or longer form analysis—and make some actionable conclusions.

The second question is: what are the reading behaviors of your primary audience? That would be the audience that is most meaningful to you.

• IMHO busy professionals are bombarded with too much information. It’s important to note that some readers prefer to consume quick tidbits frequently while others prefer to find a quiet time once a week or so to catch up on all their reading. You need to know and strike a balance that meets readers’ preferences, and one that you can deliver.

To answer this second question, ask your readers!!! You can, you know.

• Add a survey to your blog or FB page. Or, offer, in widget on your blog, an extended analysis (something of value) that requires they fill in a short form with name, email, and answers to two questions about how they prefer to read blog content in order to receive a link to the download. It may take awhile to collect responses, but you’ll eventually see a pattern of readership that is actionable.

Finally, whether you post once a month or three times a week, I believe it is important to be CONSISTENT.

• You might even mention in your “About Page” how frequently you will post so your readers know what to expect.
• Statistically, blogs receive more first time visitors from search results than regular readers, however, if your topic is narrow and your audience focused you are likely to attract more regular readers—let them know your publishing schedule.

5. Get a visual facelift.

There are dozens of free or low cost options for updating the look, feel, and even the functionality of your blog—inspiring for both readers and you, the publisher—nothing like a new outfit to make you feel rejuvenated. My favorite blog combo is WordPress and Thesis Themes. Thesis just launched 2.0 and the customization options are amazing. Doable for do-it-yourselfers, or, break out the checkbook and spend a few dollars to hire someone to re-face your blog and enjoy the results.

What do you think? Valuable information? Are you inspired? Drop a comment, share the knowledge—or contact us for help! I sincerely appreciate your support and value the prospect of your business—we can help you! Contact the VMO.