One of the challenges that most lawyers face is the sales and marketing rollercoaster. Business slows down and business development picks up. Then new work comes rolling in, and work product takes precedence over business development. And so on.

There’s no getting around the fact that selling is required to sustain and expand existing relationships, and to develop new ones. The problem is that—let’s face it—hardly anyone (especially most lawyers) enjoys selling. But rest easy because there’s a way to sell that doesn’t involve cold calling, glad handing and small talk. At least not in the traditional sense. One of the most important tools that lawyers can use to achieve business development success is content marketing.

Consumers of legal services desire, above all else, expertise. Unless expertise can be conveyed and validated through referral or reputation, it must be demonstrated through thought leadership expressed in the marketplace of ideas (i.e., content marketing). Generating and disseminating compelling content builds trust and awareness, and positions the content creator as an expert. It’s the “long game” with a focus on relationship building, not the hard sell.

For those who haven’t had a chance to check out my new book, The Essential Associate, I’m sharing the full text of Chapter 8—The Power of a Personal Brand. While the book is geared towards associates, I believe the lessons discussed in this chapter across experience levels. Enjoy! And don’t forget, if you are interested in purchasing the book for yourself or your colleagues, it’s available on my site, www.theessentialassociate.com, and on Amazon in both print and Kindle formats.

Chapter 8 – The Power of a Personal Brand

The problem with most business development advice is that it’s tactical and not strategic. Do this. Don’t do that. Try this software. Dabble in that social media platform. Tactics are important but only in the context of a larger strategy. And the ultimate strategy for a young lawyer hoping to build a sustainable business development pipeline is to build a strong personal brand.

Should we be creating more content but at a low level of quality, or less content at a high level of quality? For law firms looking to make an impact with their content, this question poses a false dichotomy. There is another alternative, which is to produce a high level of content at a high level of quality. If you are, in fact, hoping to make an impact with content marketing, there is no choice other than to do more, better.

What is Content Marketing?

Smart brands—law firms and otherwise—have come to understand that old-school, mass-market, interruptive styles of marketing, such as traditional advertising, aren’t working any longer. Consumers of all types of products and services, from light bulbs to legal services, are finding new ways to consume information, and are ignoring brands who are interjecting what they want people to hear and see, rather than creating stories consumers want to hear and see themselves.

Rather than one-off ad campaigns and self-centered marketing materials, law firms that produce content that inspires, educates, and entertains members of their target market, while using a consistent, authentic editorial voice, are succeeding in breaking through in today’s challenging and crowded marketplace for content. The best law firm content marketing, be it in the form of website content, articles, video, or audio, focuses on the client’s information needs and not the firm’s own preferences.

In 2013, upon joining Bloomberg Media Group as its new CEO, Justin Smith sent Bloomberg's media team a memorandum describing his approach and philosophy to journalism. At a time when the media industry was experiencing massive disruption (which has since accelerated), and its primary revenue source of advertising was declining precipitously, Smith had this to say:

“All business is bifurcated into two distinct worlds: the struggling traditional segment that longs for a simpler, more profitable past that will never return; and the vibrant, entrepreneurial segment that reinventing commerce before your eyes.”

The same can be said of the legal industry in 2018. In fact, this same sentiment is expressed in the 2018 Report on the State of the Legal Market, published by Georgetown University Law Center and Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute, which suggests that too many law firms are fighting the “last war” by operating and adapting (or not adapting) based on how the market has behaved in the past, and not on what’s to come. Just as in the media sector, this has created opportunities for entrepreneurial law firms and alternative services providers to step in and exploit the situation through hustle and innovation.

Polls suggest that over 80 percent of Americans want to write a book, but only a small percentage of them actually do. That being said, book publishing is on the rise. Self publishing is easier than ever, and Amazon offers an amazing marketplace to sell books.

A few days ago I launched a new book called The Essential Associate: Step Up, Stand Out, and Rise to the Top as a Young Lawyer. It’s a book that provides my take on what is required to succeed as a young associate in the practice of law and the business of law in today’s competitive environment, and also includes the insights of dozens of top lawyers, general counsel at Fortune 500 companies, and leading consultants to the legal industry whom I interviewed as part of the research for the book.

2018 is shaping up to be an exciting year. During the first quarter I will be launching an online course that teaches lawyers how to build powerful personal brands and profitable books of business, and I’ll be releasing my new book, which is geared toward helping young associates get off to a fast start in their careers. My agency is also transforming into one that exclusively helps law firms to simplify and clarify their marketing messages in order to communicate with clients more effectively. I’ll be sharing more about all of these initiatives in the weeks to come.

Needless to say, things are busy around here. Therefore, instead of new blog content this week (which will return next week), I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite and most popular posts from last year, written both here and on Attorney at Work. Enjoy, and I look forward to an exciting year of content, conversation, and personal growth ahead!