Profiting With Public Relations

Networking: It's Not What You Can Get - Its How You Can Help?

To my mind networking has always conjured up sleezy car salesmen, people mindlessly exchanging cards, having to put on ‘the face’ for your employer, or the other extreme, the old boys’ club, where outsiders could only wistfully hope that someday they would be allowed into the inner circle.

Now that I have changed careers from journalism to owning my own business, The Sun Communications Group   I have come to understand it is actually not so, rather it’s a lot more and when you get to the very heart of it, it is downright sincere: building relationships.

Of course this to my mind growing up in Birmingham, second generation British Asian, transported to New York of all places! Networking, I have to confess has come to my rescue several times, including when it came not just getting my green card but how to get it.

To read the rest of the article in Women In Law.

Tidbit: Are You Really Client Driven?

This tidbit is really inspired by Steven Meyerowitz, of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., who is writing an article for the Pennsylvania Bar Association on troublesome clients.

I spoke with him at length and began analyzing some of my experiences within the legal industry. Having worked in live television at CNN Business News and now in public relations. I do fully comprehend the importance of returning reporter,clients and prospects calls promptly. 

However, my experience in the legal field indicates that while attorneys intellectually understand the importance of this, there exists a disconnect. Simply put, not all of them actually apply the principle of returning phone calls etc to their practice. So without further delay, here is my question to you:

Be brutally honest with yourself: Are you truly responding to client telephone calls and emails promptly?

Here are some possible consequences if you don't:

We are all human beings, business is all about relationships. Subconsciously, mental notes are made and you don't want to burn bridges with clients, referral sources or prospects - you simply don't know where business will be coming from. We live in an environment that is fast paced, unexpected personal and professional emergencies arise, but, that still doesn't account for shoddy manners.

Action Item 1: Even though you may not have the answer to a client's question. RESPOND to their communication. Let them know you will be responding to their query within the next few days. They will understand. The point being that you are in communication with them. It makes a world difference and goes a long way in forming  strong relationships.

Action Item 2: Pay attention to your responsive patterns.

Crisis Communication Basics For Attorneys

In today’s 24/7 news environment coupled with the increasing rising influence of blogs on media, attorneys are expected to provide counsel to clients when facing or anticipating a media firestorm. Though attorneys and journalists have often been at loggerheads, attorneys must have a basic skill set to work effectively with the media and be cognizant of their role in crisis communication plans.
At their very basic, these plans show the flow of information to constituents both internal and external: media, clients, staff and other key groups involved.

Recent events, such as the shootings at Virginia Tech, Katrina and the fires in Southern California, demonstrate how well prepared the organizations involved were. No organization, business, government or high profile individual is exempt from a crisis played out in the public arena. Last year’s report by the Institute for Crisis Management lists the most prone industries to crisis ICM

A crisis is essentially, any situation that threatens the integrity or reputation of an organization. Crisis can range from a class action suit, high profile client involved in some criminal activity, product recall to a man-made disaster.

They can be short or long term. An issue that internal staff is aware of but has not yet broken out in the public arena. What is certain is that the lines of communication must be open. Keeping the lines of communication open involve several strategies including legal and media strategies.

Having a one sided strategy such as winning in a court of law will be minimized, if the firm’s or client’s reputation has been destroyed in the public opinion court.

Put another way, if marketing and public relations builds brands and reputations, then crisis communication is all about prevention and or minimizing the loss of reputation in the court of public opinion.

In the final outcome, an ounce of prevention is far better than reaction, devaluing credibility, therefore being prepared is critical. With that in mind you need to have a couple of things in place: a crisis communication plan and crisis communication team. Crisis communication plans are templates, they provide an organization framework of who will be responsible for what when and if a crisis should occur, without them, whether you are a solo attorney or the law firm has a high profile client or are representing a large corporation, you will be viewed as inept.

It’s important to note, that these templates must be fluid, each crisis will be different. So adjustments to the plans will be necessary as these are living organisms.

Tidbit: Working Through The Clutter

Each week, I will focus on one tip that will help make the difference to your law practice. The tip will not be limited to the discipline of public relations; they will range from: strategy, structure, marketing and planning. If any of you readers have any tips, please send them along and I will make certain that they are published and will source them.

Start working through the clutter on your desk. A cluttered desk is often indicative of a cluttered mind. Looking for items that are not in the appropriate filing systems rob you of valuable time. Time that can be devoted to other professional skills such as increasing your daily marketing activities.

ACTION TIP: Take the time at the end of each day to leave your desk reasonably organized. Remember, Rome was  not built in a day but consistent actions do lead to consistent habits and patterns. Begin with the easy tasks and start building on them. If you’re starting from scratch, listen to some of your favourite music while  clearing the clutter

The Art of Changing Perceptions And Public Relations

Public relations is the art of changing perceptions. One is either managing, building and/or changing perception with groups or stakeholders whom the success of a business is highly dependent on. Stake holders or interest groups may include:

1. The press,
2. Current clients,
3. Prospects,
4. Trade and industry groups, essentially anyone who can assist in the growth of business.

All these relationships are managed, guided and steered effectively by good public relations practitioners. How many times have your heard the expression: “its all about perception”. Look what happened to New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani  after September 11. His reputation literally skyrocketed into the stratosphere.

Well, good public relations IS all about perceptions. A note of caution: public relations is not only about putting seminars together, getting published, speaking, or sending out the odd news release to the media. What good public relations does is change behaviour. This, in turn, facilitates business growth. For example, your firm may want to:

1. Be seen in a more favourable light in an important target group. (This could be the firm’s ideal client target market);
2. Demonstrate how the firm’s services are different from its competition;
Communicate effectively the firm’s participation in a particular community that is critical to the growth of the firm;
3. Showcase attorneys in the firm who are experts, those at the top of their game in a specific area of law.

If you’re still not clear ask yourself, when was the last time you or another attorney in your firm received a call from the press regarding input on a story they were working on? When were you last invited to speak by a trade or industry group? When was the last time your work was published? Remember the old axiom of “publish or perish.” Its a critical component in building your firm’s reputation.

Finally, something that I come across all the time particularly in the legal field, don’t confuse public relations with advertising. One is based on building credibility, visibility and reputation through third party endorsements. The other is essentially paying to be seen and heard.

Each tactic has its merits. One thing is for certain, regardless of whether these strategies are implemented by in-house staff and or external agencies, success is dependent on the right hand knowing what the left hand is doing. Otherwise, it will be yet another case of throwing things at the wall and hoping that one of them will stick!

If you have any questions regarding public relations, please e-mail pmahli@suncommunicationsgroup.com  or visit  www.suncommunicationsgroup.com  and I will try to answer on this blog

Marketing Lessons Learnt From Former Editor of Small Firm Inc.,

Last year, when I was originally supposed to set up my blog, I had the opportunity to talk to Trevor Delaney former editor of Small Firm, Inc.,  an ALM publication about the law firm marketing, specifically what problems and issues firms have around marketing.
Here is part of that q/a.

1. What are some of the biggest issues facing small law firms?

TD: A key issue for many small firm lawyers is — and I imagine always will be — how they can most effectively market their firm. Not surprisingly, the struggle largely stems from time management issues. Attorneys want to know how they can most effectively utilize their marketing time and dollars. Because there is no magic formula whereby attorneys would be guaranteed results, it just makes the decision making that much harder.

Add to the mix, blogging, podcasting and other ways that the Internet can be used to develop new business and it becomes abundantly clear that marketing can be a complex decision. Ultimately, it’s a matter of weighing the nature of the practice, the expense, and what marketing efforts the attorney can be enthusiastic about. E.g., sending out a firm newsletter is only effective if there’s someone committed to making it work, each and every time.

2. As far as resistance towards marketing and business development, what changes have you seen during the life of “Small Firm Inc” ?

TD While working on Small Firm Business, my sense was the more lawyers were trying to figure out ways to make marketing a more planned aspect of their business plan. Initially as I began to talk with lawyers, many seemed to take an ad hoc approach to marketing. E.g., an attorney might give a speech or make a presentation if the opportunity crossed her desk.

Increasingly I’m hearing about lawyers taking a more proactive approach, and taking the time to fill in some of the obvious gaps in their approach to marketing. For instance, I think over time you’ll see more small firms set up a Web page. I’m still surprised by the number of firms that don’t, because the Net has become the starting point for so many of us in any kind of purchase we might consider making.

3. Owning a law firm is really having three businesses, finding, minding and grinding the business. Where in your experience have you seen significant strides made.

TD: Our focus at Small Firm Business was really on the finding and minding stages. Finding relates to all of the points mentioned above. Re: minding, I think the key issue there is the application of technology. Lawyers have to determine which applications might actually benefit their practice and improve client service. There are a tremendous number of tech “bells & whistles” being sold, but not all of them are of universal appeal. Also weighing on a firm’s tech decisions are pressures from both the client and peer firms.

Clients will expect firms to have certain tech capabilities, particularly corporate clients. Firms also need to be mindful of what competing firms are doing on the tech front, lest they appear to be outmoded and somehow unable to serve clients as effectively. Something to watch in the next few years will be the rollout of Windows Vista. While there’s no real expectation that many small firms will upgrade immediately, there may come a time when it becomes clear that the upgrade will have to be made. This may mean that firms that don’t time their upgrade correctly might run into glitches in their client service.

4. Do you see any generational differences towards marketing. (For
example younger crowd a lot more open to marketing than those who are 60+ and set in their ways)

TD:There may be some older attorneys who still object to marketing as somehow being inappropriate for a lawyer, but I think most have come around and at the very least understand that things have changed.
Though this doesn’t mean that they’re becoming bloggers, instead they’re pursing more traditional marketing. I tend to see marketing as more of a personality issue rather than a generational one. We all know some people who appear to be “born marketers.” And that’s in no way pejorative. What I think it means is that there’s a certain comfort level and confidence that comes across when speaking to these people.

At the same time, some people are uncomfortable talking about themselves if it seems like it could be self-interested. So I think lawyers have to assess what their strengths are, and what their comfort zone is. Partners in a small firm could play off of one another’s strengths to see that their firm gets the most exposure in a way that everyone supports and no one dreads.

A heartfelt thank you to Trevor Delaney for doing the interview. Currently he is the Personal Finance editor at Black Enterprise.

Welcome to Profiting With Public Relations

Welcome to Profiting With Public Relations

Welcome to the blog of Paramjit Mahli, President of The Sun Communication Group http://www.suncommunicationsgroup.com.  The focus of this blog is to educate law firms, how they can effectively utilize different facets public relations to grow their business, whether it be locally, nationally or internationally. Some of the subject areas to be covered include: media relations, crisis communications, seminars, tradeshows, networking, getting published, media training and international public relations.

In addition, I plan to have frequent guest bloggers discussing a wide range of issues including: strategy, structure, time management and billing concerns that are pertinent to all law firms.

I’m always open to feedback, and if there is something you would like to see discussed on this blog please contact me directly at (212) 661-9137.
Cheers,
Paramjit