Tonight I returned from Toronto–a stop which didn’t match my original itinerary. My quick and easy international trip had morphed into a travel saga and, like many travelers nowadays, I had been redirected–several times. However, this travel snafu had a silver lining–several, in fact.
First, I made lots of new contacts while waiting in Presidents Clubs and boarding areas, and while aboard various flights. My fellow travelers were businessmen from places as disparate as Lagos, Nigeria, Guadalajara, Mexico and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Some of these new acquaintances will simply remain contacts, while others may become referral sources or even clients.
Second, my changed itinerary gave me the chance to reconnect with some of my existing acquaintances. Unexpectedly landing in Toronto, I quickly emailed–and later dined with–one international lawyer friend, Lang Michener counsel Cyndee Todgham-Cherniak. We swapped travel stories at dinner, agreeing that one perk of an international career is having friends no matter where you land. During my journey I also happened to run across and spend time chatting with former Baker Botts colleagues and various other attorneys. Renweing friendships during in person contact really helps in this virtual-communication world.
Business travel today can be arduous and delay-filled. Your fellow business travelers may welcome friendly conversation as a respite from their boredom. One time I met a CEO of a public company under such circumstances; I was able to refer him to a lawyer friend of mine, and his company became one of her all time largest clients. She gratefully reminds me of this fact many years later.
Next time that you are waylaid, don’t just retreat to your Blackberry or Financial Times. Instead, try to connect with some fellow business travelers; you could discover a silver lining to your plight.
Today I chuckled when I received a package from “Pink, Inc.”
I met (virtually) Dan Pink after he launched his New York Times bestseller A Whole New Mind. Now, he’s turned out a new–albeit very different–book titled The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need. Gen Y is bound to love the Japanese manga-style cartoons, sprinkled with very sensible career advice. (And, for parent-eschewing youths, what better way to get career advice?)
For those of you who read A Whole New Mind, this book is a surprise. And then again… it’s not. The new book’s format and verbiage show that it’s geared for a much younger audience, and in this way, it’s totally different than its predecessor. Yet, it epitomizes what A Whole New Mind talks about: the need to comprehend and creatively respond to new trends. Dan Pink noticed a hole in the market (for a Gen Y-friendly career guide)–and filled it creatively.
And so, what can we international lawyers learn from Dan Pink’s example? Research and understand market trends; anticipate your clients’ needs; and then adapt your products (and marketing) appropriately. Just so, Dan developed A Whole New Mind for the NY Times bestseller set, and his recent release for the Millennials. Experienced international lawyers do the same thing when they customize client communication to Saudi male oil execs on the one hand, and Chinese female high tech entrepreneurs on the other. International lawyers who fail to customize, limit their own success.
One final lesson from Pink, Inc.: if you happen to have a catchy surname, capture it for your business. Now that’s a lesson that lawyers really understand.
Want to weather the US economic downturn? Then, expand abroad…or so say the mega firms quoted in Wise in the Ways of the World, an article in the June issue of the ABA Journal. Business is booming abroad–and getting paid in foreign currency (rather than weak US dollars) sure helps.
Whenever I’ve spoken about the global expansion of law firms, including last year at New York’s Harvard Club, the audience is amazed by the vastness of the subject. In other words, deciding whether, when and how to go global raises a myriad of complex issues.
Above all, there’s the multi-million dollar cost of opening, staffing and maintaining offices abroad. For this reason, only US mega-firms like White & Case, DLA Piper and Baker & McKenzie–three of the firms mentioned in the ABA article–can afford numerous foreign offices. As the article discusses, firms with multiple offices across the globe redeploy attorneys to other international markets when the need arises.
Some mid-sized firms also opt to open select offices abroad–like Gardere which maintains a Mexico City presence. And, regardless of their size, many US firms bolster their international presence by joining an international law firm network (as discussed in last October 19th’s post).
If your firm is considering expanding abroad, advance research is key. Managing the Modern Law Firm, ed. Laura Empson (Oxford Press 2007) is a good starting place. It explains why some US firms have gone global successfully–while others have failed.
Why bother to write an article if no one reads it?
Too many lawyers think that merely writing and publishing an article somewhere–anywhere–helps their rainmaking. These lawyers delight in checking off “write/publish article” from their Rainmaking To Do List.
Yes, publishing articles can boost client development–but only if the articles attract the attention of potential clients. Just getting published is not enough. By analogy, if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it…does it really make a sound?
Earlier this month I listened to a panel of journalists talk about how law firms can interact well with the media and attract coverage. The panel shared lots of good suggestions: customizing story pitches to each publication; contacting, but not pestering, journalists; and making sure that a story idea is truly newsworthy, up to date, and timed right for the particular media outlet (e.g. whether daily, weekly or monthly).
Panel member Mary Flood, a lawyer turned journalist, shared some witty insights with the audience. According to Mary, lawyers, law firm marketers and PR firms too often pitch stories devoid of interest. Instead, lawyers and their staff should try to pitch (or, during an interview, let the journalist uncover) story ideas that are really novel, interesting, unusual and off-beat. Those are the stories that will capture a journalist’s (and a reader’s) imagination.
You can use that same principle when writing your own articles for publication. Don’t just dryly report facts. Try to take a new and interesting approach to your subject, even if you are writing on an esoteric topic for fellow lawyers. Interject stories, quotes and anecdotes to add interest. Try to find an unusual twist to your topic.
Perhaps most important, engross your reader from the get go. Make your title so intriguing, unusual or shocking that you grab each reader’s attention by the throat, so to speak. Mary Flood, who used to write for the Wall Street Journal and now writes for The Houston Chronicle (including in her Legal Trade blog), chatted with me about this after the panel discussion. I was flattered to know that Mary had read my blog several times–when a blog headline had caught her eye.
Headlines are the critical point of entry for any reader; if titles are too boring–or too offensive–readers may bypass your article. For lawyers working across cultures, make sure that your titles and content are culturally appropriate for your readership. What’s considered clever, engaging and engrossing in the States may be confusing, misunderstood or wholly inappropriate abroad.
Any writer has but a few seconds to ensnare a reader. So, crown your articles with enticing titles; grab your reader’s attention by the throat; and then don’t let go.
Which colors appear in your law firm ads? Grey? Probably. Plum? Probably not.
Yesterday’s New York Times explored the current wave of popularity for plum. As described, corporations both big (American Express) and small (PlumChoice Online) are incorporating berry-tinged hues into their products and advertising. Experts describe the color plum as everything from zesty and distinctive to regal and sophisticated. Madison Avenue has gone plum crazy for plum.
Madison Avenue–but not law firms.
While walking in an airport yesterday, fresh from reading the Times’ plum-focused pontification, I spotted a large but dreadfully boring law firm billboard. Not only did the ad’s taglines mix metaphors, but the ad sent its incongruent messages in black and white. Stark black and white–no other colors.
Why do so many law firms stick with conservative colors like grey, white, black and beige? Not that I’m recommending plum per se, but I do suggest that lawyers step out of their comfort zone and create zippier, more colorful ads. Too many law firm ads (and websites) look, feel and sound exactly the same. They are not memorable, and clients can’t tell the difference among them.
Many lawyers hire me to help distinguish their firms in the crowded international field. All to often, the lawyers and firms do not stand out from the rest. And very often, the law firms’ advertising is too boring.
Snappy advertising in an attractive and interesting color palate communicates that a law firm is innovative–and it makes prospective clients take notice.
So, will law firm ads ever include unusual colors–like plum? Who knows? One day, a lawyer may dare to advertise in plum–and become the plum luckiest lawyer of all.
