Following on up on my great experience this past week in Austin, TX at the Annual Legal Marketing Association Conference, I thought I would share my thoughts from a few weeks ago when I had a conversation with someone who is thinking of
getting into legal marketing. She’s had
a vibrant career in other industries and thought legal marketing seemed appealing
as a former lawyer and consultant. We chatted for a while and she asked me if the lawyers
respected me. I said yes, I believe that at my firm the lawyers do honestly
respect the marketing and business development folk. Then she asked me if I was
treated like a second class citizen as a result of being a non-lawyer or a
non-practising lawyer. Before I could answer, she asked if I was treated the
same, better or worse than associates. I
paused to think and then replied – think of legal marketers as you would your
gardener. You want them to show up
consistently, do a good job, cut the lawn, trim the hedges, maybe plant a new
flower or two and when the summer rolls around, help you with a vegetable
garden. Their job is to alleviate your
burden of work, particularly if you know nothing about gardening and you
entrust to them the curb appeal of your house and entrance way or the calm
composure of your backyard. You are happy to pay them a nice wage, market value or above
for the work they do. You want your gardener to be happy so he or she keeps coming back
consistently and you don’t have to retrain a new gardener on what colour mulch
you prefer or which flowers make you sneeze. But you also don’t want them to
complain to you about their career satisfaction or growth in the industry.
Those topics make you tune out mostly because if you wanted to talk about the
trials and tribulations of gardening you likely would have been a
gardener.
they can be difficult and/or demanding, they require training and attention but being a teen is a right of passage
and you want to see them through the challenging stage of life. You are
invested, you’ve introduced them to you friends (clients), you’ve nurtured and
educated them. When they complain about
career prospects or job satisfaction, you listen intently. You’ve been in their shoes and agree or
disagree you know they hold the keys to the future (of your firm and your
profession). One is not better that the other – you treat your gardener and your teenagers differently.
“Saving Lawyers’ Time and Winning New Business”, where it was
established that the role of the
marketer/business development person is to make the lives of the partner easier
so he/she can focus on their strengths.
keep the lawn green, the fruits and vegetables growing and the flowers blooming. And as the warm spring sun pours through my office window, I can tell you it is not a bad gig
at all.