Counsel Cast

What story should you tell?

What makes you a great storyteller and communicator? How do you get your story across while keeping your audience’s interest and speaking to what they want to hear from you?

Joining me for this conversation is Karen Eber.

Karen Eber is an international consultant, author, and keynote speaker. Her talk on TED.com: How your brain responds to stories – and why they’re crucial for leaders, has almost 2 million views. 

As the CEO and Chief Storyteller of Eber Leadership Group, Karen helps companies reimagine and evolve how they build leaders and teams, transform culture, and tell stories. Karen works with Fortune 500 companies and universities like General Electric, Microsoft, Facebook, Kate Spade, MIT and London School of Business. 

She has inspired many through her articles published in Fast Company. Karen has 20+ years of experience and has been a Head of Culture, Chief Learning Officer and Head of Leadership Development at General Electric and Deloitte. She is a four-time American Training and Development winner. She is writing a book on storytelling, to be published with HarperCollins in 2023.

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What does ecommerce look like for lawyers?

Can you be in ecommerce without a product-based business?

Kathryn Smith is an ecommerce consultant based outside of Atlanta, GA. She helps entrepreneurs and small businesses launch and grow successful websites and ecommerce stores.

Kathryn gives listeners actionable tips on:

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Girly Drinks by Mallory O'Meara

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Is balance realistic for lawyers?

How can lawyers create space in their lives for work, family, vacations, and living fully, with clients and scaling their practice?

Joining me for this conversation is Steve Fretzin.

Driven, focused and passionate about helping attorneys to reach their full potential, Steve Fretzin is regarded as the premier coach, skills trainer and keynote speaker on business development for attorneys. Over the past 17 years, Steve Fretzin has devoted his career to helping lawyers master the art of business development to achieve their business goals and the peace of mind that comes with developing a successful law practice. 

In addition to writing four books on legal marketing and business development, Steve has a highly rated podcast BE THAT LAWYER and has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Crain’s and Entrepreneur.com. He has appeared on NBC News, WGN Radio and has written articles for Legal Business World, Attorney at Law Magazine, the National Law Review, the American Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association. You can also find his monthly column in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.

Steve gives listeners actionable tips on:

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Getting Things Done by David Allen

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What measures of success matter most when it comes to marketing efforts and lead conversion? 

How do lawyers know which metrics they should be paying attention to, and which ones simply aren’t worth worrying about?

Joining me for this conversation is Mark Graban.

Mark is an author, speaker, consultant, and podcaster. His podcasts include “Lean Blog Interviews,” “Habitual Excellence,” and “My Favorite Mistake.” He’s also affiliated with the technology company KaiNexus and the healthcare advisory firm Value Capture. His books include his most recent, titled “Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More.” He has a BS in industrial engineering from Northwestern University and an MS and an MBA from MIT.

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Why are smart lawyers so bad at conversation? 

What makes one person excellent at conversation and another terrible? Does it come down to listening? And are there ways to develop these skills?

Joining me for this conversation is Celeste Headlee, an internationally recognized journalist and radio host, professional speaker and author of bestselling book We Need To Talk: How To Have Conversations That Matter and Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving. Her latest is Speaking of Race: Why Everyone Needs to Talk About Racism and How to Do It. Her TEDx Talk, 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation, has been viewed over 34 million times. 

In her 20-year career in public radio, Celeste has been the Executive Producer of On Second Thought at Georgia Public Broadcasting and anchored programs including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, Here and Now, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She also served as co-host of the national morning news show, The Takeaway, from PRI and WNYC, and anchored presidential coverage in 2012 for PBS World Channel. Celeste is a regular guest host on NPR and American Public Media. She is the host of Newsweek’s “Debate” podcast, and hosts a podcast for the National Gallery of Art called “Sound Thoughts on Art.” She is also the host of “Women Amplified,” a podcast from the Conferences for Women, the largest network of women’s conferences in the nation, drawing more than 50,000 people to its annual events. Celeste is also the president and CEO of Headway DEI, a non-profit that works to bring racial justice and equity to journalism and media through targeted training and interventions, and she serves on the board for the National Center of Race Amity. 

Celeste is the granddaughter of composer William Grant Still, known as the Dean of Black American Composers and she is a trained operatic soprano. She lives in the DC area with rescue dog, Samus.

Celeste gives listeners actionable tips on:

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Mindwise by Nicholas Epley

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How can law firms rethink lead generation? 

What are the changes and tweaks you can make to your current strategy?

Tom Shapiro joins me for a conversation about creating a lead generation strategy that works for your business.

Tom is CEO of Stratabeat, a B2B marketing agency specializing in SEO, content development, content marketing, web design, account-based marketing (ABM), and conversion optimization. Through his career, Shapiro’s clients have included Intel, GE, AT&T, Hewlett-Packard, UnitedHealthcare, and P&G. 

Previously, Shapiro was the Director of Digital Strategy at iProspect. During his five years at the agency, the number of employees grew from 85 to 700+. With a passion for neuroscience and behavioral science, Shapiro’s insights have been published in Chief Marketer, CMO.com, CNN.com, Forbes, and MarketingProfs. Shapiro is the author of the books “Rethink Lead Generation: Advanced Strategies to Generate More Leads for Your Business” and “Rethink Your Marketing: 7 Strategies to Unleash Revenue Growth,” both available on Amazon.

Tom gives listeners actionable tips on:

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Impossible to Ignore by Carmen Simon

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As marketing trends continue to evolve, what’s next when it comes to digital marketing?

Do you need to be on every single platform? How do you know if your content is landing for your client? 

Joining me for this conversation is Jessica Aries.

Jessica is a digital marketing strategist and consultant who helps businesses and firms see the bottom-line impact of their online presence at By Aries. Having worked with some of the most prestigious and sought-after consultants, lawyers, and professionals in the world, Jessica leverages her experience at high-end and volume-based law firms to create better strategies in digital marketing for her clients. An internationally recognized marketer, Jessica enjoys helping her clients elevate their digital marketing into the era of hashtags with digital strategies that achieve results. 

Jessica has been honored to be awarded and nominated for numerous business and professional awards. In 2015 she was named the Legal Marketing Association’s Rising Star. Jessica earned her LL.M. in Information Technology and Privacy Law and her J.D. from UIC: The John Marshall Law School and her Bachelors of Arts from The University of Texas at Austin.

Jessica gives listeners actionable tips on:

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• The Analytical Marketer by Adele Sweetwood

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Why is it so hard to be a happy lawyer?

It’s no secret that being a lawyer is challenging. There are incredibly long nights, many deliverables, and for high achievers, it can become overwhelming. In fact, many lawyers struggle with their unhappiness in silence.

Joining me for this conversation is Dannie De Novo.

Dannie is a corporate attorney, an elite happiness coach, and an international speaker and bestselling author. After having battled depression and anxiety for most of her early life, Dannie set out on a course to learn what true happiness was for her and for the sake of her baby girl. Now, Dannie regularly appears on TV news and talk shows as an expert on creating happiness and purpose, combating loneliness and depression, and managing anxiety.

Dannie gives listeners actionable tips on:

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday

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How can lawyers build communities with live streaming? 

Do you have a live streaming strategy as part of your marketing plan? What’s the value of showing up live, and how does it translate into paying clients?

This is what we’re covering in this episode.

Stephanie Liu is the founder of Captivate on Command® and the host of Lights, Camera, Live® where she helps brands succeed on camera. As a Master Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner, Trainer, and ad agency veteran, Stephanie combines her marketing experience to help individuals communicate with confidence so they can ignite their ideas and be brilliant for prospects and customers alike. Named as one of the Top 50 Digital Marketing Thought Leaders by the University of Missouri St. Louis, her work has been recognized and awarded by Forbes, Online Marketing Media And Advertising, PR Daily, Forrester, and Gartner 1to1 Media. 

Stephanie is the host of Lights, Camera, Live, and the co-founder of Leap Into Live Streaming Bootcamp. She has spoken at Social Media Marketing World, VidCon, Podcast Movement, and many more. Stephanie is the co-author of the forthcoming book, The Ultimate Guide to Social Media, due out on bookshelves in August 2020 by Entrepreneur Press. She lives in San Diego, CA.

Stephanie gives listeners actionable tips on:

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Presenting Magically by Tad James

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Where do most law firms go wrong with SEO?

One of the hottest topics and biggest marketing trends is leveraging SEO for business growth.

In this episode, Eli Schwartz joins me to talk about SEO from a different angle than we typically speak about. He shares why most firms shouldn’t in fact be prioritizing SEO.

Eli is an SEO expert and consultant with more than a decade of experience working for leading B2B and B2C companies. 

His ability to demystify and navigate the SEO process has generated billions of dollars in revenue for some of the internet's top websites, including such clients as Shutterstock, WordPress, Blue Nile, Quora, and Zendesk. 

As head of SurveyMonkey's SEO team, Schwartz oversaw the company's global operations, helped launch the first Asia-Pacific office, and grew the company's organic search from just 1 percent of revenue to a key driver of global revenue. His work has been featured by TechCrunch, Entrepreneur.com, and Y Combinator, and he has given talks at business schools and keynote conferences around the world. His new book is 'Product-Led SEO: The Why Behind Building Your Organic Growth Strategy'.

Eli gives listeners actionable tips on:

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