The Thought Leadership Project

Positioning yourself and your practice is all about narrowing your focus to the point where you can say “I do x practice for y market.” In this episode, Jay and Tom discuss the challenges lawyers have in narrowing their focus, the benefits they’re missing out on, and how thought leadership fits into the equation. Issues addressed include:

1. The problem positioning helps solve.

2. The benefits of narrow focus

3. What stops lawyers from focusing

4. Tests of your positioning

Reading & Resources

• Settling In and Looking Out

• Jay’s Book: The Productivity Pivot

Listen wherever you cast. And don't forget to rate and review The Thought Leadership Project!

Want to be a guest on a future episode?

Share your thoughts directly with our show hosts by emailing Jay Harrington or Tom Nixon.

Jay Harrington

Tom Nixon

Jay Harrington is a lawyer, author, executive coach, and marketing consultant for law firms and lawyers. Tom Nixon, who is Chief Storyteller at the Harrington agency, has more than 25 years of experience helping experts become thought leaders. Both are prolific content creators whose work has been featured in leading publications in the legal industry.

From start to finish, we help our clients conceptualize, create, and produce podcasts that engage their audience, build awareness, and support business development efforts. In less than 30 days, we will have you up and running with a polished podcast. We will handle the details of podcast setup, from technology to branding, so you can focus on getting ready to host your show.

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in unprecedented demand for legal thought-leadership content. As we head toward the fourth quarter, the content onslaught has subsided, so we thought it was a good opportunity to see what lessons we could derive from the content onslaught. In this episode, Jay and Tom look back with an eye toward optimizing content marketing moving forward, and discuss:

• The renewed challenge of topic selection

• Making time for content creation when it feels less urgent

• Assessing content formats and analytics

• Why differentiation is more important than ever

• Content remains king

Reading & Resources

• Tom’s Article: Settling In and Looking Out

• Jay’s Book: The Productivity Pivot

• The Importance of Analytics

Listen wherever you cast. And don't forget to rate and review The Thought Leadership Project!

Want to be a guest on a future episode?

Share your thoughts directly with our show hosts by emailing Jay Harrington or Tom Nixon.

Jay Harrington

Tom Nixon

Jay Harrington is a lawyer, author, executive coach, and marketing consultant for law firms and lawyers. Tom Nixon, who is Chief Storyteller at the Harrington agency, has more than 25 years of experience helping experts become thought leaders. Both are prolific content creators whose work has been featured in leading publications in the legal industry.

From start to finish, we help our clients conceptualize, create, and produce podcasts that engage their audience, build awareness, and support business development efforts. In less than 30 days, we will have you up and running with a polished podcast. We will handle the details of podcast setup, from technology to branding, so you can focus on getting ready to host your show.

If you’re tired of getting the same old results with your thought-leadership marketing efforts, try implementing some fresh new ideas. In this episode, Tom and Jay discuss some ways to change up your approach to content in order to create more engagement with your readers, listeners, and viewers. They address:

• Various writing formats outside of the typical “intro, background, analysis, conclusion” style that most legal articles utilize

• The value of writing in a less formal style by using the first and second person

• The importance of reading outside of your area of expertise in order to open yourself up to new ideas

Reading & Resources

• Tom’s recent blog post on analytics 

• Marketers who change up their styles and formats, such as Seth Godin, Brian Clark, and our own blog Simply Stated

Listen wherever you cast. And don't forget to rate and review The Thought Leadership Project!

Want to be a guest on a future episode?

Share your thoughts directly with our show hosts by emailing Jay Harrington or Tom Nixon.

Jay Harrington

Tom Nixon

Jay Harrington is a lawyer, author, executive coach, and marketing consultant for law firms and lawyers. Tom Nixon, who is Chief Storyteller at the Harrington agency, has more than 25 years of experience helping experts become thought leaders. Both are prolific content creators whose work has been featured in leading publications in the legal industry.

From start to finish, we help our clients conceptualize, create, and produce podcasts that engage their audience, build awareness, and support business development efforts. In less than 30 days, we will have you up and running with a polished podcast. We will handle the details of podcast setup, from technology to branding, so you can focus on getting ready to host your show.

Jared D. Correia, Esq. is the CEO of Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, working with law firms around the world to improve their business management practice. Jared is also the COO of Gideon Software, Inc., which delivers chatbots built exclusively for law firms. Listen to his discussion with Jay and Tom about the past, present and future of legal and marketing technology. 

• But first, a James Taylor story.

• What are some of the best tech/software tools to support content and thought-leadership marketing?

• What is Gideon, and how can law firms implement chatbot technology into their business development efforts, and even their content marketing efforts?

• What is Jared's take on the state of legal podcasting?

• What are two or three interesting legal tech startups we should keep an eye out for?

• Jay and Jared chime in: If they had to it all over again, would they still leave the practice of law to consult?

Reading & Resources

• Schedule a demo of Gideon at https://www.gideon.legal/

• Check out Red Cave Consulting, and read all about Plato's allegory!

• Listen to Jared's podcast on the Legal Talk Network

• Connect with Jared on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter

• Connect with Jay and Tom on LinkedIn

Listen wherever you cast. And don't forget to rate and review The Thought Leadership Project!

Want to be a guest on a future episode?

Share your thoughts directly with our show hosts by emailing Jay Harrington or Tom Nixon.

Jay Harrington

Tom Nixon

Jay Harrington is a lawyer, author, executive coach, and marketing consultant for law firms and lawyers. Tom Nixon, who is Chief Storyteller at the Harrington agency, has more than 25 years of experience helping experts become thought leaders. Both are prolific content creators whose work has been featured in leading publications in the legal industry.

From start to finish, we help our clients conceptualize, create, and produce podcasts that engage their audience, build awareness, and support business development efforts. In less than 30 days, we will have you up and running with a polished podcast. We will handle the details of podcast setup, from technology to branding, so you can focus on getting ready to host your show.

As the old saying goes, what you measure you can manage, and that’s especially true when it comes to thought-leadership marketing. In this episode, Tom and Jay discuss why it’s important to keep an eye on content analytics in order to improve the ROI on your efforts. They discuss:

• The different types of analytics available on different platforms

• What data matter and what don’t matter all that much

• How to use data to improve your marketing and business development efforts

• What signals to look for as you progress from rookie content creator to preeminent authority in your field

Reading & Resources

• Grow your LinkedIn network and generate new leads.

• 7 Statistics That Prove How Valuable Thought-Leadership Marketing Is

• Connect with Jay and Tom on LinkedIn

Listen wherever you cast. And don't forget to rate and review The Thought Leadership Project!

Want to be a guest on a future episode?

Share your thoughts directly with our show hosts by emailing Jay Harrington or Tom Nixon.

Jay Harrington

Tom Nixon

Jay Harrington is a lawyer, author, executive coach, and marketing consultant for law firms and lawyers. Tom Nixon, who is Chief Storyteller at the Harrington agency, has more than 25 years of experience helping experts become thought leaders. Both are prolific content creators whose work has been featured in leading publications in the legal industry.

From start to finish, we help our clients conceptualize, create, and produce podcasts that engage their audience, build awareness, and support business development efforts. In less than 30 days, we will have you up and running with a polished podcast. We will handle the details of podcast setup, from technology to branding, so you can focus on getting ready to host your show.

Exciting news! Jay Harrington announces the release of his third book, The Productivity Pivot. Listen in as Tom interviews Jay to share the inspiration, the process and the intended outcomes for the release of this book for lawyers looking to build a successful practice and achieve career satisfaction. Tom asked Jay:

• Why this book, and why now?

• If it's true that "too many lawyers are unhappy," how does this book aim to change that?

• What is at the root of happiness for attorneys, as addressed in this book?

• How can attorneys put an actual and actionable plan into execution, so the same issues and obstacles don't persist year after year?

• What is behind Charlie Munger's process to sell oneself one hour each day, and how can attorneys embrace such a commitment?

• Presuming this approach is adopted, how do attorneys maximize that one hour, and what do they spend it on?

• What is the 60-minute daily sprint?

Reading & Resources

• Learn more and download a free chapter at ProductivityPivot.com.

• Buy the book on Amazon, in print or on Kindle (audio version coming soon!)

• Download the free companion worksheets here.

• Learn more about Jay's prior books here.

• Connect with Jay and Tom on LinkedIn

Listen wherever you cast. And don't forget to rate and review The Thought Leadership Project!

Want to be a guest on a future episode?

Share your thoughts directly with our show hosts by emailing Jay Harrington or Tom Nixon.

Jay Harrington

Tom Nixon

Jay Harrington is a lawyer, author, executive coach, and marketing consultant for law firms and lawyers. Tom Nixon, who is Chief Storyteller at the Harrington agency, has more than 25 years of experience helping experts become thought leaders. Both are prolific content creators whose work has been featured in leading publications in the legal industry.

From start to finish, we help our clients conceptualize, create, and produce podcasts that engage their audience, build awareness, and support business development efforts. In less than 30 days, we will have you up and running with a polished podcast. We will handle the details of podcast setup, from technology to branding, so you can focus on getting ready to host your show.

In anticipation of Jay's forthcoming book, The Productivity Pivot, Jay and fellow author Tom discuss the pros and cons of writing a book as a component of a broader thought leadership program. As a former attorney who will soon publish his second book (and has already started his third!), Jay provides his own experiences about the rewards and rigors of authoring a book to delve more deeply into a narrowly focused area of subject matter, along with those he has discovered by interviewing, following and reading fellow attorneys-turned-author.

Listen to discover how to best plan for the project, both in its development/authorship and in the pre-marketing, launch and post-marketing phases. Learn how he and fellow authors find the time in their otherwise busy schedules to devote to writing a book, and why the rewards far outweigh the sacrifices in time. Consider Jay and Tom's insights on how to properly set expectations and maximize the project's ongoing value in perpetuity. Join the discussion as Jay and Tom review the 10 things every lawyer should consider before writing a book.

Reading & Resources

• 10 Things Every Lawyer Should Consider Before Writing a Book

• A catalogue of Jay's prior works, including The Essential Associate

• Previously on the podcast: Write a Book to Build a Practice, with John Trentacosta

• Tom's shameless plug for his fiction title, The Long Lost

• Connect with Jay and Tom on LinkedIn

Listen wherever you cast. And don't forget to rate and review The Thought Leadership Project!

Want to be a guest on a future episode?

Share your thoughts directly with our show hosts by emailing Jay Harrington or Tom Nixon.

Jay Harrington

Tom Nixon

Jay Harrington is a lawyer, author, executive coach, and marketing consultant for law firms and lawyers. Tom Nixon, who is Chief Storyteller at the Harrington agency, has more than 25 years of experience helping experts become thought leaders. Both are prolific content creators whose work has been featured in leading publications in the legal industry.

From start to finish, we help our clients conceptualize, create, and produce podcasts that engage their audience, build awareness, and support business development efforts. In less than 30 days, we will have you up and running with a polished podcast. We will handle the details of podcast setup, from technology to branding, so you can focus on getting ready to host your show.

How do you position a practice? How does narrow positioning tip the power dynamic in an attorney/client relationship in your favor? To answer these questions and more, Jay and Tom welcome David C. Baker to the show, who the New York Times called the “expert’s expert.” You will learn a ton in this insight-packed episode, including:

• The power of narrow positioning to generate clients and higher fees

• The difference between vertical and horizontal positioning

• How to find more time to create thought leadership (hint: raise your rates)

• How to not act like an expert

Reading & Resources

• David’s book The Business of Expertise

  David’s Podcast 2Bobs

Listen wherever you cast. And don't forget to rate and review The Thought Leadership Project!

Want to be a guest on a future episode?

Share your thoughts directly with our show hosts by emailing Jay Harrington or Tom Nixon.

Jay Harrington

Tom Nixon

Jay Harrington is a lawyer, author, executive coach, and marketing consultant for law firms and lawyers. Tom Nixon, who is Chief Storyteller at the Harrington agency, has more than 25 years of experience helping experts become thought leaders. Both are prolific content creators whose work has been featured in leading publications in the legal industry.

From start to finish, we help our clients conceptualize, create, and produce podcasts that engage their audience, build awareness, and support business development efforts. In less than 30 days, we will have you up and running with a polished podcast. We will handle the details of podcast setup, from technology to branding, so you can focus on getting ready to host your show.

Can the practice of meditation and mindfulness help an attorney excel in the practice of law? And how is mindfulness and body/mind well-being correlative to thought leadership? Our guest Jeffrey Bunn is a retired attorney of 40 years, and founder of The Mindful Law Coaching & Consulting Group, which advocates for the incorporation of mindfulness and meditation practices as well-being tools for individual lawyers and collectively for law firms. 

We discussed:

• Are mindfulness and meditation the same? 

• How are mindfulness and meditation components of a larger well-being movement, and can either help attorneys professionally?

• Can mindfulness and meditation help lawyers reimagine the practice of law, post-COVID-19?

• Is well-being a strategy concern, or a cultural concern? What’s the difference?

Reading & Resources

• Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn

• Visit the Mindful Law Coaching & Consulting Group's website

• A list of 10 books on mindfulness, including one cited by Jeffrey on this episode

Listen wherever you cast. And don't forget to rate and review The Thought Leadership Project!

Want to be a guest on a future episode?

Share your thoughts directly with our show hosts by emailing Jay Harrington or Tom Nixon.

Jay Harrington

Tom Nixon

Jay Harrington is a lawyer, author, executive coach, and marketing consultant for law firms and lawyers. Tom Nixon, who is Chief Storyteller at the Harrington agency, has more than 25 years of experience helping experts become thought leaders. Both are prolific content creators whose work has been featured in leading publications in the legal industry.

From start to finish, we help our clients conceptualize, create, and produce podcasts that engage their audience, build awareness, and support business development efforts. In less than 30 days, we will have you up and running with a polished podcast. We will handle the details of podcast setup, from technology to branding, so you can focus on getting ready to host your show.

One of the marks of a thought leader is that the media takes notice. Lawyers who are thought leaders are often quoted as sources in stories. Their opinions and insights are used to make sense of the news. As a consequence of being featured in the media, a lawyer is perceived as more credible and authoritative, further burnishing his or her thought-leader credentials. In this episode, Jay and Tom discuss why pursuing a PR strategy is important, and how to do it. Topics discussed include:

• The PESO model - Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned media

• Why every good PR pitch starts with a great idea

• The importance of understanding a reporter’s motivations and objectives

• How to localize and contextualize news in order to gain coverage

Reading & Resources

• Ready, Fire, Aim: Improve Your Business Development Through Imperfect Action

• Connect with Jay and Tom on LinkedIn

Listen wherever you cast. And don't forget to rate and review The Thought Leadership Project!

Want to be a guest on a future episode?

Share your thoughts directly with our show hosts by emailing Jay Harrington or Tom Nixon.

Jay Harrington

Tom Nixon

Jay Harrington is a lawyer, author, executive coach, and marketing consultant for law firms and lawyers. Tom Nixon, who is Chief Storyteller at the Harrington agency, has more than 25 years of experience helping experts become thought leaders. Both are prolific content creators whose work has been featured in leading publications in the legal industry.

From start to finish, we help our clients conceptualize, create, and produce podcasts that engage their audience, build awareness, and support business development efforts. In less than 30 days, we will have you up and running with a polished podcast. We will handle the details of podcast setup, from technology to branding, so you can focus on getting ready to host your show.