The Thought Leadership Project

Known for their daring antics and outgoing personality, Ruth Carter is an Arizona attorney and an authority on intellectual property, business law, and internet law. Ruth has written three best-selling books on guerrilla marketing and social media law and has been a speaker at more than 100 events, including Content Marketing World and South by Southwest, as well as being featured in the Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, and on NPR.

Ruth joins Jay and Tom to discuss a wide range of relevant and thought-leadership-related issues, including:

Advice and tips for working remotely during the Coronavirus crisis

How to optimize newfound time, should billable hours start to ebb, on business development efforts

Can an attorney's expertise be packaged and "product-ized" for sale?

Tips for lawyers who want to start creating content for the niche markets they serve

Why now is the time to have renewed focus on business development and marketing efforts

Yes, you can be a busy lawyer who excels at serving your clients and also consistently produce thought-leadership content. In this episode, Jay and Tom have an engaging conversation with attorney Frank Ramos, Managing Partner of Clarke Silverglate, P.A. Frank is the author of more than 10 books, 400 thought-leadership articles, hosts a podcast, and posts original insights on LinkedIn every day—in addition to running a busy law firm. Topics addressed in this episode include:

Frank’s process for generating and capturing great ideas for content

How Frank fits content creation into his busy schedule

Tips for young lawyers

The value of LinkedIn

And much more

t probably comes as no surprise that we believe thought-leadership marketing is what we like to call "Modern PR." But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be focused on traditional PR, which involves gaining coverage by reporters for stories they're writing. In this episode, we speak to PR expert Helen Croydon, founder of Thought Leadership PR, about ways lawyers can pitch the media successfully. Jay and Tom speak to Helen about:

The importance of researching the reporter, editor, and/or publication you're pitching

How to craft a pitch

Why it's better to pitch one idea than a multitude of them

How to write thought-leadership content if you want it to appeal to a publication

And much more

One typically thinks of thought-leadership content as written blog posts, white papers, articles and now audio content like podcasts. In this episode, Jay and Tom explore the art of “visual storytelling” as a thought-leadership marketing device, examining best practices for using pictures to paint a thousand words, such as:

Infographics - How can great design distill complex concepts into simpler, more accessible information?

Video - What advantages does video have over written articles, podcasting and other thought-leadership counterparts?

Presentations and keynote support: Which visual storytelling elements can elevate a "public speaker" into a true "thought leader?”

Closing the deal at the point of impact: Don’t fumble the thought-leadership ball at the one-yard line. Make that proposal stick out of the stack by deploying visual artwork to convey your thought leadership bona fides when they matter most!

In this episode, Jay Harrington addresses three questions you need to consider if you want to make an impact with your though- leadership content. By answering these questions, you’ll get a handle on the strategic issues involved in becoming an effective thought leader. Without a solid strategy in place, it will be nearly impossible to achieve the results you're after. If you start creating content without a strategy, you’ll end up with disparate pieces content that don’t really resonate with your audience. The three questions are:

1. Who is my audience?

2. What do I have to say?

3. Where will I publish my content?

Rob Montgomery is the founder of Robert H. Montgomery, III, Esquire, P.C., a leading boutique law firm focusing on counseling healthcare clients, particularly dentists and veterinarians, in a full range of business and legal matters affecting their practices. Listen as he relays to Jay and Tom his personal experience with establishing a niche platform for thought leadership and business development:

Why should lawyers embrace the notion of a narrowly defined niche when it comes to building a practice?

How has a podcast — his Dental Amigos podcast — helped him and his firm establish greater share of voice and, consequently, more opportunities to grow his law practice?

What are some things lawyers should keep in mind if considering whether and how to launch a podcast of their own?

Podcasting as a thought-leadership time-saver.

How can podcasting nurture deeper, more personal relationships with industry influencers and prospective clients?

Podcasting is all the rage, but lawyers and law firms interested in starting a podcast often don't know where to start. In this episode, Jay and Tom discuss five foundational issues that you need to think through before recording your first episode, including:

-Purpose

-Positioning

-Format

-Topic Selection

-Workflow

What's one thing that you can do to dramatically improve the impact of your thought leadership marketing? Publish more of your content on platforms other than your law firm's website. In this episode, Jay and Tom discuss the value of guest-posting with Leigh Jones, editor-in-chief of Law.com, the premier news website for the legal profession, and senior editor of Law.com's culture desk. Listen in as they discuss:

1. The value of thought leadership/content creation for lawyers, generally.

3. Why lawyers should pursue more guest-posting publishing opportunities.

4. From Lynn's perspective as an editor, what it takes to create a good piece of guest-contributed thought leadership content.

5. Some mistakes lawyers make when it comes to creating guest-contributed thought leadership content.

6. Dos and don’ts when it comes to pitching an idea to an editor.

Chuck Bean is a Partner with The Martec Group, leading Martec’s voice of customer practice. Chuck helps consumer insights professionals hear the true voice of clients and unlock success by focusing on what truly motivates buying behavior. Listen in as Jay and Tom explore Chuck’s more than 25 years of experience in the market research and consumer insights world to gain insights as to how law firms can create and package custom research as thought leadership content, including:

How is research being used as thought leadership today?

How can law firms approach a custom research study to create marketable insights and information of value to the markets they serve?

What are some things to make sure you include in a custom research project, and what are some pitfalls to avoid?

How is the research industry changing, and how can law firms optimize the results they might be looking for in the modern landscape?

In this episode. we focus on how to put the "leadership" back into "thought leadership." Indeed, thought leadership is not a solitary endeavor. For a law firm to spread its ideas effectively, the whole organization needs to be on board, or at least understand the mission. The firms that most effectively leverage thought leadership encourage and engage in smart, strategic employee advocacy programs. Join Jay and Tom as they discuss how to plan and execute effective employee advocacy initiatives with Jennifer Bankston, who has served as Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer for three law firms and now consults with firms to provide marketing and business development strategies paired with technology solutions.