tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534057564986895892024-02-07T04:18:28.312+00:00The LexRex BlogAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-84222799593984690502018-03-08T07:30:00.000+00:002018-03-08T09:19:10.921+00:00International Women's Day 2018: LexRex, #RadicalManchester and Womanchester...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Welcome to International Women's Day 2018. Here at LexRex Communications we are jumping on board <a href="http://www.marketingmanchester.com/" target="_blank">Marketing Manchester</a>'s fantastic #RadicalManchester initiative which, amongst other things involves renaming our fantastic city #Womanchester for the day (great job guys!)<br />
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We have decided to support the initiative by 'going purple' - you may have noticed a slightly different hue to the LexRex logo today.<br />
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We are also making a charitable donation to Manchester's Pankhurst Centre, a museum and women's community centre located in Emmeline Pankhurst's home in recognition of the great lady herself, and in support of the #Pankhurst100 efforts.<br />
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We thoroughly support the #IWD cause - which seeks to end gender disparity across the world. Here at LexRex, quite a few of our clients are female owner-managers of law firms, each of whom are achieving fantastic things within their businesses.<br />
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LexRex Communications' managing director, Victoria Moffatt commented:<br />
"International Women's Day represents a great opportunity for women in business and beyond to celebrate the work that they do and the benefits they deliver within their business, the greater business community and the economy as a whole.<br />
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"Whilst the fight for gender pay equality is very much ongoing, I see International Women's Day as a chance to also review how far we have come over the course of the past 100 years, and mark our individual and collective successes in the workplace."<br />
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For more information about the #RadicalManchester campaign and Womanchester name change, check out Marketing Manchester's <a href="http://www.marketingmanchester.com/manchester-becomes-womanchester-mark-international-womens-day/" target="_blank">press release</a> or visit <a href="http://www.radicalmanchester.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e03c31; font-family: atlas-gtrotesk-reg; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.radicalmanchester.com</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 14px;">or</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a href="http://www.womanchester.net/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e03c31; font-family: atlas-gtrotesk-reg; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.womanchester.net</a>.<br />
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You can also follow the #RadicalManchester hashtag on Twitter. The hashtags for International Women's Day 2018 are #IWD2018 and #PressforProgress.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-45649085823086256642018-01-25T11:21:00.001+00:002018-01-25T11:21:46.170+00:00Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: Victoria Moffatt’s top tips for lawyers<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Having been in business for 5 years (go me!), I recently sat down to think about what I’ve learned during that period. Cash is king, obviously. Don’t forget about VAT, and have your accountant on speed dial *Hi Darren, <a href="https://www.leonherman.co.uk/management-team/" target="_blank">Leonherman</a> - important life lessons it seems... But I also realised that a lack of confidence, or perhaps Imposter Syndrome, is something I sometimes see with female solicitor clients when it comes to making the most out of media relations opportunities. I've set out my suggestions for anybody trying dealing with it further down the page.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">NB: M</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">y advice is focused upon broadcast opportunities, but is also applicable to print or online.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">First - a bit of background: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I am lucky enough to work with, and have worked with some truly exceptional clients. And I now realise that they all have something in common - big kahunas. At LexRex, we don't seek 'big law', regional leaders or multi-disciplinaries; we like boutiques. Small, agile businesses like ours, run by ambitious, level-headed lawyers who 'get' PR and want to be all over it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Even amongst such ballsy practitioners though (and I have some BIG personalities on the books), I have noticed a certain reticence sometimes amongst female clients in particular, to grab an opportunity with BBC Breakfast, or jump all over a breaking news story. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">These are significant business women, with many years' experience. They have no fear (as far as I can tell) and will release the equivalent of an atomic bomb to win a case if they need to. So why the lack of confidence when it comes to media relations?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">These are the reasons most commonly cited:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1. Anxiety around being </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">asked something they don't know about</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2. Concern that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">they are underqualified to discuss the topic</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">3. Fear of the unknown</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1. Anxiety around being </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">asked something they don't know about</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I completely understand this. However, unless you are under the cosh for something your organisation has done or failed to do, and you are answering for it - you don't need to worry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Media opportunities for solicitors tend to revolve around high profile cases/claims, situations that have arisen which may lead to claims, celebrity or human interest matters, or stories that arise at certain times of the year - 'divorce day' in January being an obvious one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Securing an opportunity in the media around any of the above circumstances means that the broadcaster is looking for an opinion and/or legal advice. Basically the same as you would give to any client. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">They trust that you are an expert in your field, and want to hear your advice or comments. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">They will be friendly, because you are doing them a favour - they are on your side!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Of course, your concerns are valid, but can be quickly dealt with by your PR representative asking the producer exactly what they require in advance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Further, a good PR will brief you in detail, can probably find similar segments from earlier shows to show you the format, will certainly accompany you to the studio and stay with you throughout. You need to ensure you do know what you are talking about of course, so read up on the circumstances and ensure your knowledge is up to date. Simples.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Taking the long view, media training is also something to consider if you are seeking to raise your profile using broadcast media. It is worth its weight in gold, in terms of your confidence and also your PR's in knowing that you are prepared to go in front of a camera or microphone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2. Concern that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">they are underqualified to discuss the topic</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Quite a simple one here - </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">if you are good enough to practise the law, you are certainly good enough to talk about it. Remember that you have paying clients who appreciate your advice and action. Media relations is no different - your advice is valued and your views are valid. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As I mentioned above, as long as you are well prepared and understand what is required of you, there is no reason for you not to participate in the opportunity. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">3. Fear of the unknown</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I completely get this. The first time I went into ITV I was terrified - and I was just the PR accompanying the client... It is daunting to go into a TV studio - but if you're a litigator, for example, in representing clients in court you already do something day in and day out that would frighten the pants off the majority of the population. And if you're not a litigator, it's worthwhile remembering none-the-less that you are still the most qualified person in the room to discuss the matter in hand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In any event, you will usually have a bit of time before the broadcast to prepare, and if you are providing comments as a talking head, it's not uncommon to be plonked onto a stool in the middle of a hectic newsroom, and recorded in situ. It really isn't glamorous or especially terrifying. I promise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In conclusion, yes imposter syndrome is horrible and can threaten to stop you from reaching your full potential in the media. Please, any time that you are feeling the fear - try to overcome it - TV appearances get easier the more frequently you do them. Good luck! I hope you've found this post insightful and if you've enjoyed it</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, check out the rest on the LexR</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ex </span><a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">blog</a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.48px;">By Victoria Moffatt</span><br /><div style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 686px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="line-height: 18.48px;" /><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">LexRex is a specialist consultancy providing strategic PR and marketing support to boutique law firms. Our services include media relations, social media support and training, award entries, legal directory submissions and online/offline content.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="line-height: 18.48px;" /><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">If you would like to know more about our services, please drop us an email on </span><a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com" style="color: #888888; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">. </span><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">You can also tweet us </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LexRexComms" style="color: #888888; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">LexRexComms</a><span style="line-height: 18.48px;"> or </span><a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" style="color: #888888; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">.</span></span></div>
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</style>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-77369041117037806102017-11-29T11:31:00.001+00:002017-11-29T11:31:45.055+00:00Legal Directories: The LexRex view on The Legal 500 and Chambers and PartnersHere's the LexRex view on Legal Directories...<br />
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Legal Directories: <a href="https://www.legal500.com/" target="_blank">The Legal 500</a> and <a href="https://www.chambersandpartners.com/" target="_blank">Chambers and Partners</a> can really add value to the marketing mix, and provide a decent ROI if done properly. Used as part of a strategic communications plan they can be utilised tactically to support identified goals.<br />
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<b>Case study...</b><br />
A boutique firm wants to undertake more of its most profitable work (why wouldn't it!), and decides to embark upon a campaign aiming to increase instructions from new clients by 25% within the next 12 months. The objective is to position the firm's managing partner as a thought-leader and expert in his/her field.<br />
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Tactics could include media relations, a thought-leadership blog, social media, a targeted newsletter, and a refresh of supporting marketing materials. A directory listing in either The Legal 500 or Chambers and Partners could support these tactics in the following ways:<br />
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Media relations: if a journalist needs a quote, statistics or spokesperson, they want to know that their source is an expert. Including a directory listing in 'notes to editors' at the bottom of all copy and in email footers/Twitter accounts/LinkedIn profiles gives weight to any claims of expertise. <br />
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Blog, website, social media, newsletter: including a directory logo and/or quote on the blog, website, social media and newsletter may prompt visitors to check out the said directory listing, once again providing affirmation of expertise.<br />
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Marketing materials: listings can also be used across marketing materials and especially when pitching for new work. Whilst sophisticated buyers are likely to understand directories, and may or may not give weight to them, for some they are a kitemark of expertise. In the worst case, a mention could have a neutral effect.<br />
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<b>In brief</b><br />
If your firm has managed a number of decent matters over the course of the past year, and you have contacts and clients who may be willing to be contacted to discuss your work, then legal directories may be something worthwhile considering. Don't forget - the deadlines are coming around quickly.<br />
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<b>How can we help?</b><br />
Whilst it can be time-consuming to prepare the submissions, it is possible to outsource the process. At LexRex we do this by discussing the matters that can and should be included in the submission, then we prepare it for you. Alternatively you can write the content and we'll provide a reviewing service.<br />
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Don't forget that Victoria Moffatt, who leads on directory submissions, is an ex-solicitor so this isn't a difficult process for us. We can also can assist with client/contact liaison for the referee element of the submission. And of course, we support the media relations side of things when the directories are published.<br />
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We hope you enjoyed our thoughts on Legal Directories and how they can help to support your communications efforts.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">If you enjoyed this post, check out the others on the</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> </span><a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/" style="color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LexRex blog</a><br />
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<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-748486734736338688" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 686px;">
<span style="line-height: 18.48px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By Victoria Moffatt</span></span><br /><div style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 686px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="line-height: 18.48px;" /><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">LexRex is a specialist consultancy providing strategic PR and marketing support to boutique law firms. Our services include media relations, social media support and training, award entries, legal directory submissions and online/offline content.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 686px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="line-height: 18.48px;" /><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">If you would like to know more about our services, please drop us an email on </span><a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com" style="color: #888888; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">. </span><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">You can also tweet us </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LexRexComms" style="color: #888888; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LexRexComms</a><span style="line-height: 18.48px;"> or </span><a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" style="color: #888888; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-7484867347363386882017-05-04T10:43:00.000+01:002017-05-04T10:43:14.589+01:00Increasing the return on your PR budget part 1: cross-pitchingIf you're a lawyer, and you 'do' marketing, chances are you sometimes wonder what you can do to increase the return on your PR budget, squeeze a bit more out of your activities or receive more 'bang' for your 'buck'. If so, this blog is for you.<br />
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Every so often, a news story breaks, a new piece of legislation is announced, or you win* an interesting case that sets a precedent or covers novel or newsworthy facts. As a fully paid up pro-marketing lawyer; you obviously leap at the opportunity to get your face and name on the telly, in the newspapers and talk, talk, talk about your involvement/showcase your specialism/promote your wares. Don't you? Hopefully yes, yes, yes...<br />
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Now a good agency will maximise your opportunities to discuss your newsworthy topic, by pitching to a range of different media - TV, newspapers, journals, trade publications, online sources (relevant, carefully researched outlets only though, of course).<br />
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Not only will they pitch to a wide range of media, they should also consider pitching vertically (to publications covering a specific industry - for example legal, fleet management, civil engineering) and horizontally (to publications not limited to a specific industry - for example HR, marketing, IT management).<br />
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Cross-pitching like this not only ensures your message reaches a wider audience, it also enables your agency to pull out and emphasise different elements of the 'story'. For example, a HR publication will be likely interested in different elements of a case in comparison to a broadsheet. A really good agency will be able to identify the elements of interest for each publication and write comments, or an article, that is drafted to perfectly fit within the readership's sphere of interest, thus guaranteeing (as far as possible) publication and hopefully, repeat opportunities in the future. Being able to identify different angles, and cover the same facts in multiple different articles and secure opportunities in this way is one of the marks of a great agency. If yours does this - congratulations, you're on to a winner!<br />
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If your chosen agency doesn't do this, or *horror face* they expect you to draft your own articles, it may be time to sit down down over coffee and map out your expectations.<br />
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So until next time, over and out. Look out for my next blog covering collaborative working... See you then!<br />
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If you enjoyed this post, check out the others on the <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/" target="_blank">LexRex blog</a><br />
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*even if you lose - a good PR may well be able to find a positive angle, especially if there's a chance of it going to appeal, it's a David and Goliath case (your client can be David or Goliath) or if it involves a human interest story.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18.48px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By Victoria Moffatt</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="line-height: 18.48px;" /><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">LexRex is a specialist consultancy providing strategic PR and marketing support to law firms and businesses that operate within the legal sector. Our services include media relations, social media support and training, award entries, legal directory submissions and online/offline content.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="line-height: 18.48px;" /><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">If you would like to know more about our services, please drop us an email on </span><a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com" style="color: #888888; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">. </span><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">You can also tweet us </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LexRexComms" style="color: #888888; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LexRexComms</a><span style="line-height: 18.48px;"> or </span><a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" style="color: #888888; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-50798338009705679892016-04-20T16:54:00.000+01:002016-05-03T16:58:31.349+01:00Time to spring clean your PR?<h2>
</h2>
After a long winter the signs of spring are definitely here! With daffodils and tulips popping up all over the place and the evenings staying lighter for longer, it's a great time for taking a good old look around you.<br />
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The same goes for your PR. If things are going ok it can be easy to accept a 'status quo' and keep on with the same course of action. But is 'ok' really getting you the results you need?<br />
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In this post we hand over to LexRex account manager Kate, who gives three top tips on ‘spring cleaning’ your PR.<br />
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<b>Have a ‘spring awakening’.</b><br />
Any good spring clean means a thorough look at things you don’t always get chance to consider. From time to time it is an immensely valuable exercise to reassess what you're doing and why. After all, you don't do PR for fun; it's to achieve an objective. PR mapping is a useful process that looks at each area of a law firm, how each can meet a PR agenda and how these can work together as a whole. If you use an external PR agency, get them to come up with some new ideas. It can also be a worthwhile and revealing exercise to ask a number of PR agencies to come in and showcase what they could bring to the table.<br />
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<b>Brush up on the basics. </b><br />
Now you’ve looked at the bigger picture, it’s time to get back to basics. Are all of your current systems working the way they should be? Are you making the most out of the activity you’re currently undertaking? If there are areas you feel you could improve on, you shouldn’t deny yourself the opportunity to improve. Training can not only help to improve skills but can also improve efficiencies. There are many tools out there now that can help PR and communications professionals and training can open your eyes to these.<br />
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<b>Consider something different. </b><br />
The days when PR was just about press releases and well-placed sponsorship are long gone. There are a whole load of things law firms can do now to raise their profile; from blogging to social media, awards to email newsletters. The key is to be consistent in your approach and integrate each activity with the other marketing and communications you're doing to create a cumulative effect.<br />
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April is not only the early days of spring, it’s also the start of the new financial year for many law firms. So if you’ve renewed your budgets and have capacity to invest in outsourced PR activity, or else want to invest in training to help improve your PR skills and efficiency, we’d love to chat to you!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-47520608064983597492016-02-08T11:50:00.000+00:002016-02-08T11:52:21.980+00:00Rekindling the Love: A guide to getting the most out of your legal PR agency...<span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you love your law firm's appointed PR representative? Do you share your deepest thoughts and wishes for the future of your firm with the team on a regular basis. No? Why not?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">You should do really, as you are paying that company or consultant to represent your business - so it follows that they should be as passionate about it as you are.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Just in time for Valentine's Day, we share our top tips for ensuring the chemistry with your PR agency is exactly as it should be. And if it's not - we offer advice on what you can do to remedy this, and how to recognise when it's time to move on to pastures new...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. Question:</b> Does your PR consultant/team really 'get' your firm and what you are trying to achieve? It goes without saying that the content they produce is legally correct*, but does the tone of the copy reflect how you would describe the business? If you can't hand-on-heart say that the messages your PR is putting out there reflect exactly how you want your firm to be represented, then it's time to consider taking one or more of the following steps...</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: inherit;">2. Talk:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> If your representative is labouring under the false belief that everything is hunky-dory, then it's your responsibility to arrange a review to discuss where improvements can be made. Don't put this off - as with any relationship, talking helps to disperse resentment and prevent the rot from setting in. Don't allow niggles to become terminal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. Mapping:</b> As part of the above, consider asking your PR to undertake a mapping process. This is should be something they do on an annual (at least) basis anyway. Done well, brand mapping draws out key messages, business objectives and targets and at the very least - should facilitate a discussion about what has and hasn't worked and what to aim for in the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. Focus:</b> Understand your representative's strengths and ensure that these continue to align with your firm's needs. If your focus is on media relations, but you have selected an integrated consultancy that prides itself on excellent social media strategies and delivery - it may be time to rethink where you spend your budget.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. Review: </b>Just stopping to take the time to think about where improvements can be made to an existing relationship can prove to be both insightful and empowering. Strong observations can be made simply by reviewing what your PR set out to do, against what is being delivered, and these may be very powerful in helping you to decide upon the best course of action when looking to the future.</span><br />
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*And if it's not - time to get the experts in. We're the experts, obviously.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.48px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By Victoria Moffatt</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="line-height: 18.48px;" /><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">LexRex is a specialist consultancy providing strategic PR and marketing support to law firms and businesses that operate within the legal sector. Our services include media relations, social media support and training, award entries, legal directory submissions and online/offline copywriting.</span><br /><br style="line-height: 18.48px;" /><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">If you would like to know more about our services, please drop us an email on </span><a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com" style="line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.48px;">You can also tweet us </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LexRexComms" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LexRexComms</a><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.48px;"> or </span><a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.48px;">.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-28407864752399269602015-09-24T10:47:00.000+01:002015-09-24T10:47:06.817+01:00What is Legal PR? Part 3: Everything Else...What is Legal PR?<br />
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In parts 1 and 2 of this series, I covered<a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2015/02/what-is-legal-pr-part-1-media-relations.html" target="_blank"> media relations</a> and <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2015/06/what-is-legal-pr-part-2-social-media.html" target="_blank">social media</a>. This, the third instalment, describes some of the other supporting services we provide to clients on a day to day basis.<br />
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Awards: many lawyers recognise the value of being 'an award winning law firm', when it comes to attracting new clients. Others are cynical about their value, and some feel they are handed out 'willy-nilly' to mates and sponsors of the organising body.<br />
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Now it's certainly the case that not all awards are born equal. However, that's not in itself a reason to dismiss them in their entirety. The Law Society Excellence Awards for example are fairly judged, neutral and well respected. Others, are unfortunately less so. If you're interested in a case study on our awards service - <a href="https://www.smore.com/atphw-lexrex-communications?ref=my" target="_blank">here's one</a>.<br />
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My advice when it comes to awards is: don't dismiss them out of hand, but take professional advice on the ones to enter and those to skip. Of course, it goes without saying that submissions must be well drafted and compliant with the T&C's of entry...<br />
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Copywriting: we also draft outstanding content - standalone commissions such as updates to clients' websites, ongoing and regular content for technical client blogs, as well as newsletters, white papers, reports and of course the media relations content described in part 1 of this series.<br />
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Events: everybody loves a good party, and we are certainly no exception to that rule! We provide consultancy and detailed party planning for our clients. Our past events have included conferences, birthday parties, launch events, breakfast seminars and hosted events for our clients' clients.<br />
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Directories: their mention typically prompts multiple eye-rolls across all departments, nevertheless the Legal 500 and Chambers directories continue to have a hold over the legal profession. For the haters out there - as well as for those who recognise the value in a ranking, but find it difficult to find the time or vocabulary to draft their submissions - we jump right in and do the hard word.<br />
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So that completes the series on Legal PR. I hope you found it interesting and if you learnt something new - let us know by leaving a comment!<br />
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<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-3457464282259235147" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 686px;">
<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">By Victoria Moffatt</span><br /><br style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;" /><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">LexRex is a specialist consultancy providing strategic PR and marketing support to law firms and businesses that operate within the legal sector. Our services include media relations, social media support and training, award entries, legal directory submissions and copywriting.</span><br /><br style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;" /><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">If you would like to know more about our services, please drop us an email on </span><a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com" style="color: #888888; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">. You can also tweet us </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LexRexComms" style="color: #888888; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LexRexComms</a><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px;"> or </span><a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" style="color: #888888; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px;">.</span><br /><br /><div style="clear: both;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-34574642822592351472015-06-17T14:25:00.000+01:002015-06-17T14:25:36.700+01:00What is legal PR? Part 2: Social MediaWhat is Legal PR?<br />
<br />
No doubt that even just 10 years ago, the answer to that question would have been quite different. Media relations, which we covered in our last <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2015/02/what-is-legal-pr-part-1-media-relations.html" target="_blank">post</a>, is still fundamental and is now supported by a whole host of other elements. One of those is social media, and we'll cover the others in later posts.<br />
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We most commonly help law firms to get their message across using Twitter and LinkedIn, but that's not to say that Facebook doesn't have its place.<br />
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So what do we actually DO? Well, initially, we map out a client's brand on a strategic basis - to understand what they stand for, who they want to reach and where the business is going over the course of the next 6 - 12 months. Once we understand all of this, we create and start to implement a supporting social media strategy.<br />
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Twitter is a great place to start with social media, as it's a bit like entering a giant networking event. You really never know who you're going to meet there! We help our clients to build a following of dedicated fans - but we don't believe it's purely about the numbers. In our experience* it's far better to have a smaller, focussed following made up of target individuals who are interested in what you have to say, who may actually buy from you in the future. On that note - people do buy on Twitter, and don't let anybody tell you that they don't.<br />
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With regards to LinkedIn, our role is to enable clients to present the best version of themselves to the world. Who wants to read a stuffy CV-based profile? I want to know the person behind the photograph (you do have a professional headshot on there don't you?), and if you have a personalised profile that actually tells me something about you, I'm more likely to warm to you, and correspondingly, instruct or at least meet with you. We also train clients on how best to use LinkedIn, particularly to build business.<br />
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On a firm-wide basis, we create and manage company pages - these are often criminally under-utilised, and create and share content to drive web traffic and new enquiries.<br />
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Facebook isn't for every firm... but for those that can harness its power strategically, it's a no-brainer. As with Twitter, we help our clients to build an army of loyal followers, people who will like and share content, provide comments and engage publicly. If your mates like something, well it's got to be worth checking out, right?<br />
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So that was our whirlwind tour of social media... If you enjoyed it, please do leave a comment and if you found it useful, <span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">why not check out the others on our </span><a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/" target="_blank">blog</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">.</span><br />
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*As one of the first practising lawyers on Twitter, Vic knows a thing or two about Twitter<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">By Victoria Moffatt</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">LexRex is a specialist consultancy providing strategic PR and marketing support to law firms and businesses that operate within the legal sector. Our services include media relations, social media support and training, award entries, legal directory submissions and copywriting.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">If you would like to know more about our services, please drop us an email on </span><a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px; text-decoration: none;">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">. You can also tweet us </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LexRexComms" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LexRexComms</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> or </span><a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">.</span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-29960384688934879242015-02-16T15:35:00.001+00:002015-02-16T15:36:00.538+00:00What is Legal PR? Part 1: Media RelationsWhat is Legal PR?<br />
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So it's been a little while since I last blogged, and with good reason. In May 2014 I produced a little person, and since then, I've enjoyed taking some time off. But now I'm back. A little bit like the Terminator, but hopefully slightly less sinister.<br />
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Anyway, because it's been a while I thought I would ease myself back into writing with a series of back-to-basics posts on what it is we do at LexRex Towers. It's easy for us to say 'we specialise in Legal PR', but what does that actually mean?<br />
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So first up, it's the daddy, the dark art, our bread and butter... It's Media Relations.<br />
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Media relations is basically anything to do with the media. Duh - sounds obvious right? Well, yes and no. We do draft and issue press releases on the usual subjects: financials, new appointments/promotions, ground-breaking/interesting claims, mergers, directory listings etc etc.<br />
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We also prepare what we call 'forward feature' calendars mapping out which of our clients' target media are writing about their specialisms and when. We use these to help to plan their PR year and to ensure we make the most of any planned opportunities.<br />
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We build relationships between journalists and clients through meetings, interview opportunities, introductions at conferences, Q&A's and roundtables. We know the journalists our clients need to know, and if it's appropriate we'll connect them.<br />
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We also pitch in and write bylined articles. These are the pieces written by lawyers that are typically seen in trade publications. These are not 'paid for' pieces or advertorials, but they are usually advisory in nature. Because we are all newshounds here, we know exactly what is topping the news agenda at any particular time, and we approach journalists with ideas for columns or articles on our clients' behalf. As well as print and online media, we also create and exploit opportunities on the TV and radio.<br />
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So, media relations. Hopefully it's all just become a little clearer...<br />
<br />
By Victoria Moffatt<br />
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If you found this post useful, why not check out the others on our <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>.<br />
<br />
LexRex is a specialist consultancy providing strategic PR and marketing support to law firms and businesses that operate within the legal sector. Our services include media relations, social media support and training, award entries, legal directory submissions and copywriting.<br />
<br />
If you would like to know more about our services, please drop us an email on <a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a> or call us on 0161 850 5556. You can also tweet us <a href="https://twitter.com/LexRexComms" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LexRexComms</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> or </span><a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-24579330765192414262014-03-20T18:23:00.001+00:002014-03-25T09:22:56.311+00:00BINGO! Tips for lawyers on avoiding a PR #epicfail... <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCGPOaAnG_Lu1fVuTPLoyEyLETwOgcxYGkQ_GsAMNGJUIs1p8QQ7RkeZ7ciiWTSBzprjqOmQXj-8wjHzrTfx6vMwpUYgEgUUBrSfUeaqFMClaknZIvuhOrIFWCRh1SHsFziyyg8gaq38/s1600/Web-shapps-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCGPOaAnG_Lu1fVuTPLoyEyLETwOgcxYGkQ_GsAMNGJUIs1p8QQ7RkeZ7ciiWTSBzprjqOmQXj-8wjHzrTfx6vMwpUYgEgUUBrSfUeaqFMClaknZIvuhOrIFWCRh1SHsFziyyg8gaq38/s1600/Web-shapps-1.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Conservative Party's post-Budget 2014 BINGO! poster illustrates the importance of understanding and getting under the skin of your key audiences more clearly than anything I could ever have put in words. </div>
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I don't intend to examine where, how or why the party got it so wrong, or open up a political debate - but I think we can all agree it was a mistake.</div>
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So - how can lawyers avoid an #epicfail like this in their own marketing and PR activities?</div>
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<b>Work out who you want to speak to</b></div>
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It's important to be very clear in this respect - no sweeping statements allowed - i.e. we want to speak to business people. Not good enough I'm afraid - you must be specific. </div>
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Try something like: "Owner managers, finance directors and general counsel of SMEs in Manchester" or "People with a net worth of £250k and above, who haven't written a will/updated their will in the last 3 years, and live within 10 miles of Chester". The more tightly you can define who you want to communicate with the better, and the easier it will be to construct a strong PR and marketing strategy.</div>
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<b>Get to know them</b></div>
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Find out what your key audiences read, what they like, where they hang out and what they do in their spare time. Heck - you might even be one of them, in which case, you'll know a lot of this stuff. I heard somebody say recently that you can sell anything to your friends, and I think it's a great quote - because it's true!</div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><b>Presume nothing</b></span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">For me, the biggest mistake of the above poster was that it presumed a lot - making sweeping statements about a mysterious 'they' and that offended people. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">So, when it comes to reaching your identified key audiences, put aside your preconceptions and be willing to get into their shoes. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: justify;">And if you can't do that - it could be time to rethink your target market.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;">By Victoria Moffatt</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;">LexRex offers a wide range of PR and marketing services to law firms and businesses that support law firms, including strategic brand and PR mapping, media relations, social media training and consultancy, awards entries, legal directory submissions and a number of PR and writing courses.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;">If you would like more information about our services, please drop us a line via the above email address or tweet us </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LexRexComms" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@LexRexComms</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;"> or </span><a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;">.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.lexrexcommunications.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.lexrexcommunications.com/</a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-38152073253729606362014-03-03T14:19:00.001+00:002014-03-03T14:19:21.186+00:00National Press Coverage: A 'Must Have' For Lawyers?At the start of many a new business conversation or during a strategic legal PR mapping session with law firm clients, the question of national media coverage inevitably arises. Many lawyers want to know when they can expect to see themselves in The Times or on the BBC.<div>
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Now, for some lawyers, achieving national exposure delivers fantastic results. Slater and Gordon, for example, are doing a lot of work on this front and seem to be set to loosen Marilyn Stowe's 10 year+ grip on ITV shows such as This Morning and Lorraine. Certainly, the media profile that Marilyn has been able to grow via national broadcast and print PR is fantastic, and (I believe) drives a lot of new enquiries, and I can understand why a national consumer brand like S&G is intent on this course of action. </div>
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'Mr Loophole' himself, Nick Freeman, is another lawyer who (a few years ago now) was able to generate strong national coverage and a reputation as the 'go to' driving offences lawyer for the rich, famous and ridiculously good at football.</div>
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But for many lawyers, especially those with a limited PR budget, going for national coverage at the expense of local or trade media may be a mistake. Why?</div>
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<li>National coverage can be expensive and time consuming to achieve and is extremely unpredictable. It can take many months of pitching ideas before an opportunity arises, and often you will be required to drop everything to fit the needs of the show or publication - something that many busy lawyers find impossible to do.</li>
<li>Media coverage is never guaranteed. Broadcast and print pieces are frequently 'bumped' at the last moment and may never see the light of day - regardless of a 5 a.m. start, £150 ticket to London and 6 hours out of the office.</li>
<li>Further, it's important to remember that although national coverage will put you in front of a huge audience, it may not be an audience you actually want to engage. If you get this wrong, you could end up generating a wide range of new enquiries in an area of law that is actually unprofitable for you, fielding a high volume of calls with no prospect of a valuable instruction, at the expense of higher quality leads from existing clients.</li>
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This isn't to say that national coverage doesn't have its place and certainly, if you can secure an opportunity that helps to further your strategic PR goals, then its power and reach are not to be underestimated. But before you demand that your agency or in-house team get you on the 6.00 o'clock news - remember that your time and money may be better spent elsewhere.</div>
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Next time I'll write about the benefits of local media coverage, and why it could be worthwhile focusing your efforts on often over-looked publications and opportunities.</div>
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By Victoria Moffatt </div>
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LexRex offers a wide range of PR and marketing services to law firms and businesses that support law firms, including strategic brand and legal PR mapping, media relations, social media training and consultancy, awards entries, legal directory submissions and a range of PR and writing courses.</div>
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If you would like more information about our services, please drop us a line via <span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> via email: </span><a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com" style="color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a> or tweet us @LexRexComms or @vicmoffatt.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-67268381575407106192014-02-18T16:12:00.001+00:002014-02-18T16:13:24.427+00:00Legal Awards: Maximising the PR Opportunities of WinningLegal Awards... Do you regularly nominate yourself or your firm? No? If not - why not? If you're otherwise into your PR and marketing, but you don't 'do' awards you could be missing a trick. Awards aren't for 'show-offs', they are for sensible lawyers who understand the value and importance of promoting their practice.<br />
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A note: if you think awards are for numpties who like to blow their own trumpets, and you believe that PR and marketing is a load of fluff and self-promotion, you should stop reading now - this post will probably just annoy you.<br />
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Is there an award for me?<br />
Yes! There are lots of different awards for lawyers to enter.<br />
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There are the 'big boys' - such as <a href="http://www.thelawyerawards.com/" target="_blank">The Lawyer Awards</a> (submission deadline recently extended to Tuesday 25th February - so there's still time), The Law Society's <a href="http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/representation/excellence-awards/" target="_blank">Excellence Awards</a>, and <a href="http://www.legalbusiness.co.uk/index.php/awards" target="_blank">The Legal Business Awards</a> which incidentally took place this week in London.<br />
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If you're not part of 'Big Law' or don't think you're quite ready for a national award, there are still loads of opportunities to be recognised for your expertise, niche, customer service or internal management structure (for example).<br />
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Local awards specifically for lawyers exist, for example check out Manchester Law Society's <a href="http://www.themanchesterlegalawards.co.uk/" target="_blank">Legal Awards</a> and <a href="http://www.yorkshirelegalawards.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Yorkshire Legal Awards</a>.<br />
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And if you or your firm has a particular niche or strength, there are also awards for you. Personal injury firms are well serviced by the <a href="http://www.personalinjuryawards.co.uk/" target="_blank">Proclaim Personal Injury Awards</a> and <a href="http://www.claimsinnovationawards.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Claims Innovation Awards</a>. Conveyancers can take part in <a href="http://www.lfsconference.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Conveyancing Awards</a> and family lawyers have the <a href="http://www.familylawawards.com/" target="_blank">Family Law Awards</a>.<br />
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Lawyers operating away from the major legal centres also have opportunities for recognition in local business awards. Typically run by Chambers' of Commerce, local networking groups or business publications - there are usually specific categories for Law Firm of the Year or Legal Personality/Professional of the Year. Alternatively, why not consider entering less obvious categories such as Start-Up of the Year, Most Innovative Business or Entrepreneur of the Year.<br />
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What next?<br />
Presuming you've now entered yourself or your firm for an award (and for tips on drafting award entries check out <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2013/03/why-should-lawyers-enter-awards-part-3.html" target="_blank">this post</a>), the next step is usually to await the shortlist announcement.<br />
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If you are shortlisted then *BAM* that's PR opportunity number 1. If the awards you've entered operate in conjunction with a media partner (usually a local or national business/trade publication) then you can probably rest assured that you or your firm will be featured in that publication with a piece covering all of the shortlisted candidates. At this point, it's worthwhile striking whilst the iron is hot and getting a press release about your shortlisting issued to other relevant outlets.<br />
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You could think about sending this to your local paper's business pages, local business publication, regional Chamber of Commerce or networking group for possible inclusion in their newsletter, or as a piece of member news for their website.<br />
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Of course, the above are suggested actions only, and you must either carry out your own research to ensure you're not spamming journalists with content they'll never use or pay a PR to take control of this side of things. Note - time spent carrying out good research is fundamental to strong PR, without it you'll just annoy journalists and limit your prospects of good coverage now and in the future.<br />
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Away from the media relations side of things, you should certainly publish the release on your website, and you may also wish to tweet about it, and share it via LinkedIn and your individual/firm's Google+ page.<br />
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On shortlisting, your chances of actually winning are usually pretty good. Odds of between 1:3 and up to around 1:7 (for national awards such as The Excellence Awards) are fairly typical and it pays to be well prepared.<br />
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Without being arrogant, there's absolutely no reason not to create and approve a press release before the big event. This has two benefits: if you do win, you can issue the release immediately to your target media, or first thing the following day (regardless of how hungover you are). Even if you don't win, you now have a handy precedent for use in the future.<br />
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In addition to PR and media opportunities, it's also important not to neglect the simple, but obvious, marketing opportunities that go hand in hand with an award win. To this end, don't forget to utilise any award-winner logos on email footers, across your website, in your marketing materials and throughout your sales process.<br />
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Remember to tell your clients about your success - a mention of the win, along with some strong images of the presentation, can be used in newsletters and on your website. <br />
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At the end of the day, if an award is worth entering, it's worth shouting about when you win.<br />
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For more tips on award entries, check out our three part series: <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/search/label/awards" target="_blank">Why Should Lawyers Enter Awards?</a><br />
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If you would like a copy of our Calendar of Awards for Lawyers, please drop us a line on <a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com" target="_blank">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a><br />
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By Victoria Moffatt<br />
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LexRex offers a wide range of PR and marketing services to law firms and businesses that support law firms, including strategic brand and PR mapping, media relations, social media training and consultancy, awards entries, legal directory submissions and a range of PR and writing courses.<br />
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If you would like more information about our services, please drop us a line via the above email address or tweet us <a href="https://twitter.com/LexRexComms" target="_blank">@LexRexComms</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.lexrexcommunications.com/" target="_blank">www.lexrexcommunications.com/</a></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-32969038200430256112014-01-06T08:00:00.000+00:002014-01-06T11:24:47.446+00:00New Year, Better PR?Welcome to 2014, and to a fresh and exciting start. Here at LexRex Towers we're building up to an action packed January and we're excited about working with a number of new legal PR clients, and to developing some fantastic business opportunities sent our way recently by existing clients of the business.<br />
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This month, we'll also start implementing the 2014 PR plans we've created for our existing clients. For us, December is usually a busy month spent finalising strategies and agreeing targets and measurable ROI's with all of our clients.<br />
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But it isn't too late to start thinking about implementing a new PR campaign, as well as reviewing your successes and failures in 2013. Good legal PR is all about a number of different elements, including:<br />
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1. Understanding your strengths and USP's<br />
2. Creating key messages that reflect these<br />
3. Knowing your target audiences<br />
4. Building campaigns around the key messages which reach the target audiences<br />
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It's also really important to plan and measure your activities. A PR plan should include not only your key messages and target audiences, but also a budget, a timeframe, a set of SMART targets and measurement criteria, and an over-reaching strategy with tactics to support this - such as media relations, social media, events, awards and legal directory entries. It's also imperative that the plan ties into and supports the firm's business objectives and targets, and is signed off and approved at the highest level.<br />
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It's relatively easy to create a PR plan in-house, but if you do decide to outsource your legal PR, or elements of it, an agency or freelancer worth their salt should always incorporate an element of planning into their brief. Ideally, this PR planning - or mapping as we call it here at LexRex - should happen right at the start of the campaign, and include a session with the management team as well as any in-house marketing support. Management support is fundamental to ensuring any strategy and plan is adhered to, and provides top level buy-in - which is a key driver to successful implementation.<br />
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So, here's to 2014 and to continued excellence in legal PR! The LexRex team wishes you all a fantastic new year.<br />
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Hopefully this post has provided a handy kick up the butt on the PR front, or at least given food for thought. As ever, comments and feedback are gratefully received.<br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
By Victoria Moffatt<br />
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<a href="http://lexrexcommunications.com/what-we-do.html" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LexRex</a> offers a wide range of PR and marketing services to law firms, including strategic brand and PR mapping, media relations, social media consultancy, awards entries, legal directory submissions and a range of PR and writing courses. If you would like more information about our services, please drop us a line via email: <a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a> or tweet us: <a href="https://twitter.com/lexrexcomms" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@LexRexComms</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.lexrexcommunications.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">lexrexcommunications.com</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-71300600502681938922013-11-04T12:27:00.002+00:002013-11-06T15:20:18.409+00:00A Quick Update from LexRex Towers...<span style="font-family: inherit;">A very busy few weeks here at LexRex Towers... We've just completed our first year in business - YIPPEE! And now we're preparing our accounts. We're all very excited to see our figures on paper, but not so excited about our impending tax bill...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, what have we been up to?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, on September 19th we celebrated our first year in business with a FABULOUS party in Manchester, with some of our closest friends, wonderful clients and lovely contacts. By all accounts, a fabulous night was had by all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In October, we were extremely pleased to welcome on board our fabulous event and party planning consultant, Kate Mackenzie. A fellow ex-practitioner, Kate really knows her lawyers but more importantly she puts on a great event! We are already looking forward to hosting an extremely exciting conference in April 2014 on behalf of one of our clients; which we have no doubt will draw the crowds from far and wide... </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">More to follow on that front. *Watch this space*.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxFpe8EbgRpK-Oxt_zha2pucvYGWeKlE6UxeslTDAfWZTjJ0dPtmpBlBSatCztYCeTWWTlZRLAlX-qZdqYR7etD3gDYywxZjqoV8cWBDF-34N9-61qRL5ZclAOMw-9bz7uWMGa60HKQXA/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxFpe8EbgRpK-Oxt_zha2pucvYGWeKlE6UxeslTDAfWZTjJ0dPtmpBlBSatCztYCeTWWTlZRLAlX-qZdqYR7etD3gDYywxZjqoV8cWBDF-34N9-61qRL5ZclAOMw-9bz7uWMGa60HKQXA/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Also in October, we cheered on our client Aequitas Legal at the </span><a href="http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/representation/excellence-awards/2013-winners/" style="font-family: inherit;">Law Society Excellence Awards 2013</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. We are very pleased to report that the firm took home the Excellence In Client Service Award, and despite missing out on the LexCel Award for Excellence in Practice Management, managing partner Sucheet Amin was, we're told, "over the moon" at winning a gong. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We should point out that it was Aequitas' first time entering the awards, so to be shortlisted for not one, but two awards, and to scoop (arguably) one of the most prestigious - was a MASSIVE achievement. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well done Such and the team, and onwards and upwards in 2014!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This month we're looking forward to supporting Such and the team at the <a href="http://www.mytawards.co.uk/">Manchester Young Talent Awards,</a> which take place on Thursday 21st November. Once again we'll be cheering for Such, as he's shortlisted for the Legal Professional of the Year Award. Good luck Such!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.themanchesterlegalawards.co.uk/">The Manchester Legal Awards 2014</a> were announced last week, and we'll be encouraging our clients to enter. If you need some help deciding upon which categories to enter, or some support in drafting your submissions, why not give us a shout - our awards entries are award-winning after all! The awards ceremony is taking place on Thursday 6th March, and will no doubt be THE event to attend in spring. We can't wait.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We've also had a lot of great media coverage to celebrate recently. Of course, Aequitas Legal's win at the Excellence Awards made a good </span><a href="https://bdaily.co.uk/law/23-10-2013/manchester-law-firm-honoured-at-the-law-societys-excellence-awards/" style="font-family: inherit;">story,</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and to date, we've had strong local success with Northwich law firm, Susan Howarth and Co's new family law </span><a href="http://www.northwichguardian.co.uk/news/10767770.Legal_aid_cuts_could_lead_to____advice_deserts____in_mid_Cheshire/" style="font-family: inherit;">initiative</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
Our favourite piece of coverage was probably Jo Norris' comment in the Guardian Small Business Network article on the importance of good <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2013/oct/30/cashflow-top-tips-small-business">cashflow</a> management. Excellent work Jo!<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Legal consultancy, Zebra LC has been keeping us busy as managing director Zoe Holland moves and shakes across the <a href="http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/associate-news/zebra-lc-appointed-multi-million-pound-personal-injury-deal">PI market</a>, providing due diligence advice on a number of high profile deals.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally... We can't wait for the Christmas markets to return to Manchester on Friday 15th November, and we're looking forward to a bit of a knees up and bratwurst all round, with the team at <a href="http://www.ratiolaw.co.uk/">Ratio Law</a> to celebrate a full year of working together. Happy days!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, a lot <span style="font-family: inherit;">going on here</span> at the moment, but we're always excited to meet new clients. So if you fancy a coffee and a chat, or a mulled wine and a mince pie, be sure to give us a shout.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To find out more about what we do, check out our website. <a href="http://www.lexrexcommunications.com/">http://www.lexrexcommunications.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To contact us, please drop us an email:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="color: black;"><a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"> or tweet us: </span><a href="https://twitter.com/lexrexcomms" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@LexRexComms</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"> or </span><a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a></span></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-87872123257600707072013-09-16T10:57:00.001+01:002013-09-16T10:57:58.785+01:00Is PR advertising?This week I'm writing about something that continues to surprise me - the prevalence of the belief that PR is advertising. It's not, of course, although the two disciplines are intrinsically linked.<br />
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PR is all about communicating with key audiences. In my line of work, it's usually about promoting a legal service to those audiences. However, it is not typically paid-for promotion in the same sense as advertising.</div>
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One element of PR - perhaps the most well-known - is media relations. Media relations is, in essence, about creating opportunities in the media for clients. It can include placing and writing bylined articles, providing comments for articles, writing and issuing press releases and securing interviews for television, radio, print or online publications (for example). </div>
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All of these opportunities are free. This means they are accepted on merit and newsworthiness alone. No money changes hands between journalist and client.</div>
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On the flip-side; advertising is paid-for content and may include television or radio adverts, sponsored columns and advertorials (paid for adverts that have the look and feel of editorial), leaflets, pop-ups or banners. Because advertising is paid-for, it is usually promotional in nature, often overtly so.</div>
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There is often a cross-over between PR and advertising, for example, PRs are often responsible for writing the content for advertorial and sponsored columns. </div>
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The real difference though is that PR is earned, advertising is paid-for. Simples.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">By Victoria Moffatt</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" />
<a href="http://lexrexcommunications.com/what-we-do.html" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LexRex</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> offers a wide range of PR and marketing services to law firms, including strategic brand and PR mapping, media relations, social media consultancy and support and a range of PR and writing courses. If you would like more information about our services, please drop us a line via email: </span><a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> or tweet us: </span><a href="https://twitter.com/lexrexcomms" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@LexRexComms</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> or </span><a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" />
<a href="http://www.lexrexcommunications.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">lexrexcommunications.com</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-73700003316059223662013-08-27T11:33:00.002+01:002013-08-27T11:33:56.357+01:00Lawyers! Time to Review your PR?After a short break, the LexRex blog is back, and this week I'm explaining why I think September is a great time for lawyers to undertake a strategic review of their PR activities.<br />
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I can't be the only person who feels that it's September, not January, that signifies the start of a new year. Perhaps it's a kick-back from school but I still use an academic diary, and I always find those first few days of early September exciting and fresh.<br />
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Things slow down over the summer months for no other reason than the fact that people go on holiday, meaning that pushing through sales, starting new projects or even just speaking to the right person becomes a merry-go-round of frustration. For me, this period of relative quiet time is great for catching up, working through the to-do list, getting stuck into some CPD activity and squeezing in a holiday.<br />
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In contrast September always seems like a month of opportunity, a time for reviewing progress to date and planning for the future. So that's why this post is all about reviewing your firm's PR activity - and what better time than now to be thinking about that?<br />
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So why should you review your PR? Well if you have an agency, marketing/PR person/team or use the services of a freelancer, it's likely that you are making something of an investment in their service. So it's important to know that you're getting a return.<br />
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A 'return' should be possible to measure simply by referring to the initial objectives and targets agreed at the outset...<br />
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If you don't currently measure PR activity and results, now may be the time to make the change. PR targets don't need to be complicated but ideally they will be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable/action-oriented, relevant/realistic and time-bound).<br />
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In any event, the process of setting targets and goals tends to be a useful exercise in itself. In-house and indeed agency teams are often pressured to deliver against sometimes impossible expectations from some partners. For this reason it can be helpful to identify the teams with higher-than-achievable ambitions, to ensure that the available time is allocated appropriately.<br />
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For example some partners want endless coverage and will pester for service that goes over and above the agreed retainer (or that exceeds what the internal team can realistically deliver), whilst other teams are completely uninterested in PR yet have specialist expertise that could provide excellent content for press releases, media comments or blog posts.<br />
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This means that a pattern of 'he who shouts loudest' is often at risk of arising - which is fantastic for the team with a lot to say - but is potentially destructive for other, quieter teams who may need a little more encouragement to promote their expertise.<br />
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Once the firm's PR weaknesses have been identified (and every firm has them) it's much easier to take steps to remedy them.<br />
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For example, if the family team provide blog posts for the firm's generic blog on a weekly basis, but the IP team struggle to do anything at all; a casual visitor to the blog may not realise the firm even has IP expertise. Of course, if that person is looking for an IP lawyer - that's potentially an opportunity lost. Once the IP team's weakness on the blogging front has been identified however, steps can be taken to remedy it. They could include outsourcing the blog writing process, providing writing training to the team or perhaps creating a separate family law blog to host all of that valuable content.<br />
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When undertaking a PR review, it's also worth considering what's worked in the past, and what hasn't been so successful. If the firm's focus is on traditional media coverage in the local business pages; why not undertake a review of the coverage achieved in the previous 12 months. Think about which press releases were used widely, and which never saw the light of day again.<br />
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Review time is also an excellent opportunity for brainstorming new initiatives - which don't have to be high tech or newfangled. Events can be successful if they are insightful and well-targeted. Seemingly old-fashioned techniques like taking clients out to lunch, making thoughtful referrals and introductions still work - so use them strategically, and measure the cost:benefit ratio of doing so. Media relations, content marketing and blogging, Twitter and strategic LinkedIn usage may all have a place in your PR and marketing arsenal; but you must be strategic and consistent in how you use them.<br />
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If the team is struggling to think up new strategies, or the past year's activities haven't worked as well as expected; it may be time to think about bringing somebody new to the table. For tips on choosing a PR agency check out my series of articles on <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2013/06/choosing-legal-pr-agency-part-1.html" target="_blank">expertise</a>, <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2013/06/choosing-legal-pr-agency-part-2.html" target="_blank">chemistry</a> and <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2013/06/choosing-legal-pr-agency-part-3.html" target="_blank">conflicts of interest</a>.<br />
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By Victoria Moffatt<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lexrexcommunications.com/what-we-do.html" target="_blank">LexRex</a> offers a wide range of PR and marketing services to law firms, including strategic brand and PR mapping, media relations, social media consultancy and support and a range of PR and writing courses. If you would like more information about our services, please drop us a line via email: <a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a> or tweet us: <a href="https://twitter.com/lexrexcomms" target="_blank">@LexRexComms</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lexrexcommunications.com/">lexrexcommunications.com</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-33269869091254591342013-07-22T12:00:00.000+01:002013-07-22T12:01:47.740+01:00Re-using Law Firm Content Part 2: BlogsLast week I wrote about <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2013/07/re-using-law-firm-content-part-1-press.html" target="_blank">re-using press releases</a> to ensure you get your money's worth from each one. In this post I'm explaining how to do the same for blog posts.<br />
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So, once you've written a post that's not only valuable but interesting, and audience appropriate - what next? Well first of all, you need to promote it. So do the obvious and share it on Twitter, post a link to it on your LinkedIn profile and add it to your firm's and your individual Google+ page (assuming you use this for professional purposes).<br />
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After you're shared the content across a variety of platforms, think about how you can re-use it. The obvious starting point is your firm's newsletter.<br />
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Depending upon the size of your blog audience, you could think about re-writing the piece. If you decide to do this - consider whether you can make it more relevant to a particular set of clients. If you send out a variety of different newsletters, even more reason to focus the content for that particular group.<br />
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If you have just the one newsletter, and the content is relevant to a large proportion of its readership, turn it into a 'top tips' piece or similar.<br />
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Also consider whether the content might be of interest as a guest blog. Popular bloggers are often open to content from different writers to help lighten the load of writing fresh, insightful content, but also because they want to add value to their readership by posting new perspectives and handy information.<br />
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Think about the blogs that you read, and whether there might be room for some of your writing. If there is a cross-over between their content and likely audience, and your target audience, then get in touch.<br />
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Before you make your approach though, just mentally sense-check your proposal. Ensure that your pitch shows that you understand the blog you want to write for. Many bloggers write out of a passion for their subject and poorly thought-out, irrelevant pitches are not only ineffective, but may cause offence.<br />
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By Victoria Moffatt.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">LexRex provides specialist PR and communications consultancy to law firms across the UK. Headed by ex-lawyer Victoria Moffatt, we understand both the law and the art of communications.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">LexRex now offers a range of different writing training courses, including the popular 'Exciting Writing for Lawyers' and 'Clear Writing for Junior Lawyers' workshops. If you would like further information about these new products or our other services, please drop us a line via email: </span><a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> or tweet us: </span><a href="https://twitter.com/lexrexcomms" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">@LexRexComms</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> or</span><a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">@vicmoffatt</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-8049670293990372292013-07-15T17:57:00.000+01:002013-07-15T17:59:29.330+01:00Re-using Law Firm Content Part 1: Press ReleasesThis week's post is a guide for lawyers on making the most of and re-using press release content. In later posts I'll cover articles and blogs.<br />
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But first, a moment of reminiscence... Back in the day when I was a practising solicitor, I had a ring-binder full of precedent documents. This included sample particulars of claims, defences, grievance letters and letters of advice. To save time I would turn to this folder at least once a week, and either use the content as guidance or as a refresher, or even; in straight-forward repeat matters such as residential landlord and tenant claims, reuse the copy verbatim.<br />
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Now I'm sure I'm not the only person with a sneaky ring binder. Although these days it would probably be a file on my desktop. But why is my precedent folder relevant to this blog?<br />
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Well, it's the concept of re-using and recycling that's relevant here.<br />
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When I speak to lawyers about their PR and online marketing strategies (if indeed they have such a thing), one of the complaints I hear over and over again is that they simply don't have the time to create as much content as they would like.<br />
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Now, I 'get' this, but there are ways to make it easier upon yourself - you just need to learn to recycle. If you have some great news - big deal, new partner announcements, year-end results etc. you will most probably issue a press release. That in itself is probably at least half a day's work for somebody.<br />
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Now - what else do you do with that copy once you've issued the release? Nothing? More fool you.<br />
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If your news is covered anywhere, you've probably got the basics right and you should stick a copy of the release in your firm's version of my ring binder. You can then use this as inspiration next time you have something to say.<br />
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In addition, after you've given your target media the chance to use or discard your press release, reword it slightly and publish it on your website.<br />
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Then - share it on LinkedIn and think about putting it on your Google+ page.<br />
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Consider tweeting a few links (over time) to the announcement on your website or any online coverage and whilst you're at it, retweet any tweets covering your news issued by any of your target media*, or any indeed other friendly tweets that mention your firm in this context.<br />
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Finally, you can re-use the copy all over again when you create your next client newsletter.<br />
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Honestly... that's quite a list of things you can do with a 500 word press release...<br />
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*You do follow your target publications and the relevant journalists on Twitter - don't you?<br />
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By Victoria MoffattAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-91241202993706696982013-07-01T11:42:00.000+01:002013-07-01T11:51:30.611+01:00Lawyers: 5 Tips for Effective WritingWriting... It's a topic I've covered before, and if you're interested, check out my posts on <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2013/01/how-to-write-law-blog.html" target="_blank">writing a law blog</a> and <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2013/02/lawyers-how-to-write-clearly.html" target="_blank">writing clearly</a>. Today though, I want to cover writing techniques at a more granular level.<br />
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My experience is that writing is an act of constant editing. The hardest bit is typically getting something on paper, but once that first draft is written, it is then simply a matter of chopping and changing the content until you're happy.<br />
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Tip 1: just do it<br />
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I think a lot of people do 'just do it' and then press publish or send. Please don't do this. Check your writing carefully and at the very least, run a spelling and grammar check. But don't rely solely upon this, as it will only highlight incorrectly spelt words, not those used incorrectly - for example 'any' rather than 'and'.<br />
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I edit all copy ruthlessly and endlessly. I'm also obsessed with brevity and clarity. I read a great post on LinkedIn this week about cutting irrelevant words from writing and announcements. The article is spot on and you can check it out <a href="http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/14770.aspx" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Tip 2: edit edit edit<br />
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Sometimes, I really struggle to get something down - often when I'm tired, or if I've already written a lot of content that day. When floundering I try to move onto something less demanding for an hour or so.<br />
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Tip 3: write when you are fresh and full of beans<br />
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My pet hate is the use of the same word or phrase over and over again. If you've used 'professional' once, try not to rely upon it again. The same goes for specialist, expert, unique, valuable etc. It's lazy writing and there's usually no excuse for it. Thesaurus.com is a handy resource, as is the Microsoft synonyms tool. You can also use the 'find' function if you fear you've over-used a particular word. Sometimes repetition cannot be helped - but even just being conscious of avoiding it will probably make you a better writer.<br />
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Tip 4: don't overuse favourite words or phrases<br />
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I like to keep my sentences really short. That's because I think they are easy to read. In addition, short sentences enable me to keep to the point, and hopefully encourage my reader to continue.<br />
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Punctuation is a little bit like breathing. (Takes a breath) Insert commas and full stops at natural pause-points and you won't go far wrong. (Takes a breath).<br />
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If you write really long sentences without making use of punctuation marks your reader will find it difficult to understand where one idea ends and the next begins, they will also hate you for being unclear and for not giving them permission to stop and breathe.<br />
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If I'm honest, even writing that sentence was a struggle, and reading it back makes my eyes start crossing. Hopefully you understand my point.<br />
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Tip 5: keep sentences short and make use of punctuation marks<br />
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The above 5 ideas are just the points that I use to guide my writing, so let me know if you think I've missed anything fundamental.<br />
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By Victoria Moffatt<br />
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LexRex provides specialist PR and communications consultancy to law firms across the UK. Headed by ex-lawyer Victoria Moffatt, we understand both the law and the art of communications.<br />
<br />
LexRex now offers a range of different writing training courses, including the popular 'Exciting Writing for Lawyers' and 'Clear Writing for Junior Lawyers' workshops. If you would like further information about these new products or our other services, please drop us a line via email: <a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a> or tweet us: <a href="https://twitter.com/lexrexcomms">@LexRexComms</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt">@vicmoffatt</a><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-33635948722692429302013-06-17T17:22:00.001+01:002013-06-17T17:22:55.345+01:00Choosing a Legal PR Agency Part 3: Conflicts of Interest<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">In this, the third of three posts on how to choose a legal PR agency, I'm writing about what lawyers can do to avoid conflicts of interest when instructing a PR agency. In the earlier posts in this series, I've written about ensuring your agency has the requisite <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2013/06/choosing-legal-pr-agency-part-1.html" target="_blank">expertise</a> and also how to ensure you have the right <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2013/06/choosing-legal-pr-agency-part-2.html" target="_blank">chemistry</a> with your PR team.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">A relationship with a PR agency necessitates trust and openness. By the very nature of the work that an agency will typically do for you, they will (or should) know exactly what's happening at the highest level of the business. If you are considering merging with another firm, or even if the SRA has recently been in touch - your PR agency should know about it. If they already understand where your business is going, and why, they can be prepared if the you-know-what hits the you-know-what.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Of course, issues can arise if you use a PR agency that already works with another law firm. By the way, the logic of this post also applies to digital marketing and SEO agencies. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">So, what exactly are the issues that may arise? The obvious example would be an agency doing exactly the same work for two law firms with exactly the same offering in exactly the same location. For example, a PR agency providing media relations support to two PI firms in Liverpool. Both firms have the same target audience in the same geographical location. There is clearly a conflict of interest. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">An alternative, but less obvious, example of a conflict of interest would be a PR agency providing SEO copywriting services to two law firms - one in Cambridge, one in Newcastle - both of whom have decided to create a niche focusing upon a very small national audience.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">In fairness, most good (and sensible) agencies have policies in place to avoid conflicts. However, I have seen cross-overs occur.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">So what should law firms look out for, and what reasonable steps can they take to avoid a conflict arising.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">1. Ask the question. It's not at all unreasonable to ask whether the agency you are considering appointing already works with any other law firms. If they do - find out what the nature of their brief is. Are you happy that it's dissimilar enough to the work that you want them to do?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">2. Be willing to walk away. If you're not quite happy with the answer they give about controlling and avoiding client conflicts of interest, either keep asking until you get a satisfactory answer - or forget it.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">3. Don't adopt a tunnel vision approach. There aren't that many specialist legal PR agencies nor are there many general PR agencies with excellent legal PR departments. If you find an agency that already works with one or more law firms (as indeed we do), then as long as you are confident there's no conflict, and they can assure you of this - you should be safe with them.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">4. Think about the future. It's all very well and good doing all this research and appointing your agency, but what if they then accept another client that you believe creates a conflict with your own firm? Discuss what is/is not acceptable to you at the outset. That way there will be no nasty surprises at a later date.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">By Victoria Moffatt</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">For more information about the legal PR services that LexRex can offer, please take a look at our <a href="http://www.lexrexcommunications.com/" target="_blank">website</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Alternatively, to arrange a friendly chat with Victoria, please contact us at info@lexrexcommunications.com or via Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/lexrexcomms" target="_blank">@lexrexcomms</a></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-67082713881696988812013-06-10T11:47:00.001+01:002013-06-10T11:47:08.593+01:00Choosing a Legal PR Agency Part 2: ChemistryIn this, the second in a series of three posts for lawyers about choosing a legal PR agency, I'm talking about chemistry, and why it's so important.<br />
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PR is all about communications - with the media, with clients, with referrers, with staff, with partners. For maximum effectiveness, the lines of communications need to be clear. Would you trust your deepest, darkest secrets to somebody you didn't like, or worse didn't trust? Of course not and the same goes with PR.<br />
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Like it or not, to do the best job, your PR team need to know your secrets. You'll need to let the cat out of the bag and drag the skeleton out of the closet if you truly want the most out of the relationship.<br />
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Why? Because without knowing your firm's bad bits, it's difficult to promote their good bits. If you are making redundancies or considering a law firm merger - you must tell your PR immediately. If a disgruntled employee leaks the news to a journalist and we don't know about it, we're immediately on the back foot. We'll have to rush about putting together a reactive statement, the journalist will probably print something in the meantime and the rumour mill will go wild in the absence of facts.<br />
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Alternatively, you can tell us about your plans in advance (and in confidence, of course). That way, we can create a pro-active statement for release when you're ready. We can advise you on when this announcement should be made, and we can ensure that all press enquiries come through us. That way everybody is calm, the journalists get their story (with facts) and the wind is removed from your disgruntled employee's sails. Whilst not everybody will be happy, usually impossible in a redundancy or merger situation, the matter will have been handled professionally and in an ordered manner.<br />
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So; back to chemistry. Here are a few suggestions for ensuring great chemistry and a long term relationship with your legal PR team:<br />
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1. Mutual respect and trust is fundamental to a good working relationship. Meet the proposed team for coffee on at least one occasion before engaging. Be decisive and honest with yourself about whether you can work closely with them<br />
2. If you are choosing an agency via a pitch process, check that the pitch team is also the team you'll be working with<br />
3. Ensure that a senior member of the team will be available for day to day contact. Many agencies will use junior level staff to draft copy but strategic direction should come from above<br />
4. Be honest at all times - communications is a two way street<br />
5. Be willing to have difficult discussions. It's far better to be grilled by your PR in the first instance than by a journalist who has managed to get past your gatekeeper. (PRs will know exactly what questions a journalist wants to know the answers to and that's why they ask them - they're not being aggressive or nosey)<br />
6. Take our advice - we know what we're talking about (although ensure that you have followed our advice on expertise in our <a href="http://blog.lexrexcommunications.com/2013/06/choosing-legal-pr-agency-part-1.html" target="_blank">1st post</a> on choosing a legal PR agency )<br />
7. Stick to your side of the bargain. Be available when necessary, accept that PR is important and should be high up on your priorities and expect to be disturbed at inconvenient times - the news agenda waits for nobody.<br />
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By Victoria Moffatt<br />
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For more information about the legal PR services that LexRex can offer, please take a look at our <a href="http://www.lexrexcommunications.com/" target="_blank">website.</a><br />
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Alternatively, to arrange a friendly chat with Victoria, please contact us at info@lexrexcommunications.com or via Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/vicmoffatt" target="_blank">@vicmoffatt</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/lexrexcomms" target="_blank">@lexrexcomms</a><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-64945765003788713592013-06-03T10:22:00.000+01:002013-06-03T17:25:14.499+01:00Choosing a Legal PR Agency Part 1: ExpertiseIn this, the first of three posts on how to choose a legal PR agency, I'm writing about selecting an appropriate agency based upon its legal PR expertise. In posts two and three I'll write about chemistry and avoiding conflicts of interest.<br />
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One thing I've noticed since creating LexRex is the sudden proliferation of other agencies moving into the legal PR marketplace. Of course, there were other legal PR agencies before LexRex so I can't complain; and a little bit of competition never did anybody any harm. However, as with any other PR specialism - retail, hospitality, trade - an understanding of the industry and the work it does, is a vital part of the job description.<br />
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Any lawyer knows that to an outsider, the law can be (amongst other things) complicated, weird, logic-defying and frankly, confusing. That's why, when it comes to promoting your firm, it's important to appoint a team that appreciates the rules that bind you, and most importantly, that knows what you do and what you don't do.<br />
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I recently overheard an anecdote of a PR agency that had worked with a family law team and, during the course of the retainer, had never quite worked out the difference between public and private family law. I rest my case.<br />
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Now, I'm not suggesting that PRs should have been through law school or anything like that. However, they do need an understanding of what they are promoting. 99% of PR agencies will have the requisite expertise, and that's why they are happily and rightfully promoting their legal PR service. However, as the client, and before you enter into a 6 - 12 month retainer with your chosen agency you should consider undertaking the following actions:<br />
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1. Ask for testimonials from previous clients<br />
2. If media coverage is important - request clippings<br />
3. Agree targets - any good PR firm will automatically set targets without you asking<br />
4. Meet the team you'll be working with and have a conversation about their previous legal PR experience<br />
5. Discuss specifics - talk about the areas you want to promote and ensure that everybody understands what you do. It's reasonable to expect a basic knowledge across the proposed team.<br />
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By Victoria Moffatt<br />
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For more information about the legal PR services that LexRex can offer, please contact us at info@lexrexcommunications.comAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-90974775503571696052013-05-20T15:31:00.000+01:002013-06-03T17:26:30.777+01:00Why Should I Use LinkedIn?LinkedIn... It's been written about before, by many people, with lots of different things to say... Mostly covering the 'how' rather than the 'why'. Well today baby, I'm all about the 'why'.<br />
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<b>"Why do I need to be on LinkedIn?"</b><br />
Because as a client, potential introducer, business influencer or even future employee I want to know whether you're any good, who you work for, why I need to know you, and whether anybody in my network knows you, or has recommended you. If you're not on LinkedIn, my immediate thought is - WHY NOT? I'm probably going to think that you have something to hide, that you're dodgy, or perhaps worst of all; that you just can't be bothered...<br />
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<b>"Ok - I'm 'on' LinkedIn but I don't have a photograph..." </b><br />
WHY NOT? You wouldn't turn up to a networking event with a paper bag over your face. Would you?<br />
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<b>"Oh... well how about this 10 year old photograph from my honeymoon. I've cropped my spouse out - that's ok isn't it?"</b><br />
No. It's not ok. For a start, you look pretty different now, that mullet is dreadful and you've definitely been to Specsavers since then. Get a professional shot taken. It's not expensive and you can use it on LinkedIn, on your website, for press shots, for Twitter and on your blog if you have one. Your money is always well spent on a great professional photograph.<br />
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<b>"Right. I've now added in every role I've had since Uni. Do I really need to complete the summary section?"</b><br />
I would say so. This is where you talk about what you do and what you're good at. It's also where you get to paint a bit of a picture of yourself. If you don't do this, you miss an opportunity to grab my attention, possibly make me laugh with your sparkling wit and help me to decide whether I like the look of you or not.<br />
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<b>"What next?"</b><br />
Well, that's up to you. I'm not going to force you to use LinkedIn, but I would recommend that you use it to keep a record of your contacts. You could also post interesting content on your page every now and again, as well as any media coverage of you/your firm. Maybe add links to your blog posts every so often. If you wanted to, you could endorse or even recommend a few people. Or join groups, set up your own group, or create a company page for your firm...<br />
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Sorry - just realised, I've passed from the 'why' into the 'how'.Hope you don't mind too much...<br />
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By Victoria Moffatt<br />
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For more information about the LexRex LinkedIn profile drafting and training service, and legal PR, contact us at info@lexrexcommunications.com<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-173060771869280082013-05-13T10:05:00.001+01:002013-06-03T17:26:46.210+01:00The Importance of Strategic Legal PRIf you 'do' PR, then you should make sure you do so in way which is strategic... That's the wisdom of today's post.<br />
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"Why?" I hear you ask - "Surely all PR is good PR". Well, yes... and no. Media coverage is a huge part of the PR skillset, of course, but if the aim is simply to 'get coverage' then you may actually be doing yourself a disservice.<br />
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All law firms should know what their key messages are. Key messages are the grounding for the associations they want their key audiences to make when they think or read about the firm. They can be as simple as:<br />
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"Niche North Yorkshire firm that offers strategic employment law support to businesses with 10 - 30 employees within a 10 mile radius of York"<br />
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Key audiences are the people the firm want to engage with. They will typically include clients, potential clients, referrers and business influencers. Law firms should identify their key audiences and then make sure their PR activities are relevant to, and connect with these audiences.<br />
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For example, there would be little point in the above firm (which is invented, of course) securing a feature on 'bringing an employment tribunal against your employer'. Such an article would be on entirely the wrong topic, would be in front of the wrong audiences, and would give the impression that the firm specialises in employment law for employees.<br />
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Of course, this is a throwaway example and wouldn't happen in real life.<br />
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However - next time you ask your marketing manager or PR firm to write a release, or next time they approach you with a suggestion for an article - just think about your key messages and audiences and ascertain whether the action proposed is appropriate...<br />
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By Victoria Moffatt<br />
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For more information about mapping your key messages and audiences, and planning strategic legal PR for your law firm, contact us at <a href="mailto:info@lexrexcommunications.com">info@lexrexcommunications.com</a>.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253405756498689589.post-87125837473174616012013-04-29T09:46:00.000+01:002013-06-03T17:27:57.444+01:00Getting The Most Value From Legal PRWell, it's back to the LexRex blog after a foray back in time over on the VicMoffatt <a href="http://www.vicmoffatt.com/2013/04/a-review-rethink-and-rebrand.html">blog</a> last week.<br />
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This week I started thinking about the clients I work with at the moment, and the law firm clients that I've previously managed in an earlier life working in PR agencies. This made me think about 'value' and how lawyers can ensure they get the most of this from their legal PR activities.<br />
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I've always found that the most successful campaigns involve a combination of great PR expertise (that's a given), sparkling imagination and a sense of humour, and from the lawyers; interest, enthusiasm, a basic understanding of PR and a willingness to stand up and be counted.<br />
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To get straight to the point of this post; PR needs top-level buy in and continued support. That's the bottom line. So what can lawyers do to ensure they get the most out of their agency or in-house team?<br />
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<ol>
<li>Tell us about your business. We need to know what's going on - good and bad. If you're merging, making redundancies, or experiencing huge growth; then tell us. We can maximise the good news, and manage the bad. Trust us, it's part of our job to keep secrets.</li>
<li>Commit to regular (but effective) meetings. Ideally these should combine elements of review and forward planning and last no more than 45 minutes. Actions should be clearly defined and deadlined.</li>
<li>Respond to requests quickly and clearly. A 'yes' or 'no' answer is usually enough in the first instance. For example - do you want to provide comments on the Budget to one of the key local business publications? 'Yes' or 'No' = SIMPLES. A quick 'yes' allows your PR to approach the publication, write comments, seek approval for these, and amend them if necessary. Little effort required from you - just a few moments to review and approve.</li>
<li>Be enthusiastic. If you have something interesting and different to say, people are more likely to listen. We act as your media filter - say what you want in front of us, and we'll polish it and make it media-friendly.</li>
<li>Allow us to write content from scratch. Expecting us to rehash something you've written wastes both your time (scratching your head and then typing/ dictating) and ours (trying to polish your comments, whilst also avoiding offence). </li>
<li>Don't be afraid to have your own ideas - but listen to us when we say no. We absolutely appreciate input, but trust us to know what works and what doesn't.</li>
<li>Expect and embrace targets. The days of 'we'll give you x days per month for £x' are over. As the client (of an agency or in-house team) it's reasonable to expect deliverables. Admittedly, PR success can be difficult to measure on a budget, but it is possible to set basic targets such as outputs, target publications, key messages, sentiment. And for social media such as Twitter - audiences, follower numbers, conversation levels and retweets. For those with more money to spend, it's possible to measure audience awareness on a 'before' and 'after' basis, as well as a whole host of other things.</li>
</ol>
All things considered, a pretty straightforward list of things to think about - so what are you waiting for?<br />
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By Victoria Moffatt.<br />
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For more information about LexRex and our legal PR service, please contact us at info@lexrexcommunications.comAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01486897108815869589noreply@blogger.com0