LETTER FROM EDITOR

Welcome to the premiere edition of Legal Marketing News!  This edition includes articles on Event Marketing, General Marketing courtesy of LegalVoice and an Upcoming Shows spotlight featuring LegalTech Los Angeles, May 9-10.  In the issues to come, we will be adding more columns - all designed to help your market your product/service to the legal industry!

As always, your input is important to us, so please let me know what you want to know! Please send any comments, suggestions or requests for articles to me at jf@envisionevents.com.

Thanks!
JoAnna Forshee
Envision Events
Editor, Legal Marketing News

GENERAL MARKETING

The Marketing Mix

Leveraging Your Promotion and Publicity

By Molly George

The first thing that MBA's learn in Marketing 101 is the famous "Four P's" of marketing.  For our purposes, my four P's are price, packaging, promotion and publicity. Publicity is better known as "PR" and is distinguished from promotion in that you have to pay for promotion. Publicity is free. Your paid booth space at Legal Tech Los Angeles is a promotion. If a reporter from a publication sees your demo and includes your product in an article, that's publicity. Your company should make the "Four P's" part of an overall strategic plan, and in particular, every element of promotion and publicity should work together, leveraging off of each other. 

Specifically, when you create your marketing action plan for the year, you should design a system in which your Web site, advertising, trade shows, publicity (press releases, articles and speaking engagements) all work together. Remember the marketing adage that a prospect must hear your name or see your logo nine times before they remember who you are. Most companies understand that they must have a uniform look and logo to create a lasting impression, but it's astounding how few actually say what they do clearly in their name, logo or tagline. 

Leveraging Rule One: Tell the market constantly what you're selling. If your name and logo don't do it, add a tagline that does. Repeat this in every marketing activity and make sure you always say it the same way. Be sure to prominently display your product/service at your trade show booth. I reviewed booths at LegalTech New York this past February. Some companies leave you scratching your head. They may have a beautiful abstract logo, a name like "TechWizards, Inc.," and a tagline like, "Where Functionality Meets the Future," but what exactly do they do?

Leveraging Rule Two: Plan your advertising and PR around editorial calendars. Go to the Web site of periodicals you have selected like Law Technology News (www.lawtechnews.com). The calendar is listed there. Plan to advertise in issues that focus on your product/service area, or will attract your target prospects as readers. For example, the October issue of Law Technology News is focused on corporate legal department technology. If your company sells to in-house counsel, you will want your advertising there, and you will want to time press releases on new products/services for this issue. 

Your marketing department should also consider proposing articles on topics of educational interest to your target audience. If your stars are aligned correctly, you may have an advertisement, a press release, and an article in the same issue! A subscriber that has read the press release or article, will read your ad again more carefully.

Leveraging Rule Three: Plan your advertising and/or PR for issues that have a bonus distribution. If your company is launching a new product or service at a Legal Tech show, you will want your release and ad in Law Technology News, which is distributed free at the show. Other important Am Law advertising targets distributed at Legal Tech shows are "Litigator's ToolBox" in the National Law Journal (www.nlj.com), Am Law Tech (www.americanlawyer.com) and "Tech Trends" in the New York Law Journal (www.nylj.com). Other important publications for legal technology companies are Law Office Computing (www.lawofficecomputing.com), Legal Assistant Today (www.legalassistanttoday.com), Legal Tech Newsletter (Am Law), California Lawyer (www.dailyjournal.com) and Internet Lawyer (www.internetlawyer.com).

Leveraging Rule Four: Get more mileage from your PR on your Web site. Make sure your recent press releases are published on your home page. Draw attention to them. Have all articles you have published on your Web site and the titles of those published in other periodicals or books with links publications.

Leveraging Rule Five: Add miscellaneous funds to your marketing budget, particularly for advertising and trade shows. No matter how well your marketing action plan is crafted, opportunities will come up during the year, particularly to leverage advertising. If a reporter for a periodical is covering your product/service in an article, you will want to have an ad on the same page, preferably in the lower right page with editorial wrapping around it. That way, even if your company is only mentioned slightly, the reader will be reinforced immediately with your identity.

Leveraging Rule Six: Plan in conjunction with your sales department. This should be a "no-brainer." Obviously a large part of marketing's job is to support sales. All trade shows are essentially sales functions. This is another important reason for a miscellaneous budget line item. If you hire a new sales person or add a territory during the year, you will want to support that person with regional trade shows and advertising in regional publications.

When the various elements of your marketing action plan work together, you will get more impact from each. Your company's "bang" in the marketplace will be greater than the sum of the "bucks" in your marketing budget.

Molly George is president of LegalVoice, Inc.

EVENT MARKETING

Don't Just

Work the Booth

By
JoAnna Forshee

There are many things a company can do to prepare for a successful trade show, but when it comes right down to it, the most important factor in your success is how your sales team works the show. Notice I said show and not booth. You have to take advantage of every minute at a trade show. Too often sales people arrive at the show, stand in the booth during the exhibit hours and then go on their merry way. This is a perfect opportunity for you to wine and dine prospects as well as clients and bring your relationship to a more social level. Successfully working a show should begin with breakfast meetings and end with dinner out with clients or prospects. 

Here are a few more ways to maximize your exposure at a show:

• When the show is slow, walk the aisles and visit other booths. This is an excellent way to gain market intelligence as well as search for partners/re-sellers. 
  

• Attend all the show networking events. These are excellent opportunities to meet with prospects/partners in a social setting.
  

• Invite your prospects and/or clients to the show. Most shows offer complimentary passes to exhibitors for this very reason. Take advantage! Even if your client/prospect is not able to make it, they will remember that you thought of them.
  

• Host your own events. This is the time to setup a client reception, appreciation dinner or golf tournament. This would also be a great time to invite prospects as well. Let your current clients help you sell!
  

At a trade show, prospects are away from the distractions of their office and are in a more relaxed, buying mood. You have to take advantage of every opportunity to make the most of this valuable time. No matter how you choose to increase your participation, realize that a trade show is a huge expense in time and marketing dollars and it's up to you to determine the level of success.

JoAnna Forshee is President of Envision Events (www.envisionevents.com), an events marketing firm specializing in the legal industry. She can be reached at 850.671.4798 or jf@envisionevents.com.

For a list of all the major legal shows, visit www.envisionevents.com/links_legal.htm.  For a complete listing of legal shows including regional shows, visit www.nathanslegalmarkets.com.  While you're there, sign up for Nathan's Legal Report.

UPCOMING SHOW SPOTLIGHT

LegalTech

Los Angeles

What's in Store

By
Elizabeth Kerins

After kicking off 2002 with the record-setting LegalTech New York, we are excited to tackle the west coast with LegalTech Los Angeles. Like 2001, LegalTech Los Angeles, held at the Westin Bonaventure, May 9 and 10, promises to set new highs.

New for 2002, we have an exciting strategic partnership with LawNet who will use LegalTech Los Angeles for the first of a series of Regional User Group Meetings to be hosted by LegalTech.  Also, LegalTech has partnered with the Law Practice Management & Technology section of the State Bar of California. This section targets technology tools for law practice management, and is what LegalTech is about.

LegalTech Los Angeles continues its successful partnership with the Los Angeles County Bar. As the largest voluntary bar association in the U.S, LACBA chose LegalTech as the event to sponsor. "LACBA considers LegalTech Los Angeles a true member benefit, and together we are embarking on an unprecedented marketing campaign to reach our 30,000 members", quotes Tim Elliot, Director of Member Services for the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

The Southern California Association of Law Libraries will also have a presence at LegalTech. Librarians are an essential part of a law firm's strategy for information technology. This year the SCALL and LACBA have joined together to create interdisciplinary educational sessions at LegalTech.

"We are excited about LegalTech Los Angeles. These new affiliations promise to be a win-win situation for all of us," adds Rob Hafiz, Director of Sales and Business Development. "It further illustrates how LegalTech is an integral part of the legal community."

It's by no accident LegalTech continues to be the information resource for the legal community. "Our growth-by-design in 2001 included new tracks to address the changing face of law firms and the use of technology," quotes Elizabeth Kerins, LegalTech's Director of Marketing. "We created new sessions and conferences to aid law firms in the trying times of the past year. It was a year of great successes, challenges and continued opportunities."

"It has been through the support of our vendors and sponsors, our ability to respond to changing market conditions and the solid reputation of LegalTech and American Lawyer Media that has allowed us to continue to deliver quality legal events," says Henry Dicker, Group Tradeshow Director of LegalTech.

For more information on all upcoming LegalTech events visit www.legaltechshow.com, or contact Rob Hafiz at 651.578.7831.