The PR Lawyer

Wikipedia: Understanding How It Works – Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Leah Ludwig) — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Posted by Leah Ludwig

In the first part of my Wikipedia: Understanding How It Works post, I shared details about what Wikipedia is and the site’s core policies. Now, I would like to share what I learned during the second portion of Jake Orlowitz’s “Learn to Speak Wikipedia” program – specifically addressing Wikipedia and the PR profession, as well as some best practices and resources to help along the way.

As I previously mentioned, Orlowitz spoke about the historical conflict between PR and Wikipedia and how it can be resolved with a proper understanding of the two cultures’ roles and processes. He further explained that PR professionals, who are editing their clients Wikipedia articles, can often have a conflict of interest because of their role. These professionals can save themselves countless hours of frustration by learning the best practices for editing and transparency through disclosures on behalf of their client (addressed further under Best Practices below).

Wikipedia Best Practices

What I found most useful during the program (and think you will as well), was the best practices that Orlowitz provided to ensure that PR practitioners are successful on behalf of their own companies and clients.

Register with an independent username: He explained that in most cases you should register with a completely anonymous name – unrelated to your company, product or service.

Read the notability guideline: As per Wikipedia, “Notability is a test used by editors to decide whether a topic can have its own article.” The notability guideline can be found here.

Declare your conflict of interest: If you are writing and/or editing an article for your business, a client, etc., it is always best to be transparent and share a disclosure statement in the article comments for the Wikipedia editor(s) that you are working with to complete the task.

Start with a draft: This is a highly recommended best practice and there are resources to support these efforts such as The New Article Wizard. This tool will allow you to create an article for editors to review and provide feedback at no consequence to your organization. Orlowitz explained that, “Articles and edits started this way have the best odds of remaining in Wikipedia after other editors see what you have done.”

Sources, sources, sources: You should not use self-published materials, but instead summarize what published, reliable sources have said about your organization, product or service.

Neutralize your conflict of interest: I shared details about this best practice in part one of this two-part blog post. It is important to know and remember that a neutral point of view is valued and the only view accepted by Wikipedia and the Wikipedia community. Articles mustn't take sides, but should explain the sides fairly and without bias.

Avoid spam: Orlowitz explained that articles should not include promotional pages or content.

Have other editors review your draft: As mentioned previously, it is important to get the feedback of other Wikipedia editors before attempting to publish your article.

Don’t rush: Although there are always deadlines, do not rush. Wikipedia does not run on deadlines and operates in the scale of months, years and decades.

Accept that other editors can and will edit your content: Once an article is published and live, it is public property and can be added to, edited and/or removed.

I know that this is a lot of information to process, however, Orlowitz provided a plethora of very helpful resources to make this process less painful (WikiProject Cooperation, the Wikipedia Help Desk, Live Help Chat, etc.). Best wishes to you in your next Wikipedia article endeavor!

Wikipedia: Understanding How It Works – Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Leah Ludwig) — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:22:00 +0000

Posted by Leah Ludwig

Just this week, I attended a PRSA Philadelphia event titled, “Learn to Speak Wikipedia” featuring Jake Orlowitz, a Wikipedia editor; author of The Plain and Simple Conflict of Interest Guide; designer of The Wikipedia Adventure, a dynamic learning game for new Wikipedia editors; and the list goes on.

The event was held to address the following topics: Wikipedia’s size, scope and PR impact; core policies that keep Wikipedia functioning and reliable; best practices for writing effective Wikipedia copy; and much more. The event was packed with information – in fact, I could write a short thesis on what I learned during this program, but instead I’m going to share the topline tips that I believe will be most helpful to The PR Lawyer readers – in a two-part post.

What is Wikipedia? As stated by Orlowitz, “It is a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit, whose mission is to summarize published reliable sources. It is not a dictionary, a publisher of original thought, a soapbox or means of promotion, a blog or social network, a directory, etc.”

Core Policies of Wikipedia

Orlowitz shared Wikipedia’s four core policies which really are the standards and guidelines that the entire Wikipedia community follows:

Neutral point of view: It is important to know and remember that a neutral point of view is valued and the only view accepted by Wikipedia and the Wikipedia community. Articles (referring to what you and I may consider an entry or profile) mustn't take sides, but should explain the sides fairly and without bias.

Verifiability: Articles published on Wikipedia must reference verifiable and reliable sources. Verifiable and reliable sources mean previously reported information from a fact-checking source such as a newspapers, book, website, radio, journal, etc.

Original research: Wikipedia will only publish analysis or synthesis of published material that serves to advance a position.

Civility: The Wikipedia community is based on consideration and respect. Everyone’s focus should be on improving the encyclopedia and all users are expected to behave politely and reasonably.

The main gist of the first portion of Orlowitz’s program was really to drive home the importance of understanding Wikipedia, how powerful and empowering the site is, and that it is truly a unique and collaborative community. One must truly embrace the site’s culture before it can fully and effectively collaborate within the space.

YouTube Focuses on User Engagement

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:15:00 +0000

Posted by Amanda Walsh

How many times have you clicked on a video thinking it was a music video from your favorite artist, only to be disappointed when it’s a karaoke version from an unknown group? YouTube, the number three trafficked website according to Alexa.com, has been making some changes to cut down on this and improve the overall user experience.

When a video on YouTube ends, other “related videos” typically appear to show the user what other clips have been created around that specific subject. These suggestions were based on the “popularity of a clip” which was determined by the number of clicks on a video. However, this can be very deceiving as many users simply click on videos based on the thumbnail images or titles that they see, which often turn out to be videos about completely different subjects. When the user realizes that the video isn’t actually what they wanted, they move on and continue their search. The inaccurate measurement of “popular videos” was a driving force behind YouTube’s motivation to create new algorithms to stop this chain of events. YouTube will now determine popularity of videos by the length of time a user watches the clip. This will ensure that high-quality videos with accurate titles and keywords will be suggested to YouTube users more often.

I read about these changes in an article by Ivan Nelson on CommPRO.biz, which explores the implications of this seemingly simple change. Ivan foresees advertisers will begin using YouTube channels more frequently, creating videos that will offer high-quality and engaging content to the viewer. “Good viral videos will continue to make it to the top from time to time but one group stands to gain the most from these changes: YT channels. Episodic content that survives the test of time and continues to generate new subscribers will rise to the top of rankings,” he wrote.

In fact, one example of a YouTube channel that has seen viral success is Pantless Knights. The channel was created by Seedwell, a California based firm that creates viral video campaigns, commercials and films. One of the partners, Peter Furia, is Gina Furia Rubel’s cousin. Peter and the two other partners at Seedwell were recently interviewed on Mashable.com about what it takes to create viral videos based on themes such as: parodies, high cute-ness factor or making users think, “did that just happen?”

If a video is catchy and engaging, it will eventually rise to the top of searches and be shared, especially with sharing capabilities at users’ fingertips through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. All of these changes on YouTube mean that we, as communications professionals, must continue to focus on creating high-quality videos with accurate keywords and SEO techniques in order to attract the right audience and keep them watching.

Optimal Times to Share Links on Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:19:00 +0000

Posted by Amanda Walsh

According to a report on Mashable.com, bitly, a link-shortening service, recently released a data report about the best and worst times to post content on social media for it to go viral. The bitly blog notes that the company has been “exploring how content propagates (or “goes viral”) through social networks, particularly how the day and time something is posted affects the eventual amount of attention it will receive.”

Using the data shared, we have created an easy to use chart for readers’ reference below. Keep this data in mind, the next time you have important news or content to share with your audience. Note: all times are in EST.

Social Network	Best Time	Worst Time
Facebook	Any day between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesdays at 3 p.m.	After 4 p.m. during the week After 8 p.m. and before 8 a.m.
Twitter	Mondays between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.	After 8 p.m. during the week After 3 p.m. on Friday
Tumblr	After 4 p.m. Friday evenings After 7 p.m. gets the most clicks	N/A

Gina Rubel to Participate in CB Cares' Celebrity Chef & Waiter Gala

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

On May 20, 2012, Gina Rubel will be one of the guest servers helping to raise money through tips earned for the 5th Annual Celebrity Chef & Waiter Gala, the signature fundraising event for local community organization CB Cares, held at the Doylestown Country Club.

Other local celebrity servers also earning tips for CB Cares include Thompson Networks President Sean Galt, Central Bucks East Principal Abe Lucabaugh, State Representative Marguerite Quinn and local screenplay writer Thomas Phillips.

This year, Caleb Lentchner from New Hope's Marsha Brown, Jon Spivak from Chive Café and John Ripley of the Doylestown Country Club will be whipping up delicious food in the kitchen for event guests.

Tickets for the event are $125. For more information, visit cb-cares.org or call 215-489-9120.

More coverage of the upcoming event can be found on Doylestown Patch.

Managing Digital Profiles After A Death

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:22:00 +0000

Image courtesy of Technorati.com

Posted by Amanda Walsh

I had an interesting conversation today about social media networks and what happens to profiles after someone passes away. It is a painful subject to think about, but should be considered, especially since social media and other online presences have really become a part of the estate planning process for people across the United States.

A January 26, 2012 article on Mashable.com, “Facebook After Death: What Should the Law Say?,” shares that “the Uniform Law Commission recently approved a study committee on fiduciary power and authority to access digital property and online account during incapacity and after death.”

The approval of this study showcases the need for clear law on dealing with online communications and social media profiles after a loved one has passed away. The article author, Alissa Skelton, notes that “lawmakers have been slow to enact legislation related to digital property after death, and social media companies have relied on terms of service to guide them.”

At the time the article went live on Mashable.com, there were five states with laws governing digital asset management after death. They include Oklahoma, Idaho, Rhode Island, Indiana and Connecticut.

In Oklahoma, lawyers now encourage someone who is crafting a will to explain how he or she wants online accounts to be handled upon their death. In Oregon, lawyers prepare a virtual asset instruction letter (VAIL) for clients to leave in a safety deposit box.

“Tools for Managing Your Online Life After Death” on Time.com explains some additional resources to consider:

Email: By providing a death certificate and proof of power of attorney, relatives can order a CD full of messages for a deceased user’s account on Hotmail. For Gmail, the same paperwork is needed plus a copy of an e-mail from the deceased sent to the petitioner.
Social networking: Family members can choose to take down a deceased user’s profile or keep it in “memorial state,” meaning that status updates will be removed and only confirmed friends can view it and post comments on it.
Photo-sharing: Flickr will keep an account up and mostly open to the public, but if photos are marked as private, family and friends cannot access them.
Passwords: There are companies that offer encrypted space to store account information and passwords to give to designated recipients after a user passes away.

It’s important to encourage loved ones to have a secure document of passwords or explain clearly what survivors should do with their online presence in the event that they pass away. This all begs the question, how do you want your online profile handled when you pass away?

LinkedIn to Launch Company Page Targeted Updates & Follower Statistics

noreply@blogger.com (Leah Ludwig) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:06:00 +0000

By Leah Ludwig

You learn something new every day, right? Well, this is what I learned today:

Back in February, LinkedIn created a LinkedIn button that businesses can embed on their websites to make it easier for users to follow their companies – as seen on the Furia Rubel website homepage (I knew this part already, by the way).

Now, according to Mark Walsh and MediaPost.com, the professional networking site is offering a service that allows businesses to tailor content sent to followers according to industry, seniority, job function, company size, non-company employees and geography. Companies will also have direct access to an analytics dashboard showing follower engagement metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and the proportion of those interacting with targeted content – along with providing followers’ demographic data.

These new LinkedIn amenities are currently being rolled out with companies like AT&T, Dell and Microsoft. In the coming months, the more than 2 million companies in the LinkedIn network should have complete access.

So, what’s the catch? Or at least that’s what I thought. What’s the cost of these new service offerings? The good news is that they are free to members with a LinkedIn company page. Walsh, and the rest of us at Furia Rubel, acquiesce in the notion that this is clearly LinkedIn’s attempt at competing with Facebook and Twitter as a social media marketing platform for businesses.

So, that’s what I learned today. Stay tuned for our next blog post alerting you when these services have been launched and are available to the public.

RFP Management – Tips from Pros

noreply@blogger.com (Leah Ludwig) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 20:40:00 +0000

By Leah Ludwig

A few weeks ago, I attended a Delaware Valley Law Firm Marketing Group program titled, “RFPs: Meet the Experts.” If you play any type of role in your firm’s communications efforts, I’m sure you have dealt with writing and/or answering an RFP (also known as a request for proposal).

Wikipedia describes RFPs in this way: “An RFP is issued at an early stage in a procurement process, where an invitation is presented for suppliers, often through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a specific commodity or service. The RFP process brings structure to the procurement decision and is meant to allow the risks and benefits to be identified clearly up front.”

Many people dread the RFP process. This was echoed by the extensive panel of law firm marketing professionals including: James T. Austin, director of publications at Pepper Hamilton LLP; Cheryl Disch, senior manager of marketing information systems at Duane Morris LLP; Sharen Nocella, director of marketing at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP; and Katherine L. Rebechi, marketing coordinator at Pepper Hamilton LLP.

The panelists discussed how to evaluate an RFP; how the marketing department can help in the RFP process; elements of a winning RFP response; what to do after the RFP; and some common problems professionals encounter during this process. Some of the helpful tips that I took away from the discussion were as follows:

• Read (really read) an RFP in its entirety before deciding if it is a good fit for your firm.

• The quality of the RFP (meaning the incorporated details, the organization of the document and scope of work, etc.) should help your firm decide if working with that company would be a good fit.

• Learn from past experiences and trust your gut. If the company has issued you various RFPs, all which you have not won and that tend to be won by another firm, take a hint and save yourself some time.

• Do not hesitate to call the company requesting responses and ask questions of the company. The answers to these questions will often provide you with key insight which may help your firm in deciding if you will move forward with providing a response.
- Ask how many other firms were included in the RFP process.
- Ask detailed questions about the scope of the work requested.
- Gauge the tone of the conversation, and the spokesperson’s willingness to provide information, etc.

• Make sure that your firm does not have any conflicts with the company before taking the time to respond.

• Create some sort of template system – index standard RFP question responses.

• Respond to the RFP precisely as requested – follow all guidelines and adhere to criteria.

• If you do not win the RFP process, call the company and ask what your firm could have done better – use this as a learning process.

• Record time spent on RFP responses and RFP success percentages and be ready to share feedback with upper management.

I found the DVLFMG program and the panelists’ feedback to be very helpful and I hope that these take-aways help you streamline your next RFP experience.

Press Releases: Cutting Through Clutter and Sharing Useful Content

noreply@blogger.com (Leah Ludwig) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:12:00 +0000

Posted by Leah Ludwig

No matter the industry, if you want to promote the good work of your business and its offerings you must be able to compile engaging promotional copy. One communications tool to do so is the almighty press release.

In the past few days, I have read a several blogs that collectively assist all of us promotional copy writers in getting to the point, catching our readers’ attention and trimming the boring content out of an otherwise average press release, to make it worthy of attention.

Starting with the headline of your release, PRDaily.com’s Mark Nichol shared “8 simple, yet powerful types of headlines.” In his blog, Mark identifies different approaches to making your headline stand out and supplies some helpful examples – see a few of them below.

• Direct: Lawn Mowers on Sale
• News: Remote-Control Lawn Mower to Debut in April
• How-to: How to Select the Best Lawn Mower for Your Yard
• Question: Is Your Lawn Mower the Right One for the Job?
• Command: Go to Lawn Mowers R Us for the Best Deals

Bottom line: keep your headlines concise (no more than 10 words). Also, search for originality. Mark encourages writers to “copy and paste your final draft into a search engine. If it comes up, consider altering one or more words or starting over again.”

Andrew Hindes’ insightful article “PR With Benefits: What 'Mad Men' Can Teach Us About Writing Press Releases” shared in PR News helps us to really think about the overall message of release content. Andrew compares journalist messaging to advertisements and addresses how ad copywriters, as featured on the show Mad Men, have turned that kind of persuasion into both an art and a science.

The main point that Andrew drives home is that the benefits of a product or service are far more compelling to potential customers than its features. You may wonder, what’s the difference? Andrew explains that “features describe the positive qualities of a product or service. Benefits describe the ways those qualities positively affect the consumer—usually by making his or her life better or easier.” So, when writing your next release, make sure you clearly explain how your product or service makes your customers' lives simpler.

And last, but certainly not least, another struggle that press release writers face is keeping it short and simple. PRDaily.com’s Laura Hale Brockway shared a blog about the “20 phrases you can replace with one word.” She talks about how circumlocution is the use of many words when one will do – which is so prevalent in today’s corporate writing. Check out her list of redundant phrases by going to her blog post.

So don’t forget: keep you headline short and impactful; make sure your content speaks to the benefits that you are bringing to your audience; and keep it concise and to-the-point.

Direct Mail Marketing vs. Email Marketing – Response Rates and Trends

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Powers) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:01:00 +0000

Posted by Laura Powers

At Furia Rubel, we are frequently asked how email marketing campaigns measure up to classic direct mail marketing campaigns. Our answer is: they really don’t compare.

Law firm email marketing campaigns (like printed business-to-business traditional newsletter campaigns) have the primary objective of raising awareness for the firm and sharing firm news and accomplishments. This is why open rates, the number of people who click open an email, are so important.

When measuring classic direct mail marketing, we measure a response from the audience. There is no "open rate" data for direct mail. Since response rate is the measurement, the primary objective of a classic direct mail piece is to drive the customer to make contact with the company.

Q: Can you share any information on direct mail open rates vs. email open rates?

Classic direct mail open rates vary depending on the mailing list and the mailing piece. For this data, I always reference reports from the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). A helpful example that answers the question is from DMA’s most recent data which shows that letter-sized envelopes mailed to in-house lists, generated from databases, Outlook or a CRM system, had a response rate of 3.42 percent in 2010. However, letter-sized envelopes mailed to purchased / prospects lists only had a response rate of 1.38 in 2010.

Q: Are email open rates getting lower while direct mail open rates are getting higher?

Classic direct mail response rates held steady from 2006 to 2010. While, we typically see a drop in open rates in client email marketing campaigns if the lists are not kept current, or the email content is not client-centric (i.e., there is only marketing messaging included or there is no valuable content included for the audience). Email marketing open rates are expected to continue to increase in the short-term. Currently, this is one of the most popular and favorable ways for businesses to connect with customers.

Q: Are the stats different for unsolicited junk mail vs. mail from your attorney or someone you do business with?

Yes, see above regarding in-house list vs. prospect list response rates.

For more information: http://www.the-dma.org/cgi/dispannouncements?article=1451

Pinterest Updates Terms of Service Language and Wants You to Know About It

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:09:00 +0000

Posted by Amanda Walsh

Earlier this year, Pinterest exploded onto the social media scene. The addictive website is a visual tool to curate images and their corresponding links to personalized boards. Pins range from household cleaning tips and marketing infographics to fashion and food recipes. Some marketers have had great success with Pinterest and others deem it a waste of time.

With Pinterest’s popularity came, cautionary tips and tricks to not infringe copyright laws and acceptable use policies. Over the weekend, we noticed that Pinterest updated it’s terms of service and did a great job letting its users know about it – by sending an e-blast and including the update on pinners’ recent activity feed.

These proposed Terms of Service will be put into effect April 6, 2012. Some key takeaways include:

• Pinterest’s original Terms stated that by posting content to Pinterest the user grants Pinterest the right to sell the user’s content. This has been removed from their updated terms.
• The Acceptable Use Policy has been updated and pins that explicitly encourage self-harm or self-abuse are not allowed.
• Simpler tools have been developed to report alleged copyright or trademark infringements.
• New language was added to prepare for new features such as a Pinterest API and Private Pinboards.

For more, check out Pinterest’s updated Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy and Privacy Policy.

SEO Best Practices for Lawyers and Law Firms - Avvo Webinar Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:16:00 +0000

Posted by Amanda Walsh

I had the chance to listen in on an Avvo webinar today lead by Leigh McMillan about SEO for law firms and lawyers.

In the webinar, On Page SEO vs. Off Page SEO was discussed. Ayodhyanath Guru over at jafaloo.com has some easy to understand definitions: “On Page SEO is the science of optimizing the contents of a website such that it becomes friendlier to the search engines. Off Page SEO is defined as the things you do offline to your website in order to achieve good search engine ranking.”

Tips to keep in mind:
- Each practice area should have an individual page within your website. Don’t put all your content onto one webpage.
- Optimize internal anchor text. Anchor text refers to links within web copy that link to another internal page within your website. These links should be keywords and NOT say “click here,” as generic language doesn’t tell the search engine what the link leads to.
- If your firm is mentioned on association websites, directories or as part of nonprofit sponsorship, be sure that the mention links back to your website.
- Excessive Flash animation and images will hurt your rankings. Utilize alt tags and sprinkle keywords throughout the text.
- Be sure to redirect your website URL without the “www” to your entire website URL. For example, furiarubel.com redirects to http://www.furiarubel.com/. Don’t build two separate sites as this can hurt your Google search results. Talk to your web developer about doing 301 redirects.

Do NOT:
- Buy links. Google knows when links are not legitimate or relevant and have tools to evaluate these links.
- Engage in comment spam. This is the practice of commenting on blogs ONLY to insert a link.
- Leigh also recommends avoiding vendors who utilize these practices.

Free Tools and Resources:
- Toolbar.google.com – Doesn’t give precise ranking, but a good guide.
- Google.com/webmasters/tools – This is a free tool, but registration is required to prove ownership of the site; Google will tell you if it has problems “reading” your site.
- Seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors – Great website for analyzing Google’s search factors.
- Backlinkwatch.com
- Davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml

Be sure to keep these tips and tricks in mind when working on a strategic SEO campaign for your law firm's website.

Using Social Media Effectively Before, During and After Conferences

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:23:00 +0000

Posted by Amanda Walsh

As I mentioned, Laura Powers and Gina Rubel have been attending the Legal Marketing Association annual conference in Dallas, Texas. Laura shared a great post from Lindsay at Zen Legal Networking outlining the Twitter handles of various people who are also attending the #LMA2012 event.

There are many benefits of social media engagement pre- and post-conference. Here are some tips and things to keep in mind when going to your next conference and what to focus on afterwards.

- When preparing for an event, do some research by using the event hashtag on Twitter (in this case, #LMA12) and seek out those that will also be there.

- Identify thought leaders and like-minded attendees in advance and make a note of those that you would like to meet in-person.

- Be on the lookout for special meetings or events at the conference geared toward the attendees who are using social media.

- Stay in touch post-conference and maintain those relationships. If the conference is an annual event, you probably will see the same people next year.

- Building solid relationships online and in-person can also open the door to tap these contacts as a focus group in various parts of the country for legal marketing ideas and tactics.

By being active on social media and using a hashtag for the event while you're tweeting, you can start conversations and build relationships pre-conference, during and post-conference, as well.

Thoughts on Client Relations and Building Client Loyalty

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:04:00 +0000

Posted by Amanda Walsh

Gina Rubel and Laura Powers have been at the Legal Marketing Association conference (Twitter Hashtag - #LMA12) in Dallas over the past few days, learning about emerging trends in legal marketing. We have been following along with their tweets and Facebook postings. Yesterday, Gina shared this blog post on The Legal Water Cooler Blog by @heather_morse called, “Why do some people stay, and some people leave?”

Heather recaps LMA 2012 keynote speaker James Kane’s talk on client loyalty. I visited Kane’s website yesterday and watched his speaker video. Although, I’m not attending the LMA conference with my colleagues, I can understand why his speech was a big hit with conference attendees and a popular topic on Twitter. He seems to be a charismatic and informative speaker who picked a topic that many legal marketers can relate to and understand.

Morse summarizes Kane’s keynote in a thoughtful way, summarizing that loyalty stems from trust, belonging and purpose, as well as looking to the future in the relationship. To read more of Heather’s recap of Kane’s speech, visit The Legal Water Cooler Blog.

Honing Presentation Skills – Learning from the Best

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:57:00 +0000

Posted by Amanda Walsh

Earlier this week, my colleague Leah Ludwig and I had the privilege of attending a half-day women’s leadership program led by productivity expert and phenomenal public speaker, Neen James.

The event brought together an intimate group of female professionals from a variety of backgrounds to learn how to effectively deliver memorable and impactful presentations. The interactive morning session left Leah and me with a few public speaking and general presentation tips and tactics to keep in mind for upcoming opportunities.

publicspeakingexpert.co.uk

• Embrace the strategic “pause” – At important or impactful parts of your presentation, don’t be afraid to pause and let your message sink in. This will help keep your audience’s attention and let them catch up with you while processing the information you have shared with them. They will be on the edge of their seats waiting for your next remarks.

• Use of audience member names – Everyone loves to be called by name whether it is while listening to a great speaker, during a sales pitch or sitting in on a work presentation. Neen provided a few tips directly addressing this topic. If presenting to a small group, ask the event organizer to use table tents with participant’s names, so when interacting with the group, you can use audience members’ names to capture and keep their attention. If you are speaking or presenting for a larger group of people and you don’t directly know anyone in the audience, try to meet a few people beforehand and keep their names in mind – addressing and interacting with these individuals during your presentation.

• Move around the platform – Depending on what type of venue or space in which you are speaking or presenting, don’t be afraid to utilize all of it. Neen did a wonderful job of walking around the room when speaking and even “stepping back” when other women leaders were introducing themselves. A good speaker should feel comfortable moving around, but should never forget to stop, stand firm and speak clearly when emphasizing an important point.

• It’s not about you – Also, Neen addressed the all too familiar feeling of getting nervous before a presentation or speech. She coached us to keep the focus away from ourselves when preparing to present. Really, it’s not all about the speaker and it’s not all about the audience either. Neen encouraged us to remember that it is all about creating a conversation with the audience. that Also, by remembering that everyone in the audience or in the board room put their pants on one leg at a time, just like we do, will help to banish nervousness when presenting.

The morning was filled with many more useful resources for preparing a presentation, tips for audience engagement and techniques for improving public speaking. If you want to learn more, visit neenjames.com.

Louis Vuitton vs. Penn Law – Lessons in Intellectual Property

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:56:00 +0000

Posted by Gina F. Rubel, Esq.

Courtesy of http://fashionlawcenter.com/?p=804

The National Law Journal article by Sheri Qualters, “Louis Vuitton says Penn Law symposium poster infringes its trademarks,” highlights a recent disagreement over the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s use of the Vuitton brand on invitations and posters for an upcoming conference on fashion law.

The article states that Michael Pantalony, Louis Vuitton’s director of civil enforcement for North America, wrote a letter to the dean of the law school, Michael Fitts, expressing dismay over the use of the company’s trademarked “toile monogram.” Pantalony wrote “that the egregious action is a ‘serious willful infringement’ that knowingly dilutes the company’s trademarks and may mislead others into thinking such actions are fair use.”

The University of Pennsylvania’s associate general counsel, Robert Firestone, responded stating that the student-run Pennsylvania Intellectual Property Group responsible for the symposium, “does not believe that the poster and invitation infringe or dilute the company’s trademarks.”

Firestone quoted a section of the U.S. trademark code that “expressly protects a noncommercial use of a mark and a parody from any claim for dilution.” He further maintained that it is highly unlikely that one would think that Louis Vuitton sponsored, or was associated with, the symposium in any way. To close his letter, Firestone invited Pantalony to attend the seminar: “The students have invited some of the in-house counsel from some of your peer fashion companies to speak on the panels, and I am sure the students would welcome your attendance as well.”

When the author of the article reached out, neither Firestone nor Pantalony responded. I’m sure it won’t be the last that we hear about the disagreement.

What I find most interesting is that graphic designers, illustrators and lay-marketers alike often use parody-like images to convey a message for an event. Such parodies may be called into question by the originating brands and there seems to be a very fine line.

While I’m not an intellectual property lawyer, I am intrigued by this dialogue and the amount of media coverage it has received so far. As a lawyer and strategic marketer, these are the types of issues we face regularly when clients present ideas using other brands’ images or ideas. Now more than ever, we are hearing about copyright infringement because of the explosion in popularity of online sharing and in particular, the website Pinterest. I am curious to see how this plays out.

Tips for Successfully Communicating a Law Firm Succession, Merger, or Acquisition - Avvo Blog Post

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:23:00 +0000

Law firm successions happen all the time – some are planned for and others are not. To learn more about communicating such changes effectively with internal and external audiences, check out Gina's latest blog on Avvo Lawyernomics here.

Pinterest and Copyright Issues – Tips to Follow

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:11:00 +0000

Posted by Leah Ludwig

I recently read an informative and thought-provoking article about “Avoiding Copyright Pitfalls on Pinterest.” Based on the fact that Pinterest seems to be the “it” social media site these days and that many of our readers, including myself, are very active on the site, I thought a synopsis of the tips shared in this article would be helpful for us all.

So as not to leave anyone out, if you are not familiar with Pinterest, you should be. You can get up to speed by reading one of The PR Lawyer’s recent posts, Pinterest: The Visual Phenomenon Of The Internet.

Now, back to the enlightening thoughts and tips shared by Saving for Someday blogger Sara, who happens to be a lawyer focusing on online content creation and protection. She spells out some simple, yet easily overlooked, ways to avoid copyright issues on Pinterest. First, as always, Sara cautions all Pinterest users to take time to read the site’s Terms and Conditions. These can be found under Privacy, Copyright and Terms on the site.

Sara’s Tips

- Pin the original source: It’s always a good practice to take an extra moment to verify the source of what you choose to re-pin to make sure that you are repinning something that belongs to the originating site.

- Never copy an image from Pinterest on your own blog: Enough said.

- Don’t perpetuate the wrong owner: Make sure to accurately attribute any images that you may be using in your blog – it is not only frustrating for your reader, but even more so for the original owner.

- Watermark your images: This may take away from overall look of your image and may be a bit challenging for the average blogger, but since Pinterest does not crop images your watermark will remain and you will always receive credit as the original image owner.

Many sites are now adding a Pinterest “Pin it” button on their website to ensure that their information is being shared accurately and efficiently via Pinterest users. However, if you are really concerned about your images and copyrights being infringed upon, Pinterest just released code to keep images from being “pinned” on a site at all.

I hope these copyright tips and tactics make you think twice about pinning that great recipe or re-pinning that amazing infographic to your Pinterest profile the next time you hop on the ever-so-popular social media site.

Photo courtesy of: tennesseefederalcriminallawyerblog.com

How is Your Brand Going to Utilize the New Facebook Timeline for Business?

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:52:00 +0000

Posted by Amanda Walsh

If you haven’t heard, according to AdAge, Facebook is going to be rolling out its Timeline layout for brands this month! While we don’t have a clear idea of what Timeline for brands will look like just yet, we know that the “look-and-feel” will be consistent with Timeline for personal profiles, but not a “carbon copy.” For example, the tabs and apps that are used on brand Facebook pages may be replaced with boxes or places for interactive apps on the Timeline version.

Ken of Inkling Media, wrote a blog post today that I thought would ring true with some of our readers. The post titled, “Small Business Tip Tuesday: 9 Ways to Prepare for Facebook’s Timeline for Business Pages” shared some points to think about in advance of Timeline coming to your brand’s page.

This may seem like a “no-brainer” but if you haven’t accepted Timeline on your personal profile, accept it. By doing so, you will have a chance to familiarize yourself with the layout and functionality that Timeline has to offer. Then, begin thinking of ways to use the layout for your business.

Those of us who have switched over to Timeline know that it’s visual-centric. Therefore it’s likely that brand Timeline pages will be based heavily on visuals as well. Timeline features a large cover photo and a profile photo that should be catchy and appealing. Videos can also make your page more attractive, as well as interactive with your audiences. With that said, now is the time to also consider incorporating videos onto a branded YouTube page and cross-populating them onto the new Facebook Timeline layout.

Timeline is just that, a chronological timeline of the user’s, or in this case, company’s history. For those companies that have 100+ years under their belt, marketers will want to put some serious thought into creative ways to convey a long-standing history through the new Timeline format. Other things to consider include posting old photos or researching important events in their corporate history, then making sure that they are included in some way on the brand’s Timeline.

Despite the change in layout, the underlying purpose for your business to be on Facebook is to establish thought leadership and share articles, news and compelling information. This still holds true, even with a new Facebook layout.

The last point that Ken mentions in his post is that companies should explore and enjoy the new Timeline layout. It’s going to roll-out to everyone eventually, therefore perhaps you make the choice now to make it easier on yourself and your brand by switching to the new format now, rather than a playing catch-up with your brand’s very public social networking site later.

Photo courtesy of mashable.com.

How to Sink or Swim with Your Next Facebook Promotion

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:50:00 +0000

Posted by Leah Ludwig

As more businesses and organizations begin to utilize Facebook and its offerings for contests and sweepstakes, more promotion-focused issues seem to be coming to light. Furia Rubel’s Gina Rubel recently shared an interesting post with me from the Socially Aware Blog on the topic of using Facebook for promotional purposes, “Warning Signs: Promotions Using Facebook’s ‘Like’ Feature.”

Here’s the CliffsNotes version of this post: when considering conducting a promotional offering via Facebook for your company or organization it is important to do your homework, make sure your program is legally compliant and follows Facebook’s Promotions Guidelines and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.

How to Sink

More specifically, and according to the post, the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (NAD), an industry forum for resolving disputes among advertisers, addressed an advertiser’s use of the “like” feature on Facebook in connection with an online promotion. The example given discussed Coastal Contacts, Inc. and its giveaway of a free pair of glasses to each person who “liked” its Facebook page. Coastal Contacts’ competitor, 1-800 Contacts, Inc., challenged the promotion, alleging that the company failed to adequately disclose the offer’s material terms and that the “likes” that Coastal Contacts received were not legitimate – and the company’s use and promotion of such “likes” on the Facebook platform and in press releases were therefore fraudulent. 1-800 Contacts urged NAD to recommend that Coastal Contacts remove and stop promoting the “likes” that it received via the allegedly misleading promotion in order to remedy its “unfair social gain.” In the end, NAD agreed with 1-800 Contacts that Coastal Contacts had failed to clearly and conspicuously disclose the terms of its free offer; however, NAD did not agree that such failure rendered the resulting “likes” invalid. Therefore, NAD declined to recommend that Coastal Contacts remove or stop promoting those “likes.”

The moral of the story is to make sure that your promotional program is legally compliant and, as a company offering these programs, be familiar with Facebook Promotion Guidelines – as the guidelines really set limits on a promotion sponsor’s use of Facebook’s “like” feature.

How to Swim

Want to know how to swim with your next Facebook promotion program? Here are some key take-aways from successful Facebook promotional programs and the businesses behind them:

1. Contiki Vacations’ “Get on the Bus” Promotion – Provide impressive incentives, make it interactive and fun, utilize votes and not “likes,” and create an experience.
2. Maybelline’s “Show Us Your Red Lips” – Make it easy to enter, sometimes the incentive isn’t about the prize, but about showing off in front of peers.
3. Coca-Cola’s “The Recycling King” – Utilize location-based Facebook promotions and Facebook Places.
4. Blocket.se’s “The Funniest Classified Ad on Blocket” – Know your audience, the use of humor – when appropriate – can be very enticing and appealing.

So, here’s to your next Facebook promotional offering. I hope it’s a great success.

Photo courtesy of: www.ngpharma.eu.com/article/Sink-or-swim/

Pinterest For Lawyers: Legal Marketing Or Waste Of Time?

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Gina Rubel, Esq.'s latest blog post on The Legal Intelligencer Blog, Pinterest for Lawyers: Legal Marketing or Waste of Time?

Logo provided by Pinterest.com

Re-Branding Penn State - Parts 1, 2, & 3 - It's Your Call with Lynn Doyle

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:43:00 +0000

Gina F. Rubel, Esq. recently served as a branding and crisis communications expert on the TV show, “It’s Your Call with Lynn Doyle.”

The discussion was focused on the re-branding of Penn State University and what the university needs to do to rebuild their reputation. Other panelists included Garry Cobb, host of Sportsradio 94 WIP and former NFL player; Cory Bank, Ph.D., Sports Psychologist at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; and Kevin Scholla, Sports Anchor at CBS.

A Brand In Crisis - Learning From Susan G. Komen For The Cure & Planned Parenthood

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:59:00 +0000

Posted by Amanda Walsh

The recent crisis communications situation involving Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood has a lot of people talking, particularly in the public relations industry. The need for a proactive crisis communications strategy and plan has become more relevant as we watch this situation play out in the media and through social media. Susan G. Komen for the Cure may just become the poster child for what NOT to do in a crisis situation. Check out The Accidental Rebranding of Komen for the Cure from the nonprofitmarketingguide.com for an insightful commentary on this topic.

Logo courtesy of sodahead.com

In-House Counsel Speaks – Tips From "A Client Roundtable"

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Powers) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Posted by Laura Powers

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a Delaware Valley Law Firm Marketing Group event, “A Client Roundtable.” The panel was moderated by James Allison, General Counsel at Murray Devine, a financial advisory firm with an office in Philadelphia. Participating on the panel were Steve Winnie, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Counsel for CampusDoor, a technology-based education finance company; Angela Jones, Counsel at Comcast Interactive Media; and Natalie Abbott, Senior Employment Counsel for North America at Saint-Gobain Corporation, the world’s largest building materials company.

Thanks to Stacy Clark, Esq. and Mary Beth Pratt for putting together this great panel.

The panel discussed how to successfully market to, and build relationships with, in-house counsel. There were some terrific, specific tips provided, such as:

When selecting outside counsel, competence, cost and responsiveness are three key concerns as well as the ability to provide blended rates and/or creative fee arrangements.

Outside counsel should think of themselves as a business partner to the company and work on building a relationship over time.

Understanding the client's industry is key. Demonstrating this understanding will be a real differentiator in your marketing and outreach efforts.

Don’t underestimate associates. Many cases can be successfully staffed by well-trained associates who are attentive and cost-conscious.

After an engagement is complete, one of the ways that outside counsel can stay top-of-mind is with brief post-engagement follow-ups. This could involve a 30-minute meeting to discuss performance overall and ways to serve the client in the future or a quick e-mail sharing a relevant article of interest.

On invoices, let the client know if you've adjusted your fees or found other ways to save them money. They want to know this information for reporting and appreciate it.

For more information on upcoming events, visit www.dvlawmarketing.org.

Pinterest: The Visual Phenomenon Of The Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Walsh) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:41:00 +0000

Posted by Amanda Walsh

Pinterest is an online visual bulletin or pin board that allows users to gather or "pin" images on the Internet to categorized boards thus organizing them together on a themed page. The images retain the original URL of the web page from which the user pulled the “pin” creating a visual bookmark for future reference. Other users can “repin” or "like" your images to their boards then share them to Twitter or Facebook, which creates a viral link-sharing environment.

The invite-only website began in March 2010, as a way to manage or curate an inventory of images on the Internet. First growing popular with Etsy crafters, mom bloggers and designers, the website’s popularity has grown to 421 million page views according to Mashable.

Some popular pin board categories include wedding ideas, home decoration, crafts, recipes and fitness tips. I started using Pinterest a few months ago and quickly became addicted to the visual sharing aspect of it, as well as the bookmarking capability. It can be a great go-to when in need of ideas or creative ways to do just about anything.

Brands have begun to jump on board for the SEO and viral link-sharing advantages as well. Three examples of brands using Pinterest include:

- Zales: The jewelry store has some interesting boards of what else? Jewelry! The company also switches it up a bit with a board for “Favorite Quotes” and another of love songs called “Sounds like Love." Not only is the company advertising their own products, but they are adding value by sharing romantic visuals that could be associated with jewelry.

- Whole Foods Market: The grocery store known for organic and natural food products, has 493 pins of seasonal recipes for different times of the year, along with dinner or dessert ideas. Additionally, the company’s boards reflect edible art displays from around the world, recycling ideas and pins of Whole Planet Foundation. According to Whole Foods’ website, Whole Planet Foundation “is a private, nonprofit organization established by Whole Foods Market.” The Foundation funds “grants to microfinance institutions in Latin America, Africa and Asia who in turn develop and offer microenterprise loan programs, training and other financial services to the self-employed poor.” This is an example of how Whole Foods uses Pinterest to not only share recipes using products from their stores, but also to spread the mission of their nonprofit foundation.

- Cabot Cheese: Run by Cabot Creamery, a family-owned farm cooperative located in the hills of Vermont produces all-natural cheeses. On their Pinterest boards, the company pays homage to farmers and farms, their state of Vermont and the cows that produce the milk to make their cheese. To me, this helps to tell a brand’s story and humanize the everyday production for consumers.

Other ways businesses can utilize Pinterest include, adding the “Pin It” widget to their website so users can easily pin website images and/or follow a company-branded board.

Gina Rubel has done an excellent job of adding value by pinning relevant infographics for PR and communications professionals, as well as link sharing of events that she supports. Check out her boards here: http://pinterest.com/ginarubel/social-media-and-marketing/.

Resources to learn more include:

Photo courtesy of http://www.women2.org.