2008 January « Fluent Simplicity

Archive for January, 2008

Why Blog? People are listening.

Published January 31, 2008 Law , Marketing 0 Comments
Tags: blogging, law firm, Vote

There is often debate, particularly in the legal industry, over the purpose of blogging. The Web is social media… and writing a blog connects with people. I present the SkaddenInsider as evidence: http://skaddeninsider.blogspot.com/

A meaningful conversation? Sure, if you’re interested in the hottest associate, bonus drama or cold weather news. I admit that it’s amusing. A vote underway at SkaddenInsider deals with the hottest female associate. As of January 31st, there have been nearly 1000 votes. Inappropriate? Perhaps. If I engage a top Firm, I don’t care if the attorney working on my case is Cyrano — I want someone who can melt the flesh of my competitor. But given the high-pressure environment that is biglaw, it does lighten things up. Plus with votes for male associates, it’s equally as offensive to men.

With 1000 people interested in the relatively innocuous happenings at a biglaw firm, how many would be interested in practice areas, new cases or even recruiting? It might be 1%, but if you reach out to one decision-maker, the effort is worth it. What’s the opportunity cost of avoiding blogs?

Closing is easy…

Published January 28, 2008 Marketing , Operations 0 Comments

Seth Godin has a great post on the importance of follow-through.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/the-last-intera.html

While this post may apply more towards agencies, I believe everyone ultimately answers to a “customer.” This spans an entire organization, from a CEO (shareholders & board) to a sales assistant (immediate supervisor and customers). Hence, we all should think about relationship building.

The intent, rather than something physical (like free candy), is critical. It may be a phone call or a handwritten note. Yes, it will take a minute, and perhaps there is an existing structure in place to support this activity. Don’t have the time? Realize that closing is easy in comparison with developing a long term relationship.

My own list of shame is populated by realtors and moving companies. Ugh. The best: a plumbing/home reno company in Rochester, NY. Every customer receives a loaf of home-baked bread around the holidays. Now that’s a competitive advantage.

CMS Redefined

Published January 28, 2008 Strategy , Technology 0 Comments
Tags: blogging, CMS, conversation., evolution

I’ve been working on a hybrid concept at work — one that takes the next evolutionary step (or jump) from current accepted content management approaches. If you ask someone about a CMS, you’ll get a variety of responses:

“CMS? What’s that?” — Those users outside of normal management approach labels. The “beginner mind,” if you will. While it’s easy for experts to ridicule this group, I find the process of teaching to be beneficial to my own understanding of issues.
“Site Pages” — Typical of prepackaged CMS tools, this response looks at pages as a wide array of content with no commonality. Database experts cringe at the notion of “denormalized” information.
“Tools” or “Fixed Field Admins” — This is the model that governed most of my work. Each contnet area, including pages, are controlled by tools. My dynamic CMS is the highest expression of the fixed field approach as it allow for dynamic expansion on the fly. In other words, you can add a field in a tool, say “RSVP Date” without calling your Web vendor.

All of these approaches have merit under certain circumstances, but like the blinking HTML tag, may not be solid investments for the future. Many strategists (and vendors) view blogging as the next leading app, which may be true under certain situations. However, older CMS tools have a place in this model. Here’s why: we all have different ways of looking for information. The blogging approach is a great way to engage a community, but lists of deals, clients and publications work as well.

I view the next CMS as a conversation management system. No longer limited to fixed fields or site pages, the next gen CMS looks to incorporate social media in a Web property while offering other resources to users. Social media sites are hot because of the ease of use. Applying the these measures to older CMS approaches helps build value and a competitive advantage at the same time. Instead of proclamations of the future, the Web community would be better served at generating best practices for maximizing use across platforms and developing value from existing content.

Now that I’m LinkedIn, what’s next?

Published January 22, 2008 Strategy , Technology 0 Comments
Tags: linkedIn

A few weeks my family and I were out on a walk when we ran into some friends. We were all heading in the same direction, so the husbands talked shop. It started off “I read your blog the other day.” I was happy and excited to say the least.

The topic of the conversation was linkedIn and how to get information from a network to answer questions or problems. In the early days of the web, 10 or so years ago, it was pretty easy. Experts in various technical disciplines were eager to volunteer their time to help someone figure things out. Over the course of a few short years, I was able to write effective SQL and know the benefits of the 3S-GTE engine (one of my car enthusiast periods, lol). As someone with a mixed educational background, this was great.

As the Web has matured, it’s become more difficult to find information effectively. With resources available via email, forums, blogs, social networks and Google, it sometimes is just plain luck.

Social networks offer a new resource for questions and problems. Instead of emailing or calling individual contacts, you can broadcast your question to an entire group. This is where the quality of your network is important. Build your network over the next twelve months, seeking out individuals that represent common interests or strategic value. I have contacts that range from Web developers to top executives.

As you build this resource, if the opportunity presents itself, start a conversation. Long-term: expect this information to extend beyond a single domain.

Jurisdictional Impact of Web Operations

Published January 17, 2008 Operations , Strategy 0 Comments

Law.com has an excellent article on the issues surround a Web presence and the impact on potential jurisdiction issues.

http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1200477938671&rss=ltn

Review: The Myths of Innovation

Published January 16, 2008 Operations , Strategy , Technology 0 Comments

When I was in an agency role, I took a keen interest in reading up on the latest trends, approaches and best practices. Project management was one such field; I’ve held PM roles at various points of my career and enjoy the interaction with clients. One of my favorite reads, as mentioned before, is The Art of Project Management by Scott Berkun.

Scott has a new book out, The Myths of Innovation. Even with my MBA program taking many hours of my week, this book was on my short list. It was a surprise when I had won a signed copy of the book in a comment raffle on http://scottberkun.com/blog/. Note to self: nothing like a comment raffle to strike up a conversation.

I tore through the book in a few days. At ~150 pages, it was a nice read and touched on something I mentioned to developers at job(-1): We’re really building the Erie Canal. This usually gets funny looks. What? A canal? Are we going for a boat ride or something? No. Take a look at the early nineteenth century. Commerce was dominated by wind-driven ships and slow moving wagons. The Erie canal utilized a series of engineering wonders to accelerate the speed of commerce, linking New York with the Great Lakes. Sure enough, the rise of railroad outshined this accomplishment in due time.

Work that is being executed now by some of the most brilliant minds is the same. In 20 years, we’ll look back and think “how quaint.” So if we’re building something that will be a joke to our children, why bother? Because innovation is cumulative. A CMS or social network could spur the development of the next great platform. How we do our work is of utmost importance. As managers, are we instilling innovation and excellence?

As for the book, I would recommend it without reservation to anyone with an interest in business strategy or technology.

Kicking it out the Door

Published January 14, 2008 Operations , Technology 0 Comments

There’s nothing more exciting than a site launch. It’s a mix of elation and anxiety, amplified if you’re working on a highly visited site or application. Years of agency experience (starting in 1995, to be exact) has yielded one powerful tool when planning a site launch.

The tool: Plan carefully.

Planning has everything to do with a good (and flawless) site launch. I’m ask that you look beyond the obvious, the project documentation itself. Most pm’s worth their salt have extensive documentation (wireframes, functional briefs, project plans and diagrams from the usual suite of tools from Microsoft). If you need to buffer your skills in that arena, like most of the pm’s I’ve seen in recent years, read Scott Berkun’s book: The Art of Project Management. It’s actually one of the few books on my desk.

I’m referring to the technical architecture of a site or project. Most web operations, who make up a majority of the market, take this for granted. Maybe they even give it a cute name. Most of the time this offering is pasted together and offers no documentation or logic. If you really want a site to launch successfully, make sure the architecture is solid.

Some developers love to use the word “recursive,” as if it will help point out the flaws in recent work. Many times this testing is needed as the application itself is unstable or poorly coded. At least two vendors I’ve seen in the past 6 months write code or SQL so poorly that a site experienced visible response issues. Search executions that lasted seconds (rather then milliseconds).

Good development practices involve testing, but do it intelligently. Many a pm or developer fails to realize the inherent power in documenting their testing. Not only does this establish a rich source of data for pattern discovery, but it provides useful information to discover the problem.

As for the launch:

Give yourself a few weeks to kick the tires and deal with any issues. Do not make major changes in this time period.
If you are an agency, manage client expectations, particularly with timing. If necessary, tell them no.
Have DNS and any other issues resolved ahead of time. If possible, preposition your s and other assets.
Plan on a formal debrief with business and technical stakeholders.

The Power of Flanking

Published January 11, 2008 Law , Strategy 0 Comments

AdAge has a great article on use of flanking in business strategy. Using an example from the automotive world, it describes how a business may out maneuver its competition in order to gain a greater share of the market. It’s a good read for anyone in branding.

In the relatively homogeneous market of law firms, it’s hard to find an ability to outflank your competitors. The primary reason: law firms are not agile. Technology, particularly the Web, offers any number of tools to turn on a dime and create value. Market pressures will force firms into action in the near future.

Marketing and technology managers, take note. Will you lead your firm and outflank the competition? Is blogging the answer?

Relationship Building Starts Offline

Published January 9, 2008 Law , Marketing , Operations 0 Comments

For those people tapped into the pulse of social media, every action online seems to be a relationship. Blogging? Reach out to new customers and people. On LinkedIn? Find more people for your network. Twittering? Get more followers… and find others to follow. It can be exhausting.

Taking a step back from this digital frontier, it’s important to realize that relationship building starts offline. For those in a client service role, this is critical to the success of your group or businesss. Attorneys practicing at any size law firm, from solo to the AmLaw #1, take this to heart. First and foremost is clear, consistent communication to a client. Delays or other problems should be conveyed through a phone call. Honesty comes next: hold yourself accountable for mistakes. While the client may be pissed off, it will be appreciated. As someone on the other side of the fence, you know when someone is full of BS. Lastly, be human. I have one vendor right now who always sounds like a robot (in person and over email). I feel at times if I’m dealing with someone at an oversea’s call center. Make a personal connection, it’s not that difficult.

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