2008 March « Fluent Simplicity

Archive for March, 2008

HB Tip of the Day: Combat Boredom

Published March 31, 2008 Operations 0 Comments
Tags: Employee Retention, HB Updates, SIP Model

I receive email updates from Harvard Business through the following subscription service. Not only is the content compelling and relevant, but the format is right on target. The updates themselves link to free abstracts and pages to purchase articles or books. There is also a link for a mobile version for the handset crowd. Check it out.

Today’s tip is something I’ve blogged about before: fighting boredom. In the Web agency world, the smartest people will often burn out through endless repetitive projects. “Yea, another CMS” is something I’ve heard quite often. With few exceptions, those leading a group have no idea the damage they are doing to moral and productivity by ignoring their best employees.

From HB:

To combat summit syndrome (boredom), watch for its telltale signs in your best employees (including waning enthusiasm for the job and stress-related health problems). Then take preemptive action.

My SIP model was a structure designed to counter burnout and boredom. Anyone in a leadership role should listen to their employees and setup meaningful programs to engage and challenge people.

LA25: Spring 2008!

Published March 28, 2008 Shameless Plug 0 Comments
Tags: Art, LA25

LA25 It’s been a while since I’ve dropped a shameless plug. What better to do on a Friday night, right? Skadden’s LA office just posted its final set of up and coming artists. The collection has a number of striking pieces — go check ‘em out.

The marketing team in LA is great to work with and has some pretty cool “conversation” pieces coming later this year.

WMA: Law Firm Web Sites Suck

Published March 28, 2008 Law , Marketing , Technology 0 Comments
Tags: Innovation, Law, Marketing

I spent some time this afternoon reviewing the WebAward Internet Standards Assessment Report from the Web Marketing Association (WMA). Notably absent from this report is the usual vendor-sponsored “look at us” content found elsewhere. Sites — and industries — are graded on a number of criteria: design, innovation, content, technology, copywriting, interactivity and ease of use. The legal industry fell short in all categories except for copywriting and ease of use.

This really doesn’t surprise me: lawyers are not exactly known for innovation, technology or design. Accurate writing and ease of use (logic) fall right in their wheelhouse.

So does that mean we, as legal marketers, should ignore those elements? No! As the new, tech-savvy generation comes into power, those other elements will become more important. Plus there is the client-side to consider. While there is a large amount engagement by in-house counsel, there are other professionals looking for representation. Sub-par scores in tech & innovation represents a massive opportunity for any firm with a presence on the Web.

Up next: How to Innovate.

Great Execution: Law Firm Web site

Published March 28, 2008 Law , Marketing , Technology 0 Comments
Tags: Web awards

Lexblog is constantly talking up the BS factor in “Best Blog” or “Top 100″ competitions. Do we really need Web awards? For blogs: no way, however, “corporate” sites are an entirely different matter, especially when it comes to law firms.

Robert Ambrogi posted about the 2007 Best Legal Site Winner, Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice. First off, I like bulldogs, so when the flash-based dog walked out, I thought: Yes!” The presence of flash for main navigation was in my mind a serious concern. I ran two tests: viewing the site from my blackberry and turning off scripting in my browser. I was surprised: the site offers a mobile version and there was a relatively clean execution of a non-flash nav. Whomever executed this site knew what they were doing! Add in substantive content, namely blogs and podcasts, and you have a best in class site that offers a tremendous amount of value.

Back to the issue of awards: this is one case of a site that deserved recognition in the marketing community. Thanks to Robert for blogging about it!

My Take on the Web

Published March 25, 2008 Marketing , Operations , Strategy , Technology 0 Comments

As I write this, I think of the Conan O’brien skit where he and a guest look into the future.. “all the way to the year 2000.” Conan -- The Year 2000

Everyone involved in the Web — and I mean really involved — has a take on where things are heading. The brilliant minds at Forrester, including Charlene Li and Jeremiah Owyang cover off on social computing. Legal marketing has a number of reputable experts, including Kevin O’Keefe, Ron Friedmann and Steve Matthews. Plus my all-time favs: MIT TR, HBR and Wharton.

Here’s my take… Continue reading ‘My Take on the Web’

TechBrief: Online Games for Business?

Published March 25, 2008 Law , Marketing , TechBrief 0 Comments
Tags: gaming, law firm, Marketing, widgets

SteveRubel mentioned a new offering via Twitter: The Businessweek Arcade.

You might say “What? Games?” Don’t be surprised. There are significant social elements within gaming, both in-game (ads, product placement) and within ad-hoc communities. I understand South Korea has an intense gaming scene complete with hierarchical chain of command.

Lessons here for law firms? Stroock had a great penguin game out a few years ago. I would suggest using games in context of other social elements, much like Businessweek. Perhaps, make it a widget and get additional coverage.

PS If there’s anyone interesting in hacking out a widget-based game for the legal space, drop me a note.

AT&T Broadband Users: Read Up

Published March 22, 2008 TechBrief , Technology 0 Comments

I just ran across this tidbit: AT&T: More Than 5GB of Data Costs $350/Month + $500/GB

As a WWAN customer, this sucks. I would look at an alternative, but my x61t has a sweet integrated modem.

Blogging as a means of tangible differentiation

Published March 22, 2008 Marketing , Operations 0 Comments

Blogs are a great vehicle for expressing opinions, sharing knowledge and connecting with other people. I love having discussions with people who have seen my humble blog.

Blogs and other social applications enable organizations to connect in meaningful ways with customers, employees and the public. Some of these are in a closed community, something I hope to address in a future blog. While the relationships represent intangible value to an organization, the presence of social applications provides a tangible benefit. Organizations should examine operations and their market for opportunities to implement solutions.

By putting a name behind the work of an individual blogger, you establish confidence in the communication by value of your reputation. Is this important? This element of authority is key, especially as larger, more prominent organizations take up the approach.

Does this hold any water? Lets say I blog about architecture. Sure, I can comment on a building, it’s elements and perhaps a bit about the architect. Maybe the blog resonantes with a few people. What type of response would Cesar Pelli or Frank Gehry get from the public? This applies to all industries, including law and retailers.

Open Source Standards

Published March 22, 2008 Law , Marketing , Operations , Strategy , Technology 0 Comments

This past week I received an email from the ILTA listserv where someone was asking about SEO-vendors. In a way this is a shock: SEO doesn’t require any great degree of understanding or inside knowledge. A careful analysis of the market, an understanding of HTML and the ability to find search-optimizations on the marjor engines delivered a sustained 20% jump for skadden.com. This excludes a lot of the buzz about blogging and SEO (there are benefits, but don’t throw away your Web site for a blog).

I believe this information should be in an open source format. Why should we pay vendors, which may or may not have a complete or legit understanding of technology, to maintain ownership. Whereas user-generated content is becoming more important in communications, user-generated standards must be developed. Open-source standards enable us to become better marketers of our organizations and reach out to clients & customers. SEO and SEM are a critical part of business. Let’s take it back from vendors in a space that is free of vendor influence.

Who’s up for the challenge?

Fluent Simplicity