How to Produce & Post Great Content

How to Produce & Post Great Content 

For several reasons, most lawyers, other professionals and their firms find it challenging to consistently identify, write, produce and post excellent content on social media, blogs and other avenues.

With billable-hour demands, limited available non-billable time and staff members’ bandwidth limitations, it is very hard to consistently think of, dedicate time to write and edit, create or find relevant images for and then post useful, compelling and great content.

Most posts are simply about an upcoming event or an event attended, without any takeaways, insights or useful information beyond the event occurring. As a result, most lawyers’ and firms’ online presence, positioning, thought leadership and SEO suffer.

Below are four possible solutions to use to consistently create and post great content:

1.      Hire a great in-house content producer/writer. Many firms have hired social media specialists to work in-house, often in the firms’ marketing or communications department. However, one issue many firms experience is that most social media specialists are not lawyers or CPAs themselves, and as such, they remain mainly in a reactive position, waiting for the firms’ lawyers/fee earners to initiate, write and produce the content for them to post.

a.      One option is for firm leaders to identify the few, primary strategic markets it wants to be positioned in. For example, one leading firm has identified financial services/banking, regulatory, private equity/venture capital and cannabis as its four most strategic markets. The firm’s social media specialists then proactively and regularly communicate and follow up with relevant practice leaders to identify who will write what content and when.

b.      A broader-based fix is to include a specific, content-related question in the firm’s required annual business or business development plan template and ask all lawyers/FTEs to answer it, listing key topics or subjects they would like to communicate to clients and markets via social media posts, blogs and/or other communication methods over the course of the year. Then the social media professionals can follow up as appropriate to ensure the content gets produced and posted.

2.      Retain a great, external content producer/writer. To supplement the in-house efforts described above or for firms that do not want to hire a full-time content producer/writer in-house, the option to retain experienced, qualified outside talent is available.

a.      One example is Good2BSocial, a company used by several AmLaw 50 firms. The company was named the “Go-To Thought Leader” by the National Law Review in 2018. The company consistently produces excellent content for their clients.

b.      As another example, I have been retained recently to initiate, produce and post strategic content for several firms, likely because I am a lawyer and a known thought leader. With hundreds of relationships worldwide, including many general/in-house counsel and C-suite executives, I know how clients think, what they will find of interest/compelling and what they want to read. So lately, I have been serving as an external content producer and writer for firms. In this role, I have attended select firm events to create thought-provoking content before during and after the event for the firms to post on social media and blogs. I am also working with lawyers and firms to leverage existing content and create Amazon eBooks from it.

c.      Another method is to use one of the many freelance platforms, like Upwork to identify and carefully vet a virtual assistant, someone who is a skilled and experienced writer who knows and understands your clients and markets. Some lawyers and other professional who are short on time have hired virtual assistants to produce content and also to post for them.

3.      Use an online social media platform. Use an online social media platform. There is a relatively new online service, Passle, that is designed to make it as easy as possible for time-strapped experts like lawyers, accountants and other professionals to generate and post content of interest and use to their clients and markets. However, as is true for producing any piece of great content, using Passle also requires a commitment of non-billable time and effort by the expert. Yet since these types of online platforms can help streamline the process of creating and posting great content, they are worth considering as an option.

4.      Discipline yourself. If it is not possible to delegate drafting and/or posting, consider creating a new habit for yourself to generate new content. On a day and time that works for you, or on a Sunday as you are preparing for the week ahead, take ten minutes and block off 15 minutes on your calendar. As part of your calendar entry, include a headline for a post or article and three quick bullet points about the substance. When your time block arrives, just start writing—even if it's bad, nonsensical writing. Your goal is to start. To create momentum. Odds are, when 15 minutes are up, you'll keep writing. Committing to just 15 minutes will trick your brain not to focus on what feels like a big, time-consuming task. When it comes to content marketing, don't focus on the end result. Focus on your habits and the process and work towards being consistent. @JayHarrington

#contentmarketing #thoughtleadership #lawfirmmarketing #legalmarketing, #legalbd, #professionalservices

 About the Author: Julie Savarino holds an MBA, a JD, and is a licensed attorney. Over her 30+ year career, she has built a reputation as an award-winning business and client development and service strategist, coach and content producer for lawyers, law firms, and other professional services providers and firms. She has successfully served in-house in client and business development positions for the law firms of Dickinson Wright and Butzel Long and for the accounting firm Grant Thornton. Connect with Julie on LinkedIn or contact her at +1 (734) 668-7008, [email protected], @JulieSavarino.