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Tell That Lazy Reporter To Do His Own Work!
Or Why Publicity Is Not For Every Firm
By David M. Grant
President, LVM Group Inc.
Pressured by intense competition, more and more law firms are incorporating publicity into their practice-development programs. The reason is simple: a firm gains a competitive edge when its partners are quoted in important business publications, and their bylines appear over timely articles in professional and trade journals.
As a public relations executive with marketing objectives of my own, I should bestow the most robust approval upon this worthy trend. But under the influence of a shot of sodium pentathol, I'd have to observe that much of the money some law firms commit to publicity is misspent. (For the purposes of this article, I'm not touching on such other powerful tools of public relations as newsletters, brochures and seminars.)
The truth is that while publicity can be an extremely effective marketing tool for many firms, it is a waste of time and resources for others. Having worked with professional-service firms for nearly 20 years, I've learned to recognize the specific characteristics that make some law practices very poor candidates for successful publicity campaigns.
Is your firm in that category? To help you decide, I offer the following reasons not to implement a publicity program.
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You cannot, or will not, devote time to the program.
Some firms believe that a public relations firm will deliver favorable publicity in much the same way a soda vendor keeps the Coke machine filled. This belief is guaranteed to produce unsatisfactory results.
A competent public relations firm brings into play many aptitudes, including a strong working knowledge of the press, good writing skills, and a judiciously aggressive talent for placing clients into the right story opportunities. But the legal expertise and useful information must come from the law partners themselves. Journalists want the experts as news sources, not the experts' public relations people.
If you're not prepared to make yourself available -- and respect publication deadlines while doing so -- don't waste money on publicity.
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You are afraid of the press.
Through the years, I've had more than one client whose philosophy toward publicity is essentially: "just spell the name right." They believe the exposure is all that counts, because tomorrow no one will remember what they said anyway.
This may or may not be totally wise, but it tends to work better than the opposite extreme: the fearful client who assesses and re-assesses every word to be uttered to the media and, in some cases, thinks the press is out to get him or her.
Face it: involvement with the press means surrendering some measure of control. Yes, you might be quoted somewhat out of context. No, Business Week or The New York Times will not let you read the article before it's published. If these factors are essential to you, chances are you should not take part in publicity.
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Exposure will agitate your clientele.
I once represented a firm whose clients included a goodly sprinkling of America's wealthiest and most private families. We arranged what I considered to be, for him, the pinnacle of all plausible media placements -- a very positive profile and photo in the annual Forbes "400" edition. So favorable was the article that I actually might have written it myself.
The result? No sooner did the article appear than my client called and, with regrets, terminated our relationship. His clients had become uneasy; they feared that his going public would jeopardize their own privacy -- even though none of them was mentioned in the Forbes article.
Although such circumstances are rare, sometimes any publicity is self-defeating. This is something you must consider in the light of your own particular practice.
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You don't want to share your ideas.
A good public relations professional spends a great deal of time contacting journalists on behalf of clients, so it's a measure of having "made it" when a key journalist calls one of us in search of a good source. Accordingly, I was delighted when a New York Times reporter called to ask whether a certain client would render an opinion about a very newsworthy transaction. But imagine my stupefaction when the client in question angrily asked me: "Why should I do his homework for him? Let him pay for our services!"
If you harbor such a proprietary sense of your own abilities -- or, as is the case with some experts, you simply don't like to alert the competition to what you are thinking -- then it's generally pointless to reach out for press exposure.
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You fear a kidnapping.
This is not a joke. Some business people are especially anxious about vulnerability to crime, both for themselves and their families. Although certain types of publicity are far less likely than others to increase such danger, nervous individuals may want to avoid all exposure. It's a sad sign of the times that my firm now discourages executive clients from including family and place-of-residence information in news releases about new positions.
Other reasons for not undertaking a publicity program include: a belief that money or a meal can buy the press; concern that publicity may weaken or smash a mystique; disinclination -- still prevalent among many law firms -- to let people know that someone is actively working to get the firm in the media; and fears that the organization can't handle the increased business.
These, then, are some of the reasons why publicity might be the wrong marketing tool for your practice. If they don't apply to you, however, publicity can indeed help your firm to grow and prosper.
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