It’s that time of year.

The invoices and renewals are making their way to my inbox.

I’m going over the 2014 budget and looking to see who’s been naughty or nice.

I have to decide who stays and who goes. Who gets voted off my legal marketing island.

My number one request?

Show me the value!

Why should I renew my subscription, whether for a directory listing, or conference sponsorship? Did I get my $2400, $5000, or $10,000 in value?

Three recent and very real scenarios paint the picture for me.

Scenario 1: Annual association membership, including conference sponsorships at additional financial investment. Annual cost: Big Bucks. ROI: Great potential for new relationship building. Speaking opportunities. This group has the right people, but are we meeting them?? It’s definitely valuable, but expensive. Not too sure, but I need answers.Continue Reading Breaking up is hard to do – Vendor Style

Monday morning and I have 30 emails (after deleting all the spam). Pretty standard.

Interestingly, there are some great legal business conferences and seminars being advertised by ARK, ACI, etc. that I would love to attend, or send some of my partners. Unfortunately, they are ALL in New York or Chicago.

What is it about

Oh, you know how I feel about unsolicited and pitches from vendors I’ve never heard of before getting their call/email.

I just have to say, Philip Lew, whoever the hell you are, you got me with your prose.

I want you to personally know that I couldn’t delete or mark-as-spam your e-mail, as it moved

My daughter is in middle school. The breeding ground for haters and bullies, so it is a conversation we are constantly having in our home.

Thinking back on my middle (then junior) high school days, at the same school, and my experience as an adult, I just told her:

You’re nobody without haters.

Haters are gonna hate. Bullies are going to bully. But really, I think they are just fans and secret admirers, but their egos won’t let them say so.

Think of it this way: You must be doing something right if you are ruffling feathers.

So embrace your bullies and haters.

Over the few weeks there are several Legal Marketing Association-related conferences, in addition to the local chapter and City Group events:

Ready. Set. Let the #LMAMKT AND #LMACME trolls go!!

Oh, the attacks on the speakers. What we do. What we say.

The attacks on the content. The profession.

It won’t stop all day. And then they’ll get mad when no one engages with them.

I don’t know about you, but when I really don’t like someone or something, I just ignore it. It’s called apathy. I just don’t care.

So, just for today and tomorrow, I will remind all of you to ignore the haters and bullies. As a story teller, I have my own reasoning (ask me about it tomorrow) as to why our haters HATE legal marketers so much.
Continue Reading Haters, bullies, fans and secret admirers – LMA style

pointing-finger-vector1I was at a conference earlier this week, hanging out with the other exhibitors. Speaking with different marketing, business development folks from different industries. There were seasoned professionals. Entry level sales people learning the ropes. A mixed and diverse crowd from product to service providers. Inevitably the conversation would turn to the state of business