In General…

We usually tell clients it will take 5-10 business days to see things like logo, ad or web design concepts once the creative brief is decided upon. We say 10–15 days for bigger projects (like large brochures that also require a lot of copywriting. Then, depending again on the size of the project and nature of revisions (we generally include three rounds) we say 2–5 business days.

Identify Major Deadlines

Some of the projects we take on have hard deadlines like a commitment, an upcoming event, or a due date at a publication. If this is true for you, the first question should be ‘can the firm meet it at all?’ If they can’t you should discuss why with them. There’s a difference between they can’t because of other work and commitments (in which case you could go elsewhere) and it’s just not feasible due to the laws of science (plan b?).

If you have no hard deadline to meet, I strongly recommend creating one. If you keep telling your firm ‘no rush’, they will naturally back-burner it for the hard deadlines that come through and so will you. Meanwhile, the project loses momentum, everyone forgets the creative brief and neither side gets what they need (for you the tools to market and build your business, for us a sense of accomplishment and something we can bill).

Creating a Critical Path

Once you determine the hard or soft due date for the project, it’s really helpful to work backwards and set all main milestones. How long does the printer need to work comfortably? How many people need to test the website client-side and what’s a reasonable amount of time to give them to do that, provide feedback and have it implemented? I always try to give a little buffer. From there you can work backwards in terms of rounds of revisions and feedback, meeting on the other end how long the firm needs to generate creative concepts.

You Will Have Deadlines Too

Then there’s your side. The timeline also needs to include when the firm needs to hear back from you or receive needed materials in order to meet their deadlines. If you know when your attention will be needed, and how much of it, you can schedule it in.  If you’ve never been through a website project for example, you may not realize how much time it takes to get information together early on, or test it thoroughly just before launch. Where picking an ad layout may seem simpler, if you need to get the input from hard-to-pin-down higher-ups or a committee, that needs to be worked in.

Ideally, the firm you work with has a process for keeping track of your timelines and holding you accountable, as opposed to just lobbing it into your court and forgetting about it. If not, things can fall through the cracks.

There’s Always a Workaround

Going back to the laws of time and space; occasionally timing just won’t allow for the ideal, but there’s always something that can be done. For example, instead of rushing through a branding process, we may print a very small run of temporary business cards for clients to take to an event. Can the website be up in a reduced form and called a ‘soft-launch’?

We work really hard to meet clients’ tighter deadlines and will not let them down by telling them we can do something we can’t and have pulled off some great creative under pressure. However, we do a much better job when not rushed, and build much better Rapport for them and for us.

Best Planning Practices

Sometimes unexpected opportunities pop up and your firm should do their best to help clients take advantage of them. But, if you involve your firm in everything related to your marketing efforts and discuss upcoming commitments, events, etc. in advance, they can help you not only plan better, but maybe recognize additional opportunities too. A one-year action plan can be a great tool for both sides.

Fast forward to summer, 2007 – she has a good reputation, four employees, many clients and a lot of experience under her belt. But, prospects and new colleagues still get the impression she’s a freelancer renting a desk. Her salesperson has trouble explaining that Faith Seekings is someone’s name and the firm is not a religious cult. She’s embarrassed by her brand and it’s time to change – new name and all.

Skip ahead again to December 2008 when the business has doubled, due partly to buying another, and the brand needed to mature again in look and messaging, to reflect the growth. No new name this time, but there’s an entirely different dog on the website.

I tell you this story because I not only re-brand clients regularly, but I’ve done it myself. Once you’ve decided to rebrand (see past post The Right Time to Re-brand), what would the steps involved be?

First, choose the right firm to do it.

If you are rebranding, at this stage you need more than a designer, you need a brand strategist and copywriter as well. A brand is more than a pretty logo, it’s how you tell your ideal clients who you are and why you’re different. That takes strategy and words, especially if there’s a renaming involved as well.

This doesn’t mean you have to go to a large firm, just one that offers this depth of service and experience. Ask for recommendations from colleagues, meet with at least three, make sure you look at their work and see diversity, yet evidence they can work with your kind of company (size, industry, etc). Don’t discount the importance of liking them and feeling good about communication style.

Our re-brand project plan

All design firms will have their own processes and approach, but would likely include the same basic principles as ours.

Step One: Look backward, look forward.

This would likely be covered initially in the discovery meeting, then in more detail – after we decide to work together. Look back at where you started and why you made the brand/design decisions you did. Review where you are now and what has changed in the interim – with your company, the competition, the marketplace, technology, etc. Then, look at where you want to be in three to five years. I give that time-frame because it’s not unusual to do at least a brand tweak every few years as things continually change. It also reduces the pressure of thinking you’re making decisions that have to work forever.

Step Two: Research, research, research.

Depending what you sign up for with us we may do a complete competitive analysis of your industry. At the least we use one of the best ways to gage how your company is seen: by asking existing ideal clients what they think about your firm, why they keep coming back and refer you. So they’re encouraged to be candid, I recommend having an outside (branding) team do it and explain that all results will be reported back anonymously. Once you’ve got your client’s permission, they set up calls and go. This may show things you need to change, but most often reveals strengths that the company didn’t realize they had, and what competitive advantage is most meaningful to your ideal client. See our May newsletter for more on this.

Step Three: Essential Message Session

This half day session uses the essential message, a method for uncovering your best competitive advantage, articulating it and generating a brand brief. It includes the closer look at your past and future goals from step one. There are interactive exercises to dig deeper into what core challenge your company really solves for your clients and all the ways you do it better than the competition. The research previously done plays a role by throwing new ideas into the discussion. It’s ideal for us not to have preconceived notions, so sometimes we swap step two and three.

From this session, both sides should have a rough positioning statement and a really good idea how the brand character is shaping up, with consensus. If a second session is needed, we book it. We should have enough of a creative brief to begin work on the tagline and brief for the logo.

Step Four: You won’t hear from us for a while

We then take everything we learned and results of the session away to work on. We may do further research or call with further questions. What we’ll come back with is a refined positioning statement and tag line options. The positioning statement is an internal statement meant to guide us in the rest of the branding, but can also turn into content for the website, your LinkedIn profile, or even your verbal introduction.

We also send a long list of tagline options with instructions like eliminating the ones that are definitely a no, highlighting the ones you like best and how to ask for feedback.

We consider both documents iterative. However, clear guidelines on rounds of revisions should be outlined at the outset. We gladly discuss and incorporate your feedback on what works, what doesn’t, and why for the next round.

I believe the positioning statement should never be ‘written in stone’ as the world changes and companies grow, it should do so with you. Ideally after a couple rounds we have a tagline direction nailed down if not the exact words, because then we can start the fun part.

Step Five: The fun part – my favourite book is the Pantone colour book.

I’m a designer at heart, this is the best part for me. With the brand character defined and a tagline selected, the design studio begins generating logo ideas. We present the first round in black and white because personal colour preferences and dislikes are strong, and can adversely effect the impression of a great design. We hate to see a good concept rejected because someone hates orange. We present two to three concepts (or more) including the tagline, with our recommendation and rationale. The same suggestions for getting feedback apply.

The client provides feedback with change requests, mix n’ matches, but definitely narrows down options. Next round or so we show colour options for the favourite logo (or two if it helps with decisions). Again, there may be alteration requests. Seeing it in context also helps finalize the wording of the tagline, if not yet final.

Step Six: A brand is born.

With a strong brand base of positioning statement, tagline and logo finalized, we deliver a package of logos in all formats, colours and file types you’d need. Perhaps a brand guidelines document, and anything you may need to trademark it. We can also then begin design and writing all the support elements the brand needs to be taken public, i.e. stationery, business card, website, brochures, marketing materials, etc. There’s more that needs updating with the new brand than you think (what about company cheques?), so it can be an ongoing process.

Please remember that a brand is much more than a logo. It’s every way your company interacts with the outside world – your website and marketing tools, how your team talks about the company, to how your receptionist answers the phone. This is where your strong, well-defined positioning and tagline really come in to play.

This is one of the top things other entrepreneurs ask me for advice on. My top tips are:

• Try prospects out on a project or two before committing.
• Define the need/position first, then find the right person.
• Personality and ‘fit’ into culture is as important as skill.
• Be open to them doing things differently then you and let them shine.

Try People as Freelancers Before Hiring

My very first hire was Art Director Lisa, who is still with me today. I absolutely could not have built the company without her. I was fortunate to work on a project with her old boss and friend of mine Mondo Lulu, and got to know her through him. Then, as he started scaling back she began freelancing for me. I knew her design style, her work ethic, that her strengths complemented mine, and that we got along like old friends. My only hesitation hiring her full-time was sustaining her pay. When I had the need with a large project and knew I could keep her busy for three months I asked her to come full time – that was six years ago.

Since then I’ve been fortunate enough to try most people out on a contract basis before making a commitment. Not just to see the quality of their work, but to get a taste of their working style and personality. If it doesn’t work out, it’s tough on both sides, so this is a really great way to try each other on for size.

What Kind of Help Do You Really Need?

My second hire was a newborn designer, and a big mistake. I was still doing all the admin work myself and felt I didn’t have enough time to do all that and my design work. I thought I needed another designer and the recent grad was cheap. I found I still didn’t have time to get anything done and was also now babysitting this kid. So, I let him go and hired an administrative person. Pamela was a God-send. This was my first pure overhead employee – unlike Lisa who generated revenue. But, Pamela took the work I liked least off my shoulders, did it better than me and freed me up to do what I was really good at and made good money for.

Besides hiring for the wrong role, it’s also a mistake to hammer a job around someone you ‘like’. I now determine what roles we really need to fill against goals for the company, then create detailed job descriptions around them to use in my search.

Don’t Underestimate the Power of the Culture You’ve Built

Our team recently did a colours test with our business consultants, Your Planning Partners. Seven out of 10 came in as blue or the ‘Relationship Way’ first. We varied on what came second (Action, Organized, Logical), and that was reflected in skills and roles. What it told me was the team strongly embodied the Rapport values of being laid-back, friendly, relationship-oriented, client-focussed and a close family that got us our name. This culture started with me, gained momentum with early people like Lisa, and continues today in the people we attract. Skills in relation to the role you’re filling are incredibly important, but if a really talented person doesn’t fit our friendly, collaborative culture they don’t belong at Rapport.

It’s important to have more than one of you meet with prospects. From a practical standpoint, I had Senior Web Developer Noel, do initial interviews with junior web developer prospects to make sure he had the skills needed. Then I met the recommended finalists to make sure they fit in and talk money. We added the ‘social interview’ with new guy Nick, where he joined the crew for drinks to get everyone’s feel for him. We are a very social bunch, and it’s a very big deal day after day if someone just doesn’t fit in socially. I think I’ll continue that tradition.

Define Your Values, Be Open to New Things

There is always more than one way to skin a cat. I find this most evident with web developers as their logical nature means they always question the way the other guy did it. But, it’s the same with design, processes and which way the toilet paper goes on. It’s important to define the standards expected for the end result as well as the practical processes that run the business, than make these consistent across the board. However, you’ve hired people to complement what you do, let them. This may mean everything from different journeys to great design, to suggestions that improve workflow.

We’ve defined our vision, mission and values, which I share with the company repeatedly. Resulting details include things like design and web standards, or the project management process we’ve developed. The key is sharing it with the whole team, getting their input, then giving them flexibility within to do their thing.

This makes for a much stronger and more dedicated team than if I insisted everything was done my way.

Not big budgets, budgets set for impact

Some may argue that B2B companies often have a limited number of organizations that they can sell (or market) to, so they don’t require big budgets. Versus companies that are selling to the masses, it is true B2B marketers don’t require big budgets. However, the argument here is not for creating big budgets, but for allocating budgets that are big enough to allow your organization to “out shout” the competition. To stay in the prospects mind so that, when the time comes to purchase, your firm is high on the list of potential vendors. Ideally, to be looked at as being different and better than the competition, so in any pitch or bid situation, you come from a position of strength.

In categories that have only a handful of customers that may buy from them, the marketing plan and recommended spend is going to look a lot different than for companies that have hundreds or even thousands of prospects.

What is the right amount for a marketing budget?

So how does one decide what the appropriate spending levels are? A common approach is to look at the competition and figure out what they do and how much they spend, and to make sure you invest similar amounts and do more impactful things.Another approach is to put together a detailed marketing plan. If you do not have the right resources internally, outsourcing a plan can be a great way to bring rigor to the process, and to look at the possibilities from a fresh perspective. A good marketing consultant should be able to take your experience and industry knowledge, combine that with information about your market, your prospects and techniques that have worked in similar industries, and provide you with a disciplined plan that will deliver against your objectives. B2B marketers often lack the discipline to do a plan and execute it faithfully, let alone measure the results. No wonder spending levels are low!

The wrong way to go about setting the budget is to either base it on what was spent the year before, (unless that budget was set based on the methods described above) or what you think you can afford. Unlike rent or other expenses that are necessary evils, marketing should be looked at as a “spend to get” approach. If you are strategic, your marketing spending should pay back, sometimes many times the original spend.

Be aware

Incidentally, the organizations with the fewest prospects can often have marketing budgets that are much bigger than you would think. Marketing budgets that allow for sales to take decision makers on high-end trips, play regular golf games or go out to events on a regular basis.  Don’t get caught thinking the playing field is level without getting a full perspective on the decision making process from the customer’s viewpoint.

Next to your actual sales force and your own undeniable powers of persuasiveness, web sites, corporate brochures and identity kits should be among your hardest working marketing tools.
In order to make sure you’re maximizing the power of these tools, we have put together a checklist of attributes which no self-respecting corporate identity package should be without.

1. Synergy With Your Company’s Overall Image.

This synergy is the key to building awareness of your company as a brand. Everything should look like everything else, because that’s what makes you look professional.

2. A Strong Essential Message.

This is the promise you make to your potential customers or clients, and it’s one of the most important pillars upon which your communications is built.

3. An appealing Look & Positive Feel…

that’s both ‘in character’ and inviting to read. People read things that look appealing and interesting. Anything else, they tend to ignore.

4. Obvious Corporate Identification.

It’s all the rage in the design world to play down logos. But that’s how most readers end up missing them.

5. Bad English Ain’t Good.

Bad grammar is running rampant in communications these days. Bad grammar can make you look like a not-so-bright, and therefore not-so-trustworthy company.

6. First Person Focus.

Never talk about your company in the third person. If you do, people will think you’re weird. Talking about your company in the first person naturally personalizes the communication and makes it more inviting for the prospect to read.

7. Simplicity. Simplicity. Simplicity…

in the use of supporting language and graphics. Remember, you know more about your business than anyone you are talking to. Showing respect for what they don’t know will always be rewarded.

8. A Positive Selling Attitude Throughout.

This is all about keeping the tone and manner of your communications positive, upbeat and on point, and one of the most important keys to stimulating response.

9. Testimonial & Case Study Support.

Your satisfied customers are, bar none, your best salespersons. Anything that quantifies results is going to be more meaningful to your readers than abstract notions or platitudes. You’ll be surprised how powerful these underused selling techniques can be.

10. Concrete Reasons Why The Prospect Should Be Doing Business With You.

Too many companies fill their communications with reasons why they are so great, but they seldom turn it around and give their prospects a real sense of what’s in it for them.

We encourage clients to run their creative by an advisory board or, even better, ideal clients at exactly the stage our client did. However, if you simply say “what do you think,” the question is too open-ended. Here are some tips on how to get the most useful input.

This applies to anything from logos, to web design to any kind of content.

Give Them Some Background

Tell them who the audience is, how it will be used and what you were trying to achieve. For example, it’s going to a specific audience like financial controllers in large corporations (very different than the head of HR at a smaller company). It will be handed out at a tradeshow and you’re hoping to get meetings out of it. Also, tell them what specific result you are after, if applicable, like getting them to call directly versus sign-up through your website.

It helps to give a bit of background on your discussions with the creative team involved as well, like what led to the format or approach taken This may eliminate a lot of questions that can have you second-guessing yourself. Like ‘why didn’t you just do a tri-fold brochure’? You could pre-empt it by saying ‘we discussed doing a tri-fold brochure but realized it would be inserted into large folders and we also wanted to email it so…’

Consider sharing some of the market research that was done to help put it in context, like ‘client interviews indicated what’s most important to them is ______’

Create a List of Specific Questions

What about the piece is important to you – that a certain message get across? That people take a specific action at the end? That it builds a feeling of trust and stability or makes people feel warm and fuzzy? Use this as a guideline to come up with specific questions. Like, ‘did it make you feel warm and fuzzy?’ Same goes for concerns you have – ‘or did it seem too corporate’.

Also think about what you are sure of and don’t intend to change when framing questions. If you definitely like the design but are not sure about the colour, ask them specifically ‘what do you think of the colour?’ Tell them what message you are trying to convey and ask them if they get that from the design or copy. If not what did they get from it?

Broad Questions Are Okay

‘If you had one impression from this piece what was it?’

However, you may want to have follow-up questions ready. If you want it to convey that your services are delivered quickly because of the technology you’ve developed, and they got that, you could ask something like ‘but does it make our service sound cheap because it’s so fast?’

Make the Most of Your Community

Asking for feedback from people who represent your ideal clients or peers you trust for business advice is a great idea. Just prepare for it and know you may get some conflicting input. Don’t be reluctant to ask – most people feel privileged that you value their opinion.

Social media provides additional ways to get objective, anonymous and/or professional feedback. You can ask for feedback via the major channels like Twitter and LinkedIn, but there are also great places, both free, like Get Satisfaction or User Voice and professional/paid like EntreBahn (full version coming soon)

PS. It’s a great way to get a little social media exposure too.

Then What?

The best thing to do is gather the feedback and go over it with your creative team, who should be completely open to that. We’d discuss each bit, hold it against the creative brief and objectives, decide what’s important and what’s not, and make some executive decisions.

I needed to find them

I literally stepped out into the sunlight and went back to the office where I Googled things like ‘business development’ and eventually ‘networking’. I didn’t even know what networking was, but I found some great options and started participating. I think a CAWEE breakfast was the first. I also tried Wired Women’s Network and Small Business Meet-up where I met my very good friend Richard. He introduced me to another group and on it went. In very short order I was co-hosting a Toronto event, met tons of new people online and offline. Not only actual clients, but great referral sources and like-minded business people I could identify with and learn from. They were positive and driven, like – as it turned out – me.

Payback is not instant

I don’t know the typical length of time it takes to start seeing results from networking efforts, I’ve heard six months. However, just know you are unlikely to meet a million dollar client your first time out. It takes time to build  trust and a proper understanding of what you do. The key is to keep at it, find a group or two you like and go regularly to build relationships, while also trying new places – online and offline.

For me, I started networking in May 2003, got my first related client in early July, then my business exploded in September that year. The rest, is history.

The small business community is, well, small.

I built my business through word-of-mouth. I did meet the occasional direct client at events, but for the most part I was referred by people I met at networking events, and then later by happy clients.

When you are out there meeting a lot of people they grow to know, like and trust you, and understand what you do. Then you are top of mind when their friends, colleagues or clients are looking for your services. I often saw the the same people over and over at events – building great relationships. I also looked for opportunities to speak at some and began to build my reputation as an expert in the field.

People talk. The community is small and I soon found that a surprising number of people in the small business community knew who I was. I was being introduced to people as ‘great designer’ or ‘the one who gets things done’ which was an early favourite and became an important differentiator for Rapport.

The best fuel for sales momentum: deliver a great experience

I didn’t find I was up against a lot of competition, but was certainly up against negative stereotypes of flakey freelancers and difficult divas. When Scott Stratten of Un-Marketing called me for the first time he said something like ‘I advise people to get professional logos and websites… I need someone to send them to. I’ve been burned by designers who couldn’t deliver before, so you have one chance and one chance only.’ He referred me to one client, I took great care of her and he referred me many more after that.

Unfair as it is, referrals that don’t work out reflect badly on the referrer. On the flip-side, great referrals make them look good and turns them into your biggest fan.

For clients, a great experience is essential to keep them coming back and prompting them to refer you to others. This is where it’s great to understand how they feel about your services. See our newsletter on how to do this. When we had clients interviewed as part of our own re-branding and saw that good design and competitive rates were just table-stakes. What they loved about us was the relationship, how easy it was to work with us and how well taken care of they were. That may sound soft, but remember the negative stereotypes I was up against – it was huge and wonderful to have that reputation.

Now we work extra hard to ensure work is done well and delivered on time, to create a professional but friendly experience from start to finish. This has been a mandate of mine since my solo days, but has developed into a strong culture and internal processes that work just as well for the ten of us.

Now you have to be careful when you research anything on the web, because it is the great equalizer when it comes to information, and it’s really hard to separate the political agendas from the honest information, especially with issues like this. But like anything in life, if you dig around enough, you will start to see patterns of opinion.

Rather than bore you with the longer version of the results I found, I have distilled this research down to what I call “The 10 Commandments of Marketing To Women.”

What you will hopefully find as you read through it is that there is a high level of interconnectivity between all of these characteristics, which is not something you can always observe in men.

Here they are, in my opinion, the 10 most important things to keep in mind when marketing to women.

1. Women Are Focused On Connections: They look for similarities as opposed to points of difference. They focus on creating cooperation, good relationships and ways to help each other.
2. Women Trust Common Experience, as opposed to men who tend to put more faith in authority. The reason for this is that men think vertically as in hierarchies whereas women tend to think laterally as in common ground or level playing fields, where everyone can benefit.
3. Women Prefer Win/Win Situations, as opposed to men who think win/lose. That is not to say they are less competitive than men, just competitive in a different way.
4. Women Plan Ahead To Avoid Negative Outcomes. As a result women tend to be better long term thinkers and planners.
5. Women Put More Time And Research Into Their Decisions. This means that if you are marketing to them, you are obliged to do a very thorough job of communicating information to them, as they will take it all into account.
6. Women Are More Loyal To Those With Whom They Do Business. This has to do with the fact that women are simply much more confident in their decisions, whereas with men, not so much.
7. Women Refer More Often Than Men. This is an adjunct to 6. It’s a lot easier for women to be good and frequent referrers, because they are more confident in the decisions they make in the first place and because it is more in their communal nature to recommend products and services they are happy with to others.
8. Women Are Much More No-Nonsense Than Men. If a woman has an objection to something, she will tell you about it and expect you to address it immediately. She is a big believer in testimonials, as opposed to marketing hyperbole because she has highly developed B/S meter.
9. Women Prefer Stories Not Facts. To women, stories are more memorable than features and benefits. She will relate stronger to stories involving people’s experiences with your product or service. This makes an emotional connection that can motivate them to take action. This means that things like testimonials and product reviews are something they will take a good deal of interest in.
10. Women Believe That Quantity Is Not Quality. Women tend to look at just about everything in their lives from a qualitative perspective. Quality of life. Quality of service. Quality of products. Quality of experience.

An Wisened Man’s Perspective

Now being a man writing this post naturally puts me at a disadvantage. Because on the one hand, you could look at the aforementioned things to keep in mind when marketing to women and think, well OK, that’s the man’s point of view.

But then I would have to politely correct you because the sources I used to derive this list all come from blogs and web sites that are run by women. Just wanted to clarify that point.

Now if you’re a woman out there reading this, very little here is going to come as a surprise. But if you’re a man, most of this is quite a revelation…at least it was to me. It might be worth reading a couple of times, and seeing if there aren’t some things we men could do to be more like women. Maybe then the world would be less of a ‘dog eat dog’ place than it is now.

Before blogging, lawyers, accountants and consultants left the marketing work to the marketers. Yes, the management team would work with the marketing team to determine what the firm should stand for and be best at, but beyond that, there was little to do but wait for the marketing campaign to start.

Life After Blogging

Based on the need for “top 5” placement for search, suddenly, every website needs a blog to protect its rankings. And who would be better equipped to do a blog than a professional services firm? Professional services firms are full of subject matter experts that can gain interest and help clients and prospects by blogging about the things that their clients care about.

Except those same experts are often getting paid $500- $1,000 an hour (or more) to do client work. And if the marketing budget includes internal time…things can get really expensive, quickly. Or if the professionals in the firm don’t think blogging helps build business, the challenges can be even greater.

To significantly increase your chances of getting great blog content from your internal experts make it as easy as possible by using the following techniques.

Top 5 Techniques to Get Your Best Bloggers Blogging

1. Get buy-in. There is no use even starting a blog unless your subject matter experts agree that a blog can and will help build business. A blog is one of the most easily accessible lines of communication a company has, providing exposure to people that actually care about what your experts have to say. People that could easily become future clients.
2. Solicit help from subject matter experts that are good at writing and communication. Willingness and talent are two different things. If your experts are keen, but not very good at articulating their views, the time spent getting a decent blog post can increase exponentially. If your most expensive talent can create a blog post in 15 minutes, versus someone less adept taking several hours, go for the quick hit.
3. Create a master plan for the year. How many blog posts should there be? How many contributors? Is there anything happening in your industry that will be big news during the course of the year? What other topics will gain interest, provide value, and help build awareness of your firm’s expertise?
4. Make the “technical” side of blogging easy. Assign an internal proof reader (or hire an external). Provide coaching on how to do blog entries, or, if your experts are not at all technical, have someone technically oriented post the blog (or outsource). Get your support team to find appropriate pictures. If all else fails, have your expert verbalize their opinions and have someone else write them down. Don’t forget to enhance the blog for search. That too can be outsourced.
5. Be clear about your objectives and celebrate your successes when those objectives are met. Are you trying to be one of the top 5 firms on a Google search for corporate lawyers in your market? Are you trying to gain clients through your website? Do you want your experts to be quoted in the press to build credibility? Whatever your objectives are, it is critical to keep people engaged and committed to making your corporate blog into a key source of information. That will only happen if there are goals, and you are achieving them.

My father died recently and I was forced to be away for a period of time. As VP in charge of Client Development and handling a major portion of our clients, that is bad enough. But at the same time our senior web developer was off, our client manager’s husband died suddenly and our art director’s beloved dog passed away. If this all sounds like a story that couldn’t possibly have happened, your wrong, it did.

Having four senior people away at the same time during a relatively busy period would normally spell disaster for a small firm. Not for us, I was amazed at the dedication and team spirit this brought out in the rest of the people in the company. Not a beat was missed as everyone who was not bereaved stepped in to take on extra duties to make sure our clients were all taken care of and deadlines were met. That’s definitely team spirit and what every firm wants in their organization.

What makes this possible?

Firstly, we have a great understanding between management and staff. Everyone is involved in the day-to-day workings of the organization and has a good high-level understanding of how everything works outside of their role. This also makes them more engaged in and personally dedicated to the company’s success.

Secondly, we celebrate life and special dates together, we care a lot about each other and are all good friends. Partially due to our president Faith Seeking’s warm attitude towards everyone, we have a great working atmosphere and a lot of respect for each other.

Thirdly, it’s a joy for everyone to come to work when you are not just allowed but encouraged to have fun and enjoy your day while you work. Under those circumstances who wouldn’t step up to the plate and pitch in.

How do you create this environment?

It’s easy: build a system of trust, get to know your people and their needs as well as letting them know the needs of the firm. Make sure employees understand the importance of their job in the overall picture of the firm. We all need to know our value. That’s why yearly reviews and honest critiques make sense. Reviews reinforce why we work, our sense of worth and that we do a good job or how we can improve.

Way to go everyone at Rapport!