Productivity tips for Web writers:

Improving page count in a production-oriented environment

Page production is one of the two key metrics used to determine individual accomplishment for most professional writers (the other being the satisfaction of the client, customer, editor, publisher or public).

Increasing page production in such a way as to preserve or even enhance customer satisfaction is good for writers, good for our customers and just plain good for business.

In a production-oriented business or corporate environment, increasing page production organically gives writers a measure of control and helps us avoid imposed productivity measures.

Misconceptions that may impair productivity

• When productivity is emphasized, quality suffers.
• The truth is that the level of technical proficiency and creative approach needed for high production can and should translate into higher quality. Use common sense.
• Every word is precious.

Look, your editor and (perhaps) the customer are the only ones who will likely read every word you write. Even the most beautifully crafted paragraphs are vulnerable to editing or outright exclusion. Time spent on creating the perfect sentence is better spent on writing three serviceable sentences. Our focus should be performance rather than perfection.

Tips for improving overall Web writing productivity

• Know your subject and take (good) notes
• Know the template, tool or software used to create content inside and out
• Be conscious of SEM keywords and usability concerns from the beginning
• Strategize marketing messages
• Organize information thematically

Embrace SEM, but wisely

Fighting SEM is a losing battle. It is time consuming and can result in pages that perform poorly. Just remember that we writers know SEM, too. If there are real functional problems, not just personal preference issues, address them proactively.

Personal page productivity

Productivity is largely dependent on two things: Following an efficient and intuitive process and adopting an effective attitude. Improved organizational skills and technical familiarity allow us to shave off seconds, minutes or even hours of unproductive time. A flexible, creative and goal-oriented attitude provides us with the ability to grow toward greater productivity.

Ask yourself, “How long does it take me to write a page?” We all have an intuitive sense, but how accurate is it? Having a better idea of time spent per page enables us to set realistic goals. Implement methods of capturing more reliable data regarding time spent per page.

Setting shorter period goals allows us to chunk down overall goals into daily or hourly actions.

Establish a layout style or styles that work

Layout can be an effective tool for conveying tone and layout dramatically affects usability. Find a few layouts that work for you – based on your training, personal style and examples of work that has won client or publisher approval.

Working from an established layout toolbox will enable you to more rapidly organize information into a Web-usable and Web-reader friendly format.

©Michael Owen Hill, 2008

The Web Marketing Innovation Challenge:

Design, Write and Develop the Legal Marketing Web Site of the Near Future

This is a (very slightly edited) summary of an innovation proposal I presented to my business. Understand, we make our living in the capricious Internet marketing arena, so it’s hard to fathom that a discussion of the importance of mobile would be considered particularly “innovative” these days. But in 2008, I guess it was.

I believe the “best” innovation — in terms of return on investment and likelihood of success — is one in which existing assets and technology are leveraged in new and exiting ways. Mobile search marketing often involves an enhancement of existing services, allowing clients to reach new markets and a greater number of searchers who need immediate satisfaction and are not in a position to conduct extensive comparison-shopping.

As mobile search is a rapidly developing arena, it would behoove Web design and Internet marketing companies to investigate ways of integrating new functionalities as they become available and widespread throughout the marketplace.

Current attorney and law firm Web sites do not capture the guy whose just been pulled over with an ounce of marijuana in his glove compartment. This guy knows he need a lawyer — and quickly. In the near future, he will hopefully know that if he visits a mobile legal directory on his iPhone, he can speak to or video chat with an attorney who will meet him at the police station or jail.

My team and I chose to create, in effect, a single page site with many features that can help connect Web searchers with our “customer”, a small but very aggressive criminal defense practice that understands the need to respond immediately when a potential or existing client is arrested for drunk driving, domestic assault or drug charges.

Search Visibility

If experience is any reliable guide, the rules that govern search are bound to change. While megasites and (to a lesser extent) multiple sites currently have the distinct advantage in search engine visibility, we predict that smaller, much more highly focused sites may represent an efficient way of helping our clients be found by searchers in a new paradigm in which specific location — whether indexed by zip code or through GPS coordinates — is more and more a deciding factor in search engine rankings.

New Features: Immediacy and Connectivity

Within the standard site of the near future, features such as an interactive calendar, twitter or live chat will provide a greater sense of immediate accessibility and personal connection. The legal marketing Web site is a tool for potential and existing clients to get the answers and immediate representation they need, rather than providing generalized information not specific to their unique circumstances. This is a tool for connecting lawyers with clients who need representation NOW.

Benefits: Minimal Investment to Expand Services in a Growing Marketplace

Mobile legal marketing Web sites will make use of existing and developing technology (2G and 3G mobile search) and leverage current legal directory infrastructure and client-base.  We know from client feedback that legal directory placement services have proven invaluable time and again to attorneys who in a previous era may have been erroneously called “ambulance chasers” or “jailhouse lawyers”.

The mobile legal directory of the future will also be a service to the end-user, helping the person who needs immediate legal help find it any time, anywhere.

Risks: Global Thermonuclear War or Alien Invasion

That is a joke. Unless there is a serious disruption in the marketplace or the introduction of a truly transformative new search technology, the risks of developing and implementing mobile legal directories and mobile Web sites are minimal.

Technology and Software

The technology and software that we chose to use in our test site is a combination of .php and JavaScript.  In order to retain accessibility and valid web code we have incorporated numerous open source functions.  These functions can be modified to meet specific needs and improved upon in a short amount of development time.  Currently the functional portions of the prototype are utilizing the JavaScript.  Future functionality of the site would utilize .php and .mysql database technology.

Conclusion

Bells and whistles don’t sell Web sites or directory services. At least not for long. We have complete faith that the designers, developers and new product researchers will continue to stay on top of trends in both the marketplace and technology, but few can afford to devote all their technical and creative expertise to creating the ultimate “cool”, “hip” and “exciting” Web site. Nor, we believe, should we wish to be.

We approached the idea of innovation from a marketing standpoint. We believe that innovation is a process in which ideas for new or improved products or services are developed and commercialized in the marketplace. While the ultimate “cool”, “hip” and “exciting” Web site may certainly be creative, is it marketable? Can we really make cutting edge design and technology our goal?

Or should we look at ways to grow our proven strengths in new directions? Those of us in the legal marketing business are uniquely positioned to take a leading role in the rapidly growing mobile search market by thinking beyond .mobi programming and into new and truly innovative ways of marketing in a mobile environment.

© Michael Owen Hill, 2008

Comments, late 2012:

It’s so funny to realize that I was one of only a few folks (in our business, at least) talking about mobile way back when. Of course, now we’re all focused on responsive design, which is a welcome development I frankly didn’t foresee. I think the best part is the assertion that, barring some truly catastrophic development, the rise of mobile was inevitable.

 

Marketing Legal Services to Sophisticated Business or Specialty Audiences

This  post is intended to serve as a very basic guide to any professional writer approaching the creation of a legal marketing website targeting a business audience.

 

Like any legal services website, the best approach to writing effective B2B legal marketing content is an ability to understand the concerns and priorities of the potential clients in order to craft appealing language and calls to action to which they will respond.

 

Our success in doing so depends in large part upon how we approach the initial interview and to what extent we use language and appeals that conform to the B2B firm’s expectations.

 

Some common B2B legal services topics might include:

Approaching a Business-Oriented Legal Services Web Site

 

When conducting the initial client interview for a B2B site (or any site with a more sophisticated audience), it is vitally important to make a rapid determination of the actual audience the site will be written for:

 

Depending upon the circumstances, our client’s clients may have different goals, needs and concerns. It is important to identify what these may be. Asking the right questions during the initial consultation is crucial to identifying the types of appeals that the potential client will likely respond to.

 

Some Things to Consider During the Initial Interview

 

Are the potential clients more concerned with achieving a rapid settlement, minimizing negative publicity and bolstering shareholder confidence or is their goal to win at trial to prevent opening the floodgates to future litigation?

 

Is there a proactive component to the firm’s services? How can they help potential clients reduce the risk of costly litigation?

 

Cost and return on investment are important considerations for many potential business and professional clients. Addressing this concern may involve a discussion of how the firm can handle complex litigation efficiently. Are the firm’s fees responsive to the potential client’s economic and budgetary constraints? How would the firm describe their approach to maximizing return on investment?

 

Complex business and commercial litigation and high-profile personal injury and insurance defense cases often involve truly massive amounts of evidence and tens of thousands or even millions of documents. How would the firm describe their ability to handle discovery and manage documents in these cases?

 

Media savvy is an important consideration when hiring a firm to handle high-profile cases, especially when the decision-maker is an executive with responsibilities to shareholders and a board of directors. How would the firm describe their approach to managing media attention?

 

Setting B2B Firm Expectations

 

Having a frank discussion with the firm’s representatives regarding what works and does not work in Web writing is essential to avoid surprises and outright rejection of the draft. Many B2B firms are receptive to the notion that the way we format text is specific to the Web and has great benefits for usability and conversion, but may also equate our format with a less professional, advertising-style approach.

 

The goal should be to give the firm a “heads up” regarding the way we use headings, subheadings, bulleted lists, links and calls to action. We should provide them with a sense of security in knowing that we can write for the Web and still maintain a very professional tone.

 

One of the frequent sources of confusion and complaint from B2B firms upon first reading a draft stems from the fact that they don’t understand why we’ve made the choices we have regarding layout, language and linking. Most of these firms are more than willing to accept our recommendations as long as they understand that there is a solid underlying rationale.

 

Discussing these matters up front (and perhaps including a reminder in the note with the draft) can go a long way toward encouraging B2B firms to rely on our expertise.

What About Tone and Style?

Many B2B sites are written in a more formal and professional style, although this is by no means an absolute rule. The firm’s wishes are paramount, although we have some latitude to make educated and authoritative suggestions. We are the experts, after all.

 

A tone and style that is straightforward and dispassionate and that relies on specific examples rather than vague generalities can often be a good default approach when writing B2B sites. The best way to convey experience and skill is to talk specifically about experience and skill. The marketing aspect is in conveying the benefit of that experience and skill to potential clients.

 

Some B2B Web content tone and style suggestions:

·          Use subtle marketing messages that are “under the radar” rational, not over the top “emotional”.

·          Smart language is good. It makes the firm look smart. Firms expect us to make them look good in the draft. Just remember that smart language does not necessarily mean 40 word sentences, abstruse language and construction, or SAT study words like “abstruse”.

·          Remember that B2B sites are like business presentations, in that while they can be friendly and relaxed, they should never be overly familiar or presumptive.

 

Marketing to Other Lawyers: B2B or Not?

 

It’s a big fish/little fish dilemma. Is the firm interested in attracting referrals from smaller practices and solo attorneys without substantial experience in a particular area of law? Or is the firm interested in acting as local counsel for a much larger national firm?

 

Understanding the type of referral the firm wishes to attract is crucial in determining how these appeals should be pitched. Regardless, an approach that stresses professionalism and making the firm look good is unlikely to fail.

 

B2B Sites and Emotional Appeals

 

Emotional appeals are often problematic in B2B sites. They ring false to the potential client and do not convey the desired sense of professionalism. Our B2B and professional-audience customers tend to react strongly and negatively to statements like:

 

• We know how hard it is when your company is faced with environmental litigation.
• We understand that clients charged with insider trading are afraid of losing their jobs and going to jail.
• Complex commercial litigation can be frustrating and confusing. We handle the legal matters so that you can go about running your business as usual.

Stating the obvious in an attempt to appeal to the reader’s emotions is probably not a good idea. The firm’s wishes rule, of course, but relying on overly personal, general consumer audience-style emotional appeals without a clear understanding of the firm’s clientele can be a recipe for rewrite.

 

B2B Legal Web Site Dos (and one Don’t)

 

1.  Preparing for the interview

 

• Do make an extra effort to prepare. Make mental or written notes of important questions regarding the firm, the area of practice and, most important, the potential clients the site will be pitched at.

 

2.  During the interview

 

• Do take a little time to set expectations. Discussing up front why the pages won’t be huge, undifferentiated blocks of text with no links and no subheadings is a good idea. Plus it gives us an opportunity to establish our expertise and create a truly consultative context for the interview.

 

• Do make extra effort to clarify the intended audience for each page, not just the site as a whole. Discuss the potential client’s needs, concerns and goals in relation to specific areas of practice.

 

• Don’t try to sell a B2B firm on the idea that casual style, emotional appeals or writing at the 9^th grade level is appropriate for their site. This may demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of the firm’s goals and clientele. Remember, even if we’re right and a more informal, aggressive approach might work better, the chances are good that a draft written in this manner won’t be approved.

 

• Do be sure to ask for any marketing materials. Many B2B firms have client brochures that can be useful as an indicator of what the firm thinks of itself and how it likes to be characterized.

 

3. Writing the Draft

 

• Do remember that, especially for more sophisticated audiences, talking about skill and experience is not nearly as effective as demonstrating these qualities through the use of examples.

 

• Do keep in mind that B2B firms can get caught up on sloppy, informal language that they feel doesn’t make them look smart. Make your word choices intentional and your style impeccable. We know that conversational style works best; just remember that conversational does not automatically imply casual, unprofessional or colloquial.