Thursday, February 23, 2006

Use Editorial Calendars

Many of our clients are, as they should be, conservative and cautious in their marketing endeavors. Writing articles is one professional and legal-appropriate marketing technique some expert witnesses underutilize.

Articles can help you establish credibility and visibility in the minds of your attorney prospects more effectively (and less expensively!) than advertising. Some legal publications will accept articles from non-attorneys and some will not. Just call the managing editor of any publication and ask. Offer to write an article "of interest to their members."

Large publications publish an editorial calendar, that is, a schedule listing each issue's focus. These emphases can be particularly beneficial as you can select a particular issue centered on your area of expertise, for which to offer an article. Be accomodating, of course, to the editor for any other issue he might suggest.

These calendars are also helpful in determining the few times in which it might be cost-effective to run display (one-time) advertising -- when the attorney prospects in your particular specialty are likely to pay special attention to the publication. In fact, the display advertising sales representative at each publication is the person most likely to supply you with the editorial calendar.

As an added benefit, articles you write for legal publications can also be used as direct mail pieces to attorneys, provided the articles are brief.

One important reminder: All written work and presentations are fair game in for opposing counsel.

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