Insipid updates put your reputation at risk

Your publications put your reputation at risk
Clients’ views on your team or firm are partly influenced by how sharp your updates are. More

lawyers-can-do-data

Show clients that you do ‘do’ data. Use charts in your updates – show clients that you speak their language. More

clients-like-text-tables

Text tables: summarise complexity quickly
Clients value them, but you find them fiddly. Tame the Word-table beast

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Make it clear quickly: help
clients get your message
What clients want
Less news, more business
impacts. Fewer words.
Formats and tools
Get more out of Word,
blogs, emails, and PDFs.
Writing training
Make it clear quickly in
publications and pitches.
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Monthly archive: February 2009

16 February 2009
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Tag-clouds give website users an easy way to find content on particular topics – users don't need to know in advance which section of the website that content has been tucked away in. But website-designers don't like them because they rain on the information-architecture parade. More
14 February 2009
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The law of shiny things works like this: magpies can’t tell the difference between a diamond ring and a bit of Kit Kat wrapper. And humans aren’t that different. A new delivery format or an extra bells-and-whistles feature will attract client attention – even if it’s not a step-change improvement. (Penicillin was a step-change improvement, touch [...] More
14 February 2009
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Improving updates, briefings, and newsletters isn't hard, but it does take focus. We'd like to share our pet mnemonic with you – Running Animals Beat Crawlers. Hopefully it'll help with that focus thing. More
8 February 2009
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Know-how updates need product features, but they're often weak or missing. We've created a parable on the value of product feature (based on the Golf and the Allegro). More
8 February 2009
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Lawyers who use numbers and data will stand out from the crowd There’s a myth that lawyers don’t ‘do’ numbers. Believers say it’s because lawyers live in a world of words where numbers don’t get a look-in. We’re less convinced – 0ur view is that business is pretty numbers-focused, and lawyers are part of business. Numeracy may [...] More
8 February 2009
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Text tables show your readers that you’re trying to help. Text tables give you a flexible way to sum up complexity. They’re a really helpful feature in any update, bulletin, article, newsletter, or seminar handout. Or pitch. Or pretty much any document that you can think of. Clients value them as they summarise, and allow you to [...] More
6 February 2009
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There's just no way to soften the blow – it may be worse if your clients do read your updates than if they don't. Few law-firms think about updates in terms of the risk that they pose to the firm's reputation – and revenue. But it's time to think again. More