Dodd Marketing Blog

DMC Closing Its Doors

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

After eight years of providing marketing communications services to the legal profession, DMC is closing its doors as of Sept. 30. But the news is good! DMC founder Ritchenya A. Dodd has accepted a position as the Business Development and Marketing Director of a law firm in Princeton, N.J.

At DMC, we appreciate the support we've received over the years from clients, colleagues and friends, and look forward to many more years of collaboration.

Sell It to Me Straight: Where to Put Your Marketing Resources Now

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Where to Put Your Marketing Resources Now

Perhaps unsurprisingly, when profits dip and money is tight, firms are loathe to spend resources on marketing. In addition to cutting their marketing budgets, many firms are redirecting general marketing resources to more focused client development.

While it makes all the sense in the world to reach out to current and prospective clients, if you don’t have a powerful marketing message—which clearly distinguishes you from other service providers—you could end up wasting precious time and resources.

In an article I recently wrote (which has run in Philadelphia’s The Legal Intelligencer, the New Jersey Law Journal and on law.com’s Career Center, http://www.law.com/jsp/law/careercenter/lawArticleCareerCenter.jsp?id=1202431231817&rss=careercenter), I argue that the most effective form of marketing in today’s climate is personal marketing—which focuses on the professionals at a firm who have the strongest ability to bring in business.

For example, in the legal arena, corporate clients are parsing their legal budgets like never before, yet some of the highest-priced lawyers around are busier than ever. Those in demand have distinguished themselves as vital in today’s climate: regulatory, bankruptcy and litigation superstars.

At the same time, because clients are looking to cut costs, lawyers who may be less well-known but have distinguishing experience may find now an opportune time to showcase that experience. By putting in a little legwork to elevate their reputation, they may capture work from clients looking to reduce costs without sacrificing quality.

To get the most mileage out of both of these trends, firms should push personal marketing—even as they cut firm-wide marketing efforts.

Clients Hire Lawyers

We’ve heard it before: clients don’t hire law firms, they hire lawyers. This is true now more than ever.

Exhibit A: A Washington, D.C. FDA lawyer is known as one of the best in his field—and his hourly rates reflect as much. With health care booming, his practice hasn’t felt a blip. He hardly has time to market himself—but someone should be marketing his firm’s FDA practice, featuring him front and center.

Exhibit B: An Am Law 100 firm loses an important, but not super high-stakes litigation matter to a regional firm with lower rates. The client explains that much as they’d like to win the motion involved, they can’t pay Am Law 100 rates and are willing to take a chance with the group from the lesser-known firm. The latter wins the motion, and with it, bragging rights.

The bottom line: Firms are likely to discover that in these challenging times, the best bang for their buck comes from pushing practice development.

What are the best ways for professionals to distinguish themselves? I recommend boiling the process down to four basic steps:

1) Identify your target audience

2) Develop a key message that meets the needs of your audience

3) Prioritize and link marketing efforts

4) Talk to your clients

To get off the ground, a marketing plan must be designed to deliver maximum results with a minimum investment of a professional’s time. Read more at http://www.dodd-marketing.com/pdfs/distinguish_yourself.pdf.

Sell It to Me Straight: About the Blog & Author

Ritchenya Dodd — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:00:00 GMT

'Sell It to Me Straight' covers the world of professional services and business-to-business marketing. In an increasingly crowded market, it's becoming harder for professionals and their businesses to distinguish themselves. The mission of this blog is to identify issues that are top of mind--among lawyers, other professionals and businesses, and weigh solutions.

In a way, by launching this blog, I've come full circle. As The National Law Journal's Law Firm Management Columnist several years ago, I became so fascinated by the evolution of law firm marketing that I decided I might want to make a career change--which I did. But the journalist in me never died, and I still do a fair bit of writing for publication (often for clients). My hope is that this blog will provide a forum to discuss the challenges we face--as well as an occassional outlet for humor.

I have been fortunate to have learned a tremendous amount from a wide array of talented executives, professional services managers, and marketing and communications professionals. Talented as you are, I know you also are tremendously busy. But I hope you'll stop by and put in your two cents.

Thanks in advance!

--Ritchenya

About the Author

As the principal of Dodd Marketing Communications (see below), Ritchenya Dodd has helped bring messages to market for powerful professionals engaged in business-to-business marketing around the world. She is a lawyer and award-winning former journalist with more than seven years of marketing communications experience. Before striking out on her own, she served as the Marketing Manager for the New York/New Jersey region of a global law firm.

Prior to entering the field of marketing, Ritchenya worked for seven years as a journalist. She served as the Law Firm Management columnist for The National Law Journal (New York) and covered other news for the NLJ. She worked as a reporter for the Associated Press (Philadelphia bureau) and a legal editor for the Thompson Publishing Group (Washington, D.C.). As a reporter for The Legal Intelligencer (Philadelphia), she wrote about law firms and received a Pennsylvania Publishers Association Keystone Press Award for her coverage of environmental issues. She has freelanced for legal and business publications.

Ritchenya earned a J.D. (with distinction) from the George Mason University School of Law in 1993, where she served as law review manuscript editor. She lives in Hopewell, N.J. with her son, dog and cat.

About DMC

The mission of Dodd Marketing Communications (www.dodd-marketing.com) is to help lawyers, professional services firms and other companies engaged in B2B marketing distinguish themselves in a crowded market. Clients include leading law firms, business consultants, technology providers and public relations firms. DMC crafts powerful messages to effectively reach clients’ target audiences. Our professionals develop content for articles, brochures & collateral materials, newsletters & other marketing materials, media communications and web sites. We also provide related consulting services.

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