Legal Marketing & PR

Does Your Bio Tell A Story?

By Tom Kane

It should. Any potential client is going to check you out before calling, whether on your web site or social media sites. If it is like a lot of bios, that may end your chances right there. Your bio should encourage not discourage inquiries from potential clients, the media, or conference planners.

So says Janet Ellen Raasch in a short, interesting piece she calls 'Buff Up Your Bio' on attorneyatwork.com. I expect she is right when she says that after the home page, 'lawyer biographies are the most frequently visited pages' on a law firm's web site. So, beef up that bio Bud and Barbara.

And Raasch has some good ideas to help you:

• Do as reporters do. Rather than start your bio with a boring reference to being a partner in a certain practice area, why not have the first paragraph grab your reader by covering the key parts of your story; that is, newsworthy problems your clients have experienced and you solved. Leave your education, licenses, articles, etc. for the end or a sidebar;
• Tell a 'case story' or stories. Write a narrative about a client's problem (not by name unless you have permission), relate the 'cost-effective solution you provided,' and what the positive benefit to the client was;
• Show your values beyond your legal skills. I completely agree with Raasch that 'all things being equal, (clients) retain lawyers they feel they can trust and like.' She suggests 'short quotes' interlaced outside the narrative itself that address such things as what you love about 'your area of practice or industry…favorite case, and why…best advice from a mentor..community or family' involvement…or whatever to show your core values; and
• Expand your media tools. Don't just have a photo, link to articles and consider making your bio more like a 'personal home' page that could include audio and video, and links to your 'social media sites.'

If you want to knock the socks off visitors to your bio, be different and tell a story.

Full post as published by Legal Marketing Blog on January 25, 2011 (boomark / email).