In this new normal of staying home and social distancing, I’m finding that I need to limit how much news I read and watch to maintain balance in my life.
Women Who Wow: Brandie Knox
I started the Women Who Wow series to coincide with Women’s History Month, but since news related to COVID-19 has consumed us, I’ve decided to continue running the series throughout the year, because there are just too many amazing women to fit into one month.
One of those amazing women is New York-based Brandie Knox, the principal and creative director of Knox Design Strategy. I met Brandie several years ago through the Legal Marketing Association, and we hit it off right away. I admire her for her entrepreneurial spirit, her creativity and her kindness.
Learn more about Brandie and her career path.
LinkedIn Provides Free Mindfulness Courses on LinkedIn Learning to Help Individuals Cope with COVID-19
I read a great article in Social Media Today, which brought to my attention the fact that LinkedIn is providing free mindfulness courses on its LinkedIn Learning platform to help individuals cope with the coronavirus and the isolation many of us are feeling. I wanted to pass along this information to you as I know I could sure use some extra tips on how to practice mindfulness, calm my anxiety and stress levels and be more, well, myself again. Stay safe.
16 Easy Ways to Network, Connect with Clients & Build Your Brand While Social Distancing
I know so many of you feel out of sorts right now. Me, too. Our daily routines have been thrown a huge curveball, but this is not the time to
Women Who Wow: Gia Altreche
I asked Orange County-based Gia Altreche to be part of the Women Who Wow series because she is a leader in the legal marketing industry and an advocate for the profession and diversity & inclusion. Gia is the Director of Business Development and Marketing at Newmeyer & Dillion LLP and serves as co-chair of the Legal Marketing Association’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee and Shared Interest Group. Learn more about her below.
Why did you choose your profession?
Technically it chose me. It was during a post-college adventure to find a marriage between the legal field (initially intending to go to law school), and human communication (a love I found in my last year in college, which slightly derailed the initial focus) that ended with my resume miraculously in the hands of my now mentor, who was the Head of Business Development & Marketing at a major law firm in Phoenix, AZ. Talk about the power of networking!
At the time, I didn’t know legal marketing existed, but quickly learned it offered access to both play a role in advocating for my community, while continuing to study and nurture the role of human connection in business. Plus, being surrounded by the crème of the crop legal minds across a variety of industries, seeking out continuous education on the ever evolving role and how I could support their efforts was greatly satisfying. Learn more about her and her career path below.
Simple Things You Can Do to Build Your Brand and Network While Social Distancing
When I speak at conferences or conduct client trainings, I usually end my presentations with “homework” for attendees. While not actually required, I always suggest that attendees take the time to do these to-do items, because I always want to leave attendees with actionable takeaways they can implement right away to enhance their business and brand.
I know so many of you feel out of sorts right now (that includes me). Our daily routines have been thrown a huge curveball and staying home is our job right now to keep ourselves and others safe against the spread of the coronavirus.
That being said, this is not the time to stop marketing yourself or your firm. In fact, you want to be top of mind, and you can easily do that through the many online channels available to us – with LinkedIn being the most powerful social platform to build professional relationships. The key is to be helpful, non-boastful and to provide value-added content and information.
I am seeing the lines between our personal and professional lives become blurrier by the day as many of us want to be more connected to people in general. This may result in you receiving friend requests on Facebook and follow requests on Instagram from colleagues and clients – it’s up to you how you want to handle these but please always exercise caution with what you post on any social media platform, and stay away from discussing politics and religion.
In case you are looking for some “homework” in the marketing and business development area, here are a few ideas to keep you busy. Reach out to me with any questions.
The Best and Worst Hashtags to Use When Writing About the Coronavirus (Updated)
Hashtags are great tools to help your content become discovered on LinkedIn, but only if you know how to correctly use hashtags and you use the most effective ones.
If you’re writing about the coronavirus on LinkedIn, you should be using hashtags so your content can be amplified and have a stronger impact. The content you post should have your target audience in mind and be designed to help them navigate this unprecedented time.
But first off – what is a hashtag? Just like on Twitter or Instagram, a LinkedIn hashtag is any combination of letters, number or emoji that follow the # symbol such as #coronavirus. Any spaces or symbols used within the tag will break the link, so that means you can’t include apostrophes, commas, exclamation points or hyphens in your hashtag.
Hashtags help users find content on a specific topic. If you add hashtags to your posts, they’ll help you get discovered by other users, including those not connected to you (2nd and 3rd degree connections). This is because individuals now search for content under hashtags and click on the hashtags in posts. In addition, you can follow hashtags on LinkedIn, meaning that posts containing the ones you have selected will appear in your news feed.
How to add hashtags to your LinkedIn posts:
Why You Should Have a Mentor and Thank Them
This photo was taken today in 2012 at the LMA conference when my dear friend and mentor Wendy Bernero was inducted into the hall of fame.
Wendy is a true
How to Bulletproof Your Job (Especially During a Pandemic)
Everyone is nervous about everything right now, including the economy and how that may affect their employment status. Some companies are doing mass layoffs and salary reductions. You don’t want
Coronavirus Content Tip: Add Reporters to Your Client Alert Lists
Here’s a content tip for right now and later:
Make sure the reporters with whom your lawyers have connections are added to your client alert lists, especially as you are