Why Branding and Marketing African-American lawyers is so critical.

Transcription

1 Why Branding and Marketing African-American lawyers is so critical. Corporate legal departments are more diverse and they are looking for diverse lawyers. In 2002, there were 1.2 million blackowned firms in the U.S that generated nearly $89 billion in business revenues.* It s clear that Corporate America demands diversity within its legal departments and within the law firms that they use. Diversity is a business imperative and not an option. Diversity for law firms, on the other hand, has just been the right thing to do. Due to the shift in legal services procurement caused by the economy, the quest by law firms diversify their business portfolio has also become a business imperative. To make-up for shortfalls, Corporate America has increased its revenues and expanded its market share by marketing to niche market segments made up of people of color whose spending power is in the billions. Law firms must follow suit and target market niche or diverse market segments by developing a marketing and branding solution for its lawyers of color who are uniquely situated to go after that new business while growing current business with new ethnic business leaders. *U.S. Census Bureau 2002 Survey of Business Owners. This same survey reported that the growth of African- American-owned firms outpaced the national rate by 45%. With the increased number of African-American lawyers within corporate legal departments and government entities, and the ever growing pool of African-American owned companies that generate collectively now more than $89 billion in revenues (with the top 10 black owned companies generating on average $500 million in annual revenues -known as the Black Enterprise 100)*, your firm cannot afford not to market and brand the unique services of your African-American lawyers to land new deals. Diverse lawyers are not just support members to existing marketing efforts. Your African- American lawyers, whether partners or associates, can communicate a message about your firm that can be leveraged into new business. The problem those potential clients, corporate and government alike, cannot find your African- American lawyers! Solution! Black Counselor is the marketing and branding solution for your African- American lawyers that will allow your firm to tap into new business that can change your firm s bottom line. is a state-of-the-art lawyer directory website on steroids with a private back-end social media service that is not open to the public. With its comprehensive lawyer Profiles that help corporate, government and consumer decision-makers perform their due diligence when selecting a lawyer, Black Counselor will be the one stop shop market place for prospective clients and lawyers alike.

2 Let Us Become Your Marketing Partners! As the only African-American owned and operated internet marketing company for minority lawyers, Black Counselor ( BC ) offers a suit of internet marketing tools that are unmatched in the industry. When you engage Black Counselor, you engage a team that understands the business of running a law firm and how to leverage the diversity of your firm with internet technology to increase revenue generation. Our job as your marketing partner is to keep your lawyers in-front decision-makers looking for African-American lawyers 24/7/365, so that your lawyers can do what they do best practice law! With our specialty branded website and marketing tools, your lawyers will be provided Visibility, Connectivity, and Lead Generation that is unparalleled. Visibility! With 56,000 searches per month for African-American lawyers on the internet*, these BC marketing tools will keep your lawyers in-front of that audience: Profiles BC offers its website subscribers the ability to create a detailed profile that includes the lawyer s professional background, a photo, and subpages where the lawyer can shamelessly brag about: l verdicts, summary judgments, settlements, large transactions and client testimonials l speaking engagements and publications that can be retrieved as a PDF from the profile page; and l firm specific information - like a firm s diversity policy or other practice areas and success stories this is where the firm s brand is highlighted amongst the lawyer s achievement Blogs BC blogs allow subscribing lawyers to establish themselves as reliable, helpful authorities on particular legal subject matters. For lawyers and law firms, achieving this level of recognition builds loyalty among visitors and is critical to successful online marketing. Black Letter News BC will publish and distribute the Black Letter News -a monthly newsletter that will feature short articles and breaking legal news stories about recent law suits, verdicts, settlements or major transactions by and for African-Americans. Articles regarding changes in the law will allow the lawyer to highlight their knowledge and experience in a practice area, while reminding their customer that they are ready and able to handle their next matter. We seek submissions from lawyers. Please contact submissions@blackcounseloronline.com. Lawyer Spotlights/Lawyers On the Move BC will feature Lawyers of the Month in a 500 word or less write-up that allows the lawyer another chance to get infront of the 56,000 users and decision-makers. Submissions are due on the 15th of the month. When you have a new lawyer join your organization, provide the announcement to BC to produce a press release that will be distributed to major news outlets, and featured on the Lawyers On the Move section of the website. BC Hall Of Fame To keep our lawyer subscribers engaged and to reward them for their hard work as a lawyer, BC will award those lawyers who are at the top of their career in the following categories: 40 Under 40 Award, Top 10 Trial Lawyers, Top 10 Transactional Lawyers, Top In-House Counsel, Top 10 Personal Injury/Consumer & Family Law Lawyers, and Top 10 Government and Public Interest lawyers. The lawyers will be elected by their peers in an electronic voting process and the BC selection committee will make the final selection. (See marketing deadlines for nomination dates.)

3 Professional Networking On Steroids! Black Counselor Online combines the best of a what an internet lawyer directory offers - which includes comprehensive profiles and video infomercials - with a private professional networking media on the back end along with practice specific specialty pages, like the In-House Counsel Executive Pages, to offer a one of a kind lawyer marketing and networking internet portal for African- American lawyers. If you can t attend every industry conference and professional networking function to chart your professional course, then join BC so you can network with your African- American lawyer colleagues 27/7/365 without leaving your office. BC s private internet professional network, legal news and marketing solution is packed with end user features that make the BC website a network on steroids. BC benefits all lawyers on any side of the fence as well as in-house counsel, professors, government and public interest lawyers, judges and even law students with its unmatched unique search capabilities that will attract the niche audience of African-American entrepreneurs, consumers, corporate legal departments, government decision makers and public interest organizations. BC Provides Networking that is private, secure and tailored to all of your needs!!! Events Page Post an event you are planning or your next speaking engagement on the BC events page to keep the legal community and the public in the know about what you are doing in the community. Publication Publicity Get publicity for your journal article, or chapter in a book or for a book you have written by re-publishing your article or portions of your book in the publication section of your profile. Also at an additional affordable fee, BC can prepare a custom press release for distribution to the media and promote your authorship on BC and search engine optimize your writing so the world can learn of authorship and your leadership inagivenpracticeareaorareaofinterest. BC offers: Secure Profiles - Password protected Profile display and a private Dashboard where you control the professional image of your profile with content that tells a story about your accomplishments and successes and more. Private Professional Networking Through the BC Dashboard you can invite colleagues into your network that can be hid from the public only legal professionals are allowed into any BC network Instant chat & Video you can use instant chat to get answers to tough questions and video chat to see your colleague. Private yourbc isnotconnectedtothe atyourplaceofemploy Blogs you can blog on legal issues related to your practice area to demonstrate to the public that you are knowledge broker on key issues Infomercials your profile can feature a video interview of you lead by the BC TV host to demonstrate your leadership abilities and to highlight your company s commitment to diversity Monthly In-House Counsel Spotlight BC can feature a short write-upaboutyouonthehomepageofthein-housecounsel Execute Page to highlight your unique skills, accomplishments and leadership within your organization In-House Counsel On the Move Have you been promoted, moved to another company, made it to a GC spot? TellBCandwewilllettheworldknowwithacustomizedpress release and feature story on the home page this feature is free to all subscribers Classifieds post a job in our classified section or list a car or home you are selling in the Misc. classified section this section is where we recycle the dollar within our community.

4 Connectivity BC Connects You With Prospective Clients! Internet visibility is just half the battle - these enhanced marketing tools will connect your lawyers with key decision-makers: Infomercials Online video is quickly replacing TV ads as a less expensive means to reach the millions of internet users. Our professionally produced videos will highlight your lawyers greatest asset practice area knowledge in two distinct formats that will connect your lawyer with a decision-maker. Infomercials are produced either in: an interview format - where the lawyer is interviewed by a BC host, which gives prestige and credibility to the lawyer who will discuss a relevant practice issue in the interview; or a teaching format - wherein the lawyer gives a 5 minute mini-lecture on an issue in their practice area Both formats allow the lawyer to demonstrate their expertise and management style while connecting with valued clients searching the internet for their services. BC offers affordable productions that are less than our competitors. Content is produced by the client, unless the BC Professional Services Team is requested to produce content. Webinars Lawyers can host and lead out in webinars specifically tailored to meet the needs of in-house counsel, government decision-makers or target consumer groups who will receive special invites that include the lawyers bio and presentation materials. The webinar is free to the end user and offered at a inexpensive rate to the host lawyer all webinars will be listed in the news and events section of and can be hosted weekly, monthly or annually. BC Events Coming soon! In third-quarter 2010, BC will host the GC Summit where over 20 African-American general counsels will be invited to produce the GC Summit webcast on a hot topic selected by the GC s. Only BC subscribers will be invited to attend this annual event to connect with these decision-makers! Webcasts These specially produced TV webcast series are titled The BC Advocates Report and The BC Business Law Review which are shows that can feature your lawyer and a prospective client in an exposé on a hot topic, issue or event that the African-American community nationwide wants to view. You provide BC with the name of the potential client, and BC will arrange an interview and produce the professionally prepared content to air a webcast that viewers will view time and time again. Practice Groups Coming October 2009! Subscribers will have the ability to join practice groups to connect with African- American lawyers that practice in a given area. As a group member, you can share experiences, research, templates, successes, and share a database of documents that are private to your group - all at a low additional subscription fee. Lead Generation Through Market Intelligence! Through its specialty pages and user search tracking services, BC will gain market intelligence from your prospective corporate clients or consumer clients. Every search for a lawyer on BC is tracked and a monthly report is generated to summarize the top practice areas that are searched by users that will be featured in a short news article on the homepage. Legal Department Surveys: Knowing what your prospective client needs and when they need it, is half the battle in landing a new engagement. BC takes the guesswork out of the process! BC will perform bi-monthly surveys of corporate legal departments and government subscribers to identify novel or hot issues for which those decision- makers need assistance. BC will share the results of the survey (without identifying the decision-maker) with all BC out-side counsel subscribers, so that subscribing members can produce and submit an article that directly addresses the issue. The article will be featured on the In-House Executive Page or Government Lawyer Page and ed directly to the decision-maker who requested the information. This high impact marketing tool is almost guaranteed to result in lead generation. Participating lawyers can been seen as knowledge leaders and crisis managers when they respond to such requests, while developing a business relationship that is based on confidence the key ingredient in business development. Consumer Surveys: Your clients may not be corporate legal departments, but instead you want to increase your consumer client base. BC can create consumer surveys that will produce market intelligence for your firm to target consumers based on their immediate legal need. Monthly, BC will survey its consumer subscribers to identify their immediate legal needs in order to generate leads.

5 Optimizing Your Visibility Besides performing extensive search engine optimization for the BC website to keep it as the #1 website for locating African-American lawyers, Black Counselor will market and advertise the website and provide additional services to ensure we meet our internet traffic expectations. Marketing The Website: BC has committed to spending approximately 15% of its revenues on marketing and branding its services and subscribers to its end user corporate legal departments, key government entities and leaders and the 30 million African-American consumers nationwide through its aggressive marketing strategy that includes the following: l l l l Link exchanges with other African-American web sites that have at least 1 million or more unique visitors per year. Ad placement in magazines and websites like Black Enterprise, Essence and Diversity, Inc. (the nations leading magazine for African-American entrepreneurs and businesses that generate upwards of $ ½ billion in revenues). Press Releases there are over 400 African-American news papers and magazines in the U.S. and BC will send press releases about its subscribers and events to those media outlets as well as to the major majority TV and print media outlets. Radio ads and billboards placements that target the top 10 cities in the US with the largest population of African-Americans Additional Services: with a team of software and internet development and design experts and technical writers at its finger tips, BC also offers the following services: Website or mini Site Development If you are a start-up law firm or you have a website that needs updating and enhancements, BC can produce, through its technology partner Gatesix, Inc., mini websites for the small firm that are on a fixed budget or customized state-of-the -art websites for large firms at prices that beat our competitors. Creating a web site that links to the BC website is just another opportunity to increase the visibility of your firm and it s diverse talent. Content Production Services You have alot to write about but not enough time! BC understands that your lawyers are busy billing and managing clients and often don t have time to produce content for their blogs, articles or press releases. No problem! BC has a team of writers that can produce quality content at reduced flat fee rates so that they can stay visible, connected and not lose out on lead generation. Ask us about our monthly content production rates. As litigation counsel for McDonalds Corp., I need to locate lawyers nation-wide. Black Counselor Online will help me to locate diverse lawyers nation-wide quickly and easily. Robert Johnson Corporate Counsel McDonalds Corp

6 Our Team! Let us score BIG for you! The Black Counselor executive team operates like a basketball team; each department is led out by team members with proven track records as high scorers and strong rebounders. With this team approach, Black Counselor offers superior service with proven results. The Marketing Department Center Jo Saint-George, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Black Counselor, has been practicing law for 16 years and was the first African-American woman in Arizona to become a non-equity "Of Counsel" partner at a large national law firm before leaving the practice having incurred a physical impairment. Attorney Saint-George also had the unique experience of serving as a product liability, medical mal-practice and commercial litigation trial lawyer for the first half of her career and then leveraging her trial skills to serve as a complex commercial real estate development and acquisition attorney for the last half of her career. As a trial and transactional attorney (which she accomplished simultaneously for a few years), Attorney Saint-George served as out-side counsel for Fortune 100 companies and start-ups having landed many key corporate clients as part of her robust book of business. While on leave from law firm practice, Attorney Saint-George also served in the legal department of an international manufacturing company managing its national product liability litigation before the company was acquired and dissolved. Due to the depth and breadth of her legal industry experience both in large firms and corporations American, Attorney Saint-George understands the business of law and can leverage her experience as practitioner to aid firms large and small in their marketing efforts to realize a return on investment. Marketing your diverse lawyers is the center of the Black Counselor business model that is led by an attorney who who maintained a book that reflected her expertise both as a lawyer and marketer. The IT Department Guards As an online marketing service, our IT department must be fast, efficient and score big in design, functionality, content and data management in order to keep end users and clients returning to Mr. Steven Saint-George, President and Chief Information Officer of Black Counselor is a veteran in the IT world who scores BIG in IT management. Not only is he a programmer and website developer, Mr. Saint-George is one of few African-American certified Search Engine Optimization and Marketing experts in the country and member of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO). He is a SEO knowledge leader who will ensure that and the profiles of the lawyers are optimized to be the number one African-American lawyer locator service on the Internet. Mr. Saint-George leads a team of ten (10) on-shore programmers, developers and SEO experts and a team of 40 off-shore programmers and developers to ensure that delivers a product that consumers will use time and time again, which will ensure that the website will have high traffic. Mr. Saint- George and his team (all of which are minorities) have been in the internet technology industry for over 15 years providing software and website development services. In 1992, Mr. Saint-George was co-founder of Realabase, which was the nation s first online real estate property listing service that displayed virtual tours of homes, that was later taken over by Professional Services Forwards Content is KING in the internet world and professionally prepared collateral materials that speak to a lawyer s strengths is essential to a lawyer marketing campaign. Our Professional Services power-forward team led out by consultant, Director Laurie Hodgson, is responsible for the content production services Black Counselor provides to its subscribers. Ms. Hodgson is a power player in the legal industry with approximately 10 years of legal recruitment experience. She was also named a top 10 performer in legal recruitment placements with one of the top five legal recruitment firms in the country. Ms. Hodgson knows the importance of quality content and she has the technical writing acumen to produce press releases, practice area articles, news letters and summaries that are attractive and news worthy. You provide the factual or legal general information and our Professional Services team will produce the content. Affordable legal research is also available. You provide the specifics on a legal issue and a topic idea, and we will do the research. Black Counselor can be your ghost writers. Newsletter production is also available upon request. This husband and wife duo along with its technical writing team merges the best of their legal marketing skills with their technology and technical writing expertise to create a premier internet marketing service for African-American lawyers that also provides access to lawyers for the underserved African-American communities nationwide. Black Counselor is currently working with the National Bar Association, its local affiliates and in-house counsel members in a strategic alliance to develop a brand and marketing strategy for its lawyers and organization. Plans are also underway to launch or license the BC technology Latino Counselor, Asian Counselor and Native-American Counselor as additional online marketing services that meet the needs of those niche markets and to roll up each specialty website into the Minority Counsel portal for consistency and market place leverage.

7 Advertise On Black Counselor, So You Can Be On the Right Side Of History 56,000 people per month search the Internet for African-American or Black lawyers and there is no national website directory to be found.* That s were comes in! With Black Counselor on the internet, we expect those numbers to increase daily as seekers locate the website in the top position of search engines like Google and Yahoo. Through our aggressive Search Engine Optimization strategy, Black Counselor will be the #1 searched website for African-American lawyers. Black Counselor will fill the current void through its interactive Lawyer Locator search tool, Profile results and FREE legal resources targeted to niche African-American consumers, small businesses, entrepreneurs, corporate legal departments and government decision-makers. By advertising on Black Counselor you raise the profile of your organization through a connection to a state of- the-art one of a kind website that connects your organization to the knowledge leaders in the African-American community. Because access to legal resources and justice for the African-American community is a scarce resource, your ad placement will demonstrate your true commitment to diversity and equality by helping to provide access to a desperately needed service to an underserved community. With its free resources and listings of pro bono services and legal aid organizations, your organization s ad placement can help make history in the quest for equality in our nation. After all, equality for many in America was not achieved until African-American s had access to lawyers who could help them with their legal needs. Black Counselor is the ONLY African-American owned and operated website on the Internet that features African- American lawyers, in-house counsel, judges, law professors, government and public interest lawyers and law students in the U.S. Enhance your organization s visibility and showcase your African-American lawyers by purchasing an advertisement package with an infomercial that can reach millions of African-American decision-makers. In second or third quarter 2010, BC plans to launch or license its technology to create Latino Counselor, Asian Counselor and Native-American Counselor the branded parent site Minority Counselor. Purchase ad space now and lock in a special package rate for those new websites also. You can be on the Right Side of History by advertising on Black Counselor. Don t miss the opportunity! *Google Analytics as of July 30, 2009.

8 Connect with niche target groups through BC Specialty Pages! Create a special message for potential clients with banner ads located on our BC Specialty Pages that feature African-American in-house counsel, government lawyers, professors and judges. You can perform obtain market intelligence through the In-House Lawyer Locator while also marketing your diverse lawyers 24/7 to the decision-makers featured on the Executive and Government Pages. Showcase your organization or lawyers to key government lawyers and law school legal departments at our Government and Law Professor Pages.

9 Why Corporate Legal Departments and Government Agencies Should Use Black Counselor. If you are in-house counsel or a government lawyer you don t need clients, but - you do need help. Let your Company or agency BC Profile or the profile of your African-American in-house or government lawyers help you retain the right out-side counsel for your next project! When you publish a Profile on BC, the Profile provides insight into your organization s practice areas and the success of your in-house or government lawyers, so that outside counsel can truly understand the type of help you need while delivering the appropriate resources when you need it. This levels the playing field for diverse legal services suppliers who seek to do business with your organization. Your lawyer s contact numbers and company s can remain private, without diminishing access to information to potential suppliers. Additionally, you can immediately locate outside counsel that have the skill sets you need by using the BC Profiles to help you perform your due diligence on the fly. Most importantly, you or your African-American in-house lawyers may need assistance from other in-house counsel. The Black Counselor Government Lawyer and In-House Counsel Executive Page are how African-American in-house and government lawyers get and stay connected with their colleagues to stay on top of best practices in their practice area, and to share knowledge and experiences while obtaining credible referrals to outside counsel. With the BC private social network system, an organization s lawyers can build a private network of key colleagues and outside counsel that will prove to be an invaluable asset to their career development. Also, in-house and government lawyers can blog and publish articles, join specialty groups, and host practicespecific webinars through the Executive and Government Pages. HIGHLIGHT YOUR ORGANIZATIONS COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY! If you are in-house counsel or a government lawyer you don t need clients, but - you do need help. Let your Company or agency BC Profile or the profile of your African-American in-house or government lawyers help you retain the right out-side counsel for your next project! When you publish a Profile on BC, the Profile provides insight into your organization s practice areas and the success of your in-house or government lawyers so that outside counsel can truly understand that type of help you need while delivering the appropriate resources when you need it. This levels the playing field for diverse legal services suppliers who seek to do business with your organization. Your lawyer s contact numbers and company s can remain private, without diminishing access to information to potential suppliers. Additional, you can immediately locate outside counsel that have the skill sets you need by using the BC Profiles to help you perform your due diligence on the fly.

10 BANNERS BlackCounselorOnline banner advertisement include the most popular sizes like 728x90 pixel leaderboards, 160x600 pixel skyscrapers, 250x250 pixel squares among others. Banner units can be targeted to particular consumers or legal constituents as well as a run of the many landing pages. SPONSOR HIGHLIGHTS Sponsor highlights are featured on our specialty pages, which are the In- House Executives Pages, Gov. & Public Lawyers Pages, Professor Pages, Judges Pages and Student Pages, which includes text and the sponsor s logo and a link to the sponsor s web site allowing the sponsor to craft a targeted message. Sponsor highlights are also available in the Black Letter News . INFOMERCIALS BC infomercials allows your organization to webcast from your lawyer profile a 2.5 minute video taped presentation that highlights your lawyer s practice or areas of expertise to market and brand your lawyers and/or organization. A 2 page, single spaced 12 font script generally produces a 2.5 minute infomercial. Ask about BC rates for script production. MICROSITES The BC IT team has over 15 years of software and website development and design expertise and is known as one of the top minority owned development teams. Your organization can maximize its internet presence with a microsite or minsite that is an auxiliary o f the BC site. Microsites are offered in two formats: 1.) Private Label Micorsite that provides your organization with its own URL with up to five pages this option is good for small firms who don t have a website or for law firms that want to brand the services of all their African-American lawyers nation-wide; or 2.) Co- Brand Microsites that are built into the BC website that highlights your lead generating assets. CO-BRANDED The Black Letter News monthly keeps the BC subscribers informed and connected to the latest BC news and events. This monthly e- mail blast to BC subscribers can deliver your message to all subscribers and public users or to a targeted audience to brand and develop lead generation. BC webcasts provide a unique opportunity to market and brand your organization through video productions in three formats: Learn Law infomercials are short videos that provide information on areas of the law to promote the sponsor as a knowledge leader in the practice area. Sponsors are responsible for the content and can use previously written articles as a script. BC will provide the professional video production. BC Advocates Report is our premier webcast show that highlights - in an interview format the achievements and success of lawyer advocates in both the private, government and public interest sectors. Sponsors are interviewed and the show is branded with the sponsors brought to you buy slogan. BC Business Law Report is our second webcast show that focuses on BC in-house and private sector business lawyers and their successes stories and accomplishments. Sponsors can show their support of their corporate clients by sponsoring a webcast that features the successes of the African-American in-house counsel relationship manager and/or how the firm s African-American lawyer provides support to the corporate legal department. This product allows the organization to brand and market its expertise and generate leads.

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14 Calendar 2009/2010 Marketing Deadline Monthly: Lawyer Spotlights, including featured judges, students, professors and government or public interest lawyers are published on the 1st of every month. Deadline for submission are the 15th of the prior month. All submissions should be sent to Weekly: Black Letter News & Lawyers On The Move are published weekly every Thursday. The deadline for submissions are due by noon (PST) every Monday. Daily: We want to hear from your lawyers daily about news-worthy stories. Did you win a trial, negotiate a huge settlement, win an arbitration, perform a large transaction, bankruptcy or sale? Let us know by providing a 200 or 300 word summary that we can publish in the news section of Black Counselor. News is published daily. Content production services are available through your Professional Services Team. Ask about our affordable rates and monthly content writing specials. Black Counselor Hall of Fame: You can be recognized as a leader in the industry by being voted a Hall-of-Famer in the following categories: 40 Under 40 Lawyers, the Top 10 trial lawyers, in-house counsel, personal injury, family, transaction, government and public interest lawyers. Nominations and electronic voting will take place on the dates listed below. Feburary BC 40 Under 40 published Nomination Deadline: December 31, 2010 August BC Top 10 In-House Lawyers Nomination Deadline: June 30, 2010 April BC Top 10 Trial Lawyers published Nomination Deadline: February 28, 2010 June BC Top 10 Transactional Lawyers Nomination Deadline: April 30, 2010 October BC Top 10 Personal Injury & Family Law Lawyers Nomination Deadline: August 30, 2010 December BC Top 10 Government & Public Interest Lawyers Nomination Deadline: October 30, 2010