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Episode 140: Jay and Tom break down the (polite) battle for control in the business development process. As a lawyer, you have more power and leverage the more unique and differentiated you are from the competition. This impacts pricing power, the ability to avoid RFPs, and dynamics in the attorney/client relationship as well. Lawyers who have “power” aren’t merely order takers—they steer the ship when it comes to strategy. Listen in to learn what this type of power is, its impact, and how to get more of it.

Episode 139: Listen in as Jay, Tom, and Curtis Hays do a LinkedIn deep dive. Curtis is the founder of collideascope, a digital marketing agency, and also the host (along with Tom) of the Bullhorns and Bullseyes podcast. This episode was recorded for Bullhorns and Bullseyes, but we thought it was a great conversation so we decided to re-publish it on The Thought Leadership Project. Enjoy!

Episode 138: Rachael Bosch, founder of Fringe Professional Development, joins us for the first episode of 2024. Rachael and Jay discuss the value of implementing “upward feedback” programs in law firms, and how to do it effectively. They also dig into coaching and training trends for 2024.

Episode 137: Creating and sharing thought-leadership content is an effective way to gain visibility and build trust with an audience, and generate billable work for your practice. But what if you could take things to the next level by monetizing your thought-leadership content itself—not merely using it to sell your services? That’s what Laura Frederick and Jay Harrington discuss in this episode. Almost everyone in the legal industry who’s on LinkedIn is familiar with Laura, and her daily contract tip posts. Laura is a lawyer, and founder of How to Contract, a contract training business focused on helping lawyers and in-house contract teams learn real-world contract skills, and ContractsCon, a contract training conference.

Episode 136: Adrian Lurssen, co-founder and VP of strategic development at JD Supra, rejoins the podcast to discuss tips and trends for thought-leadership marketing as we look ahead to 2024.

Episode 135: In this episode, legal recruiter, podcast host, and author Scott Love breaks down what it takes to become a rainmaker with Jay and Tom. Scott shares the many lessons he’s learned while helping rainmakers make lateral moves in the legal marketplace, including the importance of consistent effort, truly understanding a client’s challenges, and collaboration. He also shares his perspective on the current state of the legal hiring market—and much more in this episode chock full of actionable insights.

Episode 134: In this episode, Jared Correia, founder or Red Cave Law Firm Consulting and podcaster extraordinaire, shares his expertise on how to run a small law firm like a business and grow it sustainably and profitably. Jared, Jay and Tom discuss Jared’s three-step system for growth, which involves establishing processes and systems, hiring effectively, and learning from data and analytics. At the end of the podcast, Tom and Jared delve into their passion for yacht rock, while Jay mostly stays silent and sips coffee, due to his ignorance.

Episode 133: Jay and Tom share and discuss content that inspired them in the last month. Learn how a famous Hollywood producer generates movie ideas (without trying) through “curiosity conversations.” Check out a private equity fund that isn’t afraid to have a clear and strong point of view in their writing. Discover what professional writers think matters in the age of AI. These and other topics are addressed in this content “favorite finds” episode.

Episode 132: Between the two of them, Jay and Tom have written thousands of LinkedIn posts, hundreds (perhaps 1,000+) long-form articles, and a number of books. In today’s episode, they unpack their writing processes, from how they generate ideas to how they edit their work, so you can learn from their experiences. Want to grab and hold the attention of a reader with your thought-leadership content? Get inspired and learn important lessons about writing for today’s attention-strapped readers in this episode.

Episode 131: Law firms sell expertise, and the best way to showcase expertise through marketing is to produce thought-leadership content. Most firms do that to some extent already. However, in today’s episode, Jay and Tom make the case that firms should do much more—in essence, they should build a media company to become the go-to resource for a given industry or topic. They discuss examples of companies outside the legal industry that are already doing this, why it’s a valuable opportunity for law firms, and what would be required to pull it off.

Episode 130: In this episode, Jordana Confino, Positive Lawyering professor, and founder of JC Coaching & Consulting, joins Jay to discuss well-being and the practice of law. They discuss Jordana’s journey from clerkships, to BigLaw, to academia, and her recent transition to entrepreneurship as founder of her own coaching and consulting firm. Jordana also shares her thoughts on how lawyers can build successful and sustainable careers by finding purpose in their work, detaching from work in order to refresh and revitalize, and much more.

Episode 129: In this episode, Jamie Sternberg, trademark attorney at Saunders & Silverstein LLP, joins Jay to discuss her experience building a legal practice. They discuss the various tactics Jamie has used to grow her practice, including networking, getting involved in groups and associations, content creation, and more. Business development and marketing require experimentation and iteration, and Jamie’s experience can help your own approach to building a practice.