By Joe Williams
In an environment where potential clients can find the credentials of attorneys online with just a few quick clicks, it is more important than ever for firms to take another look at their employee biographies. Marketers must ensure bios are not only coherent with the company’s brand message but that the information is engaging and easy to read. Amy Spach, principal of AS Written Communications, along with a panel of experts that included Per Casey, Jennifer Gamber and Tina Johns, provided practical and easy-to-implement advice on creating an attorney biography page for the 21st-century reader.
Attorney biographies function as a primary source for prospective clients to learn about your attorneys and may drive the reader to contact them for further information or potential business. Biographies are also essential to media relations, as they allow journalists to get a snapshot of the credentials of a potential source.
While there is no “correct” format, there is an industry standard that firms must take into account prior to developing their attorney biographies. Perhaps the most important piece of content for legal marketers is lead sentence. While it is crucial that the biography explicitly communicates the attorney’s professional credentials, the information must be presented in an engaging way, starting with the opening line. The panelists provided this example:
“Mr. Cvitanovic is an ‘A-V’ rated attorney (highest rating by Martindale-Hubbell) and leader of Haight Brown & Bonesteel’s Construction Law Practice Group.”
While this lead sentence might enforce Mr. Cvitanovic’s credentials as an attorney, it does little to engage the reader or summarize the scope of his practice.
“In his trial counsel and defense of high-exposure construction claims, Steven M. Cvitanovic protects the interests and livelihoods of developers and contractors of residential, commercial and public projects.”
With just a few changes, this new lead not only expressly states Mr. Cvitanovic’s practice area, it also presents the information in a more compelling manner that sparks the reader’s interest and encourages continued reading.
Once a strong lead for a biography has been created, the next task for marketing professionals is to establish the credentials of the attorney. Most readers expect an easy-to-read format that is light on text but heavy on information. An excellent way to accomplish this is to incorporate both bullets and headlines into the bio.
Bullets are an easy way to communicate a large amount of content briefly and effectively. However, a laundry list of achievements should be avoided. Instead, group similar ideas together into “horizontal” categories. Additionally, too many bullet points can overwhelm the reader. Combine and condense whenever possible and make sure only the most important information is being communicated. Lastly, bullet points should be brief. They should not be full sentences or try to convey large amounts of information.
Compelling headlines are also an excellent way to break up large chunks of information and group together relevant experience into appropriate sections. They allow the reader to direct their attention to the aspects of the biography that are most important to them.
While structure is important to an effective biography, the content must establish the attorney’s credentials without overwhelming the reader with jargon or bogging them down with unnecessary information. One way to accomplish this is to work with the attorney to find an interesting and unique story that you can draft the biography around.
The panelists shared an article from Guy Kawasaki, co-founder of Alltop.com and noted author, presenting seven distinct storylines marketers can use when developing attorney biographies.
By creating an engaging story communicated through the attorney’s personal and professional experience in an easy-to-read format, a biography becomes more than just words on a page. It becomes a business driver, relationship builder, and, perhaps most importantly, it gives an attorney the opportunity to share their personal and professional story and distinguish themselves from their colleagues and their competition.
BEST PRACTICES:
- Make a strong opening.
- Find a story. Tell it. Use specifics.
- Use active and present tense when possible.
- Avoid a laundry list of achievements. Group similar ideas into “horizontal” categories.
- Try to keep matters and activities within a five-year period, with exceptions for major achievements, such as Supreme Court case or president of a national association.
- Vary sentence structure. Do not start every paragraph with the attorney’s name.
- Eye Test - Print the page. If a paragraph looks like a chore to tackle, break it into reader-friendly sections.
- Breath Test - Keep sentences short. Read the bio aloud. If you need to catch your breath mid sentence, it is too long. More than 30 words are too much. Ideal length is 15-20 words.
- Close with a call to action - encourage readers to make contact.
PANELISTS:
Per Casey
President, Tenrec
per@tenrec.com
Jennifer M. Gamber
Marketing And Business Development Strategist
Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP
jgamber@marshallip.com
Tina Johns
Website Wonder Woman
Marketing and Communications
Schiff Hardin LLP
tjohns@schiffhardin.com
Amy Spach
Principal, AS Written Communications
amy@aswrittencom.com
Joe Williams is an Jr. Associate at Greentarget Global Group, a strategic communications firm serving law firms, professional service firms and select industries in the business-to-business market. He is a graduate of Bradley University and can be contacted at Jwilliams@greentarget.com.