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Just about anyone my age will tell you that they have gotten a lot out of being a member of the IndyBar. If you ask why, it’s usually because of friendships made, knowledge learned and business opportunities gained. Those are difficult commodities to quantify or to sell, especially to today’s lawyers who are looking for immediate value from their membership. At the IndyBar, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about how to create value for our members. It seems that younger lawyers want to buy the direct commodity, not just a membership.
Julie Armstrong and I know we need to manage the assets of the bar association to create value for our membership. The professional staff at the bar association “gets it.” They are all in on creating value for our members. Honestly, I know I’ve gotten far more value for my membership dollars than I have spent through the past 38 years, but nowadays I know we need to prove it. So, the staff has set about doing just that. You’ve paid for a membership in the IndyBar, but what you’re getting is real value. Let’s talk about what that will mean to you in the near term as we host “Member Appreciation Month” this September.
A few months ago, we offered free headshots for our members. More than 120 lawyers saved more than a hundred dollars each when they came over to the bar association and sat down for a click. Believe me, every lawyer should have a headshot saved on their computer for the day they’ll need it. If you speak at a seminar, you’ll need a headshot. If you apply for the appellate court, you’ll need a headshot. If you write an article, you’ll need a headshot. If you give a quote to the Indiana Lawyer, you’ll need one. It’s a good idea to have one on your website and in your email signature. If you don’t have one, come by the IndyBar offices Sept. 6-9 and say “cheese.” We’ll send you a free JPEG of yourself, all touched up. I’ve paid more than a hundred dollars for headshots several times through the years. Now I’m just going to use the one from 1995. It’s the best one.
Many lawyers sit among stacks of paper at their offices. They pay money for storage of stacks of Bankers Boxes filled with stacks of files, most of which they don’t need to keep. We all resolve to strip our old files of unnecessary paper and shred the rest. You could stand at your small office shredder for hours or pay staff to do that for you. Or, you could have it all shredded for you, compliments of the IndyBar, for a week in September. Details to follow.
Do you have a logo? When I practiced law, we paid a design firm to come up with a pantone color and font for our letterhead. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it did distinguish us. We have fantastic staff who can design a logo for some of you—unfortunately not enough time for everyone. They’ll be available the week of Sept.19 to do that for you.
During that same week, our social media gurus will help you set up your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter accounts too. You don’t have to ask a 9-year-old to show you how to do it when we’ve got the pros here who really know how it’s done. If you’re on social media, you know the IndyBar does a lot of social media. Since I’m a judge, I don’t tweet, but I entertain and inform myself waiting for appointments by looking at Twitter. When I know there’s a breaking news story, I keep glancing at my Twitter feed to see what’s just happened. Take my word for it, there are lots of reasons you need to know how to use social media.
The last week of September, for a lucky 20 to 30 members, we’ll video you introducing yourself for your website. We’ll even do a little editing of the digital video for you too. If you haven’t been on law firm websites, you need to visit a few. Good websites all have video and most follow the same general theme. I learned from a pro that your video needs to be less than two minutes. Folks have short attention spans these days. We’ll make that easy for you to do.
And as if all of that wasn’t enough, we’ll be offering free CLEs each week. Keep an eye out for additional details, including date and time information as well as sign-up forms for logo design and video services.
At the IndyBar, we’re passionate about helping you gain greater productivity, greater profitability and greater purpose in the practice of law. September will be our chance to walk the walk, providing you with day after day of true, tangible benefits that can equate to dollars saved and clients gained. Make a September resolution and stop by to try these new services out. I think you’ll be happy you did. •
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