Marketing? The Law Librarian?
Date : 2008 06 02 Category : Tech & Development Library StuffHey, remember me?
For the past few weeks, I have been buried in work. You see, as a "consultant", not an "employee", the more I work I get, the more the company I work for makes (We bill by the hour).
So, I’ve been a bit busy, working almost 12 hour days and not having much else to do in the way of time than the more important stuff (family, housework, etc). I have been on Twitter this weekend (whenever it was working), but FriendFeed is the way to go for me lately (I’m at http://www.friendfeed.com/stevencohen), and yes, the content of LS has (will!) change (yet again).
For a while, I’ll be blogging about what I know best: Law Libraries, Legal Research, and Law Library Marketing.
Let’s chat a bit about marketing this evening. If you work in a legal environment, do you have a marketing department. Most firms above 100 attorneys have one these days. More importantly, do you work closely with that marketing department?
I firmly believe that law librarians need to continue to market their skills and knowledge in order to not be passed by someone (or something) else. While we know that we’re good, does everyone else in the firm know that? Enter the marketing department. This is what they do best, and by becoming a part of their team, they will start marketing your skills as well.
Case: One of our clients recently hired a new marketing director. I made it a point to meet with her right away and describe, in detail, what I do for the firm in terms of business development, research, and management. After our meeting, she met with all of the practice groups and told them about me and what I can do to help their departments. My work has since increased and I am an active participant in their marketing targets to new and potential clients.
So, step one in marketing yourself is to meet with the marketing department in your firm. If they don’t have one (and if you feel that they need one), start rallying for one (I’ve done this for another client). An active law librarian is a happy law librarian.