The Thought Leadership Project

In this episode, Jay and Tom discuss how to approach content creation with the appropriate (long-term) expectations, and why you’re likely to exceed expectations when you have the right mindset.

On this episode, Gen Xers Jay and Tom sit down and chat with Matt Margolis, also known as #MattTheMillennialLawyer LinkedIn. Matt posts some of our favorite content—hilarious memes, TikTok, and Piñata Farms videos—on LinkedIn, and he shares the tricks of his trade that have helped him build his personal brand and his legal practice on the platform.

Brian Clark is a serial digital entrepreneur, with a track record of building successful businesses using content and thought-leadership marketing techniques as the primary driver of business growth. A former attorney who practically invented content marketing while building Copyblogger, Brian shares his latest ventures, and how content curation — a close relative of content creation—are the build...

Still skeptical about the benefits of a niche legal practice? You may change your mind after hearing Phillip Russell, a partner at Ogletree Deakins, describe the benefits of niching down. Phillip has what he describes a “triple niche.” He’s an employment lawyer who specializes in OSHA for the construction industry. The specificity of his approach helps him stand out—not to mention develop deep exp...

You don’t need to do all forms of marketing. You don’t need to be on all social media platforms. In fact, as Jay and Tom discuss in this episode, you should choose just one.

By listener request, Jay and Tom address the issue of how to engage in thought-leadership content marketing when one feels they don't have the accomplished career or track record to claim a title of "thought leader." Common to junior associates and recent law school graduates, this phenomenon comes up quite a bit, so this show will help people in that position overcome some limiting beliefs.

Charlotte Smith’s journey from practicing attorney to becoming a coach is not all that uncommon. She hired a coach, found the experience to be transformational, and decided to become one herself.

To the surprise of many, most law firms not only navigated through the COVID-19 crisis in 2020—a significant percentage thrived. From smart pivots to investments in marketing and business development, nimble law firms grew through adversity. In this episode, Lee W. Frederiksen joins Jay and Tom to discuss what factors distinguish “high-growth firms” in the High Growth Study 2021.

Personal branding is often mistaken for professional bragging, but it’s really all about generosity, selflessness and abundance. That’s the view of Winter Wheeler, founder of Winter Wheeler Mediation & Arbitration, and it’s one that we share. Winter launched her mediation business shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, and despite all the challenges she faced, she and her business thrived. Learn al...

Personal branding is often mistaken for professional bragging, but it’s really all about generosity, selflessness and abundance. That’s the view of Winter Wheeler, founder of Winter Wheeler Mediation & Arbitration, and it’s one that we share. Winter launched her mediation business shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, and despite all the challenges she faced, she and her business thrived. Learn al...

The Thought Leadership Project is extremely excited to announce the next natural evolution of our ongoing project to convert lawyers' subject matter expertise into thought leadership, and thought leadership into new business: the Thought Leader Collaborative. Jay and Tom discuss what it is, who it's for, and how attorneys can benefit.

Callie Schweitzer is a senior news editor at LinkedIn, where she leads the editorial coverage of the marketing industry for the platform’s 722+ million global members. Who better to turn to for advice on maximizing your efforts on LinkedIn? We covered the complete spectrum, for beginners who are still lurking, to the masters who want to experiment with LinkedIn Stories, and more!

Once you can identify and define your ideal client, everything falls into place. Listen in as Jay and Tom discuss the marketing and business development benefits of knowing who your ideal client is, including knowing what to say and where to say it.

Are good brief writers necessarily excellent authors of thought leadership? Guest Ross Guberman is the President of both Legal Writing Pro and BriefCatch, who has delivered thousands of legal-writing workshops on four continents and is the opinion-writing trainer for all new federal judges. He's also written several bestselling books, including the Amazon bestseller Point Made: How to Write Like t...

Tom and Jay do a podcasting-for-lawyers episode on their podcast for lawyers, interviewing co-hosts of the recently launched, but already successful, "Into the Breach" podcast. Bryan and Gena are also partners at Seyfarth Shaw, based in Washington, D.C. and New York City, respectively.

As a busy lawyer, you can’t be everywhere doing everything, especially when it comes to marketing. If you spread yourself too thin, you won’t be visible anywhere. But here’s the good news: Keeping it simple is the best way to engage in effective marketing. In this episode, Jay and Tom discuss why it’s better to narrow the focus of your marketing efforts and how to do it.

Many lawyers desire to create content for prestigious publications, but don’t know what it takes. In this episode, Zack Needles, editor-in-chief of legal media heavyweight Law.com, helps demystify the process. Zack weighs in on a number of important issues.

Michael is the founder of Mike Morse Law Firm, the largest personal injury law firm in Michigan. Since being founded in 1995, the Mike Morse Law Firm has grown to 150 employees, served 25,000 clients, and collected more than $1 billion. A household name in Michigan, Mike gets more than 20,000 calls per year requesting his services. He joins the show this week to discuss his thought leadership plat...

We all have access to a superpower. It’s called flow state. A 10-year McKinsey and Co. study found top executives were 500% more productive when in flow. It’s the state in which we operate at our highest levels of performance—like an athlete “in the zone.” Listen in as Jay and Tom discuss the ins and outs of flow state, including: - How multitasking and distractions prevent flow state - How vision...

Shari is the founder of Shari Belitz Communications, LLC, a litigation strategy and education company for lawyers, with more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, including managing mass tort litigation for Fortune 500 insured clients. Shari studied forensic psychology, including advanced jury research and science, at the graduate level and writes and lectures extensively about th...

Are introverts "having their moment?" The modern environment has made impossible many of the traditional business development arenas that historically played to extroverts' natural abilities—large networking events, cocktail parties, coffee and lunch meetings, one-on-one pitches and "winning it in the room." In their place have emerged digital venues and methodologies, which just may live in the s...

Personal branding isn’t just for lawyers working in law firms. According to Lisa Lang, general counsel at Kentucky State University, t’s an issue that all lawyers—private practice and in-house—should be focused on. In this episode, Jay and Tom discuss a range of topics with Lisa, including: - The importance of personal branding and content creation for in-house lawyers (or those looking to go in-h...

“John Grisham was a practicing lawyer with a side hustle.” That’s the “hook” line from a LinkedIn post Jay wrote on January 1 that generated well over 100,000 views and a boatload of reactions and comments. In this episode, Jay and Tom break down the post and extract lessons that everyone who posts on LinkedIn can benefit from, including: - How to tell a story on LinkedIn - The importance of consi...

Why is "Vision"—a somewhat nebulous term and often misunderstood concept—so critical for attorneys looking to further their careers (whether in law or outside of it)? Bob Levant, an accomplished trial attorney who is earning his master’s degree in mental health counseling to further his own career as coach to enterprising attorneys, joins the show to discuss why long-term success always starts wit...

What does it take to grow a network of 20,000 followers on LinkedIn? In short, consistency, creativity and generosity. In this episode Patricia Baxter, managing partner of Morgan & Akin’s Philadelphia office, discusses reaching the 20,000-follower threshold with Jay and Tom. It’s not a vanity metric—it’s a reflection of concerted effort to create great content and deliver value to an audience. Amo...