A Hashtag Leads To Marketing #Success

We can all level to moments in our skilled lives that modified the course of our careers — crushing a stretch project, actually connecting with a mentor, seizing a brand new job alternative.

Those moments don’t occur suddenly. And typically we solely recognize their origins with the good thing about hindsight.

In our experience, enterprise improvement and advertising successes typically begin out small, whether or not you’re networking with potential new shoppers, establishing your self as a thought chief, or constructing your kind on social media.

Co-hosting PLI’s inSecurities podcast, which focuses on developments within the securities regulatory, enforcement and accounting area, has been one of many coolest and most rewarding possibilities of our careers. And like so many nice possibilities, it began small — with a hashtag.

Long earlier than we hit “record” on the primary episode of inSecurities, we linked up by means of a hashtag at a securities enforcement convention. Attending the convention for our “day jobs” as forensic accountant (Chris) and securities regulatory legal professional (Kurt), we had been amongst a handful of individuals “live-tweeting” the occasion.

After we linked up “IRL” on the convention networking blissful hour, our bosses had been impressed (and stunned!) that we managed to make significant skilled connections over this “social media thing.”

We’d every discovered a kindred spirit within the securities enforcement and regulatory area, and we spent the subsequent a number of years buying and selling well-meaning barbs over lunches on Okay Street and in posts on LinkedIn and Twitter. We referred each other enterprise on occasion, however we had been largely in it for the banter.

Along the best way, we started to carve out area as thought leaders in our observe areas and on social media, and when PLI approached us with the chance to develop a podcast, we jumped on the probability. We noticed the podcast as a chance to discover our love of content material creation and advertising, to construct our profiles within the regulatory and enforcement area, and to supply substantive — and enjoyable — commentary for business leaders.

Over the previous 18 months, we’ve recorded pilot episodes, constructed a community of visitors, and deliberate, recorded, edited, and produced greater than two dozen episodes of the inSecurities podcast. It’s been fairly a journey, and we’re extremely grateful for the chance and the assistance we’ve obtained alongside the best way.

We need to pay it ahead by sharing a few of the classes we’ve realized, and a few of the nice recommendation we obtained from Deborah Farone and Stefanie Marrone on Episode 11 (“Business Development for Lawyers & Law Firms: A Conversation About Marketing, Selling and Social Media in Today’s Legal Environment”). Our high takeaways:

• Don’t go it alone – We by no means would have been capable of end 25+ episodes on our own — or had as much enjoyable doing it. Along with our unimaginable companions at PLI who assist shoulder the heavy burden of content material creation, thought era and promotion, and the enthusiastic, insightful visitors we interview, we’re capable of obtain outcomes well past what we might have completed alone.
• Be versatile – Our conception of the podcast has modified (greater than as soon as!) over time. Between the complicated points we deal with on the presentation and challenges arising from COVID-19, we’ve needed to be versatile and strike out in new instructions. We’ve additionally responded to the market — we’re typically stunned by the episodes that get essentially the most downloads, so we take the suggestions and adapt.
• Know when to skate, and when to glide – We have busy day jobs and competing calls for for our time. There are occasions to push arduous and churn out just a few episodes shortly, and different occasions to focus our vitality elsewhere. We’ve felt the strain of balancing deadlines in consumer issues with different skilled commitments, our private lives . . . and a podcast! Learning to navigate peaks and valleys has helped us to proceed producing high quality episodes at a gradual tempo (and to get pleasure from it!).
• Don’t be afraid to brag – As with our live-tweeting on the convention, we skilled blended reactions to exploring this new media. But we took time to take a seat down with our colleagues, share the metrics, and talk about the significant connections created by our podcast efforts — to brag a little bit. Now, our companies absolutely assist us, and acknowledge the potential enterprise improvement and advertising possibilities that include the podcast.

Our podcast hasn’t grow to be the subsequent Serial, nevertheless it has given us a platform and the possibility to study, develop, and share information with listeners across the globe — and to construct relationships with specialists in our discipline. Think about the way you may create and seize possibilities, even after they begin out as small as a hashtag.

Access the total inSecurities archive on PLI’s web site and on main podcast platforms, together with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.