Checking Progress

We’ve been publishing this newsletter for a little over six months now, so I thought it would be a good point to stop, review, and make sure we’re giving you what you need.

Readership is increasing at a rate of just over 10% per month, and almost half our subscribers are from outside the UK. The word is obviously getting out and the statistics are really encouraging. The numbers are no substitute for real feedback though, and it would be great to hear from you personally if there’s anything we can do to make sure our services really are meeting your needs.

If you are new to our newsletter, or if you’d like to hear about what we’ve been up to over the past six months, then please read on. Otherwise, you can bail out here. We’ll be back in two weeks with the usual diet of expert advice and practical tips to help you market your firm online. If you do stick around, then we’ve got a rare special offer. Not to be missed if you’re thinking of reviewing your firm’s website this spring.

The past six months has been a transitionary period for Isaac Parker. After five years as a generalist web design agency, we launched in to the law firm web design scene in August 2009.

While it might seem odd to go from general design agency to legal sector specialist almost overnight, it is really the coming together of two fields of experience. Before starting Isaac Parker in 2005 I was responsible for competitive intelligence, and key client and practice group research at a leading European law firm.

Building Expertise

The process of specialisation started with conscious effort to build expertise, and a report we wrote on trends in law firm graduate recruitment websites. It was an instant success, downloaded by representatives from most of the best respected law firms in the world. Many of you reading this newsletter today will have found us for the first time through that report.

This newsletter started early on too, initially as a monthly publication. The first edition went out to just 10 people. After a few months it was clear that we have a lot more to give than we are able to get through monthly. Publishing went fortnightly in February and we’ve written around 30,000 words of content so far - almost enough to publish a book on the subject. Watch this space!

Developing process

The second stream of effort has been in building tools of implementation that makes our knowledge useful to law firms. The end result is the Book, which is now at the heart of all our services. Creating the Book is a diagnostic and strategic process that ensures any recommendations we make are built on firm foundations. This stage of an engagement takes 4 weeks from beginning to end, and begins with 2 to 5 days working with you on-site.

Much like a doctor might order blood tests and an x-ray before prescribing medication, the process of creating the Book lets us see deep inside your firm in order to collect evidence from which sound recommendations can be made. It’s our version of due diligence.

The Book runs to around 60 pages. It is a roadmap and strategic reference on which we build the rest of the creative process. You can see an example further down the page.

Supporting the Community

Most of our effort has been directed towards developing tools and expertise, but there’s one initiative about which doesn’t fall into that category - our annual pro bono award. We ran a pilot project in 2009 with international law firm Herbert Smith, but this was the first year we held a proper competition. To enter, law firms send us a one-page description of a charitable project they are involved in. We review the entries and choose the one would most benefit from our help. The prize is a design and consultancy fund worth £15,000.

Michelmores Solicitors in Exeter won the prize on behalf of Hospiscare, a hospice charity who give free, high-quality care and support to people who are terminally ill. At the time of writing we are just putting the finishing touches to their Book and hope to have work on the site completed by the end of the summer.

We can’t share the full extent of our strategic guidance, for obvious reasons, but here a sneaky peek at some of what’s involved:

Defining audience

Evaluating options

Crunching numbers

We’re a small agency, and all this work building expertise and implementation tools is a huge amount of development in a short space of time. I’d love to hear what you make of it, especially if there’s anything else you think we should be doing to meet the needs of the legal sector.

Looking forward

No review is complete without setting up some goals for the future. While the last few months has been about laying foundations, the rest of this year is about putting it into practice. We’re looking to sign-up around four new firms this year. Two by the end of April, and two later in the year.

Are you one of them?

Join Us

To celebrate the coming of spring here in the UK, and to encourage your prompt action, we’re running a very limited special offer.

The next firm to place an order for £15,000 or more will have their account credited with an additional £3,000 worth of service without charge.

Use the extra money to build a more ambitious project than you could otherwise afford, have new e-newsletter templates designed, or use it to have your firm’s brochure updated to match your new website. It really is up to you.

If this sounds good, all you need to do is give us a call and mention this offer. The offer is open until the end of April or until it’s been claimed, whichever come first. This offer is now closed.

You’ll find our contact details here.