Will Cheek III is a partner at Adams and Reese, a two-time recipient of JD Supra’s Readers’ Choice awards in the Food & Beverage category, and is ranked Band 4 Nationwide by Chambers USA in Food & Beverage: Alcohol Law.
Although his firm BIO begins with a favorite quote (“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible”) any profile visitor also quickly learns that Will is “often referenced as the go-to liquor lawyer in Tennessee.”
This professional visibility is in no small part due to Will’s consistent writing on the subject (he started with a newsletter and in time switched to blogging). And so, I was especially happy to host him in a recent Office Hours 
Zoom call with JD Supra clients, to see what we can all learn from Will about his successful thought leadership habits.
Listening to Will talk, one quickly realizes that his successes as a thought leader (and even attorney, perhaps) can best be summed up with one word: Responsiveness. At the heart of many of Will’s stories during our Zoom conversation is a theme of clear-eyed, meaningful response to the situation at hand, of understanding where the value lies in what you do and then seeing it through.
…writing is also a way for a young lawyer to establish credibility and influence within their own firm…
Sometimes the point is lighthearted (on practicing liquor law: “I took a college hobby and turned it into a career”), but not always. For example, Will made the point that thought leadership not only establishes credibility in a marketplace, among clients and prospective clients. Writing, he says, is also a way for a young lawyer to establish credibility and influence within their own firm, both by being recognized for their expertise by colleagues and also by growing a book of business with writing.
My favorite example of this natural responsiveness to value in any situation is of how Will responds to many client questions. In his words: “Quick questions are always on the house. I tell clients,’ I won't bill you unless I tell you in advance and, if you ask me a good question and I don't know the answer, chances are I'll probably try to figure it out. I won't charge you.’” Not only that, Will frequently uses client questions (and his research to understand the answer) as fodder for new writing.
That’s exactly what happened when a client recently asked about the FTC’s new rule to ban non-compete agreements. Will’s subsequent post (available here), read by thousands, simply began as a response to a single client’s question.
[If you’re taking notes on thought leadership best practices, there’s one. Turn client questions into new writing. It scales well.]
I focus on this idea of Responsiveness because, in a recent study of content on JD Supra, we saw something similar shared by the thought leaders whose writing tends to drive business growth directly. Along with other effective editorial habits, these authors have asked themselves:
- with my expertise, whom can I help the most?
- what problems do they have?
- and, how exactly can I help them solve these problems?
Their next steps are directly guided by answers to these questions.
[That’s another takeaway for thought leadership best practices: know your role in the business landscape — who you can help and how — and then write with a sincere focus on exactly this.]
That’s the big picture.
If you’re embarking upon a new path as a writer, a thought leader, understand what unique value you bring to the marketplace and your clients and then embody it in your writing. But, what about the other, smart editorial habits to support this approach? Here are some that I captured from my conversation with Will:
- Write at a consistent pace – 1+ per month at least (Will generally produces 2-3 posts per month)
- Write on a consistent subject. In Will’s case, two niches give his writing focus with a particular audience: a topic/need (liquor licenses) and a region (Tennessee). As Will says, “You can't write about everything” and, more importantly, you shouldn’t...
- Write to inform, not to impress. Again, per Will: This is not content for a law review. Use short sentences. If you type a comma, instead of continuing the sentence, use a period and make it two sentences. Use short paragraphs. Two, three or four short sentences for each.
- Keep it practical. Don’t just recite a rule of law, give real-world examples. Make it real, something your readers can use.
- Make it easy to read. Over half your audience will be reading your post while scrolling on a phone. Use short paragraphs. Two, three or four short sentences for each. And tied to this idea…
- Make it entertaining. Short clear paragraphs can certainly help with reading ease, but Will also suggests making your writing fun. His hook? “I always include a song quote, often only tangentially related to the post. The most frequent thing I hear about my blog? ‘I love the songs you quote.’ If you combine a little education with a healthy dose of entertainment, you have done your job.” (Words to live by!)
- Make it easy for yourself. That’s my language to sum up how Will keeps track of future writing ideas. Super simple: he sends himself ideas for posts, stores this fodder in a folder in his email. Once a week he reviews the ideas. Between one and four become posts, others are discarded or saved for potential later use. The big takeaway: nothing fancy, it is a quick and simple method for tracking and evaluating next writing ideas.
- Work with your marketing team. Again, part of making it easy on yourself means: make it collaborative. Use all available support. Will relies on his marketing colleagues in a number of ways – often, they help him to find the signature song quote that sets the post apart, or with honing in on final topics, or also standard editorial assistance (cutting down a post to manageable length, etc.)
- Talk to your clients. As above, great for relationships, great for new writing ideas.
- Talk to your colleagues. Will’s post about how to respond to the FTC’s non-compete ban came about after a client question. But his insights in the post came after talking with labor and employment attorneys at his firm.
- Call out your readers in your title. You have heard this from us before and it deserves to be repeated. Engage your readers from the start, with a title that either asks a question or calls out your audience directly … or both.
- Stay true to your promise. When will attends conferences and makes new connections, he is sure to drive people to his blog, his email list. And, as it grows, Will’s focus does not change. His subscribers know what to expect from him, from his thought leadership, and that is exactly what he delivers.
Clients: for the complete recording of my conversation with Will, log into JD Supra and look for the Office Hours prompt in your account dashboard. Click for the link and passcode for this or any previous Zoom session.
Now – drinking from the well, so to speak – I’m going to go sip a Tennessee bourbon and wonder if “Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right” would have been a good song quote for this particular post. Hmm…
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Paul Ryplewski is JD Supra's VP of Client Services. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
