What to be a successful thought leader? Commit to making your readers look good within their own organizations.

I recently had the absolute delight of talking with Mike Volkov – compliance attorney, former DOJ prosecutor, the CEO of Volkov Law Group, and a seven-time recipient of JD Supra’s annual Readers’ Choice awards – and I begin my recap of our conversation with that takeaway, above, because of what it says about how Mike positions himself while making sense of issues of the day for his target audience.

More than a decade ago, while working at a large firm, Mike started a blog. The executive team told him to shut it down for fear of offending their clients. Instead, he started his own firm, doubled down on his writing efforts, and partnered with JD Supra to promote his content in order to, in his words, establish early credibility. In that first year, he earned 16 new clients via his thought leadership and it has been steady growth ever since. (Behind the scenes at JD Supra HQ we love playing our own Where’s Waldo version of the legal world: “Spot Mike Volkov in the news, sitting behind his client at a congressional hearing.”)

I brought many questions to our conversation – all focused on helping marketers and lawyers understand how to leverage writing to support business growth – but I did not have to ask much. Mike is at ease with this subject and spent our 45 minutes articulating a Responsiveness that I often see at the heart of thought leadership success.

Mike understands - and listens to - his audience and he has a thoughtful approach to using online technology to give this audience exactly what it needs. Some takeaways from our time together:

Keep it brief, focus on the ‘Need-to-Know’

In the abstract, this makes sense to most people involved in explaining legal complexities to clients or prospective clients. However, Mike really digs into this idea (again: responsiveness) and encourages prospective writers to actually picture how and when you might meet your audience in their need. “Imagine that your reader is headed to a board or executive meeting, and that they need to be informed about key issues. They don’t want to be in a situation in which they don’t have an answer.”

I find this sort of thinking about writing very helpful – it makes next steps almost intuitive.

Your ideal reader is an in-house lawyer or a CCO and they’re about to step into a meeting with leadership, but they are also extraordinarily busy and don’t have much time to read. How to make yourself truly useful? Tell them what they need to know.

(As Mike says, online thought leadership today does not require complex legal memos filled with citations. As a writer he is guided by his readers and clients who have made it very clear over the years, again: “Please just tell me what I need to know.”)

Use different styles of content and visibility, and understand their role in the lives of your audience

Mike has successfully incorporated podcasting into his content marketing toolbox and, again, he brings a thoughtful, precise understanding to how this works. Returning to the idea of actually imagining your audience during the course of a busy day or week, he uses the long form audio of podcasting to deepen a relationship that begins with the written word. That is to say: he knows that his podcast audience listens to his programs while driving to work, or going to the gym (not speculation: they tell him as much), and because they have more time in these situations, he can do a deeper dive that might not necessarily work if he required reading instead of listening.

...picture how and when you might meet your audience in their need.

This is the smart stuff of Content Strategy in italics, with a capital C and S: Who is our audience? What do they need? What exactly are they doing when they need it? Based on our answers to these questions, how can we effectively meet their needs with our expertise?

After many years in the trenches, paying attention to the success of his team’s content efforts, Mike uses the written word to drive listeners to his podcast. And while he does not see the reverse as being true (his podcast driving readership), he has used webinars to successfully reach and engage an audience and, given the format, cross-reference his existing, related text and audio content. Additionally, often what begins as a written piece is expanded upon later, given the focus of a podcast program. It is a package deal.

Mike understands that his is a serious audience (as are most readers, listeners, and watchers of need-to-know information provided by lawyers). Within this framework, while he sees promise with mainstream platforms of the day like TikTok and Instagram (“short bursts of information”), his core “stations” for establishing professional credibility among a legal/regulatory audience are JD Supra, LinkedIn, and his blog. He finds the combination of LinkedIn and JD Supra (in which his new content automatically flows from JD Supra to his LinkedIn network) especially helpful. While he thinks LinkedIn groups are not as valuable as they once were, he still encourages others to join relevant groups in order to find an audience and grow their network.

When required to spend more time on an issue that can’t be explained in 500 or 750 words, he is clear with his readers (the title calls it out: “A deep dive…”), and he typically divides the thought leadership into three parts. Over the years he has developed a cadence to these three part series that his readers have come to expect from him, starting with a broad overview introduction and then diving into specifics, as needed.

For marketers working with prospective thought leaders (or lawyers who won’t commit to writing), focus on the impact

(Well, to be fair, Mike actually said “appeal to their vanity” – and I think you do this by focusing on the impact of thought leadership online today.)

While we were discussing the need for regular, fresh content, a firm marketer on the call asked Mike for advice when lawyers won’t commit to steady writing. Once again embodying a spirit of responsiveness, Mike encouraged marketers not to focus on the writing but its impact.

In concrete terms, this means: tell your prospective authors that you are working to raise their profile. (In his words, tell them: “People need to hear your voice.”) What you need in return: content.

...tell your authors that you are working to raise their profile. What you need in return: content.

Once a piece is published, show your new author what happens when you Google their name (“Their content comes up!”). This translates into something we’ve counseled for many years at JD Supra: close the loop by showing your authors their analytics, a clear measure of the impact of their thought leadership, and a source for many follow-up opportunities.

Mike began our conversation by self-deprecatingly suggesting he is not that funny. I disagree. His story of how much his associates love to write was delivered with substance and humor. (“They get a byline, so they send it to their parents. It appeals to their vanity. Then, via JD Supra, they get media pickup, a mention in the Wall Street Journal. That’s when they really send it to their parents!”)

Mike is aware of the many ways writing can lead to new opportunities. For example, he told the story of how two associates bylined a piece together and quickly after publication were invited to appear on a podcast, generating even more visibility for themselves, and showcasing their expertise to an even larger audience. However, like a truly good thought leader, he does not leave such results to come to him. He seeks them out.

Specifically, Mike explained how he regularly looks through his JD Supra analytics for any readers flagged Notable by us (readers vetted as notable appear at the top of his analytics). He looks up these valuable readers (researching their roles, companies, and other such information) and then writes to them (usually on LinkedIn) thanking them for their support.

Sometimes readers write back, thanking him for his insights. Other times, it leads to more, a deeper relationship, an opportunity for new work. And, as Mike says, you only need one or two of those turning into new client matters to make your efforts worthwhile. Now that is a great measure of impact!

[JD Supra clients: for the complete recording of my conversation with Mike, log into your accounty and look for the Office Hours prompt in your account dashboard. Click for the link and passcode for this or any previous Zoom Office Hours session. And a heartfelt thanks to Mike for generously giving his time and insights for this time together – much appreciated!]

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Paul Ryplewski is JD Supra's VP of Client Services. Connect with him on LinkedIn.