Episode 120: Jay and Tom cover a range of topics in this episode, including the latest developments at the intersection of AI and legal tech, the 5 types of key contacts and how to communicate with them, and the pros and cons of email newsletters.

Episode 119: In this episode Jay has a deep dive discussion with thought leadership consultant Bob Buday about a number of concepts from Bob’s new book “Competing on Thought Leadership.” They address what thought leadership is in today’s era, what distinguishes true thought leadership from much of today’s mass-produced online content, and the power of original research. They also share lots of ideas for how lawyers and other professionals can create thought leadership—even if they don’t have big firms and big budgets backing their efforts.

Episode 118: Jay and Tom take a deep dive into productivity for business development. They address two obstacles that often come up in Jay’s coaching sessions, which are "I don’t have the time” and “Even if I did I wouldn’t know what to do with it.” Give this episode a listen to learn how to use checklists, overcome the “cold start problem” in relationships, the development and use of a key contact list, and more.

Episode 117: Jay has been posting daily on LinkedIn (okay, almost daily—he’s missed a few) for 3+ years. In this episode, he shares some of the most important lessons he’s learned along the way.

Episode 115: Jay and Tom dig into what generative AI like Chat GPT may mean for legal marketing.

Alex Su is back on the pod! Jay, Tom and Alex cover lots of ground in this episode, including a social media content creation deep dive, how to get started with business development, and Alex shares his thought process on creating great memes...and much more.

Episode 113: In this episode, Jay and Tom discuss the need to confront productivity demons this time of year — fixing the broken systems and bad habits that may be hampering your productivity. From time-blocking to startup and shutdown routines, they run through a number of helpful tips and tactics that will help you optimize your productivity systems.

Episode 112: Join Jay for a short episode in which he describes the benefits of taking daily action in the new year, instead of creating a bunch of generic resolutions.

Episode 111: Jay Harrington and Tom Nixon riff on the benefits of becoming the type of person who “gets lucky” in business instead of being beholden to a strict strategy. They review 2022 trends and developments on LinkedIn, including the flood of Twitter creators flocking to LinkedIn and the selfie craze. And they address the importance of becoming known well to a particular audience versus being well known to the masses.

In this episode, BigLaw lawyer turned investor and author Adam Pascarella joins Jay and Tom to discuss his new book Reversed in Part: 15 Law School Grads on Pursuing Non-Traditional Careers.

There is a lot of conventional wisdom out there about every marketing topic, and LinkedIn is no different. In this episode, Jay and Tom give their “hot takes” on some of the most common forms of LinkedIn conventional wisdom. Sometimes they agree with the standard advice, other times they suggest an unconventional approach—and in some instances they disagree with one another. Give this episode a listen to hear their take on how often to post, quality v. quantity, personal v. professional posts, going viral, and much more.

We had our first law school professor join the podcast as a guest, and Jay was worried that he was going to get subjected to the Socratic Method. In this week’s episode, Jonah Perlin, former Williams & Connolly associate and now Georgetown Law professor, talks with Jay and Tom about Twitter, podcasting and what goes into becoming a law professor.

Marketing conventional wisdom: Find the buyers in your market with an immediate need and get them into a “funnel” by using scarcity and urgency tactics. While that approach may work for selling paper towels, it’s no way to sell sophisticated professional services. In this episode, Jay and Tom describe an alternative, known as the 95:5 Rule of marketing.

Strategy plans, marketing plans, business development plans…they can be useful, but they can also be a form of procrastination. Some people spend so much time planning they never take action. In this episode Jay and Tom discuss a simple framework for marketing and business development.

Jay and Tom intended to talk about some of the newest content creation tools that platforms like LinkedIn have made available (and they do get to that), but this turned into a much more wide-ranging discussion about the emergence of Web 3 and what many people are calling the Golden Age of the creator economy. Tune in to listen to Jay and Tom riff about where we’ve been and what’s coming next for content creators in a more decentralized digital landscape.

Jay and Tom having been getting more questions from clients, and seeing more posts on LinkedIn, about lower engagement people are experiencing with their content. Is it the algorithm? Do they need to write better posts? Is it simply too noisy to stand out? In this episode, Jay and Tom profess ignorance about any supposed algorithm changes—How could anyone outside of LinkedIn know?—and propose a solution for getting more meaningful reach: have a niche. The noisier it gets out there, with bad but also really good content, the more important it is to drill down on a niche audience with your content.

An important part of creating great thought leadership is consuming great thought leadership. Thought leaders tend to have high-quality information diets. They take in content that intrigues and inspires them to create their own. In this final episode for 2021, Jay and Tom discuss the people and work they found interesting this year, so you can add some new flavor to your diet. Plus, they share that registration for the Thought Leader Collaborative is closing at midnight PT on December 20th. Links for the “Lab” and all of the thought leadership - from books to podcasts - discussed in this episode are included in the show notes.

Like the proverbial tree that falls in the forest, is there any value in creating content if no one sees it? That’s a bit of a rhetorical question, but it raises an important issue that Jay and Tom address in episode 101: Should you be putting your content on your website and placing it behind “gates,” or sharing it freely on social media and elsewhere? As with most issues, the right answer is probably somewhere in the middle.

To commemorate our 100th episode, Jay and Tom play a game of 💯. Do we agree 100% with these examples of conventional marketing wisdom? Can each of them get the other to 100% agree with some provocative assertions and unconventional takes?

It's all about thought leadership, the modern marketing environment, the future of content marketing, and LinkedIn as a business development platform.

Tune in and see where you fall. Are you 💯?

Making new connections, whether on LinkedIn or otherwise, is great. But most professionals want to turn those connections into paying clients or referral sources at some point. In this episode, Jay and Tom discuss how to play the long game and nurture relationships to the point where you’re no longer held at arm’s length - and instead are welcomed with open arms.