External Marketing for our Association...Are You Maximizing Your Potential?
by Debbie Nickerson, PP, PLS, NALS 1998-99 President

In the past, the NALS Marketing Committee has divided the marketing of our association into two categories–internal and external marketing. Internal marketing includes marketing and promoting our current programs.

External marketing involves marketing our association and its programs to all who are not members of NALS. External marketing is not only for the purpose of recruiting members but also to make the legal community and the general public aware of our association and our goals and purposes.

The following are a few suggestions that may help you in deciding how your chapter can take a step in external marketing of NALS.

1. Community service projects such as sponsoring a blood drive, helping in soup kitchens, sponsoring fund raising projects for non-profit organizations (such as United Way, United Cerebral Palsy, Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Fund), which fund raising projects could involve telethons, walkathons or brown bag lunches. Be creative with your fund raising projects.

2. NALS logo items. Whether using items purchased from the NALS Resource Center or coming up with your own logo items to sell, the logo items give us an opportunity to do some external marketing. When someone asks, “What is NALS?” this “opens the door” for members to share our Association. NALS does not want to be a well-kept secret among members only.

3. Visit your local law or public library and see if they will allow you to leave bookmarks for visitors’ use. Bookmarks with our NALS logo, local and national information contact names and addresses can easily be made on your computer and photocopier. Our tag line “the association for legal professionals” and our mission statement (printed at the end of this article) should be included. Be sure to update information on bookmarks as needed.

4. Bar Presentations and Bar Functions. Contact your local or state bar associations and request to be put on their next business meeting agenda to make a presentation about NALS. If this isn’t possible, request to have a NALS information table at the next bar function. Keeping a working relationship with the bar association is an ongoing project. Once you’re in the door, keep the door open. You may find the bar will see your chapter is so well organized they’ll want you to help with their registration/information booth–more opportunities to share NALS!

5. Court Assistance Programs. This program could involve contacting your local court to see if there is a need in helping pro se litigants complete forms. This project will involve some time in setting up, including the use of a legal advisor (usually a member’s boss is willing to help) but the program will become very beneficial to the Court, the public, and to NALS. A court clerk recently made the following comment about the Court Assistance Program in her Court: “When I see pro se litigants lining up at the counter to request help in completing forms, I take a look at the calendar and see when NALS members are next scheduled to be at the Court, I smile and tell them there will be someone here to help them on Wednesday.” She indicated that the court personnel are so grateful to the NALS members who assist with this program.

6. Participate in Career Day Programs at local schools. Contact your local schools and community colleges to find out when they will be conducting Career Day activities. Your presentation will be about the legal support staff professional and you can weave NALS into your presentation, especially student membership opportunities.

7. Offering the NALS Legal Training Course may seem like “internal” marketing but many times the number of non-members attending are in that “external” arena. This is a wonderful way to sell membership as well as to better educate the legal community about our association, especially the instructors and the employers of the students. Holding the course at local community colleges allows the educators at those campuses to become familiar with our association, especially the certification programs that could become part of their curriculum.

8. Present speakers at meetings, seminars and Legal Training Courses with NALS logo items. Our NALS logo is a beautiful piece of art. Let’s use it everywhere and whenever we can. It is great to walk into an office and see a logo item on someone’s desk who has been a participant in one of our programs.

9. Write articles for your local or state bar association and other law related publications. Here again, another perfect opportunity for our name and programs to be shared with the legal community. Also, consider placing an ad in these law related association publications. If the cost is too prohibitive, see if you can negotiate reciprocal ads in each other’s publications. It never hurts to ask. You may be surprised at the response as well as the development of working relationships with other law related associations.

10. Co-sponsor a seminar. Contact your local or state bar association and/or other law related associations and see if they would like to co-sponsor an event with you, such as a seminar, workshop, or community service project. Here again, another opportunity to share NALS with others. If the bar association is not able to co-sponsor a seminar, see if their board is willing to endorse the program which will lead to more credence with your employers.

11. Participate in ABA Law Day activities. Bosses’ Night and Court Observance functions can be both internal and external marketing activities when events are open to all in the legal community. Don’t rely just on mailings. Be sure events are publicized in local papers. Public Service Announcements on radio and television should be included as well.