Case Study #1: Bar Associations, Small Firms and Solo Practitioners

I was brought in as the principal copywriter and content manager/assistant for all five bar associations and worked with the Communications Director, Web Manager, Partners and subject matter experts to rewrite their entire websites--from 25 pages to more than 500 pages.

The CCCBA challenge.

The CCCBA Board of Directors realized that its existing website was no longer relevant to the needs of 21st century lawyers and of the Contra Costa community.

Design was outdated, navigation was poor, backend technology was not offering easy access to services, and copy was complex and inconsistent.

The site had a wealth of valuable content that did not invite participation or increase membership.

In addition, offline administrative and office procedures were not aligned with online procedures for important programs and services. This hindered staff performance who were unable to conduct work as efficiently as they knew they could.

CCCBA needed a website overhaul to increase memberships by legal professionals and visibility within the Contra Costa community. And it needed a website that aided the staff in performing their roles and duties.

Submitting an RFP.

Led by a Board member and the executive director, CCCBA developed an RFP (request for proposal) outlining its requirements and invited several companies to bid.

I submitted an RFP response in partnership with an experienced web designer. Our response, in the form of a statement-of-work, clearly presented the steps involved for a successful and cost-efficient website from both a design and content perspective.

Our response took roughly 30 hours to develop, and displayed an attention to detail that presented immediate takeaway by our clients.

We highlighted key components about the process and the deliverables that would be met, how the various team members fit into the equation, and a projected bid for our services.

Our flexibility in answering client questions, attending interviews, re-evaluating our bid based on discoveries, and submitting additional portfolio samples were key factors in being awarded the contract.

The copywriting development process.

I began by conducting an audit of CCCBA’s existing content and assigning unique IDs to each piece. This helped categorize content into user-friendly buckets based on the needs of both lawyers and the community. It also helped keep track of copy throughout the entire project, mitigating overhead once production started.

I kept the design team apprised of discoveries and they provided valuable feedback every step of the way.

As strategic work continued, I gained a more definitive understanding of CCCBA’s offline processes, so that I could incorporate this information online for critical dependencies and to establish consistencies.

As the copy began to take shape, the design team began its development with the client in parallel.

The core CCCBA team was also kept apprised of copy discoveries during the entire process for its input, decisions and leadership.

Working with the software vendor and the design team.

It quickly became clear that the communication channel needed to include the work of the third-party software application developer. Front-end design, back-end design, content development and the software vendor needed to be on the same path.

CCCBA then assigned me the additional role of project manager to ensure cohesiveness and focus throughout the rest of the project.

Through iterative cycles and clear processes, development began in earnest from all angles. Again, CCCBA was involved in all phases where review and approval was necessary.

I worked with the software development team and the CCCBA staff to ensure brand and editorial consistencies across the membership application. In addition, I created all transaction-based emails for each tasks associated with the application, and ensured that they were written well, formatted correctly and user-friendly.

Production and testing phases.

CCCBA approved final copy, design, and the membership application. The three components were brought together during the production phase and testing began.

Testing proved to be smooth and efficient. There were very few surprises due to the attention to detail and adherence to processes throughout the project by the entire team.

During the production phase, I worked with the director of CCCBA to create a marketing plan, which included a rollout of articles for the CC Lawyer Magazine, three email newsletters and a press release. (I wrote all marketing components.)

CCCBA went live.