Podcast Ep. 155: The Significance of Storytelling and Authenticity in Law and Content Marketing

In this episode of the Legal Marketing 2.0 podcast, Guy Is joined by Shreya Ley. Shreya is a lawyer at LayRoots, an asset protection firm that helps people protect themselves from stupid lawsuits. She loves being a business owner, talking to people, cooking, and spending time outdoors. Shreya and her husband Colin have owned Lay Roots now for nine years. In today’s episode, Shreya joins us to discuss the significance of storytelling and authenticity in content marketing.

1. When did you decide to do content marketing, and what kind of things are you doing today in that space?

We played around with a lot of different media types like blog posts and podcasts, now we mostly do videos. We found it has been something we enjoy doing and that is why it has been successful for us. We started down the content marketing path because we really loved Seth Godin and admired his style and enjoyed his blog posts all the way to the little email blast he sends out every other day. I also loved writing stories. I was very nerdy as a child and would always write stories and try to present them to my parents. We were also really inspired by a lot of brands we like to buy from and we would try to think about why we enjoyed buying from them. 

2. What is the importance of storytelling and being authentic for you?

When we first graduated from law school there was a stereotype of a lawyer being very buttoned up and emotionless. We never felt like we stick with that image, so for us, authenticity is simply being ourselves. We try not to be overly formal or overly lawyer-like. People can sense when you’re not being genuine. When people reach out to me and are confused about something and want to ask questions I have a hard time saying ‘well we are going to charge you extra’ so instead of trying to change who I am we changed our pricing to be more full service. 

3. Can you give an example of how you use storytelling in your content marketing?

People tend to remember stories more than a fact or figure. If a client comes to us with an issue I tell them a story of a similar past client or person who hired us and how we changed their life or how we affected them or made them feel better. I think that gives them more of an impact than me listing off features or benefits or anything of that sort. We learned in Seth Godin’s storytelling workshop to use what we know about a client as a background as well as whenever we create content. It’s not like we are always telling stories, but we use it to refer back to make sure we’re on track and we are speaking to the correct person we want to speak to.

4. What would you say to lawyers who say they’re too busy practicing law to create content?

Well, they aren’t going to have a lot of practice if no one can find them. So there’s that aspect of it. They can always hire a professional if they truly are too busy but in the end, marketing is going to be a very key component of their success. As a lawyer, it’s always nice, I think, if you’re changing jobs in the future, that you have loyal clients who will come with you. So I think any type of marketing is going to be beneficial to you in the long run, business owner or not. You want the ability and confidence to attract clients. 

Takeaway: 

Showing your most authentic side is the best way, in this day and age, of attracting clients. You need to be able to tell a story with your content and make sure your clients can trust you by showing them your most genuine self. 

You can find Shreya Ley on LinkedIn or Twitter.