Team Member spotlight: Samantha Drake

Written By Meg Pritchard, Principal and Founder
Picture of Samantha Drake create communications staff raider with green background. She’s wearing a denim jacket and a floral shirt. She has short brown hair and is smiling the title of the article team member spotlight, lead writer, Samantha, Drake,

A Journalist’s Journey

How I Became A Legal Marketing Content Writer

I’ve been a marketing content writer for more than 10 years and made my living as a journalist for a lot longer than that. A background in journalism isn’t necessary to be a good content writer, but it can help quite a bit. 

When I started writing marketing content for law firms, I felt my usual nervousness about trying something new. I’d written about numerous types of litigation over the years, including toxic torts, pollution liability, personal injury, and insurance, but what did I know about writing marketing content? I discovered I knew more than I thought. Good journalists and marketing writers are both able to quickly learn enough about a subject to write knowledgeably about it, tailor the content’s message to the target audience and craft a compelling narrative that makes readers want to keep reading. 

I started out working at a small local newspaper right out of college, I wrote about everything from sewer easements to small-town politics. That job made me realize I’m kind of addicted to learning about new things and coming up with ideas.

I moved on to other newspapers and a magazine and—when I inevitably got laid off—took a job at Mealey Publications, a small company that publishes newsletters for attorneys and was acquired by LexisNexis. At the time, I knew nothing about the legal system beyond paying a few parking fines, but I needed a job. I started off needing an editor to explain what a summary judgment means and ended up writing about U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments and decisions. The job led to other legal writing opportunities and my current position as lead content writer at CREATE Communications.

Now I write about legal topics such as U.S. copyright law, new developments in data privacy and banking regulations, and part of my job is generating ideas for new content in a range of industries. In 2024, I’m looking forward to writing effective, compelling content for new and existing clients that requires making sense of sometimes complex issues and providing knowledgeable insights for a specific audience. I especially enjoy writing content based on legal decisions, legislation and recent news. The journalist in me isn’t going anywhere. 

When I’m not writing—and there are times I’m not writing—I enjoy gardening, catering to my cat, and surprising people with my knowledge of weird royal history trivia.

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The Legal Marketer’s Gift Guide for Lawyers
The Legal Marketer’s Gift Guide for Lawyers

The season of giving is upon us!

The period from Thanksgiving to New Year’s is full of opportunities for giving and receiving all kinds of presents, donations and tokens of appreciation.

There are a variety of holidays that involve gifts large and small — Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Festivus (the original Festivus, not the “Seinfeld” version, included small gifts, although we could consider the airing of grievances to be gifts). We are encouraged to participate in food, clothing and toy drives; give generously on Giving Tuesday; or consider end-of-tax-year charitable donations.

Gift-giving guides for every kind of recipient abound, from what to give the pickiest of relatives and friends to the best gifts for your office Secret Santa, Pollyanna or Yankee Swap. There are even gift guides for how to treat yourself while you’re buying for others (a trend I highly approve of). 

In the spirit of the holiday season, I thought I would offer my own version: The Legal Marketer’s Gift Guide for Lawyers, a curated list of some of the best marketing-focused gifts lawyers can give themselves, their clients and others.

The “S-Word” in Criminal Defense: Why Sales Shouldn’t Be Taboo
The “S-Word” in Criminal Defense: Why Sales Shouldn’t Be Taboo

To criminal defense lawyers, the idea of "sales" might seem unrelated—perhaps even antithetical—to your daily practice. You would not be alone in that thinking. Many lawyers and firm leaders across practice areas are uncomfortable with the idea of proactively selling their services. In fact, this discomfort has deep roots in the legal profession, where law has long been viewed as a noble calling rather than a commercial enterprise. In today’s legal market, however, embracing a mindset that views proactive business development (another way to say sales) as a collaborative process that focuses on client service and trust building—can improve not only your current client relationships, but also your marketing and business development efforts.

What’s Your Persona? Using Client Personas To Drive Marketing and Business Development
What’s Your Persona? Using Client Personas To Drive Marketing and Business Development

Who are your ideal clients and why do they (or should they) hire you?

This simple but key question for marketing and business development is often deceptively challenging to answer. Most lawyers and practice groups can describe the general category of their target clients — Fortune 100 companies, high-net-worth individuals, private equity funds, technology startups, advertising agencies, commercial real estate developers, pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, etc. But they often can’t identify with specificity which prospects within those categories would be ideal clients for their practice.

As a result, they are likely spending time, energy and money marketing to an audience that might be too broad, using messaging that doesn’t resonate with — and perhaps doesn’t even reach — the clients they want to attract. It may also mean taking on work for less-than-ideal clients and missing opportunities to build client relationships with gold-standard clients that could not only lead to better and more satisfying work but also open doors to other similar clients.

Developing client personas can help maximize marketing and business development resources as well as boost profitability by bringing in more and better (and perhaps better paying) clients.

Meg Pritchard, Principal and Founder

I’m Meg—a lawyer, writer and editor, and marketing professional who understands the content marketing challenges facing law firms in today’s competitive—and cluttered—marketplace. I founded Create Communications in 2011 to serve as an outsourced resource for law firms that want to harness the power of branded content and thought leadership in their marketing and business development. When you work with us, you get a hand-picked team of kick-ass writers and editors with legal, journalism, business and marketing experience who believe that exceptional content can be the rocket fuel that powers business growth. We’re committed to defying your expectations, every time.

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