A couple of months ago, I was invited to speak at the Arizona State Bar for a of continuing education event. This most respected speaking engagement was the result of a referral from Chip Lambert of Network2networth.com - a profound speaker and business man with a surly sarcastic edge that qualifies him to be a friend as well as a colleague.
A few weeks before the actual event, our hosts from the State Bar graciously invited the speakers to a private luncheon at the Biltmore Embassy Suites. For this special occasion, I pulled out my best conservative navy suit, wore understated jewelry and wiggled into my trusty Spanx to smooth my middle and lift my ass, in order to feel the utmost professional for a couple of hours of socializing with those who interpret the law for a living.
One of the other speakers and luncheon guests was a polished and confident ethics expert. This expert could recite the ethics with as much passion and conviction as a televangelist quoting scripture to heal the sick and drive donations. In short, she was the attorney's attorney, the go-to person for lawyers with concerns around ethics, conflicts of interest or gray legal matters.
During lunch, our expert was sharing examples of attorney's who operated outside the ethical standards of the industry and thus, found themselves in hot water with the Bar in their respective states. As the details of each story unfolded, we shook our heads as if to say "how foolish, any moron could see that was an ethics violation."
Then our ethics expert graced us with a story of a criminal defense attorney in New York who printed a picture of a naked woman on the back of his business cards. The NY attorney wanted to encourage inmates (ie, his target market) to pass his card around to others who found themselves in the unfortunate position of being incarcerated. Before she could wrap up the story and the rest of us could give the knowing head shake, I was so moved by the creative genius of the NY attorney and blurted out. . ."Oh My God, that is Brilliant!!! "
(Here's a little tip for future reference, if you ever want to score points with an ethics attorney, avoid making any comments to imply you condone nudity as a marketing ploy.)
Despite the looks of disapproval and tension at the table, I stand by my outburst! A naked woman on the back of a criminal defense attorney's card is a brilliant marketing move. It was not so brilliant in terms of ethics or gaining support from peers, but from a pure marketing, how to get attention and how to get people to talk about you - it couldn't have been any better if P.T. Barnum himself created the idea.
I am sure the attorney was fined and/or ordered to cease and desist the distribution of the naked business cards. However, he will be known for years to come as "the attorney who had a naked woman on his business cards." A slap on the wrist for what possibly amounts to years of recognition with his target market . . . not a bad trade if you ask me.
Think about your business, is your target market talking about you and passing your business card around? If the answer is no . . .maybe its time to get naked and stir things up a bit.
