Substance, Not Intelligence Insulting Marketing Pablum and Evasive Sales Tactics: Lambert's Open Letter to Lexis on Learning from the WestlawNext Fiasco Ahead of the Launch of "New Lexis"

Well, damn it all to hell! Don't you just "hate" it when some energetic young whipper snapper beats you to the punch. I had a first draft of a post on what Lexis ought not do when it launches "New Lexis" as a follow up to yesterday's post, when Greg Lambert's post on the same topic caught my attention. Well done Greg and already published so no need for me do any more work on mine. Just read Greg's Open Letter to "New Lexis.com" - Learn from WestlawNext Mistakes. In a nutshell, Greg advises Lexis to learn from the WestlawNext fiasco:

1. let everyone know exactly who you are, what you can do, and how much you are going to cost us;
2. be nice; and
3. think creatively on how you want to compete for attention against WestlawNext.

Substance, Not Intelligence Insulting Marketing Pablum and Evasive Sales Tactics. In other words, do exactly the opposite of what TR Legal has been doing so far with respect to its launch of the uber expensive WestlawNext.

A little more from this young whipper snapper (stop it ... Greg knows I'm joking; it's not like we bloggers don't communicate amongst ourselves from time to time):

Remember that a good first impression is important, so think long and hard about how you would like to present yourself to us for the first time.  Your cousin, WLN, gave us all a bit of a roller coaster ride in his first few months of life, and although he is impressive to look at, all that other baggage of uncertain pricing and mixed messages from his immediate family has left many of us a bit hesitant about inviting him into our homes.  Here's one last bit of advice for you.  If there is one thing we want from you and your cousin, it is 'certainty.'  We want to know what you do, why you are better and how much you will cost us.  Give us those three things right up front, and I'm sure we'll be friends for a long time.

Well said. I can turn off my computer now and move on to much more important matters, like paying attention to my long-suffering blog widow. She's sitting at the dining room table nearby, and wants to shout out a "thank you, Greg." Oh wait, she has the checkbook out! This can't be good.

If there are more Gen X & Y-ers "out there" like Greg (and I firmly believe there are), I think we rapidly aging, fast becoming decrepit, baby boomers will be leaving the law library profession in very good hands. Carpe diem Gen X and Y law ibrarians. You, too, shall practice the art of the possible one day. [JH]