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In This Issue
Be a Local Hero...
History is Boring...
How Lawyers Can Use History...
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Be a Local Hero - Preserve History, Get Customers, Boost Stature

Windhill Realty, Ipswich, MA

Your Own Plan
Contact us to do a "history audit" of your business and come up with your own, personalized plan to attract customers, their loyalty
and referrals
 
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Connections
Greetings!

Is history boring? Heck no! But I still hear it...and so Article #1 blows up that myth AND suggests ways your business can play a role in helping to change this absurd perception! (Am I passionate about this? You tell me.)

Article #2 offers more practical ideas -- this time, specifically for lawyers. It was co-written by my colleague Thea Grace Morgan who has extensive experience marketing law firms. Take a look, and pass the article along to your favorite lawyer. (One of mine is depicted in the image: Justice Joseph Story of Salem, MA.)

The Featured Article is a case study of a preservation project in Ipswich, MA. Very inspiring. Everyone involved was a local hero. And speaking of which...

Two quick announcements:
1. I am seeking sponsors for my new radio show, "The Business of History." Airing Sunday mornings on North Shore 104.9, my show (with guest) will provide a wonderful opportunity for you to shine as a local hero because you support local history. The details are here. Please be in touch!

2. Our latest free report on how businesses can benefit from supporting local history is now available. Please download it, enjoy -- and let us know what ideas you put into practice! I would love to publish them here.

To your success -- and to this gorgeous summer weather!

Your colleague,

Bonnie Hurd Smith
History Smiths
History is Boring" - A Myth We Can Blow Up
and How You and Your Business Can Help
Commanding officers of reenactor units and National Guard, Salem Common by Bonnie Hurd Smith

Just last week, I was speaking with a neighbor of mine - an avid lover of history and the owner of an important historic house - about how often we hear the words "history is boring" from young people.

History is NOT boring. How it's TAUGHT is what's usually boring!

It pains me every time I hear those words. It also pains me when I hear the words, "I really wish I had had a good history teacher" from adult friends of mine (or from people who come to my history talks or take my walking tours). "I might have been interested in history a lot sooner," they say.

No kidding! And this is so infuriating. What a waste.

Now I am not here to beat up on history teachers. There are gifted ones out there, some of whom I know personally, and many of them have their hands tied "teaching to the test."

Still, something must be done because the state of history education in America today is appalling. Read the article....
 
How Lawyers Can Use History
to Attract Up-Market Clients
Chief Justice Joseph Storyby Bonnie Hurd Smith and Thea Grace Morgan

There is a natural synergy between lawyers and history. At its core, case law is creativity in the context of precedent. But there is more synergy between the law and history than that. History and the law both celebrate great minds that have preceded our own; great minds that have shaped our present and will shape our future.  
As a group, history-minded people are more well-educated and financially secure than the average person. People involved in their local history are deeply rooted in their respective communities, and are often its leaders. They comprise a group of potential clients that may be desperately in need of like-minded representation under the law.
 
As any practicing attorney or law firm knows, retaining a lawyer is an exercise of trust. This means a lawyer's stature and reputation are critical to his or her success. In New England, history can be a means of increasing the perceived stature and reputation of your firm.
 
The study of history is the study of context, just like the study of case law. How did an event happen? Why? What was the context? Who was involved? How were participants shaped by their history and the times they lived in? What does it all mean? What can we learn? How should we respond? Lawyers and historians both ask these questions, and share a common intellectual curiosity.Read the article...


History Smiths helps service-oriented businesses, especially those located in historical communities, achieve customer loyalty, traffic, and high status by incorporating history - their own and their community's -  into their branding, marketing, and community outreach.