Law Firm Marketing: You are Probably Doing It Wrong
Most law firm marketing is done incorrectly, if it is done at all. You know your marketing is bad if:
Everything in your law firm marketing material is about you. This is a common marketing mistake. Great law firm marketing educates the client about solutions to his/her problem. Clients come to you for solutions. They don’t come to you to ask about your background.
At some point in the marketing process it may make sense to let the client know about your qualifications, experience and education. But in the beginning, it is best to focus on educating the client about the situation and provide them with solutions to their problems.
You only work on your law firm marketing when you need clients. Many lawyers come to me when they are in this position. They get in an alternating cycle of client overwhelm followed by a dearth of business. For three months are franticly busy and then for three months there is nothing. Then one month of client work and two months of nothing. They fall into the trap of ignoring the marketing while the client work is plentiful and that leads to double the amount of time without client work.
Law firm marketing is something that must take place consistently. In good times and in bad times you must be focused on building your client base.
The cornerstone of your law firm marketing is networking. Since there are restrictive rules governing the marketing process in each state, many attorneys believe the only true way to market their services is by networking. Networking is a very effective way for attorneys to attract clients but it should only be one in a series of client attraction tactics.
The right way to use networking in your law firm marketing plan is to set a goal for each networking event. Decide who you want to meet, how you can help them (giving is the best way to start any relationship) and how you will follow up.
You only have one way to find new clients. This is a common problem we find in semi-successful law firms. The law firm has developed one way to attract a great deal of clients. But when that particular marketing tactic loses its effectiveness the firm has no new clients.
Your law firm marketing must always include several (at least 10) different ways to attract and retain clients. This diversity affords you the luxury of testing new tactics because you are not financially devoted to one specifically.
You think law firm marketing is all about billboards, bus stop benches and television ads. Many attorneys believe that television and billboards are the only forms of media successful attorneys use. This is far from the truth. In fact, most successful attorneys will never use these media. They have dozens if not hundreds of other ways to attract clients.
If your law firm fits one of these five criteria, help is available. To change your view of law firm marketing and get more clients, give us a call today. 888.692.5531. We can help you develop some smart, ethical and effective law firm marketing tactics that will drive clients right to your front door.
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EmailAttorney Marketing and Time Management Go Hand-In-Hand
“I don’t have enough time” is a common reason given for the failure of many attorney marketing initiatives. Although this is an idea held by many, it is simply not true. Every attorney has time for marketing. Let me type that statement again and add emphasis: Every attorney has time for marketing.
Here are three ways you can make time for marketing and still be a practicing lawyer:
Set your Priorities Properly
Clients should always come first but the growth of your law firm should be a close second. Here is a way to think about it: Having more clients than you can handle at one time offers you choices. You will have the opportunity to pick and choose your clients. Executing a good attorney marketing plan is the ticket to freedom.
Do A Little Every Day
There are 24 hours in each day and you only need to use one or two of them for marketing. Some of our clients set aside the first hour of each day for marketing. Others use an hour right before bedtime to get some marketing work done. This only happens because marketing is a priority for them.
Carve out a little time each day for the benefit of your law practice. Dedicate yourself to your firm’s growth.
Reassess Your Value to the Market
Many attorneys don’t focus on marketing because they do not accurately assess their value to the market. They feel (sometimes subconsciously) that they are not worthy of an abundant law practice full of high-quality clients. This feeling prevents them for dedicating the time necessary to marketing.
Spend some time thinking about the value you provide to the community and to your clients. Don’t other potential clients deserve your expertise?
When it comes to attorney marketing, saying you don’t have time is just an excuse. It’s like saying you don’t have time to make money.
Florida Lawyers Need Marketing Consulting for Law Firms
Just about every day someone asks me why I focus specifically on Marketing for Law Firms. (They also ask if I only work on marketing for law firms in Florida. The answer to that is “NO” I work with attorneys all over the United States. ) Here are some numbers from the Avery Index that will help you understand why Florida lawyers need marketing help.
Florida has 11.7 lawyers per 10,000 residents. This means that for every lawyer there are about 855 people living in the state. About 70% of those lawyers are in private practice – which is to say they don’t work for the government, aren’t teaching full time and they are not in a corporate role as counsel. So there are about 1,300 people for every lawyer in private practice in Florida. (These are rough numbers but I am trying to illustrate a point).
Then you break that population of 1,300 potential clients down by specialty and you realize that not everyone needs a lawyer or can afford a lawyer. Real Estate Attorneys, Probate Attorneys and Divorce Attorneys for example may never be necessary for a significant portion of the population. Corporate attorneys are only necessary for business issues. Criminal Defense Attorneys only work with a small segment of the population.
If we assume that 50% of the population in Florida will need your services in any given year, the pool of eligible clients narrows to about 750 per lawyer. If we assume that only half of those people can afford you, the pool narrows to 375 people per lawyer. So in any given year, only 375 people will be ready, willing and able to hire each Florida attorney.
Finding those 375 people every year and convincing them to give you their matter and their money is the reason Florida lawyers need a marketing consultant for their law firms.
Attorneys Marketing Question: How do I get new clients?
One of the questions I am asked most frequently by attorneys marketing their services is: “How do I get new clients?” My consulting practice is dedicated to helping attorneys answer this question but unfortunately there is no one right answer. Each attorney is different and each practice area has different nuances. Applying a one-size-fits-all answer to this question would be to do a disservice to anyone genuinely interested in the answer.
There is a way to answer this question and have the answer broadly apply to just about any attorney in any practice area. That is answer can be summed up in two words: DO SOMETHING.
It’s not complicated.
Each and every day you should do something that helps you build your law firm client base. Today you write an article for a trade journal. Tomorrow you ask a colleague to make an introduction for you to an influential individual in a target company. The next day you reach out to the chamber of commerce to see if there is an opportunity to give a speech.
Start each day by doing one thing that will help you get closer to your client acquisition goals for your law firm.
Now I have a question for attorneys marketing their services: What have you done today to get new clients?
Marketing for Attorneys and The Magic Beans
Marketing for attorneys is just like Jack and the Beanstalk. Every attorney I meet wants to plant the magic beans, go to sleep and wake up with a beanstalk that will lead him to a beautiful place in the sky that contains untold riches. Of course there is a giant who guards this place and he enjoys eating attorneys who climb the beanstalk. Occasionally, one or two attorneys will make it down from the beanstalk with the hen that lays the golden eggs. But most of them spend a lot of time and money and in the end; they get devoured by the giant.
In marketing for attorneys, the magic beans are their website. The attorneys believe you plant the seeds, go to sleep and wake up with a vehicle that will lead the clients to your doorstep. In a few cases, this actually happens. But in most cases, fees, costs, and unforeseen expenses (the giant) beat you up pretty well before you even sniff any gold.
Don’t get me wrong, a website is a critically important tool in marketing for attorneys. You must include it in your arsenal but success doesn’t happen overnight. Here are four things you must do if you want your website to deliver qualified clients to your doorstep:
Post New Articles at Least Three Times per Week
Static web pages are as useless as brochures. (In case you didn’t know, I hate brochures. They provide no value and they only enrich the printers who sell them to you.) You must have dynamic content on your website and it must be updated a few times each week to drive your webpage to the top of search engine rankings. The articles you post do not need to be long but fresh content is critical.
Focus the Content on the Client
Don’t write about you and your firm. Someone who just arrived at your website is searching for help in solving a problem. Write about solutions to problems. You must enter the conversation that is going on in your client’s mind. Provide the information the client needs and he will check out your background once he sees what you can do for him. This doesn’t just apply to the Internet; it is a fundamental principle of marketing for attorneys.
Offer Information for Free in Return for Contact Info
The thing that separates your website from a brochure is the response device. This is a little section on the website where you offer information in return for the client’s contact information. It can be in the form of a little box at the top of the page that says: “Enter your first name and email address for my free report titled: ‘Five Things You Need to Know About Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer’” or whatever your practice area may be.
Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up
Marketing for attorneys is all about follow-up. The web is no different than any other media. Once you get a lead you need to call and email that person within 24 hours. After your initial contact, if they don’t ask to come into your office for a consultation, you should keep them on your mailing list forever. That’s right. I said forever. Your goal is to be the FIRST and ONLY attorney they think of when they have an issue in your area of expertise.
In marketing for attorneys there are no magic beans but your website can eventually help you live happily ever after.
Lawyers Marketing and The Lies They Tell
There is one big lie that currently affects lawyers marketing activity. It is the concept that just being a good lawyer is enough to help you attract clients. Here’s how this usually plays out:
A WISE OLD MAN sits down with a group of young lawyers. He tells them that they must pay their dues. They must handle crappy cases for little money for years and years. Then, finally, when everyone knows they are a good lawyer, the good clients will come.
The WISE OLD MAN tells them this is how it happened for him. He says that he doesn’t believe in lawyers marketing to get clients. He shares stories of attorneys on TV and billboards bringing the profession down. Then he cautions the young lawyers not to BE LIKE THEM (meaning the unethical,immoral lawyers who spend time on marketing).
I believe you are smart enough to see through this façade. Here are just three reasons why this argument falls apart:
First: If you don’t promote your law firm and your services, nobody will know how great a lawyer you are. THE WORD simply doesn’t spread by itself. People don’t simply hear about great lawyers through the grape vine. Yes, some folks in your neighborhood may learn of your reputation. Sure the judges and/or your peers may think you are a great lawyer. Both of those things are important but they will not get you the number of new cases you need to pay your bills. The world deserves to know how good you are. Marketing gets THE WORD out to the people who need to hear it.
Second: Most lawyers marketing themselves are ethical. They follow the guidelines set by The Bar and they represent themselves appropriately. Because they are ethical, they don’t receive the same attention as the bottom feeders who lie, cheat and steal from clients. Legal marketing can be done ethically and in a way that makes the lawyer and the profession look good.
Third: The WISE OLD MAN is doing his best to keep you from competing with him. Most great attorneys are intensely competitive. If someone was going to compete with you, in your market, how willing would you be to give them a road map toward the best clients? Think about it. Whose interest is the WISE OLD MAN protecting?
Lawyers marketing their law firms are not bad for the profession. If it is done correctly, attorney marketing can highlight everything that is good about it. Don’t believe the lies of the WISE OLD MAN.
You Need a Law Firm Marketing Plan
Who needs a law firm marketing plan?
You do.
Actually, every law firm needs to have a marketing plan. This is especially true for sole practitioners or small law firms. Law firm marketing plans are important because they keep you focused on developing and deepening client relationships. This is something that often goes overlooked during the day-to-day practice of law.
Here are four reasons why a law firm marketing plan is important:
Having a law firm marketing plan forces you to think about attracting new clients. In most firms, marketing is not a discipline that is given a great deal of thought. Many times, attendance at networking events are the only marketing-related activities that take place. Developing an actual marketing plan forces you to think about who you want as a client and how you will attract them.
A law firm marketing plan will keep you on track. If you want to know how to get somewhere you need to follow a road map. A good law firm marketing plan will serve as a road map that will lead you toward achieving your business development goals. It will also bring you back on to the right path when you head down the wrong road.
Writing down your marketing plan will commit you to working on client acquisition. Everything we write down seems to magically happen. This is the power of a psychological commitment. Committing your law firm marketing plan to paper will help cement this commitment in your mind. Since action follows commitment, your plan stands a better chance of becoming reality if it is in writing.
A law firm marketing plan helps you keep a record of things that work…and things that don’t. Most of us operate under the trial and error philosophy. We try something and if it doesn’t work, we don’t do it again. This only makes sense if you give something a FAIR trial. Doing something half-hearted and claiming it didn’t work is not really giving it a fair shot. Creating a law firm marketing plan, executing it and comparing the results of your actions to the desired results (outlined in the plan) will be valuable in determining which marketing tactics you should implement in the future.
Every lawyer needs a law firm marketing plan regardless of the size of his/her firm. Sit down today and sketch out some ideas. If you dedicate 15 minutes each day to writing down your marketing ideas, within two weeks you will have the foundation of a solid law firm marketing plan.
