The Bullfighter Wins Every Time He Steps in the Ring
What could bullfighting and marketing for attorneys possibly have in common? Actually quite a bit.
The bullfighter must be prepared before he steps in the ring. If he has not done his training, he could be killed.
In marketing for attorneys, lack of preparation leads to the death of a potential new client relationship.
Bullfighting requires courage.
Talking to a client frankly about their legal issue and doing so in a way that persuades them to hire you, requires courage too.
In bullfighting you are only as good as your last fight because if you lose there is a good chance you are dead.
In marketing for attorneys, if you do not win the potential client over there is a good chance he will be gone for good.
The bullfighter fights until the fight is over.
In marketing, you must persist until the client makes a decision.
The bullfighter respects the bull.
Marketing for attorneys always respects the intelligence of the client.
The bullfighter is sometimes surrounded by piles of bull crap that he must walk through.
Marketing for attorneys is also about cutting through bull crap and understanding the real problem.
Ultimately, the bullfighter was a winner the minute he stepped in the ring. The courage the preparation and the intellectual dexterity necessary in marketing for attorneys also make them winners every time they engage a new client.
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EmailDoes Your Law Firm Really Need a Marketing Plan?
I was on the phone with a new client yesterday and he asked if we were going to do a formal law firm marketing plan as we begin our work together. You would think this kind of question would require a standard “yes” or “no” answer. Unfortunately, it does not.
When I first started working with lawyers on marketing, I had a rigid protocol. We did a plan and we checked off each element in the plan, one at a time. We didn’t move on to the next item until we completed the previous one.
This worked well for about half the folks who engaged me. The other half hated it. The half that hated it found the planning process cumbersome. They wanted to get going right away.
So the answer to the question: “Do I really need a law firm marketing plan?” Is maybe. Here are some guidelines that will help you determine if you need a law firm marketing plan:
Attorneys who like structure need a law firm marketing plan. If you like checklists and itemized lists of things to do, you should have a plan.
Lawyers who have no strategy at all need a law firm marketing plan. If you take every kind of case that walks in the door, you need a structured marketing plan. This kind of unfocused law practice will be almost impossible to market without a marketing plan in place.
Law firms in start-up mode need a marketing plan. If you are just starting out or if you have recently formed a partnership, you need a marketing plan. You need to decide who will do each task related to marketing and you need to agree on your strategy. A law firm marketing plan is a vitally important piece of this process.
Putting a law firm marketing plan on paper is essential if you are in a transitional stage. If you already have a target market, if you have a good message, and if you simply need to get more clients, you should focus on setting some goals and implementing good marketing tactics.
A law firm marketing plan is not always necessary but it can be helpful.
Who Are the People Around You?
Have you ever wondered why some people always achieve excellence in everything they do? We have all come across people who, no matter what life throws at them, always seem to succeed. Sure they take some lumps from time to time. Yes, they have an occasional setback. But ultimately, they are winners.
There are many things you can do to elevate your performance as an attorney. There are literally dozens of things you can do to help advance your career or grow your law practice. There is one thing that may just be more important than all others. There is one thing that truly separates the good from the great.
That one thing is the people who surround you. I’m talking about the people who you allow into your life both personally and professionally. I’m not talking about your family. You don’t get to pick them. I am talking about your friends and business associates. If you want to fulfill your potential both as an attorney and as a person, you need to surround yourself with people who are better, smarter, and quicker than you.
Reverse Peer Pressure
Peer pressure is that thing our parents always warned us about. As an attorney looking to grow a law firm, surrounding yourself with peers who are smart, aggressive, ethical lawyers is a great way to stimulate your personal growth.
Surrounding yourself with successful business people gives you a competitive advantage. It opens your eyes to new ideas beyond the paradigm of the legal world. It keeps you focused on what is working in the world of your clients. It makes you sharp and keeps you on the cutting edge.
Each of us is judged by the company we keep. I am not talking about perception. I am talking about something real. Something more important. Your growth and the growth of your law firm. Look at any attorney whose law firm has stopped growing and you will find that they are surrounded by stagnant people.
Avoid Feeding Your Own Ego
It’s human nature. We all want to be the smartest, most successful person in the room. But that kind of thinking is a recipe for failure. I would rather be the dumbest person in a room full of geniuses than be a genius in a room full of dummies.
Go out and make a list of the successful people you know but have not interacted with in a while (if ever). Pursue them like a high school girl pursues a matinee idol. Establish a relationship with them and learn as much as you can.
Things that do not grow (intellectually or physically) begin to die. Said another way…
The day you stop learning is the day you stop earning…
Surround yourself with excellence and you will shape your destiny.
Lawyers Marketing Habit Makes a Big Difference
A couple of weeks ago I made a video about a lawyers marketing habit that cam make all the difference in the world to your business development goals. The habit I am referring to is doing one last thing, related to marketing, at the end of the day. This means you have cleaned up your desk, put your files away, forwarded the phones and are standing in front of the light switch. At that point, you do one last thing.
Need some ideas? Here are a few:
Make a one last phone call. This is the most often used of the “one last habits”. Pick up the phone and call a client. If they answer, just say you were thinking about them and wanted to schedule a lunch with them to catch up.
Send an email. This is similar to the phone call. Send an email to a client just to let them know you were thinking about them. Offer to go to lunch sometime in the next few weeks.
Write a hand written note. This is my favorite. Each day, just before leaving, write a hand written note to someone just to let them know you are thinking about them.
Lawyers often forget that marketing is about building relationships. The habit of doing one last thing is a good way to make sure your relationship building skills don’t get rusty. And it might even help you get some new business.
The Loneliest Number in Marketing for Lawyers
A couple of days ago I had lunch with a smart lawyer. He receives a few referrals each month from former clients and other lawyers and he is ready to take his practice to the next level. This was the purpose of our lunch. He called me to talk about how we could work together to improve his marketing.
Lunch started off great. We discussed the value he provides to his clients. We also discussed his competitive advantage (the thing that makes his law firm different and better than everyone else). He had both of these down cold. As far as marketing for lawyers goes, he was off to a good start.
Things started to get a little off track when we discussed specific marketing tactics. (A tactic is an action you take to achieve a desired result.) When we discussed newsletters he said: “I tried that and it didn’t work”. I asked: “How long did you send out newsletters?” “One month” he replied. “And I didn’t get any clients from it.” We moved on to the blog on his website. I asked him how many times he updated the content. His response was that he updated it for a month (a couple of times) and again, nothing. Finally we discussed networking. He said he joined a networking group. The group met each week and he attended for a month and guess what…yep…nothing.
“I just don’t know if marketing will work for my law practice” he concluded.
We discussed three tactics that he tried for one month each and he got no results.
This makes him a victim of loneliest number in marketing for lawyers…the number one.
Any time you implement a new marketing initiative you need to give it a fair shot. Doing anything once is never going to produce a fair return on investment. Some initiatives (like blogging, newsletters or networking groups) take several months (like six or more) in order to be effective.
The first step in building a marketing plan is to get your head on straight. You must give each tactic a fair opportunity to succeed.
Think of marketing like sex. If you only do it once there’s a chance it will work but you definitely won’t be satisfied.
Three Tools That Lead to Lawyer Marketing Success
Lawyer marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. Attorneys often tell me they only have time to do a few things related to marketing each week. That’s fine. You don’t have to implement 100 different marketing initiatives in order to increase the number of clients that find your law firm.
Here are the three lawyer marketing initiatives I recommend you implement if you have limited time to focus on business development:
A Blog
Lawyer marketing is about communication, education, differentiation and motivation. You must help your clients choose you. This starts with communication. A good blog is like a conversation. The more you speak with someone the more they will begin to know you, like you, and trust you.
If you can post a short article (between 250 and 500 words) to your blog a few times each week, you will dramatically increase the visibility of your website on the Internet. An increased frequency of posting will also improve your relationship with your readers (many of whom are potential clients).
Email Newsletter
A weekly update via email is one of the most effective lawyer marketing tactics ever invented. That is not an exaggeration. If you email your clients once a week and you provide them with a pithy anecdote (about life, about business, about sports, essentially about something you would discuss with your colleagues around the water cooler) you will grow your business dramatically.
Many attorneys believe this type of communication is too frequent. They believe they will be annoying their clients and prospective clients. They are wrong. As long as the information is interesting, weekly communication is an effective lawyer marketing tool.
Monthly Printed Newsletter
A printed newsletter mailed monthly is another highly effective tool for lawyer marketing. Once again, the information must be interesting. If it’s not, the newsletter will be thrown in the garbage. But if you engage your reader, he will welcome your monthly newsletter.
There are a number of reasons why you will not implement these three lawyer marketing tools into your law practice. Ultimately, they will provide you with a huge return on investment if you do. It’s up to you. Do you want to give in to excuses or do you want to be highly effective at lawyer marketing?
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Legal Marketing for Lawyers Daily TV Show
As many of my regular readers know, the demand for information an effective, ethical, legal marketing strategy is significant. A while ago we did some experimentation with legal marketing video tips and we posted them here. Our first foray into this area was with a video on planning a law firm marketing campaign. Next we discussed the difference between sales and marketing for law firms. We also covered the numbers you need to know in law firm marketing.
The reaction from our readers was beyond positive. It was enthusiastic. Lawyers wanted more video on legal marketing.
I am proud to announce that we have answered the call to action. In mid-February 2010 we launched The Legal Marketing for Lawyers Daily video show.
It took us a while to figure out how to do this correctly without taking up the time and expense of a full blown television production. Each day we record a short video on legal marketing. Each of these videos is less than four minutes in length and they feature me speaking directly to you about legal marketing.
Our friends at Justia have been kind enough to provide us with a terrific website where you can see each of the videos from the past week (as well as the achieves of past video shows). The plan is to post one new video each day. So I need you to visit often.
You can find this new video resource at: http://www.LegalMarketingForLawyers.com
I welcome your feedback on this new legal marketing resource. I am enjoying recording the shows (although it is difficult to fit a topic into less than four minutes). We may at some point “take the show on the road” so if you have ideas for a location or for a topic please send them our way.
