Law Firm Marketing

Law Firm Marketing Predictions for 2012

This is a time of year when most people are preoccupied with New Year’s activities.  Typically, readership of this website dips as many people are focused on other things.

Since it is just you and I paying attention, this is the perfect time for me to make some bold predictions for the next twelve months.

Here goes:

Prediction 1:  Small and mid-size law firms will steal a record number of clients using value-based billing

On 2011 the most successful attorneys I know have literally stolen work from big firms because of the way they price their services.

Most clients view hourly billing as an immoral, unethical and inconvenient – if not a disgusting practice.  If you offer a reasonable alternative to hourly billing, you will reap the rewards.

Prediction 2:  Major search engines will change their algorithm significantly to force lawyers to abandon search engine optimization.

SEO has always been a black art practiced by college dropouts; nefarious outsourcing companies located a dozen time zones away, and a guy in his underwear at his kitchen table.  2012 will be the year Google finally slaps these folks silly.

Search engines can change their algorithm faster than anyone can adjust.  Forget SEO and do some real marketing.

Prediction 3:  Attorneys who focus on actual face-to-face networking will out earn attorneys who focus on social media.

This will be a bad year for socially awkward, homebound, agoraphobic lawyers.

Whether or not you realize it, you cannot Twitter and Facebook your way to a million dollar law practice.

Get off your ass and meet with people.

Prediction 4:  A record number of recent law school grads will hang their own shingle.

This prediction was, by far, the easiest to make because it is already happening.

Big Law is not hiring.  Kids in law school are sweating.  There is no alternative.  They are hanging their shingle and claiming to be fully minted lawyers.  Scary but true.

Get ready for a low priced, newly licensed attorney to move in next door.

Prediction 5:  Resentment, anger and frustration among Big Law Partners grows to an unprecedented level as they see the quality of life enjoyed by their solo counterparts.

Experienced attorneys (called Partner regardless of their equity stake in big law firms) will be overworked in 2012.  This will occur because big law firms are not hiring inexperienced associates and because many “partners” do not know how to attract their own clients.

This overwork combined with the insatiable need to bill more hours will frustrate those “partners” who do not succumb to illness.  This frustration will lead to great resentment for the solo practitioner who attracts clients on demand, offers alternative billing and sets his own hours.

Now you may not agree with any of these but it should be fun to see which of them actually come true.

The Economy Doesn’t Matter

I saw something the other day that is a great lesson on “How to make money in this economy”.

In a shopping center down the street from my home, there was a high end restaurant on one end.  The place was given five star reviews by just about everyone.  It had been around for 25 years.  In the boom economy you could never get a table there. It was always packed and the prices were outrageous.

On the other end of the shopping center there was a Burger King.  During the good times, the dollar menu was a favorite of the “mommy and me” crowd and the drive thru had a line of contractor’s trucks around the block.  That place had also been there for over a decade.

Last week both places closed their doors for good. Bankrupt.  Out of business.

Was it because of the economy?

Well, let’s see…in the same shopping center there is a casual Mexican joint that has a line out the door everyday for lunch.  They open at 11AM and they close at 9PM. I drove by last week on three different nights and the parking lot was packed during dinnertime.  It’s not fast food but it certainly is not gourmet.

Same shopping center.  Same traffic.  Same economy.

What is making the difference?

I can’t say for sure but here’s what I know:

I received a post card in the mail from the Mexican place when they first opened.  It was a discount coupon and invitation to visit.  When I went there for the first time they asked for my email address and every Monday I get their “special of the week”.  They also gave me a “bring a friend for free” coupon during my first visit (so that I would return).  And they asked me for my birth date (so they can invite me to celebrate it at their place with a free meal if I bring three or more people).

The gourmet place never sent me anything; never invited me to come over, and damn sure never cared about my birthday.  And good old BK didn’t do anything locally to promote their business.  They just relied on the scary bigheaded king character on television to drive traffic to them.

The key take away for you is this:

You have to take responsibility for your own success.  Do not rely on the economy.  Do not rely on the “brand” of your law firm.  Do not rely on your reputation as an exceptional legal practitioner.
Make an effort to develop relationships with people who will become your clients and with the people who will refer clients to you.  Invite them in.  Get to know them.  Show them you care.

You make your own economy.  You can still do well.  You just have to work a little harder and work a lot smarter than you did in the past.

Complaining about how tough things are will get you nowhere.

If you want to attract clients to your law firm you need to take action.  If you are confused about what action to take, give me a call:  305.692.5531.

If Not Now…When?

“The timing is not right.”

This is one of the excuses I hear most often from lawyers.  This excuse is used to justify a lack of action.  Sometimes the lack of action is related to making a staffing change within their firm.  Sometimes the lack of action is related to firing a problem client.  Most often the lack of action is related to developing systems and processes related to client acquisition.

If you have ever felt this way, I have good news for you…

This is the perfect time to take control of your future.

The beginning of a new year is always a great opportunity to evaluate your progress and make some changes.

Take a few moments and write down your goals for your personal income for the next 12 months.

Next think about how many clients you will need to work with and how much (on average) they will need to pay you, to help achieve that goal.

Finally make a list of things you must do each day to find, engage and develop relationships with these clients.

If you do nothing else, for the rest of the year, review this information daily.

I have shared this exercise with hundreds of people over the years and the results have been nothing short of amazing.  This works because, at a subconscious level, your mind begins to find ways to help you achieve your goals.

Over time you will find the things you do each day to bring you closer to your income goal will change.  This happens because your subconscious mind guides you to test new client acquisition strategies over and over.  You may not even realize you are doing it.  That is the power of setting a goal and linking it to daily activity.

Of course there are other things you can do to help yourself.  Things like following a system that has been successful for other lawyers.  Things like modeling the behavior of some of the most successful people in your profession.  Things like having someone hold you accountable for taking action.

All of those things (and a few others) would be helpful as you strive to grow your law firm.

But none of those things will make a difference if you do not take the first step.

That first step is to decide that the timing is right; actually the timing is perfect, for you to take action.

Do not wait another second.  Take that first step right now and reply to this email with the three things you are going to do immediately to build the law firm you have always wanted.

The Basics of a Law Firm Marketing Plan

Who, what and how.

That’s what a good law firm marketing plan is all about.  In its early stages, your marketing should answer three questions:

Who will you target?

What can you do for them?

How will they best receive your message?

These three questions become an actual marketing plan when you do the following:

Decide Who You Want to Target

Attorneys will often believe that EVERYONE in the community can be a client for their law firm.  While this may be true – everyone could be a client – it is a terrible marketing strategy.  Narrowing your ideal client down to a specific target market is the best way to be perceived as an expert.  Focusing on a specific niche will help you effectively communicate on a direct and personal level with your target client.

Communicate Your Competitive Advantage

What makes you different?  Why should someone choose to work with you?  This is a critical question that you must answer with your law firm marketing Plan.  If you look like everyone else and you say the same things everyone else is saying, you give people no other choice but to make a decision based upon price.

Deliver Your Message In the Most Effective Way Possible

Does your ideal client read the newspaper?  Does he/she read trade magazines?  Do they attend educational events?  Are they computer savvy?

You must understand how your ideal client likes to disseminate information.  Learn where they get their news.  This will help you understand how to get your message through to them.

At the start, a law firm marketing plan consists of nothing more than addressing these three strategic elements.  Getting them correct is critical.  Think them through thoroughly.

What You Don’t Know About Marketing for Law Firms Can Kill You

This past week I met the leader of a law firm that is on life support. His firm is literally hanging on by the thinnest of threads.  This guy is hoping that they will land a big client “within the next few weeks”  to help him make payroll.

Not good.

He called me to “pick my brain” on law firm marketing. He wanted me to show him the magic beans he could plant that would help him grow his revenue overnight.  He asked about pay per click advertising, newspaper ads, handing out flyers at flea markets, etc.

Unfortunately for this guy (and the 40 employees of his law firm) it is too late.

He can do all that stuff and some stuff he didn’t mention but even if he gets 20 new clients he will be in the same predicament within the next six months.  Why?

Because there is nothing that makes his law firm different from any other law firm in his area.  Clients have no compelling reason to work with him.  He is the same as everyone else.  There is no law firm marketing trick that can fix that overnight.  It takes time and it takes some careful planning.

The one question I ask every new client before I decide if I work with them is the question this guy can’t answer:

Why would someone choose your law firm over everyone else who does what you do?

Ultimately your clients decide if your answer is correct…and they vote with their wallets.

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.

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.

Legal Marketing: Tactics Matter

I continue to be amazed by two legal marketing phenomena:

1.) The number of lawyers who only have one way to get a new client.

2.) The number of lawyers who have no idea where their next client will come from.

One of the things I harp on continuously with my clients is consistent execution of client acquisition tactics.  A great legal marketing plan includes several forms of media used in several different ways.  The fundamentals of any legal marketing plan include:

• Writing (in publications your clients read)
• Speaking (to audiences of potential clients)
• Earned Media (being quoted/profiled as an expert)
• Networking
• Hosting Educational Events
• Developing a Referral/Follow-up System
• Direct Mail
• Advertising (print, web, television, radio, etc.)
• Internet Presence
• Community Involvement

These are the ten categories of media that are most effective in attracting clients to your law practice.  You can’t afford to ignore any of them.

Why?

Because clients use different media to find lawyers.  Some clients will search the Internet.  Some clients will read trade publications.  Some clients will call a friend or colleague.  Some clients will only realize they need you after they hear you speak at an event.  Some will only realize that you are an expert after they see a story about you in the paper.

Some clients will only choose to work with you after seeing your name and credentials four or five different times.

Research has proven that clients only respond to the first marketing communication about 1% of the time.  Yet most legal marketing plans do not include multiple tactics delivered via many different forms of media to reach the target audience.

There are three reasons why attorneys don’t use multiple media in creating their legal marketing. All of them are ways of rationalizing their own inactivity.  Let’s take a look at each of them and debunk their validity.

Cost

The complaint about cost is a matter of perception. If I told you that spending $10,000 on marketing would bring you in $100,000 in new client cases, would you do it? How about if that same $10,000 brought in $500,000 in new cases?

Great legal marketing delivers a return on investment.  It is just like your retirement plan, your stock portfolio or the money you save for your kid’s college education.  It will pay dividends if you invest it wisely. The key is learning how to invest those marketing dollars so they work hard for you.

Time

Many lawyers worry that legal marketing will take up a significant amount of time – time they could spend doing legal work. There are two ways to look at the time you spend on client acquisition tactics:

First: You should view your time spent on attracting clients as an investment.  If you bill $250 dollars an hour and you spend 10 hours on legal marketing, you have invested $2,500.  You should receive a return on that investment of over $25,000.  Once again, you need to know what you are doing so that you invest your time wisely.

Second:  Great legal marketing will save you time.  If you have the right target audience and you hit it with the right message via the correct media, you will attract clients who pay higher fees and refer business to you.  This allows you to work smarter and make more money with less effort.

Knowledge

Most attorneys don’t know much about marketing. They don’t teach it in law school. This lack of knowledge is something that will initially hold you back from making decisions about strategy and tactics.  In reality, this should work to your advantage as you have no preconceived notions about your own legal marketing capability. So for you, the sky really is the limit.

There are many places you can obtain business development knowledge. You can read books or attend courses. You can learn through the experience of others.  Or you can learn by trial and error.  I prefer the first two methods to the third but ultimately, you need to educate yourself on the principles of great legal marketing.

If you wait to start you are putting off your own success.

I realize you have a law practice to run.  I know there is legal work to be done.  I understand that just being a lawyer, doing legal work, is a full time job.

But if you do not dedicate time, significant time, to legal marketing, you will never, ever, control your own destiny.

Where will your next client come from?

If you had a legal marketing plan and invested time in growing your law practice, you would know.

If you are ready to take your law firm to the next level or if you just want to attract better clients so you can spend more time with your family, give me a call.  888.692.5531.

 

Late Night Debacle is a Lesson on Writing an Attorney Marketing Plan

Once again there is trouble on the late shift.

In case you have not been following entertainment news, here is a brief overview:

In September 2009 the NBC brain trust moved Jay Leno into a one hour show at 10PM.  This move dislodged him from the Tonight Show (which he hosted since 1992).  Conan O’Brien became the new Tonight Show host.   The NBC Brass loved the move since they were able to profitably sell the new 10PM show to advertisers.  (A talk show is much cheaper to produce and air than a scripted show with an ensemble cast). 

As it turns out, nobody likes watching Jay Leno at 10PM and only a few people like watching Conan on the Tonight Show.  The affiliates (television station owners) are really angry.  NBC screwed up royally and they needed to fix it. 

So what did they decide to do? 

They tip toed around behind the scenes and opened negotiations with Jay to move him into a 30 minute show at 11:35PM (that is currently when the Tonight Show starts).  This means the Tonight Show would need to be moved back a half hour.  Once Conan got wind of this he was not happy.  Although an agreement is imminent, the drama played out on TV, in the newspapers and on line.  In the end, it will cost NBC tens of millions of dollars and much more than that value in talent (Conan will probably end up leaving).

Here are three things we can learn from this mess:

When something works, stick with it until it stops working.  Don’t tinker with it just because you can.

Conan O’Brien always wanted the Tonight Show and he has demonstrated that he would wait for it.  His contract was not up yet and neither was Jay’s.   The ratings for both shows were good.  But NBC wanted to cut costs during the 10PM hour.   So they made this ridiculous deal with these guys.  They messed up a good thing. 

We do this kind of thing all the time.  We come up with a client acquisition tactic that works and then we tinker with it.   

What do I mean? 

You go to a networking event, you meet a few people, you follow up with them and you get new business.  But then you don’t go to another event for six months.     

You give a speech and it results in a couple of good new clients.  Instead of looking for other venues to give that same speech again, you decide to give a different speech that doesn’t work as well. 

When something works, stick with it until it stops working.  If you give a speech to a group or trade organization and you receive a positive response, give that same speech to a different group (within the same industry).  If networking brings you new clients, stick with it until you simply can’t shake another hand.

Don’t mess with things that are working just for the sake of making a change.

Put the client at the forefront of any new business strategy.

NBC thought they knew what was best for the viewers of late night television.  Magically, this aligned with their desire to cut costs.  It appears that NBC wanted to do what was best for NBC and the viewers’ desires were secondary.

Every day you face choices that affect the wellbeing of your law firm.  It is easy to make those choices when they are black and white - either good or bad for your client.  It is not easy to make those choices when they are grey. 

Always be guided by giving the client the greatest value for their investment in you.  This is the most powerful advertising strategy you will ever employ as it is the key driver of word of mouth.   

Do what you love because you love to do it.

Both Jay and Conan are making light of their situation.  They realize that it provides them each with an opportunity to get some laughs.  And that’s what they love to do, regardless of when they appear on television.

If you don’t enjoy being an attorney (at least 80% of the time) you need to make some changes.  Your passion for your profession and your desire to help your clients will make all the difference in the results you get. 

Ultimately, the current late night television situation will be a footnote on the careers of both of these gentlemen.  It is media fodder now but it will all be forgotten with positive ratings results.   But this debacle for NBC serves as a reminder that good planning is far more valuable than most of us realize.

Think things through from every possible angle.  Most of the time big mistakes are just not this funny.

Get a Grip on Administrivia and Make More Money

Do you want to immediately give yourself a productivity boost?

The best way to do this is to remove the trivial administrative tasks that bog you down. I call these things ADMINISTRIVIA.

All of us tend to make things more difficult than they need to be. We use 200 words when 20 will do. We spend too much time analyzing minor issues. We work on mundane tasks that we can/should delegate to others. The administrivia in our firms is the biggest example of time wasted (or at least underutilized).

Here are three things you can do today to dramatically increase your productivity by eliminating administrivia:

One: Never Answer a Ringing Phone

This simple rule has quadrupled my personal productivity and it has (at least) doubled the productivity of my clients immediately upon implementation. In my firm we have a system for handling phone calls.

Here’s how it works:

My main phone number rings directly into voice mail. The voice mail is transcribed and automatically sent to my assistant. She reads the message and either handles it immediately or calls the party back for clarification. If she cannot resolve or dispose of the issue, she schedules a telephone appointment for the caller directly with me. The appointment has a start time and an end time (usually 15 minutes in length) and it has a mini-agenda. Once we resolve the issue, I’m off the phone.

Now you’re probably thinking that your clients have different expectations of you. That’s because you have conditioned them to think you are going to take their calls right away. You can change that perception by having a simple conversation.

It starts like this:

“Mr. Client, you are very important to me. In order to maximize our time together I want to make sure I prepare for every interaction I have with you. From now on, when you call me, I’m going to set aside some dedicated time for us to discuss your issue. Since we are both busy it may take a day or so to get this scheduled but we will both be more productive as a result.”

Second: Stop Checking Email

You really don’t need email. Business was conducted just fine for centuries without it. You especially don’t need to check email constantly. Your productivity will skyrocket when you begin ignoring that stupid inbox on your computer (or Blackberry, PDA, iPhone, etc.).

Here’s how you can conquer this seemingly impossible issue:

Keep your current email address but set up an out of office auto response that states you are no longer checking email. Tell everyone you work with that you are no longer accepting email. Tell them to email your assistant with important documents. Have your assistant schedule a call to review the document with the client/prospective client/opposing attorney. Have your assistant check your email once a day for anything important.

I’ll be the first to admit that I had a tough time with this initially. I used a step down method to get off email. I checked it three times a day at first. Then I moved to once a day, which was almost worse because stuff piled up. After that I went to once a week (at that point I just deleted everything because it was too much to keep up with). Now with my assistant keeping an eye out for important items, I never log into email unless she tells me there is something I need to handle.

Third: Have Someone Manage Your Calendar

There is nothing I do worse than schedule my own appointments. Honestly, I think I have a disability that prevents me from keeping an orderly calendar.

Having someone manage your schedule will make you more efficient and you will be much, much happier. This also helps alleviate the guilt you feel when you have to say NO to an unproductive meeting or event. Someone else says NO for you. It’s beautiful!

Time to Decide

There are about a million reasons not to implement these three changes.  After all, no NORMAL person does this, right?  Well what does NORMAL mean anyway?  Doesn’t NORMAL mean ‘just like everyone else’?

And what do the law firms run by EVERYONE ELSE look like?  Most of them are mediocre.  If you want to be just like everyone else and have a mediocre firm, ignore this article.

But your productivity will suffer if you don’t take charge of your interpersonal interaction.

If you think you can’t do this because you can’t trust your assistant, you need to get a new one (or go into therapy for your trust issues). If you can’t afford an assistant I’m afraid I can’t help you. Virtual assistants are available for $10/hr. and they can handle these tasks in about 10 hours a week. That’s $100. Give me a break.

This article is your call to action. Take control of your productivity immediately.

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