RainmakerLawyer: Law Firm Marketing | Business Strategy for Attorneys | Attorney Marketing

How One Attorney Uses Seminars to Build His Law Firm

Vince Walker owes a great deal of his success in the legal profession to his stamp collection. Well, not exactly, but it was his fervent interest in collecting stamps that led to the marketing strategy that propelled Vince’s practice into the fast lane.

As a boy and all through school Vince was a stamp enthusiast. He collected stamps from the United States as well as from all over the rest of the world. As far back as high school it was said that his own collection was worth more than $15,000 – all stamps that he’d researched and procured with very little help from others.

Much of his interest (and most of his success) was nurtured by his stamp collecting mentor. The man went by the name of Ernie and ran a large stamp collector’s store in the state capital. But that’s not how Vince met Ernie. Ernie was devoted to stamp collecting and held classes and seminars about stamps all around the tri-county area. Vince met Ernie at a class he’d held years ago in the auditorium of the high school. From that first meeting Vince didn’t miss a single class held by Ernie. In time Ernie and Vince became not only friends but nearly contemporaries in the field of collectable stamps. And Vince’s collection continued to build value with Ernie’s help.

Vince’s interest in stamps waned as he made his way through college and the arduous study that comes with law school. His efforts paid off though as he breezed through the bar review and passed the bar on his first try. Vince agreed to work as an intern in a personal injury law practice for two years after passing the bar. From there he planned to open his own practice if things seemed right. They did. About halfway through his two-year get acquainted with the law apprenticeship, he began to roll out his marketing plan ala Ernest.

Remembering how he felt sitting in Ernest’s stamp classes so long ago Vince wanted to get his practice up and running using the same strategy – teaching classes. Since he planned on opening an estate planning office he began offering local classes on filling out simple wills. He also offered a class on incorporating a business along with one on using a family trust. At first the classes were lightly attended but along about the fourth month people started showing up in droves. Vince was still working at the personal injury firm but was building a client base with the list of attendees showing up for his classes. Not only that, but he was getting some actual paying clients from them as well.

By the time his two-year stint with the personal injury firm was up Vince’s classes were quite popular. He’d added a lot of new topics too. Every month Vince would conduct a class and almost every month he’d get paying work from one or more of the attendees. It only made sense to lease some space and set out on his own. And that’s what he did. Here are a list of the more popular classes and seminars he offered in that first year and every year since:

• Avoiding Probate
• Writing Your Will
• Trusts Made Simple
• How to Hire The Best Attorney For Your Personal Matters (every attorney should offer this one)
• Partnerships, Limited Liability Companies and Corporations
• Understanding Living Wills
• Planning Your Estate
• Understanding Power of Attorney
• Offshore Wealth Preservation Strategies
• Homesteading
• Asset Protection and the Patriot Act
• Family Limited Partnerships

Vince has taken the time to research and write comprehensive course outlines for each of his classes. He’s actually developed several of the more popular classes into two-day weekend seminars. These almost always bring in lucrative business and lots of referrals. But Vince sees his efforts as more than just a ploy to bring in business. He sees his teaching as a way to get out and meet people; to offer something of value for people who might not have such information otherwise. Vince believes that success comes from a fair value for value exchange and he knows that if he makes the first move in offering something of true value, that before long that value will be returned to him in the form of new business or other opportunities.

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Oh, now that Vince has his practice up and running he’s made a little more time for his old passion, stamp collecting. He still makes Ernest’s stamp workshops though. Wouldn’t miss them. Vince tells me and anyone who’ll listen that he learned all he needed to know about business and marketing through his interest in stamp collecting. Most don’t completely understand that comment, but no matter, it’s all good – and we’ve got another truly dedicated lawyer right here in town.

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