So, what is a niche, and how can it help your legal practice? Ok – when you go to a diner, the chef can make you anything – chocolate chip pancakes, chicken parmesan, or the fish special. At any time of day. Like a general practitioner.
But when you go to an Italian restaurant, that chicken parm is going to be 10x better, and the fish special will be pretty delicious too. Now, they don’t have chocolate chip pancakes on the menu but that doesn’t mean the chef can’t make them.
And, let’s be real – no one ever said that the diner had the best chicken parm ever.
Marketing Strategy Matters
That’s what niching down is. It doesn’t limit what you practice, it limits what you market. You become known as the estate planning lawyer for doctors, or the employment lawyer for restaurants, or the start-up lawyer in the fitness industry.
Make sense?
So, how do you create a niche?
BusinessDictionary.com says niches are created by identifying needs, wants, and requirements that are being addressed poorly or not at all by other firms, and developing and delivering goods or services to satisfy them. As a strategy, niche marketing is aimed at being a big fish in a small pond instead of being a small fish in a big pond.
Because we believe in enjoying what you do for a living – there are 2 things you MUST consider when niching down.
- What do you enjoy? Do your buddies own self-storage facilities and you have helped them with real estate and zoning, collections, employment, and contracts? Run with it. Were your parent’s veterinarians? Focus your estate planning practice on veterinarians and their staff.
- Is there a demand? If you are passionate about sailing, being a maritime lawyer in a land-locked state may not be your best bet.
We are doing a webinar on this very topic- Building a Niche Practice and How to Take it To Market – and we also help law firms and attorneys with niche marketing.
Taking it to Market
Once you choose your niche, how do to bring it to market?
Here are 3 ways to effectively market yourself.
- Know the players within your niche practice, what they read, what orgs they belong to, etc.
- Be an industry thought leader with interviews, articles, whitepapers, blogs, CLEs, etc.. Consequently, these tactics will back up your knowledge and make you a player in their industry.
- Create a premium brand – run with your niche – keep it consistent in all things – your marketing, your business development. This will help you charge and make more money.
Let us know if you have any questions or want help building a niche legal practice.