As the holidays are approaching and most of us are too busy to sit for even five minutes, I am sure you are racking up excuses as to why you have no time for legal marketing. #protip – get off of Amazon for ten minutes – don’t shut it down, just open a new tab – and login to LinkedIn and scroll through your news feed. Like and share others’ posts. Yes – that is legal marketing. Just like running a marathon doesn’t start with you getting off the couch and running 26.2 miles, implementing a marketing plan doesn’t start with you spending 3 hours a day and thousands a year on marketing. Let’s walk before we run, ok folks?
First, write down three achievable goals you want to achieve for 2020 (I mean, we all want to hit the lottery and retire, but that’s up to the lottery gods).
- Add 3 new clients in the first quarter?
- Expand your referral network by 50% in 2020?
- Want to start marketing?
Great! Let’s start mapping out what you will do to achieve these goals.
You want 3 new clients in the first quarter. Excellent.
What is your ideal client? Be specific. NOT “anyone who can pay my hourly rate.” Get into the nitty gritty. “A small business with succession planning issues, with over $3m in annual revenue.”
Where does your ideal client hang out? Would they be members of trade associations? Attend the annual conference, or be a panelist at a local event.
What does your ideal client read? Write an article in the publications they subscribe to.
Do you already have one or two clients who fit your “ideal client” profile? If so, and if you do great work for them and they are happy with you, ask them the above questions, or better yet, for an intro to someone.
You want to expand your referral network by 50%.
As we said above, remind your existing happy clients, that you can do work for their friends or family, too.
What other professionals do your clients hire? Realtors? Accountants? Insurance agents? Bankers? Attend industry events for these groups.
Ask existing referrals to introduce you. For instance – take an existing referral out to lunch. You invite someone they could potentially do business with and ask that they do the same.
Ask a prospective referral source to co-author a blog or article with you, or co-present on a panel.
You want to start legal marketing.
Identify what your needs are. Do an analysis of your website, social media, and current marketing – or hire an outside company to come in and do that for you.
Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Love to speak? Great – ask your local bar association to include you in upcoming CLEs, or do a presentation to fellow board members for the charity you are involved in. Hate speaking but love to write? Start a blog, guest blog on someone else’s blog, rewrite your website copy, write an article for a local magazine, or a LinkedIn article. Are you a social media whiz? Start promoting your firm, practice, and yourself on professional social media channels. Compile where your marketing dollars were spent in 2019 – advertisements, sponsorships, marketing assistance, etc. Are you happy with the spend? Will you be spending more or less in 2020 – and where should that money be allocated?
1 – Make a plan. 2 – Make a plan. 3 – Make a plan. Schedule legal marketing activities – actually put them in your calendar. You can do this… baby steps. Walk before you run.