Keeping a legal practice smoothly running has both its ups and downs. One must juggle between avoiding mistakes in their practice whilst accommodating all the demands of clients. You will find that all the things you learned in law school did not fully prepare you for the big bad world.
Especially with the current recession, the biggest problem most lawyers are faced with is finding new clients. There are some who are skilled at easily building their clientele, but they are very few and far between.
Law Firm Marketing is a complex and multifaceted discipline. It takes years and years to get you from a young and wide-eyed law student on your first day in law school to the lawyer with a legal practice that you are now. The time you've spent learning marketing likely pales in comparison, so it shouldn't be any shock if you find marketing to be both daunting and stressful.
Tips on marketing your law firm or legal practice can be obtained from many websites, although most of them aren't really any good. I would, however, like to save you from the major mistakes that lawyers unwittingly - or even wittingly - make. No one is safe from these mistakes; I have seen even the best lawyers and law firms succumb to them.
Having a Very Broad Market and Target Market : By far, the biggest pitfall I see in law firm marketing is trying to market and/or advertise for every possible practice area and for every possible type of client. To illustrate the problem with this type of marketing, imagine that you're someone who needs a lawyer to handle a landlord-tenant issue. He hears about this law firm that pretty much does everything - from tax laws, intellectual property rights, injury law, to landlord-tenant issues. Then he hears about this other firm who specialize solely on landlord-tenant matters. Who would you be more likely to call first? Potential clients want to know that you're an expert focused on their problem, not on every possible legal issue. Your law firm's marketing strategy should recognize this client consideration.
Not Focusing on One Type of Marketing : There are many types of marketing that lawyers can choose from. They can choose to make use of online advertising, television and print media, law firm search engine optimization, among others. Be warned though. If you try all of them, you will fail all of them. Each and every marketing medium needs a lot of work and time to perfect. Choose the medium that works best for you and concentrate all your effort and time in making it work. Then move on to another medium.
Absence of supervision and control: There are a lot of great consultants and firms out there who will provide you with awesome marketing services. I consider myself one of them. There are also many consultancy firms whose marketing services leave a lot to be desired. Moreover, even good firms need your oversight and feedback. They need to communicate with you to figure out how things are going and whether what they're doing is working for you or if you want to change directions. Periodic checks with long intervals won't do; they should be regular to ensure that everything is in place.
Marketing your legal practice entails high risk; however, if done right, expect high returns.
Especially with the current recession, the biggest problem most lawyers are faced with is finding new clients. There are some who are skilled at easily building their clientele, but they are very few and far between.
Law Firm Marketing is a complex and multifaceted discipline. It takes years and years to get you from a young and wide-eyed law student on your first day in law school to the lawyer with a legal practice that you are now. The time you've spent learning marketing likely pales in comparison, so it shouldn't be any shock if you find marketing to be both daunting and stressful.
Tips on marketing your law firm or legal practice can be obtained from many websites, although most of them aren't really any good. I would, however, like to save you from the major mistakes that lawyers unwittingly - or even wittingly - make. No one is safe from these mistakes; I have seen even the best lawyers and law firms succumb to them.
Having a Very Broad Market and Target Market : By far, the biggest pitfall I see in law firm marketing is trying to market and/or advertise for every possible practice area and for every possible type of client. To illustrate the problem with this type of marketing, imagine that you're someone who needs a lawyer to handle a landlord-tenant issue. He hears about this law firm that pretty much does everything - from tax laws, intellectual property rights, injury law, to landlord-tenant issues. Then he hears about this other firm who specialize solely on landlord-tenant matters. Who would you be more likely to call first? Potential clients want to know that you're an expert focused on their problem, not on every possible legal issue. Your law firm's marketing strategy should recognize this client consideration.
Not Focusing on One Type of Marketing : There are many types of marketing that lawyers can choose from. They can choose to make use of online advertising, television and print media, law firm search engine optimization, among others. Be warned though. If you try all of them, you will fail all of them. Each and every marketing medium needs a lot of work and time to perfect. Choose the medium that works best for you and concentrate all your effort and time in making it work. Then move on to another medium.
Absence of supervision and control: There are a lot of great consultants and firms out there who will provide you with awesome marketing services. I consider myself one of them. There are also many consultancy firms whose marketing services leave a lot to be desired. Moreover, even good firms need your oversight and feedback. They need to communicate with you to figure out how things are going and whether what they're doing is working for you or if you want to change directions. Periodic checks with long intervals won't do; they should be regular to ensure that everything is in place.
Marketing your legal practice entails high risk; however, if done right, expect high returns.
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