How to Put Law & Order into Marketing Your Legal Practice

First in a series of three articles

Regardless of your law firm's focus ? criminal, civil, corporate, family, business, etc. ? the greatest challenge most small to mid-size firms face is the lack of a strategic and disciplined approach to business development. Relying on referrals does not a strategy make! And waiting to get serious about marketing until that major case is wrapped up is way too late.

Whether you're frustrated with past marketing efforts that have been expensive, time-consuming, and haven't paid off?or you think you can't afford to take a sophisticated, results-driven approach to business development like the big firms do, guess again. While your firm may not have its own in-house marketing expert on staff or the generous marketing budgets that the larger firms enjoy, you can systematically and affordably attract more clients than you ever thought possible. It just takes a thoughtful strategy that leverages the laws of marketing, and an ordered approach to stay on track.

Laws of Marketing

First and foremost, marketing is NOT about brochures, websites, advertising or cold calls. These things may or may not be tools that make sense for your firm, once you've leveraged the laws of marketing.

There are two basic laws of marketing1 that must be mastered by professional service providers who want to stop wasting time and money on ineffective marketing efforts. They are:

1. Build your base (carefully craft your message)

2. Reach out to your market (build and nurture relationships)

Here's a quick look at what each of these laws requires?

Build Your Base. This law means spending thoughtful time defining your firm's niche, developing language that grabs your prospects' attention, articulating what makes your firm stand out from other firms offering the same services, demonstrating your value, and illustrating your firm's authority to deliver better than all other choices.

Unfortunately, 90% of professional service firms ignore the law of "build your base" and rush to communicate about their firm without a carefully articulated message. This leaves your target audience unconvinced or, at best, confused about how your firm can serve them better than all others vying for their attention. Invest a little time in building your firm's base, and you'll be ahead of most of your competitors.

Reach Out to Your Market. This law involves developing and implementing a system of strategies to build and sustain relationships with your target market and current clients. They are executed both offline and online. They are done systematically and repeatedly. They work in synergy to create an unstoppable buzz and attraction to your firm that takes on a desirable life of its own, once you've put them in place. These strategies include things like networking, direct outreach (personal or mass mail), PR, articles and speaking, keep-in-touch systems, using technology to attract, develop, and retain relationships; tapping centers of influence, developing joint ventures, launching a client relationship strategy, using a customer creation system, pursuing a relationship selling strategy, introducing a win-win fee strategy, and developing next-level strategies for current clients.

Orderly Conduct

This is the hard part for most law firms...making marketing happen is a function of carving out the time from precious billable hours - not an easy task! However, you can do it, especially if you take a disciplined and orderly approach to staying on track. This means you have to?

Get focused. Schedule a meeting with key decision-makers in your firm to discuss making a commitment to marketing. You don't have to make any major decisions at this first meeting, except determine how much time you can commit weekly to your firm's marketing efforts. Start small (2 hours per person) and put it in your schedules. Then schedule your next marketing meeting to discuss the results of your homework, the attached Are You Ready for a TurningPointe? marketing assessment!

Get organized. Use the results of the marketing assessment to stimulate discussion about where to start. At this point, if you've not done market strategy and planning before, call in an expert. It'll save you lots of time in the end, since you'll START with a strategic marketing plan that makes sense for your firm and is realistic to implement.

Some basics to consider when developing your plan include:

? Keep it simple; don't take on too much at once. Spread out your deadlines.

? Identify a mix of short-term, easily implemented goals and longer-term, harder-to-implement goals. Build in some quick "wins" for an immediate return on your investment.

? Prioritize but be flexible; be willing to change dates or put things on hold when other marketing priorities make sense (which means you don't stop, you just shift).

? Identify the obstacles (people, time, money, lack of expertise, etc.) that could derail you and plan tasks for how to overcome them.

? Plan for how to make marketing a reward, not a punishment. Build in rewards for people who take time from billable hours to market.

Stay on track. At a minimum, guard one hour every week for a status check on your marketing plan ? even if you're a solo practitioner, that means making an appointment with yourself! The mere act of focused thinking or discussion about marketing every week will make an enormous difference in your ability to attract more clients.

Once you have a smart plan in place that's realistic (see Get Organized, above), all you have to do is focus on taking one step at a time, then another, and another. Each small marketing task builds momentum and before you know it, you've implemented a major goal. The key is to keep moving?or if you stop, get restarted. It also helps to have "accountability" to an outside party, who keeps you on track through regular telephone and in-person coaching sessions.

The Defense Rests

So your practice has a stellar track record of client victories, you do good work that you care about, and you know your contribution makes a positive difference in the lives of your clients. What if you could reach more clients than you ever thought possible with all that you offer?

Apply the laws of marketing through an ordered plan of action that keeps you on track, and you will. Case closed.

References

1 Middleton, R. Laws of Marketing TeleClass. Action Plan Marketing, Inc. 2003.

(c) 2004 TurningPointe Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved.
Marketing educator, Kelly O'Brien, is creator of the "Create a
TurningPointe!" Marketing Bootcamp. To learn more about this step-by-step
program, and to sign up for FREE how-to articles and 20-page marketing
guide, visit http://www.turningpointemarketing.com

---

Marketing Strategies to Put Yourself Out of Business

Want to learn how to lose a billion dollars?Just follow... Read More

Marketing Hesitation Costs Dearly

Timing is everything. Hate to be late? The early bird... Read More

Where to Find Cheap Brochure Printing

Whether it is for is a real estate listing, a... Read More

2 Step Marketing

Do it Right.I receive postcards all the time. The other... Read More

Be Prepared for Marketing

For most businesses, making a sale is all important. However,... Read More

Top Web Site Blunders by Coaches, Consultants and Experts

Of all the web sites belonging to coaches, consultants and... Read More

Dont Think Like A Package Designer - Think Like A Customer

Some of the most successful package introductions have come from... Read More

Powerful Direct Marketing Numbers

Direct Marketing works!Why? It works because it's personal. It carries... Read More

5 Tips for Getting the Most out of Exhibiting at Trade Shows

Exhibiting at trade shows can be a cost-effective way to... Read More

A Seven Letter Word That Helped a 3 Month Marketing Newbie to Online Success

Who would have thought that a three month newbie and... Read More

7 Great Ways to Market Yourself and Your Business to Help Increase Sales

Do you own a business and need ideas on how... Read More

How Nearly Going Broke Taught Me The Value Of Niche Marketing

If you want to learn how effective Niche Marketing can... Read More

How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth? Powerful Lessons In Marketing & The Psychology Of Selling - Part 2

NB: You can read part one here: ... Read More

What You Need in Your Marketing Calendar

Marketing calendars are used by many businesses to help keep... Read More

Promotions That Build Profit

Promotions are everything you do to let your customers know... Read More

Is CRM Technology Living Up To the Hype?

Over the last few years the buzz about CRM (Customer... Read More

Discovering The Benefits That Hook Your Prospect

Benefits! They're what marketing is all about. No doubt you've... Read More

Marketing For Profit - 6 Critical Traits

Develop These Six Critical Marketing Traits...And Success Will Surely Follow.If... Read More

Why Surveying Matters

What is the single most important thing you can do... Read More

When Designing Postcards, Aim for Refrigerator Door Mindshare

If you want to design effective marketing postcards, then aim... Read More

How To Start A Mail Order Business

The Mail Order business is not a business of itself,... Read More

B2B Marketing Tips - Create an Interactive Online Experience for Clients

Business to business communications on the web are as stale... Read More

Quiz: Where is Your Marketing Message?

Wondering if your marketing message is dancing in the spotlight... Read More

Ditch Coupons Before Customers Ditch You

Everyone wants to feel like they're getting a good deal.... Read More

Assumption Based Marketing Vs. Fact Based Marketing

One of the most common mistakes in marketing is making... Read More

Direct Mail Marketing Generates Sales Leads: Heres How

1. Personal Unlike an advertisement in a trade publication, which... Read More

Stretching Your Marketing Dollars--7 Cheap and Easy Ways to Market on a Budget

Just because you have to stretch your marketing dollars doesn't... Read More

How Simple, Small Changes Can Add Real Money To Your Pocket

I want to share with you a story. This story... Read More

Image is Key to Your Marketing Success

In virtually any business first impressions are lasting impressions. Most... Read More

7 Ways a Copywriter Can Help Your Business Succeed

Think you can't afford to hire a copywriter? Think again.... Read More

Future of Marketing Part 2

In Part 1, I discussed how traditional marketing is no... Read More

The Seven Deadly Sins of Ineffective Nametags

Your nametag can be your best friend. It can be... Read More

Nine Must-Do Positioning Steps

Every professional or consultant knows that clients typically hire people... Read More