Legal Marketing Blog

Niche practices can be marketed more effectively and cheaper than a general practice in my opinion. Law firms that promote their niche practices will easily standout from the crowd; and can charge more for the practice, if they do.

Two of my posts on niche marketing that come to mind from a few years back include "Narrow Your Niche for More Effective Marketing" and "Do You Have a Niche and What Are You Doing about It?" Take a look, because there is a hot new niche that just came on the market. And there ain’t going to be a recall any time soon.

Thanks to the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in Citizens United v. FEC (No. 08-205), January 21, 2010. I’m sure many firms will be adding a niche practice representing plaintiffs or defending corporations/unions over their respective political contributions.Some shareholders and/or union members may be vehemently oppose to the particular political choices made by the corporation or union.  Could get to be messy out there, and those with a early lead in marketing such a niche might just win big.It could be a sub-niche to existing Shareholders’ Rights Practices, or stand-alones called something like “Shareholders’ Political Rights Practice” and “Union Workers’ Political Rights Practice.”

The point is that you should jump right in if you think there is anything to this, and you too believe in the value of niche practices. Get out there ahead of the competition, and don’t forget to grab that domain name for your area while you're at it.

A comment to a recent post of mine led me to a book about overcoming America’s No. 1 Fear – public speaking. The title of the book Stage Fright: 40 Stars Tell You How They Beat America's #1 Fear by Mick Berry and Michael Edelstein got my attention. It isn’t the same as “writer’s block” or in my case “Blog Fright,” as in I’m suppose-to-do-a-blog-post-today, and haven’t done it.

There isn’t anything that compares to the pure terror experienced by some people when they have to get up to speak before an audience, especially a bunch of strangers. I love public speaking, but I remember my fears when I first started doing it – very, very stressful to say the least. And I learned over the years that if I don’t experience some trepidation before I get up to speak, I usually fall flat.

Although I don’t usually promote other people’s products here, the book sounded interesting enough to mention. If you don’t want to spring for $10 (or even less) on Amazon, here are sources of some free tips that may help overcome stage fright for those that experience it.

They include:

• Fear Busters – 10 Tips To Overcome Stag Fright
• Top 7 Practical Tips For Overcoming Stage Fright
• How to Overcome Stage Fright
• How To Get Rid Of Stage Fright

Those lawyers who are serious about marketing and business development need to throw away their iPhone and stop with that social media stuff, and get back to basics.

Okay, now that I have your attention, and before you “Baker Act” me (here in Florida people suspected of having mental problems can be incarcerated by the courts for up to 72 hours for a mental examination based on the recommendation of certain officials. And, I ain’t saying which officials. So, forget it.)

But, I digress.

The fact is that Renee Berman, a Connecticut sole practitioner, makes a pretty good case in an article on Law.com’s Small Firm Business for returning to the days of yesteryear for marketing your practice. As she puts it:

“The goal of marketing is to keep yourself and your business in the forefront of the minds of potential clients and peers so that they think of you and only you when they need an attorney to retain or refer a matter…”

She goes on to point out:

“Technology has weakened the building and maintaining of relationships. Face-to-face meetings, phone calls and handwritten notes are slowly fading, and the quickest (and unknowingly least effective) approach is becoming the norm. Making eye contact while you explain to your client the consequences of his conduct is always more effective than an e-mail where tone cannot be determined and often is misinterpreted. Likewise, when you communicate solely through your keypad, important relationships wane and you fail to make new connections -- not just contacts, but rather lasting connections.”

So there you have it. Step back from all this modern technology and methods, so you can market your practice the old fashion way with face-to-face contact.

Just kidding!

Obviously, Renee and I are not really suggesting that you don’t use the modern, technological forms of marketing, BUT don’t rely on them to the exclusion of the basic, personal, face-to-face methods of old.

Your practice will benefit from reading her article, and taking the advice to heart.

If you don’t know, shame on you. The most important element in marketing and business development is assuring the most solid, close, concrete, rock-solid, meaningful, close up, personal, etc., etc. (you get the drift) client relationships possible. If that is NOT your main focus, double shame.

Yesterday’s (today’s is below) “marketing meditation” from my good friend Larry Smith and his colleague Richard Levick at Levick Strategic Communications is:

“What keeps your clients up at night? This is the bulls eye (emphasis mine) of marketing. If you don’t know the answer, you are not marketing. You’re just busy.”

HMMM!

Knowing your clients business and his/her concerns relating thereto should be your apex. If you don’t understand that, you are really missing the boat.

Oh yeah, today’s missive from 365 Marketing Meditations: Daily Lessons For Marketing & Communications Professionals by Larry and Richard is:

“Law is about precedents, accounting is about rules, banking is about old relationships. But marketing is about being first” (again, emphasis is mine)

… in client relationships, I might add.

Meditations are good for the soul, and for developing business it would appear.

From a marketing standpoint, I put involvement in organizations as No. 10 on my top ten marketing list of best practices for developing business. And, which organizations and what your “involvement” consists of are very important.

Jaimie Field had post on her blog yesterday entitled “Rainmaking Recommendation #2 – Join and Join In” that speaks to those points. By that she means join the right organizations and be active. She suggests that you should be “consistently networking, conversing and developing relationships with the business people who are directly involved in the industry” or industries you are interested in representing. Also, she recommends asking clients what organizations they belong to.

Basically, you should belong to those organizations that are most likely to have the kinds of clients that you want to get business from. For some, such as criminal defense attorneys, bankruptcy, or other specialized niche practices, that is still the bar association where lawyers will refer work they do not handle. Those trying to obtain work directly from clients would be wise to seek out and join trade organizations made up of their target clients.

Joining the right organizations, and becoming a doer (vs. just a joiner) will certainly produce results.

There are many who say when it comes to speeches, as for a lot of things in life, less is more. I'm not sure whether that's based on lousy speeches, or by keeping it short, it's easier to get your point(s) across more effectively.

Whatever is the case I think brief is better when my priest gives a short homily; and although you may think it's because I want to get out of church quicker, that is actually not the case. I actually think he is a much more dynamic speaker and I remember his points better, when he doesn't try to cover too much. 

So, when I ran across Ernie the Attorney's post yesterday about this thing called Ignite I had to take a look, since Ernie is truly one of the earliest and most respected pioneers in the legal blogosphere. It appears that this Ignite movement, which involves people giving speeches no longer or shorter than five minutes in length and with 20 slides advancing every 15 seconds, is gaining in popularity. A chapter has formed in Ernie's hometown of New Orleans.

My head is still spinning from the dizzying video highlighted on the Ignite site. But it is entertaining to say the least. My only concern about the upcoming Ignite event in New Orleans that Ernie mentions is that the multiple presentations are scheduled from eight to 10 PM (after a cocktail party starting at 7 PM) is how dizzyingly these presentations will come across.

The important point of all that is is to think about how to make your next speech short, simple, and memorable. Maybe the principle behind Ignite might help set a fire under your audience.  

Everyone knows today that it is a buyers' market when it comes to legal services. One only has to pay attention to the surveys reporting  that clients are dropping law firms that no longer meet their needs in terms of responsiveness, costs, communications, and otherwise fail to meet their expectations.

I ran across an article by Kimberly Alfred Rice over on the Law Practice Matters blog that identifies six ways that a law firm can chase clients away.

They include failure to:

1. Provide "insights and wisdom" about he problem, not just technical legal answers;
2. maintain trust, as in neglecting to provide the "complete and utter truth about a matter;"
3. communicate often and effectively;
4. produce timely advice to meet client needs;
5. use common sense when it comes to billing, and invoicing for every "instant" spent on a clients matter (I agree with Rice that it's a good idea to include time spent, but not billed for, on the invoice); and
6. always look for opportunities to add value to a client relationship, by way of "various marketing and communications tools" such as CLE seminars, newsletters, law alerts, etc.

Obviously, these are just some of the ways to lose clients. So, let the word to the wise be sufficient.

I just hated it when my mother used that phrase. But I guarantee you, mother was usually right.

Now is a good time to consider gearing up your business development efforts. One way to do that is to hire a coach. And a post over on Jamie Field - Enlightened Rainmaking mentions six reasons for doing so:

1. Even superstars have coaches, certainly all pro golfers do, as well as CEOs and other top producers (as I have mentioned before);
2. good coaches provide valuable feedback and help keep you on the right track;
3. coaches help strategize and develop action plans for you;
4. keep you on target by ensuring focus and avoiding distractions;
5. hold you accountable, (or what I like to refer to as friendly nagging);
6. be both a cheerleader and booster, as needed.

Actually, there is a seventh reason for hiring a coach:

         7. I could use a few more good clients (oops, sorry about that).

There are many good coaches out there, and the most critical factors to take into consider in hiring a coach include:

• what is their experience in dealing with lawyers,
• do they understand your area (s) of practice,
• what do the references say about their services, and
• most importantly, is the chemistry right between you.

Some lawyers prefer that their coach meet with them in person, while others find that coaching sessions by telephone work just fine. Each lawyer should determine what would work best for them.

The important thing is that a coach can help you focus, plan and provide valuable support in your business development efforts. Give it some thought.

As I alluded to in my last post, now that the holidays are over, it's time to kick it into gear. As Tom Singer puts it in his post of Tuesday, "The Time For Excuses Is Over:"

“Businesses (large and small) have realized that they cannot wait on the sidelines if they want success. They need to get in the game. After 18 months of not spending money on things like sales meetings and customer/industry conferences, I am hearing from companies that the time has come to invest in education and motivation for everyone.

“The same thing is true for individuals. The only way to make things happen is to make things happen. Take action. Do something. Be a self-imposed catalyst and stop looking for excuses.”

So, here are a couple of quick thoughts on what you might do to put an end to that procrastination of yours:

• Call a client and set up a visit,
• Take your best referral source (s) to lunch,
• Ask a local business reporter to lunch also,
• Call/e-mail a business group and inquire about speaking opportunities,
• Write an Op Ed piece on a hot topic for your local newspaper, and
• Seek feedback from a key client on your recent services.

Pick one and do it today. Okay, but no later than tomorrow!

No more excuses.

Okay, the holidays are over. Time to focus on business. And the best source of new business is from existing clients (either in the form of new matters or referrals), and other referral sources. I have talked about this several times before. But don't just take my word for it.

Paula Black had a post on her blog In Black & White earlier last month that I thought was too important to get lost in the holidays. So, I made a note to cover it early in the new year. She talks about two marketing strategies relating to referrals that individual lawyers and law firms should consider.

She conducted a survey of her readers, and learned that 65% of referrals came from "existing clients or other attorneys." Actually, if you include referrals from former clients, the percentage jumps to eighty; which matches exactly the number I was able to track at two of my firms when I was an in-house marketer.

Paula's two strategies are both basic and simple to implement:

• Work on generating more referrals by building up client relationships by improving listening, responding quickly, communicating more often and effectively, sending information of interest, and making (key) relationships more personal; and
• Respond appropriately when receiving a referral by making sure to thank the referrer with a telephone call, a card (with handwritten note) and/or a small gift, and remembering to reciprocate.

Pretty basic I'd say -- work harder at your client and referral relationships. Remember to thank all who make referrals, and send referrals in return. This will assure your getting more of them in 2010.