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Marc Cerniglia

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When we ask lawyers what they need their marketing to accomplish for them, the most common answer by far is “I need more clients.” But we’d like to challenge that mindset. Do you really need more clients… or do you need better clients?

Take a moment and think through the clients you’ve worked with over the past several months. How many of them:

1. Didn’t pay you on time, in full, or maybe didn’t pay at all
2. Consumed a ton of time and energy in the engagement/consultation process before hiring you (or worse, not hiring you despite the time you invested)
3. Were rude or disrespectful towards you, your time, and/or your team
4. Didn’t trust you
5. Needed help with matters outside of your area of focus
6. Drained you, rather than energized you

Here’s an analogy for you. Think retail.

On one end of the spectrum you’ve got Wal-Mart – cheap, always open, stores all over the country, and you can get almost anything there – although the quality may be questionable.

On the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got high-end retailers like Neiman Marcus. Expensive, restricted availability, and a very narrow selection of extremely high quality merchandise.

Wal-Mart makes money through volume. They have tiny profit margins, but they’re so efficient and they sell at such high volume that, as a company, they’re very profitable. Neiman Marcus and other high-end retailers make their money through higher margins. They sell to a much, much smaller number of customers than a Wal-Mart, but they’ve built a brand that allows them to create much higher margins than Wal-Mart. And so they don’t need a high volume of customers. They need the right customers.

For them, it’s not about quantity… it’s about quality.

Now, which end of the spectrum would you like your law practice to operate in? Would you rather be a (relatively) low-cost provider of a wide variety of legal services, making your money through high volume? Or would you prefer to build a focused, lower-volume, higher-margin practice?

I can’t answer that question for you. But I can tell you, generally speaking, that focusing on a niche, building a brand, and working with a smaller number of carefully selected clients will result in the following:

1. Less time working
2. Ability to charge higher rates
3. More referrals
4. More repeat business
5. More fulfillment with your work

I’d suggest you spend some time thinking about this. Figure out what you want your practice to look like. Is it quantity and high volume? Or is it quality and a more focused practice?

Once you’ve identified your direction, your marketing can help you get there. If you’d like to talk to the Spotlight Branding team about this, we’d be glad to have a conversation.

We’re sure you have noticed the new look, new logo and new faces. Why? Because we: Paula Black, Daniel Decker and Marc Cerniglia have joined forces with Tom Kane.

The legal environment is changing rapidly. Success in the legal industry – just like any other industry – requires evolution and adaptation.

With this blog, Tom Kane has built a foundation of timeless marketing wisdom for lawyers of all shapes and sizes.

Now, we’re excited to build on this foundation and adapt these proven marketing principles into our world in 2018 and beyond. There’s massive change swirling all around us – the internet has changed the way that lawyers market themselves, and even the way that practices must operate. But the fundamental legal marketing principles that have worked for centuries are still vitally important today. And it’s our mission to show you how to apply these tried-and-true strategies to your daily life.

Daniel Decker and Marc Cerniglia, founders of Spotlight Branding, will serve as your guides to a better way of marketing your law firm on the internet. They argue passionately that the proven, foundational approach to legal marketing – ie, a focus on relationships, reputation, referrals, and repeat business – is more relevant than ever in 2018. And they’ll show you how to create marketing strategies and systems focused on these objectives.

Paula Black, a coach, author, and speaker with over 30 years of experience in the legal industry will show you how to create a marketing plan that aligns with your professional goals – but more importantly, with your goals for your life. Paula believes that lawyers can and should find harmony between work, family, and play – and she’ll show you how to make this happen in your own life.

And Tom Kane will continue to participate; contributing his sage wisdom on marketing a legal practice that builds a thriving firm, and his insights on the legal profession.

We hope that you will subscribe now so that you don’t miss anything. We look forward to building on Tom’s foundation and helping you market your practice effectively in 2018 and beyond.

Stay Tuned!