Welcome back… On Tuesday we asked the questions… How have you spent your marketing time in the past and how do you plan to spend it in 2010?

Results

Question #1: In the PAST I spent time on: 

  1. my referral base – 33%
  2. client service – 20%
  3. blogging – 0%
  4. social media – 0%
  5. Bar involvement – 43%
  6. industry organizations – 0%
  7. not much – 4%

Question #2: In 2010 I PLAN to spend time on: 

  1. my referral base – 29%
  2. client service – 25%
  3. blogging – 5%
  4. social media – 10%
  5. Bar involvement – 30%
  6. industry organizations – 1%
  7. not much – 0%

My Thoughts: It is understandable that in the past 43% of your marketing time has been spent on Bar involvement since that is the comfort zone for lawyers. In 2010 let’s breakout of the comfort zone. Hats off to the 4% who were honest and marked NOT MUCH.

Now for the breakdown of  where you PLAN to spend your time, I was pleased to see the balance shift a bit to client service since that is a great source of new business… and the interest in blogging because I think it can be a valuable tool.

This list will help you focus while considering what to include in your plan. If you start with too much you’ll just end up spinning your wheels. Your goals and strategies must be realistic and achievable… you can always add to the plan later. As a rule I like to tell clients to state strategies and tactics that are specific, measurable and achievable within one year.

Simon Ward of Piper Alderman sees it like this:

Don’t aim too high in your marketing strategy—bagging elephants is a Herculean task—but select small, reasonably achievable targets and chip away at them. Small successes can build to bigger things.

Black Pearl: For more in-depth information on personal brands you may want to look into Tom Peters’ book “The Brand You 50: Or: Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an ‘Employee’ into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion!