A client mentioned to me this week that things are a little slow, so he has more time to think about marketing. Too bad! He should have been thinking about his next clients when he was busy. Yeah, I know, easier said than done. However, when you are pressed for time to complete a client’s matter, you simply have to find the time to keep feeding the pipeline in order to avoid the client issue mentioned above.

Stacy West Clark has an article “10 Marketing Tips for Time-Pressed Lawyers” that appeared recently on Law.com. As always, her suggestions are right on. A few of my favorite tips include:

• Don’t make your action list of contacts too long or extend over too many months. And stay focused;
• Schedule at least one hour per week to review your marketing action items – lunch, telecom, meeting, etc. – and then do them;
• Involve your secretary and other staff members to assist in those marketing tasks that don’t require your direct involvement – tracking LinkedIn and Facebook for relevant information, setting up lunches, tracking seminars/conferences of interest, and the like; and,
• Concentrate on contacts and activities likely to “have the biggest payoff.” For example, visiting clients off the clock (my all-time favorite top tip), seeking client feedback, attending board meetings again off the clock, and being active in trade groups your best clients belong to.

There is a lot more in Stacy’s article, so I strongly recommend you take the time to read it.