Don’t wait for speaking engagements to come knocking on your law office door. You may have a long wait. Since speaking at seminars and in front of other targeted audiences is an effective legal marketing tool (No. 6 on my list of Top 10 Marketing Tips), I recommend you seek out those opportunities rather than waiting to be asked.
Paramjit Mahli of Sun Communications Group has an article that appears in Findlaw’s Law Firm Marketing newsletter this month entitled “How To Get Speaking Engagements.” She has several good points that may help get greater visibility (and clients) for your practice and your law firm:
*Do some strategic thinking (identify the groups whose members are the types of clients you would like have),
*Designate someone to speak for your firm (if you are not comfortable speaking personally, try to find someone in your firm who is so they can gain visibility for the firm),
*Put someone in charge of finding opportunities to speak ( before trade groups, local community organizations, etc. Again, depending on your targeted audience),
*Work with the organization to provide materials – bios, handouts, etc. in the form and by date requested (also work with the group to identify topics of great interest to the audience),
*Offer to write for group’s newsletter, if not selected as a speaker (builds a relationship and may lead to future speaking opportunities), and
*Be persistent in seeking engagements (without be overbearing or obnoxious).
If you are not actively seeking opportunities in which speak, your firm is missing out on one of the better ways lawyers can market their services. So, pick up the phone (after some strategic thought as mentioned above) and make those initial contacts today.