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The Nifty Fifty Marketing Tips for Lawyers
 

I recently listened to an audio tape describe Marketing Weapons for the business world, and I wondered about their applicability to the legal profession.  Don't consider marketing as advertising but any contact you have with the public and an opportunity to generate a favorable impression of you and your services.  Advertising is just one element of the equation; and an incomplete one at that. With that in mind, I culled the 100 from the book, surfed the web, and came up with this nifty fifty.

What happens when the law of the jungle meets the law man.  Gorilla marketer vs. legal eagle may not equate to the 'Thrilla in Manila' but a Gorilla with a Manila folder is stilla winner. Here are some of my thoughts on the subject. These ideas are not original, but are discussed in many of the articles on marketing and advertising.

  1. Read the Ethical Rules on Advertising.  No ands, ifs or buts about this one.  Click here for the KBA web site for rules on lawyer advertising. 
  2. Marketing Plan.  Know where you are going and why.  Organize the following weapons into a cohesive plan that fits together. You know what it is like to go to a meeting and the person in charge is not in charge and has no idea where he is going.  Of course, General Sherman's plan of burning his way to Georgia may have lacked style and had some downside to it, but it was a plan wasn't it?  Bottom line is figure out what you want and how to implement it.  Peace on earth works for Miss America, but lotsa business and time to spend it falls short of your bottom line.  
  3. Marketing Calendar.  Project what you are going to do and the timetable for accomplishing it.  Avoid duplication.  Keeping a calendar of your marketing allows you to learn from what you did right and what you did wrong.  Spending all of your budget in January makes the rest of the year bleak. Bringing a million clients to an office which is unclean and sloppy fails too.
  4. Niche.  Determine your position in the legal community. What do you stand for in the minds of your prospects.  If you specialize, then focus on that market. Targeting an audience that won't use your services is wasteful and stupid.  Stand for something or you don't stand at all.  See also Identity; Branding; Theme Line; Logo.
  5. Identity / Branding. Be what the people and clients expect you to be.  No phony facade or image. People see through the crap.  Sincerity and honesty is what they want in there lawyer; not to mention a little competence.  Show this side of you to develop their confidence and trust.  
  6. Theme Line.  This is a tuff one for lawyers.  "This Bud's for you!" may work for hawking beer.  Some firm's themes I have encountered are: "Helping you through life's problems."; "It's not business; it's personal." You can probably figure the intended market and type of firm from these.  Law firms all over the world now have snappy little slogans, their 'brands,' which they include with their advertising. But some firms have come to understand that brands are not advertisements. A brand is a promise. It is what their clients and prospects expect. As such, a brand is not ever completed -- cutting-edge law firms incorporate their brands in everything they do, everyday
  7. Logo.  There are only so many ways you can use a legal scale or lady justice, but visual imagery is retained much better than auditory or textual signals. Scales on your business card make it clear what you are and what you do.  Of course, the following articles and web site shows you how small my mind can be.
  8. Stationery.  The man was right - bad stationery may not cost you clients, and good stationery may not attract them either, but here is an opportunity to promote a positive impression.  So why not do it.  It's not a question of if you will use stationery, it's just a question of what kind.  Keep in mind content and quality. Quality paper and print goes a long way.  Look at your stationery as a 100 business cards a day being placed in the mail, and your client pays for your postage and time.  Whata deal!
  9. Business Card.  Again, it's not a question of "if" but "what."  You have a card already.  At a minimum - name, address, telephone, firm, fax, email, web page.  What about a logo (scales works) or your theme line. Ditto for quality paper and print. Multi-color fold-out cards may be a little much; but a simple and elegant card that speaks for you helps.
  10. Inside Signs.  This works well for businesses to point customers to products and services.  You have the people on the premises so why not point them in the right direction.  Maybe a law firm can have an enclosed glass cabinet with pictures of the firm doing community activities, receiving awards, copies of articles or handouts of the firm - anything that promotes or says 'we are the type of lawyers you want and need.' Use this to display the marketing ideas propounded later.  Keep on reading; it's called developing a marketing plan.
  11. Outside Signs.  No, not your flashing neon sign with an arrow saying 'Honest Lawyer - 2 Flights Up."  But use of community bulletin boards to promote your business.  I guess it wouldn't hurt to use your business card to your advantage like every other huckster in the world.  I think they are usually lost in the shuffle, but a card is cheap and they do nothing for you in your wallet or desk drawer.  Think of church bulletin boards, internet community boards, etc. Watch out for the advertising rules; a brochure posted may be a problem, but the stuff on your card seems ok.
  12. Window Displays.  Put it under or behind glass and people will look.  Show something.  Anything works - direct or indirect.  For example, the direct method is all about you - copies of articles, awards, pictures, published opinions, etc. in which you or a member of your firm is the focus.  Indirect - focus on elements of your community, the legal profession, historical issues, upcoming events, or anything of a civic nature.  It's gotta be better than 3-year old magazines in the waiting room.
  13. Concept.  In the 80's it was quality; in the 90's the buzz word was flexibility.  In Y2K, it's innovation - think of quality, flexibility, computers, internet, email.  Think outside the box, and don't limit your colors to inside the lines.  The legal profession is changing, and the old ways of delivering services is not working.  Companies now audit bills; email transmit info instantly; computers generate documents and data and the touch of a key.  Scriveners are out; innovators are in.  Take a look at a lawyer's web site in New Jersey.  He uses on-line forms, encrypted email, and internet info pages to practice law.  Check him out at www.stewart.ac;  his web site was produced for pennies on a word processor and share ware file transfer program.  Would you believe me that you could have your own web pages up for less than $150 per year with tools already available to you?  Well, wake up and innovate.
  14. Word of Mouth.  This is not a new concept.  In days of yore, your reputation garnered you business by word of mouth.  Happy clients brought in more happy clients.  Chopping that wood in front of you worked.  However, the word is faster paced,  and there are lot more lumber jacks in the legal profession chopping that wood and only so many trees to chop.  How do you increase the positive spin on you?  Use brochures - simple, elegant, colorful, and informative.  How?  A client comes in for a will, do the will, and bill for the will.  Now you got a happy client.  Now 30 days later thank that client for the business and send them your brochure highlighting more about the firm and what you have to offer.  Use different brochures for different customers and situations.
  15. Community Involvement.  Don't do it if you don't mean it.  You get involved with others, and they will get involved with you.  People do business with friends; people they respect and who give to their community.  You don't slap a card in their face at every ball game, but they listen and learn about you by your actions.  Slowly but surely, this works and lasts.
  16. Neatness.  Sloppy desk, sloppy mind.  No one wants a lawyer whose on house is in disarray and disorder.  How you deal with your own property, personnel, premises, office etc. speaks volumes about who you are and how you handle others problems.
  17. Sharing.  This is often referred to as networking in other fields.  But for lawyers, it's more because other lawyers are potential sources of referrals and clients.  Involvement in work groups, bar functions, seminars, etc. cultivate respect and attract clients to your area of expertise.  Sharing at other groups when you are the only lawyer does the same.  Join a small group of businessmen who are up and coming; learn from them, help them.  They may not need you, but they can point those who do need you in your direction.  
  18. Brochures.  Again, colorful, informative, and simple.  One for the new clients; one for when the case begins; one for the case is over.  
  19. Internet.  Location, location, location.  Next to the court house is fine.  But on the internet makes you available to anyone with a computer and a modem and a problem. Get a web page at a domain that points to you and is easily reached.  Get your OWN DOMAIN NAME; don't piggyback on West's Lawyer.com pages etc.  You get lost in that shuffle.  The only way you are found is by way of a search engine; using the domain name on a business card that has multiple dots and slashes is a tuff one to remember and potentially points the potential clients to your competitor.  
    A site that says   www.lawyer.com/kentucky/imalawyer.htm or http://www.webcom.com/~lewrose/home.html eats up your card and is impossible to remember.  And if they remember just that before the first slash means they will/could go to a competitor.  Get your own domain such as those relating to the profession or your own name with law or attorney to it.  Stay away from hyphens and dashes if you can.  Again, watch out for the ethics rules on advertising (#20).
  20. Advertising.  For too long, lawyers and may other businesses believed advertising and marketing were the same.  They are not.  Advertising is direct and unequivocal.  You want their business, and they know it.  Announcing your availability in an ad is not marketing; just as announcing your candidacy for political office is not getting elected.  You are there; now what?  It is just one tool of many in a marketing scheme.  An ad tells them about you, but the content of the ad using theme, logo, etc. directing them to your internet web site, your neat and clean office, your brochure etc. is just one part of the complete package.  Read the following article on what not to do in  your advertising.
    • Do you believe advertising is not consistent with the image you wish to maintain?  Well, Abraham Lincoln advertised regularly in the local newspaper. However, it's not what you think that counts, but what the public thinks - and everyone advertises.  The world is too large for you to limit your client base.  For example, Jay Foonberg mentions the 50/30/20 rule which is 50 % of your clients are existing clients, 30 % are referrals from clients and lawyers, and 20 % is from advertising (all forms). Read this article at ABA Site ABA Counsel Weeds Through Ethics, Advertising and the Web and Jay Foonberg's article  (note local Louisville Attorney Richard Shapero's t-shirts made a hit "My lawyer is Richard Shapero").  
    • 10 Common Faults of Baaad Law Firm Advertisements Law Marketing Exchange, February, 1996, Vol. 11, No.2, Page 13 By Jay M. Jaffe and Laurie Spielman
    • Attorney Advertising on the Internet 
      This page developed by Robert F. Bodi for a Cyberlaw class at The University of Akron - School of Law.
    • Beyond Brochures: Marketing Through Print Advertising 
      Although advertising hasn't yet entirely shed its stigma within the legal community, the practice has begun to gain acceptance with some of the buttoned-down partners who oversee large-firm marketing budgets, which nowadays can reach $1 million or more. Ritcheyna A. Shepherd, ABA Journal.
    • What Should I do with A $250,000 Advertising Budget-
    • Media Choices?
      • Television, radio, cable, association papers, classifieds, disaster solicitations, church bulletins etc are the obvious ones.
      • How about thinking outside the box?
        • Cinema.  Ever see the ads popping up on the movie screen as you wait for the previews to be followed by the feature movie.  You read them, you know you read them.  They're local, and the people have no choices but to talk to their companion but the big screen is hard to say no to.
        • Team Shirts.  You sponsor a bowling team, a little league team, etc.  And you got a bunch of people who are seen at the ball field, bowling alley with your name on their shirts.  Plus, they stop at store, fast food outlets, etc afterwards, and a whole new crowd sees your name.  And since there are not too many law firms that do this, it will stick.
        • Firm Shirts.  Buy polo shirts for your employees; put your name on them.  When it's casual day or a firm outing, you have human bill boards.  If they grab a bite to eat at lunch outside the office, then your community sees them.  Your office may be hard to find, but your people aren't.  Buy good stuff, and look clean and crisp.  Don't pick colors or lettering that is hard on the eyes.
    • CAVEAT - Ethics Rules!!
  21. Networking.  This is not sharing, but receiving.  Listen to others and learn from them - their wants and their needs; not to mention their name and address etc.  Whether you are at a seminar, the market, outside the court room, take notes and follow up with them later.  You may be able to assist them directly or by pointing them in the right direction.  Networking does not mean passing out YOUR business card, but rather COLLECTING their cards.  Then follow up on the name and address.  I have been to seminars and was favorably impressed when someone else dropped me a line the next week.  You can bet I will remember that name for a potential referral later.
  22. Quality.  According to the Levinson tape, this is the number 2 reason people frequent a business.  Bad work means bad referrals and a bad reputation.  Good work means the opposite.  
  23. Reprints and Blow Ups of News and Stories.  If you are lucky enough to be written up favorably in the newspaper or other media, why not have copies of it in your waiting room?  Your web site?  Even if there is nothing newsworthy about you, how about reprints of stories which do not refer to your competition but which point favorably to lawyers in general, the legal profession, or to a need for your services.  For example, there is an article describing how few people have wills and the problems that causes.  Post a copy.  You may not convince them of the need, but it is strange how a complete stranger from another state can be credible if its in the newspaper.
  24. Opportunities to Upgrade.  This marketing technique relates to allowing the consumer to purchase something more - upgrade their purchase to a better product.  I can't see how this would apply to lawyers, other than if you do a will and a living will for a client, throw in a durable power of attorney for free or do the complete package for the husband and discount the package for the wife.  Don't call it an upgrade; you're not selling a washing machine.  Just offer as a courtesy more than they expected since it doesn't cost you that much anyway. 
  25. Clubs and Associations.  Lawyers have been marketing this way for years - joining the Lions Club, Rotary, Chamber of Commerce.  Being seen eventually results in being hired;  patience, however, is its own reward.  It takes many months to go from the new kid on the block who is probably there only for business to being a contributor to the club known on a first-name basis.  Same guy, different impression; only difference is time in the trenches.
    • Joint the organizations.
    • Speak at the organizations.
  26. Telephone Demeanor.  All the referrals and inquiries go to naught, if the potential client's first contact makes him think your law office has an idiot or insensitive person answering the phone.  Sometimes reality can actually imitate a Saturday Night Live skit.  They need to be friendly, attentive, and know where you are!  You need to give them your attention as well.  Don't talk and look at the computer at the same time.  My wife knows it every time I do it;  I'm sure your clients do to.
  27. Free Consultation.  Again, lawyers do this one a lot already; but do we do it correctly?  Give them that first half-hour free; give them information they need; information that they need you.  But when the time period is up; it is up.  Don't sell yourself short or feel that you have to close the deal then and there.
  28. Free Seminars and Clinics.  You must have seen these in the paper all the time.  Many lawyers advertise a free seminar or dinner with a speech on estate planning.  Can this technique apply to your practice?  If you do it, do it professionally.  Grab a computer and use slides or a PowerPoint (TM) presentation;  have handouts with your name etc. on it.  Check out your local bar association's speakers bureau (e.g., www.loubar.org).
  29. Marketing on Hold.  Ever call a company and while you are on hold you hear about news or offers from that company rather than background music.  Some use a local radio station which runs the risk of pointing potential customers to their competitors.  I'm not sure how this would apply to a law setting, but there has to be a way.  You have people on hold for 30 to 90 seconds.  Why not tell them something about you and what you do.  Could you announce new members, news of the firm, recent developments in the law, legal news?  I don't know, but it's an avenue of attack;  I just haven't figured how to use it yet without looking like a huckster.  
  30. Past Success Stories.  Here's a tough one.  Read the ethics rules on this.  How about posting news articles about verdicts, settlements, cases etc. on your web site or have the reprints on the coffee table in your waiting room or in your client newsletter.  The Kentucky Trial Court Review publishes summaries of jury trials; think about using that in your web site, hand outs, brochures, etc. Better yet, copy the actual pages from the KTCR (with their approval of course) and post on your site as a PDF (Adobe Acrobat format which looks more official).  For example, click here.
  31. Employee Attire.  When your employees are on your clock, then they ought to look professional.  Nose rings, tongue tacks, tattoos, sultry clothes, etc. may look good on a Saturday night, but not on a Monday morning to a potential client.  This stuff can also be downright scary.  This doesn't mean designer clothes, but neat, clean and conservative attire.
  32. Free Gifts. Obviously pens, pads, cups etc with your firm name keep your name firm in their minds.  But what about free gifts to others?    
  33. Service.  Which comes first, service as a marketing technique or service as something you sell?  Both go hand in hand.  This is no marketing technique to me; it's business.
  34. Follow Up.  Don't ignore your clients, your networking compadres, etc.  After  you meet them, let them know you are still out there.  Do it with dignity and grace; in a manner that you have something to offer them and not that they are someone you need.  Be a giver and not a taker.
    • Thank you notes following a seminar or meeting with someone new.
    • Let your client's know you are concerned with their needs.  Remind them of tax law changes for their wills; or changes in the law regarding living wills vs. health care surrogates.
  35. Teamwork.  You and your employees should be on the same team and not working at cross-purposes.  You offer a service; get your people on board and do not tolerate bad attitudes and disloyalty from them.  They sink or swim with you as far as the public is concerned.  Honesty at a firm meeting about problems with the firm does not equate to a license to talk to the world about difficulties within.
  36. Yellow Pages.  Advertising in the classic form.  However, it can run into the thousands of dollars per month.  Lawyers, doctors and other professionals are typically found there.  So why not you.  Remember you get what you pay for.  Big full page ads at the beginning are better than smaller ones at the end; right side is better than left side; bold face name in the crowd is better than routine name in the crowd but still no info.  Consider the locally sourced business pages of the yellow page competitors.  Cheaper, but still not as prevalent as the original.
  37. Publish a Column or Article for Free in the Paper.  Newspapers and magazines need you to fill up the white space; plus you look like the expert on the subject.  Be creative without being solicitous.
    • Don't limit  yourself to newspapers, magazines, and legal publications.
    • Church and organization papers work.
    • The internet works great!  Why?  You post the article at a site (how about this one?), the search engines index the contents, and the key words pop up later with a pointer to your article and to your name!  You the expert now!
    • Say More With Less
  38. Newsletters.  With desktop publishing and email lists, there is no excuse not to do this one.  Professional and cheap.  The internet is more than a web page.  Getting people to your web page is one thing; sending your message to their mailbox is another.  Be reasonable in frequency and content; allow them to opt in and opt out.  Fill it with news of the firm and the law;  information is king; be serious and humorous.
  39. Learn to say hello and goodbye with impact.  How?  Make eye contact, say the name they love to hear (their own; plus helps you remember); and show them pearly whites (smile :). 
  40. Public Relations.  Just as the newspaper wants/needs your articles and columns, they need your newsworthy items.  Announce new associates in local paper and bar publications. If it looks like a solicitation for business, they won't use it.  This is a tough one.
  41. Trade Show Displays.  Your community may have local chamber of commerce type booths for the community to sample the local wares.  Be there, looking good, with handouts, brochures, a free gift, pictures of the firm and/or it's people;  placing a faces to the name.  
  42. Christmas Cards (or other special occasions). If you do it, then do it personally and with a touch of the human side.  The month or two before the holidays, have your receptionist personally sign for you a few cards every day.  By the middle of December, you're ready to show that personal touch to your clients.  They may not fully appreciate the card, but the personal touch will lead to a favorable impression.  Plus, no card means no impression.
  43. Reputation.  Guard your good name.  Think of the cases and clients you take.  One careless decision can sabotage a lifetime of good works.
  44. Customer Mailing List.  Use it.

  45. Speed.  Quickly respond to requests for information, inquiries for services, and requests for help.  When potential clients have a problem, it's a big one as far as they are concerned.  If you care to give the very best, give it very quickly.  They will remember you if you remember them.

  46. Spying.  See what the competition is doing.  There is no monopoly on a good marketing idea.  You think these were invented by me?

  47. Services.  Enuff said about this one.

  48. Designated Point Man for Marketing.  Management by committee never works, and look what it did to the Soviet Union.  Pick someone with energy and foresight.  Work out a plan, and then let him implement it.

  49. Enthusiasm.  Nobody likes a grump. You and your employees need the right attitude.  Love your work; and your work will love you.  Plus the clients will like to hang around too.

  50. Competive Advantages, Strengths, and Benefits.  Everyone is unique.  Find out what you have that people need or want.  Tally them up and see what can be done.

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