Ferris Consulting

Create An Effective Marketing Strategy For Your Law Practice

An effective marketing process includes a complement of multiple strategies and repetition. Research shows that people need to hear, see or touch a message nine times before they finally listen.

Consider a combination of speaking, networking and outreach to referral sources and prospective clients. The following are marketing strategies to help you grow your law and collaborative practice.

• Make a list of your best referral sources. Schedule time to take them to lunch and tell them about your practice and the services you provide including collaborative practice.

• Organize your experiences, create a speech and seek out people who could benefit from learning about collaborative law, i.e.  business lawyers and wealth managers who have clients who want a private and less destructive process for resolving disputes.

• Make a list of key networking opportunities, schedule them in your calendar and make it a priority to attend.

• Send a press release to your local publications highlighting the outcome of a successful case. Tie your press release to a story of interest, i.e Madonna’s divorce.
  
  
• Consistently update your web site to include new information useful to your targeted clients. For family lawyers, include articles and content on children and divorce, finance and divorce . Include tips and strategies for dealing with the issues that arise in divorce. i.e. 5 ways to talk to children about divorce.
  

Remember that marketing is an ongoing activity that requires commitment and consistency. Schedule your marketing activities the way you schedule other appointments. Every week schedule 1-3 hours to execute one of the strategies from your marketing plan, these activities  may include setting up appointments with referral sources, sending out letters , writing an article, preparing for a speech, updating your web site and blog, etc.   It is the small events that will result in big change. By doing at least one thing  from your marketing plan every week, by the end of the year you will have reached your goal.

Build A Law Practice In Alignment With Your Goals

You can build a practice that is in alignment with your interests and goals by making a commitment to transform your practice and doing the activities that are consistent with your goals. The key is to take the time to be clear on your goals and implement the strategies that will bring you the greatest return on your investment of time and resources.

If you want to accelerate the growth of your law practice you may want to choose from among the following critical strategies:

• Master your core message so it is clear what you do, how you differentiate yourself and the value you provide
• Update your website so it effectively communicates your value and message Identify your target market Increase your visibility with targeted referral sources
• Write articles of interest to your target market
• Give presentations to groups who could benefit learning about your services
• Consistently spend time building relationships with influencers in your community

If you are clear about your goals, know your target market, can easily communicate your value and actively implement strategies for communicate your message to your market then you have the tools you need to build a successful law practice.

Creating Your Core Message

The first step to creating a core message is to develop a statement that will tell prospective clients and referral sources what you do as it relates to their interests, needs and goals. In other words, it answers the question, "what's in it for me?"

To create this statement, you will need to shift your focus from yourself, i.e., a description of your services, profession or credentials, to a focus on the solutions or benefits you provide that will appeal to prospective clients and referral sources.

A good place to start for creating your core message is to answer the following questions, which will help you to focus on your clients' problems and the solutions that are important to them.

1. Who is your market?
2. What problems do your clients have that you help them solve? (Why do they need your services?)
3. What is the benefit of your service to your market? (What do clients want that you help them get?)
4. What differentiates you?

Use the answers to these questions to create your core message.

Then use it as the foundation for all your marketing communications, including your web site, professional biographies, elevator message (30-second statement telling people what you do), two-minute networking introduction, letters of introduction to prospective referral sources, and radio and publication ads. You can also use your core message in media releases and talking to the media.

As you communicate your message to clients and referral sources, do not tell people what you are; tell them what you do as it relates to the value you provide.

The universal truth for people hearing your message is, "what's in it for me?" The more effective you are in communicating the answer to this question, the more people will connect with how you can help them or someone they know.

Renew Your Vision

I am inspired and energized by a common theme I experience in the outcome of the strategic planning retreats and marketing workshops I conduct -- the renewed sense of passion, excitement and optimism about the future from the professionals involved.

What is the reason for the confidence and enthusiasm clients feel about the future of their business? The answer is, clarity about the vision they want for their business and a belief in their ability to transform their vision into reality.

Identifying and defining a clear vision helps clients to reframe their focus and move beyond their current level of thinking to imagine what  is possible in transforming their business or practice.

A clear vision will provide the creative tension necessary for implementing the strategies required for closing the gap from where you are today, to where you want to be in the future.  The key is to take the time to step out of the day to day activities of serving clients and responding to urgent requests and define what you want your practice to look like and why this is important to you. 

“The best way to predict the future is to create it”
Alan Kay.