This page will be used to give general marketing advice, regardless of the medium.The Top Five Money Wasters
- Random Social Acts: Golf and lunch are fine marketing activities, very conducive to relationship building. But playing golf with friends who don’t have the ability to hire or refer you is hardly an effective use of your marketing time. No matter how small or big your firm is when you go on a social outing designed to help grow your firm you need to determine who you want to get to know better and, from there, develop a systematic plan to go about building and enhancing a relationship with them. The key word is plan.
- Brochures & Newsletters that put you to sleep: Good brochures and newsletters have their place among effective marketing tools. But who wants to read mind numbing tomes about the history of your firm and its 14 practice areas? Your prospective clients sure don't. Keep the copy concise and easy-to-read. Make references to your website where they can find more information.
- Invisible Advertising: No doubt, print and broadcast advertising used to be a slam dunk when it came to getting new business for consumer-oriented practices (like family and personal injury law) and I’d recommend an ad in the Yellow Pages in a heartbeat, however times have changed and they continue to do so at alarming speed. This quantum shift in the way people get and process information has made things like traditional print ads in a newspaper or magazine practically worthless. Studies show that it takes 7-11 impressions before somebody will recall seeing your ad. Consistency and frequency are essential. If you want to advertise, do it right.
- Directories, Directories and More Directories!: Over the past ten years, law firm directories have sprouted like cattails in the Everglades. Unfortunately, most have little marketing value. What good is paying for a top position in a directory that no one uses or can find?
- Consultants Who Don’t Know Anything About Law Firms: Law firms are a different kind of beast — big egos, lots of democracy, convoluted compensation systems and, in many cases, a disdain toward marketing. Yet, I see it happen time and time again. “We hired Sally because she really knew the Internet. We hired Stevie because his prices were half of everyone elses.” When it comes to building consensus for a new idea or getting people to focus on non-billable activities, there is nothing quite like a law firm. It takes someone who’s been there to make it happen. If you decide to hire a consultant, hire somebody who has a successful track record working with lawyers.
