The Rainmaker Blog : Law Firm Marketing and Business Development : The Rainmaker Institute : Stephen Fairley : Professional Legal Marketing

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

In these challenging times, it’s very tempting to want to serve everyone, everywhere, never turning down any client, frantically trying to build your client base with whoever walks through your door.

But that is counterproductive. To make more, you must do less.

Do less? Sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? But I ask you to stop and think, just for a moment.

When you’re trying to be everything to everyone you end up being nothing to no one. And in your prospective clients’ minds, you become one of the many, many lawyers out there, a big legal blur. And if that’s the case, how are you going to attract any attention, much less attract clients you can serve?

The answer: specialize. Now I’m talking more than focusing on an area of law, more than earning a specialist certification through your bar association, although both of these are important.

What I’m talking about serving a specific niche (woman’s divorce attorney) or even a niche within a niche (woman’s divorce attorney emphasizing child custody).

The 8 Benefits to Positioning Yourself as a Specialist:

1. Significantly higher rate of referrals.
2. Can charge higher rates.
3. More opportunities to offer them more expensive services.
4. Better client retention.
5. Not perceived as a commodity.
6. Value is based primarily on credibility and expertise.
7. Better positioned to get positive media coverage.
8. Easier to dominate your niche.

With all of these benefits, it pays to spend time carefully defining what “specialization” means to you. Certainly, it must make sense from your experience, training and if there’s a need out there. For example, I know of some law firms that do real estate law are now adding “loan modification” to their offerings. That’s the specialization I’m talking about.

So the next time you’re tempted to take the next client who walks through your door because he has a pulse and is breathing, think: I must specialize.

************************************

Are you trapped into working more and more, while enjoying your life less and less? There is a way out.  It’s called the Rainmaker Retreat. In this two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms, you’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take so you can better market your small or solo law practice. The next Rainmaker Retreat is scheduled for Friday, March 27^th and Saturday, March 28^th in Las Vegas. Register early and receive $200.00 off your registration fee and $800.00 worth of bonuses. To register or for more information, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 1-888-588-5891.