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

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These economic times are like few others we’ve seen. Everywhere you look, there seems to be bad news. Considering this tsunami, one choice you could make is to close your eyes, hunker down and hope for the best for your law firm, that it will somehow weather the storm.

But ask yourself, “Is this my only choice?”

And I would answer you: “No! Certainly not!”

You do have another choice. You can choose to take action, finding the best path during these uncertain times. To help you, here are 3 key points to keep in mind with two courses of action for each:

FAILURE: Cutting back on the level of your customer service.
SUCCESS: Ramping up your level of customer service. Think of this as part of your unique competitive advantage. Look for ways to stand out form other law firms in how you treat prospects and clients. People may forget what you did for them, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.

FAILURE: Slash your marketing budget.
SUCCESS: Continue investing in marketing. Done properly, marketing is not an expense; it is an investment. With many of your competitors running for cover, there’s no better time to increase your marketing budget. If you haven’t been actively marketing your practice, don’t wait! There will be winners and losers in this time of economic crisis. Your actions today will determine your fate tomorrow.

FAILURE: Neglect yourself.
SUCCESS: Take care of yourself. It can be tempting to double your working hours to make up for the lost revenues; however, what you really end up doing is burning the candle at both ends and then burning out. Those of you who are following me on Twitter (www.Twitter.com/stephenfairely) know that I take regular vacations. In fact, I took the entire month of December off.

So, take a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Focus on what you can do, using these 3 tips as guides. Then do it!

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Tough times call for tough action. This is especially true today in small law firm marketing, when the competition is fierce, the client dollars tight and your bottom line precious. Get battle-ready now with a two-day marketing boot camp called the Rainmaker Retreat. You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take to 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.