Marketing For Lawyers - Mistakes Attorneys Make-and How to Avoid Them, Mistake #8 Part 2
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MARKETING MISTAKE 8 Part 2:
Not Having a Solid Marketing Plan
What does having a marketing plan really do for you and your business? Let me give you a few more major reasons why you need a solid law firm marketing plan:
5. It Can Help You Think Outside the Box.
It’s very easy to copy someone else’s marketing model, which is what most people end up doing (consciously or unconsciously) when they don’t have an individual law firm marketing plan.
There are several potential dangers to copying someone else when it comes to a law firm’s marketing efforts:
• You miss opportunities that are perfect for you and not other people due to your unique experiences, knowledge, background, your location, or surrounding demographics.
• You take advantage of “business opportunities” that are not right for you. Many good people fall into the trap of believing MLM (multi-level marketing also known as network marketing) is an easy way to make money. We have all seen the ads “stay at home and make $3,000 a month”. But critical to the success of these and other “business opportunities” is the ability and the willingness to be a phenomenal sales person. That’s why, according to Entrepreneur Magazine, the overwhelming majority of people who start an MLM “business” drop it within 6 months.
• In marketing for attorneys, you make the same mistakes as the person you copy. (Note to Self: If you're going to copy someone else, make darned sure they know what they are talking about and you can independently verify their claims of success). There are hundreds of people out there selling their “secrets to success”—which is usually nothing more than their personal success story.
6. It Helps You Create a Vision for What You Want in the Future.
Where do you want to be in 12 months? How about three to five years? Ultimately, your business
will be driven by your vision and the process of developing that vision is critical to your long-term
success. The real value of law firm marketing plans is not just having it done; it’s all the time,
energy, and research you put into thinking about your business in a strategic way and then
implementing those plans.
7. A Marketing Plan Sets Up Measurable Objectives for You to Evaluate Your Success
How will you know if you’ve had a successful year? Will it depend on how you feel or can you set up
measurable objectives to compare your results against? If you fail to set measurable standards in
your law firm marketing, how will you know whether or not your specific efforts were rewarded? How
will you determine where to put your future efforts and your marketing dollars if you don’t know if a
given idea worked?
A marketing plan with objective goals can help you ask and answer the right questions when it
comes to evaluating your marketing and sales efforts. The answers give you indications as to your
next steps.
8. A Marketing Plan Sets You Apart as Being Committed to Your Business.
Let's face it, if you're not willing to spend a few days writing up a solid marketing plan to grow
and develop your business, why should anyone take your business plans and ideas seriously?
Do you really have something more important to do than taking some time and writing down your
plan for how you are going to succeed in your business?
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Rainmaker Founder Stephen Fairley will be a Keynote Speaker at the State Bar of California’s 82nd Annual Meeting on Friday September, 11, 2009 from 12:15- 2:00 p.m. He is speaking on "Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media: How to Leverage LinkedIn, Fix Facebook and Tweak Twitter for Your Law Firm.” Come and learn how you can stay current with technology while boosting your bottom line.
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