21 Ways to Bootstrap Your Way to Marketing Success (Part 2 of 7)
The first part of this series focused on the need for prompt follow-up. Today’s blog moves onto other marketing topics.
Done is Better Than Perfect – Especially with Marketing
When it comes to marketing your law firm 90 percent is good enough! Don’t wait until you have the perfect brochure to start handing it out. Get your website to the point where it’s good enough and then launch it! You can always fix the shading of the photo on the About Us page at a later time.
I have encountered far too many attorneys who mentally torture themselves going over the copy for their website or brochure five or 10 times because they are so concerned about how it reflects on their law firm.
Niching Your Practice is the Fastest Path to Riches
I know you have heard me say this before, and yes, I know you continue to resist it. However, the more you can target a specific niche the easier you can dominate your target and the faster you can gain recognition as an expert.
Let me give you an example of a poorly defined niche: small business owners in Chicago who need an estate plan. Here’s how to locate a better target: physicians in Chicago who own a medical practice, gross at least $500,000 annually, and need asset protection strategies to grow and preserve their wealth.
Including the following items in your niche will keep you on track plus it’s easier to identify who these people or businesses are: a profession or industry, geographical location, annual revenues, and core challenges.
Look at What the Crowd is Doing and Do the Opposite
Many of my best marketing strategies are based on contrarian thinking. I often tell my clients to look at what their competitors are doing and do the opposite.
Right now, I have heard a growing number of attorneys who are doubling down on their advertising believing that since they can negotiate a good deal they should buy more of it. That’s good news for you. Not only is advertising generally ineffective in a growing law firm, but they are wasting their precious cash flow while you are investing it wisely on strategies that actually work.
Just remember, if you’re not the lead dog, the view never changes. Don’t follow the crowd with your marketing.
Emphasize Price at Your Own Peril
This is not the time to reduce your rates just to pull a few more clients in the door. It’s often the price shoppers who are the most demanding, take up more of your time, complain more frequently, and are slow payers.
I have learned this the hard way in my own business. This year I took on two six-figure marketing clients who tried to get me to renegotiate my prices on three or four occasions. Reluctantly I gave them some price concessions, but in the end they both came back to haunt me because they both ended up being complaining clients, slow payers, and in the end non-payers. When will I learn to take my own advice?
One last thought on pricing, in these tough times who is more price sensitive – blue collar workers or affluent white collar executives? By emphasizing your price and targeting the lower end of the marketplace you will kill your profit margins and destroy your chances at long-term wealth. Emphasize price at your own peril.
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There is still time to register for the Rainmaker Retreats coming this fall to a city near you. This 2 day marketing boot camp for attorneys is full of information that will boost your referrals and increase your bottom line. Some of the many valuable marketing tools you will learn at a Rainmaker Retreat include how to:
a. Create a written 90-day master marketing plan for your firm
b. Discover your Unique Competitive Advantage
c. Improve your internet presence
d. Outline either an article or produce a professional press release to submit online
e. Create a letter of introduction to potential Strategic Referral Partners
Our Rainmaker Retreat schedule is:
Los Angeles - Friday, November 13 & Saturday, November 14
Las Vegas - Friday, December 4 & Saturday, December 5
The schedule for each retreat is Friday – Registration at 8:00, Retreat begins at 8:30, and breaks for the day at 5:30. Saturday begins with breakfast at 7:30 and the retreat runs from 8:00 – 2:00 p.m.
To register for a Rainmaker Retreat or for more information, please visit our website.
If you would like to participate in one of our Rainmaker Retreat Preview calls, you can register here. A free Rainmaker Retreat Preview DVD is availablehere. Each of these will whet your appetite for the valuable information you will receive at a Rainmaker Retreat.
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