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

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Successful law firm marketing requires gaining an intimate knowledge and understanding of your Ideal Target Market (ITM).  Some attorneys balk at the notion of spending the time required to identify their ITM.   The amount of time spent getting to know your target audience will be more than worth the effort. In fact, not doing so can cause your firm to bypass valuable clients and to miss out on thousands of dollars in potential revenue.

One target market that is growing rapidly these days is one that may have been overlooked by many firms too busy chasing the marquis brand names:  the small business owner.  Specifically, the self-employed. 

Today, self-employment counts for nearly one-third of the workforce, with a population of 40 million!  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that within the next 8 years, 40 percent of the American workforce will be self-employed. 

Identifying and targeting the right market is absolutely critical to the success of your law firm marketing plan. If you don’t target the right market, nothing else you do will matter. To be successful as a legal marketer and attorney, you have to start with a clear picture of your ITM.

I have a list of 9 keys to help you determine your ideal client. I suggest that you answer these questions as specifically as you can:

1. Who’s your ideal client? (Think in terms of age, profession, gender, education, interests, marital status, family size, hobbies, and lifestyle.)
2. Who can afford your fees? How much can they afford? What’s your value to them?
3. Who could be a good long-term, repeat client?
4. What qualities, characteristics and values do they have?
5. What are you helping them accomplish?
6. What are their issues, challenges or pain?
7. What is it like working with them?
8. Who could be a good source of referrals for these ideal clients?
9. Who is NOT your ideal client?

Spend some time thinking about these questions and answering them as carefully, as specifically, as you can. When you finish, you’ll have laid a strong foundation for all your legal marketing strategies.

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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money!

Feel like you don’t have time for marketing?  Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.

Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.

After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.

There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm.  Click here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!