"Mastering" Legal Marketing requires dedication, practice, and keeping your eye on the ball
Today is the opening round of the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. There are a number of similarities between those who are successful at law firm marketing and those who are successful at winning one of the most prestigious events in golf.
First, anyone who wants to be successful at golf, legal marketing, or any pursuit has to have an intense dedication to their craft. Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer are maybe the most famous winners of the green jacket, and they all were single-minded in their pursuit of excellence.
They relentlessly pursued perfection in the physical and mental aspects of the game. Legal marketers would be wise to take notice of that and devote their focus to being the best possible marketers possible. Invest in training and study and hone your skills as you work toward your goals.
Second, like golfers, legal marketers have to deal with distractions. This is the mental part of the game that is so difficult. There are rarely perfect conditions in golf, and the same applies to law firm marketing. There will always be something that is pressing for your attention that can take your eyes off of the ball.
Learning to tune those things out and focus on the task at hand is one of the most difficult aspects of golf and legal marketing. Those other things may be good things, but they are not where your time and energy need to be devoted.
Lastly, remember that you are competing against some of the best in the world at what they do. The Masters attracts the greatest golfers in the world who are competing at the highest level. In the legal marketing world, you are going up against some highly-skilled professionals who are masters of their craft. But the advantage doesn’t always go to the most skilled. Sometimes it goes to those who are the most determined.
Enjoy the Masters this weekend and appreciate the hard work and dedication that you are witnessing. Take those lessons back to your firm and apply them to your law firm marketing strategies. You may not win a green jacket, but you will reach your goals.
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The 5 Biggest Marketing Mistakes Attorneys Make in Advertising
Advertising is critical to the survival of your law firm, but not all advertising is equally effective. In these competitive times you cannot afford to waste your precious time and money making any advertising mistakes, so I’m going to share with you “The 5 Biggest Marketing Mistakes Attorneys Make in Advertising” so you can avoid them – and prosper.
1. Most ads are not meaningful. In a day your prospective client sees more than 5,000 ads, so your ad must be unique enough to catch attention.
2. Mass advertising is expensive. When you advertise, you need to obey the Law of 7 Touches. It takes exposing your ad to your prospective client 7 times before he or she is willing to do business with you. So you have a tremendous up-front cost. Added to that, you should expect to receive, in revenue, a minimum of 5 times of what you spend.
3. Ads are not effective in encouraging people to “take action.” And that’s what counts: the action your prospect takes to do business with you. Without that, your money and time is wasted.
4. Most law firms lack follow-up systems. You may have designed a great ad, it’s precisely-targeted and people respond. But then, nothing happens. Nothing happens because you lack a system to follow-up with the leads that come from your ad campaign. And the money is in the follow-up.
5. No tracking of real results. This is just as bad as not having a follow-up system. Without tracking real results, you have no idea what works and what doesn’t. And that means you’re likely burning through cash without much to show for it.
To learn more about this law firm marketing topic, and others, I encourage you to attend my 2-day law firm marketing boot camp called The Rainmaker Retreat. (See details below.)
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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 27th and Saturday, March 28th 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 .
Will You Choose Success - or Resign Yourself to Failure?
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 27th and Saturday, March 28th 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.
