Category: Solo Practice

THE ”REAL” TRUTH OF MARKETING FOR SOLOS

HERE IT IS:  IT’S HARD WORK!!!

 

Marketing starts with( in this order):

  • Carefully Defining Your Target Market
  • Mission Statement
  • Elevator Speech to Incorporate into Marketing
  • Three Month Marketing Plan including all the marketing categories.
  • Goal Setting for the First Month
  • Calendaring the Goals Faithfully Each Week.

The only thing I left out was the different marketing categories which you need to take one by one and set out your goals.  They are:

  • Risk Reduction (what clients don’t you want).
  • Advertising
  • Public Relations
  • Direct Mail
  • Website and E Promotions
  • Endorsements
  • Branding
  • Networking
  • Budget

Take each of categories and write down how you will market through them.  Do some reading or call me for some help if you get stuck.

NOW YOU HAVE THE TRUTH, GO FORTH AND GET ORGANIZED FOR SUCCESS!

THE UNTOLD TRUTH ABOUT MARKETING FOR SOLOS

I’ve always wanted to use that phrase because the media seems to use it to get your attention to buy stuff you don’t want!

However, I want you to “buy” my stuff.  Why? Because coming out of denial and starting to market strategically and consistently is the way to increase your profit as well as your ultimate success.

For three weeks you have hopefully been reading about target markets and mission statements. But have you done any work about implementing them?  This is where I hear solos saying they don’t have time, etc.  I once heard that you have as much time as Beyonce! She gets a lot done and looks great.

A recent survey showed that Solos spend a majority of their time on practicing law.  Here comes the UNTOLD TRUTH:  You should be spending at least 45 to 50% on tasks that are important and not urgent. This includes marketing, planning and networking, not practicing law.  This also includes keeping yourself healthy and not stressed out. (see Covey books on this). You don’t ignore the important and urgent tasks but those are calendared and completed, leaving a lot of your time open for the “business of your business”.

I also came across another survey attempting to locate what made attorneys happy.  The most important thing was to have client contact.  Guess what? You have to have clients to have contact. Feeling that you are helping someone is usually a very high priority of solos.  The trouble is that you can’t have clients without proper marketing.

That brings us to the ULTIMATE MARKETING TASK….THE MARKETING PLAN.  If you don’t have one then you are without your best GPS for finding business. You can wonder around the desert for days, weeks without a CPS in your car and you may finally get where you are going but with a lot more time and energy wasted by not having a step by step plan with a well defined end in place.

IF YOU WANT SOME HELP WITH YOUR MARKETING PLAN, GIVE ME A CALL.  I WILL BE HAPPY TO DISCUSS WHAT YOU WANT AND HOW TO GET THERE. 

YOUR WEBSITE AND YOUR BEST BROCHURE

NOW THAT YOU HAVE YOUR “MISSION STATEMENT” IT’S TIME TO WORK ON YOUR WEBSITE.

Taking into account, the value you are going to give to your Target Market, you begin to build or modify your website.  Remember last week we  talked about a Probate/Trusts/Wills attorney’s possible mission statement? If you don’t recall, take a look at that blog and intertwine those values into the website outline that I’m going to give you.  Or even better, take out your mission statement and use it as a inspirational tool for updating or building your website.

CUTTING EDGE WEBSITE RENOVATION

Your website is your best brochure and your blog is your most effective device to keep in contact with your clients and colleagues.

Now that we have millions of websites to evaluate we have learned a few basic rules that are replacing the sort of random marketing that websites have produced.  Among those are that it needs to be EXTREMELY USER FRIENDLY, have great EYE CANDY  and allow the viewer to have a PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

DETERMINE YOUR TARGET MARKET:

What group of people do you want to reach? Where do they live? What is their wealth status? Is there anything unusual about them?

Define your target market as narrowly as possible.  Get it down to the ideal client that you would like to see walk in the door.  See the difference between “has a family law problem” and “has a family law problem and is financially able to retain an attorney”. One target market is very different from the other.  One narrows and one widens.  Exactly who you want to call you and take your precious time needs to be carefully thought out.

DETERMINE THEIR “WEED”:

After you have determined your target market, you need to find your target Market’s weed. What would be the most troubling thing to them? What is the “weed” in their garden that you can get rid of.  We have recently found out that lay clients look for their “weed” in your home page.  If they can relate to what you are saying you can help them with, they will be much more inclined to hire you than if you lay out in detail your credentials, etc.  They assume since you are a lawyer, that you will know what to do.

So find out what troubles your clients.  Ask old ones or pretend you are a client.  What would you want to see on an attorney’s Home Page that would tell you he or she recognizes your exact problem.

You might also want to explore the circumstances that has brought on their need.  In family law, it may be an unhappy or scary  scene.  In probate law, the actual need is a little different because the  need is for the future.  Being aware of these problems will help you to focus on what exactly is important to your future clients and create an up to date website.

WEBSITE HOME PAGE:

Simply and clearly restate your target market’s “WEED”. Use the magic words that will hit the search engines.

PROFILE PAGE:

 First of all, this is where your picture goes.  What kind of a picture should you have?  The usual rule is that you dress like your client would expect a lawyer to dress if he or she were to appear in court.  This does not meant that you flash the Rolex watch nor other expensive jewelry. And for heaven sake, smile.  Warm, friendly is what you are going for.

Then, the most important part of this page is to tell your story here.  Why did you become a lawyer? What type of cases have you handled? What has brought you joy as an attorney.  This is not a time to spill your guts but to be sincere and forthright about why you are doing what you are doing.  Don’t brag.  At the very end you can give a brief overlay of your education and experience.  Also do a link to a more extensive resume.

ENDORSEMENTS:

Get people to write comments about their experience with you.  Be sure to get their OK to use their full names.  No one believes testimonials that are from Jane D.

PRACTICE AREA PAGES:

Simple, Simple, Simple.  Again go back to the “Weed” and identify  and then address the client’s need in each area.

LINKS:

Make sure these are helpful and not just fill ins.

Add in anything which will make the site more useful and allow for more in depth viewing if the reader wants it.  This could be publications you have written.  Helpful tips about your area of the law or your blog.

EYE CANDY

Your entire site has to be attractive and something that an audience wants to look at for more than 20 seconds.  Choose your colors carefully.  If you are a Probate Attorney you don’t want a predominately black website.

Remember that most of your audience is visually oriented.  A few are auditorally oriented and even less are tactilely oriented.  So, if you have no sense of color or are unsure, get some help.  But do this with guidance from you.  What “feeling” do you want your viewers to bring away from your site.  Is it calming?  Is it aggressive?  Is it exciting?  It is very important that any designer or webmaster understand that you are at the helm and determining what is best for you.

THE FUTURE:

We are going to see a lot more video in websites.  These will be either a quick introduction on the Home Page with the attorney addressing the audience or links to videos in different areas.

If you want to venture into this area, make sure that you get professional help if you need it. Make sure that you have the right light and camera equipment to do good production.  Remember you are competing with 12 year olds that can whip out a professional looking You Tube rendition which will make them millions.

In helping clients cope with the new technology I have found that David Scott’s book, NEW RULES OF MARKETING AND PR to be very informative.

NOW I’VE GIVEN YOU YOUR MARCHING ORDERS.  I WANT TO SEE YOUR NEW WEBSITE.  PLEASE SEND ME YOUR LINK. I WILL BE GLAD TO ADD MY COMMENTS AND PRAISE.

GET CREATIVE WITH YOUR TARGET MARKET (think outside the box)

 

So you have taken a week to absorb my last blog and to reflect on EXACTLY who your target market(s) is. Next………

I’m sure you’ve been told the next step is to find out where your target market hangs out, what they read, etc.

FORGET THAT: START TO GET CREATIVE WITH THIS.

  • First, step into their shoes.  Again let’s take the example from last week about the probate, wills, trust attorney. If you were to target market(TM) the young family market, pretend you have just started a family(or remember when you did) and begin a journal about what your concerns are.  I think you will find Mothers have different worries than Fathers.  Also people who are starting their families later in life are in a different situation.   Think about any differences in concerns for that age group? Write this in your journal.
  • Instead of just finding out what the TM is reading, read it yourself.  Buy a parent magazine and see what the subjects are about.  Check out Amazon and find out what books young families s are buying. Read them. Put the information you find out in a separate part of your journal.
  • If you know a new family, interview them. Tell them you are writing an article on what worries new parents the most. To make this sincere and legitimate, you are going to also have to write the article as well, which is a good thing.

These are just a few ideas that I thought of to start thinking outside the box.  I’m sure you will come up with many more once you stop thinking in only the traditional way.

THE NEXT STEP: Believe it or not, is to start formulating your Business Mission Statement. 

You can go to the internet and find instructions about how to formulate a good mission statement.  I suggest you have both a business and a different personal mission statement. They will overlap somewhat but separating them seems to make more sense to attorneys.

Once your business mission statement is completed, you will use it as the basis for all further marketing including your LinkedIn profile, Website, advertising and all written communication.  Even a shortened version on your stationery!

Remember good mission statements are sincere and filled with real promises that you will fulfill.  Not just what you think you should be saying but how you plan on being of value to your clients.

Let me demonstrate using our example above.

BAD “I am a highly experienced and gifted attorney who will fulfill your every wish in the end of life documents I draft for you.” (this doesn’t tell the reader what needs the attorney is satisfying and is much too self serving and overblown. Additionally, the term, end of life, is scary.)

GOOD  “ A firm dedicated to helping you fulfill your wishes to have a secure and accurate distribution of your assets”(the word accurate is not exactly right, but best I can do right now). ( You can see the difference in that this ones speaks directly to the potential client and tell him/her your promise.)

This gives you enough to think about and implement next week.  Remember, I will be writing at least four more blogs on Solo Marketing helpful information. If you actually implement these new approaches you should see results in about three to six months.  Let me know how it is working for you.

WHY ISN’T YOUR SOLO PRACTICE MARKETING WORKING?

AS A SOLO YOU ARE DOING ALL THE TASKS SHOWN ABOVE. YOU ARE  NOT  MAKING ALL THE INCOME YOU WANT AND YOU ARE PUZZLED WHY YOUR MARKETING DOESN’T SEEM TO BE WORKING.

Read on.  This might just be the answer. 

You probably already know the elements of a good marketing plan.  Most of it is broken down in the illustration above.  Yes, you need to strategize your plan to access your target market. Wait, stop right there.

  • Do you really know your target market or are you reaching people who don’t want nor need your services?
  • Are you reaching too broad a market and are confusing the people you do reach because they have no use for your service?
  • Have you “niched” your services so that your market is identified accurately.

Let’s use an example so you will begin to see what I mean.

You are budding Probate, Wills, Trust Solo Attorney.  By the way, this is one of the most difficult areas to market because many people don’t want to think about their death let alone do something about it!

So your plan is to center your marketing around reaching people of a particular age group. That is to say older people. Maybe 60 to 80 years old.  So you spend big bucks advertising in AARP literature because you feel you are reaching the right age range. STOP.  WHAT WRONG WITH THAT PICTURE?

First, it costs a lot of your marketing budget and may preclude using those funds for more lucrative avenues of marketing.

Second, you will be reaching millions of people who already have a will or who feel they have no need of a will or any after death planning.

Third, you probably have no credibility with these readers…..YET.

If, however, you wrote a brilliant article and AARP published it, you will have at least made a small dent in your credibility gap and it didn’t cost you a dime. It will be the first step in building a ladder of dynamic branding and can go on your website and be a base for further speaking engagements directed to exactly the people who might hire you.

Now you need to question your first assumption also.  Is the 60-80 the correct group to target? Maybe not.  It is known that new parents of babies have the revelation that they need to provide for these little humans for a very long time.  What if they when they still have parenting duties after they are gone? Don’t they need some long range planning to secure their wishes for their kids?  These may be a group you have overlooked because you haven’t been thinking outside the box.  How about a brilliant article in Parent Magazine?

Are you beginning to see why the simple area of identifying your target market (s) correctly is vitally important to your entire marketing plan.

If you’d like to discuss your approach to marketing with me, give me a call and we can connect.  I’ll be writing several more blogs on this highly misunderstood area that solos foul up….so stay tuned.

LET’S GO SOLO

ARE YOU READY TO TAKE A CHANCE?   DO YOU WANT TO BETTER CONTROL YOUR TIME?  DO YOU WANT TO PRACTICE LAW THE WAY YOU WANT TO?  

THEN YOUR BEST ANSWER IS TO “GO SOLO”

I went Solo starting on April 15, 1987 because I thought that if the Federal Government could get rich on that day, so could I.  I spent about 20 years proving that I could make a very nice living having a very large solo practice and I didn’t have to threaten anyone with garnishment or jail to do it!

Give this some thought. A lot of lawyers are facing unhappy years ahead because the job market is still doing flip flops.  The lucrative areas of law for BIG LAW are just not that appealing to many lawyers.  Also the BIG LAW culture doesn’t fit with many attorneys values and need to live a more balanced life.

I have been told that the lawyer who wants to Go Solo needs to be an entrepreneur.  In coaching attorneys for the past 8 years I have found that this is not totally true. It is true, however, that the Solo practice has to be run as a business.  Much of this can be learned by simply following good business and marketing practices.

Where it becomes tricky for a solo is to find the sweet spot between practicing the type of law selected and listening to the market. This becomes paramount to being successful.

The other traits vital to an attorney entering solo practice are:

  • Patience, Patience, Patience
  • Energy to work very hard in the beginning.
  • Ability to use good time management.
  • Ability to prioritize
  • Be open to doing tasks, like selling themselves, which may not be within their innate  temperament ie., they hate it.
  • Gather a good support system around them.
  • Ask for help. This may be solo but its not successful until there are mentors and coaches who can short circuit the time element and cut out errors in judgement.
  • To be focused on developing the business slowly. Starting out small while learning the skills needed and learning how to expand appropriately.  Resisting all kinds of expense and time wasting that goes on when the attorney is confused.
  • Have a solid business plan.
  • Have a solid continually changing market plan
  • Have solid goals to work towards at all stages as the firm develops.

ARE YOU INTRIGUED?  IF YOU SAID “YES, I CAN DO ALL OF THAT”, AND ARE DECIDING ABOUT GOING SOLO, GIVE ME A RING.  I will let you in on all the mistakes I made and help you avoid the mind fields as you grow your business.