Who are my clients? Who do I want my clients to be? What are the demographics of my ideal clients?
What do my clients do?
Why will they become my clients? What is the pain they are suffering?
How will I relieve that pain?
Where do I find clients experiencing that pain?
Form strategic alliances—develop relationships with other professional service providers such as CPA’s business brokers, real estate brokers, bankers, consultants and other attorneys. Look for opportunities to collaborate on deals with these strategic partners.
Networking—Build a network of people who can serve as your sales force in public. This is about establishing relationships of trust. As an example, if I am going to refer you to a friend or client, I must know you, trust you and be confident you will do a good job.
Internet marketing and social networking—this is a powerful tool which can be an excellent source of clients. I have one attorney client who is getting 70% of his clients from his web site. He is successful because he put very useful information on his site via his blogs where he addresses specific legal problems in his area of expertise. He gives just enough information on his blog to let people know he is an expert in his area.
Publish an e-zine—A one page publication to go to your contact list every month with short hard hitting facts about your area of practice is a great way to market. It is called “drip marketing” meaning that every month the people on you contact list see your name. You are not soliciting business but simply giving out information that will be helpful to some who see it. The important aspect of this technique is keeping your name in front of a large group of people every month.
By this time I am sure you are saying, “But Harlan, I have to bill. I cannot spend all my time with these marketing ideas and not make any money.” This is a very understandable concern. My answer is that you need to invest a minimum of 10% of you time each month for marketing. Additionally, there are technologies that can make marketing efforts much more efficient. Also, an assistant can do a lot of the leg work that will save the attorney a lot of time. If your practice is small and you do not have an assistant, consider subcontracting the detail work to an intern from a local university or college.