Of Counsel | Legal Marketing

Helping Attorneys & Law Firms Share Their Stories

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It’s Time To Tell Your Story – Attorneys Need To Tell Everybody What They Do

It’s the first business day of what will be the last full week of May; be honest with yourself – you won’t be working on the Friday of the start of the Memorial Day weekend next week and even if you are, will you really be working?

So, let’s get busy today – Its Time To Tell Your Story

If you don’t know why you do what you do, how will anyone else?

Simon Sinak

It’s Time To Get Started With Your Attorney Marketing

It’s time to get busy – and busy can be as simple or complex as you wish – or as you make it.

The key is to act – to get started – to take the next step toward the goals for your legal practice and for yourself that you made for this year (remember those New Year’s resolutions just a short four and one-half months ago?)

No more excuses . . . no more telling yourself “I’ll do it tomorrow” or “I’ll do it next week.”

Today – review your goals and then take the first step to achieving those goals. Do it yourself or ask for help, but take action and get started.

It’s A New Day | You Can Ask For Help With Your Legal Marketing

We can help you; we know about marketing specifically for attorneys and law firms and we can make the process as easy for you as you wish – easy for you to do it yourself or even easier, by assuming responsibility and doing it for you.

You may have decided that you just don’t have the time, the knowledge or the resources to do the things you have been meaning to do and more importantly, know that you need to do.

That’s fine – you now have help available from a resource who happens to be a former lawyer with extensive marketing experience and who knows eastern North Carolina. You can’t fake local.

You take the first step – we’ll show you how you can reach your marketing and client engagement goals with minimal effort and at a cost far less than you expect.

Your First Step Could Be As Simple As Exploring Our Website Or Making A Phone Call

If you’ve decided it’s time, it’s easy to get started – explore our website, contact Of Counsel | Legal Marketing or better yet, call us at 252.689.7288 and we can share some suggestions.

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A Client for Life – Maintain The Relationship Long After The Case Is Over

Think Client, Not Just Another Case.

How different might your practice be if you became your clients’ personal attorney for life, rather than just their lawyer for a specific case or legal issue?

Many lawyers are specialists, or at least limit their practices to one or two areas of the law: personal injury, traffic tickets, family law, wills and estates, real estate, etc. and most, when asked to handle a case outside of their “area,” will refer a client to another lawyer who is better qualified to handle the case.

That’s the better way to handle it. With the complexity of today’s practices, we actually recommend attorneys limit their practice to one or two areas of the law, so they can become the “go to” lawyer in their community for that type of case – the lawyer everybody thinks of when they have a legal problem that is within that lawyer’s practice area.

Be The Lawyer Past Clients Call, Regardless Of The Type Of Case

Regardless of whether you handle the type of case, you still want clients to call you when they have a legal problem or issue. You want to be their lawyer, the lawyer the client calls when they need help – to be top-of-mind when they realize they need a lawyer, even if it is not a case you typically handle – you are the trusted advisor, the lawyer the client knows will help them through a difficult time or help them with a a legal problem. By being their lawyer, you know that they will contact you first when they have a matter that you can handle for them.

Always Remember Your Clients, So They Remember You

This can occur only if the client remembers your name and regardless of how well you handled their previous legal matter, it’s possible they will have forgotten your name unless you’ve given them a reason to remember you – and, the best way to ensure they remember you is for you to remember them – to maintain contact with them after their matter is concluded – to stay in touch with them and become the gatekeeper for all of their legal issues.

You Need A Database | “Past” Clients Rather Than “Former” Clients

This is why we encourage lawyers and law firms to maintain a client list/database that includes contact information for all clients, past and current. We advise you use the term “past client” rather than “former client,” to remind you and your staff that you want to maintain a relationship in the future.

Don’t Allow The Relationship To End

Yes, your representation for a particular legal issue or problem might be complete, but that doesn’t mean your relationship has to end. You need to stay in contact with the past client, through newsletters, email messages, holiday or birthday cards and any of the almost unlimited ways you might think of to help remind the client that you are their trusted source for legal help for any problem they might have.

So, always remember: your clients are much more than their cases – they have trusted you to help them with a legal matter at a particular point in time – they may have another matter in the future, or they may be able to recommend you to a friend or loved one to help them with a matter – they can only do so if they remember you as a specific lawyer, rather than “what’s his name” or “that lawyer whose office is downtown, across from the courthouse.”

If You’re Interested In Learning How To Become Your Clients’ Attorney For Life, It’s Easy to Get Started – contact Of Counsel | Legal Marketing and we can share some suggestions.

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Be Like Amazon | It’s Time To Take Action – Try Something New

Perfection Can Be The Enemy of Good Enough.

Maybe, it’s the nature of being a lawyer. Dotting the “I”s and crossing the “T”s reveals your professional eye for detail – the need to make sure you have anticipated all possible outcomes and to prepare accordingly. But, for the time deadlines of court rules and calendars, preparation and document revisions might be endless, as the goal is to be prepared for all contingencies and to produce perfect documents.

The pursuit of perfection is probably one of the characteristics that makes you a good lawyer. However, it can also keep you from taking the steps necessary to create and implement a marketing and client engagement plan for your law practice.

Psychologists, business and productivity analysts and others describe it as paralysis by analysis.

Spending more time than is necessary gathering information and making plans.  Reading one more book; watching one more marketing video; debating the merits of one social media platform over another – all can serve as a hindrance to your goal of creating the kind of practice you desire. In the end, nothing gets done.

A Bias For Action

I’ve always been impressed by the fact I can order something from Amazon late in the afternoon and have it delivered and sitting on my desk the next morning. Yet, Amazon is always trying to do more – it already offers same-day, and in some cases, one-hour delivery of orders in some cities; it’s conducting research into using drones to deliver orders. The ever-evolving service provided by Amazon is simply amazing.

The point is, Amazon is always trying to do something new to improve its service to customers – it’s not afraid of trying something new.

The evolution of service can probably be attributed to what is described as The Amazon Way by author John Rossman, who identifies 14 leadership principles exhibited by Amazon. All are relevant, but one in particular is helpful in showing an appropriate next step to advance your legal practice:

8. Have A Bias For Action
Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. So when you are in doubt, try something—and take advantage of the opportunities that being the first in the field can offer.

It’s Time To Try Something New

No more thinking about it. No more research. No more delays. No more doubt.

It’s time to take action.

Imagine how you will be perceived by prospective clients when you have the most informative website in your community. Not a website that just says who you are, but one that actually provides helpful information for visitors.

How about when past clients sing your praises and share their praise for others to see through the use of social media and independent websites.

These are probably new opportunities you haven’t thought about. They require effort and time, a commodity many lawyers rarely have but they also require a commitment to take action. Don’t allow the fear of the unknown or the possibility you might make a mistake stop you from taking action.

Take advantage of the opportunities that being the first in the field can offer.

So, how about you? Are you ready to be the first?

If So, It’s Easy to Get Started – Let Of Counsel | Legal Marketing Help You Avoid The Mistakes

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What Do Prospective Clients See That Maybe, You Don’t? | Are You Ignoring The Orange Extension Cord?

Author Ken Krogue shares a story in Forbes about a new employee who when visiting his new employer’s office for the first time, sees an orange extension cord in the middle of the floor. When asked about it, the receptionist says “what extension cord?” and when it is pointed out, the receptionist says “oh that – it’s been there for awhile.”

As time passes, the new employee learns the extension cord was being used to power an appliance so a circuit breaker would not trip, and was surprised to note that everyone he met seemed surprised when he asked about the orange extension cord – the common response was “what extension cord?” followed by a comment “oh, that – it’s always been there.”

More time passes and the next thing you know, the employee is no longer new and he, too, no longer notices the orange extension cord.

Hiding In Plain Sight . . .

Look around: try to look objectively and see what others see when they visit your office; what does the interior look like? How about the exterior? How are visitors greeted when they visit? What do people see when they view your online presence? Is it possible you’ve been ignoring the “orange extension cord,” simply because you’ve gotten used to it?

Most everyone knows how easy it is to be unable to find something that is actually, in plain sight – a pen, car keys, case files, you name it – it’s been “misplaced” only to be found after a frantic search; success brings a sigh of relief and usually, the exclamation that “if it was a snake, it would have bitten me.”

The same inability to see applies to all of the components that make up your office.

You’re busy – your attention is directed to your client’s legal issues and it’s easy to miss or ignore things others might notice that might reflect negatively upon you.

And think about this . . . your failure to look and/or act upon these items hurting your practice might be defined as negligence. No, not negligence in an actionable sense, but since this is a discussion for lawyers, let’s use terms everyone is familiar with: contributory negligence in the sense that you are causing harm to your practice by allowing the “orange extension cords” to continue to exist.Remember, under the law, you have a duty to see what should be seen.

So now is the time to look, observe and act – find the “orange extension cords” that you’ve been missing and improve your appearance to those who may be looking for your services.

And if you don’t have the time to look, or maybe you don’t know all of the things you should be looking for, you can ask us to help – to give you a new perspective on how others view your practice.

It’s Easy to Get Started – We Can Help You Find the “Orange Extension Cords” That May Be Hurting Your Practice

Contact Of Counsel | Legal Marketing and let us help you find the marketing problems that may be hiding in plain sight.

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Marketing A Law Practice Requires Constant Effort

Use It Or Lose It | The Exercise Of Marketing

Sometimes, being the best just isn’t good enough – at least, if nobody knows about you.

Athletes or scholars that are never discovered. Artists and craftsmen who create in obscurity. The countless number of people who get up in the morning, go to work and do their jobs without issue and then return home to care for their families and then do it again, the next day and the next day and the next day.Most don’t care that others don’t notice – they’re perfectly content with their lives and most relish in anonymity. But that won’t work for you and your law practice. You may be the best lawyer in your community and if nobody knows it, the phone won’t ring and you’ll be wondering why others don’t recognize your value.

You’ve got to let people know.

The Exercise of Marketing

You know you need to do it.

Your doctor tells you; your spouse tells you; the media is filled with messages about it and that little voice in the back of your head reminds you constantly of the need to exercise. Do it and you’ll feel better; you’ll reduce your stress and improve your health – positive results to be sure with little downside.

Marketing your practice and engaging with current, past and future clients requires the same effort – a daily commitment to show them and others that you are the best attorney to help them with their legal problem. And treating marketing as an exercise can provide the same positive results.

Yet, most of us don’t do it.

For the same reasons we don’t exercise: lack of time; unfamiliar with the equipment/resources; don’t enjoy it; lack of immediate results – you know why; you’ve probably had some of these same conversations with yourself.

But if you don’t do it, you won’t see results. Sure, the loss may not be immediate, but just like a loss of flexibility and endurance that occurs when you fail to exercise, you’ll find the phone doesn’t ring as often as it used to – fewer clients are asking you to help them with their legal issues and eventually, it becomes increasingly difficult to recover the vitality of your practice you once enjoyed – the younger, newer lawyers are getting all of the attention and you’re left wondering, what happened?

So, If You’re Ready To Start A New Marketing (Exercise) Program – It’s Easier Than You Think

It’s Time To Get Moving | Just Do It

It’s not too late – it’s never too late to make a positive improvement in your life, either personal or professional.

Do It Yourself

The analogy of exercise continues in marketing as all you have to do is start, and then make a commitment to continue – find activities you like and determine what works for you – and you can do it yourself.

Hire A Marketing Coach/Trainer

If you don’t know how to start or what to do or you need someone to guide you, you can ask for help – you can hire a professional coach (trainer) to help you explore all of the marketing tools available and how best to use them. A coach can share with you their experience of how to best use your time and resources – what works and what doesn’t – and can help guide you in making and implementing a marketing and engagement plan for your practice.

Hire Someone To “Exercise” For You

The exercise of marketing is unique because you can actually hire someone to do it for you if you just don’t feel like doing it yourself, or if you don’t want to invest the time or resources to do the marketing you know needs to be done. That’s right, you can pursue any other activities you wish while someone else does the heavy lifting and repetitive activities to make sure everyone in your community knows you are the best resource for their legal problem.