Spring is “conference season,” when a lot of business and law-related conferences take place. To maximize your conference experience, apply my “Before, During and After” strategy; instead of only focusing on the conference once you actually get there, begin your planning ahead of time and implement an after-conference strategy to make sure you get the most bang for your conference buck.

Before the conference

The first step is to identify your goals or purpose for attending the conference in advance. This will help you plan your overall approach. You may have several goals, but don’t try to do too much or you’ll be overwhelmed. Make your goals as concrete as possible. For example, if your main goal is networking, determine specifically who you would like to network with or what kinds of people you want to meet. In effect, define your ‘target market’ for the conference. Set a realistic goal for the number of people you want to meet.

Look at the lists of registrants, speakers and vendors/exhibitors (if available) to identify specific individuals or businesses you want to meet (and where they might be – and when – during the conference) so you can plan accordingly. Don’t wait until you arrive at the conference to review these materials.

If your main goal is learning, review the schedule of sessions/presentations and the scheduled events with that goal in mind. I’ve been to many conferences where I’ve glanced at the brochure or schedule briefly but haven’t really taken the time to look at it and plan what I want to do before I get there. That means I’m making a last minute and poorly informed decision about which session to attend (and which session to skip). Often that is based on the title of the program alone, rather than the description or the speaker (which can make or break a session). It also means I can’t take advantage of networking between sessions because I’m trying to figure out what I am going to do next.

Researching the event ahead of time can help you pack better, too. When you know where you’ll be dining and what kinds of social events are planned, you’ll know what to bring to be appropriately dressed for these occasions.

Research the speakers you don’t know to see whether you think you’d like to see them present or whether you would like to meet them at the conference.

Do a search on social media to see if anyone is talking about the event – see what they are saying. Are any of them people you would like to meet? Are there any additional events that aren’t on the official schedule? Often, regular attendees plan side-events that key off of the main conference – you’ll want to know about them before you go.

Send out your own messages on social media about the conference and your attendance; you may get responses from your own followers about meeting at the conference.

Make sure you have plenty of business cards on hand – check early so that you have time to order more if necessary. You want to make sure when you meet someone (especially someone in your target market) that you have something to leave them with.

Bring some blank cards just in case someone you meet doesn’t have their business cards with them. This way they can still give you their information. While entering their contact information into your smartphone on the spot sounds like good idea, in reality it is often awkward and wastes too much time that you could be using to have a more substantive conversation or meet a new contact.

Tell your clients and colleagues you will be attending; schedule some time to meet with local colleagues or clients in the area who may not be attending the conference. Finding out who will be attending is a good opportunity to be on the lookout for some of your ‘virtual’ friends from social networking so that you can take the relationship to the next level in person.

Create the basic outline for your conference follow up strategy. What will you do to follow up with new contacts? If you plan this out in advance, you are much more likely to carry it through. You may even want to create the beginnings of a follow up letter or email that you can simply customize when you return from the conference.

During the conference

Stay at the conference hotel. If you’re on a very tight budget, in most cities where conferences are held there are a number of local hotels that may be cheaper than the conference venue, but the difference in price can cost you significantly in terms of lost opportunities to run into other conference attendees in the elevator, the lobby, the hotel bar, etc. I learned this the hard way recently when I (accidentally) booked a nearby hotel instead of the conference venue. I was somewhat isolated and felt a little left out – not to mention that it was no fun walking back to my hotel at night after the social events rather than just getting in the elevator back to my room.

It’s OK to hang out with your friends – it’s perfectly valid to use conferences as a time to further existing relationships, especially with those you know only virtually or you don’t have an opportunity to see that often – but don’t neglect opportunities to meet new people, too. If you find yourself standing or sitting next to someone you don’t know, introduce yourself. You’ll both be glad you did.

When you receive a business card, make notes about the person on the back – it will help you remember them.

Instead of sitting with friends during sessions, split up and meet other people during the session. This works especially well if there are two competing sessions that you want to attend – you can compare notes later. You’ll improve your learning by teaching your friend what you learned.

Take note of sessions or presentations you found particularly helpful and consider purchasing recordings if they are available to extend your learning – you probably can’t absorb everything during the session, and it’s often difficult to keep up with note taking. Many conferences now post recordings, videos or other content free on their websites after the event.

If you plan to “live tweet” the conference, check out these great tips on conference tweeting from Jordan Furlong.

Attend conference related social events and meals. These can be not only some of the most fun parts of the conference, but also the best opportunities to build relationships and to learn. But even though these events are more relaxed, remember to keep it professional – these are still business contacts and you want to be sure you’re making a good impression.

Use these five quick networking tips to boost your networking effectiveness while at the conference.

After the Conference

Reinforce what you learned by holding a seminar for your firm or sharing your newly-gained insights with your networking group. Share some of what you learned on social media, on your website or in your blog.

Follow up is crucial to cementing those newly formed relationships – or starting a relationship with someone you’ve met briefly during a conference. Enter contact information into your database as soon as possible after the conference (you could even do this daily while at the conference if you have some down time) and implement that conference strategy that you planned before you left home.

Conferences are a great marketing and networking opportunity – take full advantage of them!

For more conference attendance tips, see Wendy Werner ‘s article in the March/April 2012 issue of Law Practice magazine, Get the Most from the Meeting and Matt Homann’s 10 Rules for Conference Attendees.

As we launch into a new year, I’m looking forward to seeing what marketing tools are adopted by lawyers and how changes in technology change the way lawyers do business. Here are four trends I think are worth watching in 2012.

Social media engagement and integration

Law firms and individual lawyers have becoming more active on social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and now Google Plus. As participation increases, law firms will need to become better at integrating their social media activities into their overall marketing plan, cross-linking each of the firm’s activities with one another to help increase the firm’s reach and visibility. Including links to social media pages and profiles in email signatures and email newsletters, including social media plug-ins on firm blogs and linking blog posts and other web content to social media platforms are all part of a good marketing and branding plan.

Law firm social media activities should be part of a plan that harnesses the potential of social media for increased visibility and engagement with clients, strategic alliances and potential referral sources. Firms will need to become better at tracking and monitoring social media activities by individuals within the firm.

To effectively integrate social media into law firm marketing plans, firms will need to determine what their unique message is and to ensure that the message is being broadcast consistently across all of the firm’s social media activities and platforms

QR Codes

QR codes (or “Quick Response codes”) have been around for a while, but in 2011 they have become more universally recognized and used. The square codes can be seen on everything from store signage to websites to brochures and business cards. Smartphones equipped with a code reader app take photos of the codes which then can open links to website landing pages, automatically download a V-card, display a message, or even auto-dial a telephone number.

Vizibility did a study of QR codes in legal marketing in the summer of 2011 and their results are contained in an infographic, a portion of which appears below.

But the real question is whether firms will see significant results from their use of QR codes in 2012.

Video

Video has become the medium of choice for information. It’s the next best thing to being there in person, and it helps potential clients and referral sources get to know you before they ever meet you.

According to the mobile cause blog,

• Of the 2 billion people who are online, 70% routinely watch videos
• By 2013 more 90% of Internet traffic will be video-based (in 2010 it was 30%)
• The addition of a video increases landing page conversions by 55%
• The presence of an optimized video makes top page search results 53 times more likely
• Incorporating a video into an e-newsletter nearly doubles click-thru rates
• People will remain on a website at least two additional two minutes after viewing a video

According to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2010–2015, two-thirds of the world's mobile data traffic will be video by 2015, and mobile video will more than double every year between 2010 and 2015, with mobile video having the highest growth rate of any application category measured within the Cisco VNI forecast as February 2011, when the study was released.

Given the above, lawyers would do well to take video seriously as a marketing tool. Watch how the use of video by lawyers in their marketing efforts changes in 2012. Some law firms make the same mistake with video that they do with other marketing initiatives: focusing on the attorney or the firm, rather than focusing on the client and their problems. But Informational videos posted not just on lawyer websites but also elsewhere on the web, can be especially effective if they keep the client’s needs in mind.

Mobile

Another emerging law firm marketing trend is the development of mobile sites or apps for smartphones. According to the Law Firm Mobile blog, 19% of firms on the AmLaw 200 list have mobile sites. Many of those currently using mobile have simply developed mobile versions of law firm websites, giving access to the firm’s practice area, attorney and contact information in a format easily read on a smartphone as opposed to a full computer screen. But some law firms are developing apps as resources for their clients, and this is the real trend to watch.

The Cisco Visual Networking Index mentioned above predicts that there will be 788 million mobile-only Internet users by 2015. The mobile-only Internet population will grow 56-fold from 14 million at the end of 2010 to 788 million by the end of 2015. That means that by 2015, many internet users won’t even be bothering with traditional computers, and lawyers whose information cannot be easily found and viewed on a mobile device may be left behind.

I like to encourage lawyers to ‘repurpose.’ Repurposing is using what you have already done (including legal work) in new and different ways to attract the attention of a new audience or to provide valuable reminders to your existing audience. Lawyers can leverage what they are already doing to get more mileage out of their work. For example: taking a recent case and creating a case study or turning a CLE presentation into an article for an industry trade publication.

Re-issue existing content in a new form

Another way to repurpose your old content and give it new life is by re-issuing it in another form. If you’ve created lots of text content, turn that content into audio or video (and if you’ve got an assistant, you may not even have to do much of the work – just delegate it to your assistant).

Turn articles or blog posts into audio by reading them (or having someone else read them) and record them digitally, then post them as audio links or podcasts. If you are reading them yourself, you can record yourself speaking about the topic on video. This has the added benefit of helping your audience get to know you better by seeing you ‘in person.’

In the alternative, you can have someone else create a video for you, using images and bullet points from your article, post or presentation. While this might sound difficult, it doesn’t have to be – if you already know how to use Powerpoint, you can use that, Windows Moviemaker or Google’s presentation software to create your video. If you have already recorded audio, use it to accompany the slides. Upload to Vimeo, YouTube and your own website and get even more traffic and inbound links. Then post links through your social media outlets to this ‘new’ content, or post it on your LinkedIn profile using one of their presentation apps.

Link to old, but valuable content to get new exposure

In addition to re-using your work in new and different ways you can also maximize the impact of content you have generated in the past. You are probably using social media to get the word out about recent content, but what about your “old” content? If you have created authoritative content that is still relevant to your audience, why not promote it too?

Blogs and other content marketing are effective because they provide keyword-rich fodder for search engines and because they are updated regularly. They also help a lawyer establish their expertise and showcase their unique voice, develop a rapport with readers and demonstrate knowledge of the problems faced by their target market, and their approach to solving them.

But much of that expertise (and the content that demonstrates it) is built over time. It’s not always the newest experience or the most recent content that is the most relevant to a potential client or referral source. Often, the “oldest” content you generate is the most basic, but that is exactly the kind of content someone who is unfamiliar with the law or who has never encountered this particular issue before is looking for. Keep that content high in the search engine rankings and ensure that it gets lots of exposure.

Post status updates on LinkedIn and Facebook that link to useful tips or information on your site. Tweet links to older blog posts or articles of interest to your audience. Do you have old content that discusses an important issue but is slightly outdated? Stuck for an idea to write about? Take a look at an old article or post and see if you can update or refresh it. Have there been recent or important changes since you originally posted? Can you add on an introduction or a new twist on an old theme?

It takes some time for your blog or website content to gain traction and loyal readers. Maybe you have content written on an issue that wasn’t ‘hot’ when you wrote about it, but it has become more high profile now – perhaps due to recent news attention to the issue or some other resurgence of interest in the topic. Take advantage of that by marketing that old content again and get the page views you may have missed on the original post.

Even if your blog does enjoy a loyal following, you are gaining new readers all the time. With the proliferation of content on the web, even your regular readers may not have had an opportunity to read content that was posted before they ‘discovered’ you. Give them the advantage of seeing that old content by posting links to it now.

If you’ve written a number of different articles or posts on the same or related topics, do a roundup. Write an introduction to the topic and then place links to those posts all in one place. This makes it easy for those who are interested in that topic to get your perspective on it and find all of your posts on that topic without having to do a full scale search of your blog or website.

Social media affects SEO. Although the links posted on social media themselves are generally ‘no follow’ links, designed to be passed over by search engines, social media links are still important. They drive traffic to your content, provide exposure to a wider audience and generate attention, which gets others to share the links elsewhere, creating ‘do follow’ links.

The major search engines are now beginning to index social media content, including Tweets, Facebook ‘like’ data and other social media updates. Why not take advantage of this by posting social media updates about your older content as well?

An added bonus: since the content is already completed, you can schedule several of these social media updates so you can “set it and forget it” and make time to focus on creating new content, while still generating activity on your social media platforms.

In his book, Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. discusses many factors that affect how persuasive you can be with others. Cialdini was also one of the authors of Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive, co-authored by Noah J Goldstein and Steve J. Martin.

Lawyers can use these persuasive techniques to help them increase the percentage of inquiries or initial consultations that turn into paid client engagements.

People like people who are like themselves; they hire people that they know, like and trust. In your initial consultation, you need to build up the like and trust factors in order to increase the chances that the potential client will want to work with you by the end of the consultation.

In an earlier post, Who Are You Marketing To, I talked about clients being a reflection of you:

People do business with people they know, like and trust. Clients are attracted to people who, at least in some ways, resemble them. In order to trust someone, you must feel comfortable that the person you’re working with shares some of your values and goals. Identifying your individual values and what you stand for can help clarify the kinds of clients that you will work best with.

In other words, you can identify the kinds of clients you want to work with by understanding more about yourself. In the same way, expressing an understanding of who your clients or potential clients are and what their concerns are can help persuade clients to retain you. The authors of Yes! suggest that mirroring behavior plays upon the natural inclination to like those who are similar to you; reflecting the client’s words and body language can help you seal the deal.

I’ve talked about “speaking your clients’ language” before (most recently in the context of networking); instead of using legal jargon or words only lawyers use, use the words your clients use. Legalese and jargon create more distance between you and your audience.

If your goal is to demonstrate your expertise and show potential clients and referral sources that you understand their problems and can help them, you want them to feel like they know you and that you understand them and their problems.

Mirroring verbal language makes clients feel understood. It increases their positive feelings toward you and makes them more likely to decide to retain you to represent them. Matching the rate and volume at which you speak to your client and mirroring their body language can further reinforce those feelings of closeness and comfort, foster rapport and can also aid in your persuasiveness.

Don’t make sudden or drastic changes, but be cognizant of how the potential client speaks and their body language. Be careful not to mimic or copy the other person exactly or your efforts can backfire.

Mirroring may not work in situations where a client is anxious or overly excited – in that case, mirroring by repeating the client’s concerns back to them, making sure that they know they have been heard and understood, but consciously not mirroring their anxiety level or rate of speech may be more persuasive. In those instances, you may be more persuasive by being more calm and reassuring, and you may even be able to get them to mirror you. When the potential client begins to mirror you, you’ll know you are well on your way to being in synch and signing a new client.

In a recent Slaw marketing column, Is “Humble” in Your Marketing Repertoire? , Steve Matthews noted that although lawyers are often encouraged to focus their marketing on their expertise, it’s counterproductive to actually proclaim yourself as an expert in your marketing materials. As Steve says, “expert status should almost always be bestowed by others, not claimed by you.” He advises that you “let your clients decide that you’re an expert based upon your performance.”

So how do you showcase your performance in your marketing materials without sounding like a blowhard? Instead of talking about your performance, demonstrate it. And always keep your clients in mind when you do so – demonstrate your knowledge and skill in ways that will resonate with your audience.

Some ways to demonstrate your expertise include:

• Articles , blog posts and books: These demonstrate your expertise in a concrete way by explaining legal concepts or legal news in a way that your audience can understand and relate to. Rather than saying that you know all about 1031 exchanges or that you are an expert in employment law, your articles exhibit that expertise. When written for your target audience (your clients, potential clients and referral sources) in a language they understand, your articles and blog posts reveal your knowledge and grasp of the subject matter – and your ability to communicate it to your clients. And what could be better than to be known as the attorney who ‘wrote the book’ on your area of practice? Even a well done self-published book can go a long way toward establishing your expert status, while acting as a valuable resource for clients.
• Speaking engagements: Like articles, but one notch better in some ways because the audience gets to see and hear you, rather than just reading what you have to say. Speaking engagements not only showcase your subject matter expertise, but increase the ‘know, like and trust’ factor because clients can see you and see how you communicate verbally (a big part of most lawyers’ practices)
• Testimonials: Even better than press mentions, testimonials come from ‘the horse’s mouth’ as it were. Testimonials tell the story of a client’s experience with your firm (see my previous marketing column, What Makes a Good Testimonial for a Law Firm Website?) – and they allow your clients to proclaim your expertise for you.
• Press: Radio, TV or podcast interviews and being quoted in the press, like testimonials, are third party endorsements of, if not your work itself, then at least your expertise. 
• Case studies/stories about the work you do (or have done) for clients: Sometimes testimonials are inappropriate (or they may be prohibited by your jurisdiction’s ethical rules). In that instance, you may be able to use case studies to tell stories about what you do or have done for clients that will paint a better picture and make your expertise evident. Stories and case studies can bring your practice areas to life.

Most of these ideas are simple enough to do if you are persistent and can deliver quality information that shows how you genuinely help your clients. And that information does not have to be original information – after all, the law is based on precedent – so feel free to do research, borrow information from others, etc. 

All of the above demonstrate your expertise without you having to come out and call yourself an ‘expert.’ But remember: it doesn’t necessarily matter if your audience actually reads the articles, attends the presentations or reads the stories you are mentioned in the press – they see them and you become instantly more credible and authoritative.

For example, although it may seem difficult to get noticed by the press, the fact is that reporters are seeking good sources for stories all of the time. If you want the ‘inside line’ into reporters specifically seeking lawyers to quote for stories, check out the SCG Legal PR Network, which just converted to a free service. Journalists post specific requests for lawyers who can comment on stories or areas of the law. It’s a great way to get noticed and to develop relationships with the press.

One of the books I recommend most often to clients or lawyers who attend my presentations, workshops and seminars is Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It by Peggy Klaus. Klaus’ book includes a handy list of 12 questions to ask yourself to help you build what she calls ‘brag bites’ and ‘bragologues’ (we’ll get to those in a moment) that you can incorporate into your marketing. You can find the complete list at www.bragbetter.com, but two of my favorites are #6 “What career successes are you most proud of having accomplished (from current position and past jobs)?” and #12, “How are you making a difference in people’s lives?”

As Klaus says, the idea is to answer the questions in a way that “creates a vision of you” in the other person’s head. Klaus recommends that every professional create an arsenal of ‘brag bites’ and ‘bragologues’ that they can use in all kinds of different situations. Your brag bites might be more along the lines of a tagline or short sentence or two about what you do that conveys something memorable, while a ‘bragologue’ is more of a story comprised of several sentences or a couple of paragraphs that illustrates something about you or what you do. These ‘sound bytes’ are also great for your written and online marketing materials – smaller “bites” for profiles and bios (like your Twitter bio, for example) and longer ‘bragologues’ that can be used elsewhere (perhaps on your website).

Self-promotion is necessary, but it doesn’t have to be obnoxious or arrogant. Approached as a way to showcase skills, provide value and help clients rather than an in your face marketing pitch it can be not only effective, but enjoyable, too.

Most attorneys say that their business comes through word of mouth or referrals. But how do you keep those referrals coming? How do you establish and maintain relationships with referral sources and potential clients? Through effective networking. In the internet age, that means networking online as well as off.

A lot of the lawyers I speak to are still lost when it comes to using social media and networking online. It doesn’t have to be complicated. The same rules apply whether you are networking in “real life” offline or using social media and other tools online. 

Here are some of my “golden rules” for networking:

Know your purpose or plan

Set clear objectives when you attend a networking event or decide to participate in social media. Is there someone in particular that you want to be sure to meet or speak with? Do you want to get known within a certain circle? Are you simply trying to determine whether a particular group is worth your time and effort? Are you seeking information about a particular person or group? Are you trying to identify potential prospects or strategic alliances? Having a clear objective will help you determine whether your participation was worthwhile.

It’s Not All About You – Focus on Others First

I am a member of a networking group whose mantra is, “It’s better to give than receive, but what goes around comes around.” This is a great networking philosophy and it makes networking much easier. Some lawyers avoid networking because they are uncomfortable talking about themselves and they are under the mistaken impression that promoting yourself and talking about what you do is what networking is all about. It isn’t. 

Those who make every conversation about themselves and are constantly promoting are the least successful networkers. Networking isn’t about soliciting or making sales. It’s about meeting people and making connections. 

Remember: people do business with people they know, like and trust. The best networkers know that the most effective way to gain others’ trust and loyalty is by showing an interest in others. Look for ways to help people. Make introductions. Offer resources or information.

The same is true online. Instead of tweeting only about you and what you are doing, promote others – link to their information, encourage others to attend their events, engage people in conversation. Instead of promoting yourself and your expertise, demonstrate it by offering valuable information on topics of interest to your audience.

Listen

If your goal is to meet new people and make a positive and lasting connection, listen much more than you speak. People love to talk about themselves. Let them. Listening allows you to find out about others’ needs and address what you can do for them and how you can benefit them – whether directly through the services that you provide, or by putting them in touch with others that can help them if you can’t.

Ask questions about others’ needs, business, problems, challenges, and desires. 

Quality, not quantity

Networking isn’t a race to collect the most business cards, followers, ‘friends,’ or connections. It isn’t about quantity – it’s about quality.

Don’t try to talk to everyone in the room. Don’t feel that you need to be engaged in every conversation on social media. You can’t be all things to all people. Building trust requires more than just superficial interaction. Focus on meeting one or two people and establishing an initial connection through meaningful and memorable conversation, rather than just collecting business cards or followers. Make sure to learn something concrete about each person you meet. Get to know them.

Who your friends are says a lot about who you are. Be mindful that in some sense, you will be judged by the people with whom you associate online, too.

Participate

There is no point in going to a networking event if you are going to hide in a corner. Introduce yourself and start meeting people. Online, make sure to post a photo and fully complete your profile so people know who they are talking to.

The virtual world isn't so different from the “offline” world. Join discussions; volunteer to help; attend events. Whether online or off, the more you participate, the more visible you'll be and the more people will get to know you – and that’s the point, isn’t it? 

Participating also allows you to demonstrate your expertise – to the extent that the ethical rules of your jurisdiction will allow. Of course, you need to be mindful of creating inadvertent attorney-client relationships and include all appropriate disclaimers, but joining discussions or answering questions relevant to your area of expertise online, posting documents and articles, linking to resources (including your own website, blog, etc.) will all help demonstrate your knowledge and allow others to get to know you.

Get involved with something you’re passionate about. Networking isn’t just cocktail parties and networking breakfasts or online conversations about business. It’s making lasting connections with other people that are mutually beneficial. (Yes, this is why all of those people are talking about restaurants, food or wine on Twitter; it’s what those people are interested in, and how they connect with others).

You are more likely to participate if you’re passionate about a cause or activity, so join groups or discussions on social media that you care about. Get involved in your local community. Sharing experiences creates a deeper connection – and makes it more likely that you’ll get business. 

Speak your clients’ language

Don’t use legal jargon – real people don’t talk like that. Instead, use the words your clients use. I call this "speaking your clients' language." If your profile is filled with legalese and jargon, you create more distance between you and your audience. When you talk to others, describe what you do without naming your practice area. 

If your goal is to demonstrate your expertise and show potential clients and referral sources that you understand their problems and can help them, you want them to feel like they know you. The best way to do that is to speak to them in a way that they can understand, not to use big, fancy legal words to sound smart.

Seek out strategic alliances

Potential clients aren’t the only reason to attend networking events or participate in social media. Facebook is probably not the first place most clients go to search for a lawyer. Consider networking events and social media as places to meet strategic alliances and referral sources. Find other people who provide services that complement yours or fill a need for your clients that you can’t. 

Remember that when you’re networking or meeting people, you’re connecting with their entire network, too. This is particularly true online, where your LinkedIn connections can see who else you are connected to, and your Facebook friends see what you ‘like’ or who is in your news feed. 

 Make diverse contacts

Many lawyers make the mistake of joining groups or speaking only to people who are too similar to them. That creates an ‘echo chamber’ effect in which people are echoing back the same information and contacts to you. The goal in networking is to widen your net. Look for new groups and discussions online. Seek out people in other industries for new ideas.

Keep track of your networking contacts

Create a database or place to organize and store information about the people you meet – don’t just throw a pile of business cards in a drawer or collect followers willy-nilly. Your database should include information about where and when you met each contact, what they do professionally, and what their business and personal interests are.

Follow up to continue the relationship

Most networking efforts fail in the follow up. Intentions aren’t enough. Action is the key. Networking is about creating relationships, and real relationships can’t be formed in a few minutes in a room full of people or in 140 characters. For networking to be effective, you need to follow up with those you meet at a networking event or online. Stay in touch. Send them relevant information. Make introductions. Take your online relationships offline by arranging a time to talk by phone or meet in person. 

Say thank you

One of the best ways to follow up and to cement a relationship is by saying thank you. That might mean sending a handwritten thank you note thanking someone for taking the time to speak with you or introduce you to others at an event or sending an email or social media message thanking a connection for linking to your content or ‘re-tweeting’ your posts online. 

Be patient

Research shows that it can take between 7 and 9 contacts with a prospect before they make a decision to do business with you. The same is true for strategic alliances or referral sources. Don’t get discouraged if business doesn’t magically appear immediately. It takes time to get to “know, like and trust” someone.

Many lawyers don’t think about testimonials until it’s time to create or update their website. Only then do they contact clients or send them a recommendation request on LinkedIn. The best clients are perfectly willing to provide a testimonial. Unfortunately, asking clients for a testimonial or a recommendation without providing any guidelines is likely to lead to bad testimonials.

By “bad testimonials,” I don’t mean testimonials that disparage the lawyer – indeed many bad testimonials are just the opposite – they praise the lawyer in glowing terms. Unfortunately, those glowing terms are often vague, which can lead to the impression that the lawyer wrote the testimonial themselves. Even if readers don’t believe the testimonials were made up, they are likely to carry very little weight if they are packed with superlatives but contain little substance or detail. These kinds of testimonials leave the reader with almost no impression of the lawyer at all.

The same problems can occur with unsolicited testimonials; a happy client writes a note of thanks or sends an email telling the lawyer how grateful they are to her and what a wonderful job she did. The lawyer then asks for (and receives) permission to use the client’s words as a testimonial, and posts those words on the lawyer’s website. While I applaud lawyers who seek the opportunity to showcase the words of their clients as a testament to the services they provide, to obtain very effective testimonials, the lawyer will have to go at least one step further.

As I indicated in my recent post on Lawyerist, Effective Client Testimonials, the best time to obtain a testimonial is when the client’s goals and desired outcome have been reached, when the client expresses gratitude for the work performed, or when the client asks how he can help the lawyer. Even clients who provide unsolicited testimonials could use a bit of guidance if the testimonial is going to have maximum marketing impact for the lawyer.

Testimonials that make an impression don’t necessarily have to identify the client by name (and some jurisdiction’s ethical rules may prohibit it). While anonymous testimonials may seem to have little value, in actuality, whether the testimonials is attributed specifically or not, it will have the most impact if it tells the story of the client’s experience with the lawyer or law firm. Those stories will have little chance of coming across as made up. Simply put, a testimonial that is substantive and tells a story is more believable. 

For example, look at the difference between the following two testimonials:

1. "Ellen was wonderful! She was so responsive, and we really felt that she had our best interests at heart."
2. "Ellen was invaluable in helping us through a difficult time. After our son was involved in an accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury, we didn't know which end was up. We were dealing with doctors, medical bills, and the overwhelming emotions involved in knowing our son would never grow up to be the person he could have been. On top of all of that, we needed to set up a special needs trust to be sure our son would be well provided for, even when we could no longer do it ourselves. Ellen walked us through the process and made it easy. She answered our questions, no matter how trivial (even on the weekend!), and took time out of her day to come to our home, rather than making us come to her. Now that we know our son will be cared for financially, and we can focus on spending time together."

I think you get the idea. The detail in the second testimonial tells the story of the family’s experience while at the same time highlighting specific elements of the service they received from the lawyer (compassion, availability, responsiveness, etc.) Isn’t the second testimonial much more effective than the first? Isn’t the testimonial – the words of the client – much more effective than if the lawyer had simply stated on her site that she put her clients first, that she was compassionate, that she responded to clients’ needs?

Many marketing consultants will tell you to get results based testimonials, but for lawyers, those testimonials can be difficult or problematic to obtain, in part because clients may not be willing to divulge (even anonymously) the specifics about their case in hard terms, but also because lawyers have to be careful about giving the appearance of guaranteeing clients a specific outcome. Some of that can be remedied by accompanying testimonials with disclaimers, but even then they can be sticky. And a results-based testimonial followed immediately by a disclaimer waters down the testimonial itself.

The fact of the matter is that most lay people do not choose or evaluate their lawyers based upon technical skill. Instead, they rate their lawyer based upon the service they receive: how they are treated and how the lawyer (and the firm as a whole) makes them feel. A testimonial that focuses on service while still letting the reader know that the client was pleased with the outcome packs the most punch.

As we begin the new year, a lot of my clients are developing their 2011 marketing plans, and that means I’m getting a lot of questions about what they ‘should’ do to market their practices this year. Here’s part of an inquiry I received from an existing client:

I simply must know what works for lawyers in my practice area, in a similar geographic area. What I need to do is to focus on best practices of other attorneys specifically in these areas of law, and replicate them to the extent possible….

In other words, I need a direction: cable TV, radio, newspaper, bus shelters, benches, web, pay-per-click, pay-per-lead, mailers, coupon inserts, "free reports," whatever it is. I have tried many of these methods with mixed results because I do not know what has worked for other similarly situated attorneys. …I must find a way to obtain this information for my specific practice areas.

If there was a single answer to this question, don’t you think everyone would be doing it? And even if there were some big secret answer, do you really think it wouldn’t change tomorrow? If everyone did the same thing in the same way, it would be impossible to stand out. What was effective, for a time, then becomes entirely ineffective.

Unfortunately, time marches on, people get jaded, markets change, new media arrive and old ones fall out of favor. There is simply no magic pill to marketing. If there were, and if I had it, I probably wouldn’t be writing this column!

The myth of ‘best practices’

If you haven’t figured it out already, I am not a big believer in 'best practices (or in ‘shoulds,' for that matter). There are too many variables at play to think that the same methods will work for everyone, everywhere, all of the time – even within the same practice area. Each lawyer or law firm is different; they have different skills, experiences, values, cultures, knowledge and mindset. Seemingly similar geographic areas are not the same – Boston is not the same as New York or Toronto, although they are all metropolitan areas. And of course, clients are not the same, and although they may have similar problems, they may not be seeking similar solutions.

Each of the methods my client mentioned can work (and has worked for lawyers with whom I have had experience), but their success is heavily dependent upon how each of those tools are used and why. When lawyers are successful with a particular marketing endeavor, their success is not the result of having chosen the method for their practice area; rather they have figured out (probably through trial and error, a lot of effort and tweaking and maybe some professional help) how to make those methods work for them at a particular time. 

Simply put, there is no one single tool or even one single way of using a particular tool that will work for everyone. You need to find out what works for you, in your practice areas or niches, in your geographic area with your specific target clients. 

My client’s marketing results have not been mixed because he does not know what has worked for ‘similarly situated attorneys.’ They have been mixed because he does not know what works for him, which may be due in large part to the simple fact that he’s chasing the non-existent “answer” to how he “should” market his practice.

 Notwithstanding the above, there are some general principles that do apply across the board. 

Know your ideal clients

First and foremost, you must know what kinds of clients you want to attract – and know them intimately. One lawyer swears by billboards, another fills her practice as a result of radio advertising and a third is a master networker with more business than they can handle. The reason these methods work for these lawyers is that they are reaching their clients. 

The people who need your legal services will dictate what you should do to reach those people effectively. Where do they go for information and what they do when they find themselves in a situation which would lead them to need your services? Who do they talk to? Where to they go for advice? What information might they be searching for online? How do they talk about their situation? What specific terms do they use? What are their criteria for choosing a lawyer? Who refers them to lawyers or is in the best position to do so? 

Remember that not all clients who are similarly situated are created equal – and not all clients who need a lawyer that practices in your area are ideal clients for you.(For more on your ideal clients, see my post: “Who Are You Marketing To?”) Once you have a good idea of who your ideal clients are, your marketing efforts can be tailored to attract those people. 

You may have to engage in some trial and error to see what works for you and what doesn't. Talk to people. Find out what they would do if facing a criminal charge (or if someone in their family was facing one) or if they were in financial trouble and needed bankruptcy advice. Talk to some of your former or existing clients. Find out what other lawyers think the biggest 'hot buttons' are for your target market. But don’t rely solely on what others tell you – test it out; research shows that what people say and what they do are often two very different things.

Make Adjustments

This is an ongoing process. No matter how well you know your target audience now, their needs and hot buttons will change over time. Their habits will change, as will their preferred media and methods of communication. To continue to be successful, you will have to continually learn and adjust both your marketing and your services. 

As you begin to see results, make changes and test to improve your success rates. For example, in a pay per click campaign, more traffic doesn’t necessarily mean better results, particularly if the traffic doesn’t take the next step toward your or doesn’t respond to your call to action. What can you adjust? You might consider changing your keywords so they are more targeted to your market. They may be less popular, but bring you more qualified leads. You might consider revising the wording on your landing page so that it resonates more with your ideal clients. You may want to change the call to action to increase the urgency factor.

Be consistent

A common mistake is to create a brilliant marketing piece, well-suited to your target market, which delivers excellent results and then to abandon marketing like a hot potato. Marketing when client work is slow and then forgetting about it when the work comes rolling in is the kind of short-sighted behavior that leads to the feast or famine roller coaster so many lawyers are familiar with, with another rough period ahead when the current round of client work is completed. 

Provide exceptional service

Doing good technical legal work – in essence, being a good lawyer – is not enough to bring referrals from existing or former clients. Merely doing a competent legal job is not sufficient if you want clients to remember you, to bring their new business to you and to talk with others about what you do. Satisfying clients or providing ‘good’ service is not enough. 

When others recommend you, they put their reputation and good name on the line. Do not assume that just because the client paid the bill and did not fire you that they were happy with your work or that they would go out of their way to recommend you to others.

You want ambassadors for your firm. Go above and beyond. Do the unexpected. Create an exceptional client experience. Make raving fans out of the clients you work for now and have worked for in the past and they will have your name on the tip of their tongue when they hear of someone who needs a lawyer.

The real answer

For most lawyers, a combination of marketing methods works best. Your marketing will be successful if your efforts are all geared toward reaching your ideal clients you want to reach, consistently and continuously. It all comes down to getting out there in front of your audience so that they know who you are and how you can help them. 

Recently, I have encountered a number of lawyers who have found themselves unemployed due to cuts or downsizing at their firms. Some of these lawyers were baffled that they had been let go; they had experience and were good lawyers who did their work well, kept their noses to the grindstone, made sure the work they were given by their practice groups or supervising partners got done, and met their billable hour requirements. They didn’t waste time socializing and kept out of the way, focusing on their billable work. But the very things that these lawyers thought should have kept them employed may have put them first in line when the firm needed to downsize. 

These lawyers made the classic mistake of focusing completely on doing their legal work and not cultivating relationships or business development skills which may have made them more valuable to their firms. Ironically, as these lawyers enter the job market or seek to open their own practices, it is these very skills and relationships that may determine their success or failure.

But the blame for lack of business development skills cannot be placed entirely on the shoulders of the lawyers themselves. Some of the blame must be shared by the firms who failed to help their lawyers cultivate business generation skills. These firms have been so focused on leveraging associate time and maximizing billable hours that they have failed to build a culture of business development within their firms. 

What can firms do to foster a culture of business development?

Law firms that want their attorneys to generate business must develop a business development culture. Marketing and business development must be a way of life for the entire firm; they must be part of the day to day fabric of the firm. Unfortunately, too many firms leave business development to a rarified few, the “rainmakers” who seem to have been born with magical powers. The message to young lawyers is, “you either have it or you don’t,” as if business development isn’t a skill that can be learned and nurtured, but instead is bestowed from above upon a lucky few. If that is the case, why try to develop business if you don’t already have it?

Advance a new mindset. The first step to fostering a culture of business development is to change the approach to rainmaking and business development in general. Dispel the notion that rainmakers are a secret society whose practices are a closely guarded secret. Make business development a part of everything the firm does, and something that is the responsibility – and part of the job description – of everyone in the firm (including staff).

Set clear expectations. Each individual within your firm must understand what the firm expects from them with respect to business development, just as they must understand what is expected of them when it comes to their substantive legal work. Merely saying that all lawyers are expected to make efforts to develop and cultivate business is not enough. 

Create expectations for each individual lawyer based upon their strengths and weaknesses. Develop a plan for them to follow with benchmarks to be reached and consistent monitoring to keep them on track and accountable. Make this a part of everyone’s job description and periodic reviews. 

Reward effort, not just outcome. Business development is a process that takes time, particularly when you are starting out, whether you are a new lawyer or an experienced one marketing to a new industry or target audience. Results do not come overnight, which makes it even more important to reward those who contribute to the firm’s marketing and business development efforts, not just outcome. The lack of immediate results will be less discouraging if the lawyer understands that it is expected and understood that results will take time – and if there is an incentive to continue with the behaviors that will ultimately bring results. 

It isn’t enough for the lawyer to look ahead to some unknown time in the future and continue working for some vague notion that business will come and bring compensation with it – there must be rewards in the shorter term in order to foster additional business development efforts. Rewarding those efforts will also encourage innovation and testing of new methods or ideas to generate or retain business.

Provide support. Business development skills can be learned and cultivated, but lawyers need training, feedback and support in order to develop those skills – particularly since they are not skills that are taught in law school. Conduct regular meetings both individually and in groups to provide guidance and feedback, identify obstacles and brainstorm ideas, monitor progress and provide accountability.

Tie compensation to business development – and not just in the traditional way of giving a percentage of business to one who generates or originates the business. As noted above, since generating new business takes a long time and is difficult to see or predict, rewarding the development of skills and the reaching of certain goals and benchmarks will help keep lawyers on track and motivated to continue their business development efforts. Measurement, accountability and rewards must all be in place in order to reinforce the message and encourage desired behaviors.

Telling lawyers that business development is part of their job but compensating them only on billable hours sends a conflicting message. What gets measured gets done; if your firm values business development activities and relationship-building, measure it and compensate it.

Walk your talk – show your commitment to business development in all things the firm does. Paying lip service to business development efforts in an offhand way, commenting on business development infrequently or only as an aside, reminding lawyers that they are ‘expected’ to develop business, but failing to follow through will negate your message. Show your commitment – if you tell associates and staff that they are expected to participate in specific activities or behaviors, make sure partners are doing it too. Hold partners, managers and supervisors accountable, not only for their own business development efforts, but also for cultivating business development skills and relationship behaviors and guiding the business development efforts of those whom they supervise.

Stop tolerating hoarding behavior. Don’t allow originating partners hoard work or keep their clients behind an iron curtain, protected from others in the firm. This behavior does not foster relationship building. In addition to potentially hurting the clients’ interests by not allowing clients access to all of those in the firm working on a client’s matter, the firm may be hurting itself by failing to create deep relationships within the firm with particular clients. Instead, let lawyers shadow the rainmakers to see how they work and how they build relationships with clients and referral sources. Require partners to allow others to accompany them to client meetings and business generation activities, and require them to share their efforts and results with others. 

Seek client feedback, share it with the team and act on it. Retaining great clients is just as important as developing new client relationships and generating new business. Studies have shown that while lawyers think they are delivering excellent service, clients don’t always agree – and they won’t necessarily speak up unless they are asked. Just because clients aren’t leaving your firm does not mean that they are loyal to the firm or that they would recommend you to others or send you additional business. 

Any great business development strategy should include obtaining regular client feedback to ensure that you are meeting clients’ needs and to identify potential new areas of businesses. But simply obtaining that feedback is not enough. It needs to be shared with the team. Sharing the outcome with those who were involved with the matter or work with that client signals that their contribution is important and that they are an integral part of the firm’s success. And you can’t effectively walk your talk if you don’t act on client feedback. Get your employees and attorneys involved during this process as well. Let them help brainstorm ideas for improvement, identify new services that can be provided and put client suggestions into place. Reward lawyers and staff who are actively involved in client retention just as you would reward those who actively seek new business.

 Communicate the firm’s marketing and business development goals and objectives, and regularly report to the firm about the progress being made toward those goals and objectives. Give recognition to all of those who have contributed to the effort. Celebrate success and discuss how improvements or changes can be made in the areas in which the firm has fallen short. Make sure everyone knows the firm’s business development plan and their role within that plan.

A firm that develops a culture of business development won’t have to rely on a few ‘rainmakers’ to feed the entire firm. Instead, each member of the firm, from the receptionist to the equity partners, can contribute their unique skills and insights to constantly improve relationships with existing clients and cultivate new business. When marketing and business development are an integral part of the firm’s day to day activities, the firm is potentially insulated from the need to downsize in the future. The firm will also be more likely to retain talented lawyers and staff by providing them the guidance and support they need to develop their skills and build strong client relationships.

Does your firm have a marketing plan? When was the last time it was reviewed? How well do you follow your marketing plan? You’re not alone if your marketing plan is collecting dust in a drawer, hidden somewhere on your firm’s server, or simply hasn’t been implemented effectively. But why do these plans fail so often?

Marketing is generally outward-focused, concentrating on your clients, their wants and needs and the services you provide to help them reach their goals. But in order to be truly successful when it comes to actual implementation of the marketing plan, you must look inward to determine not only what you are committed to accomplishing, but also who will accomplish it and how it will be accomplished. Then you’ll need to communicate your expectations on an ongoing basis and follow up. Unfortunately, these are the areas in which most law firm marketing plans fail.

Failure #1: Undefined or unclear purpose

What is the purpose of your marketing plan? Why are you undertaking these initiatives? Attorneys assume that the best way to grow and sustain their business is by getting more clients, or by getting new clients. That isn’t always the case. More clients don’t always translate into more profits. Other objectives might include increasing your client base in a certain practice area or niche, expanding into a new practice area, generating new business from existing clients, increasing the quality of your client base, increasing your exposure to a certain target audience, generating more leads, creating a better sales pipeline, or allowing you more freedom, among others

Your marketing purpose must be closely tied to your main business goals for the same time period. Think carefully about why you are embarking on a marketing plan. If you’re working in a firm, make sure all of the key players are on board with your purpose. 

Be sure that you develop a purpose not only for the overall marketing plan, but also for each individual marketing tactic or activity undertaken to further the plan. What role is each piece of the plan expected to play in the overall goal? How is each piece integrated into the plan as a whole? How will the pieces of the plan work together?

Failure #2: Insubstantial plans 

The previous failure is one of the factors that lead to insubstantial plans. Without specific objectives, creating a specific, targeted plan is nearly impossible. A plan isn’t an intention – it has to incorporate your intention to implement and how that implementation is going to occur. Ideas are one thing – execution is another.

Make it concrete. A plan is specific and tangible, not merely conceptual. What will this look like on a daily basis? How does this plan integrate with the way we service our clients now on a daily basis? How will we communicate the efforts we are making to avoid disjointed marketing efforts? Who is going to carry out your plan? Have you defined specific roles, tasks, expectations and deadlines?

Failure #3: No benchmarks 

“Get more clients” isn’t a good marketing goal, or a solid foundation for a marketing plan, particularly if you haven’t taken the time to find out how many clients you have now, or how many you worked with last year, what their lifetime value is to the firm, and whether those clients fit into your ideal client profile. You must know not only what your ultimate goal is, but where you are in relation to that goal now.

The only way to determine how to get from here to there is to begin by pinpointing where ‘here’ is.

Failure #4: The plan is created by those ‘at the top,’ but not effectively communicated to those ‘in the trenches.’ 

Your marketing plan is implemented every day, day in and day out, by every single employee of your firm, from your receptionist to the managing partner. But some law firms forget that their associates and support staff are an integral part of the marketing effort and don’t effectively communicate the plan. 

If they do share their marketing plans, many partnerships simply recite he plan itself, leaving out the strategy and reasoning behind the plan, or they neglect to clearly define and lay out expectations and action steps, assigning individuals or groups to complete each. This hinders implementation. Define the outcome to be achieved in a way that is understandable for the players involved. Define roles and expectations.

Regular communication should continue throughout implementation to keep the momentum going, to continue the progress of the plan and to obtain feedback. Ongoing communication during implementation also ensures that all of the players know what is happening, who is doing what and when. 

Although lawyers may be meticulous about tracking substantive legal correspondence or conversations with clients, documenting the file and billing for it, lawyers are notoriously bad at tracking or documenting the other contact they have with clients. While this is a mistake even for solos, the mistake multiplies with the number of attorneys and staff within the firm who have contact with a particular client, and can lead to embarrassment (or worse).

Failure #5: Inability to demonstrate why others should commit to the plan – what’s in it for them?

Communication of the plan itself is one thing, but getting the commitment of the participants is more difficult. As we’ve seen, it is the entire firm that implements the plan. That means that each of the players must understand how this plan relates to – and benefits – them as individuals. 

What is the connection between following the plan and individual incentives, whether those incentives come in the form of compensation, advancement or a sense of contributing to the firm’s growth? What does each person’s contribution lend to the effort as a whole? How does it advance firm-wide and individual goals?

Marketing is a non-billable task, and for firms that compensate or advance attorneys based on their hourly billings, it is difficult to motivate lawyers to focus on marketing if they can’t see how it will help them individually. When participating in marketing initiatives such as visiting clients or writing for the firm’s blog take lawyers away from billable activities, they need to see the reward. When they see attorneys who do not participate in marketing being compensated the same or more with no detrimental effects, they won’t see a reason to commit themselves. 

Failure #6: Focusing on the plan itself and not on the implementation

One reason why law firm marketing plans fail is that once the marketing plan is created, it is largely ignored. Lawyers act as if the plan is the work, not merely the blueprint for the work. They focus on creating the plan and then think the job is done, or they take a ‘break’ and never get to execution of the plan. Recognize at the outset that the planning is just the beginning. The magic happens with the execution, not the creation of the plan. Build your plan so that implementation begins immediately by including not only action steps but deadlines and accountability.

Failure #7: Lack of commitment to/ownership of the plan

The larger the partnership, the greater the chance that the ultimate marketing plan results from compromise. Not everyone will be completely happy with the marketing plan at all times. But, as with any strategic decision, the firm’s leadership must build consensus and commit to the plan that emerges. When leadership fails to demonstrate their commitment to the plan by carrying out action steps themselves, or when it appears to the firm that its leaders are merely paying lip service to the plan, interest quickly wanes and the plan is doomed to failure.

Law firms define new initiatives, assign responsibility and define specific accountability steps, incentives and consequences, and yet they still fail. Why? Because they fail to stick with the plan. They ignore the new protocol for client contact, or don’t require accountability. They let deadlines go by the wayside. They don’t make marketing initiatives a priority. Not only does this hurt the initiative itself, but it hurts their credibility. The next time the firm leadership wants to initiate something new, the next time they set forth expectations, they won’t be taken seriously. They defeat themselves before they start because the firm knows that they won’t stick to their guns – they have no integrity. If your firm has faced this problem in the past, you must be even more diligent about execution and enforcement.

Failure #8: Disjointed implementation

Even when a firm thinks it is doing everything right and the individuals and practice groups are behind the plan, it can still fail if implementation is not properly coordinated among individuals or practice groups. Too often, lawyers or practice groups take the marketing plan and run with it, separately interpreting it in their own way, without communicating with the rest of the firm. 

Clients and prospects may have contact with more than one lawyer or practice group, and if the firm is operating as independent individuals or separate silos rather than a cohesive whole it becomes clear to the client very quickly. This leaves a disjointed and inconsistent impression of not only your marketing efforts, but also your client service and overall firm reputation.

To be effective, your marketing must be an integrated process, built over time, involving a number of different marketing tactics tied together by a marketing strategy. But even with a strategy, sometimes unexpected marketing opportunities arise. Take advantage of those opportunities by learning how to integrate them into your overall marketing plan.

Failure #9: Lack of follow up 

Who is going to keep this going and how? What are the incentives and consequences? Who are the right people for the job? What kind of accountability is built into the plan? When and how will follow up occur? Where should participants turn for help? How should follow up be accomplished (meetings, progress reports, email, etc.) All of these should be incorporated into the plan, as you have seen above. But it can’t end there with writing it into the plan. Someone must consistently follow up with those responsible for action steps. Someone must check in, particularly as deadlines approach.

 Failure #10: Acting as if marketing ends once you get the work

A lot of marketing and business development occurs after the client retains your firm. Happy clients are loyal clients, and they refer other work to you – or deflect it from you if they are not happy with their experience. Never take clients for granted. Be sure your marketing plan includes ongoing initiatives to improve service and communication with existing and former clients, and that responsiveness is an integral part of your marketing plan and the day to day services you provide to your clients.

Build a better marketing plan. Incorporate a concrete purpose, establish your existing position and benchmarks, determine your means and methods, assign roles and responsibilities with action steps and deadlines. Commit to the plan, communicate effectively and get others involved. Then follow up to assure that your plan is executed and continue your efforts once your firm has been retained.

To market successfully, you need to speak the language of your target audience. To do that, you first need to identify who you’re targeting. Many lawyers make the mistake of trying to target too broad an audience. The result is a watered down message that doesn’t really speak to anyone.

The first step in creating a marketing strategy is to explore your current client base and identify the clients with whom you work best and bring the most value to your firm. Next, you’ll identify those clients with whom you do not enjoy working, and ascertain the characteristics of ‘undesirable’ clients.

After examining your existing clients, you will consider the clients you really want to work with, and create the profile of the ‘most wanted’ or ‘ideal’ clients. It is only when you have a good picture of who those clients are that you can move forward to determine how to attract those clients, how best to serve them, what processes and procedures need to be in place, what employees will work best with those clients, and how to properly position your firm. 

Clients are a reflection of YOU

People do business with people they know, like and trust. Clients are attracted to people who, at least in some ways, resemble them. In order to trust someone, you must feel comfortable that the person you’re working with shares some of your values and goals. Identifying your individual values and what you stand for can help clarify the kinds of clients that you will work best with.

If your clients are a reflection of you, you must be clear about who you are and what you stand for. If you can’t articulate what your core values are, how will your clients be able to recognize them?

Who are you and what do you stand for?

• What are your core values and principles?
• What can clients count on you for?
• Can your clients rally around your cause?
• Is there a common cause/passion between you and your clients?

Creating a client profile 

One of the biggest mistakes lawyers make when trying to develop business or market themselves is in trying to be all things to all people. This is especially true in a difficult economy. But by not specifically targeting a particular audience, the marketing message gets watered down and loses its impact. The message becomes far too generic. Potential clients fail to respond and lawyers become frustrated.

Although many lawyers are beginning to catch on to the idea of developing a niche practice or focusing on a niche, they fail to take the additional step of getting into the minds of their potential clients and doing some serious thinking about what the potential client wants or needs most. Doing this before embarking on a marketing initiative can save you significant time, money and frustration.

Once you have a clear picture of your ideal client in mind, it’s easier to focus on what is important to them, where to find them, how to attract them, and how to serve them well.

Defining high value clients

Remember that value isn’t measured solely by the size of the case or the size of your fee. Valuable clients can be those who have realistic expectations, respect your advice or want the best service. Perhaps your ideal client is one who works with you on a case – or perhaps it’s just the opposite. Maybe you work best with clients who leave you alone to work your magic. Maybe your best clients are simply those who will be ‘raving fans’ and generate lots of referrals for your practice.

Once you have a preliminary idea of what a ‘high value’ client means to you, they will be easier to spot. This takes some in-depth work, but it is well worth it. When you become skilled at defining and identifying high value clients, you waste less time and energy on lower value clients that sap your energy or cost you money and time.

It is difficult to identify ‘high value clients’ or a ‘target market’ in a vacuum. It is much easier to think about creating a profile of the ideal client by considering clients you have worked with in the past – even if those former clients were when you were in a different firm or practice area than you are currently working in. I recommend that my clients choose three good existing or former clients and three bad ones and examine patterns. What made those clients good or bad? What behaviors did they exhibit? What words did they use to describe their situation? How were they referred to you? How did they act at the initial consultation? Were there any ‘red flags’ that were ignored? 

Calling your clients by name

Think of your marketing message as a way of calling the name of your potential clients. Rather than making a general statement (“Hey, you!”), identifying someone by name (“Hey, Bob!”) will get their attention much easier. You’re tuned in to that information because it’s very specific to you. You want your marketing to do the same for your clients. You want them to think you’re talking directly to them – because you are.

In order to call your clients by name, you need to be intimately familiar with who those clients are. The better you know the clients you’re seeking to attract, the better your marketing efforts will be. Creating a client profile is a good way to develop that knowledge.

When creating your ideal client profile, remember that your answers may be different for different practice areas. Also, don’t just focus on the surface information, such as demographic information. Dig deeper. Three areas to explore are the three Ps: Psychographics, Patterns of choosing legal services and client Problems.

Psychographics are one of the most powerful ways to connect with your clients, and also one of the most frequently overlooked. You may find that your clients are actually very different demographically, but psychographically, they have a very similar profile.

Psychographics, while less tangible, are much more accurate in predicting which people or businesses will relate best to your particular message, method or solution. Psychographics include things like your client’s mission, philosophy or values, their reputation in the industry or community, their management or communication style, integrity or litigation history. For example, do you prefer clients who are more collaborative and settlement oriented, or those who want to fight or pursue litigation regardless of the cost?

An important part of profiling your ideal client is determining how they choose legal services. Knowing that your clients are more likely to make the decision to hire a lawyer at certain times of the year, as the result of specific triggering events, or upon receipt of specific types of information can help you plan your services and your marketing strategy. Learn why your clients hire you, what kids of service providers they prefer and what similar services they have used, among other issues.

Finally, one of the most effective ways to connect with clients is by identifying what problems they face. Everyone wants their problems to be solved, and if you can identify what the client perceives their problem to be (as opposed to what you think their problem is), you’ll get the potential client’s attention quickly – and start gaining their trust. Think about not only the problems themselves, but also about the symptoms of the problems that your clients commonly experience, and how clients typically describe them.

The client profile will help you to focus your marketing efforts, plan effective means of reaching your ideal clients, and develop methods to serve them better. The insight it provides can be invaluable for the future of your practice.

Running a business (and make no mistake, a law practice is a business) is a marathon, rather than a sprint. That is especially true when it comes to marketing. I see many lawyers who make the mistake of giving up too easily because they don't see immediate results from their efforts. 

Marketing is about building relationships. In the same way that you can't expect to have immediate results when you enter the dating pool, you can't expect to have immediate results with marketing. It takes time to get known within the community where your target market 'hangs out' and to build trust with potential clients and referral sources. 

Your marketing efforts are an investment in the future of your firm and your career, and the more consistently you invest, the better your return will be. That means that you have to make marketing a habit. It needs to be part of your daily or weekly routine.

Conventional wisdom says that in order to make something a habit, you have to do it consistently for 21 days in a row, but that falling "off the wagon" for only a few days can break the routine. Habits are only developed through repetition. 

Don't make the mistake of trying to integrate too many new habits at once. One new habit at a time is enough. Once you've mastered that one new habit and it becomes part of your routine (or even better, after you've developed a system so that habit is automatic, or close to it), you can begin to integrate another habit. 

One of the reasons why it is difficult to develop good, consistent marketing habits is that lawyers are confronted by so many distractions. Not only do client work and daily emergencies get in the way, but it's easy to be overtaken by "bright, shiny object syndrome," letting the next big thing distract you from consistently taking action. Rather than continuing to move forward with the marketing tools and activities that the firm is already undertaking, strengthening relationships with existing clients, staying in touch with former clients, or maximizing existing networks, lawyers feel that they 'should' be doing something new. New tools and technologies can be powerful forces to support lawyers in their marketing and business development efforts, but even these new tools need to become habits in order to be effective. 

In order to develop good marketing habits, you need to be specific about the action steps that you intend to take to create the marketing habit. While it's a good idea to set intentions and goals and develop a vision for where you want to take the practice, intentions by themselves will not create results. It is the small daily or weekly actions that you take that create results over time.

Don't be judgmental. Nobody is perfect, and developing new habits or trying new things is often difficult. Give yourself permission to make mistakes. When you make a mistake, rather than berating yourself, ask yourself what you can do differently or how you can improve the next time.

Celebrate your successes – even the small ones. A lot of small steps together create big progress. Focus on the positive and on what you are learning and accomplishing as you move forward, rather than focusing on all of the things you haven't accomplished (yet).

Develop systems or protocols to support you in developing your new marketing habit, and change them if circumstances change. I recently realized that I have not been on Twitter much lately, although I enjoy it and it was a good complement to my other marketing and business development activities. It helped me to learn new things, exposed me to articles and information that were helpful to my business and my clients, introduced me to new people and helped strengthen some of my professional relationships. I had gotten out of the habit of interacting on Twitter because I developed the habit of checking Twitter when I was at my desk, on my computer, but lately I've been doing more traveling and have been heavily involved in other tasks that mean I spend much less time at my desk. My change in circumstances meant that my original 'system' for using Twitter no longer makes sense. I need to develop a new Twitter habit that involves using Twitter through my Blackberry. Be mindful of how a change in your routine affect your business development habits.

Need some ideas for marketing habits that you can begin to establish right now? Here are five – but remember – one at a time!

1. Call a client or business alliance every day with no particular agenda – call just to catch up and find out what they are doing.
2. Develop a daily social media habit – whether it's Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or another platform of your choice, connect with others, contribute, answer questions
3. Send a daily handwritten note – whether it's a thank you note to someone you just met, good wishes to a colleague who moved their office, or a note to a client thanking them for their business, a handwritten note will make an impression.
4. Write something every day: a blog post, an outline for a lecture, an article on new developments in your field, an update to your bio or profile, a flow chart to help clients understand how their matter progresses through litigation, etc.
5. Create Google alerts for clients, colleagues, industry keywords, and check them daily to stay updated and to give you fodder for any of the above ideas.

Start creating a new marketing habit now, and see how things develop over the next month. Once you start getting your marketing muscles in shape, you'll be ready for the marathon.