I just started my law firm and don’t yet have any clients. How do I go about notifying people and securing their patronage? What’s the most effective way of establishing initial marketing contact with potential new clients?

Getting your first few clients is a benchmark step for any new firm. When you are in business for yourself, you must become a rainmaker first and foremost. Doing legal work is secondary to attracting and keeping paying clients. If you just want to practice law, your best bet is to join a larger practice that already has established business development channels.

However, working for yourself has its advantages and the good news is that anyone can learn rainmaking skills if they are willing to put in some time and effort. Here are the key steps to building your own successful practice.

Part 1: Create Your Law Marketing Strategy

Your marketing strategy involves thinking about the principles of supply and demand. Supply includes all the legal services you could provide – along with all other attorneys (and other competing options) who provide those services. Demand is how badly people want your services. You might be able to provide several types of legal services, but if no one wants them, you won’t be able to sustain a profitable practice long-term.

Step #1: Choose a niche market. As a one-person shop or a small law firm, it’s best to decide what types of clients you want to work with and which services you will specialize in. What type of legal services do you want clients to associate your firm with? Owning a niche and building a strong reputation as an authority within that specialty area is the first step to positioning yourself as a leader. Clients prefer to work with specialists, not jack-of-all-trades, and will pay more for their services.

Step #2: Identify your ideal clients. To successfully reach new clients, you have to have a good idea of where and how to reach them. Trying to reach “anyone who might need my services” is like putting on a blindfold, having someone spin you around five times, and then trying to pin the tail on the donkey, so-to-speak. Instead, make a list of the types of people or companies who might have an urgent need for your services, can afford them, and are willing to hire you. You can narrow your list by identifying specific traits about each type of client.

• For individuals: Use demographics like age, gender, marital status, education, job title, income level, and so forth.
• For companies: Use characteristics like industry, sales, number of employees, job position, department, and so forth.

In other words, what would make a prospect an attractive candidate to work with? Then, use qualifiers to help you narrow down your pool so you know where to find them.

Step #3: Identify your key differentiators. Before someone will hire you, they will want to know why they should hire you, rather than all other options out there, to solve their problem. What makes you so unique, different or special that they should hand over their hard-earned money to you? In other words, what are your competitive advantages and strengths – what can you do better than most other attorneys? Now, look at your disadvantages and weaknesses – where do you suffer compared to other options? When talking to prospects, emphasize your strengths so prospects understand how you differ from other lawyers.

Part 2: Develop a Credible Marketing Message

Your marketing message essentially explains who your ideal prospects are, what their key problem is, and how you can solve their problems. In Part 1, you identified your ideal prospects. Now, put yourself in their shoes. Why should they hire you?

Step #1: Clearly identify your prospect’s biggest problem. What is the #1 problem you can solve for your prospects? People pay for solutions to their problems, so the bigger and more risky their current problem is, the more they will pay to solve it. How can you prove that your prospect’s problem is serious enough that they should hire you now to solve it? In some cases this is fairly easy (e.g. they’ve been arrested and need a DUI attorney). Other times, it’s up to you to state your case for why this particular problem is urgent and what might happen if they don’t take action now (e.g. They overpay taxes; or are sued because they fail to comply with a new government law; or lose money because of a contract loophole). People are more likely to take action to avoid pain – so focus on what pain their problem is causing.

Step #2: Prove your solutions work. Prospects are skeptical and want to know that if they hire you, they will receive the best value for their money. “Best value” means different things to different clients – so you have to understand what motivates your ideal clients. Then, explain how your solutions work in a simple, non-legalese manner. Build the case for using your services like you might put together a trial argument. What proof can you offer? For instance, your biography, articles written, references, case studies, and so forth. (Disclaimer: Check with your Bar Association to make sure your marketing materials are compliant with their ethics rules. Some don’t allow testimonials or client comments, or have specific requirements for photos used.)

Part 3: Build an In-House Database

Once you know who you are marketing to and what your marketing message should say, the next step is to start building your in-house marketing database. This will include all contacts you’ve made and will make. It should include:

1. Prospects – Keep track of anyone who contacts you about your services or requests information about you. Include notes about when you last contacted them, what you spoke about, and when to follow up next. You can also make a list of names of prospects who might not have contacted you but you believe would be ideal to work with. Think of how you might meet them (who do you know that knows them?), what their key problems are and what services you can offer that might interest them.
2. Clients – Compile a list of current and past clients. Again, include notes about recent contacts and when to follow up.
3. Referral Sources – Who has referred business to you? While sometimes, these are clients, the best referral sources come from business professionals who also work with your ideal prospects before, during or after they work with you. Think about ways you can motivate these people to send you referrals – what’s in it for them if they refer you business? Consider offering referral fees if your ethics board allows.
4. Professional Contacts – Compile lists of your professional contacts that may be potential referral sources or can help you promote your services. These might be professionals that also work with your ideal clients, or contacts you meet at trade events, college classes, seminars and so forth. Who could you contact to teach a night class or speak at an industry trade show or seminar?
5. Media Contacts – Make a list of journalists from newspapers, magazines and local publications who may be interested in receiving news releases, story ideas, or expert comments from you. Who writes about problems your ideal clients have? What radio, TV or Internet shows could you appear on? Can you offer to write ongoing columns or host your own talk show for any of these channels?

Your marketing program’s success will depend on your ability to add new prospects and active referral partners to this database, and how frequently you follow up with them.

Part 4: Promote Your Legal Services

In the first three steps, we’ve laid the groundwork for a legal marketing plan. In this final step, it’s time to start promoting your services. Here are a few ideas:

Step #1: Create a marketing kit – Put together a package that clearly explains your complete marketing message. Ideally, you will want to pick and choose marketing materials based on your prospect’s concerns and problems, so it’s usually better to have a folder you can assemble rather than trying to cram everything into one brochure. Your marketing kit should include your biography and photo, a list of services, your fee schedule, reprints of articles you’ve published, case studies and testimonials (if allowed), your latest newsletter, frequently asked questions, and anything else that helps you make your case as to why prospects should choose you. You can offer this kit in advertisements, on your website, during in-person visits, or when someone requests more information by phone. Add their contact to your database and always set a date to follow up.

Step #2: Develop a website – The Internet is the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to reach prospects. It allows you to provide a wealth of information to prospects, clients, media contacts, and referral partners at their convenience. Everyone who is interested in your services, referring business, or learning more about you will check out your website, so consider it your virtual office open 24/7.

Step #3: Start a regular newsletter – Create a newsletter that you send at regular intervals (ideally weekly or twice monthly) to keep in touch with prospects, clients, business partners and the media. The more often you stay in touch, the more business you will attract.

Step #4: Develop educational materials – The best way to attract clients is to create and promote educational materials. These can include published articles, blog posts, speaking engagements, recorded seminars and other materials your prospects would find helpful when they are making a purchasing decision. Most advertising is ignored because it adds little value to consumers’ lives. It’s boring, not relevant and self-serving. Rather than add to the plethora of hype-filled, useless content, why not strive to make your promotions so valuable and content-driven that your prospects want to read and keep them?

Step #5: Develop a publicity campaign – Strive to publish featured articles, send press releases, or be interviewed by the media 4-6 times per year. This will help build your credibility and authority while gaining cheap exposure. The more coverage you receive, the more likely you will receive increased referrals, speaking opportunities, and media mentions.

This may seem overwhelming if you are just starting up a law practice, but unfortunately, unless you are coming from a big firm and have long-term clients to take with you, building a sustainable practice takes work and initial hustle to pitch your services. Start small and implement one step of your marketing plan at a time until you have all the pieces in place.

1. Article Writing – As a practicing lawyer, you have specialized expertise that you can share with prospects. Consider writing a regular column for a website, blog, or publication that targets your ideal clients.
2. Create a Law Firm Newsletter – Your in-house contact database is a valuable resource that you should be regularly following up with. When you start publishing content regularly, share it with your prospects and clients.
3. Create Information Products – It’s easy to take all the articles you’ve written and package them into special reports, case studies and white papers that promote your legal services. You can offer these products for free on your website or even sell them to generate income for your law firm.
4. Public Speaking – Look for conferences and seminars that also target your ideal clients and offer to present your material. Public speaking works extremely well for reaching key decision makers if you are small law firm targeting larger business clients.
5. Repackage Your Speaking Content – When you speak, record your presentation on audio or video and you have another information product you can offer on your website.
6. Teach at a Local College – Many colleges offer continuing education classes for business professionals. If you target businesses, consider teaching a course to educate prospects about your specialized practice area.
7. Send Press Releases – For each piece of valuable content you offer, send a press release to local journalists and through online press release services.

Each of these ways can be far more effective than paying for ad space in local publications because you are demonstrating your credibility and expertise through your educational materials. Educating prospects also helps to pre-qualify leads before they contact you for a consultation so you don’t waste time with prospects who aren’t right for your services.

The key to attorney advertising is to define your ideal clients, locate media they read or view, and find creative ways to get in front of them.

1. Target Your Audience – Choose newspapers, websites, and other publications that your target audience is likely to read. If you run Google Adwords, limit your ads to run in the specific cities you practice in. For instance, today, I saw a lawyer ad running nationally when he only practices in California. What a waste of money.
2. Track Your Ads – No matter where you run your ads, you can track their effectiveness by sending people to a landing page on your website or calling a special toll-free number that is specific to this advertising campaign.
3. Run Your Ads Multiple Times – You will get better response if you run your ad multiple times in different issues. You also can save on advertising costs by negotiating special deals on bulk advertising. If an ad is generating responses, keep running it! You don’t need new creative copy or design every time. Chances are, you will get tired of your ad before your prospects will, so go by results, not by personal feeling.
4. Use an Attention-Grabbing Headline – Your headline is the ad for your ad. It grabs your reader’s attention and compels them to read the rest of your advertising copy. As many as 5 times the number of people will read your headline as read your ad, so experiment with wording, benefits and offer in your headlines.
5. Don’t Be Cute or Funny – It’s difficult to use humor well in ads. Stick with benefits – what is the key benefit prospects will receive when they take advantage of your offer?
6. Create a Compelling Offer – Most ads are too short to explain the benefits of hiring you. Instead of pitching your free consultation, sell a less risky next step such as visiting your website to download a free report. Your law firm website and follow up campaign should do the job of selling your services. Your ad’s purpose should be to generate traffic to your website where you capture leads for follow up.
7. Offer Free Information – Provide an incentive for people to take advantage of your offer now. Your prospects have a specific problem they want to solve. Offer them free reports, audio or video content that addresses their top concerns and builds a case for why they should hire you.
8. Include a Call To Action – Always tell people how to take advantage of your offer (visit your website, subscribe to your newsletter, call a toll-free hotline, etc). Don’t assume they will know what the next step is.

By following these 8 lawyer advertising tips, you can increase the response rate of your ads and generate more interest in your legal services.

Joe Smith, Attorney at Law – For help with personal injury, wrongful death, product liability or medical malpractice, call XXX-XXX-XXXX for a free consultation or visit www.mysite.com.

What’s Wrong With This Lawyer Ad?

There are several things wrong with this method of law firm advertising. Before I get into what’s wrong, let me say that yes, I used a personal injury ad but you can just as easily apply this advice to any ad that lists the attorney name, practice areas, and contact information.

1. Too generic – The ad includes a laundry list of practice areas and expects that prospects will be able to figure out what benefits he provides just by reading the ad. There’s no target audience and the ad is all about the lawyer.
2. No differentiating factor – What makes Joe different from other lawyers? Why should someone choose to call him rather than another lawyer? The ad doesn’t give reasons why Joe is a good choice to call.
3. Poor offer – What incentive does someone have to pick up the phone and call? Nothing. Most prospects are hesitant to call a lawyer. They may be embarrassed by their legal situation, feel legal services are overpriced, or believe that lawyers are more motivated by money and “ambulance chasing” than genuinely helping out their clients. Lawyers also tend to use legal jargon that prospects might not understand when explaining what they do. The result – your prospect doesn’t understand how you can help and may feel intimidated.

With law firm advertising, what seems “logical” generally is ineffective at generating leads.

Better Law Firm Advertising in 7 Steps

Before you create your law firm ads, consider this. You are not your target market. Chances are, your target market didn’t go to law school and is clueless about the legal process. They generally only think about calling a lawyer when they are in a legal mess or are extremely mad and want to sue. Here are 7 law firm advertising tips that generate leads.

1. Understand your target audience - What is the main key benefit clients receive when they hire you? Do they save money? Gain peace of mind? Recover damages? Avoid penalties or jail? How do they describe those benefits in their words?
2. Focus on one service - Rather than give a laundry list of practice areas, keep your ads focused on one service you provide. Your ad should have a clear focus and purpose. Don’t confuse prospects by describing everything you do and hoping that they have a need for something.
3. Avoid legal jargon – Your prospects don’t have time to stop and consider what your legal ad means. If your ad sounds like a legal brief or peer-reviewed article, your prospects probably won’t understand what you do or how you can help them. This is true for obscure practice areas as well. You may call your services “product liability” but the average person thinks in terms of “my car seat just injured my kid.”
4. Sell the next step – Your ad should sell the next step in the buying process. When prospects read your ad, they have a number of questions. Is this lawyer credible? Friendly? Knowledgeable about my particular problem? Asking them to call for a free consultation may be too big of a step, so give them an alternative sample of your legal services like a free report or audio program they can download on your website. When you educate them before they contact you, you can pre-qualify leads and help them prepare for an initial meeting.
5. Make the next step easy to take – Give prospects a risk-free way to learn more about you. Educate them with free resources on your website or by calling a toll-free hotline. Use lead-capture forms on your website to give more information in exchange for their contact information. This way, they can learn about how you can help them at their convenience and without the pressure of talking with someone.
6. Have a way to capture leads – Create a contact database for prospects who request your free information so you can follow up. On your website, you can do this with email service providers like Aweber. They will provide you with code to place a subscriber form on your website so you can start capturing leads.
7. Follow up – It can take 7-12 contacts with a prospect before they feel comfortable requesting a consultation. Have a follow up system to educate and keep in touch with prospects over time.

By following these 7 law firm advertising tips, you can dramatically increase the number of leads you generate.

1. Craft an intriguing subject line - Your prospect gets as much, if not more, email as you do. He won’t read every message he receives, so he will judge whether he should read your email by its subject line. Don’t simply put your company name, product or publication title here. Make it interesting – what would get him to open the email?
2. Make the text easy-to-read – Skip the legal jargon and long paragraphs. Instead, write in easy-to-understand English. Write like you speak – as if you were having a conversation with your reader – and break up the text into easy-to-manage sections. Include headers, bullet points and bold text. Use short sentences. And don’t be afraid to break grammar rules. It’s OK to have one-sentence paragraphs.
3. Keep it simple – Don’t focus on making your email newsletter a masterpiece of beauty. Including some graphics is OK, but keep in mind that many email readers don’t download images unless your reader specifically requests it, so they might not see your pictures. This can create weird layout changes and make your newsletter difficult to read if you aren’t careful.
4. 90% Content, 10% Selling – Readers subscribe to your newsletter because they are interested in the subject you write about. If you want to keep their interest over the long term, deliver valuable content in each issue so they will look forward to reading your message. Then, after you have delivered the content, include products and services you want to promote.
5. Include a call to action – Don’t assume your reader knows what you want him to do next. If you want him to click a link to your website, tell him that. If you want him to email you questions, click a buy now button or follow you on Twitter, make that clear. Always make sure you specify what you want readers to do next.

The best law firm newsletters focus on a key problem, frustration or concern your prospect is having. What is he worried about? What frequently asked questions do you hear? What does the media talk about? Those are all fantastic ideas for newsletter content.

Most law firm brochures contain the following elements: lawyer bios, practice area blurbs, plenty of photography, and some basic contact information. The result: a boring brochure no one wants to read.

If the only reaction your brochure is provoking is “Oh, that’s pretty,” it has failed to deliver your marketing message. Rather than create a beautiful brochure that ends up in the trash, use these 3 steps to create a brochure your prospects will read and hold on to.

1. Written content is the #1 priority – For many lawyers, the written content in the brochure is the last thing they think about. Before they even think about content, they are picking out the right pictures and asking designers for a mock-up of the layout. This is backwards. The marketing message and brochure contents should always come first. Everything else supplements and enhances the written content. If your brochure doesn’t communicate why prospects should hire your firm over every other law firm, it has failed. Nothing else matters.
2. Craft a compelling marketing message – If you want prospects to read your brochure, start with a compelling marketing message. The entire brochure should introduce, explain, prove, and reinforce that marketing message. This is more than providing bits and pieces about your firm’s history, philosophy, attorneys and practice areas. It’s about focusing on a key problem prospects are having, identifying the problem, proving that problem exists, offering ways to solve the problem, and demonstrating that your services are the best way to solve that problem.
3. Provide proof – The goal of your law firm brochure should be to get prospects to hire your law firm rather than going with another attorney. If your brochure doesn’t tell him why he should hire you, it’s just a waste of money. Proof means showing your prospects who you have worked with, what results you have gotten, and why you are best qualified to help your prospect solve his problem.

Anyone can create a professional-looking law firm brochure, but only a small fraction of those people can write a compelling sales brochure that clearly explains why prospects should hire you over everyone else. Don’t judge a brochure based on how beautiful you think it is. Base your opinion on how well it makes its case. If you were presenting this story to a jury, would you convince them? Or are you lacking evidence so that you are only telling bits and pieces of your firm’s story?

Your law firm brochure should be a written argument for why someone should hire your firm as clearly, concisely and coherently as possible.

A good contact database allows you to add new clients quickly and send mailings based on segmentation. For instance, you should be able to filter your list for prospects who haven’t yet become clients in the last three months so you can send mailings and marketing promotions to them. You will want to send a different marketing campaign to each type of contact.

There are essentially five steps to creating a contact strategy you can use to market your services to the people who matter most to your business. These include:

1. Decide which software to use. There are numerous software vendors out there, so find one you like such as Sage ACT! but if you are more comfortable using Microsoft Outlook or Excel – use that. The best software is one you will use.
2. Add your contacts. Go through your list of contacts, your stacks of business cards, your emails, and so forth to pull together all your business contacts. When you are finished, you should have several types of contacts: current clients, past clients, prospects, current referral partners, past referral partners, prospective referral partners, and media contacts. You will want to note which contacts have given you permission to follow up. Don’t send out a mass email newsletter to all your contacts if they haven’t requested to join your mailing list – that’s spam!
3. Follow up with contacts. If this is the first time you’ve put together your database, now is a good time to start reaching out to people one-by-one and reconnecting. Start with your past clients as well as current and past referral partners since they should be less intimidating than prospects or media contacts. Try to set up in-person meetings such as coffee, lunch, or golf so you can rebuild relationships. Then, you can casually ask them if they mind being added to your mailing list so you can keep them up-to-date on the latest happenings in your industry.
4. Create your prospecting strategy. Look over your list of potential clients. Which leads are the warmest? How will you follow up with them? If you are targeting consumers and generate leads consistently, you might put together a generic follow up sequence you send out to all leads. If you are targeting large corporations, your follow up strategy will need to be tailored to each prospect. Study the corporation and look for opportunities to get your foot in the door.
5. Create your referral partner acquisition strategy. How can you make contact with potential referral partners? Do you know them personally? Do you know someone who can give you an introduction? What can you offer them that will motivate them to send referrals your way?

Now, start working your database. Make sure to note when you contact each person, what was said, and when you will follow up next.

Creating an Engaging Presentation

Delivering an engaging presentation requires having a compelling marketing message. What do you want to educate the audience about or persuade them to do?

All good presentations start with identifying a key problem your prospect is having – or might not even know he has. What issue should he be aware of? How can he know this problem exists in his business or life? What evidence should he look for? If possible give examples or tell stories about others who have had this problem and what happened to them. Your prospect must feel the problem is an urgent matter he must solve right away if he is going to move forward and hire you.

Next, offer different types of solutions. What could your prospect do to solve his problem? How have you helped your clients solve these problems? What were the results? Give as much proof as you can that your solution works. How did you eliminate your prospect’s pain or save them time, hassle, or money?

Finally, don’t forget to end with a brief explanation of your services and how you would be happy to talk with your prospect if he or she wants to discuss their problem further. You might consider offering a free or discount initial consultation to anyone who mentions listening to your CD.

Should You Sell It or Give It Away?

It depends on how popular your subject matter is and how many CDs you hope to distribute. You will reach many more people if you give away your content than if you sell your information. If you have several seminars, consider giving away one or two “beginner” sessions for free and selling the more advanced series.

By offering audio and video content, you can put your law firm marketing message out into places where prospects wouldn’t normally expect to find you. You can also impress people by demonstrating your speaking ability and authority on the subject matter so they begin to know, like and trust you before you talk with them.

Why Audio and Video?

1. Many prospects don’t like to read. Most people prefer to listen to audio or watch content rather than reading. Reading takes time and requires your full attention. Audio and video are somewhat more passive. You can listen to an audio CD while driving to work or download your MP3 to listen to at the gym. They can play a short YouTube video at their leisure or pop in a DVD during a business flight.
2. It’s more personal. When prospects here you talk, they get a sense for who you are personally. It’s like talking with you on the phone or meeting you in person.
3. You control the presentation. People tend to skip around when they read but when you present an audio or video format, you can control when and how you present information.
4. It’s inexpensive. CD or DVD duplication is only about $1-3 each depending on the quantity you order. Many companies will even provide print-on-demand solutions so you can order very small quantities at a time. Amazon’s Createspace will help you produce and sell your CDs and DVDs online if you prefer.
5. Very little technical experience needed. Want to produce audio? You just need a microphone and some cheap recording software for your computer. If that sounds too complicated, check out AudioAcrobat, where you can call a phone number, record your talk, and publish it to your website very easily. For videos, you can use software like Camtasia Studio to record your PowerPoint presentations as video.

Producing audio and video content can help set you apart from other lawyers who don’t do much public speaking. People view speakers as authority figures, so with each talk, you build credibility and trust.

1. Have a compelling marketing message – Make your marketing message simple and jargon-free so that a fifth grader could understand it. Don’t assume people understand legal vocabulary or need a complex explanation. They don’t have the time or attention span to decipher what you say. They are overwhelmed with information and filter out anything that might seem irrelevant to them or overly complicated.
2. Promote your knowledge and expertise – Provide education-based marketing materials that demonstrate your extensive experience and knowledge working with clients just like them. This positions you as a trusted advisor rather than a salesman who is pitching his services for a quick buck. Services are commodities that plenty of other lawyers provide. Only you have your specific knowledge, expertise and experience which is what makes you unique.
3. Specialize in a niche practice area – Which areas of law can you be the best at? Which do you enjoy? Which do you already have an extensive client base? Those are the areas you should cultivate and specialize in. This way, you can establish yourself as an authority rather than a jack-of-all-trades.
4. Explain your uniqueness – Prospects don’t hire you because you are just like all the other lawyers out there. They hire you because you are different. What is it that makes you unique, different, or special? What are your strengths? Maybe you are more experienced, more skilled, friendlier, or something else that matters to your prospects. Identify those points of differentiation and emphasize them in your marketing materials.
5. Answer objections before they come up – What questions do prospects usually ask you? Write them down and answer them in your marketing materials. By providing complete answers in writing, you will save yourself time by not having to repeat yourself when you meet with prospects. You will also make prospects feel more comfortable about working with you because they have more information.
6. Provide educational materials – Most law firms rely on a glossy practice brochure that talks about the history of the firm, their philosophy and their main practice areas. Most times, these brochures end up in the trash. Why? Because they are boring. Prospects want to read about themselves and their problems, not the hundred year history of your firm. What can you do for them? Educate them by providing free (or low cost) booklets, newsletters, or seminars that dig deeper into their problems and offer potential solutions.

By using education-based marketing materials to inform prospects of the value of your services, the problems you solve and potential solutions you recommend, you can weed out low-value inquiries from genuine prospects. Your marketing materials should help you attract the right clients, and that means weeding out genuine prospects from those who aren’t serious.