Legal Marketing & PR

When is it time to bring in a law firm marketing expert?

By Larry Bodine, Esq.

Attention do-it-yourselfers: Why did you go to law school? To be a marketer or to practice law?  I found this great post on the Grow My Law Firm blog:

"Why should I pay somebody to do my law firm’s marketing when I can just do myself?" Well, that’s a good question; and only you can decide:

• Can you make more money practicing law than doing marketing?
• Do you enjoy practicing law more than marketing?
• Is your expertise in marketing or law?
• What is the most efficient use of your time?
• What daily activities bring the biggest payoff? Legal work or marketing planning and execution?
• Are you willing to commit a significant amount of time to keeping abreast of contemporary marketing techniques, tactics and their application strategies?

Without the guidance of a legal marketing professional, do-it-yourself marketing is akin to the people that you shake your head about who have undertaken do-it-yourself legal work. They probably researched online, maybe bought some software, and they feel confident that they’re protecting themselves. But you know better.

Such is most do-it-yourself lawyer marketing. A successful marketing strategy starts with determining your niche and the differentiators that make you unique in your market. It then flows into developing graphics that appeal to the prospects targeted in your positioning work, including the differentiators that your prospects find valuable, and their structured and consistent use in all marketing messages. This is highly specialized work that requires the significant knowledge and discipline acquired by someone who has concentrated their career on it.

Successful marketing is an investment in your practice, not a cost, because it comes back to you in new business. If business is down, and you’ve been handling your own marketing, there is a good chance that your legal practice could greatly benefit from the focus provided by the right professional marketing assistance.

by: Christine Pilch

Full post as published by Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog on September 24, 2008 (boomark / email).