Legal Marketing & PR

Get Back To Basics: Throw Out That Technology

By Tom Kane

Those lawyers who are serious about marketing and business development need to throw away their iPhone and stop with that social media stuff, and get back to basics.

Okay, now that I have your attention, and before you 'Baker Act' me (here in Florida people suspected of having mental problems can be incarcerated by the courts for up to 72 hours for a mental examination based on the recommendation of certain officials. And, I ain't saying which officials. So, forget it.)

But, I digress.

The fact is that Renee Berman, a Connecticut sole practitioner, makes a pretty good case in an article on Law.com's Small Firm Business for returning to the days of yesteryear for marketing your practice. As she puts it:

'The goal of marketing is to keep yourself and your business in the forefront of the minds of potential clients and peers so that they think of you and only you when they need an attorney to retain or refer a matter…'

She goes on to point out:

'Technology has weakened the building and maintaining of relationships. Face-to-face meetings, phone calls and handwritten notes are slowly fading, and the quickest (and unknowingly least effective) approach is becoming the norm. Making eye contact while you explain to your client the consequences of his conduct is always more effective than an e-mail where tone cannot be determined and often is misinterpreted. Likewise, when you communicate solely through your keypad, important relationships wane and you fail to make new connections -- not just contacts, but rather lasting connections.'

So there you have it. Step back from all this modern technology and methods, so you can market your practice the old fashion way with face-to-face contact.

Just kidding!

Obviously, Renee and I are not really suggesting that you don't use the modern, technological forms of marketing, BUT don't rely on them to the exclusion of the basic, personal, face-to-face methods of old.

Your practice will benefit from reading her article, and taking the advice to heart.

Full post as published by Legal Marketing Blog on January 28, 2010 (boomark / email).