Page 10 - Phoenix Vol 11 No 4

Top Ten Mar
Lawyers Ma
Avoid Them
BY TERRIE S. WHEELER, MBC
keting Mistakes ke and How to
Iam convinced that every lawyer is well-intentioned when it comes to having a desire to market and grow their practice. I also know the only way to turn good intentions into success is to act. Over the past 25+ years, I have seen lawyers thrive and grow. I have also seen lawyers with good intentions stagnate
into a perpetual state of wheel-spinning. As a result, they get discour- aged and convince themselves if they do good work, clients will nd them. e proverbial easy button, right? Please consider the top mis- takes I see lawyers making, so you can avoid the pain, expense, and frustration of pursuing marketing activities that don’t work.
“I’M TOO BUSY TO MARKET”
ere is an inherent disincentive to follow up with your contacts or write the article you’ve been meaning to write if you are working 12-hour days. Remember that if you wait until you have time to market, it will likely be too late. Marketing is something you must weave through the fabric of your practice. Avoid this mindset by doing one small thing every day to build your practice. Update your bio, check LinkedIn, outline a blog, send an email to a contact to plan lunch. Just one thing. Every day. It works!
NOT NETWORKING CONSISTENT- LY
It’s easy when you have a brief lull in your workload to dive back into networking activities – full throttle. Maybe you can make up for lost time? Probably not. Always remember, the best networking is done consistently over time. Pick one association (not ve) that attracts clients or referral sources within which you want to in- crease your name recognition. Identi- fy your top 10 list of prospective refer- ral sources and contacts and reach out to one person per week. In order to succeed in networking, it’s more im- portant to be consistent on a smaller scale, than to conquer the world.
FOLLOW UP ... OR LACK THEREOF
For some reason, even deadline- driven lawyers with iron-clad tickler systems can struggle with a lack of follow up. If you meet someone when you’re networking and o er your as- sistance in any way, even if it’s a refer- ral to a lawn care company, or (espe- cially in Minnesota) a snow plowing service, make good on your o er. e moment you are back in your o ce, follow up on anything you said you would do, send or email to your con- tact.
AVOIDING SOCIAL MEDIA
Sometimes it’s easier to avoid some- thing you don’t know a lot about. So- cial media is here now and will be here in 10 years. As you may know, social media can be time consuming, but only if you let it be. Pick a site and visit it a few times per week. LinkedIn is a logical choice and should include only people in your real network. Comment on others’ posts, and if you are so inspired, write your own post on something you are interested in, or is happening in the news. Make your posts timely, relevant, and personal to your views.
BEING A LATE ADOPTER
Lawyers by nature seem to take
a “wait and see” attitude on many things. ey want to see how other rms their size are utilizing any giv- en service before taking the plunge themselves. ink about the top chal- lenges you have in running your law practice ... the things that are a ect- ing your ability to deliver services to your clients. Ask your friends what systems or services they use. Do a little research, and make the decisions early that will help you maintain and grow your client base.
MANAGING CONTACTS
I’ve seen it many times. You have lunch with a great prospective refer- ral source who promises to send all their clients to you. You do a publicly acceptable happy dance back to your o ce and are met with 100 emails and people who need you for just a minute. A er a couple of weeks, and no work owing in from your great contact, the lunch becomes a distant memory. ey didn’t change their mind – I promise you! ey are likely as busy as you are. You must take the lead in managing the contacts with whom you engage. At the end of ev- ery great lunch or co ee, agree on ac- tion items and next steps with your contact. Add these deadlines to your calendar as you would legal deadlines
ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · PHOENIX· VOL. 11 NO. 4 10