My father was an attorney and before he went into private practice, he worked in-house for a mid-sized company. Every summer, the company sponsored a picnic for employees and their families, customers, and business contacts. They grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, put out big piles of chips, soda, apple and cherry pie, ice cream, and more.
They had games and contests and drawings with cool prizes. It was a day filled with fellowship and fun.
I know, I was there.
Everyone looked forward to the picnic each year and told friends about it. It was a way to promote culture in the company, and an effective form of marketing.
Marketing? You bet your sweet bippy. (Bonus points if you know where that (fun) phrase comes from).
The point is, marketing doesn’t have to be dull. It can be fun. And when it’s fun, people look forward to it and talk about it and feel a part of something bigger (and better) than what everyone else is doing.
Which is why I encourage you to put some fun into your marketing.
It doesn’t have to be a picnic. Challenge another firm to a baseball game, do a movie night or bowling night, or do a “bring your pet to work” day.
Something different, something that puts a smile on people’s faces, even if they just hear about it but don’t participate.
If you’re too small to sponsor a picnic, or not inclined to do that on your own, you can pair up with another law firm or an accountant or broker or advisor.
They need to have fun, too.
The point is, most people think of attorneys as boring, and let’s be honest, we are (and that’s okay), but we don’t live in pin stripes and enjoy having fun, and so do our clients and the people they can refer.
You can have fun online, too. Probably not as much fun as a picnic or baseball game, but conducting a drawing or contest, posting a quote of the week or photos of your team wearing silly costumes for Halloween are easy to put together.
And fun.
Most lawyer marketing isn’t creative. It isn’t fun. Boring and professional (safe) might be de riguer for us, but there’s nothing wrong with breaking the mold, at least occasionally, and showing people the lighter side of our very serious image.
Want to know know something else that’s fun? Sharing some of our creativity with our clients and contacts, letting them share it with their clients and contacts, and thus do some of our marketing for us.
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