Many lawyers don’t hit their marketing goals because they don’t set the right ones. They decide how many new cases or clients they want to bring in for the month, and how much they’d like to bill (and collect), and these are important, but they’re not enough. 

They also need goals that, if achieved, help them hit their goals for new clients and revenue.  

They need to know how many prospective clients they need to meet with or speak to, for example, in order to sign up a new client. They need to know many leads or inquiries they need to receive, how many viewers of their videos or listeners to their podcasts, how many eyeballs on their ads, or how many attendees at their presentations. 

Those kind of goals. 

How about you? To reach your goals each month, how many new sign-ups for your newsletter or new followers on social do you need in order to generate enough inquiries, leads, or appointments?

But it’s not just raw numbers. You also need qualitative goals. 

Getting 1,000 people to watch your videos, for example, is meaningless if they aren’t the right people. 

You’re wasting your time engaging with people who don’t need your services, or don’t need them often enough, or don’t have the money to hire you no matter how much or how often they need or want your help. 

For a professional, quality is (usually) more important than quantity.

What do your best prospects look like? What kind of business do they own or manage? Where do they live or work, and what do they sell or do?

You need to answer questions like these so you know where to spend your time and money.

Rather than being seen by many people who may or may not be interested in what you do, you want to become well known to people who are very much interested in, and even looking for the kinds of services and solutions you offer. 

Identify your best prospects and invest in communicating with them (and their advisors). If you do that, you won’t need huge numbers in order to hit your goals. 

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Having no competition would be great, wouldn’t it, but it’s not possible, is it?

Actually, it is. But you may not be willing to do what you have to do to achieve it. 

Because it’s not easy.  

It would mean doing things and saying things most attorneys don’t do or say. It would mean being different from other attorneys or firms in your market and building your reputation on those differences. 

When you do that, you attract clients who come looking for you, hire you, pay what you ask, and tell others about you. 

Because you’re the only lawyer who does what you do. 

You’re different and offer more value than what other lawyers offer. You’re not average; you’re better. 

And everyone is talking about you.

Yes, but what can you do that’s different? What can you offer that nobody else offers?

What value can you deliver that is both unique and desirable?

You might offer flat fees when everyone else charges by the hour. You might promise to deliver your work product in half the time as any other firm. You might offer a satisfaction guarantee. 

Maybe you could partner with other professionals or businesses and offer a “one-stop shopping” solution. Or a service that’s far more comprehensive that anything else in your market. 

Think. What do clients want? What can you give them that is better than anything else available? 

Imagine overhearing people talking about you. What would like them to say about you?  

“He’s the only attorney who (fill in the blank)”. “They are the only firm that (fill in the blank).” 

What could they say that would have maximum impact and make a comparison with other lawyers impossible? 

That’s your challenge. It’s not easy. But it is the solution to eliminating competition and dramatically increasing your income.  

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At its core, marketing your services is simple. You don’t need to follow a checklist with 27 steps or account for a multitude of elements. You just need to do 3 things. 

First, you need to get the attention of the right people. That means identifying and appealing to the self-interest of people who need or want something you can give them. 

Target people with a legal problem you can solve or a desire you can fulfill. 

Second, you need to stimulate them to take action. That means motivating them to call or click, read something or do something, by telling them the benefits for doing that—what they will get or avoid, how they will be better off—and not leaving this up to them to figure out. 

Tell them what to do and why they should do it. 

The third step is to get them to take that action immediately. Now, while their need or desire and interest are highest. 

You don’t want them to hear another attorney’s message or become distracted by their phone or an appointment. You want them to take action now, not later, because (you must assume), later will never come.

And that’s it. 3 steps. Attention, benefit, urgency. 

But as simple as this is, many attorneys’ marketing messages miss one or more of these elements. They don’t tell prospective clients what to do, don’t motivate them to do it, and/or don’t provide enough urgency to do it immediately. 

And it cost them a fortune. 

But not you. Because you know what to do, and why, and because it is simple, you won’t forget to do it.