As you probably know, when I started my practice, I took any legal work I could get. I did divorces for two or three hundred dollars. I consulted with pro pers for $75. I took personal injury cases that settled for $750.

Good times.

I did what I had to do because (a) I needed the money; (b) these clients couldn’t afford to pay more; and (c) I often had little or no experience with a particular matter and taking it forced me to learn.

I’d spend hours in the law library. I sought the advice of other lawyers who pointed me in the right direction. I spent hours drafting and revising simple documents, (on legal pads and typewriters) learning how to do them right.

I also did some work for other lawyers. One time, I was hired to write a motion. I got to the lawyer’s office late in the afternoon. He let me use his library and stay late to finish and told me to lock up when I was done. Good thing he did because I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.

When I finished, the sun was coming up. I must have worked ten hours on that motion (ten hours!) but I only billed him for two because, well, ten hours! (He was happy with the work, btw.)

The point is that when I was new, I was paid to learn how to practice law. So if you’re new or entering a new practice area, don’t worry about how much (or how little) you’re being paid.

There’s a marketing lesson in this, too.

Sometimes, it pays (long term) to do work for certain clients at a discount or even free. That’s right, I said it. I said the “F” word. F-f-f-ree. As in no charge. Let them see what you can do and when they fall in love with you and want to hire you again, full price, baby!

If there’s a big client you’d love to work with, make them an offer they can’t refuse. If you do unlawful detainers or collection work, for example, you might pitch a prospective client with “first case is free”. If you do estate planning, you might offer a simple Will package at a steep discount.

Get your foot in the door, win them over, and one day you’ll be telling the story about how you took over your market.

Marketing is simple when you know The Formula

If you want to quickly get new clients, here are three marketing methods you should consider.

(1) Advertising

An effective ad program can put your offer in front of a lot of prospective clients literally overnight.

If you’re not permitted to advertise your services, or you don’t want to, consider advertising your book or report or other information product.

You can sell that information or give it away, and each person who buys or downloads it will learn what you do and how you can help them. They also get added to your list so you can stay in touch with them, leading to more clients over time.

(2) Referrals

One of the best ways to build a law practice is through referrals from clients and professional contacts. For most attorneys, referrals happen when they happen. With a little effort, however, you can make them happen.

One reason people don’t give you referrals is that they don’t think about it. You’ll get more referrals if you contact them regularly and remind them how you can help their friends, clients, and colleagues.

One of the best ways to do that is to create a written document that describes your ideal client and explains the best and easiest ways to make a referral. My two courses, Maximum Referrals and Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals show you how.

(3) Joint ventures/strategic alliances

Another way to quickly bring in business is to align yourself with people with a list of clients or contacts who might need your services.

Professionals with a similar target market to your own can promote your webinar to their list, for example, in return for you doing the same for theirs. You can write guest posts for each other’s blogs or newsletters. You can promote each other as speakers at your respective networking events.

Advertising, referrals, and joint ventures give you access to other people’s lists, listeners, readers, or contacts. You can quickly get new clients by leveraging their relationships and getting your name and message in front of a large number of prospective clients.

Quickly get new clients through referrals

Okay class, as you know, we’re having an essay exam today so take out a sheet of notebook paper and a pencil and write today’s date and your name in the upper right corner.

At the top of the page, write, “The best time for marketing”. That’s the subject for the exam. You have 30 minutes to write your essay. Are there any questions? Okay. Ready? Begin.

[Teacher: reading magazines, making shopping list, checking students to see who’s cheating. . .]

Time’s up. Pencils down. Please pass your paper to the front.

Okay, we have a few minutes left until next period so does anyone want to share a few thoughts about the subject of the exam? Yes, David?

[David]: Most people will say that marketing should be done all the time, that is, every day, and while that’s true, the question is about the BEST time for marketing. In my essay, I said that the best time is when things are going well in your business, when you are busy and really don’t need new clients or customers.

The reason is that there will come a time when business will drop off and that’s the worst time to ramp up your marketing because you’re under pressure to make payroll and you don’t have time to do the kinds of marketing that are likely to have a big, long-term payoff. It’s harder to say no to lower-quality clients when your rent is overdue.

Also, when you’re busy, the marketing you do is often more effective. Success breeds more success. When your phone is ringing and you’re constantly signing up new clients, you’re excited and confident, and those qualities attract even more clients.

Nobody wants to hire someone who is desperate, they want to hire someone who exudes success. When you’re busy, there’s a positive vibe in your office and clients pick up on it, signing up more quickly and with less resistance. That vibe also leads to more positive word-of-mouth and referrals.

When you’re busy, you have the resources to try out new marketing ideas. If they don’t work, you can absorb the loss. If they do work, you have some new arrows in your marketing quiver.

The bottom line is that when you need clients, you’re playing catch up and marketing is more difficult and less effective. When you’re busy, marketing is easier and you get better results.

So yeah, the best time for marketing is when you don’t need it, just like the best time for exercise is when you’re healthy and in shape.

[Teacher]: Uh. . . thank you David. Class dismissed.

Get on board the attorney marketing train