Just about every lawyer in private practice wants the benefits of marketing—more clients, better cases, enough cash flow to hire competent talent (or outsource) so they don’t have to do everything themself. They all want the benefits of marketing, but don’t always like “doing” marketing. 

They have to force themself to do the activities, or they don’t do them at all. 

But some lawyers love doing those activities and don’t have to force themselves to do anything. They’re good at them and do them easily. Some lawyers enjoy marketing more than doing the actual legal work. 

If you’re not in that group, I have some good news. You don’t have to love marketing to build a successful practice. 

You can hire people to do (most) of it for you. You can partner with a rainmaker. You can hire an ad agency and write checks. 

Or, you can do what many lawyers do (and I recommend)–you can find one or two marketing strategies you enjoy, or at least don’t hate, and just do those. And yes, you can build a successful practice that way.

Notice I didn’t say you need to love those strategies. You don’t. Any more than you need to love all of your clients. 

You may love referrals but hate social media marketing. Stick with referral marketing.

You may enjoy writing articles and blog posts, but hate networking. Guess what? Don’t do networking. 

You may be a talented speaker but can’t find enough events in your niche or target market. Perhaps speaking will be something you do when the opportunity arises, but you’ll choose something else as your primary strategy. 

But don’t decide too quickly. You may say no to one strategy, not because you hate it, but because you’re not good at it. 

You can get better. 

Take a course. Even a no-credit CLE class might teach you a thing or two. 

Read business and marketing books written for businesses, not lawyers, and adapt. 

Hang out with rainmakers. Lawyers, yes, but do you know any successful accountants, investment advisors, insurance reps, or service business owners? Buy them lunch and pick their brain. Go with them to their events. Do what they do, watch and learn. 

You also might get better at marketing by doing what you’ve already done (badly, even) but doing it in a different niche—better suited to your abilities and personality. Marketing is easier and, therefore, more successful, when your clients like you and you like them. 

Keep trying. Have another go at something you didn’t like before, but this time, look for the rainbow: learn something new this time that might work better if you do it again. Meet new contacts. Or learn some ideas you “never thought about before”. 

Try a lot of things, give them a fair run, track your numbers and your time, and you’ll know what works and what doesn’t.  

And, let’s be honest, if you’re hungry and determined to make something work, you will. 

Because it has to. 

That’s how I got started marketing. I was terrible at everything I tried. But I was going broke and had to make something work. So I kept at it. 

Mission accomplished. 

I’m not promising you’ll fall in love with marketing, or even one or two strategies. You might not. 

But you might fall in love with what marketing can do and that, my friend, could be all you need.

In marketing, there are two types of clients a lawyer can target: 

1. Those who are satisfied with their current lawyer or firm, or don’t have a lawyer and don’t think they need one, and  
2. Those who are unhappy with their current lawyer, or don’t have one and know they should.

The second type has a problem you can solve. They want to hear what you can do to help them.

Ignore the first type. They aren’t interested. They have a lawyer they like and trust and are unlikely to switch to you, no matter how much “better” you are. Or they are okay with not having an attorney and aren’t interested in finding out what could happen without one. 

The first type is comfortable. The second is in pain. 

Always go for the pain. 

Target clients who know they have a problem and want to do something about it.

Pain doesn’t mean injury or damages, necessarily. It could also be a felt need. The estate planning client knows they are risking problems or expenses for their family if they don’t take steps to prepare for the future.

Target prospective clients who are unhappy with their current situation. They are motivated. Open to change.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t educate your market about what you do and how you can help them, or why you are the better option. Some of them will want to know more.

Be there when they want to know more, but don’t focus on them. 

Spend most of your time (and dollars) getting in front of people who are unhappy.

It’s difficult to carve out hours at a time for marketing. The good news is that you can accomplish a lot with just 15 minutes a day.

Between appointments, during lunch, at the end of the day, while you’re driving—snatch’s of time that even the busiest of practitioners can muster. 

The trick is to make a list of these activities, in advance, so you can do them whenever you find yourself with a few minutes. Or better yet, schedule regular 15-minute marketing “appointments” with yourself on your calendar.

What could you do in 15 minutes? You could: 

• Call a client or two “off the clock” and say hello. (Yes, that’s marketing). 
• Email five referral sources/business contacts to (a) say hello, ask how they’re doing, or, (b) share some information about their industry or market, or (c) follow up with them after an event or meeting. 
• Edit/update a page on your website or your social media profiles.
• Add or invite five or ten people to connect with you on social media.  
• Review three of your social media contact’s updates and praise them, ask a question, or share some information with them.
• Brainstorm ideas for your next blog post or newsletter. Or outline or write your next blog post or newsletter.
• Read my blog or other legal or business marketing blogs to find marketing ideas. 
• Read your clients’ industry or local market publications to find articles, news, or ideas to share with them. 
• Work on your WIP: article, book chapter, seminar outline, follow-up emails to your lists.
• Explore potential new business contacts, add them to your list (and contact them later).
• Invite (someone) to coffee or lunch.
• Write and mail a thank you note.
• Look at postings by writers, artists, consultants, or others to whom you might outsource some (marketing) tasks.
• Update/improve the forms and checklists you use for marketing and management.
• Ask ai to suggest keywords for your website or headlines for your articles or posts.
• Read a few pages of a book about networking, blogging, writing, speaking, or practice management.
• Practice your speech or what to say when people ask, “What do you do?”

You could also break up that big marketing project you’ve been putting off into 15-minute segments. 

The key? Do something every day.

Not only will the time add up over the days and weeks, you will train your brain to think about marketing while you’re doing other things, and your subconscious mind will provide you with more ideas than you ever thought possible. 

Have you ever found marketing overwhelming? You don’t know what to do, what to change, and what else you add to improve your results? 

Of course you have. 

One way to sort things out is to put your marketing on a diet. Specifically, an “elimination diet”. 

In the dietary world, an elimination diet is “a short-term eating plan that removes certain foods that may cause allergies or digestive reactions, then introduces them one at a time to determine which foods are well-tolerated and which are not.” 

With your practice, you stop some or all (elimination) of your marketing, add things back one at a time, and measure your results. 

What’s working? How much time does each strategy take? What are your expenses and your return on investment? 

And which strategies feel right and come naturally to you, compared with others that you have to force yourself to do? 

You may find that some things you’ve been doing are too expensive (e.g., certain ads) or time consuming (e.g., networking). You may find that some things work better than you thought and you should expand them, or realize that adding more follow-ups or changing the order of the follow-up messages might improve results.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking you don’t want to stop doing things that are working, and that’s fine. Keep them and eliminate the things that aren’t. 

Or, the things you don’t like or aren’t good at.  

If you eliminate something and have second thoughts, or find you have more time to implement them, you can always re-start them. 

This process gets you thinking about what you’re doing instead of working on autopilot and allows you to make better decisions.

Which leads to better results. 

When I opened my practice, I looked at my skill set and experience, choose services to offer, and went looking for clients who needed those services. 

That’s how most lawyers (and businesses) do it. It’s also why they struggle. 

It’s much easier and more effective to do things in reverse. 

What I should have done (and eventually did) is to first choose the clients and market I wanted to serve, and only then choose services to offer them. It’s more efficient that way and much more likely to be successful. 

For one thing, you don’t have to hold yourself out to “everyone” and let “everyone” decide if what you do is right for them. Knowing what types of clients and markets you want to work with, you can (and should) tailor your marketing to the specific needs and wants of those clients and markets. 

Do you want to work with small businesses and professionals, big businesses, or consumers? Which industry, market, or niche? 

Do you want to work with clients who want premium service and will pay more to get it, or clients who want low cost, no frills services?

Do you want to work with clients who have lots of legal needs or clients with fewer but bigger matters? 

Figure this out first and then figure out what to offer them and how to package and promote it. 

You’ll have a lot less marketing overhead, a lot less competition, and a much higher “closing” ratio. You’ll also attract more word-of-mouth and referrals and build a much more lucrative practice. 

Use your existing “best” clients and markets and create a profile. Based on that, create content for your website, blog, or social channels, and marketing documents and offers, with examples, stories, and industry-specific language that will resonate with the people in that market.  

You’ll attract clients that are a good fit for you, and “weed out” clients who aren’t.  

You’ll also attract more referral sources and opportunities (speaking, networking, writing, joint ventures) who see you as a good fit for them and/or their clients. 

Market in reverse. Life will be good.

How to choose your ideal client and target market