Developing a Marketing Plan for Your Solo or Small Firm, 0717 COBJ, Vol. 46 No. 7 Pg. 8

AuthorK. WILLIAM GIBSON, J.

46 Colo.Law. 8

Developing a Marketing Plan for Your Solo or Small Firm

Vol. 46, No. 7 [Page 8]

The Colorado Lawyer

July, 2017

LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

K. WILLIAM GIBSON, J.

Marketing your solo or small firm practice involves time and money, whether you practice family law, bankruptcy, small business, personal injury, or some other area of the law. Many lawyers are tempted to start throwing a lot of time and money at their marketing efforts without much thought. A more effective approach is to thoroughly research your needs and options and come up with a plan before spending any money.

Before discussing how to create a marketing plan, I need to explain why marketing and sales are critical to your success. Just as every business has competitors who are trying to sell their goods and services in the same market, every lawyer has competitors who are vying for the same clients. You can have the best marketing plan and an unlimited budget, but if you do not fully appreciate the importance of actually selling yourself, you will not be successful.

How People Choose a Lawyer

Understanding how people find and choose a lawyer is key to developing a successful marketing plan. Fifteen years ago, when I was a heavy Yellow Pages advertiser, the sales representative presented data showing that the phone book was the way that people selected personal injury lawyers. My partner and I spent a lot of money to secure a prominent position in the book. After I had quit advertising, however, I looked back on the 10 largest settlements and verdicts I had helped my clients obtain and found that every one of the clients had come to me from a personal referral from a friend, family member, or former client. None had come from the Yellow Pages or another form of paid advertising.

The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services released a survey in 2011 that seems to support my empirical research.1 The survey, conducted by the Harris Interactive research firm, contained the following findings:

■ People with personal legal matters are far more likely to turn to trusted sources instead of impersonal sources to find a lawyer, yet impersonal sources have a substantial and stable place in providing access to legal services.

■ Younger adults are more likely to rely on online searches as the primary way to find a lawyer for a personal legal matter.

■ Innovative online models, such as those that enable an exchange of questions and answers with lawyers and those that provide consumer feedback about lawyers, are most likely to be used to assist in finding a lawyer.

The ABA survey revealed that people in need of a lawyer would do the following: ask a friend, family member, or colleague for a referral (46%); contact a lawyer they know or have used before (34%); look in the Yellow Pages or similar directory (8%); search online (7%).

So what does this survey mean to your marketing plan? It means that you cannot overlook traditional networking and excellent client...

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