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If you’re a solo or practice in a law firm with fewer than 4 lawyers, it’s tempting to read advice on marketing your law firm through the veil of one without deep pockets or huge swaths of free time.
Big law firms have money to hire legal marketing consultants, public relations agencies, and the like. They can shell out the big bucks for the big guns, and trade time for money. They’ve got the advantage over the solos and small firms.
You’ve got payroll to meet, shallow pockets, and a ticking clock on the desk. Bill or die, right?
You may not realize it, but you have the same goals as the big firms. But you’ve got two major benefits – the personal touch and agility.
Big firms need to communicate their institutional vision to third party experts and hope that they can spin it into stories that match the true personality of the lawyers and staff.
Not you. You get to tell your story directly, without the filter of a copywriter or advance guard. If you’re doing it right then you’re out there, warts and all.
Those warts are what make you real. Approachable. A human being who connects with his or her audience.
In the end, your goal is to connect with your audience in a real way. You want to establish rapport with people and businesses that need what you’ve got to offer. Whether you do it with social media, blogging (which is part of social media, but I classify it separately), networking events, or just meeting friends for coffee and getting to know new people doesn’t matter.
If you get it right that’s great. But you can shift gears on a dime, move in a new direction without too much trouble, and explore new opportunities.
Can a big firm accomplish these goals with a legal marketing consultant and shock troops? Sure, but it’s more difficult because it is not the lawyer crafting the message so much as it is the marketer taking clay and molding it into something public-ready. If they don’t get it 100% right then it’s back to the drawing board – time spent planning the next great campaign while the clock continues to tick.
Photo courtesy of Tara Hunt (via Flickr). By the way, you should buy her book, The Whuffie Factor.
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Small companies have always had more flexibility and more room for creativity than larger companies, but I think that the internet has really allowed small companies to have equal, or even better, footing than bigger companies. Previously, no matter how creative and innovative you were, it was nearly impossible to market your products and services without also having a great deal of money. Now, though, small companies and firms are able to use their creativity and flexibility online to find free or very cheap methods of getting their message to their target audience.
All in all, it's a great time to be a solo or small firm.
Small companies have always had more flexibility and more room for creativity than larger companies, but I think that the internet has really allowed small companies to have equal, or even better, footing than bigger companies. Previously, no matter how creative and innovative you were, it was nearly impossible to market your products and services without also having a great deal of money. Now, though, small companies and firms are able to use their creativity and flexibility online to find free or very cheap methods of getting their message to their target audience.
All in all, it's a great time to be a solo or small firm.