What are the most effective forms of legal marketing? We are currently at the tipping point of using technology to market law firms. Law firms are just beginning to use blogs and many are beginning to understand how to use websites effectively for marketing. The key indicator is that companies are starting to list the industries they serve on their websites. In other words, instead of building a website on their credentials, they are targeting their visitors. It’s a classic marketing technique to focus on customers and not what you’re selling.

Until recently, law firm websites were all about themselves. Instead, they should focus on what their visitors want to buy. For example, clients do not see themselves as practice group clients. Instead, they see themselves as members of an industry. Therefore, law firms are doing smart marketing by listing the industries they serve.

Can you give an example?

Sure. Take a look at Torys Law Firm in Toronto. You have video podcasts that just received a marketing initiative of the year award. Another example is Holland & Hart in Denver, which has teamed up with Frontier Airlines to produce “Business Class,” the brand’s inflight entertainment program that highlights innovative customers.

How much should a law firm spend on marketing?

The rule of thumb is to spend 2% of gross income, not counting marketing staff salaries, on marketing and business development. Most of the companies spend much less and how much they pay a seller depends on the size of the city, the size of the company. Obviously bigger means more expensive. Small business marketers in small towns average $50,000 per year. Salespeople in NYC at mega law firms earn $500,000. But I wouldn’t like the pressure.

Do the lawyers know their costs per tip, per case held and per case resolved?

No, most lawyers aren’t that sophisticated yet. But now I advise you to track your return on investment, which will allow you to measure your cost per lead.

As far as cost per case, cost of sales is something law firms don’t know about; keep in mind that they are just now going into sales. For example. I worked with Chuhak and Tecson, a law firm in Chicago, and they spent $24,000 training 20 partners and in nine months generated $1 million in new revenue, an ROI of 4,000%. And that’s typical. Another example: I trained a trial attorney in Chicago whose income was $200,000 and in one year she multiplied it, by herself, to $2.5 million. Frankly, that’s amazing.

Is television advertising a thing of the past?

Most law firms never advertise on television. But small-firm attorneys who have a volume practice, like immigration and personal injury, need a lot of clients to make money, so they still use television and radio to attract clients.

What about blogs? How does that fit?

Essentially, a blog is a kind of website whose content is all text. The author will post a new item and the newest item will be placed at the top, while the oldest items will scroll down. A Blog is a fantastic marketing vehicle because it establishes the author as an expert, an authority. Smart lawyers will choose a specific and limited topic to focus on in their blogs.

I will give you an example. Dennis Crouch, an attorney at McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff in Chicago, has a blog called Patently-o, and the site gets 50,000 visitors a week. He told me that his blog has attracted Fortune 500 companies and, more importantly, referrals from lawyers he has never known. He writes about patents that were granted and has now become the national expert. And he has been in practice for only four years!

No need for the yellow pages anymore – I tell my clients to cancel their ads and start a blog instead.

How did your business grow?

My consulting practice began in 2000 and has multiplied. I now have an office in Illinois and Arizona, an associate, a researcher, and six websites. In my practice I have advised over 60 law firms on business development and how to use technology for marketing. The largest firm I advised was Baker & McKenzie; at the time there were 3,000 lawyers in the firm and they added another 400. The smaller firm was a husband and wife team in Peoria, Illinois.

How do people find you?

People find me through Google. My website is number one for “law firm marketing” and number one on Yahoo. When I get a call, and there are many every week, I ask how they find me and every caller usually says, ‘I looked you up on the internet.’

I concentrate my own marketing on the Web. I operate www.lawmarketing.com, which is the Portal for LawMarketing and receives 100,000 visitors per month. I also operate the LawMarketing Store at www.lawmarketing.biz/store. I also manage the LawMarketing Listserv and, to top it off, I manage the Online Business Professional Development Institute. The Legal Marketing Portal is an online magazine; LawMarketing Store offers marketing books, CDs, and research; the consulting site sells services, the Institute sells education, and the Listserv sells community.

When a lawyer calls, what is the usual request?

1. “Help, we need to do some marketing, all of our rainmakers are 70 years old!”
2. “We just lost our number one customer. We have to replace him, now!”
3. “None of our young partners has ever opened a file.”

For all of the above, they need training in business development. One method is to hold a one-day training retreat. I will visit the company and give a full day sales and business development presentation anywhere in the US (and have done technology marketing for almost every major Canadian company).

Second, I meet with the attorneys one by one and develop a personal business development plan.

Third, I will write the company’s marketing strategy. The problem with many lawyers is that they want tactics, something to be done today, and they don’t expect a strategic plan.

Between assignments I present two webinars per month, via http://www.pbdi.org. You just sign up online and show up on the web and over the phone.

Look into your crystal ball: where is marketing law going?

I see it converting into sales. Marketing will raise your profile in the market and make you known, but it is sales that generate new business. In the law, you don’t say “sales,” you say “business development.” That involves choosing a target, developing a wolf pack to hunt it down, and a long-term plan to acquire the target. You can see how premeditated this is.

Most legal practices are comprised of clients who sought to them outside. The lawyers didn’t choose the clients, which is why a lot of lawyers hate what they’re doing. The new trend is to pick up your customers and go after them.

Another trend is remote legal practice. Most legal practice involves transactions, and that involves documents. A lawyer can be anywhere to write the document and the client can get the document on the web; it is not necessary to be in any specific place. That’s how I work.

Have laptop, will travel.

Exactly. All you need is the Internet and a phone connection.

What about exhaustion? How can you get lawyers excited about marketing?

The key element of my approach is: I ask them what like to do in your practice. Then I ask what kind of people like to work with. Next I will ask them what activities are fun for them, like sailing or playing golf. Then we are going to mix business development with what the lawyer does for fun. Ultimately, we dedicate ourselves to finding people the attorney can help.

This is how lawyers should market: Find someone you like, someone you can help in their particular field, and go out and have fun with them. What’s not to like?