Category: CHALLENGES

WHAT’S YOUR TARGET MARKET?

AT A RECENT SEMINAR FOR LAWYERS, I MENTIONED THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING YOUR TARGET MARKET. THE RESPONSE I GOT WAS “WHAT IS A TARGET MARKET?”

Target Market Means Aiming Strategy At Consumers Targeted

Since this is the basis of all marketing, I thought it would be appropriate to spend some time talking about what is a target market and how to locate yours!

A TARGET MARKET IS FIRST OF ALL:

  • Your best referral base
  • The focus of your marketing
  • Those sources that have the best possibility of directly becoming your client or referring clients to you (known as your “Gatekeepers”)
  • A good target market limits the number of cases you don’t want and increases the number you do want.

HOW YOU DEFINE YOUR TARGET MARKET:

  • Start with your mission statement.  What needs are you fulfilling for potential clients? Say for instance your mission statement is: Providing exceptional service to people who have been injured on the job, while maintaining  the highest professional standards, then your target market is people who have a work injury, with the expectation of those who might be a bit shady or not being truthful.
  • Now let’s change that to Providing exceptional service to people who are seriously injured on the job, etc.  Can you see that now you are limiting yourself to only seriously injured clients? Your target market is now narrower.
  • A clear, clean and precise mission statement is necessary to define your market.

HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY THE ACTUAL TARGET PEOPLE TO WHOM YOU WILL SPEND YOUR MARKETING TIME AND DOLLARS ON?

  • Your best referral base is your old clients because they have been within your target market because you have been able to help them.
  • The next best referral source for many practices is other lawyers. Perhaps you do cross referrals with these lawyers. Other lawyers refer to you because they have a clear idea of what you do and that you are ethical and very competent (also they don’t want to be named as a co-defendant in a malpractice action! )They also know you would support and refer to them if you have the opportunity.
  • Gatekeepers beside other lawyers are also in your target market.  Sometimes these are your family members or someone that your target market interacts with.  An example is a Marriage and Family Counselor who needs referrals for Family Law Attorneys and the lawyers who also needs referrals to counselors for their client. This is maximum cross-referring.

WHAT DO YOU DO AFTER YOU HAVE IDENTIFIED YOUR TARGET MARKET(S):

  • Now you need to put all their contact information into guess what? YOUR CONTACTS
  • I suggest you make three lists of contacts. One is A for people you know will refer to you.  This includes old clients and lawyers. Second one is labeled B and is people who you have met and might refer to you. Last is C with who you have a casual relationship but who you don’t want to forget you. Outlook will do this for you with different colors.
  • Important technique is to keep these people on your radar. The As at least 4 times a year. Bs at least twice and Cs at least once.
  • At this point you will also “Cherry-pick” the people who fit in your target market but haven’t produced yet. Here is where you spend some time and money on reaching out to them. What do they read? How can you provide value to them? Does your website SPEAK to your target market? Does it invite potential clients to call you? There’s volumes on this subject but once you have developed your real target market, you won’t waste time and money trying to get to people on board who will never refer to you.  As my friend says:  Don’t go to the Hardware Store to buy a Hamburger.
  • Hint: The best marketing tool I ever used was sending Birthday Cards to old and present clients. Don’t do it to lawyers because they are jaded and can’t believe you really want them to have a Happy Birthday but clients are different…..as long as you are sincere. One client told me it was the only birthday card he got!

SO NOW YOU AT LEAST HAVE SOME IDEA WHAT A TARGET MARKET IS.  Please feel free to contact me for a 30 minute complimentary consultation to help you with this if you want to discuss this further.  

WHY ATTORNEYS DON’T ASK FOR HELP: Or ask for the wrong help

One of the hardest things attorneys find to do is ask for the right help.

Why is that:

  • Many attorneys have big egos and don’t want to admit they need help. They are afraid they will look weak and not competent.
  • Many attorneys don’t want to admit that they actually had lots of help just graduating from Law School, passing the Bar and finding work.  They actually feel they did it all on their own when in fact, family, teachers and others provided much needed help along the way.
  • They don’t believe there is good, effective help available to them.
  • They don’t know where to look or find the appropriate help.
  • Many would rather self medicate than admit they need help.  Oh, boy does this cause more problems!
  • Many attorneys can’t identify what kind of help they need.  Or exactly what the problems may be.
  • Some attorneys will ask another attorney/friend for help but get the wrong advice and give up.
  • Attorneys are skeptics.  They have been taught to doubt the validity of many things, including help.
  • Some attorneys are in deep denial and don’t admit they need help
  • And most important, many attorneys don’t want to go through the changes they need to resolve their problems. They would rather stay in denial.

DO YOU KNOW A COLLEAGUE WHO NEEDS HELP BUT WON’T REACH OUT?  OR ARE YOU THAT PERSON?

The starting place is to admit it. Then take some ACTION STEPS to first:

  • Grind the problem down to its elements. Is it money? Is it time? Is it burnout? etc.
  • Once you have flushed out the elements, develop a plan to attack the gap between the problem you see it  today and the vision of what it will look like when it is solved.
  • Get some professional help such as a coach to help identify the gap, help you with the steps and hold you to the commitment to overcome the problem.

 NOW IS THE TIME TO HAVE THE CAREER THAT YOU WANT!

FOUR STEPS TO TAKE WHEN PEOPLE ARE ANGRY AT YOU

You might consider a few therapy sessions if these simple suggestions don’t work for you.  Because, let’s face it….you can’t be a successful, happy attorney unless you can handle a lot of negativity.  Solos have it even worse because they frequently don’t have anyone to “vent” or discuss the turmoil in their practices.

Anyway, let me give you a couple of ideas that might help or at least “band-aid” your angst.

  •             First, remember that none of this is PERSONAL. It is not about YOU. Most of the people who give you a hard time are doing it for reasons that have nothing to do with reality.  It is about how they are choosing to handle the situation.
  •             Second, after assessing the situation to see if there are things you can learn from it, see if there is any action you can take.  Action means that you are tackling the problem, not letting it rest.

Now many times, action is not appropriate.  In these cases, such as when a judge tells you that your argument  is stupid, first assess the comment to see if he/she is at least partially right. After that write down what you learned and what you can do to rectify your error.  Then tear up the paper and flush it down the toilet. Then  read a really trashy book, go to a George Clooney/Brad Pitt movie or watch a comic TV show.

  •             Third, and probably the most difficult situation to handle is when you feel you failed a client.  The case is not going well for whatever reasons and you are in the dumps. Again, if you can do something about it, do it!  If not, then work on other cases that are more fulfilling because it is better to be a work- alcoholic for a short time, than to obsess on feeling bad about something you have little or no control over.  This is also a good time to have a volunteer opportunity open to you.  Those people appreciate you and want you to feel good and doing something for others can turn around your feelings quickly.
  •             Fourth, you need to prepare to have negative experiences on a regular basis.  It may help to take a class in handling angry clients or in honing your mediation skills.  Mediation is a time when you learn to handle hostility in a neutral fashion.  Again, you will learn that it is not about You, so you can remove your feelings from the tumult.

With hopes that this will help.  I’d love to hear how you handle anger directed towards you in the work place.   

GOOGLE SELF HELP VS COACHING

EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT YOU CAN GET ALL THE INFORMATION YOU WANT ON GOOGLE   true or false?

You can look up ways to market your business, you can look up ways to be happier and you can look up information about just any problem you are having. But what is the “clincher”?  You are getting an opinion designed for everyone, not just you!

I give a lot of value by publishing a book about being a better lawyer.  It is extremely helpful and is really a self help book for lawyers.  But, believe me, it’s nothing like working with me in a one on one coaching arrangement.  This is also true of the talks that I give.  You get value but then you may not be able to actually use it.

The underlying trick is to identify the proper problem. Often times it is hidden or the lawyer is so deep in denial that it takes time and energy to uncover it. It is a personal problem, unique only to you.

Asking your friends or even your mentor is not always helpful and can be hurtful.  Your family, friends and teachers all have their own “agendas”.  They are worried about their careers and lives first and that frequently colors any advice you get from them. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have your best interest at heart. It just means they are human.

A coach, on the other hand, has no other agenda than to help you.  IT IS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE TO HAVE A PERSON SO INVOLVED IN DOING GOOD FOR JUST YOU, THAT IT IS A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE.

Take a look at this example:

An attorney would like to find more clients and make more money.  So he/she first turns to google and puts in the QUESTION.  Ok, so right here starts the problem. What exactly is the QUESTION.  Most business people, especially those starting out, what more clients and more income. So the attorney spends hours getting all the free information from google. Some “experts” say he/she should do more networking. Others taking a larger view just want him/her to have a marketing plan. Maybe one even hints that a look at his/her “inner child” might help.

What to do with all this sometime conflicting information?  My advice is nothing.  Don’t even start looking at freebies until you have defined exactly what your ultimate goal is and why you are not there yet.  My cynical view is that this is best done with someone who is totally invested in your success. 

AND GUESS WHAT?    THAT A LEGAL COACH!

WHY SOLOS DON’T MARKET EFFECTIVELY

Unfortunately, solo attorneys don’t have a choice and have to market their services or be working at a severe disadvantage.

THEY ARE SCARED AT SOME LEVEL

I know you don’t want to hear this, but there are many attorneys who don’t really want to market themselves or their firm out of pure fear.  Unfortunately, solo attorneys don’t have a choice and have to market their services or be working at a severe disadvantage.

Introverts especially don’t like to feel that they are “imposing” on others.  So let’s look at some of the reasons that solos may be afraid to even do a marketing plan for their firm.

  • they feel their services are not worthy
  • they think that they might offend someone by asking for business
  • they think that they are entitled to business without having to extend themselves
  • they are afraid of the time it takes to market correctly
  • they don’t like to plan because then they have to try to meet goals
  • they don’t buy the notion that every solo has to be a marketing guru
  • they think that they don’t know how or have the skills to market

This last one leads to real trouble because frequently solos will spend big dollars to hire someone to market for them.  Unfortunately, this only really works when the attorney knows how to market and exactly what he wants the outcome of the relationship with the “marketer” to be.

In other words, it is the preplanning of an entire marketing campaign that coordinates the various outlets (Linkedin, Avvo, website, blog, networking) with a  targeting of your specific market that reduces the mistakes and overspending.  Read my previous three blogs to get even more information.

If you are unsure how to market or your marketing is not working, it’s time to review what you are doing and to revise your marketing plan (or get one LOL). In this economic climate, the best way to do this is to not only take into consideration how you want to market, but what this diverse culture needs.  Marketing to millennials is different from the people in Generation X, let alone Y.

GOT YOUR ATTENTION?  HOW ABOUT IMMEDIATELY REVIEWING OR CREATING A SOLID MARKETING PLAN FOR YOUR FIRM. CALL ME IF YOU NEED HELP WITH THIS.  I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY HELPED AT LEAST 100 LAWYERS WITH THIS!

THE ”REAL” TRUTH OF MARKETING FOR SOLOS

HERE IT IS:  IT’S HARD WORK!!!

 

Marketing starts with( in this order):

  • Carefully Defining Your Target Market
  • Mission Statement
  • Elevator Speech to Incorporate into Marketing
  • Three Month Marketing Plan including all the marketing categories.
  • Goal Setting for the First Month
  • Calendaring the Goals Faithfully Each Week.

The only thing I left out was the different marketing categories which you need to take one by one and set out your goals.  They are:

  • Risk Reduction (what clients don’t you want).
  • Advertising
  • Public Relations
  • Direct Mail
  • Website and E Promotions
  • Endorsements
  • Branding
  • Networking
  • Budget

Take each of categories and write down how you will market through them.  Do some reading or call me for some help if you get stuck.

NOW YOU HAVE THE TRUTH, GO FORTH AND GET ORGANIZED FOR SUCCESS!

THE UNTOLD TRUTH ABOUT MARKETING FOR SOLOS

I’ve always wanted to use that phrase because the media seems to use it to get your attention to buy stuff you don’t want!

However, I want you to “buy” my stuff.  Why? Because coming out of denial and starting to market strategically and consistently is the way to increase your profit as well as your ultimate success.

For three weeks you have hopefully been reading about target markets and mission statements. But have you done any work about implementing them?  This is where I hear solos saying they don’t have time, etc.  I once heard that you have as much time as Beyonce! She gets a lot done and looks great.

A recent survey showed that Solos spend a majority of their time on practicing law.  Here comes the UNTOLD TRUTH:  You should be spending at least 45 to 50% on tasks that are important and not urgent. This includes marketing, planning and networking, not practicing law.  This also includes keeping yourself healthy and not stressed out. (see Covey books on this). You don’t ignore the important and urgent tasks but those are calendared and completed, leaving a lot of your time open for the “business of your business”.

I also came across another survey attempting to locate what made attorneys happy.  The most important thing was to have client contact.  Guess what? You have to have clients to have contact. Feeling that you are helping someone is usually a very high priority of solos.  The trouble is that you can’t have clients without proper marketing.

That brings us to the ULTIMATE MARKETING TASK….THE MARKETING PLAN.  If you don’t have one then you are without your best GPS for finding business. You can wonder around the desert for days, weeks without a CPS in your car and you may finally get where you are going but with a lot more time and energy wasted by not having a step by step plan with a well defined end in place.

IF YOU WANT SOME HELP WITH YOUR MARKETING PLAN, GIVE ME A CALL.  I WILL BE HAPPY TO DISCUSS WHAT YOU WANT AND HOW TO GET THERE. 

YOUR WEBSITE AND YOUR BEST BROCHURE

NOW THAT YOU HAVE YOUR “MISSION STATEMENT” IT’S TIME TO WORK ON YOUR WEBSITE.

Taking into account, the value you are going to give to your Target Market, you begin to build or modify your website.  Remember last week we  talked about a Probate/Trusts/Wills attorney’s possible mission statement? If you don’t recall, take a look at that blog and intertwine those values into the website outline that I’m going to give you.  Or even better, take out your mission statement and use it as a inspirational tool for updating or building your website.

CUTTING EDGE WEBSITE RENOVATION

Your website is your best brochure and your blog is your most effective device to keep in contact with your clients and colleagues.

Now that we have millions of websites to evaluate we have learned a few basic rules that are replacing the sort of random marketing that websites have produced.  Among those are that it needs to be EXTREMELY USER FRIENDLY, have great EYE CANDY  and allow the viewer to have a PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

DETERMINE YOUR TARGET MARKET:

What group of people do you want to reach? Where do they live? What is their wealth status? Is there anything unusual about them?

Define your target market as narrowly as possible.  Get it down to the ideal client that you would like to see walk in the door.  See the difference between “has a family law problem” and “has a family law problem and is financially able to retain an attorney”. One target market is very different from the other.  One narrows and one widens.  Exactly who you want to call you and take your precious time needs to be carefully thought out.

DETERMINE THEIR “WEED”:

After you have determined your target market, you need to find your target Market’s weed. What would be the most troubling thing to them? What is the “weed” in their garden that you can get rid of.  We have recently found out that lay clients look for their “weed” in your home page.  If they can relate to what you are saying you can help them with, they will be much more inclined to hire you than if you lay out in detail your credentials, etc.  They assume since you are a lawyer, that you will know what to do.

So find out what troubles your clients.  Ask old ones or pretend you are a client.  What would you want to see on an attorney’s Home Page that would tell you he or she recognizes your exact problem.

You might also want to explore the circumstances that has brought on their need.  In family law, it may be an unhappy or scary  scene.  In probate law, the actual need is a little different because the  need is for the future.  Being aware of these problems will help you to focus on what exactly is important to your future clients and create an up to date website.

WEBSITE HOME PAGE:

Simply and clearly restate your target market’s “WEED”. Use the magic words that will hit the search engines.

PROFILE PAGE:

 First of all, this is where your picture goes.  What kind of a picture should you have?  The usual rule is that you dress like your client would expect a lawyer to dress if he or she were to appear in court.  This does not meant that you flash the Rolex watch nor other expensive jewelry. And for heaven sake, smile.  Warm, friendly is what you are going for.

Then, the most important part of this page is to tell your story here.  Why did you become a lawyer? What type of cases have you handled? What has brought you joy as an attorney.  This is not a time to spill your guts but to be sincere and forthright about why you are doing what you are doing.  Don’t brag.  At the very end you can give a brief overlay of your education and experience.  Also do a link to a more extensive resume.

ENDORSEMENTS:

Get people to write comments about their experience with you.  Be sure to get their OK to use their full names.  No one believes testimonials that are from Jane D.

PRACTICE AREA PAGES:

Simple, Simple, Simple.  Again go back to the “Weed” and identify  and then address the client’s need in each area.

LINKS:

Make sure these are helpful and not just fill ins.

Add in anything which will make the site more useful and allow for more in depth viewing if the reader wants it.  This could be publications you have written.  Helpful tips about your area of the law or your blog.

EYE CANDY

Your entire site has to be attractive and something that an audience wants to look at for more than 20 seconds.  Choose your colors carefully.  If you are a Probate Attorney you don’t want a predominately black website.

Remember that most of your audience is visually oriented.  A few are auditorally oriented and even less are tactilely oriented.  So, if you have no sense of color or are unsure, get some help.  But do this with guidance from you.  What “feeling” do you want your viewers to bring away from your site.  Is it calming?  Is it aggressive?  Is it exciting?  It is very important that any designer or webmaster understand that you are at the helm and determining what is best for you.

THE FUTURE:

We are going to see a lot more video in websites.  These will be either a quick introduction on the Home Page with the attorney addressing the audience or links to videos in different areas.

If you want to venture into this area, make sure that you get professional help if you need it. Make sure that you have the right light and camera equipment to do good production.  Remember you are competing with 12 year olds that can whip out a professional looking You Tube rendition which will make them millions.

In helping clients cope with the new technology I have found that David Scott’s book, NEW RULES OF MARKETING AND PR to be very informative.

NOW I’VE GIVEN YOU YOUR MARCHING ORDERS.  I WANT TO SEE YOUR NEW WEBSITE.  PLEASE SEND ME YOUR LINK. I WILL BE GLAD TO ADD MY COMMENTS AND PRAISE.

WHY ISN’T YOUR SOLO PRACTICE MARKETING WORKING?

AS A SOLO YOU ARE DOING ALL THE TASKS SHOWN ABOVE. YOU ARE  NOT  MAKING ALL THE INCOME YOU WANT AND YOU ARE PUZZLED WHY YOUR MARKETING DOESN’T SEEM TO BE WORKING.

Read on.  This might just be the answer. 

You probably already know the elements of a good marketing plan.  Most of it is broken down in the illustration above.  Yes, you need to strategize your plan to access your target market. Wait, stop right there.

  • Do you really know your target market or are you reaching people who don’t want nor need your services?
  • Are you reaching too broad a market and are confusing the people you do reach because they have no use for your service?
  • Have you “niched” your services so that your market is identified accurately.

Let’s use an example so you will begin to see what I mean.

You are budding Probate, Wills, Trust Solo Attorney.  By the way, this is one of the most difficult areas to market because many people don’t want to think about their death let alone do something about it!

So your plan is to center your marketing around reaching people of a particular age group. That is to say older people. Maybe 60 to 80 years old.  So you spend big bucks advertising in AARP literature because you feel you are reaching the right age range. STOP.  WHAT WRONG WITH THAT PICTURE?

First, it costs a lot of your marketing budget and may preclude using those funds for more lucrative avenues of marketing.

Second, you will be reaching millions of people who already have a will or who feel they have no need of a will or any after death planning.

Third, you probably have no credibility with these readers…..YET.

If, however, you wrote a brilliant article and AARP published it, you will have at least made a small dent in your credibility gap and it didn’t cost you a dime. It will be the first step in building a ladder of dynamic branding and can go on your website and be a base for further speaking engagements directed to exactly the people who might hire you.

Now you need to question your first assumption also.  Is the 60-80 the correct group to target? Maybe not.  It is known that new parents of babies have the revelation that they need to provide for these little humans for a very long time.  What if they when they still have parenting duties after they are gone? Don’t they need some long range planning to secure their wishes for their kids?  These may be a group you have overlooked because you haven’t been thinking outside the box.  How about a brilliant article in Parent Magazine?

Are you beginning to see why the simple area of identifying your target market (s) correctly is vitally important to your entire marketing plan.

If you’d like to discuss your approach to marketing with me, give me a call and we can connect.  I’ll be writing several more blogs on this highly misunderstood area that solos foul up….so stay tuned.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO HAVE A CAREER AFTER LAW SCHOOL

Sorry, I couldn’t get to my blog last week.  Next week I’m going to be on vacation but THIS WEEK I want to share something I think is exciting.  I have developed a new coaching program for people in law school and recent graduates.  Here it is:

Since the downturn in the economy in 2008, Law School Students are finding it harder to get legal jobs right after law school.  A much more aggressive and pre planned approach is necessary these days to insure success.

Additionally, the larger debt owed by students has created even more stress in obtaining work as soon as possible.  Consequently new tactics in job preparation as well as job searches and decisions needs to be made by Law Students starting in their first year of law school.

This coaching format will give students at all stages in law school or recent graduates, the insight into the present job market and help them make decisions how to best get rewarding employment.

Some of the topics which will be covered are:

PREPARATION

  • What are the present statistics for the legal market place in the student’s community?
  • What is the present general economic condition of the community?
  • Where does there appear to be potential growth in the legal community?
  • Where is there potential decline in the legal community?
  • Tools and hints about how to keep abreast of changes in the legal community.
  • The importance of timing in preparing for the job search

PRE PLANNING

  • Pinpointing the career path.
  • Selecting the area of practice (can’t do this too early anymore!)
  • Selecting the form of practice (Associate, InHouse, Solo, Teaching, Public, )
  • Identifying the necessary steps to take while still in law school to maximize getting the desired job after graduation.
  • Establishing a detailed plan that will support the steps outlined above.
  • Pinpointing resources which can assist in the planning.

THE  JOB SEARCH

  • Resume/ the good, the bad and the ugly.
  • Contacts/ how to organize and use them.
  • Unusual resources
  • Keeping positive
  • Acing the interview

OPENING THE SOLO PRACTICE

  • The Fundamental requirements to open a solo practice.
  • Resources
  • How to get started

It is estimated that if the student needs/wants to examine all these areas the coaching will take approximately 6 to 7, one hour sessions and span 2 to 3 months.  Specific goals will be set and there will be “homework” to facilitate positive forward growth towards a plan which will produce significant career success.

The student may then want to update the plan at various times throughout their law school and first job exploration.

The cost of the initial program package is $900.00 for 7 hours of coaching and follow up email with “homework, etc”.  Payment schedule may be arranged. All coaching is confidential.

If the student wants to return for subsequent coaching or wants to do the program outside the package described above, the fee is $150.00 an hour.

By:    Eleanor Southers

PROFESSIONAL LEGAL COACH AND ATTORNEY

1362 Pacific Ave. #216

Santa Cruz, CA 95060

831 466-9132

www.southerslaw.net

www.professionallegalcoaching.com

  LET YOUR FRIENDS KNOW THIS IS NOW AVAILABLE.  THOSE IN LAW SCHOOL ARE DESPERATELY IN NEED OF WELL THOUGHT OUT HELP TO BE SUCCESSFUL…..THANKS.