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How to Resolve Common Frustrations Solo Lawyers Face When Marketing Their Law Firm

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How to Resolve Common Frustrations Solo Lawyers Face When Marketing Their Law Firm

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You started a solo law firm and it is exciting, stressful, and rewarding.  Now you are faced with the task of finding and retaining clients through marketing – but it’s so difficult to find leads.  Here are some of the most common hurdles we see our clients facing when trying to market their firms, and how to overcome them.

Overwhelmed with legal marketing steps

Starting a marketing plan for your law firm can seem like a daunting task.  It takes a lot of research to discover exactly whom you are trying to reach, and establish communication channels with potential clients.  There are a few ways you can get through this.

  1. Reach out to colleagues – talk to lawyers in your network that have established marketing, find out how they managed their professional and online presence.
  2. Outsource – Hire a marketing team to help you with some of the initial steps.  Our firm offers marketing strategy plans you can purchase without any long-term contracts. You can also use resources like Fiverr or ODesk to outsource smaller tasks. Be resourceful!

Lack of energy or time for law firm marketing

You are so busy, and priorities get moved around on a day-to-day basis.  You would like to dedicate more to your legal marketing, but there isn’t always time.

  1. Keep the end goal in mind – Focusing on the big picture can really help motivate you to find time to spend on your brand.  A little bit of extra effort now can lead to more clients in the future.
  2. Law firm marketing software – There are a ton of tools you can use to simplify some of your marketing tasks. If you are willing to spend a little money, local citation services can get your business listed on many networks in one sweep.  You can also keep a running social monitor on multiple search terms and competitors and make 30 minutes a day to check in on it.
  3. Outsource (again) – You can have your marketing services covered from A to Z.  If money is an issue think about long term spending.  It may cost a little now, but aggregating leads will payout in the future.

Poor Leads

You’re receiving emails but they don’t seem to go anywhere.  You feel like the leads you get aren’t quality and end up being a waste.

  1. Clearly identify the target audience – Is your website copy clear, concise, and targeting the right users?  Unclear or confusing copy may lead the wrong people to you.  Make sure you are thinking about who your ideal customer is and what their legal needs will be when creating anything that reflects your business.
  2. Select the best channels – Are you using the right networks to reach potential business? Twitter is a great way to generate brand awareness, but heavy users of this medium tend to be younger and lower on the decision making chain than a professional network like LinkedIn.
  3. Look at where your conversions are coming from – Cold leads can also come from an inability to direct a client who has a legal problem to the specific service they need.  Take a look at the conversations you are having and determine if you are asking the right questions
  4. Reconnect at a later decision making stage – Potential clients who reach out to you and don’t seem to go anywhere at that time could be great clients in the future. Create an email list of people who reach out to you and follow up with them in a month and see where they are.  A reminder might be exactly what they need to convert.

There’s too much competition in the legal industry

The legal industry is a hard market. It is highly competitive, especially if you are in a large city.

  1. Find your niche – If you are a personal injury attorney in Los Angeles, you will most likely be unsuccessful trying to rank for personal injury in general.  Try and find a specific area of personal injury you like to work with and start there.  The more specific you can be, the better.
  2. Use your competition – Research competitors in your field, see what they are doing and expand on it – there is always room for improvement.

Regulatory hurdles when trying to find business

How can you advertise your services without breaking any rules?

  1. Be knowledgable – know the ins and outs of your state’s ethics rules governing attorney advertising, solicitation and marketing. If you are unsure if something violates regulation, don’t do.  Spending a little extra time researching not could save you a big headache later.
  2. Consult – Speak to a professional marketing company that understands attorney advertising rules.
  3. Think critically –Think about what companies you respect and why.  People don’t develop brand loyalty by being told to buy something, they build it over time based on expertise and trust. Let your work speak for itself. You can do this by sharing case studies on your site, and leave visible links to your Yelp and social profiles on your website – this way clients can leave you positive reviews and feedback.

There will always be challenges you face in your law firm marketing, but don’t be discouraged. Check in monthly and analyze your successes and failures and make adjustments to your marketing plan – you will see results from all your hard work.  If you need any support with your law firm marketing needs, we are happy to help.

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About the author

Allen Rodriguez Allen Rodriguez is a legal product development strategist who has been serving the legal industry for over 21 years. Over the course of his career, Allen has built a reputation for creating innovative legal services products as well as developing highly effective law firm business and marketing strategies. Allen is a valued speaker on the topics of law marketing, legal services product development, and future of law issues.

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