The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

Let me be clear: your job as a lawyer is NOT to be the next  Andrew Carnegie .   That’s in part because law firms are inherently geographically - limited business es  -- in the main.   What’s to stop Wal-mart from opening another location across the state line?  Essentially nothing.  What’s to stop a law firm from doing the same thing?  Well, another bar exam passage (or waive-in process), for one.  For another, there may be restrictive rules relating to physical office space requirements for law firms, as well as a host of other protectionist measures to keep out-of-state lawyers, well . . . out of state.  Then there’s the practical difficulty of managing various ethics rules regimes, for each state you locate an office (virtual or otherwise) in.   Because most law firms are still referral-based busines ses,  they rely heavily on local connections.  Usually the big kahuna at a law firm is going to be out and a...

When thinking about how to market a law firm effectively, the question of frequency is important, especially as it relates to  content marketing : get as much of your stuff out there into the world, as often as you can, and people are bound to pay attention to you.  It’s not quite that simple; but, that is the gist of it.   I n addition to having a lot of marketing materials in your holster,  though,  it’s also important to consider the breadth of  your  marketing attack.   In 2019, you can’t just market to one or two channels, because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to know where your best leads are going to be looking for legal services information.  Maybe your best client is somebody who’s given up on Google search, and now prefers  ‘ in-app search ’ , because that’s easier to do on a smartphone?  Or, maybe your best client has given up on Facebook, and switched to LinkedIn, to avoid all the political nois...

With so much competition for clients, law firms are seeking any edge they can find.  Even so, many attorneys remain camera shy.  Despite the fact that video is a unique way to market a modern small business, small law firm websites that feature video remain few and far between.   But, there are a number of reasons why video can be an effective marketing tactic for your law firm.   In the first place,  consumer attention spans (all attention spans, really) are becoming shorter, in part because of the way we now consume technology and media ; and, video offers short snippets that are easily digestible.  Furthermore, video is a far more visceral and resonant medium than text, in much the same way that speaking with someone in-person is a far more immediate experience than receiving a letter from someone.  Creating and publishing videos can also support and extend a law firm’s content marketing platform, by offering another place to publis...

Despite changes to advertising rules, lawyers have marketed themselves in much the same way for generations.  You find an office space, you go out and network, you do good work, and more work comes in.  But, as consumers have become more discerning, and as law firm choices continue to proliferate, lawyers continue to stick with the same marketing strategy they always have.  There is, however, a cost. As more and more potential law firm clients look for lawyers online, lawyers ignoring that medium risk decreased intake, and consequently decreased revenue.  This is not to say that attorneys don’t understand that the internet is a thing.  To the contrary, lawyers want to access more leads online.  But two roadblocks stand in their way: (1) they don’t know how to do it; and, (2) they think it costs too much.  Fortunately, content marketing solves for both problems. As a lawyer, you’re an expert in what you do.  You talk about it all th...