This week we discuss the need to focus your marketing dollars and strategy carefully. The hosts get into the nitty-gritty about how Pay Per Click and Facebook Ads and other common legal marketing tools work – and don’t work. By talking about their experiences, both good and bad, Scott and Oscar give out useful tips and strategies for making the most out of whatever marketing plan you decide upon. Like everything else, careful planning initially is key. Think about who you want to target and what words or phrases are those targets most likely to be responsive to. Also make sure your ad is effective and not annoying s you don’t wat to turn people off. Finally, the hosts also talk about the need to regularly monitor your marketing plan to make sure your time and money isn’t being misspent on things that do not provide results.
Scott starts off this podcast talking about a lawyer he met at a conference who afterward sent him a book her mother wrote about Atlantic City (which is where the lawyer practices). The book was accompanied by a small note and the lawyer’s business card. That story began a discussion about the importance of following up and following through on connections you make as you meet potential clients and referral partners. Even something as simple as sending out holiday cards should be done with thought and focus on who you want to reach out to and perhaps adding a personal note in at least some of the cards. Talking about holiday cards led the podcast hosts to discuss how all tasks you undertake to market your practice and grow your business needs to be focused and targeted. Before starting this podcast, the hosts set out to determine the costs (financial and time-wise) associated with the endeavor. Scattershot marketing or advertising without focus and follow up will just having money flowing out the door with no return.
The podcast was contacted with two inquiries – one from a law student who was curious about how to start a practice right out of law school and one from an attorney who wanted to form her own practice as a legal writing specialist. The admitted attorney has a non-legal job that pays the bills but wants to be able to make ends meet (and more) by doing what she sees as her strength – writing for other lawyers. The hosts advise that in some ways, it is very different than most other re-boots. She can only market to other lawyers. So she has to decide how to market herself – How will she describe herself on LinkedIn? On her website? The main thing is to come up with an interesting way to explain her value to her target audience – lawyers who don’t want to write. She will also have to assess her competition – lots of outsourcing companies, including many of them overseas – do what she does and at a much lower rate. So she has to have an answer ready for that question when it comes. Maybe the answer will come from folks that have already hired her – she should survey them to assess why they hired her and what they liked and disliked about her. She needs to develop a full business plan as well to think about her marketing and her approach to getting new business. The main thing she needs to recall is that starting a sustainable solo practice is not a one-step or simple process. Some necessary steps:
- Examine the marketplace and your competition
- Talk to people who have used you or similar services to tinker your message
- Make sure your online presence is adapted to the information you discover in the first two steps
- Once that’s done, start reaching out to your target audience at different networking events and opportunities
- Be patient and consistent. Remember Rome wasn’t built in a day and the same goes for a law practice
No matter how long ago you graduated, you can get help from your Law School Career Services Office. They can help you with emails, cover letters. updating your resume and understanding networking. This week is Part 2 of our interview with Elizabeth Dambriunas, the Associate Director of Alumni Advising at the Office of Career Planning at New York Law School. Elizabeth talks to Oscar and Scott touch on the following;
- Attorneys need to have an understanding of the legal market
- Attorney’s can’t put all their hopes on their 1st job. Learn and grow as an attorney and make decisions any gain experience for where you want to go next.
- Blind applications are most likely a waste of time
- Must be able to present in a positive way during interviews (and have some intelligent questions for the interviewer)
This week we welcome back Elizabeth Dambriunas, the Associate Director of Alumni Advising at the Office of Career Planning at New York Law School. Elizabeth talks to Oscar and Scott about the following topics;
- the changes in the job market for new law school graduates
- the best steps that a law student, who has a specific career path in mind, should take while in law school to help their chances of practicing in that area.
- actions that could be taken by an attorney who would like to move practice areas such as pro bono opportunities or blogging
- when submitting anything to a prospective employer it must be perfect
- remember that networking isn’t asking for a job, its asking for advice and info