Small Firm Marketing Continued: Creating Visibility and Credibility

An important axiom of marketing is: “Customers do business with people they know, like and trust.” The significance of that axiom mushrooms when you market a professional service instead of a product, because your potential clients can’t see, touch or taste your wares in advance of the purchase. You can achieve that coveted status of being known, liked and trusted in advance of the service, when you pursue marketing strategies that create visibility, credibility, personal relationships and referrals. This article will discuss why a small law firm practitioner should strive to create visibility and credibility, and how to go about it.

Visibility. When you increase your visibility, you increase your name recognition. People gravitate toward names they recognize, even when they don’t remember why they recognize the name. The “I’ve heard of her somewhere” factor pays off. Not long ago I read an article reporting the polling results about the best lawyers in another city. I recognized the names of many of the lawyers selected, and could confirm the quality of a number of them from personal experience. I also recognized the name of one lawyer in a category that I didn’t have much knowledge about, but I assumed he was good because I had heard of him. Later I saw his name selected in several other categories requiring dramatically different skill sets and knowledge bases. Something seemed awry. With today’s in-depth specialization, rarely can a generalist truly excel in multiple legal practice areas, and this fellow was named among the best in four areas! On reflection, I recognized that he had been very active in leadership roles in bar and community activities, and was a former State Bar President. He may be a genius and a multi-tasking time management pro, or he may be benefiting from name recognition. After all, I myself had assumed he was good in his practice area merely because I recognized his name.

Advertising increases visibility, but as the sole mechanism, it is the least effective marketing strategy for personal services. Most professional service clients engage services based on a personal acquaintance or a referral. Here are just a few ways you can create and maintain visibility with your potential clients:

1. Send articles and information about cases or news of interest to them or their industry with a note from you

2. Be a speaker for organizations they belong to

3. Hold leadership roles in organizations with visibility to them

4. Donate your services at charity silent auctions

5. Be a supporter announced on public radio

6. Circulate a monthly newsletter with legal updates or tips

7. Offer legal tips in a newspaper column, radio show or trade magazine

8. Sponsor a booth or hospitality room at trade shows

9. Offer a one-minute legal tip at the end of every meeting of an organization you belong to

10. Pass out a piece of paper with a brief legal tip at each organization meeting

11. Publish an e-zine that includes enough of your personality or personal tidbits to let you readers feel they know you.

12. Have a website! (Surveys indicate that two-thirds of in-house counsel have investigated websites before hiring outside counsel.)

13. Be an expert writing a column for a website with high traffic, like www.About.com

14. Write articles for the website of a company with a similar client base, such as the website of an accounting firm if you are business lawyer, or the website of a commercial real estate broker if you are a real estate lawyer. Be sure your byline includes a link to your website.

15. Consider hiring a PR consultant to help you become known as the expert the media contacts for comments on your subject area.

16. Write a book or hire a ghost writer to write one for you using your knowledge and experience

17. Offer public seminars in your area of expertise

18. Start a blawg about a topic you are interested in. “Blawg” is derived from “blog,” which in turn is derived from “web log.” A web log is essentially an online diary, usually with informative content. For a ‘legally-inclined weblog’, see http://www.geocities.com/blawgring/ and www.lawblog.com. For more information about blogging and tools to do it, go to http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/blogging_part_1.htm and http://www.blogger.com

19. Send press releases to state and local bar publications, business journals, the local newspaper and television and radio stations about appointments, awards, honors, elections, cases you win, big deals closed, books published, speaking engagements or other noteworthy topics. You can establish yourself as an expert that reporters can interview in connection with stories on topics of your expertise. These press releases do not have to relate to your law practice, however. Remember the impact of “I’ve heard of him somewhere.”/div>

With these ideas as a start, do some brainstorming to create your own visibility mechanisms. Consider brainstorming with some non-lawyers to help develop some out-of-the-box solutions.

Credibility. When you establish your credibility, you build toward that trust factor. Educational credentials are the oldest and most widely recognized method of establishing credibility, but additional credibility can be created with a much smaller investment of time and money. Often the things you do to create visibility will also create credibility because you have the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise. Look back over the previous list to see which of those ideas for visibility also permit you to showcase your knowledge.

People in roles of leadership or authority usually have presumed credibility with the public. What titles or offices could you obtain? Can you volunteer to be the chair of or on the committee for a state or local bar association section relating to your expertise? That may help in getting referrals from other lawyers (creating both visibility and credibility), as well as indicate proficiency to potential clients. Can you act on a committee of an industry association that your potential clients belong to? Request to testify before a federal or state committee or commission about legislation or a congressional study relating to your area of expertise. It is easier than you think to get the opportunity to say a few words. Follow up your testimony with a press release to media contacts and your mailing list.

Speakers and authors have enhanced credibility by virtue of the leadership position they assume, as well as by demonstrating their expertise. In addition to speaking at Continuing Legal Education seminars for lawyers, you can reach potential clients directly by conducting seminars at your office, at clients’ offices or at the office of another business that serves the same client base. A wills and estates lawyer might offer a seminar to the clients of a financial planner. A business lawyer might give a program about The Role Of Key Officer Insurance in Buy-Sell Agreements to insurance salespersons or their clients. A trial lawyer might give a seminar to chiropractors about responding to subpoenas in a personal injury case, in order to create referral relationships. You can also offer continuing education classes or community college classes. Anyone can offer a course at The Learning Annex (www.LearningAnnex.com) or Leisure Learning (www.llu.com). You can also conduct teleclasses or offer taped audio classes at www.LearningAnnex.com, www.teleclass.com, www.teleclassinternational.com, www.teleclass4u.com, www.teleclasslive.com, your website, or some other venue.

Writing opportunities abound. In addition to writing your own self-published book, you can write articles for newspapers, magazines, trade journals, e-zines, newsletters, and many websites, as well as for your own website. For resources, leads, tips and contact information for getting your articles published, buy the current edition of Writer’s Market at your favorite bookstore or sign up for the online version at www.WritersMarket.com. Both cost around $30. You can send copies of your published articles to current or potential clients with a note about how you thought the information might be useful to them.

Speak and write for lawyer groups in other practice areas. Here are a few topic ideas to illustrate the possibilities:

1. A wills and estates lawyer can speak to family lawyers about the changes that are needed in wills after a divorce.

2. A family lawyer can speak to business lawyers about drafting buy-sell agreements to deal with divorce issues and other divorce contingency planning that small business owners can do.

3. A business lawyer can speak to personal injury trial lawyers about deposition questions relating to piercing the corporate veil.

4. An estate planning lawyer can speak to business lawyers about family limited partnerships (or vice versa).

5. A real estate lawyer or an environmental lawyer can speak to business lawyers about issues that relate to real property to be acquired in a business acquisition.

You can speak to or write for the section of the bar for your practice area about a highly specialized issue (so they’ll know who to associate when they are in over their head). For example, you might speak about aviation cases to personal injury lawyers, about private securities offering exemptions to small business lawyers, or about theft of intellectual property to criminal lawyers.

Now you are ready to get out there to be seen and heard. Next month we will discuss the importance of developing personal relationships for business development and referrals.