Marketing Tips for Lawyers

Why Some Lawyers Never Build Their Own Practice

Law school is a little bit like practically every other type of school out there. Colleges teach graduates the academic content of the trade, hoping that it will enable them to practice effectively. 

And, for the most part, it does. They learn the principles of how statutes work and then use that for their clients. 

The problem, however, is that the lawyers also need to be businesspeople. They need to understand how their industry works if they are ever going to their current law firm and move out by themselves. 

The rewards of starting an independent law practice are considerable. It means more money, more clients, and, usually, better work. 

But getting there is a struggle – especially for lawyers without business training. 

In this post, we take an in-depth look at why some lawyers never succeed in setting up private practices of their own, and how you can avoid their pitfalls. 

They Don’t Understand Marketing

While setting up a private practice used to be as simple as renting out premises on your local high street, things are a little more difficult these days. Thanks to the current situation and changing technology, the old-fashioned law practice is very much on its way out. 

Now, the goal is to turn lawyer services – even for private clients – into an online model. Elite Lawyer Management, for instance, recommends that law firms massively overhaul their current digital marketing strategy. Lawyers that want to capture leads need to reach out to customers online and provide services via the net. Most clients don’t actually want to go to lengthy meetings with their lawyers that cost a lot of money. They want more than that. 

They Don’t Recognise The Value They Can Add

Every business needs to operate in a niche and provide “unique value” to customers. And the same applies to law firms. There has to be a reason why a particular person would choose you over the next guy. 

Almost always, lawyers have some kind of rare skills or knowledge that they can spin into a business. But the majority never do this, fearing that they won’t be able to offer their clients enough money. 

If you’re in this position, have a frank conversation with yourself about the value that you can offer clients. You’ll often find that it’s much more than you think. Look back over times in your career that you solve a rare problem and then use that as a springboard to differentiate yourself from everyone else in the marketplace. Try to take a different angle. 

They Don’t Use Online Reviews

Lawyers don’t usually like the idea of having their customers review their work. It doesn’t seem right. 

However, even though it can be a little nerve-wracking, it’s one of the most powerful things you can do to build trust in an online community. When people see their other clients have left reviews, it increases the likelihood that they’ll use your services too. 

If you decide to use reviews for SEO, be careful to anonymize them so that nobody can see who your clients are.