Are You on the Path to “Average?”

Merriam-Webster.com defines the word average as “not out of the ordinary.”  That is the mentality that many attorneys take when marketing their law practices.  They choose advertising methods that are not out of the ordinary.  They create and pay for ads that are just like everyone else.

Be Different

According to Earl Nightingale, if you went into the legal profession without a mentor and you were unsure how to find success, you should look around you.  Watch what everyone else is doing and do the opposite. Wait – does that mean you should simply ignore the fact that other law firms (some of the biggest in your area) are dropping thousands of dollars on a particular form of lawyer advertising? They wouldn’t be spending their money if those marketing methods weren’t proven to be successful, right? Wrong.

Think Like a Marketer

Many lawyers don’t want to spend the time thinking like marketers.  So, they simply follow the masses with their Yellow Pages ads and TV commercials.  They don’t step back and question whether these forms of advertising are really working and if their marketing messages are effective.

If you are following the other attorneys in your area when it comes to marketing, you are on the path to becoming average.  What the masses are doing is nothing “out of the ordinary,” and is the very definition of average.

Challenge Industry Norms

To stand out from your crowded marketplace, you can’t be afraid to challenge industry norms.  Think creatively about your marketing campaign and come up with a marketing message that is different from all the hundreds of lawyers in your area.

We’ll be talking about lawyer marketing strategies and more at the "No Smart Lawyer Left Behind" One-Day Rescue Mission in Chicago, Illinois on December 2, 2010.  For more information, visit GLMRescueMission.com.  Space is very limited.