For Lawyers Too Busy to Get New Legal Clients

Most lawyers are not too busy to take on new legal clients.  However, most lawyers are too busy to do what is necessary to actively go after more legal clients.  The time-honored tradition of lawyers relying on referrals for business is on the way out.  With the explosive growth of the internet and social media, the relationship between consumers and their prospective lawyers has dramatically changed.

The Quiet Paradigm Shift

A paradigm shift has affected all law firms, large and small.  It doesn’t matter whether their specialty is bankruptcy, personal injury, family law, estate planning, business law, or immigration.  The simple truth is everything has changed and unfortunately, most law firms have not changed with the times.

The fundamental change can be described as follows.  Before the shift, prospective clients would look for referrals.  After the shift, they are looking for experts in the field of law in which they need legal representation.  Consumers are no longer searching to find an expert and just picking up the phone to call them up. They are consuming content about the issues for which they need help. In short, prospective clients are becoming empowered and enlightened online. They are already armed with tons of legal information and have made decisions before they contact a lawyer.

New Opportunities to Increase Legal Clients

The more progressive law firms have embraced the changes and are prospering.

So what is a lawyer to do?  Smart lawyers recognize they need to establish themselves as experts in their field and geography.  They publish content about the ins and outs of their area of expertise so the average layperson can understand it.  Using inbound marketing software and client acquisition best practices, they attract, engage, and nurture new relationships.  The desired end result is for the prospective legal  client to access well-written content and say,

“I understand this but you are the expert so I want your firm to  represent me?“

If your firm is fairly large it is a good idea to get staff that is very knowledgeable about digital marketing, inbound marketing, and social media. If you are smaller, it’s a great investment to hire a consultant with the right skill set. Then, rely on them for best practices and to stay abreast of this fast-changing landscape.

What lawyers should not do is try to become a digital, inbound marketing and social media expert. Being a lawyer is tough enough without trying to stay up on what’s happening in this ever-changing digital world.

Revenue Marketing Replaces Marketing Cost Centers

As stated earlier, prospective clients are online looking for legal expertise. Lawyers that invest in taking advantage of the empowered enlightened client will reap tremendous rewards. Inbound marketing can be a revenue producer instead of a cost center.

Thrive or perish!

What do you think?   What opportunities do you see for better marketing for lawyers?  If you haven’t already done so please click in the space for Sharing Your Expertise and select “Notify me of new posts via email.”

Griffin Growth Marketing