When lawyers contemplate going solo, one of the first things they think about – scratch that – one of the first things they fear – is getting clients. Not getting enough clients. Getting the wrong clients. Getting the right clients, but not paying ones. Then, shortly after that series of thoughts will come the “marketing two-step” – how, what, when, how much will we pay …
“Two-step” actually might be too optimistic. It’s really more like a tango in those pre-launch days, with option upon option tangling up in one another in the solo’s mind until it’s all so much spaghetti. Yellow pages? Internet directories? What about advertising? If so, where – local papers? Radio? TV? Billboards? Then, you start pricing those options. And that is almost enough to make you give up.
But before you put those solo dreams on the shelf, take a deep breath and look around you. Specifically, look at all the people you know. And for the “newly minted” among you, relax – I’m not talking just about other lawyers, who may not be populating your contacts in great droves. I mean, literally, all the people you know. Take a good long look at those folks, and consider each and every one a walking advertisement.
This is the key to making the concept of referral-based marketing work for you.
In the coming days, we’re going to explore referrals in more detail and depth – how to ask for them, how blogging works in tandem with referrals, when to give them (and how), and how to respond when you get them. Mostly, we’re going to look at why you should not discount referrals – in fact, why you should make referrals the second block of your marketing pyramid, together with blogging.
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