Miami Legal Business Development | Branding | Law Firm Coaching | Paula Black

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The idea behind business development is finding a way to standing out from the rest. Today with the Internet there are many ways to do that. But just as the Internet has become the most powerful tool of this century... email has become an avalanche that we need to deal with on a daily basis.

• If you want to send a heartfelt message, DO NOT send an email. Send a handwritten note! Today I came across a blog post from Gerry Riskin who points out that people SAVE treasured handwritten notes. I bet that right now you could put your hands on a handwritten note YOU have received. Need I say more?
• If you want to build more meaningful relationships... pick up the phone! Have a conversation. An exchange that gives both of you more insight into one another.

Yes, it's easier and faster to shoot off an email. But is speed always what is needed? I don't think so. Building deep relationships... being top of mind... and connecting to our humanity is often more important.

Black Pearl: How do we get our email under control? Read The Hamster Revolution. It will give you a system to deal with the avalanche... better yet go on-line and take the course. Learn strategies that can save you 15... yes... 15 days a year. What could you do with an additional 15 day a year?

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By regularly reevaluating even the simplest of marketing tools, you will make it easier to continually present a current visual representation of your firm.

This week we asked: When was the last time you evaluated your marketing materials?

1. ... within the last 6 months. 15%

2. ... within the last year. 37%

3. ... within the last 2 years. 13%

4. ... within the last 3 years or more. 35%

My Thoughts:
The results are almost evenly split... 52% that have focused and kept materials current... and 48% that have ignored their materials and the potential they have to help or hinder your business development efforts. Where do YOU fall?

As I mentioned on Tuesday, these five marketing materials are important tools in your ongoing marketing and business development efforts. They are what clients and potential clients will remember about you and your firm when you’re not around.  A few tips:

• Your website. Forget the fancy bells and whistles, does your website reflect your firm? Can a visitor to the site immediately understand who you are and what you do? If not, it may be time for an update.
• Your attorney biographies. An easy way to update your materials. Keep the information short and relevant to the clients that you are trying to land, not the ones you already have       
• Your business cards. Think outside the box...turn them vertical if your logo allows, go for a 2-sided card so that your firm name (or logo) takes center stage on one side or even add a tagline for extra marketing message punch.       
• Your brochure. Does your brochure have personal quotes from firm partners? Does it give statistics on the number of closings you did last year? Does it feel like it truly fits with your other materials or could it be generic to any firm your size? Use the website to get into real details...use your brochure to set the tone and keep it short and to the point.      
• Your E-mail. It may be simple but having a formatted e-mail signature with your firm logo, tagline (if you have one) and contact information lends an extra air of sophistication to an otherwise basic form of communication. Have them personalized for each attorney, secretary and paralegal...it will be a small detail that people will notice. 

As Gail McQuilken of Kozyak Tropin Throckmorton says:

“Brochures are not something that gets you the business. They are follow-up pieces that make people feel good about you. We take our firm’s brochure with us when we go out to see people. It’s a nice piece that carries through the look and feel of the firm, and the level of skill we have in handling sophisticated cases.”

Black Pearl: Although he hasn't yet posted his reviews for 2010, Micah Buchdahl's internetmarketingattorney.com is a great place to spend some time browsing through others firms' websites. By ranking and evaluating these law firm websites, Buchdahl gives great insight and might just inspire some new ideas for your own firm.