At our first meeting, Jack wanted me to immediately explain to him the specific marketing tactics that I use in my own practice.  I told him that before we did so we first needed to do some work that is more fundamental than that.

I asked him questions about his goals and objectives and about his values.  Why was he starting his own practice?  What EXACTLY did he want it to provide him (a lot of money is not a sufficient answer)?  Initially he questioned why we were discussing those topics when what he was looking for was marketing advice.  But, he quickly understood that it was important to establish the WHY before we got into the WHAT and the HOW.

Over the course of about an hour, Jack got very clear on what he wanted out of his law practice, and how he wanted his practice to serve his life.  We set specific objectives related to revenue and profit, staff and clients.  We discussed how much time he wanted to spend in the office and other quality of life issues.  He commented that he had not really thought about those issues before and that it was empowering to think he could actually choose how much he would work and what type of autonomy he would have.  But, he confided in me that he questioned whether he could actually create a practice that would allow him to meet these objectives.   I promised him that he could and that he and I would do just that.  He had taken a huge step in that direction by just getting clear on these important issues.  Many lawyers never do.

It reminds me of this famous scene in Alice in Wonderland:

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where –” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

The same principle applies here.  Without getting this type of clarity, then it really doesn’t matter which direction you go in your marketing efforts.

Jack left our meeting with a one page summary of his one and five year revenue and profit goals along with a clear vision of what his firm would look like in terms of his ideal clients, the makeup of his staff and even the physical environment of his office.  Additionally, he had written statements related to the number of hours he would (and wouldn’t) work and statements related to the contributions he would make through his firm to his family, his clients, his staff, and his community.  It was actually kind of fun to see him get so excited.  Jack wasn’t the type to show much emotion, but clearly this type of reflection had given him further impetus in launching his new firm.

Once we had taken care of that important task we were ready to get into some strategic thinking about his marketing plan.  We needed first to think strategically before we got into specific marketing tactics.

I explained to him that we needed to get clarity about three big issues before we were ready to proceed to specific tactics.  But, they would have to wait until our next meeting.

Coming Next: Lesson 2 – A Strategic Foundation

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As many of you know, Grant Griffiths and I are working on a program that will teach lawyers how to create and maintain a blog that attracts more clients.  When we announced the Blawg for Profit program, I noted that we would also be releasing some other free blogging resources as we got closer to the release date.

I am happy to announce the first of these is now available.  It is a free 7 lesson eCourse on better blogging for lawyers.  If you read these posts in your browser instead of a newsreader, then you may have noticed the sign in box at the top of the sidebar.   If you’d like to subscribe to the course, please enter your name and e-mail in the form.  The introductory message will be sent to you immediately, and the first lesson will soon follow.

You’ll also be subscribed to the Profitable Practice e-zine that contains marketing (both online and offline tactics) and practice management tips and strategies specifically designed to help solo and small firm lawyers design their perfect practice.

I hope you find both of these resources valuable.

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What can we learn about marketing our law practices from the recent iPhone phenomenon?

First consider this quote from a recent Bloomberg news story about sales of the much hyped iPhone:

Apple Inc.’s U.S. debut of the iPhone drew thousands of shoppers over the weekend, emptying most of AT&T Inc.’s inventory and causing network glitches as the flood of customers began activating the device.

Shoppers snapped up as many as 200,000 iPhones the first day after the device went on sale June 29, according to Global Equities Research. While it was still available at all 164 Apple stores yesterday, AT&T said most of its 1,800 stores no longer had the phone in stock. AT&T is the only mobile-phone service that works with the iPhone.

“A lot of our stores have sold out,” said Mark Siegel, a spokesman for San Antonio-based AT&T, the largest U.S. wireless service. “We’re restoring our inventory as fast as we can.”

So, what can we learn about marketing our law practices from Apple’s example?  If you guessed that it has to do with supply and demand you are correct.  Later in the article, Jobs is quoted as saying that Apple tried to estimate demand and increased manufacturing. “We’ve taken our best guess, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it ain’t enough,” Jobs said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

There is a valuable marketing lesson we can learn from this Jobs quote.  It is subtle, but extremely important.  To get it though, you have to understand that when discussing supply and demand there are actually three different aspects to consider.
(1) There is the objective supply and demand - this is the supply and demand as it really is.  There really are x number of iPhones available to be purchased.   This is what most people think of when they consider supply and demand, but it is the LEAST important aspect of the supply and demand formula;

(2) There is your subjective perception of your own supply and demand - i.e. if you think “I’ve got so much time on my hands”, “I need more cases”, “I wish the phone would ring”, or any such other desperate thoughts then the demand for your services (at least based on your subjective perception) is far less than the supply of it.  This is not a position you want to be in.  You want Jobs attitude - the supply will probably not meet the demand.  Attitude does matter, and it not only effects you but it also effects your prospective clients and referral sources.  But, this is still not the most important aspect of the supply and demand formula.

(3) There is your prospect’s perception of supply and demand - now this is the one that matters most.  And, again Jobs gets this.  Do you think it a coincidence that he is quoted in the Wall Street Journal the week before the release stating that he won’t be surprised if the demand for the iPhone outweighs the supply?   Of course, it is no coincidence.

The question for you is what are you doing to foster the perception in your prospect’s minds that the demand for you outweighs the supply of you?  And, to be clear I am not suggesting you lie or deceive your prospective clients.  I am suggesting that you cultivate a particular perception.   I will get into this in much more detail in the e-book I am working on regarding Premium Pricing (there’s a hint right there about one way to cultivate that perception).  That e-book (ok, book is being generous-it’s really a report) will be ready in about a week.  I’ll post to the blog when it’s available in the resources tab.

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