We are in the final quarter of 2012. How has your business been so far? Are you on track to achieve your legal marketing goals? It’s time to refocus on how you will achieve your law practice income and client development goals for the year.
- Take an honest look at where you are now. Are you on track? Have you been following your marketing plan faithfully and putting in the time you committed to yourself for marketing your law practice? If you are not where you want to be, you are not alone. Often lawyers fall off of the marketing wagon. Summer doesn’t help with family vacations, clients and prospective clients being out of the office.
- Take a careful look at your 2012 Marketing Plan. Being objective, determine where you achieved your goals and where you did not. Don’t beat yourself up, it doesn’t help and is an energy drain. What worked? Great, stay on track with that. What didn’t work and why not? Was it a change in the legal market, an internal law firm issue or something else out of your control? It’s not your fault. Was it a miscalculation; perhaps using a marketing method that didn’t fit with your personality or focusing on a practice area that wasn’t right for you? Don’t blame yourself, you’re not perfect. You have made progress; now you know what doesn’t work.
- Make the necessary changes to your Marketing Plan. You still have time to achieve your goals but you need to concentrate on the next three months. Where can you get the biggest return on the time you are investing in your legal marketing? After allocating time for continuing with what has been working (should you increase your effort in those areas?), determine the amount of time you have left in your marketing time budget. Next, revise your marketing plan being specific about the new actions you will take, the marketing tools you will use and the timeline to follow. Remember, the holiday season is gold for marketing person-to-person. Be sure to leave time for connecting with current and prospective clients socially. The holidays give you a great reason for making contact with prospects when you might feel uncomfortable otherwise.
- Invest the Time. You should have a Marketing Time Budget. Commit to yourself that you will spend at least that minimum amount of time per week implementing your marketing plan. Even a less than stellar marketing plan followed consistently usually outperforms a great marketing plan implemented inconsistently. If you are having trouble staying focused, remind yourself that this push is only for three months; you will think about next year’s marketing next year. Imagine how great you will feel going into the holidays knowing that you put in the effort and did your best.
Just do it. Be honest about where you are now, make the necessary changes to your marketing plan, invest the time and 2012 will turn out to be a excellent year for your law practice.
Have a Great Practice!
Daniel Roberts
Professional Lawyer Coach
