There is a wrong notion harbored by all small law firms that they need to spend a fortune on advertising to be effective in marketing, but this is far from the truth. With a little bit of diligence and imagination, a small law firm can successfully implement good marketing strategies even if they don’t have any in-house professional marketers. Many law firms may fret that without money these strategies will fall flat. The reality is money is not a problem when it comes to marketing for small law firms. The firms can simply imitate the marketing programs of larger firms without paying for the infrastructure.
Don’t ignore the natural network
Each firm has a set network of people who can be trusted. You need to call everyone on this network – friends, relatives and business associates. You should inform them about your venture and the kind of services that you provide. The main purpose of these calls would be to convince people to come to you first with their legal work. But if you are unable to handle the work then you can refer it to another attorney and hope that he will refer someone to you in the near future.
Get in touch with the local media
There are many news items on the TV and local newspapers that are within your expertise. The newspaper editor is always on the lookout for an expert to comment on certain topics, the news stories that come up with a quote are liked by all audience. You can fax or mail a press release every month to the local editors who are interested in relevant stories. You must include your business card with such mails where your contact information is clearly visible.
Write a lot
In order to take control of the target market, you must write articles for those magazines that cover your niche areas. Trade magazines always welcome good articles and they will publish those with bylines and your contact information. Obviously, you should not expect overnight results but it will have the desired effects if the prospective clients keep seeing your name and contact information.
Speak for free
There are hundreds of trade associations in every genre of the market and each holds an annual event. Your job will be to set up a good Press kit and send it along with a letter wherein you can express your desire to speak at similar events in the future. Though only some of the groups will pay you a fee, the real concern should not be the remuneration but how many people you are able to reach through these events. You can even mail to those persons who attended your event and email them slides from your presentation to increase contacts with them.
Organize education events
Educational events will always lead to the generation of new clients. This is a good strategy to leverage your expertise in front of as many people as possible. There are many established businesses that will be too happy to host and promote such events. This is a golden chance to get all the decision-makers in a room at the same time; however, this requires a great deal of networking and relationship building.
Contrary to popular belief, marketing a small firm should not make you poorer by any means. It is not a tough task but it does require some degree of creativity and a small investment to meet up with your first clients. There is every chance that you will market your small law firm for less than $500 only.