Effective Marketing Principles

Understanding The Effective Marketing Principles

A lawyer in my Law Firm Autopilot Facebook group recently mentioned that he was looking for ways to increase his “leads and business revenue.”

And he went on to provide more detail about his situation:

“I’ve felt handicapped by my lack of finances to pay for xoutside marketing help. I have become committed to doing the marketing (website design, Facebook, Twitter posts) myself but struggle with the patience to see that the small steps that I am making will increase my leads, revenue and opportunity to grow my practice.” (emphasis added)

This statement, to me, epitomizes a common lament of small firm lawyers.

Let me restate the elements of the problem.

Lawyer doesn’t have enough new cases coming in
Lawyer needs help with marketing, but can’t afford to pay for help
Lawyer does as much as possible on their own, but…
Lawyer still doesn’t see meaningful results
Lawyer feels stuck and anxious

This is the “classic marketing problem” of every small business, not just lawyers.

Did you know that?

Does it make you feel better to know that every small business has the same problem?

Well, here’s why it should.

If EVERY small business has this SAME problem then, surely, some folks out there have solved this common problem in a way that you can piggyback off of, right?

And so guess what?

Some folks HAVE solved this classic small firm marketing problem.

It’s the solution to this lament:

Why are you working harder and not seeing more money?

The short answer is because you’re either (1) not doing anything to market your practice, or (2) you’re listening to the wrong people.

I’m guessing it’s #2.

Here are the signs that your problems stem from listening to the wrong people:

You’ve spent serious money on ads that didn’t work, Pay-Per-Click campaigns that under-delivered, and a host of other approaches that didn’t deliver results you were promised or expected.

Well, that’s how I felt at one point so I understand.

But then I discovered the right people who could help me understand the solid, proven marketing principles that finally led to success.

And when I say “success” I mean jaw-dropping success.

One of the main people I discovered was Dan Kennedy, who has helped every different kind of business owner including lawyers.

Kennedy has a bunch of books (I’ve read them all) and many online courses (I’ve bought several) and he used to run annual conferences (I’ve attended one).

I’ve read dozens of other books, taken other online courses and attended other conferences to learn all the ins and outs of proper marketing for small businesses.

I was skeptical that Dan Kennedy was truly the answer.

That’s why I did all the cross-checking.

But in the end I realized that what Dan wrote on page 2 of his Magnetic Marketing book is 100% true:

“Marketing is an ever-changing world, as new media seems to pop up every day, but once you learn the principles that allow you to magnetically attract clients, you can make any media work.”

Note that key word: “principles.”

The right people can help you understand the foundational principles of effective marketing.

What happens when you abide by these principles? I’ll let Kennedy explain (again, from page 2 of the aforementioned book):

“When you develop a system that feeds you new clients on a daily basis, you will never feel the anxiety of wondering when or where your next client will come from! In fact, you can finally take a vacation without checking the phone every hour.”

Note the key word: “system.”

Finding The Right Guidance In Effective Marketing Principles

I’ve discussed the importance of systems many times.

Systems are a key part of my LawFirm Autopilot course.

But if you want better clients then you need to focus on developing a good marketing system.

That’s what my other course is about: Effective Marketing for Lawyers.

And marketing systems are a key part of my Co-Pilot coaching program. In fact, I’ll be teaching an important element of online marketing this Thursday to folks in the Co-Pilot program.

The bottom line is this: you can’t create a solid marketing system overnight. But you can start building that solid system TODAY, and then start getting great results in a few months, or at most maybe a year to a year-and-a-half.

Your optimal system might depend on what kind of law you practice, where you practice and how much competition you have right now.

But I’ll tell you this. Not having a system, or following the advice of the wrong people will pretty much ensure you experience the lament of the lawyer I told you about at the top of this email.

Without the right approach, you will spend months wasting valuable time doing a lot of things that don’t work well in the end.

So here’s my blunt advice if you have serious marketing problems.

Learn the proper principles and start implementing tactics that abide by those principles, or…keep suffering.

I’m guessing you’d rather avoid the suffering.

Right?

If you aren’t interested in checking out my Effective Marketing course then at least get yourself a copy of Dan Kennedy’s Magnetic Marketing book.

After all the books, courses, and conferences I’ve found, this best encapsulates the key principles that small business owners need to become familiar with.