It’s sad to see smart lawyers fall for foolish marketing schemes.
Ones like the scheme used by the Gnomes in this episode of South Park.
The Gnome “Underpants Scheme”
Their business scheme is simple and completely stupid. Here are the 3 steps:
- Collect underpants
- ???
- Reap profit
The Gnomes admit they haven’t figured out step #2, but they don’t think it’s important. Obviously, this is why the scheme is so stupid.
The second phase is the crucial part, right?
Stupid Lawyer Marketing
In the case of stupid lawyer marketing, the scheme looks like this:
- Get the attention of a bunch of prospective clients
- ???
- Answer the phone when it rings and sign up new prospects as fast as you can
In other words, the whole scheme is premised on getting people’s attention and nothing else.
Attention-Getting
There are lots of ways to get people’s attention. Maybe that’s why so many self-proclaimed “marketing experts” focus 100% on this part of the scheme.
They proclaim lawyers need to buy ads from Facebook or Google.
Or they tell lawyers they need to “implement aggressive search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to stand out from the pack and convert searchers into new leads.”
That last paragraph is verbatim from the website of a company that proclaims expertise in legal marketing.
*sigh*
Do you know what you never see them talking about?
Step 2
If these ”experts” truly understood what it takes to attract and sign up quality prospects they’d focus more on…
The Missing Step
Just think about this for two minutes.
After you get a prospect’s attention, wouldn’t it make sense to create some rapport?
And then maybe work on building up some trust?
Doesn’t that seem pretty important?
Is it realistic to think that high-quality prospects are all going to go from seeing an ad to immediateLy calling the attorney?
(i.e. completely skipping over step #2?)
Yeah, the flaw in the scheme is obvious once you stop and think about it.
Unfortunately, not enough lawyers do.
Look here’s the bottom line: too many marketing “experts” are just plain foolish.
But that doesn’t mean you have to be.
Unless, somehow, the Gnome Underpants Scheme makes sense to you.
General Resources
- Check out my Inner Circle (to participate in ongoing discussions about tech tools I discuss and recommend)
- Check out this Law-Tech Assessment if you want specific recommendations for improving based on the technology you’re using in your practice
- Click for a list of the Best Tech Tools for Lawyers
- Subscribe to: The 80/20 Principle newsletter (it’s free)
Discover how to transform your law practice with the 5 Tech Pillars.
