Nothing Says Success Like….
This post is not about how you need to spend a lot of money on marketing but rather on some of the things that many attorneys (and other professionals) do that scare off clients, or don’t exactly help your brand.
First things first- your email account:
Nothing says success like having an email account such as JDoe@aol.com. Can you not afford an email account for your business? AOL and other personal email account addresses are fine…for personal email, but not for creating a successful impression of your law firm. Getting a dedicated email account for your law firm is easy, and you don’t have to be an IT wizard to implement it.
Next thing – what about your business cards?
Do they look like professional business cards? Do they have a logo? Is your website listed? Or do your cards look like you designed them yourself and printed them on your laser printer? Whether in the hands of a potential client or business partner, business cards can either make a powerful impression or make no impression at all. Invest in business cards that stand out. Also remember that people often want to research. Make sure you put your web address on the business card.
Is your website old?
Just having a website may have been enough 5 years ago. This isn’t the case anymore. Most people are web savvy and daily website usage is common for most of your prospective clients and partners. An old, dated, or sparse site sends the wrong impression.
Spelling & grammatical errors.
You can’t have them in any marketing materials. I’ve seen websites where the attorney’s name was misspelled. I’ve seen holiday cards where the holiday itself was misspelled. The reality is that having spelling errors on your website says that you aren’t detailed oriented – a big problem for a lawyer. If you have someone else (a paralegal, an associate, or a marketing firm write your copy) – read it critically.
Satellite offices. An obvious growth strategy is to expand geographically, and an easy and low cost way to do so is to open an “Intelligent Office” or “Executive Office” in the target location. While doing so may help you expand your reach, meeting a prospective client at your satellite office doesn’t necessarily instill confidence.
Obviously, we all do many things that don’t necessarily create a favorable impression on our prospective clients. Try to look at things from the perspective of your target audience. You only have one opportunity to make a first impression.