In today's market, operating a law firm is rewarding and, at the same time, punishing. Aside from staying infallible and error-free, you have to deal with increasingly demanding clients. You will find that all the things you learned in law school did not fully prepare you for the big bad world.

The main concern among lawyers and law firms is finding clients, a situation that is further aggravated by the unstable state of the economy. Some law firms and attorneys are naturally adept at finding clients, but that is by and large the exception to the rule. 

Marketing keeps on evolving, its reach continuously broadening. It takes years and years to get you from a young and wide-eyed law student on your first day in law school to the lawyer with a legal practice that you are now. You might not have spent as much time when studying marketing, but you will find that it is still taxing and nerve-wracking. 

You can get marketing tips for your legal practice from a variety of mediocre to excellent websites online. Let me steer you clear from the major pitfalls that pull down many law firms and attorneys. No one is safe from these mistakes; I have seen even the best lawyers and law firms succumb to them.

Not Focusing on a Particular Practice Area or Client-Type : By far, the biggest pitfall I see in law firm marketing is trying to market and/or advertise for every possible practice area and for every possible type of client. Take the case of a client in need of legal assistance regarding tenancy issues. He hears about this law firm that pretty much does everything - from tax laws, intellectual property rights, injury law, to landlord-tenant issues. Then he hears about this other firm who specialize solely on landlord-tenant matters. It is highly likely that the prospective client will approach the law firm who concentrates on landlord-tenant matters, since they are experts on the issue that he specifically needs help on. Your law firm's marketing strategy should recognize this client consideration. 

Having more than one type of marketing : Not every type of marketing works for every law firm or lawyer, but they generally do. Television, print ads, online advertising, search engine optimization, billboards, and many other types of marketing all have loads of potential. Be warned though. If you try all of them, you will fail all of them. There is no marketing medium that is easy. They all take time and energy to learn and refine. Choose the medium that works best for you and concentrate all your effort and time in making it work. Afterwards, you can move to another one. 

Lack of Monitoring and Control : I am but one of the many consultancy and marketing firms that provide topnotch services. There are also many consultancy firms whose marketing services leave a lot to be desired. All firms, even the best ones, recognize the importance of feedback from the clients. They need to communicate with you to figure out how things are going and whether what they're doing is working for you or if you want to change directions. Constant monitoring and vigilance is required, even with the best marketing consultants working on your campaign. 

Marketing a law firm can swing both ways: it can be greatly beneficial to you, or it could make you bleed cash. To avoid the latter, do it right.

Many of the most popular television shows of the past couple decades have focused on the lives and practices of attorneys. Although the reality is not as stimulating or glamorous as these shows make it out to be, the practice of law still has its share of excitement and thrills. The reasons for the changes in attorney marketing were discussed at length in the previous post. In this post, let us talk about why, although it is a bad thing, it should still be paid some attention.

The downside to recent changes in the legal industry are that legal services have largely become a commodity. This isn't to say that some legal practitioners are better than the others, but picking out the good service providers from a sea of lawyers is now becoming very tricky. This is due to a lot of reasons that I would not dwell on for it would only be a waste of time. The real issue here is what it means for the legal practitioners.

By way of an analogy, let us look at fuel and food, two of the prime commodities in the world. Oil and gas, as well as grain and corn are largely indistinguishable to most consumers. Why should you worry about which gas station to get your car filled when there are other, more important things to consider, such as the gas price? At the rate things are going for the legal profession, this might very well be the fate it will eventually be faced with. 

Once clients are no longer able to discern one lawyer from another, all they will care about is the price of the services. At that point, it becomes a race to the bottom, as every attorney and law firm simply offers slightly cheaper prices to lure in clients. I'm not saying that service differentiation in the legal industry would disappear, but the lines sure are getting blurry now.

What can you do about this? You probably can't do very much about the general trend, but you can start focusing more on your own marketing as soon as possible. Apply the principles of marketing and differentiate your practice from others. The voice of experience is always a good advertising tool, since prospective clients tend to rely on reviews and testimonials of others who have availed of a service they are also keen on. Steer more attention on your better results, showing them that you could do the same for them, too.

But the ball would not start rolling unless you throw your name out there to be heard and recognized by your target market. You can resort to marketing online through your personal website, or through advertising in newspapers and magazines. It doesn't really matter which, as long as people will get to hear of you. Even in a commodity market, name can make a huge difference. If you market yourself and your legal practice, you would be helping the client distinguish between your legal services and some random lawyer who offers the same services you do.