#238: My Top 5 Legal Marketing Tips

[00:01:18] Welcome to Life & Law. This is your host, Heather Moulder. And today, we're going to get into my top five legal marketing tips that will help you really uplevel your legal marketing. But not just up level it in the traditional way. We're talking about how to do it uniquely as you. Okay, so we're just going to dive right in today.

Legal marketing tip #1: Know Your Strengths

[00:01:46] Look, each individual has their own individual strengths that nobody else has. And even if you have a strength that is similar to somebody else, you do it uniquely as you. So, strengths are really important. And the reason they're so important is: number one, you need to understand what they are so that you can pick the right strategies, play to your strengths. This is going to help attract more people to you. Especially like-minded people, people who really prefer your strengths, who want somebody like you to represent them.

It is also going to help motivate you. So, strengths are not the same thing as skills. I'm just going to say that they can be skills, but there's really more to it than that because strengths are things that you do incredibly well, that you're more naturally good at, and that you truly do enjoy.

Strengths are what make you shine. They are part of the why you. Why people would want to pick you. And just understand that not everybody is going to value your strengths. Which is okay.

When you highlight your strengths, you announce to the world and showcase to the world "This is how I show up. This is how I lawyer. This is a part of what I do.: And you showcase it so clearly. When you understand what your strengths are, and you utilize them within your strategies and also showcase them within the storytelling that you do, it makes sense. People who really value that listen up get interested. It makes them more likely to eventually hire you.

[00:03:27] So this is a big piece of the puzzle to why you, which I actually got into in a past episode a couple of years ago. So if you haven't listened to that one, I highly recommend it. After you listen to today's, I would recommend you go back and listen to it. I will put a link into the show notes. So let me give you a couple of examples of how this works and why this is so important.

Let's say that you're a very strong communicator. Well, what kind of communication? Okay. We all like to say, oh, we want to be a strong communicator. We are a strong communicator. Written or verbally, most of us are better at one than the other. So which one is it? Depending on what you say, you could prefer a legal marketing strategy of writing or speaking.

[00:04:10] And you also may need to understand, like, how do you communicate? There are certain styles of communication that come into play, so understand what those are because you want to showcase them in the type of writing and or speaking that you are doing.

So this gets to the strategies that you're using, but then it also gets to the stories you tell. So I had a whole podcast on storytelling, y'all. That's another one. If you haven't listened to that, you're gonna want to go back and listen to it after today.

Because when you tell stories, it showcases very naturally how you show up for your clients, your way of lawyering, your way of thinking, and really, it showcases your strengths very, very naturally. So let's say that, like me, you're really good at breaking down what seems really complex and convoluted into very simple terms.

[00:05:03] Well, you want to make sure you showcase that through the stories that you tell. And regardless of whether you're writing on LinkedIn, writing articles, or even speaking, this is a piece of that strength of that communication piece. So you want to make sure that in the stories that you're telling, it's showcasing that. Okay, so another example I used, I had a client once who was incredibly collaborative and a piece of her collaborative piece and the reason why she was so good at being collaborative she was really good at quickly identifying personality fits. So she knew how to put really great teams together.

And this was important for her because she was a bankruptcy attorney and she often led big bankruptcy cases and she wanted to have the right people based on the issues that were at play and also the clients themselves and the culture of the clients.

So something that she did is she made that very clear in the stories that she told and she would talk about, okay, there were these issues and I know this person has this, you know, skill set, skill set. And they're really good with people in this way. So they came onto the team to do X. And then she would make it very clear when she told stories about why she put the pieces together that she did. This was a strength of hers. It was something that was wanted by her clients and she knew how to utilize it for her benefit, for her clients benefit. And then she knew how to tell stories around it.

[00:06:30] Let's say you're really creative. This is another one like, and especially your creativity comes into how you brainstorm sticky issues or the legal strategies that use you use in cases or in how you structure deals. Make sure you highlight this in the stories you tell when speaking or when writing. This is what I'm talking about. You have specific strengths. You have ways that you do things, ways that you think. Thinking and style of thinking can be a strength.

You want to make sure you highlight those things.

How To Identify Your Strengths

Now, how do you identify your strengths if you're not quite sure what they are?

[00:07:11] Number one, take some time to self-reflect. Think about the types of things you normally enjoy and excel at. Consider the times in your life when you felt particularly proud or accomplished. What was it that helped you to accomplish that thing? What skills and strengths and talents did you utilize?

And then ask yourself, well, why do people come to me again and again? Everybody has that. What qualities have helped you most to help others? Why are they coming to you? Why are they seeking you out?

These are strengths. So take 15 to 20 minutes to just brainstorm that. Now don't stop there because we're often really bad about truly understanding our strengths. We might kind of identify with them, but we don't tend to be as insightful around how we utilize them best. And honestly, we often glaze over them and think they're not as good as they are.

[00:08:12] So the second thing you would do is get feedback from others. Go to family, go to friends, go to trusted peers and mentors. You want to do this both on the legal side and on the personal side because you're Going to find that your strengths show up in both and you want to see the themes. Okay.

Other people see things that you might not realize and they can go deeper and they can tell you exactly how you utilize these strengths best. So go get feedback from other people and then the next thing that I highly recommend is maybe use a self-assessment tool of some sort. My favorite is StrengthsFinder. I think it's really a great tool in order to help you clearly identify what your strengths are and how you can utilize them within your day to day work and then also within your marketing activities.

[00:09:01] But there are also some others. The VIA survey of Character Strengths, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. There are a lot of different tools out there. Find the one that you feel most inclined to take if you haven't taken one, and go take it.

Okay, so number one was know your strengths so that you can utilize them in the strategies that you pick and then also highlight them in the stories that you tell.

Tip #2: Play to Your Personality

So, are you introverted? Are you extroverted? Are you something more in between? What feels good and authentic to you in the marketing that you're doing and how you choose to show up? Are you service first? Most of us lawyers really are. So how can you serve as opposed to just selling?

[00:09:51] And then how can you also lean into your natural curiosity? We are all, we all start out pretty naturally curious. Most of us lawyers are pretty curious when we go to law school. Something beats it out of us as we go on in life. And when we get older, we get less and less curious. Get back to your natural curiosity. What are you most curious about? How would you ask those questions? Utilize that when you're networking. Take into account also your natural interests. Okay, so what are you interested in? What do you like doing? How can you incorporate that into the networking activities that you do?

[00:10:30] So for me, I used to do a lot more individual or small group type things. So I love to cook and I love to talk cooking. I also love sports and I love to talk sports. So I would talk about those things with my clients and I would note the people who are most interested in the same and similar types of things as me. And I would invite them over for dinner parties and, you know, introduce them to others who they might also like because they have similar interests. I networked on a much more personal basis than a lot of the lawyers I've known.

And it doesn't mean you have to do this. FYI, this was me. This is what worked for me. I incorporated my husband into it. My kids, my clients, their spouses, their kids. It was very family-oriented because I'm a family-oriented person. So take into account your natural interests and the things that work for you and your family as well.

[00:11:31] And then don't say yes to non-fit people, industries, or client cultures. And this is something that not enough attorneys do like. You have a very specific personality. Make sure that the industry you're within and the clients, the culture of your clients that you're choosing to say yes to fit with your personality, i.e., your values, what you deem to be important, what you care about. If they're not a fit, they're not going to be clients that you enjoy representing. And unfortunately, the more non-fit clients you get, the more likely you are to get more and more non fit clients. And this is how lawyers end up incredibly unhappy. So say no to those folks. Say yes to the people who are fit based on who you are. Okay.

And a quick note about introverted versus extroverted. I noted this in a recent, I think it was last week's podcast, actually, and I'm going to note it here again.

[00:12:26] You can network in a lot of different ways. If you're more introverted, you don't have to only go to big events. You can go to smaller events. You can shrink rooms when you have to go to bigger events. I will post again some of those networking episodes that I've done on how to do that. For those of you who are introverted, there is a really like, you need to understand who you are and there's a way to play to your own personality. You can still network and you can network incredibly effectively. Just understand these things and play to those things. Okay? So number one is know your strengths so that you can leverage them. Number two, play to your personality.

Legal Marketing Tip #3: Understand What Legal Marketing Actually Is

So it's not about selling yourself, it's really about serving first and then asking when it makes sense.

[00:13:20] So when it comes to branding, I think a lot of us think that marketing is fake. We're out there trying to sell a persona. No, you want to create an authentic brand. You want to appeal to people who fit you. And by the way, the things I've already talked about, showcasing and understanding your strengths, understanding your personality, and building a practice that actually fits it. Go into this, make sure you're showcasing these things incredibly well in whatever marketing that you're doing.

Because the fact is you want to show up in your marketing the way you show up with your clients, and you want to show up with your clients as you. Right? Because that's your day-to-day. So be that person.

[00:14:06] Don't be afraid to show how you lawyer, how you think, how you structure, how you do things on a day-to-day basis within your marketing. Get a little deeper and showcase those things. And it's okay if not everybody agrees with you. The biggest pushback I get from people on this issue is but what if I write about something on LinkedIn and show my framework for how I do this and people in the comments don't agree with me? Okay, that's fine. They're not your people. And it could be a lawyer who's trying to showcase they're a little bit different than you so that they can show people, hey, I have another way. And yeah, some people are going to fit your way, but some people are going to fit my way. That's totally okay. You only want to attract the right fit clients. Remember that this is how to create an authentic brand to feel, to show up as yourself, feel yourself and have congruence with between your marketing, your sales and your actual representation of your clients. It's very you based.

[00:15:08] And remember, marketing is really just about know like trust. And it's not a fake know like trust, it's real know like trust. You want to be that person that builds credibility, shows who you help and how you help them and does it in a way that builds trust because it's showing you as you how you show up in your every day.

Finally understand that legal marketing is about planting seeds for the future.

[00:15:35] Yes, legal marketing sells to some extent, but you're not there making a hard sell. You're really just there to authentically show up, create that know like trust and plant seeds so that when people have something that they could hire you for, they start to think of you.

If they're a right fit, of course. All right, so that was tip number three.

Legal Marketing Tip #4: At Least Initially, Do One Main Thing

[00:16:07] You do not need to do all the things. Would you prefer to write or speak? Pick one. Where will you write? Are you going to write articles and submit them to third-party publications that make sense for you? Are you going to write for one place because they would like you to? Are you going to write on LinkedIn?

Where are you going to speak? Conferences, local events, national events, or podcasts? There are a lot of ways to do these things.

[00:16:39] Start with one main thing. This is a big mistake. A lot of my clients who come to me have made in the Ppst that we have to nip in the bud. Everybody wants to do what's working for everybody else. The problem is that the same things don't work for everyone. And also, there is only so much time in the day and you are one person.

So you need to start with one main thing that plays to your personality, that builds upon your strengths, that actually fits within your calendar based on what your life is like right now, your life and your practice.

Start with one main thing. It's what will build credibility. Because what happens is if we try to do too many things is we can't stay consistent. And consistency is key.

[00:17:24] So get good at that one thing, build a process around it, have a system, make it a part of your every day, your every week, however you are setting it up, get good at it, do it regularly and then if you just choose and have time for something else, you can add. But the other thing is you have to be consistent over time to actually see results and to be able to measure what is and is not working, what's resonating, what's not resonating.

[00:17:54] So get really good at one main thing, stay consistent with it for a while. And let me just say consistency is not a one or two-month thing. I'm talking six, eight, 12 months.

And it doesn't mean you do nothing. I said do one main thing. So let's say you mostly want to write on LinkedIn, great.

But somebody reaches out to you four months in and wants you to speak. If you can fit it in, wonderful. Do that. But speaking is not your main thing. You're going to keep writing on LinkedIn, you're going to mention that you spoke. Maybe somebody will ask you again in the future. You get to choose at that time if that works for you or not. Do one main thing consistently.

You can always build from there, but I try to tell my clients the first six to eight months, you really need to get good at that one thing.

[00:18:40] It is what will tell you what you're best at. It is what will give you the best feedback of what is and is not resonating and working. And it's how you can better measure your results so that you can, when you choose to do that next thing, really get better ROI on it.

All right, final tip.

Tip #5: Be Human

Legal marketing tip number five, and this one is really hard for us lawyers. Be human, because guess what, it's actually more attractive. You do not have to know everything. You do not have to be everything to everyone. It is okay not to know something.

[00:19:15] Be willing to show that you're not perfect. Be willing to show that you don't know everything. Be willing to show that you want to learn, grow, be a better person.

This makes you more attractive. It also, when you really lean into this and accept that this is okay, it makes legal marketing more fun and much easier for us lawyers because we like to be perfectionists and we like to question ourselves and we like to pretend that somebody is going to read it and disagree with us and it's going to become a big thing. And oh my gosh, what if people think less of me? No, be human. It is more attractive. So let me give you a couple examples before I let you go.

[00:20:01] Let's say you've given a speech and you have a Q and A afterwards and somebody mentions something or asks a question that you actually haven't dealt with, it's okay to say, you know, I haven't come across that. How did that go? How exactly did you guys deal with that?

 It starts an actual conversation and then allows you to start applying your legal thinking skills and huh. Well, I haven't had a chance to look at that, but given what you're saying, I might have agreed with this or maybe I would have done this too. It allows you to have a back and forth. Don't be afraid of that. During Q&As like that.

[00:20:37] Let's say you're writing on LinkedIn and somebody comments and they comment in a way that showcases they do things a little bit differently. That's okay. Ask questions, start a conversation in that thread. Don't be afraid that what they're saying is different from what you've said. It's okay.

[00:21:02] You're not expected to agree with everybody. Other people aren't all expected to agree with you. This showcases that A, you're confident in yourself, B, you're open to new ways of thinking about actually is a good thing and it, it makes you look better when you do that. You're not expected to know everything, to be an expert at everything, to agree with everybody else. What you are expected is to be thoughtful and measured and to be willing to learn and grow.

Okay, so those were my top five legal marketing tips. The ones that I see again and again and again really be the skills that the best legal marketers, frankly the rainmakers, have.

[00:21:56] Start utilizing them, and you're going to see your marketing not just have better results, but you are going to feel a lot better about your marketing.

You are going to start enjoying marketing even a little bit, maybe a lot, and you're going to attract more of the right people so that you can build a book that you actually want and the life you want as well. All right, that's it for this week.

We will be back next week. Bye for now.