If Bruce Lee had practiced law he would have specialized in one practice area. Maybe a subset of one area.
Lee believed in being the best and never settled for good enough. And he knew that being the best requires focus, discipline, and a lot of hard work.
Lee said, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
I did a consultation with an attorney recently. He doesn’t have a general practice, but he doesn’t specialize either. We talked about the benefits of specializing. I ran down the list:
- More clients (because clients prefer to hire specialists)
- Higher fees (because clients are willing to pay specialists higher fees)
- More referrals (because other lawyers who won’t see you as a competitor)
- More effective marketing (because your message is more focused)
- Less work and overhead (because you only have to stay up to date in your practice area)
He said he’d like to specialize but he lives in a small town and there’s not enough work there for any one of the things he does.
“How far is the closest city?” I asked. “Thirty miles,” he said.
“How about opening a satellite office in the city?” I said. He should be able to find more than enough work in the practice area of his choosing.
He’d never thought of that.
Start slowly if you want. Find an attorney with a different practice area with a conference room or extra office you can use one or two days week to see clients. Let him use your office as a satellite for his practice.
If you’re not where you want to be in your career, take a step back and look at your situation with fresh eyes. You may see the answer, right there in front of you. If not, come talk to me.
Marketing is easier when you know The Formula
