One school of thought about building a successful business or practice is to find a successful business that does what you do (or want to do) and copy them.
Not literally, of course. You couldn’t do that even if you wanted to. Your practice will be as individual as you are, even if you have the same practice areas, target the same markets, and deliver the same caliber of service.
You are unique. So is your practice.
So don’t worry about being a copycat or being accused of stealing ideas. Your implementation of those ideas will differentiate you.
What I’m suggesting is that you don’t need to do something nobody else does. Do what others do but do them differently.
If there is a lot of competition in your market, that’s good. It means others are making money. When your town is littered with personal injury attorneys, your TV and radio airwaves are filled with ads from other PI attorneys, if the cost-per-click of advertising is insanely high, these are signs of a healthy market.
You can get a share of that market.
One way you can compete is to use different marketing channels and techniques. When everyone else is advertising, you focus on referrals. When everyone else proclaims their success in getting big verdicts and settlements, you focus your message on the types of people you’ve helped and problems you’ve solved.
Instead of touting that you handle “injuries,” you can differentiate yourself by emphasizing your experience in representing victims of one type of injury, one type of tort, or one type of client. In other words, niching what you do.
You can also differentiate yourself with your ads or marketing message. Talk about a benefit you deliver that all attorneys in your practice area deliver but don’t talk about. A USP (Unique Selling Proposition), is yours to own if you are the first or the only one claiming it.
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Copy what successful lawyers are doing. Just do it a little differently.
More ways to differentiate your practice from the competition, here
