If you want to stand out in your field and attract more and better clients, being an attorney isn’t enough.
There are too many of us and we all look alike.
The good news is that it isn’t especially difficult to help the world see you as an expert in your field or niche.
Here are 3 ways to do that:
- Specialize.
Prospective clients and the people who refer them prefer lawyers who specialize. They see specialists as having more knowledge and experience, greater capabilities. They see less risk in hiring you or referring clients to you versus other attorneys. And, specialists can charge more than attorneys who don’t specialize.
You can specialize in your practice area and in the types of clients or cases you represent.
- Educate the market.
Make sure your website provides lots of information about your field–issues, problems, risks, time lines, and available solutions, especially the ones you provide.
Write about your target market’s world–news about their industry or local market, prominent people in that market, and other matters that would interest the people in your niche.
Tell people why you’re different or better than other attorneys in your field.
Continue to educate the market via articles you publish on authority sites, in your presentations, in interviews, and in your newsletter.
- Social proof.
Your bio should confirm your authority status. It should cite articles by or about you, note your speaking engagements, describe awards you’ve received, and detail other distinctions–e.g., Judge Pro Tem, Arbitrator, clerkships, CLE classes, former industry jobs, etc.
Other forms of social proof include testimonials, client reviews, and endorsements by influential people.
It also helps to network with other authorities.
Finally, if you wrote a book, mention this–everywhere. Authors are, by definition, authorities. And if you haven’t written a book, start. Not only can it build your authority, it can also attract a lot of prospective clients to your door.
For more ways to assert your authority and build your reputation, see The Attorney Marketing Formula.
