Let’s say you want to grow your practice so you ask yourself, “What can I do right now to move my practice forward?”

You have many options.

You could. . .

• Contact old clients (stimulate repeat business and referrals)
• Start an email newsletter
• Write a blog post
• Run some ads
• Create a new lead magnet
• Talk to other professionals about doing a cross-promotion
• Work on a new presentation
• Find some (online) networking opportunities

And so on.

Which do you choose?

Choose the right option(s) and you might quickly get more leads and inquiries, speak to several prospective clients, or meet someone who is willing and able to send you referrals.

Choose poorly and you may waste a lot of time and money.

Yes, there is value in trying lots of things–to see what works, and what works better, to see what you like and are good at, and what turns your stomach, to see what you can scale and what is likely to work only once or twice.

Try everything, and keep trying until you find what’s best.

But there’s something else you can do. You can ask yourself another question:

“What should I NOT do right now to move my practice forward?”

This can actually be a more valuable question to answer, because it can help you avoid making mistakes or overwhelming yourself with too much to learn and too much to do.

Knowing what not to do can save you a lot of time.

To answer the second question, look at what most lawyers in your field are doing to build their practice and. . . do the opposite.

Most lawyers, even successful ones, don’t get marketing right. They might be successful because they’ve been at it for a very long time. They might have contacts who give them an edge. They might have gotten lucky. And they might have no idea how they did it.

So don’t take what you see at face value.

Some lawyers are very good at marketing, however. When you find them, study them, reverse engineer what they did, and if they’ll talk to you, try to get the complete story.

You could also hire someone who knows what they’re doing and ask them to tell you what NOT to do.

“Start with this ONE THING. . .” or “Don’t waste your time with that right now, do THIS instead. . .”

It can help cut through the clutter and give you the direction and clarity you crave.

You may already know what to do, and what not to do. Sometimes, it helps to get a second opinion.

If you don’t know, talk to someone who does.

If you’d like to talk to me, contact me here