This might be hard to believe, but some lawyers know things you don’t know. They may do things you’re not doing, or doing them better, and you can learn a lot by studying them.

You can get ideas for blog posts and other content by consuming theirs, for example. See what topics they’re talking about, especially if those topics are getting a lot of comments and shares, and write about those topics yourself.

Dissect their website. Sign up for their newsletter. Review their advertising, presentations, and offers. See what they’re doing to market or manage their practice.

They don’t have to be super successful lawyers with lots of experience. Just lawyers doing something right. In fact, you’ll probably learn more from someone at your “level” of experience, or a step or two ahead, than someone who is “killing it” in your field.

As C.S. Lewis said, “The fellow pupil can help more than the master because he knows less. The difficulty we want him to explain is one he has recently met. The expert met it so long ago he has forgotten.”

So, information and ideas is the first reason to study other lawyers. The second reason is to find lawyers who might be open to a marketing alliance with you. Someone who will interview you for their newsletter or podcast, for example, while you interview them for yours.

You can share strategies and resources, critique each other’s content, and promote each other’s practice. Help them get what they want and they’ll help you do the same.

Which leads to the third reason to study other lawyers—to find out what NOT to do.

Some lawyers are great at marketing. Most aren’t.

You almost can’t go wrong studying what “most” lawyers are doing and doing the opposite.

How to set up marketing alliances with other lawyers