They hire you. They pay you. They’re happy with your work. But they don’t talk to you again until they have another legal issue.

They have no reason to contact you, but you have a reason to contact them.

Building relationships with your clients is one of the best ways to bring in more clients and cases, increase your income, and expand your network, with less effort or expense than anything else you could do.

Want more referrals? Stay in touch with your clients. Want to know who they know (and could introduce you to)? Stay in touch with your clients.

Have you ever signed up a client, asked them who represented them on their previous case, but they couldn’t remember? They couldn’t remember because their previous attorney didn’t stay in touch with them after they completed their case.

I’ve signed up a lot of clients who would have gone back to their previous attorney if they had remembered their name.

But don’t just stay in touch with your clients, get to know them personally. Find out about their business and personal life. They’ll tell you what you can do to help them.

If you someone needs help with a tax matter, for example, you can send them information and refer them to a tax professional they can trust. If a client tells you their business is struggling, you could introduce them to people (customers, advisors, vendors) who can help.

Things you might not know if you just did the legal work and called it a day.

Is it worth taking your valuable time to do this? As someone who built a big practice primarily through repeat business and referrals, I would say it is.

No matter what kind of practice you have, you’re in the people business. If you want to get to know more people, get to know the ones you already know a little better.

The Attorney Marketing Formula

People associate value with price. So when you offer something free, like a report or a consultation, they might think it is has less value, or, with a consultation, nothing more than a sales pitch for your services.

If they do, they might decline your offer and never become a prospect. Or they might download your report information but, because it is free, either never get around to reading it or never taking it serious enough to take the next step.

Should you charge for these things instead?

Maybe.

If someone pays hundreds of dollars to consult with you, or even $10 for your book, they are more lkely to read or listen to your information or advice and are thus more likely to sign up as a client.

Paying makes them a better prospect because they pay attention and know more about their problem and your solutions. They also get a sense of what it would be like to have you as their attorney.

But there’s a tradeoff. Fewer people will buy your book than will download a free report. Fewer people will pay to talk to you than will avail themselves of a free consultation.

But maybe that’s a good thing.

You’ll have fewer prospects but probably sign up a higher percentage as paying clients. And those clients are likely to be better clients because they’ve already heard some of your advice and found it valuable enough to pay for more.

On the other hand, a much bigger list of prospects with whom you can stay in touch (via email, letters, social media, etc.) is a very cost-effective way to bring in a lot more business.

For most attorneys, especially those who target consumers and small business clients, I suggest giving away lots of free information and using it to build a list. Best bang for your buck.

I suggest you also write a book and sell it because being an author gives you a level of authority most attorneys don’t have (and you get paid for leads.)

Free consultations aren’t right for every practice. But if you’re in a competitive market where they are common, not only do you probably need to offer them to stay in the running, you should consider making your consultation much more valuable than what other lawyers offer, e.g., more time, more information, and other benefits (a free copy of your book, for example), and promoting the heck out of it.

Just some thoughts to make your life more complicated but also more remunerative.

We’ve all been asked this, haven’t we? What are our hobbies, outside interests, things we do when we’re not working?

We often minimize these while we’re building our practice because they take time away from our demanding career.

What if you didn’t have to do that? What if you could do both?

Even better, what if you could use your outside interests to help you build your practice?

You can. And you should.

Pick something that interests you. Something you would like to do more of.

Let’s say you like horses. Riding, showing, watching them race, reading Dick Francis novels, painting them, or anything else.

How on earth could any of that help you build your practice?

That’s simple.

A lot of other people like what you like and some of them need your services or know someone who do.

They might share your interest or they might be in a business or profession that works with, sells to, or advises people in that niche.

If you handle personal injury cases, wouldn’t it be great to represent horse lovers? You have something in common, and that commonality gives you a way to connect and possibly dominate that market.

If you handle business transactions, wouldn’t it be great to represent businesses related to the horse world? Trainers, breeders, feed companies, track owners, and so on?

And, don’t forget the professionals and influencers—the lawyers and accountants and brokers and bankers, the bloggers and authors, podcasters, and event organizers who target the horse world.

No matter what the niche, there are people in it who might hire you, refer you, or promote you. People who might interview on their podcast or book you as a speaker at their event. People who want to hear your story and introduce you to people they work with.

You speak their language. Understand them. And can (eventually) cite examples of things you’ve done and clients you’ve helped in that niche, giving you an advantage over lawyers who can’t.

Point taken?

Choose a niche that interests you. Get to know the people in it. And have fun while you build your practice.

This will help you choose your niche