Technology has given us many more options for marketing our professional services. In the “old” days (i.e., thirty years ago), we networked with other professionals, did some public speaking and wrote the occasional article. Some of us took out ads in the yellow pages. Mostly, we relied on our clients to refer other clients.
Today, we have the Internet. The wonders of hi-tech. Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Goggle+, LinkedIn, and, as of about ten minutes ago, Pinterest. And let’s not forget our blogs. And webinars. Landing pages, pay-per-click, and SEO. Mobile and local.
It’s enough to make your head spin.
How on earth can anyone be expected to keep up with all of this and, oh yeah, still have time to practice law. And have a life.
Many lawyers give up. “It’s too much to learn and too much to do and I don’t have time for any of it.”
Don’t be that guy.
I agree, it is too much to keep up with all of this and I write and teach marketing. And I no longer practice law. But while it’s too much to keep up with everything, this doesn’t mean you should keep up with nothing. The world has changed and it’s never going to go back to the way it was and all of us need to keep up or we will get left behind.
Choose one thing and do that. If that’s all you have time to do, fine. You’ll get better and it will get easier. Eventually, you can add something else to your marketing mix.
The big problem with social media/Internet marketing isn’t just that it’s complicated, ever-changing, and time consuming. The big problem is that for many, it can become a crutch. Hi-tech, no matter how adept we are at using it, can never replace the essence of marketing professional services: high-touch.
Press the flesh. Pick up the phone and talk to someone. Go have coffee. Without human interaction, marketing doesn’t “take”. You can get people to pay attention to your ad or your blog, Like or follow you, but that’s only the beginning. It’s up to you to reach out and create relationships. And you already know how to do that.
I got a lot of thank you’s from the free consultations I did a couple of weeks ago. One of those thank you’s stands out and will be remembered. It’s the hand-written note I got in the mail.
