Virginia Lawyers Weekly

One question I constantly grapple with is this: how can good lawyers, whose days are filled with constant interruptions, difficult staffing issues and demanding clients, become great marketers?

Most attorneys are very good at marketing when placed in the right situations. It’s getting them in the right situation that’s the problem. Initiating phone calls with referral sources can mean a game of phone tag, calendaring client development events or planning the basic logistics of marketing takes time, and as a rule, attorneys aren’t very good at the initiation phase of marketing.

Unfortunately, without someone to initiate and organize these first steps, most marketing efforts - no matter how well-intentioned - will never get off the ground. Large firms can rely upon highly paid marketing directors to support their client development efforts. But what about the budget-conscious practitioner from a small or moderate-sized firm who wants to build his or her practice?

Enter the marketing assistant.

The eager college student

When Mark Chinn, a successful family law attorney from Jackson, Miss., had difficulty finding time to market his practice, he sought change. That change came to him in the form of a young college student who was studying marketing at a local junior college.

For a number of months, Chinn had been listening to me promote the idea of leveraging himself by hiring a marketing assistant. Eventually he decided to take the leap.

Chinn noticed the difference immediately. Every morning, armed with a list of contacts, he had a short meeting with his new assistant to strategize, set up lunches and plan client development events. They also focused on placing articles about his firm in both local and statewide newspapers.

To accomplish this, they compiled a list of publications and created an e-mail group in their database system. Consequently, whenever something newsworthy happened in Chinn’s office, his marketing assistant could automatically distribute the news to the state or local press.

“She was so ambitious and proficient - any assignment I gave her came back to me ten-fold,” said Chinn.

The full-time assistant

Rick Law took a similar path to marketing success.

The estate-planning attorney from Aurora, Ill., was immediately impressed with the initiative and drive that Jonathan Johnson brought to his new position as a marketing assistant.

Formerly a manager at a title-insurance company, Johnson used his background in sales to revitalized Law’s marketing efforts.

“Attorneys can tend to be a little prickly or porcupiny in our attitudes,” Law admitted. “With my marketing assistant, there was a complete lack of that. It was very refreshing to me to see this outsider help implement some of my ideas, but also bring fresh new ideas for marketing my practice.”

Johnson recently created an event for Law’s top referral sources. Similar to a Spanish tapas dinner, the evening’s menu featured many small dishes instead of one main course.

“It was different, but the idea was received quite well,” said Law. “We limited it to our top referral sources, which fit perfectly with our clientele - mostly caregivers and nursing home professionals. Without my marketing assistant, this event would never have gotten off the ground.”

To leverage your marketing efforts with a marketing assistant, consider delegating a number of client development activities:

* Scheduling lunch / breakfast marketing meetings.

* Managing your database of clients and referral sources.

* Planning and managing parties, seminars and other group events.

* Building and managing a “Top Of Mind Awareness” program that includes newsletters, e-mails, birthday lists, to ensure you keep your name in front of key referral sources.

* Assisting in preparation for speaking engagements.

* Prompting you to write thank you notes.

* Delivering gifts and buying tickets for your referral sources.

* Prompting you into action when you stop marketing.

Hiring options

There are several ways for firms to employ a marketing assistant.

For $8 to $15 per hour, depending on your location, you can hire someone to work for you part-time, such as Mark Chinn’s college student. If you require more support, hire someone full-time, as Rick Law did, or draft one of your existing staff members to help.

I’m particularly fond of contracting with virtual marketing assistants. Consider this last option if you have limited office space or are not interested in hiring another employee. Since virtual marketing assistants work from their homes or remote office locations, a law firm doesn’t have to free up office space or include them on the payroll. The firm can specify how much time it needs on a weekly, monthly or per project basis. Virtual marketing assistants are paid $20 to $45 per hour, depending on their qualifications. I currently work with several virtual assistants who will work as little as 10 hours, or upwards of 80 hours per month, depending on my need for their services.

No matter how you set it up, this is an idea that works. We have identified the 21 most important marketing assets that a rainmaker must acquire to be successful, and I rate having a marketing assistant third overall in effectiveness.

In the words of Rick Law: “If you work with your marketing assistant to plan two or three marketing contacts a week, by the end of a year you’ll have made 100 to 150 marketing contacts. If that many marketing contacts a year won’t stimulate new business, nothing will!”

I couldn’t agree more. If you are too busy to initiate client development activities, don’t despair - delegate.

Quick Tips

•?Hire a young intern — preferably a college student with some experience in marketing — to rejuvenate your practice.

•?Meet with your new assistant frequently with several projects — it will be his or her job to “lighten your load” and help you market your practice.

•?“Newspapers are the single greatest source of public relations.” Study the content filling the pages of your local newspaper. Make contacts with the staff of the local paper, and regularly submit newsworthy articles to them.

•?Have your marketing assistant organize an event for your top referral sources. Determine these sources by listing all of your files ranked by fees — from highest to lowest — for the last year. Read through the list and attribute each case to a referral source. This exercise will point you to your top referrers.

Mark Powers is the president of Atticus, Inc., author of The Making of a Rainmaker: An Ethical Guide to Referral Marketing for Small and Solo Firms, and facilitates a marketing roundtable program for attorneys requiring a simple, focused approach to attract new clients. He can be reached at markatticusonline.com or by calling 352-383-0490. This article originally appeared in Lawyers USA, another Doaln Media publication.

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