It's not always best to do more! Sometimes doing less is better in the grand scheme

Do Less, But Better!

I think this was coined by Dieter Rams - heck of a name!

But whenever I say it in my head I picture it being said by Mike Whelan!

For those of you who don't know Mike...fix that NOW.  Mike wrote a great book on finding your place in the lawyer space and he's got a great facebook group called Lawyer Forward.

And whether he knows it or not, Mike has had as much or more to do with me finding my place as NOT a lawyer, than anyone who I didn't marry or start a business with.

You see, I fuck up...A LOT.  (My wife would agree).

But, what I have going for me is that I learn from (MOST) of my screw ups and tend not to make the same mistake twice - I instead make a new mistake.

For example, this one time, I blew low 5 figures sponsoring the wrong event.  And to be fair, the event was GREAT!  Well run.  LOADS of attendees. Amazing speakers.  I had a blast.  BUT...I made $0 off of it.

Why? Because it wasn't the right event for ME.  They used click-funnel tactics to get a bunch of people there - which was effective, but not to MY ideal client.

They priced it for struggling lawyers - which is great, but those aren't MY ideal client.

There was even a whole platform to incorporate networking during the virtual event, but I didn't staff it correctly for us to be able to take advantage of it, and when I jumped in, I didn't connect with MY ideal clients.

Truly the BEST Covid virtual event... But I should have skipped it and done less... but better.

I should have followed the lessons I am about to give you.

So what does that mean for your firm?

Think Like Your Ideal Client

I know, I know, I hammer this a TON.  So I will not belabor the point, if you STILL aren't crystal clear about your ideal client, please stop now and go fill this out. Assuming you've listened to me by now, I want you to get into the mindset of your ideal client.

And this can be tough, because for LegalEase, I AM our ideal client.  I get to pick what I like for us to do.

But for Jordan Law, I am NOT our ideal client.  I would be a TERRIBLE PI client.  I hate doctors (well I hate GOING to the doctor, I prefer playing golf with them).  And I would always try to find a reason to not go to treatment.  I would be awful.

But why is that important?  Because when it comes to decisions made for LegalEase I truly just do what I personally like.  But for my law firm I do my best to set that aside when it comes to decision making.

So now that we are in the shoes of our ideal client (hopefully they're comfortable shoes, as this season of Curb Your Enthusiasm taught us we need more cobblers).

I think the first question is this: Do I (the fictitious ideal client) care to connect with a lawyer/law firm now?

If no, that sucks for your firm's growth, but we will come back to it.

And if yes, WHERE do I want to connect with the firm and WHY?

Connecting with Your Ideal Client

Then...guess what...you know what I am going to say...I don't even need to say it...let's all say it together!

BE THERE!  If they want to connect on a social media platform (lawyer caveat, and you have the time, money, energy to do so) BE THERE!  Show up.  Have fun.  Engage with them.

Share the content they want to connect with.  Memes and dad jokes work for Jordan Law!

Learn the lingo of the platform.  Learn what content does well.

Honestly, 99% of us don't need to worry about the latest audio track trending on the platform for 15 seconds (wait, it just changed)...but broad strokes: 

• Nice images for Instagram, 
• Short form video for TikTok, 
• Text posts for Linked In, etc

And then stay consistent with it.

And to circle back (marketing speak 101) if they don't care about connecting with a lawyer in advance - HOW are they going to find one when they're ready?

Are they going to google for a lawyer?  Then work on SEO.

Are they going to call random billboards?  Then have some billboards.

Are they going to ask someone for a referral?  Then get to know those people who give the referrals to your ideal client.

Simple, but not easy.

And Then What

And here's where it comes full circle (marketing speak 102) - STOP DOING THE OTHER SHIT THAT IS A WASTE OF TIME, MONEY, AND ENERGY!

Hopefully, you've got a great CRM that is tracking your leads and showing you where the BEST cases come from.  If not, we NEED to talk.

Hopefully, you can take an hour and look at the numbers you've been tracking.  If not, we NEED to talk.

Hopefully, you care to save time, money and energy.  If not, we need to NOT talk.

Sometimes a marketing campaign takes some tweaking, maybe it needs more time to work, or maybe it's crap FOR YOU.

Google ads are great - maybe not for you.

Referrals are great - maybe not for your firm.

Social media is great - maybe not for your ideal client, etc.

SOAPBOX TIME

And this is what grinds my gears

Marketing isn't one size fits all.  The same shit that worked for John's firm down the street will bankrupt Paul's one.

The same stuff that an unscrupulous marketer sold to George, might not appeal to Ringo's ideal clients.

You don't walk into a doctors office and have them give everyone the same medicine all the time without any conversation about what's wrong, or what you want to feel better about.  So don't get sold the same snake oil.

Marketing relationships should be a two-way street.  There should be a conversation about YOU and YOUR firm.  Or at least it should be when you want it done right.

You don't get in the car with no idea where you are trying to go (and if you do, I am NEVER riding with you).  You shouldn't just throw money and time into marketing with no idea about what you want it to generate, who you want it to appeal to, or some idea of what a successful campaign looks like.

So do less, but do it better!

You have my permission.

And as always, if I can help in any way, just let me know.

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