Legal Marketing Guru James W. Hart: How can I help your law practice make more money?
Legal Marketing Guru - What is that? Someone who lives, breaths,
eats and sleeps everything related to legal and law firm marketing.
For the past five years, I have attempted to learn everything I possibly can
about law firm marketing. Why? Because I wanted more than anything
else to be a successful attorney and small business owner. I was never persuaded by the high salaries (and correspondingly long hours) that
many of my friends and fellow law students pursued. Not that there is
anything wrong with what they do or where they work, but I really wanted to
build something that I could call my own - and that I have done very
successfully in the form of my own
divorce law practice
in Winter Park, Florida. However, none of this would have been possible
without my desire to become a true legal marketing guru.
I knew there was something different about me when I spent the better part of
my second and third years in law school reading and studying everything I
possibly could about how to start and build my own law firm. Fortunately,
Jay Foonberg has written an excellent book on this topic - How to Start and
Build Your Own Law Practice. At the time, I really had no idea how I
was going to do it - I just knew that I would. Now, a little over two
years after starting my own practice, my dream has become a reality.
Through this website, my goal is to share everything I know as a legal marketing
guru with other attorneys that want to build a better and more successful law
practice. Back in law school, I barely knew that building a successful law
practice was more about marketing yourself and your services than it was
about practicing law.
People told me that I was crazy. They said, "you don't have enough
experience." I didn't believe it then, and I definitely don't buy into it
now. I have been successful for one reason, and one reason only -
I told myself from the beginning that
under no circumstances could I, or would I, fail.
My practice has been successful from the start. I had my first client
three days before I even opened my doors for business, and I have never
looked back. I have done this by providing exceptional customer service
and by building
lasting relationships with clients, lawyers, and other professionals in the
Orlando Legal Market. One well respected attorney in Orlando has even gone
so far as to say that I have done a better job of marketing my
practice than any other young attorney he has ever seen.
The obvious question is, "How did I do it?"
The answer is simple - pure desire and developing a mindset as a legal marketing
guru. In addition, I employed the legal marketing tips and
strategies that you will find on this website. My marketing
efforts consists of the following:
- A professionally designed website whose aim is to educate, not
to sell
- Developing referral relationships with both clients and other legal
professionals
- Providing exceptional customer service and results to current clients
- Getting published - establishing myself as an expert in my practice area
- Writing a "How To" booklet for prospective clients
- Lecturing on topics related to my practice area
- Recognizing that every interaction with a client, lawyer, or someone
else, is a chance to market the law firm
- Joining groups such as Atticus,
and the Law Marketing Listserv
to generate additional marketing ideas
- Hiring a Virtual Marketing Assistant to assist in the firm's marketing
efforts
- Projecting a professional look and appearance whenever representing the
firm in public
- Staying current on all legal marketing issues by constantly reading
anything and everything related to marketing
As I mentioned above, I eat,
sleep, and breath legal marketing. If you doubt this, please call my
office and ask to speak to my wife (also partner, associate, office manager, you
name it). She will tell you just how sick she is of talking
about all the different law firm marketing ideas that I have running through my head. To help
her save her sanity, I welcome the opportunity
to talk to other attorneys about their marketing
efforts, and provide advice and guidance wherever I can. You may contact
me via
this online form,
or feel free to call me directly at (407) 839-4340 to set up an
appointment.
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