October 18, 2009 by Dave Clough.

I’ve gotten feedback from attorneys that they are not comfortable providing information to a broad base for marketing purposes.  The worry is that it will be viewed as advice, and then used in a different context than it was intended.  This could have negative repercussions.  But I believe this could be overcome with a little imagination, while still staying in the safe zone.

One piece that should not be questioned is a case study, which can demonstrate knowledge, expertise and experience of the attorney or attorneys involved.  It can also be a case that the attorney with which the attorney was not involved to show the attorneys attention to cases relevant to his specialty, or to inform her past, current and potential client base.

As I dig deeper into the safe marketing zone for lawyers, I will post more entries.  So check back soon or set up an RSS feed (by clicking the “Entries (RSS)” link in the bottom left “Meta” box.

Dave Clough – www.mpoweradvisors.com

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October 18, 2009 by Dave Clough.

People think of marketing as this big task with expensive branding and strategy, and graphic design, and brochures and folders with multiple pieces of literature with lots of graphics and ads in magazines and newspapers and yellow pages, etc, etc, etc.  I’d like to dispel that myth that this is all required.  I’ve seen many companies with almost non-existent marketing budgets produce some effective marketing.  It is effective because it accomplishes its goal; to fill the funnel with prospects and opportunities.

 I’m not saying that a company should start broadcasting its message without knowing who they are trying to attract.  That would be a waste of time, even if it costs almost no money.  Before anyone starts getting their message out, they should know at least two things: Who their target customer is, and What they are going to offer that customer.  Once the business entity knows these two things, it can start testing the message.  Now one just needs to know where to find the target customer.

Except for online ads, Electronic marketing costs almost nothing and is affordable on any budget.  If you have email addresses for customers, then I’d start with an eNewsletter.  If you do not have email addresses, then I’d get a website with a blog and start putting newsletter type content in that.  Someone can got to 1and1.com and pay around $5/mo and get a basic website (domain name for about $8/yr) with a blog.  It is easy and now you are in business.  From there, I’d get the social media engine going (some call all this Web 2.0). 

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