The web is your new networking breakfast

For many solicitors in small law firms, lunchtime used to be their sole marketing opportunity. In the old days, or BABS (before alternative business structures) as I call them, it was their only marketing strategy. It was a legitimate time to wine and dine and indeed be dined ?by estate agent, building society, bank manager or insurance company.

But lunch never really recovered after Gordon Gekko declared it was for "wimps". The networking breakfast took over the mantle - much more macho and guilt-free. Busy, busy, busy: much easier to wallow in a self-satisfied fug of 'too much work to be doing any marketing'.

Digital age

The internet came along making marketing much easier. But so few law firms realised what was under their noses. Some solicitors and companies who marketers classify as early adopters recognised that the internet provided a wonderful way to market their law firms without having to leave the office. Clients and introducers were able to find the lawyer on the internet and not the other way round - and not just at lunchtime but 24/7 365 days of the year.

Traditional networking and business development would still remain the stalwarts of law firm marketing. Nothing has changed there, but the internet has introduced a different avenue to market one's law firm.

Social media

When I started blogging in 2008 and nudged my law firm into the realms of social media, I had little idea beyond a hunch that it would be good for my business. No other solicitors were regularly blogging on conveyancing, wills and probate. I was going into uncharted waters.

Future restarts

Many law firms no doubt would like to happily carry on as before. All we need is the panacea of a new logo and letterhead and some fancy new brochures. Job done. Except, solicitors may discover their 'too much work' syndrome and 'no time to market' excuses running thin in the light of the threat from alternative business structures.

Perhaps, at long last, more and more solicitors will be dragged kicking and screaming into areas where they have not previously had a presence, and begin looking at new ways to attract and keep work. Being busy solicitors in the future is no longer a given.

Star presence

One solution is being an internet celebrity. I don't mean appearing on Big Brother or speaking in Estuary English, but in its literal meaning. Be celebrated as a leader in your legal field, be ?the go-to solicitor or law firm ?in your town, city, region or?even nationally.

We may not all be furnished with sobriquets, such as Mr Loophole, but the online presence of you or your law firm will have more potential clients gravitate to your law firm for advice and instructions.

The internet can propel you to achieve that goal. It enables you to create your own brand and celebrity status.

Brand strength

Like it or not, we all have a brand. It's not what you perceive it to be but what your clients and potential clients do.

You can develop your own brand by blogging, writing articles, self publishing, adding 'killer' content to your firm's website and showing your personality through social media. Now, more than ever, you can control your own message.

Client fanbase

You have potential clients who are interested in you as well as existing clients who remain interested. They want to know what you have to say and what you are thinking by following follow your blogs or interacting with you on Twitter or Facebook. Your celebrity status in this context builds rapport with ?your contacts and creates ongoing relationships, so you ?are constantly at the front of your clients' and potential ?clients' minds

Keep potential clients and existing clients coming back to your firm's website, turn them into leads and then into loyal clients. It takes time and effort but the result is you, your personal brand and your law firm can 'work' well beyond your lunch break. SJ

 

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Paul Hajek is a solicitor and principal of Clutton Cox Solicitors