People Marketing - Orange Crush Idea #1

Recent weeks have been spent heavily on developing a very focused marketing plan. This is my current thinking on hitting different groups of people.

1. Individuals. I have recently been reading Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi which is a pretty good general networking book. I'm not sure I can meet the aspiration of NEVER eating alone but I am aggressively pursuing the goal of having at least one social meal and/or activity each week. Also, I have honed my "elevator speech." I have struggled with having a concise and effective pitch when someone asks me, "What kind of law do you practice?" This is my elevator speech:

We represent elderly persons regarding estate and long-term care planning, guardianships and different facets regarding SS, Medicare and Medicaid. We represent persons in domestic relations cases such as dissolution of marriage, custody litigation and child support and any of the innumerable items stemming from divorce. And we represent mid-sized landlords regarding leasing and evictions…plus the still frequent real estate transaction.

2. Lawyer-to-Lawyer. I still have unanswered questions regarding this type of marketing. I have had success using the Illinois State Bar Association's mentor program (for much beyond marketing as well). The two or three mentors I work with have provided a number of referrals to my firm. Additionally I am trying to get together with as many younger lawyers and law school friends as possible. I have observed a good deal of lawyer to lawyer referrals perhaps when there's an area of law which one doesn't deal in or simply when representation is not convenient geographically. I am curious regarding anyones success with the different lawyer-to-lawyer print ads in the different bar publications. Are these cost-effective??

3. Paid advertising. I have decided to place some rather inexpensive paid ads in a couple of niche publications that focus in our practice areas. There's a publication called Senior News that goes out to senior citizens. Also, a local church with which we have an affiliation does some advertising. Last, I am a member of the Chicago Area Real Estate Investors Association which has a monthly newsletter.