Lawyer Marketing March Madness Day 8
Today’s match-up: (4) Wine & Dine vs. (13) Online Videos
Keys to this lawyer marketing match-up:
Whether you spell it, schmooze, schmoose, or shmooze, conversing casually in order to gain an advantage, make a social connection, or a sale, has been around since time out of mind.
And everyone’s doing it… From the most powerful lobbyists in Washington, to pharamceutical reps, to the small business owner, the old wine & dine is heavily relied upon to build relationships. Nowhere is this more true than with lawyers.
While not really a “marketing plan”, dinners and gifts are an expenditure of money intended to grow one’s business. Whether it’s taking another lawyer out who has been a great source of referrals, or taking a client out for a “business dinner”, lawyers spend a lot of money on this practice.
I am continually surprised when my BigLaw friends tell me about their business lunches, dinners, golf outings, “days at the game”, and trips to Vegas.
Jealous? Of course. But does this accepted form of bribery actually work? Sure, they probably put smiles on faces. But taken as a whole, are these practices generating more money than they cost? And speaking of cost, we’re not just talking about money. We must take into consideration work-life balance.
The truth is, if you participate in these activities, you probably have no clue whether or not you are getting a return on your investment. The performance of the wine & dine is difficult to track. Furthermore, while you might know what you’ve spent in dollars, it is difficult to track what you’ve spent in professional and personal time.
Facing-off against the wine & dine are online videos. If you ever want to have a quick laugh, head on over to YouTube and search lawyer advertisement. It won’t take long before you find yourself either laughing hysterically or completely embarrassed for the legal profession.
However, when properly executed, online videos can be one of the more effective places to spend lawyer marketing dollars. But what is proper execution? Take a look at some of attorney Gerry Oginski’s videos. We regard Gerry as an expert when it comes to online videos.
Some quick dont’s: Don’t talk about how hard you fight. Don’t use stage props. And please, don’t yell!
Some quick do’s: Do position yourself as an expert by talking about an area of law with which you are familiar. Do offer value to your potential clients through education-based marketing.
Prediction:
While I recognize that this humble blog post will not change a practice as old as time that is deeply rooted in our culture, I do hope that you take a close look at your wine & dine expenditures. With high costs in professional time, work-life balance, and money, along the difficulty of tracking returns, the wine & dine might not be as satisfying as you think.
Lawyers are getting better and better at producing low-cost, engaging, and effective videos. These can be a powerful part of any lawyer’s online presence. Online videos march on.
Don’t forget to check out these other lawyer marketing match-ups:
(3) TV Ads vs. (14) Social Media
(8) Firm Website vs. (9) Organic Search
(6) Directory Listings vs. (11) Blog
(7) Paid Search vs. (10) Marketing Consultants
(5) Seminars vs. (12) Billboards
Was this helpful? Help me spread the word:
