Why Before What & How

Paddy Moogan added a very nice post over at SEOmoz on hitting business goals. And I think there’s some applicability for lawyers who are considering investing in web marketing. Paddy invokes Simon Sinek’s Start with Why:

The basic message is that successful companies know why they exist, and they use this to guide the decisions they make. They also focus on why they exist when marketing themselves and selling to customers. Rather than getting customers to buy into the what, they get them to buy into the why.

I often encourage lawyers to spend time learning the what and how of internet marketing. Arming yourself with a basic understanding of how the internet and search engines work in the context of professional practice growth is really the best way to avoid the scams.

However, I probably don’t spend enough time talking about the whys. And not just the obvious whys, like “why might you consider internet marketing at all?”

So, before you dive head-first into the whats and hows, consider the following whys:

1. Why does your practice exist?
2. Why would someone need your services?
3. Why would someone contact you to inquire about your services?
4. Why would someone ask you for your opinion?
5. Why would anyone hire you?
6. Why would someone choose you over your competitors?
7. Why would someone refer you to a friend?
8. Why do your competitors seem to get more business than you?
9. Why would you make any investment of time or money into web marketing?
10. Why would you start a blog?
11. Why would people read your blog?
12. Why would you use Twitter?
13. Why would people care about what you post on Twitter?
14. Why would you subscribe to and read other blogs?
15. Why would you comment on someone else’s blog?
16. Why would an author respond to your comment?
17. Why would you use images of gavels, scales of justice and law books on your website?
18. Why would you hire someone to help you with this stuff?
19. Why would produce a video for the web?
20. Why is what you are currently doing not working as well as you think it should?