Law firm marketing is a competitive business. And there are many reasons why certain law firms fail to thrive or even survive.

However, in my working with more than 10,000 attorneys over the years, I’ve discovered that there are essentially three common denominators among attorneys who succeed in growing their practices:

1.  Time.  Attorneys who succeed in marketing and growing their firms dedicate time to law firm marketing.  It may not always be their time, but they have someone who tends to the knitting day in and day out.  They know that the world is full of lawyers who don’t take the time to market themselves – and they use this to their advantage consistently.

Here are a few common examples of what many attorneys try to do single-handedly when they would be better off delegating to someone else in the firm or outsourcing:

• Creating, maintaining and writing for a monthly e-newsletter to send to current and prospective clients

• Setting up and writing a blog

• Setting up and maintaining social media accounts for your firm

• Writing and distributing press releases

• Creating and launching a lead generation email campaign

• Maintaining their own law firm websites

• Search Engine Optimization to increase traffic for your Internet marketing efforts

• Designing a comprehensive law firm marketing plan or strategy

• Implementing systems and processes to better manage client and prospect relationships

2.  Systems.  Firms that excel in legal marketing have systems in place to run, monitor and measure their law firm marketing programs.  Leveraging readily available software and technology, attorneys can create a “lifestyle practice”—a practice that supports the lifestyle you want to lead, rather than one that dominates your life.

3.  Strategy.  Legal marketing gurus know that a comprehensive strategy to grow your law firm is essential to your long-term success. Otherwise, you and your team lack direction.  When you use a proven legal marketing strategy that consistently produces results, you can then set up legal marketing systems that, in turn, free up your time while increasing your client base, thereby increasing your revenue.