Having too much work does not equal good marketing

by Trey Ryder

Lawyers often "defer" their marketing efforts because they’re busy. Sometimes, too busy.

But is being busy really the measure of anything?

When I ask busy lawyers what they’re busy doing, they often grumble about handling cases they don’t want, dealing with the hassles of running an office, and so on.

One of my new clients started to hire me two years ago, but then didn’t. I asked what motivated him to hire me now, and he said in two years he never started his own marketing program. In fact, he found that he was no further ahead now than he was then. So he decided if he wanted to move forward, he needed to hand me the ball and let me help him score the touchdown.

How would you answer these questions?

Are you bringing in the cases you want?
Are you spending time in ways you find enjoyable?
Are you investing your time in the most profitable ways?
Are you delegating or referring out the cases you don’t want?

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan’s question, "Are you better off now than you were two years ago?"

Most lawyers intend to start a marketing program. But lawyers suffer from distractions: They get busy with current cases. Busy making changes in the office. Busy with outside activities. They get busy ... and stay busy ... and never start their marketing program.

If this sounds like you, I encourage you to hand the ball to someone else. Otherwise, two years from now, we could be having this same conversation.