You arrive at your office to start your work week and realize that you have no appointments scheduled. You find yourself thinking you have an easy day ahead of you. Think again. If you are sitting idle, then you are not doing your law practice the justice it deserves. The absence of appointments means you aren't making any money at that moment. Money needed to pay bills or get more advertising in progress. It's a vicious cycle that must be broken.



There is no such thing as "free time," at a law firm. If attorneys are not in court, preparing a case or in an interview with a client, they must be involved in some other activity that will generate income for the law firm. Working on your law firm marketing plan would be a capital use of this time as opposed to marking it off as an opportunity cost. Now would be an excellent time to get your marketing priorities lined and out and planned for the long term. One of the first priorities for a law firm marketing plan is to organize into a step-by-step plan of action over a specified time.

Get to work and make sure your calendar has something scheduled each and every day that you are open for business. Organizing your 12-month law firm marketing calendar involves detailed notes of what you need to accomplish on a daily basis. An organized plan of attack will help you establish a routine for your marketing efforts.

1. Create and Print Postcards

For the first month, as part of your direct mail campaign, have 1,000 postcards created and printed. The next step is to put labels on them. Then mail them out to prospective clients. This process needs to happen consistently each month in order for you to maintain a steady flow of clients through your office door.

2. Create a Monthly E-zine

Your next step is to create a monthly e-zine (electronic newsletter) and e-mail it to your subscribers. Mention your e-zine in all of your mailings whether they are direct mail or e-mail. Be sure to give potential clients an opportunity and information for signing up to receive your e-zine. Your e-zine should be distributed regularly, at the same time every month.

3. Follow Up on Postcards

Begin making follow-up calls to everyone you have sent postcards to. Try to make 100 calls each day for the next two. Every time you have a gap in your schedule between specified tasks, make more follow-up calls until you have contacted everyone who has received a postcard.

4. Start Networking

As part of your law firm marketing strategy, schedule a networking event that you will attend and take part in. Be sure you are present throughout the event. Hand out information and business cards to everyone you come in contact with. The following day, make follow-up calls to everyone you met at the event.

5. Promote Your Services

One by one, begin promoting your services to attract new clients. Send out press releases detailing information about each service. Introduce a new service each month until you have gotten information about all of them out there. Once you have accomplished this, begin re-introducing each of them from the beginning. Keeping your name and services in people's minds is a practice that will help to make your law firm a familiar name in people's minds.

6. Advertise a Trade Show

Send out another press release, advertising an upcoming trade show that you will participate in. If you begin doing this ahead of time, interested prospects will be sure to attend the show and check out what you have to offer. Be sure to follow up with e-mails and phone calls to people you met during the trade show.

By this time you should be prepared to perform all of these tasks every month at around the same time. You should also be developing new marketing ideas on a continual basis. Taking these steps and developing a visual and organized law firm marketing calendar will help you realize your goals and see the positive results of your efforts.