Your law firm’s marketing machine is a lot like a car. You need to constantly provide proper maintenance to keep it running smoothly and avoid any sudden breakdowns or fender-benders. You make small changes, such as rotating the tires, changing the oil, realigning the steering wheel, and even just washing your car to keep it in tip top shape. You may notice that when all these small changes are put into place, you feel like you’re driving a brand new car. That’s how you should manage your firm’s marketing; making small changes that, when put together, make a big difference in your firm.

The best part about small changes is that, well, they’re small. They don’t take up a huge chunk of your time or money, but they have the potential to yield big results when combined with other small changes. In the time it takes you to eat lunch, you could be creating marketing materials that can produce significant improvements in your firm.

The trick to these small changes is that you want to make sure that they will actually do something to boost the efficiency of your firm’s marketing. Some great things that you can do are:

• Shoot videos to use online

o   Uploading interesting, quality videos to YouTube, social media, lawyer rating sites, and/or your website gives you a larger web presence and a better chance at showing up on a Google search. The best part about this is that you can easily shoot a great looking video with your smartphone, as long as you use the proper lighting and setting techniques.

• Change up the way your staff answers phones and communicates with clients

o   Your receptionists have the power to make your firm stand out from the initial phone call. Test out using different language, phrases and keywords to see which work best when trying to convert leads to clients. If you can do this, potential clients will be pre-sold your services over the phone, making your firm appear as the obvious choice.

• Create audio recordings and free reports for potential clients,

  • You can make yourself look like the leading expert in your field by creating audio, CDs, and free reports to give to potential clients. Who wouldn’t want to hire an expert?Also, information is impressive, so as a creator of information, your services will be seen as impressive.

• Personalize letters to your clients.

o   When you send letters to your potential, current, and past clients, you should personalize them. If you know that their birthday is coming up, or their son just graduated from high school, or that their favorite football team just won a big game, mention that. Personal letters like that can turn you into a friend of the family, rather than just their attorney. This may drive them to give you positive reviews online and refer you to their friends and family.

Most of these things can be done quickly and cost-effectively. You will be amazed at the difference that changing up a few simple things can do. However, you have to make sure keep up with your firm’s marketing maintenance. Create a plan, come up with a few new strategies, and stick to it. Don’t let it get away from you. If you do this, you may find yourself raking in a few more clients and having a little extra money in your wallet.