Before I get too far along though, I want to point out that I am only criticizing the older generations of attorney (and probably some newer attorneys too) in this one area of being a lawyer, which is marketing. I rely heavily on people with a lot more experience than me for a lot of things, and I really appreciate it. In this area, however, I simply disagree with a lot of what they have to say.
Just because someone doesn't like what you are doing or doesn't think it's fair to them doesn't mean you shouldn't be doing it.
There, lesson over. Talk to you next week. Oh, you want a little more than that? Okay.
As I've started my law firm I've done some out of the box marketing ideas (the links will be below). I've also dived head first into the internet marketing game. This means creating several blogs covering my practice areas, creating this blog, and creating several websites. The point is for people to find me on the internet. And people do (you did). But some people don't like it, mostly because it's a direct threat to them. And people won't like what you're doing either.
My advice - don't be a jerk, but if it's legal (you aren't stealing from anyone) and it's professional (you aren't violating any ethical rules) I'd kindly tell them to mind their own business.
For example, I do some traffic ticket defense. I made a blog and started talking about all the things traffic attorneys do to beat tickets. I talked about the anatomy of a ticket. And, of course, I talked about why it was so important to hire a traffic attorney to help you.
And I started climbing Google. And I started getting phone calls. And my website started climbing Google (because I linked to it from my blog). And I started getting more phone calls.
And then I got a phone call from another traffic attorney in the area. He asked me what I was doing telling everyone all of our secrets. And I told him. First, I'm trying to show people I know what I'm talking about. Second, I'm trying to show people it's just complicated enough and time consuming enough that it's worth it to hire me. He didn't agree. I told him thanks for the call, hung up, and wrote another post. He hasn't called me back.
The point? Just because someone doesn't like what you are doing, particularly from a marketing standpoint, doesn't mean you should stop doing it. The other attorneys out there are your colleagues, but they are also your competitors. The more things you can do to differentiate yourself from them, the better.
In the end, they can do everything your doing. Bottom line? Most people are either too intimidated to jump in and learn internet marketing or too lazy to put in the time necessary to see good results.
Anyone reading having any experiences with people badmouthing your unique (or cutting edge) marketing or other practice efforts? Let's hear about it.
Related Posts:
Starting a Law Firm | Out of the Box Marketing
Starting a Law Firm | Marketing
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