The first – a TV show about a guy that goes all over the country working with people who make a living doing jobs that most of us wouldn’t touch…
The second – a TV show about a bunch of men who risk their lives every day trying to catch crab in the Bering Sea…
Who would have ever thought these two would be two of the most popular shows on the Discovery Channel? Or any other channel for that matter.
But the fact that they are should give you a really good insight into what people are looking for, not just in entertainment but in life. They’re so popular because the people on the shows are not paid actors. They’re REAL. They’re authentic. This is what they really do every day. And people are fascinated by the reality of their lives.
Their popularity should tell you something about what your prospective clients, people just like the viewers of “Dirty Jobs” and “Deadliest Catch”, are looking for in businesses.
They want to know who you really are. Yes, they care that you graduated from Harvard or Yale or Columbia , but more importantly, they want to know something about YOU. What makes you different from the other several hundred thousand attorneys they could choose to give their business to?
The internet has given us all a platform to communicate with each other. With that availability comes stiff competition. The only way to really make yourself stand out is to be authentic. You are the only YOU. Communicate that authenticity to your prospective clients. Show them who you are, why you care about them and their problems, what your life experience has taught you that allows you to be the best choice to represent them. Give them a peek into what makes you and your practice special and never forget that it’s really all about your clients, not you.
When you’re crafting your marketing strategy, pay attention to how you speak to your clients and prospects. Are you talking like you would to a friend, in your own voice? Or are you copying some cookie cutter communication you’ve seen online? Many of the law firm websites you see are ineffective and not doing what a website is supposed to do. They don’t offer an authentic vision of what that law firm and its people are all about. They were put up on the web, designed by people who know next to nothing about good copy (SEO or otherwise) and forgotten about. No fresh content and no authenticity = no new clients.
When you formulate your marketing strategy, base it on who you are and what you want your clients to know about you.
Be authentic and you’ll have a loyal following of clients who wouldn’t work with anyone else. I can’t guarantee that you’ll have millions of fans like “Dirty Jobs” and “Deadliest Catch”, but being real is always a good place to start.