Developing or Deepening Your Niche
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•308 views
The document outlines strategies for lawyers to develop a niche practice. It discusses defining a niche based on factors like practice area, industry, and client characteristics. Developing a niche requires analyzing trends, competitors, and one's experience to identify opportunities. It also involves crafting clear messaging around the unique value provided to clients and using multiple marketing channels to promote expertise. The document provides tools to guide lawyers through each step of niche development and success.
Recommended
More Related Content
Similar to Developing or Deepening Your Niche
Similar to Developing or Deepening Your Niche (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Developing or Deepening Your Niche
- 1. Discovering the Power and Profitability of Focus Developing or Deepening Your Niche NJSBA July 16, 2015
- 2. Program Outline A word about the handouts Part One: Understanding Niches I. Definition II. Why Niche? III. Myths, Challenges, and Mistakes IV. Examples
- 3. Program Outline Part Two: Hands-On Process I. Analysis Tool, Part 1 II. Analysis Tool, Part 2 III. Trend Research IV. Competitive Intelligence V. More Examples
- 4. Program Outline Part Three: Marketing a Niche I. Identity Message and Value Proposition II. Client Centricity III. Multiple Channels of Communication IV. Networking V. Online Presence
- 5. Follow Up Resources • Email w/ requests for specific info: bill@successtrackesq.com • Copy of this slide deck • 90-day Niche Development Program • Marketing Jumpstart
- 6. Niche Success for Lawyers Part One: Understanding Niches
- 7. Definition An approach to marketing and managing your practice that clearly differentiates you from other attorneys, and identifies you as a go-to expert for specific legal needs in the minds of both targeted clients and referral networks, and the broader public.
- 8. Levels of a Niche Target Condition Relevance
- 9. Levels of a Niche Target Condition RelevanceAcute Care Facilities Hospitals Healthcare Business Lawyer Lawyer
- 11. Niche Parameters • By practice area • Type of problem, opportunity, industry/sector • Business / demographic characteristic • An entire firm • A practice group within a larger firm • A practice -- within a firm or as a solo
- 13. Rule 7.4 (a), Communication of Fields of Practice & Specialization: A lawyer may communicate the fact that the lawyer does or does not practice in particular fields of law. Advisory Opinion: “A lawyer may indicate that the lawyer ‘concentrates in,’ ‘focuses on,’ or that the practice is ‘limited to’ particular fields of practice as long as the statements are not false or misleading in violation of Rule 7.1” Rule 7.1, Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services “A lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services. . . . ” The “Specialist” Issue
- 14. Sample Phrases “I focus on . . . .” or “I focus exclusively on . . . .” “I primarily handle . . . .” “We devote our resources mainly to . . . .” “We concentrate our practice on . . . .” “We represent only. . . .” “I work with . . . .” “We limit our practice to . . . .” “One of the main areas I focus on is. . . .”
- 15. Acute Care Hospitals “ . . . focuses exclusively on representation of healthcare providers . . .” “ . . . With a particular emphasis on representation of acute care hospitals . . .” babc.com
- 16. Why Niche? 1. Segmentation/specialization is everywhere 2. Create a unique identity 3. Be thought of by prospects and referral sources in a specific context 4. Builds experience, confidence and reputation faster
- 18. Why Niche? 5. Creates efficiency and increased profitability 6. Easier to market 7. Easier to cross-sell 8. Allows for greater selectivity of clients 9. Can charge higher prices
- 19. Myths 1. It’s only successful for solos & small firms 2. You have to say No to everything else 3. It’s only for younger attorneys 4. You’ll be bored 5. There won’t be enough work 6. Someone else already fills the niche 7. You have to have only one niche
- 20. Challenges 1. Finding the 1-3 niches 2. Making the transition from your current practice 3. Growing it before you are truly expert 4. Spending consistent time working on it
- 22. Mistakes 1. Not doing enough research and planning 2. Being too broad and thinking it’s a niche 3. Not sticking with it long enough 4. Not nailing down a compelling narrative
- 26. Niche Success for Lawyers Part Two: The Process
- 27. NAT Part 1: Your Experience 1. % of matter types in the last 5 years 2. Your unique experience, qualifications, abilities 3. Patterns found in the work from # 1
- 28. NAT Part 1: Your Experience 4. Ideal client’s business and/or personal or characteristics 5. Personal values, interests, causes, motivators 6. Relative profitability of matter types from # 1
- 31. Trend Research • Major Legal Trends • JOBS Act (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) • Google the phrase “trends in [target phrase]” • Set up Google Alerts • Talk with colleagues and clients • Legal research/docket search
- 32. A Mega-Trend Aging Society (Shock of Gray, Ted Fishman) • Undue influence • Employment • Nursing home & hospital finance, M&A • Fraud • Changes in provider partnership agreements • Affordable Care Act accountability
- 33. Example: T&E in the Arts PVACounsel.com
- 34. NAT Part 2: The Marketplace 1. Nature of the legal or business issue 2. Situation or event that triggers expenditure of time and $ 3. Main challenges to client posed by #2
- 35. NAT Part 2: The Marketplace 4. Specific solutions and services you provide to meet the needs of #s 2 and 3 5. Measures of success/value from clients POV 6. Market indicators: volume, trends, tiers, competitors
- 36. Competitive Intelligence • Ask contacts who else focuses on X • Google well (synonyms, advanced search strings, geography) • Bar Association section groups • Study competitors’ websites
- 41. Example: T&E – Military NostrandLaw.com
- 49. Niche Success for Lawyers Part Three: Marketing
- 50. Business Development Outline 1. Set your course 2. Target specific work/audiences 3. Chart universe of contacts 4. Convey effective messages 5. Use multiple channels
- 51. Business Development Outline 6. Build/expand online presence 7. Activate referral sources 8. Nurture existing clients 9. Strengthen client development habits
- 52. Promoting Your Niche 1. Effective messages 2. Multiple channels 3. Referral sources 4. Online presence
- 53. Marketing Language Shift FROM Lawyer-centric Practice area Process Features TO Client-centric Problem/Opp Results Benefits
- 54. Value Proposition Key word = VALUE from client’s POV The Formula: We help [specific target][verb + problem/opportunity]so they can [result/outcome].
- 55. PAR Stories • A structure to create a catalog of stories that illustrate your value • P = Problem/Pain • A = Action/Activity • R = Results (from client-centric POV)
- 56. Multiple Channels • Personal networking • Speaking • Writing • Site and blog
- 57. Online Presence • LinkedIn, Facebook biz page • Site & bio page • Directories (Avvo, Lawyers.com, Super Lawyers, JD Supra) • Blogs; article submission sites (eHow, Technorati)
- 58. Follow Up Resources Email w/ requests for specific info: bill@successtrackesq.com 203.876.8999
Editor's Notes
- OPENING: Doug Welcome Webcast People – download the materials; program includes facilitated work session and Q+A … this includes online …
- We’ve broken the program up into Four parts: Understanding Niches A Hands on Process to create a niche How to market your niche Open discussion and follow up
- Practice Area – litigation , real estate Problem or Opportunity – online gaming and privacy Industry / Sector – gas & oil / green energy / manufacturing Demographic – married, children Biz Characteristic – Family business manufacturing Geography – your business or where the business is
- ----- Meeting Notes (10/2/12 15:43) ----- He is very specific - Disappointed - misuse of atheletes playing time
- Watch these phrases
- ----- Meeting Notes (10/2/12 15:43) ----- He is very specific - Disappointed - misuse of atheletes playing time
- Armed with the self assessment and the Marketplace view we are ready to move into how to craft and market your message.
- Armed with the self assessment and the Marketplace view we are ready to move into how to craft and market your message.
- Time Check: 10 AM Two basic realms to work in. Research about what you’ve done (that’s an internal focus), the second part is looking outwardly and doing research about marketplace needs and linking your part 1 work to the marketplace.
- Talk through first two slides. Then gave them 8 minutes (have us circulate with them) Part 1 is about your experience. It is internal and about you and your interest. % of matter types by whatever categories make sense to you. Go back 3-5 years put your main categories and guess as to the distribution them. If you are a GC or in house counsel thinking about what’s next. If you see yourself as a generalist or doing a little bit of everything you need to unpack what you did into functions and industries and legal matters too. List what you worked on. Why did people come to you. Unique experience, qualifications and abilities. Personal experiences, certificates, board memberships, community activities Patterns you see from the matter types. What kinds of clients, what business are they in? life cycle of the business? Competition? Stage of life? B2C – children, aging parents, school age children B2B -
- #4 ideal Client Characteristics. Ideal client’s personal or business characteristics – why do you like them, why do they like you? This kind of person all day long Examples: Divorce Real Estate NOT triggering events that’s in part 2. This is about who are the people? Your values, your experience What kind of personality do you like working with. The magic wand (thousand clients) #5 Your Personal values, issues and causes. What are you drawn to? Why are you in the kind of practice you’re in in the first place. What keeps you going Relative profitability – introduce idea of profit vs revenue – which ones? #6 Profitability TIME CHECK: Should be at about 10:10 NOW we’re going to take 8-10 minutes for you to complete the NAT part 1 Worksheet on page ____ of your Workbook TIME CHECK: Run till about 10:20
- ----- Meeting Notes (10/2/12 15:43) ----- He is very specific - Disappointed - misuse of atheletes playing time
- TIMECHECK 10:20 Legal trends handout Now that you’ve looked at your experience, and before we go into Markeplace let’s talk about the importance of research and some trends. Now back to transition from inside to external by how to research some trends. An example is a mega-trend of Trend Research - Legal research / docket search: What are the trends in the kinds of cases you want to do? How would you find out? Can you look at the docket to see how many cases. (e.g., housing court docket, patent filings, burau of labor stats, D&B industry search
- 1 Nature of legal or business issue. From the client’s point of view, how do they see the legal or business issue (e.g., purchase or sale of company, divorce, defending against a lawsuit, protecting asset, transferring wealth). What is the client trying to accomplish. Either moving away from pain or moving toward opportunity. What are the main issues that you see? This is NOT about YOUR practice area or service offering. 2. Take something you identified in Part 1 – what is the nature of the legal issue E.g., Commercial real estate is the part 1 – category – this is a practice area. The business issue is we have to expand to grow – that is #2 The triggering event is funding with a building and a brownfield Getting it done on time; competing interests; zoning barriers - #3 #3. Unpacking to get to the main challenges – look for patter s
- TIME CHECK – Their worktime at about 10:30 to 10:40
- TIMECHECK 10:40-10:45 Google Well = Do google smartly. Advanced search strings (using quotes). Go back to the boolean terms learned to do in Westlaw / Lexis.
- ----- Meeting Notes (10/2/12 15:43) ----- p
- ----- Meeting Notes (10/2/12 15:43) ----- This is a preview to client centricity - he identifies the top main problems. He was general biz law guy - and he is former GC of carvel.
- ----- Meeting Notes (10/2/12 15:43) ----- Big firm. This is all they do. You can grow with a niche.
- ----- Meeting Notes (10/2/12 15:43) ----- NFA is National Firearms Act Microsite - allows for lazer focus separate site
- Armed with the self assessment and the Marketplace view we are ready to move into how to craft and market your message.
- THESE ARE QUICK SPIN INTRODUCTORY TIMES (MARKETING OUTLINE HANDOUT) Blue are the areas to really focus on: Here are the 9 things that make up comprehensive approach. We’re going to focus on 4. We’ll focus on conveying effective messages; how to get the messages out
- TO RECAP. THESE ARE OUR 4 FOCUS AREAS
- This is the essential mindset shift (we have a handout)
- This is the key value propositions / elevator speech. The first answer to What do you do. Examples: I help couples who’ve decided they have to divorce but don’t want to fight move through the process quickly and easily to have less harm to kids I help musicians protect and exploit the economic value of their creations so they can maimize profit from them I help manufacturing companies navigate envirotnmental regulations so they can update their plants cost effectiveluy I help university’s and schools DO THE VALUE PROPOSITION BLANK SHEET OF PAPER SPEND SOME TIME HERE
- DO THE WORKSHEET ON YOUR OWN PAR Statements are an arsenal of stories you can draw on to illustrate your value proposition. These support your value proposition.