Ramp Up Speaking Engagements to Promote Your Law Practice in Multiple Ways
Ramp Up Speaking Engagements to Promote Your Law Practice in Multiple Ways
It’s pretty common for lawyers to be advised to incorporate speaking engagements into their overall marketing strategies, and we don’t mind jumping on that bandwagon…because it works! A lawyer’s original goal in doing these types of talks might be to have someone from the audience come up and hire them on the spot, and while that does happen from time to time, it’s good to recognize that there are actually several other ways that speaking engagements benefit your practice and boost your marketing.
Building Your Reputation
If you’re doing it right and presenting good information, every speaking engagement you do helps put you in the position of “expert.” The more people who see you giving advice and insight on a particular topic, the more will recognize you as the go-to person for it. It’s not all for show, either. The more presentations you give on something, the more you actually do understand and become an expert. It’s a win-win situation that markets your law practice in a really positive way.
Cost Effective
Most of the time, the chance to do a speaking engagement costs you nothing other than the gas to get there and the time it takes to present. Heck, you might even get a free lunch out of the deal! There aren’t a lot of marketing methods for lawyers that are so incredibly cost effective.
Minimal Work
When an organization invites you to speak to its members, they generally do 90% of the work for you. They take care of scheduling. They set up the microphone and any other needed technology. They even bring you the audience! Your only real preparation is to put together a presentation that the audience will find valuable. Plus, once you’ve got your notes, slides, or other materials created, you can give the same presentation to many different audiences.
Opportunity for Further Marketing
When you leave the speaking engagement, the marketing doesn’t have to end. Instead, make sure that everyone who is interested is able to take some sort of branded material away from the event so that they know how to contact you if they need further information. This is also a great opportunity to follow through on one of a lawyer’s favorite marketing practices: offering a free consultation.
Finally, make sure everyone at the event has the opportunity to sign up for SOMETHING so you can continue reaching out to them long after the event is over. In my opinion this is the NUMBER ONE goal of speaking engagements and where I see the most mistakes made! Just because someone is not ready to hire you on the spot doesn’t mean that they (or their family members) won’t need your services in the future. But, if you don’t continue to “touch” these leads, they’ll find their way to someone else. I don’t care if you offer a free book, an exclusive free service or even just raffle off some hot sports tickets or a massage at a local spa, do whatever it takes to entice audience members to fork over their full contact info to you.
Speaking engagements represent some of the best free or low-cost marketing for law practices, and as you can see, there are a lot of benefits that stem from even a single presentation. Imagine how these compound when you make them a regular part of your firm’s marketing calendar.
Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.