Lawyers who approach their personal brand with an entrepreneurial mindset allows them to be in a growth mindset. Not only will this framework help build your legal career with passion and energy, but it also allows the opportunity to become a thought leader and community pillar. It is time to start building your personal brand to differentiate yourself from your competition while attracting new clients along the way.
Entrepreneurial Mindset and Women Owned Law Firms
An entrepreneurial mindset is essential to running a busy, profitable business. For many women attorneys, you wear a lot of hats on any given day as you are not only a lawyer but also a small business owner and, for some, also a mother.
When you own your own shop, you have an opportunity to connect meaningfully with your audience in unique ways. You already know that running a small law firm takes much gusto. Build upon that same spirit by approaching your brand with an entrepreneurial mindset. Be sure to focus on quality as much as growth. Being intentional about learning from your setbacks and readjusting your course when you need to will add strength to your personal brand.
Building Personal Branding for Women Attorneys
Have you ever heard the adage that clients hire the lawyer, not the law firm? It is a wise saying. Your professional reputation and audience connection speak louder when included in your marketing campaigns.
As such, you can help yourself stand out from the crowd by building a personal brand that resonates with your purpose. While some lawyers struggle with the idea of building a personal brand, it is vital to remember that you do not have to engage in superficial or inauthentic ways. It is actually the opposite. Women lawyers should be their authentic selves.
Cultivating a personal brand allows you to identify what clients value and provides a method for delivering it in a manner that connects with them meaningfully. Not only does a brand illustrate who you are and what your services stand for, but it also actively reminds you about your firm's mission and vision.
Building Your Personal Brand with an Entrepreneurial Mindset
While every law firm is unique, there are steps that you can take to approach your personal brand with an entrepreneurial mindset. Here are a few tips that allow you to take action, starting today:
1. Develop Your Small Law Firm's Brand Voice
Your brand voice is the identity that you create for marketing and client interaction. It is vital that you create a clear, transparent tone. When utilized properly, your brand voice will also connect you with your ideal target audience.
When aligning your brand voice, ensure that you consider incorporating it into the following elements:
· Mission
· Vision
· Messaging
· Imagery
· Tone
How you choose to communicate through these mediums must align with your personal or law firm's guiding principles. To really work, you need to keep it consistent across all channels, whether online or off.
2. Focus on Competitor Differentiation
Differentiation is the process of defining what sets you apart from competing law firms. By capitalizing on the values behind your legal services, you can accomplish this objective. However, it can take a bit of self-reflection and research to help you arrive at an answer.
Concentrate on differentiation by considering what your current clients say that they like about your firm. It would help if you also think about how these differentiators apply to your personal and professional visions. You can use these points of differentiation by peppering them into your messaging consistently.
3. Allocate Your Resources Effectively
One of the most significant errors that lawyers make with their marketing, especially social media, lies within their value-creation-to-direct-marketing ratio. Many tend to ignore value creation instead of focusing on direct promotion since they mistakenly believe that costs are sunk when used otherwise.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. With the amount of digital noise that today's consumers face, you need to allocate your resources to reflect 80% of your legal services' value and 20% direct marketing.
4. Storytelling Is Key to Building a Personal Brand
Storytelling is one of the most practical ways to approach your personal brand with an entrepreneurial mindset. In the same way you approach jurors with a story about your case, you need to paint the picture for potential clients. It is an excellent way to connect with others emotionally, share your story, and communicate your firm's values.
Brand storytelling is what joins creativity and legal marketing. It also develops and fosters more authentic connections with prospects, clients, community members, and other professionals. You can use personal brand storytelling as a means by which you can obtain new clientele while increasing retention rates.
Final Thoughts and Considerations
Personal branding with an entrepreneurial mindset allows you to build a network of inspired connections along with a steady stream of ideal cases. Consider prioritizing personal branding in your marketing efforts. It will create a buzz and following over time that people can quickly recall when they need your legal help and advice.
Meranda M. Vieyra is the owner of Denver Legal Marketing LLC. She is one of the most visible legal professionals in Colorado law with over 20 years of service in the Denver legal community. Her award-winning marketing firm has earned a strong reputation as the go-to for impactful, cost-effective legal marketing strategies. She has helped her clients secure coverage by well-known publications and has obtained local, national, and international awards on their behalf. Meranda enjoys working with solo practitioners and small law firms helping them attract recognition, promotion, and visibility to their practices. She also advises medium-sized and national law firms on business development and marketing strategy. Meranda is a lecturer and author on issues related to marketing including how lawyers can use LinkedIn effectively, how to develop a personal brand, and the promotion of legal services through community service. In 2018, she was honored to be named to the 40 Under 40 list by the Denver Business Journal and to be given the 10 Under 10 Award by the Metropolitan State University of Denver Alumni Association (top 10 alum of the decade). In 2019, Meranda was named in the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business by the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce and in the Top 100 young professionals in Colorado through the Gen XYZ Awards published by ColoradoBiz Magazine.
For more information, go to www.DenverLegalMarketing.com
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