The law of marketing is that once you become known as Wal-mart, you can never become a Tiffany's. By not discovering - and emphasizing -- true competitive differences, you are relegating yourself to being just another lawyer who is casting a fishing line into the vast ocean of legal marketing. 

Here are several great ways an attorney can start to set him or herself apart from competitors:

Emphasize Your Service: I'm not referring to the services you offer, but how you serve your clients. We use the phrase "micromanaging the client experience" to describe how law firms can create a unique and powerful experience for clients by treating them like VIPs (without spending a lot of money).

Market Like a Specialist: It's always easier to build a financially successful law firm that focuses on a specialty area. The more practice areas your firm promotes, the fewer referrals you will receive. There are several major benefits to specializing, including:

• You can command higher prices.

• More people can send you referrals because they don't view you as a competitor.

• And you can develop a deeper knowledge about your clientele and their legal issues.

By choosing to specialize, you increase opportunities to form alliances with other professionals.

Create a "Double Niche": Focusing on a particular industry is a great way to niche your firm. Jeff Matsen is a well-respected estate planning attorney and a long-time client of ours, but over the last two decades he has become a nationally recognized asset protection attorney (first niche). 

Even further, he has created a niche targeting asset protection for doctors and dentists (second niche) because he knows it's easier to position himself as a true expert when he applies his first niche (a specific niche within a practice area) to a specific industry (like doctors and dentists) thus creating a "double niche."

Clearly Define Your Perfect Client: Once you have narrowed down your niche, you need to determine who your perfect client is. This puts you in a much better place to educate potential referral sources. 



Be Smart About Your Office Location: You've heard the importance in real estate of "location, location, location." The city you practice law in will determine a lot of things; it can also be a factor in your success. 

Targeting immigration law in Los Angeles provides you with more opportunities than practicing immigration law in Fargo, North Dakota.