Too many lawyers fall prey to the myth that they are in the “business of law.” You are not! You are actually in the “business of marketing your law firm.” You can be the best attorney in your region, but if you don’t have any clients, it won’t matter.

I understand your law school completely skipped over the fundamentals of running a business, personal marketing, and business development, but these are the things that set apart good attorneys from truly great ones. As long as you are completely dependent on someone else to hand you a new client, you will forever be at risk.

A lawyer can only argue over the intricacies of law if they have a client to represent. The primary objective of your business is the marketing of your services; your secondary objective is then the delivery of those services. Most attorneys have it backwards.

Simply because you may deliver excellent service and provide enormous value, clients will not automatically knock your door down. Over the last several years I’ve heard from a growing chorus of long-time attorneys complaining bitterly of “young lawyers who don’t know the law, but seem to get all the clients.” If you find yourself asking a similar question then may I recommend you are not putting enough emphasis on marketing and business development?

If clients don’t know about you, then they will approach the attorney who does the best job of marketing. By making yourself more visible online with your website, blog, social media and press releases you can begin attracting more and better clients. By attending the same trade association events as your potential clients or referral sources, you can begin to build up your referral base. By offering seminars to your referral sources, you are seen as an industry thought leader. You don’t need to do everything, but if clients aren’t lining up at the door, then you need to do more than you are currently doing!

The key to building a long term, solid practice is the quality and consistency of your marketing—just as much as the actual quality of your services. Working on your business is much more important than simply working in your business. Building your list of potential clients is essential as very few law firms can grow when they solely rely on existing client relationships.

If you’re depending on the same select group of clients year in and year out, then you are already in trouble. A good rule of thumb is when any one client is providing over 30% of your annual revenues, then you are at high risk. A law firm that continually markets itself ensures a strong and diverse client list that will sustain that firm well into the future.