Lawyers: Are You an Expert?
By Mark Britton on May 25, 2012 in Advertising, Avvo Legal Marketing Webinars, Avvocating, Legal Marketing, Public Relations, Reputation Management, Social Media
As visions of Avvocating still dance in my head, I wanted to share a theme that repeatedly came up at the conference: Establishing yourself as an expert. I’ve written about this before, but it will never lose its relevance. The reality is that delivering legal services offers few differentiation opportunities. Legal services are not like iPads or practice management software, which can be designed with any combination of marketable bells and whistles.
Instead, the differentiation any lawyer can offer is limited by what is permitted by the legal process. Yes, there is some creativity in it all; but lawyers are hired to deliver an expected outcome, and as such the differentiation is in the downside rather than the upside. In other words, the differentiation opportunity is similar to that of an airline or drug company – something to the effect of, “Use us because we won’t screw it up.”
I call this “disaster differentiation,” and the only way to succeed in this differentiation is to ensure prospective clients that the expected will occur (or, conversely, that the potential disaster will not). In the legal profession, the “expected” is that you to know more than any potential client regarding their legal issue and the legal system that governs it. You satisfy this by establishing that you have the expertise to avoid any downside – that, similar to a pilot, you will not lose control of the plane in a storm.
At Avvocating, three tools seemed to be the favorites for demonstrating (or do I dare say “advertising”?) your legal expertise:
1. Interviews by the press: Television, radio and print (online and offline) are all powerful mediums for establishing your legal expertise. If a credible news channel asks for your legal point of view, who will doubt your expertise? Unfortunately too many lawyers fear the media opportunity, which is why we have a periodic webinar on this very subject. Our new webinar schedule is not entirely complete, but please check back at the Avvo Blog and we should have the availability of this webinar posted shortly.
2. Blogging: Offering your opinions on a blog allows others to understand and reference your expertise. If many in the blogosphere, including traditional media outlets, are referring to your blog posts, your status as an “expert” is dramatically enhanced.
3. Testimonials and Endorsements: Politicians have used these for years, and lawyers are only now getting around to using them effectively. One of the reasons that sites like Avvo and LinkedIn have boomed is because they allow people to speak to and endorse the expertise of another. That’s powerful stuff. Anytime someone takes the time to compliment your expertise, it helps reinforce that you are in fact an expert.
For some lawyers, “advertising” their expertise feels too salesy. For others, it is a critical part of their marketing strategy, and they are out there every day turning their expertise into business. It’s ultimately your call; but, in an environment of limited differentiation, the only real choice is to market yourself as the expert that (1) you are, and (2) your potential clients expect you to be.
Mark
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About Mark Britton
Mark Britton is the founder, CEO and president of Avvo.
Prior to founding Avvo, Mark was the executive vice president of Worldwide Corporate Affairs of InterActiveCorp Travel (IACT) and Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE). In this position, Mark oversaw all finance, strategy, corporate development, legal, human resources and government relations functions for the IACT companies, including Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Classic Custom Vacations and Interval International. He was also Expedia's first General Counsel.
Prior to joining Expedia, Mark was an attorney and equity partner-elect of the law firm Preston, Gates & Ellis LLP (now K&L Gates). In addition to Preston Gates, Mark practiced law in a small and medium-sized law firm and served as Senior Counsel to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Today, Mark serves on the Board of Directors of Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: OWW).
Through his work with Avvo, Expedia and Orbitz, Mark has been a central figure at the intersection of the Internet and professional services for over a decade. Mark's passion for helping consumers make better choices regarding legal professionals led to him being named one of Seattle's "Top 25 Innovators" by Seattle Business Magazine in 2007. Mark is also a frequent commentator on consumer issues, regularly appearing on programs such as ABC's Good Morning America, Fox Business' "America's Nightly Scoreboard," CNBC's "Power Lunch," CNN Money and Dow Jones MarketWatch.
Mark received his law degree from George Washington University. He holds a degree in finance from Gonzaga University and serves on Gonzaga's Board of Regents.
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Comments (4)
But what if the lawyer doesn’t have the expertise? What if he’s, well, kinda crappy and spouts really stupid stuff? What if other lawyers make fun of him for getting it wrong and smear his name across the blogosphere for being the legal village idiot?
That wouldn’t be good, right?
I’m assuming, Scott, that you are being your usually sarcastic self. Considering how often you attempt to “out” the village idiots on Simple Justice, I’m confident that your question is rhetorical.
However, all sarcasm aside, I think that transparency is a (if the not “the”) hallmark of the modern Internet. If someone is doing great, that story should be told. If they are being (to use your words) the legal village idiot, that story should be told as well.
Scott – where would you place yourself on that spectrum? ;-)
Mark
Sarcasm? Me?
Your final question has a flaw, which surprises me as I know that you are certainly not the legal village idiot. We don’t place ourselves on that spectrum, and in fact have nothing to say about where on that spectrum we fall. That’s up to people who read us.
As you correctly note, transparency is a double edged sword. Lawyers should be wary of it.
I’m not so sure that we should be “wary” of it (unless “we” are the village idiot). But I think that it is not that we should be wary so much as be aware of the double edge sword.