Understanding the Needs and Wants of Your Target Audience Is Key to Having a Plan.

Aug 4

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the 30th edition of Short & Sweet, a weekly newsletter where I provide brief tips for attorneys to build their brand and book of business, on and off of LinkedIn. Read until the end to see my LinkedIn tip of the week.

Earlier this week I hosted a virtual workshop that helped trademark attorneys identify their target audience so they can more effectively craft their offers and business development and marketing strategy.

We looked at the following factors in order to create a set of content pillars. Content pillars are the foundation of your messaging and marketing strategy. Taking the time to go through this exercise immediately provides focus to make your efforts efficient:

What are your dreams / overall vision? (For example, what motivates you to get out of bed in the morning? What do you see as the direction of your law firm? How much revenue do you want to generate?)
What services do you want to be marketing (even though you may provide broader services)?
Who are your ideal clients? (For example, who pays their bills? Who are your favorite types of clients to work with? Which clients do you want more of?)

What are their pain points (For example, what keeps them up at night? What issues have they been raising with you? Do they have budget constraints?)

Who are your best referral partners? (For example, where is your work coming from now? What other types of attorneys have clients who may have trademark needs?)

What are their pain points? (How will it make it easier for them to refer you?)

What industries do you tend to operate in? What industry specialities do you have?

What do clients and colleagues say about you in reviews or otherwise?

How do you want to be perceived by your target audience?

What topics light you up? (On a personal and professional level, what do you love to talk, read, or write about? What do you like to listen to or watch?)

What are your hobbies and interests outside of work?

Take a few minutes (or ideally an hour) to jot down notes in response to this list. Once you see the big picture, you’ll start to notice patterns. You may see that what you like to talk about happens to address potential clients’ pain points or what they may be interested in hearing about. You’ve now found a topic you should be discussing more widely to gain visibility.

For example, I have a coaching client who consistently hears feedback that it’s challenging for foreign associates to find proactive, responsive trademark attorneys in the region of the world my client operates. This is a pain point. One of the reasons my client started their firm is to specifically combat this issue. So, not only does my client enjoy discussing this topic, it directly hits on their target audiences’ pain points. My client has now found one content pillar that can be used to gain visibility with the right audience across platforms.

I work with trademark attorneys one-on-one to answer these questions. Then we create a personalized and sustainable business development plan that creates results. We do this by using LinkedIn and/or other business development activities as tools.

If you’d like to learn more about my programs, register, or schedule a call with me, click here and here. If you register or schedule a call with me, I’ll send you the slides and recording from my workshop.

Warmest Regards and see you next week,

Jamie

LinkedIn Tip of The Week:

There has been a lot of talk lately about LinkedIn’s inconsistent algorithm. Ignore that. If you follow these basic principles, you can still be using it effectively: Post 2 - 5 times per week earlier in the day, engage with the comments on your posts, connect with your target audience, and engage with the content of your target audience consistently. Don’t know what to post about or where to start? Schedule a call with me above.

P.S. You can work with me in the following ways: