2 Days at the Rhode Island Convention Center;
500+ Lawyers attended 40+ CLE workshops;
200+ pens given away;
< 10 business cards received; and
1 awesome septuagenarian!
I was honored to be an exhibitor at the Rhode Island Bar Association’s 2016 Annual Meeting. For 2 days, I talked to lawyers about their law practices, about the businesses they run and the work they do. It was exciting to speak face-to-face with so many lawyers about Lawducate and our solutions to their business of law problems.
One of my favorite conversations happened when an elder statesman of the profession approached my table. He wore a dark suit with a boutonniere on the lapel, a sign that he had been recognized for his 50 years in the profession. I shook his hand and humbly told him that I’m sure there’s nothing I could teach him.
What was his response?
There’s always something new to learn.
I fell instantly in love.
75 years young, he showed me his iPhone with all the apps he uses. He talked about knowing how every one of his clients found him and the newsletter he regularly sends out. He said the only thing he doesn’t do so well these days is text! He took my marketing materials, a pen from the cup on my table, and handed me a business card.
His readiness to learn and use of new technology in his practice is why he’s still a successful attorney, who enjoys his work, after 50 years. The right attitude keeps him young. He can teach the profession a thing or two.
That’s why I asked if he would do me the honor of being a guest on my podcast (debuting the Fall.) For your sake and mine, he cheerfully accepted. Stay tuned for that interview this September.
Your Marketing Tip for the Week
On the first day, I brought about 100 bright orange pens emblazoned with the Lawducate logo to give away to conference attendees. To my surprise, by lunch, I had one lonely pen left. Lawyers were grabbing the pens 2 or 3 at a time.
What was up with the pen mania?
Turns out clients take pens. The lawyers were looking for “cheap” (a.k.a. free) pens to keep on hand for client meetings.
That’s one way to cut the office supply budget, but it does nothing for your marketing.
Instead of looking for free pens, here’s what should you be doing instead. Buy your own pens with your own name and contact information on them, then give the pens away to your clients. Imagine how you would feel if you walked into a bank, reached for a pen to sign some checks and noticed that the pen advertised an auto body shop or hair salon. A little strange right? Why would the bank market someone else’s business?
You shouldn’t either. The only business you should be marketing is your own.
Using another company’s marketing give-away in your business says something to your clients.
- You are cheap; and
- You are somehow affiliated with the company advertised on the pen. Most likely they think you have done business with them or the business is a client.
And it does nothing for your marketing.
Thank you for taking mine, but next time get your own pens.
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