Too Busy to Market? Never!

Can you take a marketing break when the good times roll? Only if you are prepared to fall back into the abyss of waiting endlessly for the phone to ring.

One of the lawyers I help with business development campaigns reports that she is so busy now in 2011 that she is not sure she could take any more work.

This is certainly a nice problem to have, and as an experienced rainmaker she knows that it is not a good idea to take your eye off the business development pipeline and prospect list. So she continues her legal marketing efforts, although with a greater emphasis now on getting more business from existing clients.

Here are some ideas you can use to keep the legal marketing initiatives working for you without having to break too much of a sweat:

1. Keep a marketing calendar, and schedule your campaigns 3-6 months in advance
2. Reach out to clients on a quarterly basis
3. Post a quick news item to LinkedIn every 1-2 weeks. This is an easy way to stay in front of your network.
4. Write 2-3 articles per year for publication. You can do this outside of normal office hours, and there are many long term marketing benefits.
5. Schedule periodic lunches with your referral network members. You need to eat anyway, and it's a break from the routine.

Even a heavy workload can change from one day to the next in the legal industry, as cases settle or client funding runs low.

Marketing is a process and not an event. It can be simple, but should always be structured to maintain a steady forward momentum.