That time between Christmas and New Year's can be pretty dead in the legal world. Some law firms are open, others aren't. Clients are busy worrying about their own holiday problems. Business is slow.
But you're coming into the office every day, right? For some reason? You could sit there and throw pencils at the ceiling, or you could take care of those marketing tasks that you've been afraid to do all year. Well, guess what: There's no excuse not to do them anymore.
Here are five marketing chores you can work on during this slow time of year:
1. Clean Up Your Website.
If you haven't rethought your law firm website since they eliminated the "blink" HTML tag, then now's the time. Make sure all your pages still work, that the copy on them is up to date (Jacob Marley? He's not a partner anymore; he died seven years ago this very day!). Most importantly, make sure your links work. If you haven't updated your website in a while, there's a good chance the places you linked to around anymore.
2. Review All Branded Materials.
If anything has your firm's name on it, it's an implicit endorsement. So make sure you're still endorsing whatever it is, including any tchotchkes that, it turns out, are kind of tacky. Go through all your written materials to make sure they're up to date in terms of the firm, but also in terms of the law.
3. Update Client Lists.
If you don't have software that manages your cases, you might just have client lists in a moldy old spreadsheet somewhere. If this works for you, great -- just make sure they're up to date. Losing that piece of paper with client information on it would be dreadful.
4. Send Out New Year's Cards (If You Didn't Do Christmas Cards)
Send out something. As we've pointed out before, holiday cards let the client know you still care, and also that you're still in business. It's an excellent way to get new business from old clients, but it works only if you actually send them. People like getting mail, even if it's from their lawyer.
5. Make a List of Marketing Goals for Next Year.
If you couldn't possibly manage the effort to do the above four things, then at least make a list of what you want to do when you're not thinking about egg nog. Do you want to improve your online presence? Revamp your website? Get into the newsletter biz? Sketch this stuff out so you can pull the trigger whenever you want. (Hint, hint: FindLaw's Lawyer Marketing experts can help you with all of it.)
What are you doing during the holiday business lump? Let us know on Twitter (@FindLawLP) or Facebook (FindLaw for Legal Professionals).
Related Resources:
- 5 Things Lawyers Can Do When the Internet Goes Down (FindLaw's Strategist)
- 5 Apps for Working from Home This Holiday Season (FindLaw's Strategist)
- That's a Wrap! Year-End Tasks for Small Law Firms (FindLaw's Strategist)
