Marketing firms and advertising agencies make money selling you marketing materials and advertising. They don’t make money because you make money. It’s cynical, I know, but it’s true.
I’ve bumped in to two law firms in the past week that had little firm brochures made. They are both tri-fold 5×5 square, multi-page pieces promoting some element of the law firm.
Unfortunately, nobody cares. When was the last time a client wanted a full color 5×5 brochure about a law firm? Maybe, never. Oh, you did it for referral sources, huh? Guess what? They don’t want your crap either.
Clients care about (1) themselves and (2) the problem they are currently having.
If you’ve got unlimited resources and want to stimulate the local economy then go ahead and get a brochure.
Focus your resources where they matter. Build your website/blog, build traffic using organic and paid search and build your personal network. Don’t let the agencies talk you in to paying for printed material that is on the fast track to the landfill.
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Lee has practiced family law for more than twenty years. With three offices, 
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This is a bit harsh. Different types of marketing works for different types of marketing niches. Though I agree that a majority of people search online for attorneys, that is not the case for certain subgroups.
My firm invests heavily into online marketing and blogging, etc. But 1/2 of my client base are Asian clients and brochures geared towards the Asian market has brought in a lot of business for my firm.
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Gabriel,
Agreed. It was harsh. Maybe I was having a bad day when I wrote it?
You make a valid point.
Lee
Very true!
Harsh that it may be, you speak the truth. Isn’t that what we want from others…
If a person/customer can’t see the “what’s in it for them” from your advertisement. They will almost never give your business, let alone the advertisement any attention.
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I think there are two subjects here: 1) the validity of brochures as marketing tools, and 2) the content of the brochure. One could certainly argue that if the brochure is only “about the law firm” and not about potential clients and their problems, then it’s money largely wasted, but that hardly invalidates brochures as a marketing medium. I think you picked the worst of the worst — a tri-fold brochure that is “about the law firm” — to make your point. Brochures are all about the first 15 seconds — the territory covered in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink. Let’s say I want to market estate planning to very affluent families. A substantial and sophisticated brochure placed in their hands causes an immediate first impression: “This law firm is the kind that works with people like me.” It’s no different than having an impressive office, or an impressive website for that matter.
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