You’ve got a choice to make with your marketing. You can do it yourself (time), or you can have someone do it for you (money). Which approach is better?

With respect to certain elements of your marketing plan, the answer is easy, and you should pay someone to do it for you.

With certain other elements of your marketing plan, the answer is also easy, and you should do it yourself.

So what should you do and what should you hire out?

Before we go deep on this topic, I should first say that you should, if funds are tight, do it all yourself. That’s a no-brainer. When you’ve got lots of time and little money, you spend time on marketing. This discussion is reserved for lawyers who have plenty of money to devote to marketing and limited time.

So what would I do myself and what would I farm out?

Planning: I’d bring in an expert to help me talk through and flesh out a plan. You know the market, but the expert knows how to plan. My ideal expert would be good at asking the right questions of me and my team, gathering data from inside and outside of the firm, and translating all of it into a plan. I’d want someone good at developing the message, evaluating tactics, and assisting with execution. I’d want to be involved step-by-step in the process. I wouldn’t want to relinquish control of this most important part of the process.

Networking: Inevitably, the marketing of a family law firm involves one-to-one contact with referral sources. In my mind, that’s not delegable. I want in on the relationships and need to be a part of every interaction. Of course, other attorneys in the firm need to develop their own relationships, but I expect to be in on monitoring and managing those relationships. I want to be sure we’re doing everything possible to be good to our referral sources and maintain our reputation.

Internet: I’d hire someone to design a great site and other web presences. I’d be involved, however, in the creation of the content for those sites. I wouldn’t delegate the content entirely without having a great deal of input. I wouldn’t want our content to turn into platitudes. I want to be sure our content conveys value to the consumer. Most attorney websites that I’ve seen that were built without much input by the firm end up being garbage that don’t do much good for the visitor.

Advertising: Hire experts to help with advertising. Get them to develop the ads, buy the placement, etc. This is complex, and you can waste a fortune on bad ads placed poorly. There are experts on everything from print media to radio to TV to pay-per-click. Most experts are good at one, maybe two mediums. Don’t assume one expert can do it all. Of course, you want input into the development of your ads, but remember that you’re a lawyer, not an advertising expert. Listen to the advice you’ve purchased.

Writing: Most marketing plans involve the production of articles, blog posts, etc. Do you need to write every word? No. But you should assign all articles, make yourself available to the writers, and then review and tweak everything before it goes out.

Day-to-day: No question that you should have someone staffing the marketing. Ideally, you’ll have someone with a strong marketing background who can drive these projects forward and keep you in the loop. You need someone with attention to detail, good delegation and management skills, and the ability to effectively manage vendor relationships.

Of course, you can do all of this yourself if you lack the resources to hire people to help. But once you’ve got the resources, it makes sense to bring on help and expertise. However, it’s important—critical in my opinion—that you not attempt to delegate it all. You’ve got to stay in the loop. Don’t assume that money can replace time with marketing. That’s like assuming that you can delegate parenting: you can’t. You can get help, but you’ve got to remain involved and keep paying attention.