During my 16-plus years as an attorney and legal marketer, one thing has become clear to me: Most law firms like to take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to marketing. Few firms like to be first. There’s trepidation about standing out. And so they wait.

The process typically plays out like this:

• A new platform or marketing methodology develops in the marketplace
• Tech and other early adapting industries jump on board
• Law firms – still waiting
• Platform/methodology gains hold more broadly
• McKinsey, Accenture or some other consulting firm adopts
• Law firms start debating whether it’s right for the legal industry

The reason I raise this is because, just this week, a law firm leader asked me whether his firm and its lawyers should “be on” social media. Keep in mind that this firm is no stranger to marketing. It spends real dollars on print ads, airport ads, event sponsorships, website banner ads and, of course, individual lawyer awards (“Super Lawyers” and the like). The tone he struck when asking whether they should “be on” social media suggested to me that he believes there is something distasteful about playing in this space.

One of the most important things a lawyer can do to become a well-branded, well-recognized expert, is to produce high-quality content. In most cases, particularly in the legal industry, the written format is most popular when it comes to producing content. But the format matters far less than the substance. Ideas can be conveyed via podcast, video, live talks – it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the content, itself, is of such high-quality that it raises the profile and reputation of the content producer in the minds of content consumers.

Content is one of the few tools that allows a lawyer to establish relationships built on trust with those who she may never have personally come into contact with. Here’s how it works:

When it comes to addressing their challenges and opportunities, clients want expertise, not generalized knowledge. Unless expertise can be conveyed and validated through referral or reputation, it must be demonstrated through thought leadership expressed in the marketplace of ideas. In this sense, content is what sells a lawyer when she’s not there to sell herself. It gives others a window into the lawyer’s mind, her ideas, and the quality of her insights. Through reading and evaluating her content, potential referral sources and clients have already determined, to at least some extent, that their needs and her expertise align.

A lawyer with a powerful personal brand is one who is well-known and well-respected by a distinct audience. She is thought of, and sought out, when a particular type of expertise is required to solve a particular type of problem. In other words, a lawyer with a powerful personal brand is not someone who tries to be all things to all people. She knows a lot about a little, as opposed to the generalist who knows a little about a lot.

She did not attain broad brand awareness by accident. Rather, she became well-known through focused, strategic, long-term effort. She hunts antelopes, not field mice.

There are two types of services that lawyers can provide to clients. The first is legal service, which relates to quality of professional skill and work product. Legal service is, obviously, critically important to the success of a client relationship. But let’s face it, most clients cannot distinguish between good and great work product. Moreover, basic competence and technical proficiency are often presumed.

The second type of service lawyers provide is client service, which relates to the quality of brand experience one creates. Half of the brand equation is building a personal brand, which involves telling clients and prospective clients what to think about you. Equal, if not more, attention must be focused on creating an authentic brand experience, where your brand speaks for itself through its interaction with clients.

So what does this mean in the real world? Find out more about building a brand experience for client in a post I wrote for the Legal Marketing Association blog Strategies. Click here to read the article.

Want to learn even more? I go much deeper into the issue of brand experience in my book, One of a Kind: A Proven Path to a Profitable Legal Practice. Click here to check it out!

Have you ever put yourself in a prospective client’s shoes? Why would he, she or it hire you? Seriously, why? I’m sure you’re a good lawyer but (a) how would a prospective client know that and, perhaps more importantly, (b) can most prospective clients, at the point of purchase, discern between an average lawyer and a good one, or even a great one?

Consciously or not, most lawyers make a choice to craft professional personas that are largely indistinguishable from others. From their new business pitch to their website bio, they purposefully look, sound, act and describe themselves in a similar manner. This poses a dilemma for clients: When confronted with a commodity, how to make a choice?

The paradox is that sellers of actual commodities do the exact opposite of lawyers. They compete fiercely on grocers’ shelves, for example, to stand out from their competition. Only by standing out, they understand, can they capture a greater share of market.

I’m not an IP lawyer. I’ve never worked on a copyright issue. But I am a lawyer and a marketer, and although I no longer practice law, I can still spot an issue when I see it. And there’s a big, glaring one lurking for many law firms who are failing to take the steps necessary to protect their brand-related intellectual property.

I raise it because it’s an important issue. We all know that intellectual property rights are an essential element of a law firm’s value and competitive edge. Law firms invest heavily in the creation and promotion of their brands. And in today’s digital and international business world, it’s harder than ever to protect and enforce IP rights.

But there’s a low hanging fruit IP issue (a simple housekeeping issue, really) that is chronically overlooked.

What comes to mind when you hear the term “personal brand”? For many lawyers, it conjures up visions of billboards and bus stop advertisements; self-promotion and aggrandizement. The law is a noble profession, and so the idea of aggressively promoting oneself is unseemly and unprofessional.

I agree, to a point. The problem is that while some lawyers take it too far, most don’t take it nearly far enough. The market for legal services is fiercely competitive and lawyers need every edge they can get. A compelling personal brand can provide one.

If you want to build a successful legal practice, there’s no getting around the fact that you need to excel at your craft. Technical and subject matter expertise are the building blocks of business development. Acquiring a high level of skill is the price of entry. That’s step one.

Step two is learning how to package, position and promote your expertise to the marketplace. To stand out, a lawyer must be mindful of both substance (expertise) and form (brand).

To overcome apprehension about focusing on personal branding, it’s important to dispel misconceptions about what it means to develop a powerful presence in the marketplace.