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Ed. Note: Be sure to read our blueprint on starting a law firm<\/a> for tips on establishing strong business foundations alongside your marketing timeline.<\/em><\/p>\n Know the ground rules.<\/strong> Before diving in, make sure you understand the various policies that apply to your situation, from your firm\u2019s partnership agreement to your state\u2019s Rules of Professional Conduct. Know the rules, then play by them; negative headlines, state bar actions and litigation are no way to start your new enterprise.<\/p>\n Write your positioning statement. <\/strong>Think of this exercise as drafting the Constitution of your law firm (or perhaps your Declaration of Independence, if your parting will be a contentious one). What kind of law firm are you building? Doing this early will ensure all of your marketing \u2013 from the firm name to the logo to the website \u2014 has a strategy behind it.<\/p>\n Harvard Business School<\/a> has a helpful model for crafting your positioning statement:<\/p>\n With this homework done, put it together:<\/p>\n \u201cWe help [target audience] do [customer need] by [firm differentiator].\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n This could look like:<\/p>\n You don\u2019t need a lengthy brand guide to establish the foundation of your new firm, but you do need a clear North Star.<\/p>\n Make it official.<\/strong> What are you going to name the firm? Again, review your state\u2019s Rules of Professional Conduct to determine any limitations, such as whether trade names are allowed or whether your state requires advance approval of your firm name.<\/p>\n A few other considerations:<\/p>\n Finalize your firm name and entity type (LLP, PC), and as you complete your paperwork, claim your domain name and social media handles.<\/p>\n Assemble your team. <\/strong>In addition to a malpractice insurer, a banker and an accountant well-versed in law firm account structures, look for a marketing partner. You want a legal marketing adviser that offers:<\/p>\n Also, watch for marketing vendors that offer proprietary website software. Some of these make beautiful websites, but no one else can manage these sites. If you ever want to cut ties with the agency, you will need a whole new website. Websites built on popular platforms like WordPress provide flexibility to change vendors, to work on it yourself (with a YouTube tutorial and an AI assistant) \u2014 along with security and search-friendliness.<\/p>\n Start logo design.<\/strong> Your marketing agency is likely to have its own process, but be prepared to discuss your vision for the firm, your target audience and the services you will provide. The logo design process will be faster if you also share specific names of competitors and specific examples of logos you do and don\u2019t like.<\/p>\n Be candid if you have strong feelings about fonts and colors. It will save everyone time if, at the front end, you let them know nothing can be blue.<\/p>\n Gather marketing intel.<\/strong> Start working on three lists:<\/p>\n Build out your visual identity. <\/strong>Once your logo is done, you have the foundation for your website design and marketing collateral. <\/p>\n For your website, it\u2019s common for marketing firms to start with a few options for the homepage, then move on to interior pages like attorney biographies, practice areas and other content.<\/p>\n Beyond the website, your marketing partner will apply your logo to business materials: electronic letterhead, email signature, PowerPoint slides, signage, and so forth. Do this now, and ensure you have adequate time to review it before the inevitable year-end crunch.<\/p>\n Write or review website content. <\/strong>You may do this on your own or have the marketing team handle it, but your website needs professional prose. Pay special attention to your:<\/p>\n Catalog your contacts. <\/strong>Remember that master list of connections you made in September? Let\u2019s put it to work. Sort every contact based on the likelihood they would hire or refer you. This can be in a simple Excel spreadsheet; just create another dedicated column.<\/p>\n You can determine your own categories, but I like the straightforward \u201chot, warm, cold\u201d classification. Hot contacts are people who match your ideal client profile or people who influence them. Warm contacts may be ideal clients (or refer them) in the future. Cold contacts are people you don\u2019t see hiring you \u2014 but you never know how they (or their network) may evolve.<\/p>\n Draft your Q1 business development plan. <\/strong>This does not need to be overly formal, but committing to specific actions in your first six months of business makes you more likely to complete them, and less likely to drift along with random acts of business development.<\/p>\n There are many templates and worksheets available online (and your current firm may have a format you can adopt, too). Writing for this publication, Sally Schmidt advised lawyers<\/a> to draft plans with four goals:<\/p>\n This is a strong, well-rounded framework for the proprietor of a new law firm.<\/p>\n Test and proofread your website. <\/strong>Your website partner will provide you with a staging site where you can troubleshoot. Proofread every page and check every link so you are launch-ready in January.<\/p>\n Create firm profiles on popular search engines. <\/strong>Populate a Google Business Profile<\/a> and Bing Places for Business<\/a>. This helps inform the search engines that you exist and ensures you will show on map searches.<\/p>\n Draft or review your announcements. <\/strong>Enlist your marketing agency to draft a press release about your new firm, and send it to the local legal and business press and your alumni publications. You may also pay to post it on a newswire like Globe Newswire or Business Wire. The newswires may not get you press coverage, but they will help establish your new firm\u2019s online presence with search engines and AI tools as you finalize the final items on your law firm startup checklist.<\/p>\n Write the initial round of outreach emails for your hot, warm and cold contacts.<\/strong> You will send individual emails in January. Refer to your positioning statement to draft emails that cover what your firm does, who you do it for, how you do it and why you are a superior choice. Share a link to your website and social media, and thank them for their consideration.<\/p>\n Answer the question \u201cHow can I help?\u201d <\/strong>You will get questions from your network about the new business, and many will ask how they can help you. Often, this can be a free opportunity for some grassroots marketing. Have some concrete answers ready; this could be following the firm on social media, sharing or commenting on your first post, or searching for the firm to show interest to search engines and LLMs.<\/p>\n Starting now means you will be able to maneuver your transition in January with confidence and assume the role of business owner with more time for hands-on client work (and billing, and intake, and fixing the computer). <\/p>\n Above all, you will be ready to attract, win and retain exactly the kind of work that has inspired you to make this significant life change.<\/p>\n Be sure to read Katie Barnard\u2019s article, \u201cStarting Your Own Law Firm? Two Costly Mistakes to Avoid,\u201d<\/a> for more on making you control your firm\u2019s most fundamental assets.<\/em><\/p>\n Image \u00a9 iStockPhoto.com. <\/p>\nSix-Month Law Firm Startup Checklist<\/h2>\n
JULY CHECKLIST<\/h3>\n
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AUGUST CHECKLIST<\/h3>\n
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SEPTEMBER CHECKLIST<\/h3>\n
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OCTOBER CHECKLIST<\/h3>\n
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NOVEMBER CHECKLIST<\/h3>\n
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DECEMBER CHECKLIST<\/h3>\n
Set Yourself Up for a Confident Launch<\/h2>\n
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