Developing Your Unique Selling Proposition

Back in grade school you were taught that everyone is special and has something that sets them apart from everyone else. This is true about you as a person and you as a lawyer. When you're developing new lawyer advertising methods and campaigns, you need to consider developing a unique selling proposition as well.

What is a unique selling proposition?

No matter where you go in this country you'll find dozens, even hundreds of lawyers in the general practice areas, all crammed into a metro location. How do you distinguish one personal injury attorney in Boston from another? That's why we have copies of The Yellow Pages crammed full of lawyer advertising and why every other bus bench and TV advertisement is for a law firm.

The solution to standing out among this oversaturation of lawyer advertising is to develop a unique selling proposition. You need to capitalize on what sets you apart from every other law firm out there. It may be that you're the dedicated lawyer with 9 kids who also runs marathons and developed a legal marketing business while still running his law practice, taking cases and making it home for dinner every night. Not everyone can say that, can they? Really, only I can, and that can be my unique selling proposition. Caught your attention, didn't it?

Develop Your Unique Selling Proposition

You too have something special about you or your firm that you can turn into a unique selling proposition. Think about what sets your legal business apart from your competition:

- Do you offer a service no one else does?

- Do you have accomplishments or credentials that none of your competitors have earned?

- Do you specialize in a niche practice area no one else has thought of?

I've seen plenty of lawyers develop their unique selling proposition from even less law-related means. One is an avid motorcyclist, so he designs his lawyer advertising to capitalize on that fact. It also helps that he deals primarily in motorcycle accident claims. He's the lawyer who's always riding in local parades on his bike and publishes his spring newsletter heralding the coming of riding season.

You can even develop a unique selling proposition out of a personal quirk. There was a lawyer in my area once who loved the color red. Everything related to his lawyer advertising was done in some shade of red - logos, pens, business cards. He even went as far as to have a huge red sign outside his building. Do I remember his name? No, but I do remember he was the "lawyer who really loved red" and I can still tell you where his office was located.


Copyright (c) 2010 Benjamin Glass