While Solo Practice University has the inimitable James Chartrand of Men with Pens teaching lawyers how to brand their practices, I have a few things to say on the subject, too!

“Branding” is creating name recognition through a carefully crafted plan of integrated marketing.  That’s quite a mouthful.  But what does it really mean?

It’s not unlike the brand on the behind of a cow.  A fellow rancher or townsperson sees the “OK” on the backside of the cow and knows it belongs to the “OK Corral.”  But more importantly, when they see the “OK” brand, are they making the association that the cow represents quality beef or mad cow disease?  In a nutshell, that is the importance of branding.

In order to be heard in this age of never-ending advertising, your voice has to mean something to its intended audience.  And your voice has to speak consistently year after year in your chosen mediums, the message clear and consistent across all media.  It then has to be backed up with quality.  This is how reputations are built or destroyed. If the message is great but the service you deliver doesn’t live up to the hype, you die.

The key to quality branding is staying true to who you are and your vision of where you want to be 20 or 30 years down the road, both professionally and personally.  If you fail to determine your vision first and simply follow the pack with a “one-size-fits-all” marketing plan, you will remain an indistinguishable (and struggling) part of the herd.

How do you distinguish yourself? Just by being who you are already distinguishes you from the solo down the street and the larger firm on the hill because you are a unique composition of talents and experiences.  Your “branding” will naturally flow from determining the characteristics that set you apart and amplifying these traits through various mediums.  And the characteristics are not just the color of your eyes.   They have everything to do with community ties, ethnicity, religious affiliations, non-legal endeavors, education and previous work history.  Once you combine your vision for your professional and personal future with your “characteristics,” the best media for you will become clearer, and the message you will deliver more succinct, resonating with your intended audience.

Hypothetically, John wants to go back to his hometown to open his solo practice.  His parents had a bakery there for 35 years.  Everyone remembers John as a freckle-faced 5-year old who climbed on the stool behind the counter to help his father butter the rolls.  “Gee, Johnny, you’re such a hard worker,” they would smile.

Everyone also remembers it was his parents who brought the best tasting brownies for all the school bake sales and only charged a quarter.  They sold coffee with real cream at the high school football games and had a kiosk selling baked goods at the local country fair where John would work tirelessly.  And John was always the first to volunteer to raise funds for local charities.

Now John wants to raise his family and open his law practice in town.  His parents are still alive and still run the bakery.  John wants to concentrate in elder care law, wills, trusts and estates, and family dissolution.  His personal history  and vision for his future will establish the foundation for his “branding.”  The “tag” he creates for his letterhead, business card, e-mail signature, web site design and advertisement in the local penny saver will reflect his history and vision of his personal and professional future.

How he reconnects with this community will match his personality and the habits of his potential client base.  The legal practice he builds from there for decades to come, all future expansion into other communities and areas of law, will be predicated on the strength of these solid footings.

For every single one of the more than one million lawyers in the United States, there is a unique “branding” campaign that will allow those who choose to go solo or join a small firm the opportunity to combine their personal and professional visions in a seamless “branding” package.  If [solos] are successful in branding, they will not be able to separate where their personal life ends and their working life begins.  They are ‘on’ 24/7.  Every day, every person they meet is a potential client.

This is the epitome of successful “branding” for the solo or small firm lawyer and an integral element of a professional career.