I stumbled upon an interesting post on the Psychology Today blog.  The post was an excerpt from an interview with Lynn Parker the author of The Reluctant Entrepreneur.  In the post, the interviewer asks what the difference is between a reluctant entrepreneur and a typical entrepreneur.  Lynn explains:

There's a mind-set in most entrepreneurs that growth is good, money is the only measure of success, and the goal is to go public or sell the company. The reluctant entrepreneur usually has the mind-set that sustainability is good, money is one of several measures (happy work life, balanced home life, good for employees, good for the community are the others) of success, and there may not be an exit strategy or way to sell the business at the end. It's really a difference between areas of focus: one focus is on a business as the engine of money, and the other is on business as the engine of satisfaction and a balanced life. Neither is good or bad, just each group brings really different motivations to the game of business.

I thought this was an interesting distinction that has relevancy for lawyers establishing a law firm.  Defining what you are and what you want your firm to be has important implications on your firm's marketing plan.

What Do You Want Your Firm To Be?

Your marketing approach, and subsequent marketing investment, should be predicated around what you want your firm to be.  We all want more clients and to make more money, but your marketing strategy needs to be inline with the vision you have for the firm.  

If you want your firm to be "an engine of money" as Lynn describes, there is going to be a very different allocation of money and resources into your marketing strategy than if you prefer to have your firm serve as "an engine of satisfaction".  Unfortunately, many marketing strategies are born out of desperation, dry spells of no clients, or the latest fad.  Not enough emphasis is put on where you actually want to get to and then working backwards from there.

Another mistake is thinking you are going to be able to build "an engine of money" with a budget and strategy built for "an engine of satisfaction".  If you want to create a scalable, growing business you are going to have to make proper investments to get there.  This doesn't mean you spend money haphazardly, but it does mean that the marketing strategy you put together needs to be more aggressive accounting for growth rather than just sustainability.