Seth Godin wrote a post the other day entitled Betting on smarter (or betting on dumber).  In the post he explains the following:

Marketers fall into one of two categories:

A few benefit when they make their customers smarter. The more the people they sell to know, the more informed, inquisitive, free-thinking and alert they are, the better they do.

And most benefit when they work to make their customers dumber. The less they know about options, the easier they are to manipulate, the more helpless they are, the better they do.

Seth's post really struck a chord with me.  It allowed me to reflect on the philosophy and methods I use to market my business as well as the law firms I work for.  I can actually point to the specific experience I had that changed my marketing philosophy; the process of purchasing an engagement ring.  Let me explain.

The Biggest Purchase Of My Life

The stars had aligned and I finally made the decision to pop the question.  The last hurdle was purchasing the engagement ring.  I had a general idea of what I wanted to spend and that was the extent of my jewelry/engagement ring knowledge.

I asked friends in the area for a couple of references and set off to meet with a few jewelers.  The first two jewelers basically took me through the same process.  They asked me what I was looking for, asked what my budget was, showed me a couple of diamonds, flipped through a book of settings, and both asked for a deposit.  I declined to put anything down until meeting with the third guy.

The final jeweler (Jim Harris, highly recommended if you are living outside the Detroit area) handled the process a little bit differently.  He requested that I meet him at his office for a 45 minute consultation.  When we sat down, rather than asking how much I wanted to spend and what I was looking for, he explained that the goal of this meeting was to educate me on diamonds and engagement rings.  He took the time to explain the 4 C's (cut, clarity, color, carat).  He showed me how certain diamond grading companies inflated their grades.  He talked to me about not obsessing over the carats as this was only one element of a diamond's quality.  I walked away from the consultation an educated, appreciative consumer.  The process shed light on problems with the diamonds the previous jewelers had shown me.  In addition, the level of trust and respect I had afterwards made the decision to purchase from Jim a no-brainer.

Jim Harris practices education based marketing.  I believe in this powerful marketing philosophy and have seen the positive results with both AttorneySync as well as the law firms we market online.

The Benefits of Education Based Marketing

Education based marketing is the art of educating your prospective client so that they are able to make an informed decision.   There are a number of benefits:

• It helps to build value in your service
• You no longer have to sell on price
• It positions you as an expert in your field
• It builds trust in the beginning of the relationship
• It provides transparency into your thoughts, process, and business
• It makes the competition that is hard-selling, using manipulative tactics, and telling half-truths less relevant

How Your Firm Can Accomplish This Online

• Blogging: Blogging is a perfect example of relationship building and education based marketing.  You are giving of your time and expertise, sharing your knowledge to educate your potential client.
• Guides or Whitepapers:  We offer free guides to people that want to learn more about internet marketing for lawyers.  An educated client will appreciate the services we perform on a whole different level than someone who doesn't understand the basics of online marketing.
• Webinars: Offering an online seminar or course is a powerful tool to educate clients and generate leads for your firm.  
• Video Marketing: Use an online video as an opportunity to help educate someone as opposed to just advertising your firm.  Anyone can talk into the camera telling everyone "how hard they will fight for you".  Take the opportunity to teach them something about the law that actually helps inform the consumer.

Law firms need to take advantage of this type of marketing.  The law is a very foreign, difficult to understand subject for most people.  The firms that have the ability to explain it in plain English and educate their potential clients will reap the benefits.

Photo by GeekMom Heather