Personal Branding for Lawyers. 3-Step Guide to Brand Yourself

Law is considered a noble profession, and most lawyers tend to shy away from promoting themselves.

First, let's define personal branding. I believe brands are felt rather than heard. Most people make decisions based on emotion rather than objective thinking. So personal branding is differentiating yourself from everyone else who provide similar services.

An RTI in 2011 revealed that there were 1.3 million lawyers in India. What does this mean? It means high competition.

Every profession has two aspects to it. One is being good at your craft, and another is selling it. A lot of professionals are brilliant at what they do, but not that great in selling themselves.

Whether employed or self-employed, it is important to create an image that your target audience respects and admires.

Here are some ways lawyers can build their personal brand.

Step 1: Define your target audience

Having a target audience gives one focus to address the unique needs of one specific group and become known as an expert in that niche.

Brands don't try to be everything to everybody. Take Ferrari for example, they ignore 99% of the automobile market but they have carved a niche for themselves. Maruti focuses on fuel-efficient cars, and that's their niche. Every time they tried to make luxury cars, they failed, because they have carved a niche for being the best in fuel-efficient cars. That's their branding.

Some lawyers focus only on actors, and they become known as the lawyer for actors. Then there are others who focus only on real estate agents and developers, and others who focus only on start-ups.

When you focus on a specific group, you begin to understand their issues and begin to be known as an expert for that specific group. For example, if you are a lawyer for technology companies who understands every aspect of technology law, you become known as a specialist in that niche, the go-to person for technology companies.

Step 2: Take every opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge

Most people on social media are asking questions. It's a terrific opportunity for a knowledgeable professional to answer questions, position themselves as an expert, and build a following. Quora is a fabulous question and answer platform, and the best part is that they have a sizable Indian user base.

Blogs are another opportunity to demonstrate knowledge. Several online publications are looking for experts to write articles and provide answers to questions.

One can also be a guest speaker at events, conferences, seminars, even on TV and radio shows.

The best artists in the world spend 50% of their time perfecting their craft, and the rest of the time promoting it. There's no reason other professionals shouldn't do the same.

Answering questions on social media, writing articles for publications, and speaking at conferences may be time-consuming but they are an integral part of promoting one's expertise (services).

Step 3: Work on people skills

A professional's job is not just being good at his area of expertise, but it also involves being good with people.

Whether an employed professional is looking for a promotion or a self-employed professional is trying to land a big-ticket client, it involves convincing people to work with him.

Many of us learn technical skills in school and college, but we are rarely taught interpersonal skills or soft-skills. Learn the must-have soft skills for career success, and you could be on your way to building a lucrative career.

Conclusion

Personal branding is more important today than ever before. It involves careful planning and implementation.