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Lawyers commonly complain that they are too busy or have no time to market. If you probe a little bit, you will often find that lawyers simply do not know how to take the first steps to market their practices.

Few lawyers are willing to take seminars (especially sales training seminars) or study much about marketing. They often find that sales and marketing articles discussing "customers" and "products" offer tips that do not seem to apply to selling legal services.

The good news is that there are some excellent free resources with great materials that focus specifically on legal marketing. I have chosen ten of the best ones for you.

The Law Marketing Portal -- http://www.lawmarketing.com/ -- Larry Bodine operates this comprehensive and often-updated site. There are tons of great articles and other resources written by some of the best names in the field of legal marketing. This site is the first place to look for legal marketing resources. Larry Bodine's blog, also available on the site, provides excellent coverage of recent developments with expert commentary.

FindLaw: Lawyer Marketing -- http://marketing.lp.findlaw.com/ -- FindLaw, of course, has great sets of links to resources on almost every conceivable legal topic, and legal marketing is no exception. My only complaint: the list of articles is a bit dated and does not seem to contain a lot of new material. On the other hand, this site offers a set of links to some classic articles that stand the test of time.

NetLawTools -- http://www.netlawtools.com -- Jerry Lawson's excellent site has been a key resource on Internet marketing for many years. There are tons of resources and many examples of Jerry's wise analysis. Check out especially the Internet Roundtable column for coverage of practical issues for law firm web sites.

Greenfeld/Belser Ltd. -- http://www.gbltd.com -- The white papers on law firm marketing on this site, while now starting to show a little age, are some of the most important articles on law firm marketing and law firm branding. The site also has case studies of a number of law firm marketing projects that can help you learn the thinking behind a major marketing campaign.

Sugarcrest Report -- http://www.sugarcrest.com -- The Sugarcrest Report is a monthly e-mail newsletter that covers legal marketing issues on a regular basis. It's my current favorite marketing newsletter.

The Marcus Letter -- http://www.marcusletter.com/ -- This site makes available tons of excellent, thoughtful articles on marketing professional services. The Marcus Letter is also available in the form of an e-mail newsletter. I'd recommend starting with "Fishing Where the Fish Are."

Altman Weil's Marketing Library -- http://www.altmanweil.com/about/articles/lfma/marketing.cfm -- The consulting firm of Altman Weil keeps a very good library of resources on a variety of law practice management issues, but the 25 or so articles on marketing are especially good. I recommend Alan Olson's articles on marketing matrices.

Hildebrandt's Articles -- http://www.hildebrandt.com/Documents.aspx?WP_ID=215 -- The Hildebrandt consulting firm also makes available a substantial number of articles. While there are not as many as on the Altman Weil site, the Hildebrandt articles are all well worth spending your time reading.

Summit Consulting / Alan Weiss -- http://www.summitconsulting.com -- Alan Weiss, author of Million Dollar Consulting and other books, is one of the premier experts on marketing professional services. His site is loaded with great articles and access to his materials. Highly recommended.

MyShingle.com: Online Guide to Starting a Law Practice http://www.myshingle.com/files/goinsolo/index.html -- Here's a great site for solo and small firm lawyers. There is much to recommend about this site, but the links to marketing resources are especially good and chosen with the solo and small firm lawyer in mind.

Take a look around and grab a few articles to read. You will definitely find some great ideas that you can put into action.