You may think your firm may not be big enough to have a newsletter, or you may be concerned your firm is so big you would not know how to pick and choose what to put in it. In both cases the answer is to put what is important, what you have accomplished, the successful results you have gotten and in particular, activities both inside and outside the practice of law that you and lawyers in your firm are involved in. Don’t forget to put down special recognition, rewards or anything else that shows you, the lawyers in your firm and the firm itself in the most accurate and positive light possible to those who will receive your newsletter.

Some years ago I heard there were three words that were the best to use when it came to establishing and maintaining a viable group of clients for a law firm. Those three words were very similar to the three words that one is used to with regard to real estate, that being “location, location, location.” The three words used with regard to getting clients, keeping clients and making them happy were “contact, contact, contact.”

We have already discussed the importance of communication with both current and prospective clients. We have talked about ways to make you and your firm visible, thank you letters and electronic availability of information. We should not forget the good old U.S. Postal Service. Obviously, newsletters can be sent by e-mail as well, but there is just something about getting something in the mail that looks interesting enough to pique people’s curiosity that makes a newsletter very appealing.

Last week I quoted from several parts of a newsletter I had received from one of my clients who is in the leasing business. I often circle parts of this newsletter and pass them around to people in my firm for their review and information. The information contained in his newsletter usually has to do with the concepts of finance because he is in the leasing business, but he also talks about salesmanship, teambuilding and for lack of a better thing to call it, “esprit de corps.” All of this information seems to fit nicely into his newsletter.

Being able to do a newsletter is not as difficult as you think. If you are involved in any type of affinity group in the practice of law, chances are there is somebody out there who has developed a generic newsletter for you to purchase, partially customize, add your name to it and mail out to your clients. My experience has shown these are not expensive and can be a great way to not only communicate with your clients — make contact — but to reinforce in your client’s mind where you have positioned yourself in the practice of law. Both plaintiffs and defense bars have newsletters available. You can access them through the various associations such as ATLA, MATA, DRI or The Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

If you have the capability of being able to do an in-house newsletter using desktop publishing, you can really personalize your newsletter. The things you are doing on a day-to-day basis can easily be digested or announced in the newsletter. You may be surprised if you simply put together those things you might want to put in a newsletter. In a short period of time you would have more than enough to fill a two-page e-mailed newsletter.

At one time I was in a firm with 34 lawyers and periodically we would send out a newsletter that was customized in-house. I always felt this was very good marketing on our part, but it simply took too much of a lawyer’s time to put it together. When the lawyer would spend time on the newsletter he or she was not being productive on client matters. My suggestion would be to have somebody with some writing ability put this newsletter together. My suggestion is to look to your law office administrator, office manager, law clerks or paralegals to put together the rough draft, and have the lawyers add the finishing touches.

A newsletter can be mailed to all your current clients as well as your former clients. A newsletter can also be mailed to other lawyers who periodically refer you business and to whom you refer business. Additionally, you can mail newsletters to targeted individuals who were friends or acquaintances that may be potential sources for legal business.

As I said in an earlier article, one of the most important things to do is to maintain your visibility, maintain your “contact” and to not to keep your “candle under a bushel basket.”

Letting people know you are alive and well and continuing to pursue the practice of law and make yourself available for serving clients in a caring, efficient and economical manner by means of a newsletter is a great way to make your practice thrive.

You don’t have to dive right into a glossy, three-color newsletter. You can start slow and do a one-page piece that sets out what you, the other lawyers in your firm, and the firm have been accomplishing and doing. I think you would be astounded at the positive response.

Don’t forget to use your firm’s logo, color scheme and motto or slogan in the newsletter. Tie all of your marketing materials together and show a united advertising and marketing picture.

Next week’s topic will be dealing with a similar tip that discusses using firm announcements of important changes or additions to maintain contact with past, present and prospective clients. This may seem like an obvious thing to do, but I am familiar with a lot of changes that are occurring in people’s law firms and it quite frankly surprises me the lack of formal announcements with regard to such changes. We will discuss this topic in more depth in our next column.

Talk to you next week!

Jim Wirken is a civil trial attorney and the Chairman of the Board of The Wirken Law Group in Kansas City.