The 3 Marketing Traps That Keep Law Firms Stuck in Feast-or-Famine Mode
Are you tired of the feast-or-famine cycle?
One month your firm is buried in work. The next, you’re chasing leads and wondering if payroll will clear.
At Sterling Lawyers, we’ve grown from zero to a team of 27 family law attorneys and over $16 million in annual revenue. We have locations throughout Wisconsin and Illinois, but in the early days, we were stuck in the same cycle you might be in right now.
What changed?
We treated marketing like a non-negotiable daily habit.
Not a flashy campaign. Not a once-a-quarter strategy. Just consistent, small actions that created attention.
First, Redefine What Marketing Is
Most lawyers overcomplicate it. We imagine “marketing” as some overwhelming project that requires expertise or extra hours we don’t have.
That mindset kills momentum.
Marketing is just the act of getting attention.
You already know how to do that. You do it every day—with your family, your team, and your community. This is no different. It’s just about staying visible to the right people.
Why Marketing Dies When You’re Busy
We don’t skip marketing because we’re lazy. We skip it because we fall into one of these traps:
1. The Urgency Illusion
Client work screams “Do this now.” Marketing whispers “Get to it later.”
But today’s marketing = tomorrow’s clients.
When you skip it, you’re creating future gaps in your calendar and revenue.
2. The Completion Addiction
I live off to-do lists. Crossing things off gives me a dopamine hit.
But marketing doesn’t feel “done.” There’s always more you could do—so it gets pushed aside.
3. Revenue Rationalization
This month looks great. Billables are high.
But are you thinking 60 or 90 days ahead?
When you stop marketing during the busy times, you’re building in a downturn.
What Consistent Marketing Actually Gives You
When you do something simple daily, the results compound.
Control Over Client Selection
In the early days, we worked with anyone—even the clients we knew would be a problem.
Now, with consistent marketing, we choose who we work with and focus on clients who are a fit for our model.
Pricing Confidence
A full pipeline gives you leverage.
We don’t discount just to get a “yes.”
We price based on the value we deliver—and the stability we’ve built.
Resilience During Slow Seasons
We know the patterns. The week of Thanksgiving is slow. May is spotty when school lets out.
But we stay calm because our system continues working behind the scenes.
You can’t prevent every slow week, but you can stop them from becoming slow months.
Room to Make Mistakes and Innovate
At about 18 months in, we decided to try something bold—fixed-fee billing.
People told us it wouldn’t work in family law. For years, they were mostly right.
We got burned on hundreds of cases as we learned to quote fees more accurately.
But because we never stopped marketing, we kept new clients coming in and survived the learning curve.
What Inconsistent Marketing Costs You
- You start from scratch every time
- Referral sources forget you
- You settle for poor-fit clients
- You lose momentum and predictability
It’s like exercising once a month and expecting to get fit.
What Daily Marketing Actually Looks Like
You don’t need a big campaign. You need a habit.
Here’s what that looks like:
- Text a referral source. Stay on their radar. Ask how their family is doing.
- Bring donuts to court clerks. If they know you and like you, they’ll remember you. Judges notice it too.
- Leave voicemails. You won’t always get a call back—but you stay top-of-mind.
- Call your marketing agency. Ask about performance. Push them to stay engaged.
- Write one quick ad. It can be a new angle or trend you’ve seen.
- Review your idea list. I revisit mine monthly. I keep over 40 ideas on rotation.
You can check out some of the tools and systems I use right here.
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s momentum.
How to Build the Habit
Start with one thing per day. Don’t try to do everything at once. Just one action, repeated daily.
Once that becomes automatic, layer in a second one.
This is what helped us survive the early years—and what still drives us today.
If you want to understand more about who I am or how we built the firm, you can read more about me here. Or if you’re stuck in the cycle and want to connect, reach out here.
