When it comes to receiving gifts, I freely admit that I’m a tough customer. There aren’t that many things that I want. And when I do want something, I’m usually pretty picky. But this past December, my colleague, Amy Levine, found me the perfect gift. It didn’t cost a lot; but it was truly appreciated and it has been sitting on my desk ever since.
The gift was a small rubber unicorn which now serves as a daily inspiration for me.
I first learned about the term “unicorn” while watching the HBO series, Silicon Valley (a great parody of life in a tech start up). If you are not familiar with the term, a “unicorn” in Silicon Valley parlance is a start up company with a billion dollar valuation. Every VC in Silicon Valley dreams of investing in one of these rare beasts. Most never have the chance.
I don’t actually have a particular desire to be involved with a billion dollar company. There are some real challenges of working for such a high flier; but for me, the “unicorn” is a great metaphor and a great inspiration. Instead of being on the lookout for billion dollar companies, for me, a unicorn is a young law firm partner with a $1,000,000 book of business that they want to move to another law firm.
Over the years, I have worked with many partners who meet this threshold. I’m working with several unicorns right now. But working with unicorns is only a small part of what I do as a recruiter and as a marketing coach. Unicorns are hard to find. Unicorns are hard to “catch”. And unicorns are hard to place.
Nonetheless, I find it very useful to have defined my unicorn. It helps me chose how I should spend my day prospecting. It helps me to make better decisions of where not to spend my time.
So what is your business “unicorn”? Who are your ideal clients and what services do you want to provide to them?
That should be the starting point in any marketing plan. Being all things to all clients may keep life interesting and challenging. But if you want to have real success in building your law practice, define your unicorns. It is much better to have a focused marketing message when you are trying to build your practice. For more on this, I invite you to look over some of the resources on my website.
