The Story Behind Becoming “That Lawyer”
Before discussing branding strategy, Steve shared a personal story that illustrated why being recognized matters. He explained that his connection to the idea of personal branding started early in his life after an accident left him unable to use his arms. While recovering, his father pushed a phone to him and told him to speak with his attorney. That attorney was Bob Clifford. For people in Chicago’s legal community, Bob Clifford’s name immediately represented a specific level of recognition. He was not simply another personal injury attorney. He was known as the person people thought about when they needed help with serious aviation crashes and catastrophic injury cases.
The lesson Steve took from that experience was powerful:
The strongest brands are not built by simply telling people what you do. They are built when your name becomes connected with a specific problem you solve. When someone says, “I need help with this,” your name should naturally come up. That is the difference between being a lawyer and being that lawyer.
You Are The Brand, Regardless Of Your Firm Name
The biggest takeaway from Steve’s presentation was straightforward:
You are the brand. Many attorneys underestimate the importance of personal reputation because they associate branding with large companies, advertisements, or consumer products. But professional services work differently. Clients are not only hiring a law firm. They are trusting a person.
- Build recognition around a specific area of expertise rather than trying to be known for everything.
- Create visibility that helps potential clients and referral partners understand your experience before the first conversation.
- Become associated with solving a specific problem in your market.
They want to know:
Who is this attorney? What experience do they have? Do they understand my problem? Can I trust them? Have they helped people like me before? A law firm website can explain practice areas, but a personal brand creates familiarity. Steve explained that whether an attorney works at a large firm, a boutique practice, or independently, the objective remains the same: Become known as the authority for a specific type of problem. This does not mean every lawyer needs to become an online influencer.
It means attorneys need to intentionally build visibility around their expertise. A lawyer who consistently shares valuable insights about employment law begins to become associated with employment issues. An attorney who regularly discusses startup legal challenges begins to become associated with entrepreneurs. Over time, repeated visibility creates recognition. And recognition creates trust.
Why Networking Alone Creates A Difficult Growth Path
Steve acknowledged that networking groups and referral organizations can be extremely valuable. Many attorneys have built successful practices through organizations like ProVisors because relationships remain one of the strongest drivers of referrals. However, Steve explained that relying only on networking creates a limitation: the attorney must constantly invest time to remain visible. If you stop attending events, stop having conversations, or stop following up, the momentum slows.
- Networking meetings and referral conversations.
- Relationship building with professional connections.
- Content creation through articles, podcasts, videos, and LinkedIn.
- Consistent visibility that continues even when you are not actively networking.
This creates a situation where attorneys are constantly working to maintain visibility instead of creating an asset that continues generating awareness. Steve compared this process to climbing a mountain from both sides.
One side represents business development:
Networking meetings Referral conversations Relationship building Professional connections
The other side represents marketing:
Content creation Articles Podcasts Videos LinkedIn visibility When attorneys only focus on one side, growth becomes harder. But when both sides work together, the process becomes more efficient. Networking creates relationships. Marketing strengthens those relationships by ensuring people already understand your expertise.
The Importance Of Knowing Exactly Who You Want To Reach
One of the biggest mistakes attorneys make with marketing is trying to communicate with everyone. Steve explained that effective content begins with understanding your audience.
- Who are the ideal clients and referral partners you want to attract?
- What challenges and questions do they regularly face?
- What type of information would help them make better decisions?
- What would make them trust your expertise?
Before creating content, lawyers need to answer important questions:
Who are the people you want to attract? What problems are they facing? What information would help them? What would make them trust you? Steve used his own business as an example. His brand is not designed for every attorney. His audience is ambitious lawyers who want to improve their business development skills. That clarity influences everything he creates. His podcasts, articles, social posts, and educational resources all speak directly to that audience.
The same principle applies to law firms. A firm representing entrepreneurs should not create generic legal content. It should create content that addresses the challenges entrepreneurs experience. A family law attorney serving high-net-worth families should create content around the concerns those families actually have. The more specific the message, the stronger the connection.
Being Different Isn’t Enough. Be Different In A Way That Matters
After identifying the audience you want to reach, the next challenge is answering a much harder question: Why should someone choose you over another attorney who provides similar services? Steve explained that many professionals struggle with differentiation because they focus on describing themselves rather than understanding what their audience actually values. Most law firms use similar language to describe their services.
They say they are:
Experienced Dedicated Trusted Client-focused Results-oriented While these statements may be accurate, they rarely create a memorable position because almost every competitor is saying the same thing. A strong personal brand requires more than simply being different. It requires being different in a way that matters. Steve shared two important questions attorneys should ask when developing their positioning. Is Anyone Else Saying This? The first question is whether your message is actually unique.
If every lawyer in your market is making the same claim, it will not help you stand out. For example, saying that you provide “personalized legal service” does not create differentiation because most attorneys believe they do the same. However, identifying a specific experience, approach, industry focus, or client promise can create a stronger position. Steve explained that when he began working with lawyers on business development coaching, the category itself was different.
At the time, very few people were specifically focused on helping attorneys develop business development skills. That created recognition because it was a clear and specific position. He was not simply another coach. He was a coach focused specifically on helping lawyers build practices. Does Your Audience Actually Care? The second question is even more important. Even if something makes you different, it only matters if your audience values it. Steve shared the example of a Chicago employment law firm that discovered through client research that responsiveness was the factor clients cared about most.
Clients did not simply want legal expertise. They wanted confidence that when an urgent employment issue occurred, someone would respond quickly. The firm built its differentiation around responsiveness and created a clear promise around returning calls within a specific timeframe. The important lesson was not the specific promise. The lesson was understanding what clients actually valued and building the brand around that. For law firms, differentiation should not be about creating clever messaging.
It should come from understanding the concerns, frustrations, and expectations of the people you want to serve.
Content Marketing Works Only When It Becomes A Habit
One of the biggest challenges attorneys face with content marketing is consistency. Many lawyers understand that building visibility is important, but they approach content creation with unrealistic expectations. They publish a few LinkedIn posts, write an article or two, and decide that the strategy does not work because immediate results do not appear. Steve explained that this approach misses the point. Building a personal brand is a long-term process.
- Share valuable insights consistently instead of creating content only when business slows down.
- Focus on building a long-term library of expertise and resources.
- Create a sustainable content routine that can continue for months and years.
A few posts do not create authority. A few weeks of activity do not create recognition. Consistency is what separates attorneys who build visibility from those who disappear.
Steve recommended that lawyers begin with a simple commitment:
Create one valuable LinkedIn post every week and continue doing it consistently. The goal is not to become a full-time content creator. The goal is to create a sustainable habit. Over 52 weeks, an attorney who consistently shares useful insights will have built a library of content that demonstrates expertise and creates repeated exposure. Meanwhile, most competitors will still be relying only on occasional networking conversations. Steve described this as avoiding “random acts of marketing.”
Many professionals market only when they need business. They create content when referrals slow down. They become active when their pipeline becomes uncertain. However, effective marketing works best when it happens consistently before there is an immediate need.
Creating Content Without Losing Authenticity
While Steve encouraged attorneys to create more content, he also warned against one common mistake: creating content that does not sound like the person behind it. With the rise of AI tools, producing content has become easier than ever. However, easier content creation does not automatically mean better content. Steve emphasized that attorneys should avoid generic AI-generated posts that lack personality and perspective. AI can help with ideas, research, and organization, but the final message needs to sound authentic.
The reason is simple. People trust people. They do not build relationships with generic content. They build relationships with individuals who share experiences, opinions, and insights. Steve shared an example involving his cat, Ozzy. He explained that he posted a picture of Ozzy showing his trust and comfort around him. Instead of simply sharing a personal photo, Steve connected that moment to the idea of trust in professional relationships. The message was not about the cat.
The message was about how strong relationships are built through trust. That is what authentic branding looks like. It takes a real experience and connects it to something meaningful for your audience.
The Power Of Repurposing: Turning One Idea Into A Complete Marketing System
One of the most valuable lessons from Steve’s presentation was the importance of repurposing content. Many attorneys hesitate to create content because they believe they need to constantly come up with new ideas. Steve explained that this is the wrong mindset. The most effective content strategies are not based on creating something new every day. They are based on maximizing the value of ideas that already exist. Steve shared how he built his own content ecosystem.
- Podcast episodes
- Blog articles and website resources
- Social media posts
- Video clips
- Newsletter content
- Educational resources
A single podcast interview can become:
A podcast episode A transcript A blog article Social media posts Video clips Educational resources Newsletter content Book material This approach allowed Steve to take conversations with attorneys and business leaders and transform them into multiple forms of content. Eventually, many of those insights became part of his book, “Be That Lawyer,” which brings together lessons and insights around business development, relationship building, and becoming a more recognized authority in the legal industry.
The lesson for law firms is significant. Every valuable conversation can become content. A client question can become a blog article. A webinar presentation can become multiple LinkedIn posts. A frequently asked question can become a video. A case experience can become an educational resource. The goal is not simply to create more content. The goal is to create a system where every piece of knowledge has multiple opportunities to reach your audience.
Building The Marketing “Pinwheel”
Steve described his content strategy as a “pinwheel.” The idea is that multiple content channels work together and continuously reinforce one another. An attorney may be discovered through a LinkedIn post. That person may then read an article on the attorney’s website. Later, they may listen to a podcast episode. Eventually, when they need legal help or know someone who does, that attorney is already familiar. The relationship did not start at the first conversation.
It started through repeated exposure. This is why visibility matters. Most professional decisions are not made after a single interaction. Trust develops through multiple touchpoints. A strong personal brand creates those touchpoints before the attorney ever receives the call.
LinkedIn: The Professional Platform Where Relationships And Marketing Meet
When discussing platforms for building professional visibility, Steve highlighted LinkedIn as one of the strongest opportunities for attorneys. Unlike many other social platforms, LinkedIn is specifically designed around professional relationships, expertise, and business conversations. Steve explained that attorneys have multiple ways to participate. The first option is creating original content.
- Share insights from your practice area.
- Comment thoughtfully on posts from clients, referral partners, and industry professionals.
- Use LinkedIn as a platform to build relationships and stay top-of-mind.
This can include:
Lessons from cases Industry insights Commentary on legal trends Answers to common client questions Professional experiences
However, Steve also shared another approach that many attorneys overlook:
Becoming a professional commenter. For lawyers who are not ready to regularly publish content, commenting on the right posts can still create visibility. Supporting clients, referral partners, and industry professionals through thoughtful comments keeps your name visible. People notice who engages with their content. They remember the professionals who consistently contribute value. Over time, commenting becomes another way to strengthen relationships and stay top-of-mind.
The Future Of Law Firm Growth: Building Reputation Before The Relationship
The biggest takeaway from Steve Fretzin’s session was that law firm growth is changing. Networking will always matter. Relationships will always matter. Referrals will always matter. But the attorneys who create the strongest growth opportunities will be those who combine relationships with visibility. A strong personal brand does not replace networking. It makes networking more effective. When someone meets you after already seeing your insights, reading your content, or hearing your perspective, the relationship begins with trust instead of starting from zero.
The attorneys who succeed in the future will not necessarily be the ones attending the most events. They will be the ones who consistently demonstrate their expertise, build meaningful connections, and create a reputation that works even when they are not in the room.
As Steve explained throughout the session, the goal is simple:
Become the lawyer people already know they can trust before they need you.
