015: How to Become the Big Fish in a Little Pond with Ronnie Morton – Part 1
When most attorneys begin their law careers, they fail to find a specialty where they can thrive. Instead, they take on any work thrown their way, which sometimes equates to scraps, because they have bills and student loans to pay. The thought process is some income is better than no income. They’re small fish in a big pond.
What if you could find the formula to become the big fish in a small pond? When someone thinks of your niche, you would be the first name to come to mind. And especially in a small town, you can be the big fish with some strategic planning.
In this episode of the podcast, Steve welcomes guest Ronnie Morton to the show. Ronnie’s practice, specializing in elder law, is based in the small town of Clinton, Mississippi. While many lawyers claim that it isn’t possible to create a niche in a market like his, Ronnie cornered the market on elder law in his town and is the go-to resource in Clinton. That wasn’t always the case, though; it took some trial and error to figure out the secret formula.
Before landing on elder law, Ronnie was looking forward to becoming a plaintiff’s lawyer, trying multimillion-dollar cases but not seeing the fruits of his labor. He switched directions, became a general counsel, and by age 35, he knew things had to change. That’s when Ronnie began learning how to leverage technology to grow his business.
In this episode, you will hear:
- How Ronnie Morton became an attorney and when he decided that his business model wasn’t working for him
- How he discovered his law niche of estate planning, what he did to position himself as an expert in that field, and how he self-educated
- Why you’ll have to pivot when laws change
- What Ronnie’s strategy was for shifting his practice into a niche and how he began to market it using boot camps
- Why his marketing strategy can work for every lawyer–even if they believe it won’t
- The types of advertising he’s used over the years, what works best for him, and why Facebook hasn’t been a good source of revenue
- What he’s done to refine his SEO strategy to bring in leads
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Supporting Resources:
https://atticusadvantage.com/our-team/ronnie-morton/
https://atticusadvantage.com/what-we-do/dominate-your-market/
https://theautomatedattorney.com/
https://theautomatedattorney.com/list
Steve Riley
Certified Practice Advisor & Attorney
Steve Riley has coached attorneys for more than 20 years. His one-on-one coaching focuses on a limited number of top producing attorneys committed to taking their practices to new levels of excellence, profit, and personal success. He also presents at group coaching workshops around the country for individual law firms, state bar associations, and other legal organizations.