David M. Ward, Author at The Attorney Marketing Center

Transparency is overrated

August 2, 2024 by David M. Ward

Prospective clients, people who read your articles or listen to your presentations, want to know what you do and how you can help them.

Tell them what, not how.

It’s okay to speak about your process in general terms. A few words about how you’re different and better. But keep the details to yourself.

It’s your intellectual property and you don’t need to share it.

What about paying clients? Aren’t they entitled to know?

Not really. They’re paying for your efforts and results, not your methods. So don’t tell them “how” unless you want to.

In your next article, blog post, or presentation, give folks the big picture, get them excited about the results you can get for them, but just as the magician doesn’t share their secrets, you shouldn’t share yours.

As author William Zinsser put it, “Readers should always feel that you know more about your subject than you’ve put in writing.”

Filed Under: Communication, Content creation, Presentations, Writing

Leap and the net will appear

July 31, 2024 by David M. Ward

When I started practicing law, I took an office in a suite with other lawyers. It gave me access to a law library, receptionists who answered the phones and greeted my clients, copy machines, coffee service, and other features that allowed me to move in and get to work.

When a client came to see me, I didn’t look like a “beginner.” I looked established and successful.

The biggest advantage of this arrangement was that it gave me access to other lawyers with whom I could associate, learn from, and get some work.

I did appearances. I did research and drafted documents. And I got referrals.

If you’re starting your legal career, I recommend you consider a similar office arrangement.

When you are more established, however, when you need room for your growing staff and can afford to build out your own suite of offices (as I did), do it if you’re ready but wait a bit if you’re not.

Having your own office is nice. You get your name on the door and the building directory. Your clients like having an attorney who (looks) more successful than the average Joe.

But is the additional overhead and responsibility worth it?

Maybe.

My practice grew significantly after I got my own office and hired more staff. But did it grow because it was my own office, or were there other reasons?

I can’t say for sure, but I know one thing. The additional overhead forced me to do things I might not have done, or done as aggressively, if I hadn’t had to cover the additional overhead.

I got bigger, faster, because I had to.

If you are thinking about getting your own office or moving to a bigger office, if you’re considering hiring more staff, investing in more advertising, or spending more time marketing, I get you.

My advice? Yes, run the numbers. Talk to other lawyers who did what you’re thinking of doing. And, most of all, pay attention to what your gut tells you.

I was nervous about expanding. What if this and what if that? Ultimately, I did what I wanted to do and trusted that everything would work out.

And it did.

Filed Under: Increase your income, Inspiration

Social sharing to build your practice

July 29, 2024 by David M. Ward

We are told that posting on social media can bring us traffic and leads, build our email list, get more butts in seats at our events, and get our name in front of more people in our target market.

But what if your followers don’t need your services at the moment, have already been to your event, read your article, or are already on your email list?

That’s fine. Because it’s not just who you know, it’s about who they know and are willing to “introduce” to you via your content and ideas.

And they’ll do that if you give them something worth sharing.

Something that makes them look intelligent, successful, well-liked or well-connected.

It could be something as simple as a quote from a famous person, advice from an expert, or a relevant success story.

Humor works. So do thoughtful, interesting, or amazing facts or ideas.

You might share something innovative, hot-off-the-press news, predictions, a wish list, links to resources they can use in their work, or help them organize their world or plan for their future.

Politics? I wouldn’t. But if you insist, you should either “all in” and willing to lose business connections and/or friends, or you’re “out” and don’t mention it at all.

Some guidelines:

What you share doesn’t have to be created by you. You can be social and build your practice pointing at what others say or do. With or without your opinion.
For business, make what you share relevant to your follower’s industry, business, or market, or more importantly, to their followers industry, business, or market. For consumers, share content or ideas that are universally relatable but also aligned with your markets’ level of experience and sophistication.
Share doesn’t mean “sell” (affiliate links, pitches) but that can be acceptable if you don’t overdo it.
If you’re not particularly “social,” it doesn’t mean you can’t use social media platforms to your advantage. Share when you have something worth sharing and leave it be when you don’t. If you find something you like, something that made you smile, or something you thought might be helpful for people you know, go ahead and share it. No agenda. Just helping people you know so they can help people they know.

Finally, if none of this works for you and you otherwise have “marketing” covered, either task someone in your office to handle your social marketing (or outsource it), and go settle some cases.

Filed Under: Social media marketing

Simple and effective content marketing for attorneys

July 23, 2024 by David M. Ward

You write a blog or newsletter, do a podcast, speak from the stage, write books, create videos, show up on social media, for two reasons: (1) to build your list by attracting leads and others who are interested in your content, and (2) using that content to show people what you do and how you can help them.

The easiest way to do the latter, i.e., demonstrate your capabilities, is to create content in which you talk about your cases and clients.

Talk about the problems they came to you with and what you did for them.

And that’s it.

This is the essence of effective marketing, content, or otherwise.

The reason is simple. People like to hear about other people with the same or similar problems and desires and how they overcome those problems or achieved those desires.

They love a good story, especially when it’s about someone like them.

It’s also the ideal way to show yourself “in action,” helping your clients with the same issues.

This kind of content practically writes itself. You simply describe the case or client and what you did for them.

You rarely need to do any research. Just tell what happened.

It doesn’t matter if what happened is strikingly similar to other cases or clients you’ve talked about, or what other lawyers say about their cases or clients. Each story is unique because your clients are unique, and so are you.

So, easy?

Easy.

And effective. Since so much content online today is generic, either ai generated or devoid of stories about actual clients and an actual attorney with a unique personality, your content will stand out.

Filed Under: Content creation, Online Marketing

If they “want to think about it,” let them

July 22, 2024 by David M. Ward

You’ve met with a prospective client, discussed their problem or desire, and explained what you can do to help them, but they don’t sign up.

They might need to talk to someone, do due diligence about you or your firm, consider their other options, think about your fees and their ability to pay, and… and… the list goes on.

When they tell you they want “to think about it,” what should you do?

The answer is simple. Let them. Tell them you appreciate their consideration, you’re available to answer additional questions or provide additional information, smile, shake hands, and ask for their parking ticket so you can validate it.

Some attorneys do more. They go back over information they’re already provided, remind the prospect about deadlines and urgency, and make the case (again) for choosing them instead of someone else.

And then, in the days that follow, they call the prospective client and/or email them, and ask if they’re ready to get started.

Following up with prospective clients is smart. It’s good to show them you want their business, are ready to earn it and don’t take it for granted. It’s not good to contact them repeatedly to get them to say “yes”.

When an attorney does that, they appear desperate. They look like they need the business, which differs from “wanting” it.

Nobody wants to hire a lawyer who appears desperate. So, when someone tells us they want to think about, we should take the hint. Give them time to consider it.

Don’t leave 32 voicemail messages saying, “Have you decided yet?”

Filed Under: Closing the sale

Invert your pyramids

July 19, 2024 by David M. Ward

Some prospective clients want to immediately know everything about what you can do to help them. All the details, the entire process, and as much proof as you can provide.

Others don’t.

When they first encounter you, most people simply want to know if you have something to say they want to hear. If looks like too much work to find out, they often don’t stick around.

One solution is to write shorter pieces so visitors can see at a glance what you have for them.

For longer pieces, the simplest thing to do is to fashion your marketing documents and website content with an inverted pyramid. Newspapers used a journalistic style to do this, with the most important information at the top, followed by increasingly less important details.

Use a headline to capture attention and give readers the big picture and follow that with the “Five Ws” (who, what, when, where, why) in descending order of importance. This way, the passing reader can quickly get the gist of your message and move on if they aren’t interested, while others, with more interest in your subject, and more time, can continue reading and learn more.

In the digital age, you have other options than they did in the 1800s when the inverted pyramid structure was first used. You can link to additional pages, use call-outs, charts, photos, and other visuals such as larger or colored fonts, and other graphic flourishes, to call attention to elements you want to emphasize, “hide” others from immediate view (and link to them), or “stage” how and when certain information is delivered to the reader.

Pay attention to how bloggers and online publishers make it easier for their readers to consume their content and emulate them.

No matter what you do, if you want more people to read your words and decide they want to talk to you about representing them, follow this rule of thumb: don’t tell them everything at once.

Filed Under: Blogging, Communication, Content creation, Online Marketing

It’s easy to mess this up (and easy to fix)

July 18, 2024 by David M. Ward

Look at the multitude of emails in your inbox. Without opening each email, can you tell who sent it?

If you recognize the name of the sender, or other identifying information appears in the “subject,” you probably do. If you don’t, what do you do?

Do you open the email and read it to find out who sent it? Do you delete it? Or mark it as SPAM and then delete it?

Ah, but if you delete it, you might miss something important. If you mark it as spam, this will hurt the sender’s “reputation” in the eyes of email service providers, and affect their email deliverability rate.

Why should you care? Because the same thing can happen to you if you do the same things they do.

Recently, I signed up for a newsletter from a reputable company I wanted to hear from. I got their welcome email, followed by several follow-ups.

So far, so good.

Then I got an email from the same company, but the “sender” was a different person. I didn’t recognize their name and deleted it.

A few days later, I got another email from someone else at the company whose name I also didn’t recognize.

And this continues.

It’s annoying and I’m “this close” to unsubscribing, in which case, everyone loses.

Don’t let this happen to you.

Send your email to clients, prospects, subscribers, and colleagues with your name as the sender. Not your firm’s name, not the name of someone else in the firm.

You.

Recipients see your name, recognize it, and let you into their inner sanctum (if they deem you worthy).

Problem solved.

Email is a personal medium. A sender and a recipient. And through that process, a relationship begins. As you nurture that relationship, it gets stronger, providing your recipient with additional value and information, eventually leading to new business for you.

If you send your email from different names, people get confused about who’s contacting them and that relationship often never develops.

Make it easier on yourself and your recipients by sticking with one sender’s name. Ideally, yours.

Email marketing for attorneys

Filed Under: Communication, Email, Newsletters

Start before you’re ready

July 16, 2024 by David M. Ward

It’s not new advice, but is it any good? If you don’t know how to swim, should you jump in the pool and flounder about, or should you take some lessons first or find someone to show you what to do (and stay by your side while you do it)?

Jumping in the deep end without knowing how to swim or doing legal work you’ve never done without some help or preparation is ill-advised, but for many things you want or need to do, getting started is often the best way to do it.

If you’re procrastinating because you overwhelmed with everything you need to do, or you are a perfectionist and convinced that you shouldn’t start because you don’t know what you’re doing and you’re going to mess up, you don’t need to take a course or hire a consultant. You need to start.

Before you’re ready.

That’s how you get good at marketing.

Go to a networking meeting and talk to some people. Take out your first ad. Write an article or blog post. Record a video, even if you don’t have a script, a decent camera, or know anything about editing.

Do something. Anything. You might be terrible at it (or you might be a lot better than you expected), but in either case, you’ve started and are on your way.

You don’t need to have experience to get experience. You get experience by taking the first step.

So, when in doubt, start. Before you’re ready.

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, success

Long time no see. Let’s fix that.

July 15, 2024 by David M. Ward

Your best clients, closest friends, strongest business contacts, people who know, like, and trust you and with whom you communicate most—your “strong ties”—are often your primary source of referrals and opportunities to grow your business.

What about everyone else?

What about former clients and business contacts you haven’t spoken to in a long time? People who know your name but aren’t now actively involved in your life? Experts say these are your “weak ties” and if you’ve been around for more than a few years, there are far more of them than your weak ties.

And they represent a potential bonanza of business and prosperity for you.

They can provide you with valuable information about your (their) market, introduce you to people you’d like to know, send traffic to your website, promote your content and events, provide you with a testimonial or endorsement, and otherwise help your practice grow.

But their value isn’t so much what they can do for you, it is how easy it is for you to get them to do it.

You don’t have to spend time or money to identify them, and meet and get to know them. You just have to reconnect with them. You don’t have to win their trust, you just have to kindle it.

And it can be as simple as digging out their contact information, reaching out and saying hello.

Is that it? Just call or write and say hello?

Yes.

Acknowledge the passage of time, ask how they’re doing, and wish them well

You can do more. You can also send them something, perhaps an article you found (or wrote) and thought might interest them. You can offer to meet and buy coffee or lunch, or invite them to your upcoming event. Or find out what they need or want and help them get it.

What’s next? Perhaps you’ll get together with them and continue the conversation. Or invite them to sign up for your newsletter so you can keep in touch. Or simply calendaring a few months and contact them again.

You might not need to do anything else.

How about contacting them and finding out?

Filed Under: Communication, Increase your income, Relationship marketing

Have you lost your edge?

July 11, 2024 by David M. Ward

If your practice isn’t growing, it might be because you’re not doing the things you did when you started out, or you’re not doing them the way you did before.

You’ve become complacent. And lost your edge.

Fortunately, you can switch back to the way things were. But to do that, you need to get out of your comfort zone and be willing to take some risks.

Risks that you might fail. That you might lose money or embarrass yourself. Or you might not like doing the work, and then what?

But you can do this. It’s not like the work is inherently difficult. You don’t have to dig ditches or work for peanuts like I did starting out, taking cases that paid total fees of $300 and doing things I was not (yet) good at, or things I hated.

Don’t dwell on the negative. Give it a try.

It might be rough and make you question life, but (surprise) it might not. You might find it more fun than annoying, more invigorating than daunting.

Begin by making some goals. Make them big, nearly impossible; so big they make you laugh.

Why?

Well, when you were new, you might have been desperate (like me) and willing to do anything, put up with anything, risk everything, but now, if you’re not desperate and the fear of failure and becoming homeless isn’t driving you, you need different motivation.

To wit, big, hairy, crazy goals that put a smile on your face. That might be just what you need to let go of your resistance, get out of your comfort zone and get to work.

But tell no one. Make a pact with your ego to make something happen first, and then you can surprise anyone who might care.

Then, make a plan. Choose a target market, ideal client, and one or two marketing strategies. Grab your calendar, schedule time for marketing and practice development, and put one step in front of the other.

One more thing. No matter how hard it might be, it will be infinitely easier than it was when you were new. You have experience, now, professional contacts, and satisfied clients willing to work with you and refer others.

Compared to the old days, it will be a cakewalk.

This will help

Filed Under: Increase your income, Inspiration, Marketing Plan