David M. Ward, Author at The Attorney Marketing Center

A simple formula for attracting more clients

August 9, 2024 by David M. Ward

If you want to attract more clients, your job is simple. Share some of your knowledge, the benefits and solutions you provide, the way you do what you do, and how to get in touch with you, and put this where prospective clients will see or hear it.

Online, you can do that by writing articles, a blog, a newsletter, videos, or via advertising or social media.

Offline, you can do this via presentations, networking, speaking, advertising or direct mail.

Disseminate it wherever your ideal clients live, work, or “hang out”.

What are you good at? What benefits and solutions do you provide? Share this with people who need or want your help.

You can also share this with your clients and referrals sources so they can share it with their clients and friends.

As people discover you and read or watch or listen to your message, if they like what they see or hear, they will ask for more information and eventually hire you.

That’s how you attract clients.

But it takes time. Time for your audience to discover you, get to know, like and trust you, and decide to take the next step.

So keep showing them what you do and how you help your clients. Keep showing them your passion for your work. Keep telling them the benefits and solutions you offer.

And invite them to contact you to get more information or ask about their situation.

And they will.

The Attorney Marketing Formula

Filed Under: Content creation, Marketing legal services

Take off your mask

August 7, 2024 by David M. Ward

Many attorneys hide behind a mask of invincibility. They easily talk about their strengths and accomplishments but never admit to their weaknesses and mistakes.

They want their clients to see them as tops in their field, the best of the best, massively successful and eminently capable of doing whatever their clients need.

Mistakes and weaknesses don’t fit in with that narrative.

But clients and colleagues know you’re human. They don’t expect you to be perfect. They trust you to be honest with them and do your best for them—unless they discover you’ve been hiding something.

In fact, one of the best ways to build trust among your clients and colleagues is to be upfront about your flaws.

Your imperfections humanize you and make you more trustworthy, not less. The trick is to admit to mistakes and flaws that people can understand and accept. The kind that make you “guilty with an explanation”.

You were late filing something because a page had to be re-printed or a signature was missing and you ran out of time. There was a late fee (which you paid, not your client) and all was well.

When you tell a client or prospect you don’t handle a certain type of case, and they expected you would because other lawyers do, tell them why you don’t. Most clients will respect your decision to stick to what you do best and not attempt to do everything or fake your way through it, but tell them this up front.

Your reputation is everything. You don’t have to reveal every blemish and imperfection, but don’t go out of your way to hide every single one, either.

I wrote recently that transparency is often overrated, and that’s true. But the consequences of a lack of transparency are often under-appreciated.

So, how much should you reveal and how much should you keep to yourself?

Good question. If you find a good answer, please let me know.

Filed Under: Client relations

Too much of this, not enough of that

August 5, 2024 by David M. Ward

It’s all important: Legal work, client relations (internal marketing), cold market (outside) marketing, community relations, admin, CLE, and more.

My guess is you prioritize billable work, but don’t always do enough of the marketing.

Including market research. Understanding your target market and the people in it. Including your competition.

I suggest you allocate time to study your competition. It can help you do everything else better.

Study the firms in your market or niche. See what they’re doing well and what they could improve.

Start with a visit to their website. Is it professional looking, up-to-date, and informative? Does it sell visitors on the value of taking “the next step”?

Look at the structure and content of their website, review their offers, sales copy, and lead magnets.

What do they do to get visitors to call them, follow them, sign up for their next event, or subscribe to their newsletter?

Do they have a blog? How often do they publish? How long are their posts? What do they write about?

Do they have a podcast, make videos, do seminars, or speak at live events?

How do they position themself in the market? What do they say about their capabilities? What services and niches do they focus on or do they not focus at all? What do they say about you (their competition)?

Spend a couple of hours reading their content, follow them on social media, and subscribe to their newsletter. Immerse yourself in their marketing and what they do to promote their services.

Make sure you also check out their reviews (and endorsements) and see what others say about them.

While you’re at it, see if you can figure out which keywords they target in their marketing.

Study your (strongest) competition. What can you learn, what can you do that they do, what can you do better?

Take notes and study them again next year to see what they’ve changed or added.

They are your strongest competition for a reason. Do yourself a favor and find out why.

Filed Under: Marketing legal services

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