The Attorney Marketing Center--Earn More. Work Less

How to get great clients

January 9, 2024 by David M. Ward

You may be very good at marketing, write great copy (or hire great copywriters), invest time and money getting more leads, and a host of other things that make your phone ring.

But as good as that is, there’s something better. Easier. More profitable. And more likely to lead to a steady stream of happy clients who help you build your practice.

Instead of relying solely on good marketing strategies, target better prospects.

Better prospects include people who

Know they need a lawyer and don’t even consider doing what needs to be done themself
Have the ability to pay top dollar for top level legal services (yours) and are not only willing to do that, prefer it
Sees you and what you offer as a good match for them. If you’re a sole practitioner with one practice area, for example, they understand how that benefits them and aren’t looking for something else.
Doesn’t need permission to hire you, or can usually get that permission
Are action-oriented. When they see the need, they don’t hesitate; they put you to work
Have a lot of legal work for you—repeat business, big cases (if that’s what you want), or lots of smaller cases, with work you’re good at and enjoy
Know other people with similar needs and ability to pay, i.e., they can (and will) send you a lot of referrals, introduce you to people you want to know, and otherwise promote and support you.
Are easy to work with, don’t complain, don’t micromanage, don’t slow-pay, etc.

Feel free to add other attributes you consider important components of your “ideal” client. Because you should be targeting your ideal client, not “anyone” who has legal work you can handle.

No matter what kind of marketing you do, or how much you do, targeting your ideal client is the force multiplier. It makes everything easier and better.

You may not always get them. They might have some of the qualities you desire, but not all of them. But if you want your marketing to be easier and more profitable, you should focus more of your resources on this type of client and less (maybe much less) on other types.

Why wouldn’t you? You can always “tolerate” other types of clients or cases, at least until you’re ready to go “all in” on your ideal.

Where do you find these dream clients? Primarily, eventually, through referrals. There’s no better way. But there are other ways, and they can lead to a lot of referrals.

Start with your existing clients. You may only have a few who are “ideal” (or close to it) but if you spend more time with them and do more to help their business grow or personal life prosper, they will lead you to more people like themself.

The Attorney Marketing Formula helps you identify your ideal clients, and get more of them

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

Who’s your daddy?

January 8, 2024 by David M. Ward

We all need one. Someone who tells us what to do, guides us, and keeps us in line. Because we work better and behave better when we do.

Our teachers and parents did that. Our employers and clients do that now. We might have paid advisors or be guided by colleagues, family or friends.

There’s always a higher authority. It might be our maker, the rule of law, or our own values or experience.

Our clients tell us what they want from us. So do our subscribers and followers. We have deadlines; we make promises we are compelled to keep; we have an image to uphold. And it’s all good because without that structure, guidance, or feedback, we might have too many options or too much leeway and find it difficult to stay on our path and achieve our goals.

Don’t begrudge the rules. Precedent, tradition, and common sense make our life more orderly. We might not like being told what to do, but these constraints give us a path to follow and make it more likely that we’ll get what we want.

When we start a case or new project, we decide what needs to be done and create a plan. We might question that plan, or stray from it, but the case, the client, and the rules give us a foundation to come back to when we do.

Everyone needs a boss. Especially when we are our own boss.

Aren’t there exceptions to every rule? Don’t we have free will? Aren’t we better off when we’re different and stand out from the crowd?

Yes, yes, and yes.

Which is why we do what Daddy tells us, but not without asking a lot of questions.

Filed Under: success

My new list

January 5, 2024 by David M. Ward

I’ve tried adding tags to my tasks, estimating the amount of time each task will take so I could be more effective in planning my day. It sounded like a good idea, and I know many folks do this successfully, but I couldn’t make it work for me.

But I’m going to give it another try.

Sort of.

I’ve started a new list of “10-Minute tasks” that I can pull up when I have a few minutes between appointments, calls, or other scheduled tasks, and don’t want to waste that time scrolling through my phone or playing a game, or I need a “palette cleanser” before I start on the next task on my list.

On my list are things I can complete in 10 minutes or less, or work on for 10 minutes and come back to later. Things like processing email or my task list inbox, filing notes, reviewing one of my projects, reading an article or two in my “read later” app or a few pages in my Kindle, or checking in with (someone).

Productive things. Yay me.

Another example: I organized the documents folder on my hard drive recently and wound up with a big file of “old stuff” (digital detritus) to go through and purge or put to use somewhere. It’s a big, boring project, perfect to hack away at 10 minutes at a time, so yes, it’s on the list.

A list like this is also valuable when you’re mobile, so make sure you can access your list on your phone. When you arrive early for your dental appointment, you’re in line to pick up your kids after school, or you’re on a bus or train on your way to work, grab something on your 10-minute task list and use that time to tick something off your list.

Or scroll through your dang phone. The kids will be there soon, and having a few minutes for “me time” is good for your sanity.

Filed Under: Productivity

Know, like, and trust?

January 4, 2024 by David M. Ward

It’s often said that clients prefer to hire lawyers they “know, like, and trust,” and that’s true, but something’s missing. The aphorism begins with the statement, “All things being equal…” meaning when the client has a choice of lawyers with the same or similar capabilities, or who offer the same benefits, those clients tend to choose the lawyer they “know, like, and trust”.

You have to be able to solve the client’s problem or help them get something they want. And prospective clients (and the people who refer them) need to believe this.

In other words, you can’t build a practice on good looks alone.

Which is why your marketing must begin by telling people what you do and how you can help them, and offer some proof that you can deliver.

Most lawyers try to do that. Fortunately for you, most don’t do a great job of it. They list their practice areas and note some of their accomplishments, but little else. If you know what you’re doing, you can easily show your target market that you are the better choice.

But at least show them you are a contender.

And then, help them get to “know, like, and trust you” through your speaking, networking, writing, how you comport yourself when you meet them, and through testimonials and reviews from your happy clients.

Let your clients describe how you made them feel safe, what it was like having you by their side, how you were patient, thorough, fair, and honest.

Let the people who know, like, and trust you tell others why they chose you and recommend that others do the same.

There’s a formula for that

Filed Under: Marketing legal services

How to get subscribers for your new newsletter

January 3, 2024 by David M. Ward

You’re thinking abut starting a newsletter for your law practice, but wonder if it will be difficult getting people to sign up.

It won’t.

If you have something to say that people want to know, and you make it easy for them to subscribe, they will.

Use an autoresponder to manage the mechanics for you. Add an opt-in form on your website or blog or on a landing page. And write a “welcome” email that will be automatically sent to your new subscribers, thanking them for signing up and telling them what to expect, e.g., how often they’ll hear from you and what they will learn or get.

You can do all of that in a weekend.

The next step is to tell people about your newsletter.

Ask your current and former clients, your prospects and leads, your social media followers, and your friends to sign up and tell them why they should. Tell them the benefits they get—what they’ll learn, how it will make their business or life easier or better—and tell them they can opt-out (unsubscribe) at any time.

Sweeten the pot by telling them they’ll also get a report or checklist or form as a bonus for signing up.

Depending on the size of your list and your relationships with the people on it, this might be all you need to do to get your first 100 or 500 subscribers.

And that’s a great start.

It may be enough to get a new client, repeat client, referral or inquiry.

Then, if you deliver decent content, your subscriber count will grow organically as people talk about you and your website or blog gets more traffic.

If you want to grow further or faster, there’s plenty you can do to make that happen.

But for now, just start.

Check out my course on building your practice with a newsletter

Filed Under: Newsletters

The most important part of goal setting

January 2, 2024 by David M. Ward

Resolutions? Goals? Habits? Okay, but “why”?

Why have you set that goal? Why do you want to start (or finish) that project? Why do you plan to develop that habit?

Why is the key. It is much more important than “how”.

If you have a reason, the goal or habit is important to you. If it’s important, you’re more likely to do it, or at least try. If it’s not important, if you chose it because you think you should or because it’s the next logical step in your journey, you might not.

You have to know why. If you don’t, your subconscious mind thinks, “why bother?”

You want to double revenue this year? Why? What problem will that help you solve? What will it help you achieve? Why is doubling revenue important to you?

The best “why” is one that makes you emotional when you think about NOT getting it.

Whatever you want to be, do, or have, write it down and read it daily until it manifests.

In fact, if you’re taking notes, write this down: “What and why are more important than how and when.”

Your subconscious mind will lead you to how and when (and who might help).

But only if you know why.

Filed Under: Goal Setting

Cleaning up your notes

December 28, 2023 by David M. Ward

Just when you think you’re done for the year and can take it easy for the next few days, I’m giving you another project to consider—to organize or re-organize your notes and notebooks.

That means deleting notes and notebooks you no longer need (or moving them to an archive), moving out-of-place notes to folders for appropriate projects or areas of focus, consolidating tags, and otherwise making your notes easier to find and use.

One thing I’ve done with my setup is adding a “Dashboard” folder at the top level. I use the PARA method (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives) and my dashboard folder, which I’ve named “Home,” sits at the top.

My “Home” stack currently contains the following sub-folders:

INBOX. I used to keep this “top level” but moved it into Home because I think it looks better. I don’t want to see these notes until I’m ready to process them.
QUICK REFERENCE. For notes such as shopping lists, checklists, contact info for key people, and a list of vitamins I use when I refill the container on Sunday.
TODO. Tasks I need to take action on but haven’t yet added to my task management app, or notes relating to tasks I have added to my task app and need to reference.
READ NEXT. I use a “read later” app but also use this folder for articles I want to read soon.
READ/WATCH. Articles, etc., I plan to add to their respective Projects or Areas, or to the READ NEXT folder when that is empty.
WIP. Notes, ideas, links, and other resources pertaining to projects I’m currently working on. I’ve decided to delete this folder, however, and move the notes in it to their appropriate Project folders. No need for both.
JOURNAL A place to record thoughts, ideas, plans, quotes, etc. I don’t use this regularly, however, and may move these notes to their appropriate Area folders.

Other than the contents of the Quick Access sub-folder, everything in the Home folder is temporary. For now, anyway. I tend to move things around quite a bit.

I’m planning to add a sub-folder to my Home folder for Indies or MOC (Maps of Content) with internal inks to notes relating to key areas of interest.

If you use a notes app that doesn’t have folders or notebooks, or doesn’t allow you to use nested folders or notebooks (or enough levels) but uses tags and nested tags, e.g., Bear, you can effectively accomplish the same structure I use.

Do you use a dashboard note or folder? What do you keep in it?

Filed Under: Productivity

Plan 9 From Mars

December 27, 2023 by David M. Ward

For some reason, when I thought about the idea of planning (for next year), I thought of the title of what many consider the worst science fiction movie of all time.

I only watched a few minutes, many years ago, but I think it was about Martians invading Earth.

I’m pretty sure their plan failed, but I commend those Martians for thinking big, which is the point I want to make today.

If you’re going to plan (something), for next year, or any year, make it big.

Don’t spend a lot of time planning how to redecorate your office when you can plan a new marketing strategy that might allow you to buy a new office building. Or three.

Big plans force us to be creative and do things we’ve never done before. They force us to focus.

Even if your big plans don’t materialize, thinking big helps you sort out what’s important and make that your priority, instead of getting bogged down with a multitude of small ideas which, even if successful, won’t amount to a hill of beans (I’ve got movies on the brain).

Big plans give you a chance to win big.

The Pareto Principle says 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts (plans, ideas, activities, projects…). Figure out a handful of big ideas that can deliver big results, and then narrow down your list to just one or two.

One or two big ideas that could transform your business or life.

In the book, The One Thing, author Gary Keller puts it this way:

“What is the one thing you can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary”.

Your big plan might fail (and you’ll have to return to Mars) but if you’re going to work on anything next year, work on something big, so big it could take care of almost everything else.

No pressure. But I need your answer on my desk first thing tomorrow. My ship leaves at 9.

Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing Plan Tagged With: 80-20-pareto, Leverage

Is niche marketing right for you?

December 26, 2023 by David M. Ward

Lawyers can learn a lot about marketing by looking at what other professionals and businesses do to market their products and services. Real estate brokers and agents, for example, use a method of marketing that allows them to maximize the effectiveness of their marketing and minimize their costs, and lawyers can use the same method.

In a nutshell, instead of spreading their marketing “seeds” anywhere and everywhere, real estate brokers concentrate those seeds in a small part of a city or neighborhood (for residential brokers), or an industry or list (for commercial brokers),

That neighborhood or industry is their “farm,” and that’s where they invest most or all of their marketing dollars and time.

It’s a more cost effective and impactful than trying to get their message in front of “anyone, anywhere who might want to buy or sell”.

Open your mailbox and you’ll see the same flyers and calendars from a handful of local agents and brokers who farm your neighborhood. You may not mail flyers and calendars but if you do any advertising, speaking, or networking, instead of trying to do that ‘everywhere” and getting lost in a sea of lawyers’ messages, you can stand out in your target market by focusing on a few neighborhoods, a few industries, or a few groups.

If you advertise, don’t choose “every” keyword or publication, concentrate on keywords or publications that get your message in front of your ideal clients. To some extent, this will allow you to dominate your target market or niche because your prospects will seem to see your message “everywhere”.

Your marketing messages are also more effective in a niche market because you can use buzzwords and stories and examples from their niche. Instead of a lawyer who does estate planning, for example, you can position yourself as a lawyer who does estate planning for medical professionals or yacht owners.

Yes, niche markets are smaller. But for each $1000 or hour of time you spend in a niche, you get a lot more bang for your marketing buck.

And you can then target more neighborhoods, industries, professionals, or lists.

How to choose the right “farm” for your practice

Filed Under: Marketing Plan Tagged With: Niche marketing

Be brief

December 21, 2023 by David M. Ward

At a time of diminished attention spans and lists of things to do as long as their arm, most people don’t have time to watch your lengthy presentation or read your lengthy article, blog post, or email. If you want more people reading more of your content (and you do), keep it brief.

As short as necessary and no longer.

In your core work as advocate, advisor, or draftsman, say as much as you need to say to do your job. For marketing and client relations, say less.

This doesn’t mean writing less often. Actually, if you’re trying to build and strengthen relationships with clients and prospects and professional contacts, you should write more often.

Once or twice a year or “once in a while” isn’t enough to keep your name in front of people.

Good news. Shorter content is quicker to write so you can write more often.

Yes, SEO favors longer articles and posts, and longer sales letters and pages tend to pull higher response, but for a busy lawyer, your top priority should be to get something out the door and into the hands of readers and followers.

As often as possible.

You can also write longer articles and reports, do longer videos and presentation, but make those extra.

Shorter content, published more often, should be your thing.

If you’re using email (and you should), here’s everything you need to know

Filed Under: Blogging, Content creation, Email