The secret to creating blog and newsletter content your prospects actually want to read

January 3, 2012 by
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Many lawyers say they want to start a blog or newsletter but are afraid they won’t have enough to write about.

If you think your prospects don’t want to read all about case law and procedure, you’re right. There will always be exceptions, but most clients have their own lives and businesses to run. If they were that interested in the law, they would go to law school.

Here’s a heads up: PI lawyers, nobody wants to read for the umpteeth time what to do in an accident or how to maximize the value of their case. I’m not saying this isn’t important information–it is. You should write about it. Once. And link to so those who want and need this information can go read it.

So, what do you write about if not about your field of expertise?

Actually, the answer to this question is incredibly simple. And yet, not one in 10,000 lawyers does it, at least not consistently. When you hear what it is, you may just slap your forehead and have one of those “of course!” moments.

Now, I should also point out that when you do this, you will have a never-ending supply of fresh content and a huge surge in reader involvement and viral traffic. You’ll have people talking about your blog and about you. Other blogs will mention your posts and link to them. Reporters may call to interview you.

Have I got your attention?

Here’s the secret: don’t write about the law, your services, or your cases, other than occasionally. When something interesting happens. Instead, most of the time, write about the niche market or markets you are targeting.

Did I just lose you? Well, if you don’t have a target market, maybe so. If you think “anyone who gets injured as a result of someone else’s negligence” is a target market, you’re wrong. It’s way too big. And every other PI lawyer says the same thing.

You want to target smaller sub-sets of the entire market. In a niche market, the people know each other on social media and in real life, they attend the same meetings, and read the same blogs. There is strong word of mouth in niche markets. And it’s easier to identify the key people in them.

A niche market would be something like “health care professionals in Los Angeles County”. Not too big, not too small. As a matter of fact, this happens to be a good target market. When a physician is seriously injured, there’s usually some serious damages. But I digress.

So, you write about health care in Los Angeles. You write about who’s doing what–promotions, speaking gigs, published articles. You write about trends and issues that affect this market. You champion their causes and support their charities.

You interview people who work in this niche. You read the popular blogs and comment on their posts.

So, you might write about some changes in policy at XYZ hospital. Not legal issues, necessarily. It could be anything that people want to know about.

Here’s more good news: you don’t have to do all the writing yourself. Other professionals who target this market will be happy to supply content. Consultants, sales people, other lawyers, accountants, hospital administrators, insurance brokers, medical supply reps–dozens of informed people with big networks of their own and they would love to provide a guest post or supply some tips or let you interview them. All you have to do is ask.

Guess what will happen? The people in your posts and those affected by this information will talk about them and share them with their colleagues and co-workers. They’ll post them on Facebook and link to them on their blogs. Your blog will get noticed and so will you.

Writing a blog about your target market is one of the smartest things you could do. You’re learning about this market, aren’t you? Take what you learn and turn it into content.

Use your blog as a platform to stay in front of your market. You will become the attorney in this niche, the one that everyone thinks about when they think about personal injuries and the one they call when they need your services or know someone who does.

This is not rocket science. Choose a niche market and dedicate yourself to it. Learn everything you can about the market and the people in it. Subscribe to their blogs and newsletters. Attend their meetings. Become an expert in that market and then write about it.

And if something law-related occurs in that market, go ahead and write about that, too.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Networking, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Publicity, Social media marketing, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Attorney marketing video challenge

December 28, 2011 by
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attorney marketing videosAbout a year ago, I wrote and “produced” a simple video about a new lawyer attending his first ABA Convention. This was around the time the ABA was considering new rules to regulate attorneys behavior online and the video played off that theme and an ad hoc write-in campaign to tell the ABA to back off.

The ABA didn’t go nuclear on us, but I don’t think my video was the reason. What my video did do was get a lot of attorneys watching it and sharing the link with others. I got a lot of traffic from it.

No, it wasn’t a big hit on youtube, but in my niche market, it did okay.

My challenge to you is to create your own video and put it on youtube and on your blog.

You can use the free service I used, Xtranormal, which allows you to give voice to animated characters. Or, you can act out a skit with other live “actors”. You can narrate slides on your desktop, or simply talk into the camera.

Your best bets for going viral are to use humor or to take a controversial stand, but I would stay away from politics. How about a funny commercial by one of your “competitors”? Or something about one of the new laws that take effect in January?

Anything goes, but remember, your clients are watching (and so is the ABA!)

Keep it under five minutes. Watching my video today, I realized I could have achieved the same effect with a much shorter spot.

You may not see a ton of results from your video but you will learn some things that might allow you to create another video that does. And you’ll have a lot of fun.

Send me the link to your video. I’ll choose a winner and feature it in a future post.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Blogging, Just for fun, Legal industry, Marketing legal services, Social media marketing, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So you decided to start your blog? Don’t read this post.

December 21, 2011 by
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starting a blogIf you’ve decided that 2012 will be the year you (finally) start a blog, here are “70+ Resources on How to Start a WordPress Blog“.

Don’t read it. Yet.

Oh, it’s a great article, chock full of common sense, easy to follow advice and resources. If you read this article and follow the author’s recommendations, you will quickly create a WordPress blog. You could set it up today if you want to, even if you have zero technical experience.

So why do I say you shouldn’t read it? Because a blog requires far more than following set up instructions (or hiring someone to do it for you). It requires commitment.

A blog does you no good unless you put in regular time and effort to build it. Unless you are prepared to do that, you might as well not start.

I’m not saying the time and effort is unreasonable. You don’t have to labor over it every day. A few hours a week is more than adequate. An hour a week will do.

I’m not saying you have to be a great writer. Or original. Or clever. If you can pass the bar, trust me, you can write a blog.

And I’m definitely not saying it isn’t worth it. Writing a blog could bring you a ton of clients, as well as relationships with other professionals who can otherwise enhance your career. It can also be a source of tremendous personal gratification.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t start a blog. I’m saying don’t do it unless you are committed to sticking with it for the long haul.

And sadly, most people aren’t. I think the abandonment rate for new blogs is in the 95% range. Lawyers are probably better but I would be surprised if it was less than 80%.

“But I said I decided to start a blog,” you remind me. “I’m ready.”

I respond with an attempt to wax philosophical: “Two birds are sitting on a telephone line. One decided to fly away. How many are left?”

Yes it is a trick question.

“Two birds are left. Just because one decided to fly away doesn’t mean he did.”

Talk to other attorneys who blog. Ask them to share their experiences with you. How much time and effort do they put in? What’s a typical week or day like for them? What tips would they give you for getting started?

Of course you still won’t know what it’s like unless you start and you won’t know if you are committed until you’ve done it for six months.

“Two lawyers were talking about blogging. One decided to start. How many settled a huge case and retired?”

Starting a blog could be the best career decision you ever make. Or it might not.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A simple way to promote your blawg you’re probably not doing

December 16, 2011 by
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increase-blog-trafficDo you have a print brochure for your law practice? Most attorneys don’t. They pass out their business card with the url to their web site or blog but a business card generally doesn’t tell people what you do or the benefits you offer. People have to go the your web site to find out and too often they simply don’t.

A brochure would help. But if you don’t want to spend the time or money hiring professionals to create one, there is a simpler alternative.

Take your best and most read blog post or posts and print them. You don’t need to re-set the text so it looks like a brochure, just print out the the posts as is. Add a cover sheet on your letterhead or add a screen shot of your blog’s home page. Or just staple your business card to the front and you’re done. Instant brochure.

No, it’s not slick and polished like a “real” brochure, and that’s okay, it’s not a brochure, it’s a reprint. In truth, your reprint is more effective than a brochure because it’s not slick and it’s not a sales document, it is valuable content that prospects want to read.

Hand out your reprints when you’re you’re speaking or networking. Put some on the table at the back of the room. Put a few copies in your new client welcome kits. Ask your referral sources to put them in their waiting rooms.

You can use this idea online, too. Gather up some of your better posts and assemble them into a PDF.

One of the easiest ways to get more traffic to your blawg is to give people a taste of what they get when they visit. This is a simple and very effective way to do that.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

How to get more clients from cases you don’t handle

December 8, 2011 by
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shield laws for bloggersI’m sure you read the story about the blogger in a defamation case who got hit with a $2.5 million judgment because, the judge said, she is not a journalist and was not protected by the state’s shield laws.

Interesting story. Important subject.

You read the story but did you make any money with it?

Attorneys can easily leverage a story like this to get more media attention, more traffic to their web site, more prospects, more referral sources, and more clients. And I’m not talking about the attorneys who handled the case itself, I’m talking about you.

Interested? Here’s all you have to do.

First, write a two or three page report summarizing defamation laws in your jurisdiction. You don’t have to practice in this area to do this, Uncle Google will help you, or you can ask an attorney friend who does (and tell him about this idea so he can do it, too).

In your report, mention the case about the blogger. Offer your opinion. Include a few citations, maybe a few resources.

Now, go back to Uncle Google and ask him to give you a list of bloggers in your target market(s) who are in your state or province.

Next, contact these bloggers (a personal email will do) and tell them you wrote a report for bloggers about how they can protect themselves against lawsuits like the one in the news. Offer to send it to them, free of charge. Tell them they are welcome to send it other bloggers they know and care about. (If you know the blogger, you could just send them the report in your first email).

In one day, you can get your report into the hands of dozens of people who every day write and influence the people you are targeting for your services. You have provided value to the blogger on a personal level, and asked nothing in return.

Where can this lead? Interviews, hosted webinars for their readers, guest posts, referrals, introductions, you name it.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t practice tort law. If you do, that’s an added benefit, but the point of this effort isn’t to show these bloggers you can help them in this particular area of the law, it’s to meet them.

Now, what else could you do with your report? Here are a few ideas:

  • Send it to local media with a cover letter letting them know you are available for interviews.
  • Call or email your clients and contacts: Who do you know in (your area) who writes a blog? Tell them you have a report that can help them.
  • Offer it through social media; post a video on youtube, opining on the story and linking to your report; offer it via forums, chat groups, listserves, and other areas where bloggers and people who know bloggers congregate.
  • Contact local blogger groups, business groups (anyone who has a blog), and offer a lunch talk.
  • Write about it on your blog or in your newsletter.
  • Take out ads and offer the report, as a “public service”.
  • Send it to lawyers in your practice area in states or provinces where you don’t practice. Tell them what you’re doing with the report in your area, invite them to do the same in theirs. (If you have to ask how this could help you, forget about this idea.)
  • Do a presentation at your bar group’s next function on how you used a news story to market your services.

You get the idea.

Oh, and you don’t need a news story to do this, you can write about anything that affects people in your target market or they people who influence them.

It’s about providing value in a leveraged way. It’s simple and it works. And if your report goes viral, it could help you take a quantum leap in the growth of your practice.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Blogging, Increase your income, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Networking, News, Online Marketing, Publicity, Referrals, Relationship marketing, Social media marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to get free content for your blog

November 11, 2011 by
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guest bloggingSo you have a blog (or want to start one) and you need content. Your time is limited. What can you do?

First, don’t assume you need to spend hours writing your posts. As I’ve written before, a post can be a few paragraphs that take just a few minutes to write. It can be as simple as taking something you read online and adding your comments. Tell why you agree, or disagree, link to another post that provides a different viewpoint or additional information, or share a story from your practice that illustrates the points in the article.

For longer posts, you have several alternatives:

  • Re-purpose something else you wrote (newsletter, article, speech, brief, report, interview, etc.)
  • Hire a freelancer (www.elance.com, www.guru.com, www.craigslist.com, etc.)
  • Hire a student (e.g., an English or Journalism major; they will often work for free for the experience or writing credits)
  • Have someone in your office write it (or the first draft)

One of the best ways to get original content for your blog is through guest posts. Someone else writes the post in return for a byline and link to their blog.

The benefits to you are

  • You get content you don’t have to research or write, from experts in their field
  • You get traffic to your blog and, possibly, opt-ins to your list. Presumably, the writer will tell his or her readers about the guest post and some of them will come to see it.
  • Your readers get valuable content and they appreciate you for providing it.

The benefits to the guest blogger are

  • They get to demonstrate their expertise to your readers and get traffic to their blog
  • They get additional writing credit they can use with other blogs
  • Their readers see them being endorsed by you, elevating their status

Now, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If guest posts are a good way to get exposure and traffic, why not offer to do some guest posting yourself? Find blogs that write for your target market and offer to do a guest post. Here are 21 tips for landing guest posts.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of guest posts is that they allow both parties to make a new connection. This can lead to referrals, introductions, advice, interviews, endorsements, networking and cross marketing opportunities.

Start looking for blogs that reach your target market. Invite them to write a guest post for your blog or offer to do the same for theirs.

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Filed Under: Blogging, List building, Marketing legal services, Web traffic, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How often do you need to update your blog?

October 18, 2011 by
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When I converted this website from a static site to a blog in 2007, I didn’t want my “new house” to look unfurnished so for the first month or so I added posts and articles almost every day.

It was a very good thing that I did.

I saw an immediate upsurge in traffic to my site, I received many emails thanking me for the content, and I got a lot of new leads for my products and services.

I was new to blogging, but I was very glad I made the leap. Today, I post every day, Monday through Friday, and I am again seeing an increase in traffic and engagement like I experienced in the early days.

Wait. I know what you’re thinking. You’re too busy for blogging.

But hold on. Hear me out.

Many lawyers would like to have a blog. They see other lawyers building their practices online and they want to do the same. But they “just don’t have the time.”

Some argue that quality is more important than quantity, that frequency of posting isn’t a critical factor. But frequency does matter.

It seems that most people who read blogs do so by visiting the blog itself (instead of reading posts in a “feed reader”) and their visits to that blog become a habit. They visit the site to see the latest post and if there isn’t an update today, and there isn’t one tomorrow, they fall out of the habit of visiting. Soon, they don’t visit at all.

Posting once a week is considered the minimum for keeping a blog alive. (If you do post once a week, do it on the same day.) But if you can’t blog daily or weekly, if the best you can do is post content once or twice a month or once in awhile, does this mean you shouldn’t bother?

No. Not at all.

You may not get as much traffic to your blog if you don’t post frequently but if you post anything of decent quality, the traffic you do get will see you as an expert who can deliver the benefits they seek. A blog is just a web site that is updated more than once in a blue moon. It’s a great idea, even if you don’t update it all that often.

Besides, frequency of posting is only one way to get traffic. You may not get a lot of search engine traffic if you post infrequently, but you can send traffic to your site in other ways: offline, via networking, advertising, public speaking, and writing, for example, and online, via social media, your email signature, and dozens of other ways.

And, while infrequent updates won’t get your visitors into the habit of regularly returning to your site, if your site has an opt-in list (and it should), you can capture visitor emails and notify them when you do have updates or something else to offer.

If you want to start a blog but think you don’t have the time, you do. If you have a blog but it’s not being updated very often, don’t worry about it.

Think of a blog as a place to showcase your problem-solving abilities, if nothing else. Prospects may or may not find your blog when they search for “your key words” but when they hear about you from a friend and search for you by name, they will find your blog and your content will convince them to call for an appointment.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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