How to get fence sitters to pull the trigger

May 1, 2012 by
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Yesterday, I talked about using a special offer to get prospects on your list to hire you instead of another attorney. But what if they’re not ready to hire an attorney? How can you persuade them to do so?

Send them to school.

In your blog posts, newsletter, seminars, and private conversations, you must educate people about why they need an attorney, and why it should be you.

If they don’t know they have a problem, they’re certainly not going to do anything to resolve it. If they aren’t aware of the seriousness of the problem and the potential consequences, they still may not do anything. And if they don’t know the options that are available, they may think they don’t have any.

Your job is to continually make them aware of these problems and your solutions. But you can’t simply tell them, you have to show them, by telling them stories

My eighth grade history teacher made history come alive by telling stories about the people who lived it. Hearing about George Washington’s life, his struggles and victories, we not only learned about that period in our nation’s history, we were affected by it. We not only understood what it was like, we felt it.

If your prospects don’t feel something, if you simply deliver a steady stream of facts, they will eventually tune out. The facts are boring. Talk about people.

Pepper your messages with stories about people who are similar to your prospects. Give them a face and a name if possible. Describe their background. Talk about their problem and the pain it caused them. Or about the opportunity you helped them take advantage of. And then, talk about how this relief from pain or pleasure from gain. . . made them FEEL.

Because if you want your reader to do something (i.e., hire you), you have to transfer to them the feelings of other people who were in the same boat.

If you are allowed to use testimonials, do so. But a well told story can achieve almost the same effect.

But wait. You’re not done. In addition to stories of relief from pain or achievement of gain, you need to tell stories about people who didn’t take action, or took the wrong action. They did nothing, and lost. Or they delayed and missed out. Or they hired the wrong lawyer and wound up worse than when they started.

Success stories and tales of disaster. You need both.

And yet they still may do nothing. Why? Because. . . they don’t want to.

In “The Seven Reasons Prospective Clients Don’t Hire an Attorney,” I said that of all the reasons people don’t hire an attorney the most difficult to overcome (and the most frustrating) is, “No Want.”

If they don’t want it, they don’t want it. Why is that? I really don’t know. And as the late Jim Rohn used to say, “I wouldn’t enroll in that class.”

Keep them on your list. Continue to educate them. Keep telling them stories. One day, they may see the light. Maybe when someone they know encounters the very issue you’ve been warning them about. It’s like people who won’t do any exercise or quit smoking until their brother or best friend drops dead of a heart attack. That’s a story they can’t ignore.

In the mean time, don’t worry about it. Focus on the “easy to get” clients.

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Filed Under: Closing the sale, Communication, Copywriting, Marketing legal services, Writing Tagged With: ,

How to get more clients to choose YOU as their attorney

April 30, 2012 by
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You have a list of prospects, don’t you? These are people who get your newsletter or ezine, who read your blog, or with whom you otherwise communicate on a regular basis.

Some will hire you. You don’t have to say or do anything special. When they are ready, they will call.

Others will never hire you. No matter what you say or do. It doesn’t matter why they won’t hire you, that’s just the way it is. They can help you in other ways: referrals, traffic to your web site, Likes and follows.

Then there are the “maybes”. They may hire you, they may not. The fence sitters represent the biggest potential for you. What you say and do can influence them to get off the fence.

How do you get more people off the fence and dialing your number?

One way is to make an offer. Something that compels them to act.

One of my subscribers sent me the ezine he sends to his list. In it is an offer he makes to the “new clients” who lurk on his list. His offer: “Mention this newsletter and we will credit one hour of billable time against your first monthly invoice.”

Simple. You have to become a new client to take advantage of the offer. From the attorney’s perspective, it’s certainly worth one hour of credit to get someone to become a first time client.

Is he giving away that one hour credit to people on the list who would hire him anyway? Yes. But it doesn’t matter. It’s small potatoes. He earns much more by getting the fence sitters as new clients.

But let’s be honest, a one hour credit is only mildly enticing to someone who might have to pony up $10,000 or $20,000 to hire you. It’s not going to get someone who isn’t ready to hire an attorney off the fence. What it might do is get someone who is ready to hire an attorney to choose you instead of any other attorney.

You must assume that yours isn’t the only newsletter your prospect reads. If you’re the only one offering a one hour credit to new clients, however, when the fence sitter is ready to hire someone, it could tip the balance in your favor.

For prospects who aren’t ready to hire an attorney, you will have to do more than offer a one hour credit. How do you convince someone who isn’t ready? I’ll cover that tomorrow.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Closing the sale, Copywriting, Email, Marketing legal services, Newsletters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

An easy way to improve your marketing results

April 25, 2012 by
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I’ve got good news and bad news about your marketing. Which would you like first?

The bad news? Okay. Here it is:

Most of what you write in your marketing–articles, letters, blog posts, emails–will never be read by the recipient. Even worse, most of the people who do read it won’t take action. They won’t call you for an appointment, Like your page or forward your email.

Most of the writing you do for marketing purposes is wasted effort.

The good news is that this is easy to change.

You can get more people to read what you write and do what you want by getting better at writing, or, more specifically, copywriting–writing that is designed to get a response.

You can subscribe to blogs that focus on copywriting. Learn a tip every day and start using it. There are many books and courses, too. (In the legal realm, check out my own, Lawyers’ Marketing Toolkit).

You can study good copy. The books and courses will supply you with examples, and point out what makes them good and what needs to be improved. You can also find good copy online and in your mailbox. When you read something that gets you to take action, save it and study it.

You can re-write good copy. Take proven sales copy and re-write, ideally by hand, to get a sense for the rhythm of the words and the “staging” of the information.

And you can practice. Write and re-write your letters and articles, constantly seeking to improve them. Over time, you will get better.

Pay particular attention to your headline, opening, offer, and call to action.

The headline (email subject, report title, etc.) is critical. It must capture the attention of the reader and make them curious to read more. If you don’t accomplish this, it won’t matter how effective the rest of your message might be, or how enticing your offer is–nobody will see it.

The title of this post is a good example. It promises a benefit I believe you want: an easy way to improve the results of your marketing. It made you curious to read the post or the email, as you are doing that right now.

Once you get the reader’s attention with your headline, your opening must continue the job. I did that by promising you “good news and bad news”. This is one of many effective openings.

I spoke with an attorney this morning about a sales letter he is preparing to send to his estate planning clients. He wants to get them to come in for a review. I suggested a “bad news/good news” opening and that’s what he’s going with. It works.

I also suggested the following formula for the body of his letter:

  1. Problem (The bad news–what could be wrong with their estate plan or the execution thereof).
  2. Agitate (What could happen as a result. Tell stories about clients who thought everything was okay but found out otherwise. What happened to them? What did it cost?)
  3. Solution (The good news–it’s not difficult or expensive to fix the most common problems you see. An amendment or two, an extra step, a few instructions to carry out.)
  4. Benefits (What they get or avoid as a result of this solution. Peace of mind, security, savings, etc.)
  5. Call to action (Tell them what to do get the solution and benefits. Call for an appointment, send in a form, go to a web page.)

Copywriting can be learned and it’s well worth the effort. Not only can it improve your marketing results, it can help you become a better lawyer. Copywriting is “salesmanship,” something you can use anywhere else you need to persuade people to act.

I used to “write like a lawyer” and taught myself how to write to sell. It is a skill that has earned me a fortune.

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Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Marketing legal services, Writing Tagged With: , , , ,

How is important but don’t forget why

March 21, 2012 by
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I did a presentation last night for some of my business partners and their guests. The objective was to get the guests to either invest in our business directly or provide referrals to our partners.

I talked about the history of our company, the value of our services, and the size of our market.

Lots of facts and figures. Very compelling, if I do say so myself.

But in order to get the ball over the goal line, I made sure I also told them why.

Why the facts I recited are important. Why I got involved, and why they should, too.

I did this by telling stories about some of our partners, their backgrounds and motivation, and also my own. I showed them what motivated us. Facts are static and lifeless. Stories have people in them and everyone wants to know “what happened next”.

Whenever you want to persuade people to act, tell them why. What’s in it for them? What will they get if they do? What might they lose if they don’t?

On your web site, tell people why they should opt-in to your newsletter. What’s the benefit? What do they get? Why will they be better off as a result?

In your demand letters, tell them why they should say yes. Why is it in their best interest? What might happen if they refuse?

In your oral arguments, explain why something was said or done. Tell the judge why he should accept your version. Tell him why he should grant your request.

You may have the weight of evidence in your favor, but it’s your job to interpret that evidence and tell people why it matters. Don’t assume they will know. It’s not always obvious. And even if it is obvious and even if they do know, tell them anyway. Tell them stories that reach beyond their intellect and pluck the heart strings of their emotions.

How is important but don’t forget to tell them why.

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Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Presentations, Public Speaking, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Steve Jobs’ resignation: what it means for your law practice

August 25, 2011 by
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Steve Jobs’ abrupt resignation yesterday had social media buzzing about the news and what it means for Apple (which saw its stock immediately drop, and then rebound) and for the tech world. Every news channel and blog had something to say and the tweets and wall posts abounded.

But what does his resignation mean for attorneys? How will this affect your law practice?

Well, unless you work for Apple or one of their affiliates, it won’t affect your practice at all.

So. . . why the tease? Was my headline a gimmick to get more clicks?

Well, yes and no.

It’s true that I don’t have anything to say about how this news story will actually affect your practice, and while that smacks of gimmickry, there is a lesson in this.

The headline that brought you here illustrates an important marketing technique: tying your message–blog post, tweet, post, email–to something already on the minds of your readers or followers. According to a new Kindle ebook by Dan Zarrella, about the science and metrics behind social media, this is called “priming”. Zarrella says,

“If a subject is exposed to something related to your idea before he actually encounters your idea, he’ll be more sensitive to it, and this makes it easier to catch his attention. . . .

“The easiest way to make priming work for your idea is to create timely content. If there is a topic or news story currently making the rounds in your target audience, relate your idea to that topic, and the zeitgeist will do the priming for you.”

And so, primed as you were by the news of Jobs’ resignation, you were more inclined to click through to read this story. Yes, I cheated a bit with my headline and yes, it would have been better if I had something to say about how the resignation affected the legal profession, but then this would have been a very different blog post.

Zarrella’s book is brief, not at all dry, and has some great insights and data, such as the most and least re-tweetable words and the best times and days to tweet, blog, post to Facebbok, and send email. “In many cases, the most effective times to send are the less popular times. Because your messages have less clutter to compete with, they break through.”

Zarrella also says that people share on social media not for altruistic reasons but because the information they share reinforces their reputation. People prefer to share breaking news, for example, because it is scarce, rather than humor or opinion which is all too common.

Some might say that putting news in your headlines to piggyback on what’s already on the minds of your readers isn’t a new idea, and they would be right. I’m sure this post, with the headline, “Man Accidentally Impregnates Goat,” is getting lots of traffic. Like my post, the lesson is in the headline, not the story. (Be sure to download the free ebook he mentions, “How to Write Headlines That go Viral with Social Media”.)

So, not a new concept. What’s new is that now, social media metrics let us quantify what we always suspected, while leading us to discover ideas that never crossed our minds.

Zarrella’s book is also free, through August 27.

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Filed Under: Book review, Copywriting, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lawyers: How to write emails that get results

December 13, 2010 by
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In my previous post I talked about email mistakes to avoid. Today, I want to share some basic but nevertheless vital ideas for writing emails that get opened, get read, and get results.

WRITE AN EFFECTIVE SUBJECT LINE

Your email may be powerful and persuasive but if people don’t open it, they won’t read it. The key to getting your emails opened is your subject. It is the “headline” for your email message. It has to stop the reader who is skimming his email in box and get them to click. The more effective your subject, the more often this will occur. Also, an effective subject “pre-sells” the message contained in the body of your email, making it that much more likely that the recipient will respond to your request.

  • Be specific. Effective subjects are clear and precise. They tell the reader what your message is about.
  • Include a benefit. What will the reader gain (or avoid) by reading your email? Why should they read your message?
  • Use their name. Although using the recipient’s name in the subject is overdone in some circles, it is still an effective way to get their attention. It can also convey urgency, e.g., “John, please call me as soon as you read this”.
  • Include key words. Specific nouns and active verbs communicate. Project-specific key words will also get attention.
  • Include due dates. If you have a time-oriented offer or request, consider putting the date in the subject.
  • Front load. Most email programs cut off the end of lengthy subjects so put the most important parts up front.

GET TO THE POINT

The purpose of the subject (headline) is to get readers to open the email. The purpose of the first sentence is to get them to read the second sentence. And so on. You’ve got their attention but it is oh so easy to lose it, so say what you have to say–immediately.

Put the most important things up front: due dates, requests for information, requests for action. If you bury these, they may never been seen (or seen too late). Telegraph your message so the reader cannot possibly miss it.

How long should an email be? Long enough to get the job done and no longer. Make it as short as possible but don’t worry if your message is lengthy. In a particularly lengthy message, you can always link to additional information (or offer to send it).

CLOSE FOR ACTION

  • Summarize. There’s a communication formula that works in writing and speaking. (1) Tell them what you’re going to tell them. (2) Tell them. (3) tell them what you told them. This may not be necessary in a short email but it can prove helpful to you and your reader in a longer message.
  • Tell them what to do. Repeat your request (or offer) at the end of the message and tell them what to do. Do you want them to call? Email? Go? Be specific; you’ll get more people doing what you want them to do when you tell them precisely what to do.
  • Tell them why. Studies show that when you give a person a reason they are more likely to comply with a request. This should obviously be a part of the body of your email but it’s a good idea to repeat it in your close.
  • Give them ways to contact you. Don’t assume they know your phone number or even your email address. (You might want a reply to a different email.) Provide full contact information in your signature to make it easy for them to contact you or otherwise connect with you through a web site or social media.

Writing effective emails will save you time and get you better results. Your recipients will also save time and be more inclined to not only read your messages but act on them.

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Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Email, Law office management, Productivity, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The single most valuable skill for attorney marketing

November 4, 2010 by
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copy writing for attorneysLearning how to write effective copy not only helped me to build a successful law practice, it helped me to sell millions of dollars of my signature marketing course and other products. Copy writing, which as been called “salesmanship in print” is an important skill for every attorney, even those with no intention of writing their own sales materials.

Effective marketing documents can make the different between unbridled success and abject failure. A change of headline or offer can increase the pulling power of a letter or ad or web site twenty-fold–and even more.

The best way to learn copy writing is to study effective marketing documents. When you see something good, something that’s working, perhaps something that made you buy a product or service, copy the sales letter or ad or web page so you can study it. Create a “swipe” file of letters, brochures, ads, web pages, newsletters, and other compelling copy, to study, for ideas and to use as models for creating your own documents.

(Shameless plug alert. . .) The Lawyers’ Marketing Toolkit is a swipe file of marketing documents for lawyers. It is a collection of referral letters, reports, ads, newsletters, brochures, and other marketing documents submitted to me for critique by lawyers in my marketing program–along with my (detailed) critiques.

Start your copy writing education by studying the sales letter for The Toolkit. Print the page, copy it, read and re-read it. It works and it could be the first document for your new swipe file.

After many years of collecting marketing documents in file boxes, today, I use Evernote to collect them electronically. It’s free and a great place to start your swipe file.

[mc src=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObHOvFoRLxk&feature=mfu_in_order&playnext=1&videos=QOSWMn-miTw” type=”youtube”]The single most valuable skill for attorney marketing[/mc]

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Filed Under: Advertising, Copywriting, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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