I know you are but what am I?

April 16, 2013 by
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What do you do when someone posts a negative review on Yelp?

When an unhappy client goes on a rant about what a terrible attorney you are, should you respond? When someone publicly criticizes you, says you’re dumb ass, or greedy, or the Devil’s spawn because you defend child molesters.

What do you do?

Do you defend yourself? Fight back? Send them a horse’s head?

The best thing to do about negative comments is to ignore them. There’s nothing to be gained by getting into a pissing match. Even stupid people are entitled to their opinion.

You’re not going to change the mind of the opinion holder, and if you try to explain or defend yourself in public, you’ll only make yourself look worse.

If the negative comment is on your blog or on your Facebook wall, you should respond. It would look weird if you didn’t. But don’t respond in kind, just point out the facts. Your friends and followers will probably come to your defense and neutralize the negative comment, maybe even smother it.

But if someone posts a negative review about you on Yelp or another public forum, or they give your book a one star review on amazon.com, ignore it.

Let it go. Pour yourself a stiff one.

I see lawyers who are afraid to dive into social media or do anything online because they are afraid of what unhappy clients might say about them.

That’s operating out of fear. Maybe guilt.

Life (and the practice of law) isn’t about the complete avoidance of risk. It’s about the intelligent management of it. If you are alive (or open for business) there will always be risks.

You may have some unhappy clients, and they may share their unhappiness publicly, but. . .

they may not.

Are you going to forgo all of the benefits of being on the Internet because of what one or two Bozos might say about you?

How about all of the other clients who think you’re great? You’re going to get good comments, too.

A lot of people are saying negative things about Dell right now. They get tons of negative reviews. But people still buy their products.

Now if someone is posting untruths about you and not just their opinion, if someone is defaming you, that’s different. You may have to do something. A letter from your lawyer, perhaps. Or a horse’s head.

I say you “may” have to do something because sometimes, it really is better to ignore things like this. Yes, even when they are untrue and causing harm. Life is too short to get all worked up about everything.

Probably the smartest thing to do is to stop reading your reviews. The bad ones will only upset you and the good ones, well, you’re an attorney. You don’t need an even bigger ego.

Marketing for smart attorneys. The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Client loyalty, Image, Online Marketing, Personal development, Social media Tagged With:

How often should I call a prospective client?

April 9, 2013 by
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A lawyer wants to know, “How often should I call a prospective client after a free consultation or a first phone call?”

The answer is you shouldn’t.

Don’t call. But do follow up.

Don’t call, because calling is bad posture. It makes you look like the pursuer, not the pursued. And that’s true even if you have someone in your office make the call.

You want to attract clients, not chase them. You are a professional. Highly sought after. Booked up.

Let them call you when they’re ready to hire you.

There are exceptions. If the prospect asked you to call. If they called you and you’re returning the call. Or if you are calling to find out if their wife’s surgery went okay.

Otherwise, don’t call.

Follow up by email or regular mail. Send them a thank you note. I enjoyed meeting you, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.

Courtesy, not sales.

Then, put them on your mailing list. Send additional information about their legal issue. Articles and reports. Emails that direct them to relevant content on your website.

But no personal mail or email.

Stay in touch with them and all of your prospects by mail or email. Each time you mail, it reminds them that you still exist and you’re still available to help. You maintain a bit of distance and the correct posture because you’re mailing this information to everyone on your list, not just them.

Information, not sales.

If they came to see you and didn’t hire you, there’s a reason. If they don’t have the money, or they need someone else’s permission, sending information is about all you can do. When they’re ready and able, they’ll call.

If there’s another reason they didn’t hire you, you need to figure out what it is and fix it. Because until you do, no amount of information is going to get them to call.

Get more clients and earn more from the clients you get. Click here.

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Filed Under: Closing the sale, Communication, Email, Image, Marketing legal services

How to use scarcity to get more clients and increase your income

April 2, 2013 by
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Scarcity creates value. When something is in short supply and people want it, its value increases. A soda may cost less than a dollar at any supermarket but that same soda costs $4 at the baseball game where there is no competition.

If you are the only attorney in town, the value of what you do increases. When a client needs you, they will pay a premium price for your help. On the other hand, if there are lots of attorneys in your market who do what you do and a client can choose any of you, the value of what you offer goes down.

This is why you must show prospective clients that you aren’t like other attorneys. You must show them that you are different in a way that is important and valuable to them.

If you specialize in personal injury cases for clients who ride motorcycles, for example, and ride one yourself, your superior knowledge and commitment to that niche market gives prospective clients a clear reason for choosing you instead of other attorneys.

You can learn more about showing people why they should choose you instead of other attorneys you in The Attorney Marketing Formula. Right now, I want to talk to you about another form of scarcity you can use in your marketing: “limited availability”.

You know that people want what they can’t have, right? When you put a time limit or a quantity limit on something you are offering, (assuming it is something people want), it tends to increase demand.

Why?

The first reason is “fear of loss”. They don’t want to miss out. Limited availability suggests that other people are getting something that could be theirs, thus, they are losing something they already “own,” i.e., whatever you are offering. Fear of loss is one of the most powerful motivations there is.

The other reason is “social proof”. As people see others buying what you are offering, it strengthens the perceived value of your offer. It’s like when you see a long line waiting to get into a restaurant. It tells you the food must be good.

You can use limited availability to get more people to sign up for your webinar or other event by letting them know there is limited seating or phone lines. If they wait too long, they might not get in.

You can use the same idea with impending fee increases. “Book your appointment now and lock in our current rates before they go up on the first of the month”.

Anything with a deadline invokes scarcity. If you ever use special offers–discounts, bonuses, freebies–a time limit on the offer (e.g., “This week only”) will almost always increase response.

I do this when I release a new product or service. I offer a discount to early bird purchasers and put a strict time limit on that discount. Wait too long and you miss it. I do the same thing when I hold a sale. The time limit forces people who might otherwise procrastinate to make a decision that allows them to get something they want.

Limited availability also applies to you and your time. If you are always available, you appear less valuable. If you answer your own phone, for example, it suggests that you are not “in demand” by others. Better to have someone else answer your phone and grant limited access to you and your valuable time.

The same goes for setting appointments. You don’t want clients to think you aren’t busy and that they can see you at almost any time. Put them off for a day or three or give them a short window of availability (i.e., “The only time available is Tuesday between 4 and 4:30 and Thursday at 2”.)

Put limits on what you offer, including your time. Especially your time. You’ll get more people waiting in line to get it.

Learn how to get prospective clients to choose you instead of other attorneys. Click here.

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Filed Under: Image, Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services

Are you playing it safe in marketing your legal services?

March 26, 2013 by
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You don’t play it safe when you advocate for your clients. So why do you play it safe when you advocate for yourself?

In marketing, you must stand out. To stand out, you can’t play it safe, you have to be different.

Have you ever noticed how most attorney’s web sites look the same? Change the name and the photo and another attorney in the same practice area could take over the site without missing a beat.

How do you expect clients to notice you when you look like everyone else? Why should anyone choose you when you don’t show them how you are different?

Being different starts with including some personal information in your marketing. Share some of the things that define you as a person–your family, your hobbies, your crusades. Give the world a glimpse into the human being behind the professional.

Being different also means saying things most attorneys don’t say. Examples? Revealing how most law schools don’t prepare lawyers for the courtroom. Or how lawyers pad their bills. Or lawyer discipline. Or what to ask a lawyer to see if they are competent.

If you’ve never spoken about these things, you should. Your colleagues may not like it, but your clients will.

You can also be different by sharing your opinion on something controversial. Most attorneys straddle the middle of the road. If there’s something you believe strongly in, you should take sides and open your mouth.

Look at Donald Trump. He’s never afraid to say what he thinks. Did he earn a fortune because of this or in spite of it? I don’t know. But I do know that whenever he opens his mouth, he makes money.

The same goes for Ted Turner. And Rush Limbaugh. The more you hate them or laugh at them, the more they earn.

I’m not saying you need to go to these extremes. But you do need to take some chances.

Here’s the challenge: On your web site, or in your newsletter, say something you know will not sit well with someone. Nothing radical. Don’t start a fight. Just say something a little different or a little out of character.

Make a few eyebrows rise. Show people a side of you they’ve never seen.

It might not be what you say but how you say it. A coarse reference, perhaps. Or gansta slang, yo.

Click the send button. If your heart beats a little faster and you wonder if you’ve made a mistake, you know you’re doing it right.

You’ll find it liberating. Maybe even exhilarating. Possibly terrifying.

You might hear from someone who likes what you said. That’s good. You might hear from someone who doesn’t like it. That’s good too.

Communication isn’t solely about delivering information. It’s about touching people on an emotional level. Making them listen. And think. And feel. And respond.

If you get no response, the odds are nobody noticed. Try again. Push harder. Keep stirring.

Eventually, you may lose some people who don’t like what you say. That’s the risk. The reward is that there will many more who take their place, who love you and want to work with you and tell all their friends about you, in great part because you aren’t like everyone else.

If you want mediocre results, keep doing what everyone else is doing. If you want superlative results, you’ve got to take some chances.

Want more ways to be different? They’re in The Formula.

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Filed Under: Communication, Email, Image, Marketing legal services, Writing

Lawdingo.com: how NOT to build your law practice

March 20, 2013 by
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Cue Rod Serling:

“Meet Jerry Finster, picture of a desperate lawyer. Don’t let his smile fool you. It is nothing but paint and plastic, a mask he wears to hide his pain. Like other lawyers, Jerry once had big plans for his career. But Jerry listened to some bad advice and now, he sells his soul in five minute increments to anyone with a question and a sawbuck. You’ll find Jerry in his booth at a place called lawdingo.com, where other desperate lawyers have set up shop. The sign over his booth says you can talk to him at 10, 12, 2, or 4. The truth is you can talk to Jerry at any time. He’s waiting for you now. If you want some cheap advice, go see Jerry. But don’t go looking for him on the World Wide Web. You can only find him in a place called The Twilight Zone.”

Perception is everything. If you look desperate (or even just hungry), in the eyes of the world, that’s what you are. There are, I am sure, many fine lawyers answering questions on sites like lawdingo.com, and I’m sure they are getting some clients. But is it worth it? I say no. You may get clients but you won’t build a practice, at least not one you want.

When I first started practicing, I volunteered one day a week at a legal clinic. I got a few clients out it (and a lot of real world experience). The people who visited the clinic didn’t have much money. When they hired me, they paid maybe twenty cents on the dollar. They needed help, I needed the money.

But I was careful. I never told my “real clients” about what I was doing at the legal clinic. They needed to see me as successful. I could look the part and build my practice on Wilshire Boulevard in Bevery Hills and nobody knew I was bringing in rent money from the legal clinic on Pico.

You can’t do that today. The Internet won’t allow it.

I could be wrong. (I’m not, but I guess I should say it.) See for yourself. Pretend you are a client looking for a lawyer. Browse through the listings of the lawyers on lawdingo.com and see what you think. (Could they have come up with a worse name?)

Click on the button to sign up as a lawyer. But before you fill out the form, imagine that your “real clients” find you on this site. What do you suppose they would think?

If you’re not desperate, the last thing you want to do is look like you are. If you are desperate, the last thing you want to do is look like you are.

There are better ways to build your practice. You’ll find them here.

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

Clients don’t hire anonymous lawyers

March 14, 2013 by
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I get a fair amount of email from lawyers. At least I think they are lawyers. Unfortunately, many of them don’t tell me who they are or what they do for a living. All I know about them is their email address.

No name. No phone number. No web site.

They would never send a letter via regular mail that was devoid of contact information. Why do they do that in an email?

If they are using the same email account to communicate with clients and prospects and professional contacts, they’re not helping themselves. Nobody wants to hire, refer to, or network with an anonymous lawyer.

Even if the recipient knows who you are, emails like this tell them that (a) you are clueless about the simplest of technology, suggesting that you might be lacking in other areas of your knowledge or abilities, or (b) you don’t care.

Either way, you’re not communicating the right message.

The solution is simple. Put your full name in the “From” section of your email. Every time you send an email, the recipient will see your name, making it more likely that they will open and read your message and remember who you are.

Put an email signature at the bottom of your emails. At a minimum, it should have your full name and a link to your web site. If you want, you can also add additional contact information, your practice areas and links to social media accounts.

You can do both of the above on any web based email or email client software.

Also, don’t use your personal email address for business. You wouldn’t invite clients to meet you at your kitchen table, would you? You wouldn’t send them a business letter on your Doctor Who stationery, would you? (Okay, that would be cool.)

Word to the wise: don’t send business emails from flopsie12@aol.com or headbanger42@hotmail.com. Cough up $10 and get your own domain name so you can send a business email from you@yourname.com.

One more thing: Go easy on the disclaimers and CYA language. All that boilerplate lawyer language may protect you (may), but it does nothing to reach out to your reader and connect with him. It does just the opposite.

It says, “I don’t trust you and you shouldn’t trust me. I’m just like all the other lawyers out there, hiding behind this wall of fine print.”

Do what you have to do, but no more than you have to do.

Do you want to earn more and work less? Get The Formula and find out how.

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Filed Under: Communication, Email, Image, Technology

Lawyers, do you need clients? That’s why you don’t get them.

March 11, 2013 by
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Nobody wants to hire an attorney who needs clients. They want an attorney who is extremely busy but willing to make room for one more deserving client.

Busy attorneys are successful. Validated by their busy-ness. They must be good. Look at all the other people who say so.

Attorneys who need clients are not successful. They may be competent, they may deliver great service, they may be everything a client could want in an attorney, but if they need clients, well, they can’t really be good, can they?

To attract good clients you need to be attractive. That’s not something you can fake. This is not about pretending to be busy or letting people think you are important because you had lunch with someone important. Being attractive is not on the outside.

Being attractive means knowing your value. It means loving yourself and your gifts and wanting to share those gifts through your work. It means walking with confidence and an inner peace, trusting completely in the inevitability of your success.

Being attractive means knowing that no matter what your financial situation is right now, you don’t need clients, they need you. You don’t look for clients, you let them find you.

Wanting clients is fine. Needing clients is why you don’t get them.

Marketing means showing people the value you offer. Here’s how.

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Filed Under: Image, Marketing legal services, Personal development, success Tagged With: ,

Marketing your legal services with the right posture

January 21, 2013 by
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Lawyers don’t cold call to sell their services. Aside from the ethical issues it’s bad posture.

You don’t want to chase clients, you want them to chase you, yes?

Last week I saw a posting on a forum where “people with work” and “people who want work” meet. A woman in Los Angeles posted, “I need an attorney to do an ex parte”. (That’s all it said.)

Two attorneys replied. One said, “I am very familiar with many kinds of ex parte motions (reviewed them, as a law clerk, at Los Angeles Superior Court, for 8 years). Feel free to call me for a consultation. xxx-xxx-xxxx.” The second one said, “Can you please call me at xxx-xxx-xxx for details? Maybe I can help! Thanks.”

What’s wrong with this picture?

  1. The “best” clients usually don’t hire lawyers by posting on a job board, and
  2. The “best” lawyers usually don’t get clients by responding to posts on a job board.

But work is work and if a young lawyer can get some business this way, so be it. When I was starting out, I got a few clients (and a whole lot of experience) by volunteering at a legal clinic. Not great posture but my other clients never knew, unlike a job board on the Internet where everyone can see.

The problem is that lawyers who respond to these postings tell the world they need work. Successful lawyers with more business than they can handle would never look at a job board, let alone respond to a posting.

If you want the best clients, you have to have the right posture. People need to see you as busy, successful, and highly sought after. The busier and more successful you appear, the more people want to hire you, yes?

Yes.

They’ll also pay more to have someone like you as their lawyer. That’s a good thing.

Be the pursued, never the pursuer.

But what if you are just starting out and you do need the work? What do you do?

Here’s what I would do: Get someone else to reply to the posting. A friend, a good client, another attorney. Anyone but you.

They say nice things about you, offer a testimonial or otherwise endorse you and your abilities, and recommend that the job poster call you. If they can add something about how busy you are, even better.

Not only does your posture as a successful professional remain intact, it is enhanced because what someone else says about you is always more powerful than what you say about you.

Didn’t your mom tell you it was important to have good posture? I think this is what she was talking about.

For more on creating the right posture, get The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Image, Marketing legal services Tagged With:

Do your clients know your dirty little secrets?

December 17, 2012 by
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Do your clients know the real you? Probably not. They might get nervous if they heard what you think about certain things or they knew what you do when you’re not at work. They might think less of your abilities as an attorney if they knew how much you don’t know. They might not hire you again if they knew how lucky you were the last time you represented them.

We all put on our best faces for our clients, our colleagues, and our neighbors. Everything is great. It couldn’t be better. Yeah, we’re really busy.

We never let them see us sweat.

Kurt Cobain said, “I’d rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.” Does this mean we should all be brutally honest about who we really are? No. Of course not. We’re professionals, not rock stars, and we’d never get away with it.

But then maybe Cobain didn’t get away with it either. If the point of being “who you are” is that you’ll be happier if you do, then clearly, Cobain didn’t get away with it. If he had been happy, he wouldn’t have checked out so early.

So keep up the facade. Don’t post that photo on Facebook (you know the one I mean) and don’t tell people what you really think about them, even when they ask.

We do a lot of pretending as lawyers. It’s part of the job. Our clients want to hire a successful lawyer, not someone who is struggling to figure things out. We must project confidence even if we don’t have a clue about what to do next.

But maybe it would be okay to let people see you cry once in awhile. Or to share your love for show tunes or The Three Stooges. Maybe what you think is embarrassing or inconsistent with the “stone cold” image of an attorney is just the thing that people will love most about you.

And if not, that’s okay. You can be massively successful even when a lot of people don’t like who you really are. Maybe because of it.

If someone thinks I’m a dork because I like The Three Stooges, I don’t let it bother me. I just poke them in the eye.

Are you embarrassed about your marketing? Don’t be. Get help here.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Image, Personal development Tagged With: ,

Another lesson from Apple: how to get clients to pay higher legal fees

October 25, 2012 by
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Yesterday, I wrote about Apple’s pricing strategy with the new iPad Mini. Instead of competing with other tablets for the low end of the tablet market, they’re letting other companies duke it out while they target the more profitable high end. The same is true for their entire product line.

Apple fans are willing to pay more for Apple products (and stand in line to get them) because they believe it’s worth it. They believe they get more value for their dollar.

Style is certainly one aspect. So is functionality. But more than anything, I think what appeals to Apple users is ease of use.

Apple’s slogan, “It just works,” is arguably responsible for converting legions of PC users, frustrated with complicated, buggy, and virus prone machines to the Apple brand. True or not, the impression Apple’s marketing team has created is that with Apple products you won’t have continual crashes or blue screens, and you won’t have to take a class to learn how to use it. You just turn it on and it works.

And that’s exactly what Apple’s customers want.

Well guess what? That’s what your clients want, too. At least the clients you should be targeting. They want to know that when they hire you, you’ll get the job done.

They don’t want complications. They don’t want to know the boring details. They want the peace of mind of knowing that when they hire you, they’ll be in good hands. If you can give this to them, they’ll pay you more than what other attorneys charge.

Now I know many attorneys will cynically argue that their clients are very price conscious and won’t pay a penny more if another attorney will do it for less. And that’s true–THEIR clients are price conscious and won’t pay a penny more. But that’s not true of all clients.

Didn’t the PC world say the same thing about Apple when their prices first became known? “Why would anyone pay double for something just because it’s nicer looking?”

The answer was, and still is, because “it just works.”

You can follow in Apple’s footsteps. Target the higher end of the market for your services. Show them that when they hire you, everything is taken care of for them. They won’t have to worry about getting a bill filled with surprises, or an attorney who doesn’t explain things or return their phone calls. Show them that “you just work” and they’ll pay you more. Because it’s worth it to them.

Learn how to earn more than you ever thought possible. Get The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing, Image, Increase your income, Marketing legal services Tagged With: , , , ,
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