Legal industry Archives - Page 2 of 7 - The Attorney Marketing Center

You don’t dress like a lawyer–does it matter?

January 26, 2016 by David M. Ward

So Mark Zuckerberg wears the same t-shirts and hoodies every day. Same color, too. He says it’s easier that way because he doesn’t have to take any time deciding what to wear. I admire his efficiency but why not wear a blue suit, white shirt, and red necktie every day?

Why dress like a teenager who doesn’t care about how he looks or what people think? Why not hire someone to choose his clothing for him?

Because he’s a billionaire and he can do whatever he wants. Because he owns the stock and nobody refuses to do business with him. And because he’s in tech, not law.

Yeah, he’s in an industry where dressing casually and being quirky is cool and dressing in traditional business attire isn’t. If you’re a billionaire you can do the same thing. Otherwise, you probably need to dress like a lawyer.

Your client’s expect you to “look the part”. If you don’t, if you vary from their image of what a lawyer is “supposed” to look like, they get nervous and may doubt you and your abilities. I’m not saying it’s right, but that’s the way it is.

So men, you need the suit and tie. Women need to wear appropriate business attire.

Lawyers shouldn’t have tattoos showing. Men shouldn’t wear earrings. Or long hair. Or purple hair. Women can wear earrings and have long hair but not purple hair.

What if you handle entertainment law? That’s different isn’t it? Maybe. You can probably get away with dressing casually but you won’t be laughed at if you dress like a lawyer. (I wonder what Zuckerberg’s lawyers wear?)

Yes there are exceptions. An office in Beverly Hills is different than an office in Omaha. Seeing a long time client on a Saturday is different than meeting a prospective client on Monday morning.

But you get my point. Optics are important.

We see politicians on the campaign trail today and many of the men remove their neckties and wear blue jeans. I’m sure it’s because they want to look like a regular guy. That’s okay if they’re at a picnic or riding a tractor; otherwise, I think they need to look the part they are auditioning for (even if they’re not a lawyer).

Yes, I know it’s not the 1950s. And yes, I’m old fashioned. But so are voters. And clients. And judges. And other lawyers who might not send you referrals if you wear gray t-shirts and hoodies every day.

Get more referrals from lawyers and other professionals. Here’s how

Filed Under: Client relations, Image, Legal industry, Referrals

Your clients think you’re getting rich at their expense

December 30, 2015 by David M. Ward

Your clients have no idea how expensive it is to run a law practice. Is it any wonder thatÂ some clients shake their heads at $400 an hour? Can you understand why a $10,000 retainer might be incomprehensible to someone who earns $40,000 a year?

How do we get clients to understand that we’re not getting rich at their expense?

ShouldÂ youÂ tell yourÂ clients how much youÂ actually earn? No. It’s none of their business.

Besides, you want your clients to thinkÂ that you earn a very good living. Â Nobody wants to hire a lawyer who isÂ struggling to pay their rent.

But perhaps you could help your clients to understand that running a law practice is expensive, and that what you bill out in no way approximates what you take home.

One way to do that would be to take new clients on a tour of your office. Show them how many desks and chairs there are. Show them your conference room and library. Point out the computers and copy machines and other equipment. Introduce the people who work for you and describe their function.

You might also want to explain, perhaps in a letter in their “new client welcome kit,” what you and your staff will be doing for them. You might point out that at any one time, there are at least three peopleÂ working on their case. You could also provide a soup-to-nuts description of the major steps you take to do what you do.

Let them know how you investigate a case, conduct research, prepare pleadings and motions and discovery, and get ready for trial. Mention something about the costs you incur on a typical case.Â If your work is handled on contingency, remind them that while you are good at what you do and selective aboutÂ the cases you accept, there is no guarantee that you will win every case and if you don’t, you will get paid nothing.

In your newsletter, talk aboutÂ the things you do to hold down costs. Talk about how the forms and templates you have developed over the years allow you to save your clients money, for example. Let them see that while you don’t cut corners, you don’t spend money unnecessarily.

At the same time, unless your clients are wealthy, don’t talkÂ about your new Mercedes, your lavish vacation, or expensive new toys. Don’t “dress down” — you’re expected to do well — but don’t give clients cause to believe that you are indeed getting rich at their expense.

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Client loyalty, Client relations, Law office management, Legal industry

Lawyers make the worst clients

August 14, 2015 by David M. Ward

Just as most doctors will tell you that doctors make the worst patients, I think most lawyers would say the same thing about our species.

It’s because we know how things are supposed to work. And it’s because of ego. We’re not comfortable letting someone else call the shots.

And soÂ we routinely handle our own legal affairs, often to our detriment. Nowhere is this detriment more apparent than when we have a dispute with another lawyer.

A lawyer friend contacted me the other day and told me about one of his clients, another lawyer, who has become the proverbial clientÂ from hell.

She isn’t happy with anything and blames him for things outside of his control. She wants what she wants and steadfastly refuses to compromise, despite his many attempts to accommodate her. At first, he wanted to save the client. Now, he just wants to save himself.

How bad is it? She’s reported him for imagined ethical violations and is threatening to file a criminal complaint.

As I say, the client from hell.

He asked for my take on it. Naturally, I suggested he turn it over to another lawyer. Not just because of the ethical and criminal risks, but because the whole thing is making him miserable.

“You’re too close to the situation and she will continue to push your buttons,” I said.

If he’s lucky, she will get a lawyer, too. Then the two lawyers can negotiate without the animus or emotion that has gripped this situation. It will cost him, but can you put a price on your sanity?

I’ve met lawyers who swear they will never again have a lawyer for a client. What say you? Have you represented any lawyers who made you wish you hadn’t?

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Law office management, Legal industry

If The Three Stooges managed your law firm

July 2, 2015 by David M. Ward

“Moe, Larry the Cheese!”

If that puts a smile on your face and brings back memories of your silliness-obsessed youth, welcome to my world. If you don’t get the reference, I’ll meet you in Niagara Falls.

I confess, as a kid, I loved The Three Stooges. What can I say, they made me laugh. They still do. I might just watch me some Stooges on YouTube after I finish this.

My wife doesn’t share this opinion, although she did see the Stooges movie that came out a few years ago and didn’t hate it. I think very few woman like The Stooges, and that’s okay. I’m not crazy about shoes.

Anyway, I’ve written before about what might happen if your Mom managed your law firm, and if my cat was in charge, and a few other critters, and I got to thinking, what would it be like if The Stooges managed your firm.

For starters, you’d have to increase the amount of liability insurance you carry, because God knows something is going to happen to one of your clients who runs late or doesn’t want to pay their bill. You also need a first aid kit in every lawyer’s office.

But despite their penchant for hitting and falling down and putting heads in a vise, you’ve got to admit that The Boys were hard workers. They might not have been very good at hanging wall paper or fixing the plumbing in the upstairs bathroom, but this wasn’t for lack of effort.

They wanted to please the boss. The customer was always right. Service with a smile, yessir.

So if they were in charge of your firm, they would insist that you put your clients first. Unless they were bad. If they are bad, all bets are off. The bad guys always get clobbered.

More than anything, if The Stooges ran your firm, every day would be an adventure. You would never know what might happen, you just know that before the day is out, someone will have their face slapped and their eyes gouged, and someone will be laughing.

And that’s my point.

There isn’t enough laughter in the law business. It’s much too serious.

Yeah, we deal with serious matters, and no, you can’t go telling your clients jokes all the time, but can we all lighten up a bit and have some fun?

You don’t agree? Pick two.

Filed Under: Just for fun, Law office management, Legal industry

Marketing metrics for attorneys

June 3, 2015 by David M. Ward

When it comes to marketing, I don’t obsess over the numbers. But I don’t ignore them, either. Neither should you.

Tracking numbers allows you to see trends in the growth of your practice. If you’re not growing, you’re dying.

Tracking also allows you to test new ideas and make better decisions about where to spend your time and money. If something isn’t working, you can take steps to fix it. Or abandon it in favor of something else. If something is working, you can look for ways to make it work better.

Every practice is different, of course, but here are the types of marketing metricsÂ you should consider tracking:

Traffic to your website(s)–unique visitors, page views, bounce rate,
Traffic sources (social, search, keywords, page referrers)
Email subscribers-new, total
Leads–inquiries, requests for consultation, questions
New clients (quantity, fees, source)
Source of new clients (ads, referrals, website, individuals)
Revenue–first time clients, repeat clients, total
Revenue–compared to previous month/quarter/year
Revenue per practice area, service
Expenses–overhead, variable (e.g., advertising, etc.)
Net profit (after draw)
Retention–how many clients return/hire you for something else
Referrals–quantity, source (from clients, from lawyers, from others)

Some things you track daily. Some weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Some you look at once in awhile.

You probably don’t need to track all of these. You also don’t need to get into the minutia of things like open rates and click through rates. I know I don’t.

I mostly pay attention to two things: the number of new subscribers to my email list and monthly revenue. As long as both are growing, I know I’m doing okay.

How about you? Which of these metricsÂ do you track? What else do you track and why?

Marketing online for attorneys: go here

Filed Under: Law office management, Legal industry, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing

Why people don’t trust lawyers

June 1, 2015 by David M. Ward

Why is it that so many people don’t trust lawyers? Unless they’ve been burned by a lawyer before, or know someone who has, I think it comes down to how we are portrayed in the media, movies, and TV. And let’s not forgetÂ all of thoseÂ lawyer jokes.

And yet I think most people who meet us for the first time are willing to give us the benefit of the doubt. They will assume that we can be trusted, because it’s too difficult to assume that we cannot. They come to us with a problem and they want to believe that they can trust us to help them.

But their trust can evaporate in an instant.

The smallestÂ misstep can trip us up. A little white lie, missing a deadline by a day or two, a bill that comes in for a few dollarsÂ more than expected.

For many clients, one screw up, one broken promise, or even one exaggeration is all it takes.

I thought about this over the weekend when I was looking at a book on Amazon. A five-star review said something like, ” . . .although it took some time to read. . .” and then praised the book. But the book was only 26 pages. Seeing that, I knew the review was phony. The author had purchased the review.

That’s cheating. And against Amazon’s terms of service. If the author did that, what else is he dishonest about? Why should I trust his information or advice?

So I didn’t “buy” the book, even though it was free.

One strike and he was out.

Learn how to build trust

Filed Under: Image, Legal industry, Personal development Tagged With: building trust

Career day for fourth graders

May 12, 2015 by David M. Ward

Did you attend your child’s third or fourth grade class for career day? Do you remember explaining what a lawyer does and making it as interesting as possible? Tough to do when you’re competing with Joey’s dad who is a professional magician, but you did it.

You explained what you did, who you helped, and why it is important. You helped some future lawyers see that being a lawyer is cool.

If you had to do it again (or for the first time), what would you say?

Think it through and write it down, or record it. This is a valuable exercise, even if you don’t have any kids.

It can help you explain what you do to prospective clients and referral sources. It can also help you create content for your website, articles, and presentations.

You don’t necessarily have to write at a fourth grade level, but keep it simple enough that your ideal clients can follow.

Here are some ideas to prime your mental pump:

What kinds of clients do you represent? What kinds of problems do you handle? Give some examples of real clients you have helped.
What’s the first thing you do when a new client comes to you? What do you do after that?
Do you charge by the hour? Flat fees? Why? How is this better for your clients?
Why did you become a lawyer? What do you want to accomplish in your career? Do you have any role models?
What’s the best way to find a good lawyer in your field? What questions should someone ask?
What’s the hardest part of your job? What’s the worst case or client you have had?
What are you most proud of about your work? What do you like best about what you do?
How is your practice different from others in your field? What do you do that other lawyersÂ don’t do, or what do you do better?
Who would make a good referral for you? If someone knows someone like that, what should they do to refer them?
What questions do prospective clients and new clients typically ask you? How do you answer them?

Take one of these and write a few paragraphs. It won’t take you more than a few minutes and you can start using it immediately. And, if you run into a fourth grade class and are asked to speak, you’ll be ready.

Filed Under: Communication, Inspiration, Legal industry, Marketing legal services, Networking, Online Marketing, Public Speaking, Referrals

The biggest mistake lawyers make with online marketing

March 10, 2015 by David M. Ward

Last week I referencedÂ an article about “lethal mistakes” lawyers make with their online marketing. I agreed with some of the mistakes, disagreed with some, and was mystified by the absence of others.

I asked what you thought was missing, and by your responses, you showed me that you are paying attention.

Your list of mistakes included things like

The absence of fresh content
Too much about “the firm” and not enough about the client/visitor and his problems
Â No call to action (telling visitors what to do)
Too impersonal, formal, unapproachable

Correctamundo.

You get it.

Why weren’t these in the article?

I don’t know.

Anyway, before I reveal to you the number one lethal mistake lawyers make with their website, I want to mention another article about lawyers’ websites that providedÂ some alarming, but not surprising, statistics:

According to this article

Nearly 40% of small law firms don’t have websites
70% don’t have a call to action on their home page
97% of law firm websites fail to deliver any kind of personalized content
Only 35% have been updated in the last three years
68% don’t have an email address on their home page [see my comments below]
27% don’t have a phone number on their home page
Only one-third are optimized for mobile devices

The last issue is especially noteworthy in view of Google’s recent announcement about penalizing sites that aren’t mobile friendly.

The article also saidÂ that “only 14% of law firms send a triggered email to a visitor who submits a form online”. That number is skewed, I am sure, because most law firm sites don’t even have a form that allows visitors to email them.

Your site needs a contact form, so visitors who aren’t ready to call you can communicate with you by email. Posting your email is good, but using a form is better. It makes it easier for visitors to contact you, and that means more will (and that’s a good thing, yo.). A form can also reduce spam and allow you to direct visitors to supply information you will need when you reply.

That form should send an automated reply so peopleÂ will immediately know “message received” and what will happen next. Without this, visitors are likely to keep looking.

Okay, now for the biggest mistake.

Your emails to me mentioned it. So you know it’s important. I’m not sure if you realize how important, however.

The biggest mistake is not having a form for visitors toÂ subscribe to your email list or newsletter.

You need a form and you need to tell peopleÂ to subscribe. Tell them on every page. And give them reasons why they should. Tell them how they will benefit by filling out your form. What will they get, learn, or avoid?

Why is it so important to get people to subscribe? Because most people who visit your website for the first time

(a) aren’t ready to hire you,
(b) aren’t ready to contact youÂ to ask questions or schedule an appointment, and
(c) aren’t likely to return to yourÂ website.

First time visitors are gathering information, about the law and procedure and their options, and about lawyers who can help them.

News flash: yours isn’t the only website they visit.

If you don’t capture their name and email on the first visit, and use that to stay in touch with them, the odds are you will never hear from them again.

Which means you’re losing business. A lot more than you may realize.

When visitors subscribe to your email list, you can continue to send them information, remind them about the solutions you offer, and show them why they should choose you instead of any other lawyer. You can continue to sell yourself and your services.

Six days, six weeks, or six months from now, you can continue having that conversation and convert more people into paying clients.

Even if they’re not ready to hire you, even if they never hire you, they can send you referrals and traffic and promote your events and share your content and help you build your email list further.

But none of that will occur if you don’t know who they are.

Without a list, you can’t stay in touch with visitors, earn their trust, seek their feedback, ask for their testimonials, invite them to your seminars, tell them about updates to your site, or do anything else to build a relationship with them.

And that’s why building a list is numero uno.

Your website’s content is critically important. But if that’s all you focus on, you’re asking your site to do too much.

You could take away my blog, my social media accounts, remove any mention of me from search engines, and cancel anything else I do to promote my products and services, and I would surviveÂ because I would still have my list.

Building a list is the most important thing a lawyer can do to market their practice, and most lawyers don’t do it.

Learn how to build your list and market your practice online.

Filed Under: Email, Legal industry, List building, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Web traffic

Tazing clients for fun and profit

March 9, 2015 by David M. Ward

Let’s face it, you’re boring. Predictable. Normal. And forgettable. Just like most lawyers.

Yes, people trust you, because they see you as a reliable and stable professional, but that strength, from a marketing standpoint, canÂ also be a weakness.

You don’t want to look and sound like every other lawyer. You want to stand out.

Where’s the flair? The panache? The spark of originality?

Actor and comedian Jonah Hill said, “It’s always better to shock people and change people’s expectations than to give them exactly what they think you can do.”

And he’s right.

That doesn’t mean you should be reckless. Or weird. Just a little different. Maybe not always, but at least once in awhile.

Do something people would never expect you to do. Something small, but significant.

Surprise your clients with a gift. Invite them to your first stand up comedy gig. Write a poem and post it on your website.

Pass out a box of Good N’ Plenty with your business card. Come up with a memorable slogan.

Show your fun side. Be unpredictable. A little shocking.

You want people to notice you and remember you and talk about you, so give them something to talk about.

Of course you want to be known more for your legal talents than your whimsy. But before you can dazzle anyone with your brilliance, you have to get their attention.

So, how will you shock your clients today?

Filed Under: Client relations, Legal industry, Marketing legal services

Fake lawyers stealing your name and reputation

February 25, 2015 by David M. Ward

In the “oh my, that’s not good” department comes this report about fake lawyers who put up websites pretending to be real lawyers. They copy the real lawyers’ names, photos, bios, and other information, but change the contact information.

Presumably, the goal is to bring in clients and steal their money, or set up fraudulent cases and rip off insurance companies with “you” as the attorney.

Don’t laugh. It happened to me.

This was many years ago, in the dark days before the Internet. I got a call from a fraud investigator who wanted to talk to me about one of my cases. I didn’t recognize the name of the client, however, and had never had an office at the address on the letter of representation.

How long had this been going on? How many other clients had this impostor represented in my name?

The fake lawyer was quickly caught and shut downÂ and that was the end of the situation, but it was still very unsettling.

What I could to prevent this from happening again, I asked myself. I couldn’t come up with anything. ButÂ (as far as I know) it never happened again.

Today, where you can set up a website in ten minutes and get it indexed in search engines within hours, what’s to keep bad guys from impersonating you?

Nothing.

They may not get away with it, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try.

How can you protect yourself?Â I don’t have a good answer, other than constant vigilance, i.e., regularly searching your name and your firm’s name to see what’s out there, something you should probably be doing anyway.

And, just in case, you might want to ask your errors and omissions carrier and bar association about Â your exposure if it does happen.

If it does happen to you, take a look at how the fake lawyers are marketing you. If they’re good at it, you might want to steal some of their ideas.

Filed Under: Law office management, Legal industry