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How to find a good attorney. . . according to an attorney

January 13, 2020 by David M. Ward

If you were looking for a good auto mechanic, podiatrist, accountant, or therapist, you’d want to know what someone in that field recommends about how to find them, wouldn’t you?

That’s why you should write an article that shows people how to find an attorney in your field.

Include your practice area in the title. “How to find a good personal injury attorney. . . according to a personal injury attorney,” for example.

Then, to save time, search online for similar articles or blog posts, and use the information as prompts to write your own. You should see ideas about who to ask for referrals, places to find “candidates,” questions to ask, things to watch out for, and so on.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Who to ask for a referral. (Friends, other professionals they know.) What should they tell the person about their case or situation? What should they ask them about the attorney they recommend?
Should they look at ads or lawyer directories? If so, what they should look for? If not, why not?
What to look for on the candidate attorney’s website. What kind of experience or qualifications? What else they should note (Testimonials, reviews, endorsements; types of clients they represent; cases or issues they emphasize. Are they a certified specialist? Fees and billing, free consultations, etc.)
Where to get more information. (Review sites, Bar website, websites where the attorney has published articles or been interviewed, etc.)
Questions to ask the attorney when they speak to them. What should they look for in their answers?

Include examples and stories from your practice. These make your article more interesting to read and allow readers to see you “in action,” talking to people like them, handling issues similar to their own.

You might talk about the questions a new client asked you, for example, and how you responded.

Valuable insights from an industry insider like these should be easy to get published on websites or blogs that target your market. You can also feature it on your website, turn it into a video, or use it to get interviewed by blogs and podcasts.

You could also turn it into a “free report” and advertise it to build your email list.

People want to know how to find a good attorney (like you). Now’s your chance to tell them.

How to write a report and use it to build your list

Filed Under: List building, Marketing legal services, Writing

Paid content vs. the other kind

November 14, 2019 by David M. Ward

You’ve got content you give away to get leads and build your list. Because it’s free, it may or may not bring you high-quality leads.

But, you’ll take them.

If you get 100 sign-ups this month by giving away a report and only 5 “buy” your services, you could make out like a bandit.

The other option is to offer paid content.

Being a professional doesn’t mean you can’t (or shouldn’t) create seminars or books or other content that people pay for. You may earn some extra income that way (or turn it into a new business as I did), but there’s another reason to do it.

Better leads.

If your content provides value and is targeted to your ideal client, the leads and subscribers you get, while smaller in number, will usually be higher quality.

Which can bring you more clients. Probably better clients. With less effort because your content does most of the “selling” for you.

In my humble (but correct) opinion, you should consider creating both free and paid content. At the very least, publish a short book and use it to get traffic to your website.

On Amazon, you can run free promotions for your paid books, to get your book into more hands and improve the ranking.

Which is what I’m doing over the next few days for my latest book, “How to Sell Your Legal Services in 15 Seconds or Less.”

Starting tomorrow (Friday), for the next few days you can download the ebook at no cost.

You can get it here

It’s a quick read that spells out how to quickly get other people to understand what you do and how you can help them (or their clients). It also helps you find out if they are a candidate for your services and then transition to the next step such as an appointment or phone conversation.

So, check it out.

If you like the book, I’d appreciate your showing me some love and leaving a review. Even a few words help.

“How to Sell Your Legal Services in 15 Seconds or Less.”

Filed Under: List building Tagged With: book writing, content marketing

The best way to build your list

October 29, 2019 by David M. Ward

The simplest way to get more clients and increase your income is to get more people to discover what you do and how you can help them.

In other words, build your list.

That doesn’t mean fill it with names. You want quality. You want people on your list who need your help and have the money to pay you, and you want people who know people like that and can tell them about you.

So, what’s the best way to have them find you?

Referrals. From people like the people you want to attract.

You won’t get as many people joining your list as you might get through advertising or other means. But the people you do get will be higher quality because someone they know, like and trust told them about you.

You’re more than half-way to “the sale” at the moment they join your list.

Okay, how do you make that happen?

The best way is to give people a reason to talk about you.

Give your clients an experience that is “chat-worthy,” that is, so good they want to tell people about you.

When you do that, you’ll get more referrals.

You’ll also get more people visiting your website or following you on social or coming to your seminars, to find out more about what you do and how you can help them.

What else?

Create a report, a checklist, a set of forms, or something else the people you want on your list would like to have. Make it something good and valuable, something that can solve a problem or help them achieve an objective.

Then, tell people where to get it.

One of the best (and easiest) places to tell people about your free report or other offer is your existing list.

Tell your social media connections, your networking contacts, the people who read your blog, and your newsletter subscribers about it and encourage them to tell others.

Case in point, my free report, “Marketing for Lawyers who Hate Marketing” is now available on my website. It shows lawyers how to build their practice without networking, blogging or social media.

If you know any lawyers who would like a copy, tell them about the report and my newsletter.

More ways to build your (email) list

Filed Under: List building

5 Ways to Grow Your List

October 7, 2019 by David M. Ward

If your marketing has gotten complicated and you find yourself doing less and hating it more, it might be time to get back to basics.

Here goes:

One of your most important marketing tasks is to continually build your list of prospective clients and professional contacts. This is essential because of attrition. The list you had yesterday won’t be big enough or “ready” enough tomorrow.

You know there are many ways to build your list and, no doubt, you’ve used some of them in the past.

The question is, what are you doing now?

In case you aren’t doing much (or anything) right now and you want a place to start or re-start (or expand) your list building activities, here are 5 simple but effective options to consider.

Networking

You connect with people (prospective clients, referral sources, centers of influence) in your target market, find out what they want and how you can help them, and build a relationship with them, leading to engagements, referrals, and joint venture marketing activities.

Social media

This is “networking” done online.

You find groups of people in your target market, learn about the groups and the people in them, introduce yourself, and then take your “conversations” offline, e.g., phone, meet for coffee.

And/or, you can offer a free report or another lead magnet to people in the group and send them to your web page to opt-in to your list.

Advertising

If you have more money than time, advertising is a great way to scale up your list building and lead generation. There are many ways to do it and many experts who can advise you and help you set up and run your campaigns.

Media exposure

Find podcasts, blogs, and publications in your target market and get yourself interviewed. You can also submit articles and guest posts and comment on existing posts and articles.

Leverage existing contacts

This is the easiest and a great place to start. Ask the people who are already on your list to share your content, invite their friends or colleagues to your webinar or event, check out the content on your blog, or subscribe to your video channel or podcast.

So, there you go. A few places to start (or re-start) your list building.

Of course, having a list doesn’t mean you’re done. You need to stay in touch with the people on your list.

I recommend email.

Filed Under: List building

“New arrivals” might be great prospects for your services

November 21, 2017 by David M. Ward

For obvious reasons, many real estate agents target new arrivals in town, both homeowners and businesses. You might want to do the same.

When someone moves to your city, there’s a good chance they don’t yet have an attorney. If you are first attorney to “greet” them, when they are ready to hire an attorney, you’ll be first in line.

If you handle real estate, family law, estate planning, or immigration, or you represent small businesses, new arrivals are a natural target market.

One way to get your name in front of them to is to create a booklet, guide, or checklist specifically for them. Your guide might provide a list of names and contact information for vendors and government agencies they need to notify of their new address:

Banks, PayPal, credit card companies
DMV, registrar of voters, TSA Pre
Federal, state, local taxing authorities
Insurance: health, renters/homeowners, auto, etc.
Online retailers, subscriptions, home deliveries, shippers
WHOIS (domain names), hosting, email providers

A checklist like this, provided “compliments of” your firm, will make a favorable first impression and provide prospects with an easy way to contact you to get more information.

Make sure you include another offer in your guide, for a report related to your practice area, available for download at your website. This will help you build an email list so you can stay in touch with the new arrivals.

You can advertise your guide or mail it. You can also provide free copies to local merchants, especially real estate agents, moving companies, builders, decorators, and so on, who can provide them to their customers and clients.

New arrivals also need other services–insurance agents, an accountant, landscapers, painters, and so on. You can offset some (or all) of your printing costs by including small ads in your booklet from these local merchants and service providers. Your advertisers may pass out copies of your booklet to their customers and clients.

This is a simple idea that you could put together in a couple of hours. It could bring you a lot of new business. It will also allow you to meet other professionals and business owners in town, giving you an opportunity to show them how you can help them and their clients or customers.

Marketing is simple when you know the formula

Filed Under: List building, Marketing legal services

Live, from your office. . .

October 2, 2017 by David M. Ward

The other day I recommended not relying solely on live presentations but to record them so they can go to work for you 24/7.

It’s leverage. Do it once, use it over and over again.

But don’t stop doing live presentations.

I don’t just mean “live and in person”. I mean live online. Podcasts, hangouts, chats, webinars, and so on, that are presented in real time. There’s magic in something done live.

When you promote a recorded video, it’s harder to create a sense of urgency. You can say, “This will only be available until. . .” but you then lose the ability to get eyeballs on an ongoing basis. If you leave it up all the time, many people say, “I’ll catch it later,” but we all know that later often never comes.

When you do it live, however, you can promote it as a special event because it is special. You can say, or more likely imply “Never before and never again,” has this been done, creating an even bigger sense of urgency.

When it’s live, you can say, “Join me” or “Ask me anything” and thus provide more value and build a closer relationship with your followers. Or you can promote it by saying you’re presenting some new or timely information that shouldn’t be missed.

One of the biggest draws of a live event is that nobody knows what will happen. What will be said, what will be asked, what information will be shared for the first time? And let’s face it, one reason people watch live events is that they know it could be a train wreck and they want to see that.

One way to make your live events have more train-wreck potential is to have someone else speak with you. If you have a co-presenter, a panel discussion, you interview someone or have someone interview you, the likelihood of something noteworthy or cringeworthy happening is even greater. (You’ll also get the other speakers’ followers to tune in.)

Do some live events and watch your subscriber numbers and engagement soar. Of course, you should also record these events so you can use them again or make them available 24/7. But you might not want to mention that you’re recording it when you promote it for the first time.

Let your website do the heavy lifting: Marketing online for attorneys

Filed Under: Blogging, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Presentations, Seminars and webinars

Are you making this expensive advertising mistake?

June 22, 2017 by David M. Ward

The other day I heard a radio commercial for a real estate broker. The show’s host said he’s the only broker he recommends and provided examples of some of the great results the broker has obtained for his clients.

The commercial ended with the host telling the audience to call the broker, provided the phone number, and repeated it.

The broker sounds like a real player, someone you should talk to if you’re thinking of buying or selling. But there was something missing. Something that could help this broker massively increase his income.

It’s a common advertising mistake. Sad because it is so easy to fix.

Here’s what I’m talking about.

There are three categories of people who hear this ad. The first category is the smallest but provides the most immediate revenue: people who like what they hear, pick up the phone and call.

The second category is the largest: people who will never call. They don’t own property, aren’t planning to buy property, have a brother in the business, and so on.

They’re not prospects.

The third category isn’t as big as the first category (those who call) but offers the most long-term profit potential. It consists of all of the people who were interested but didn’t call.

They didn’t have time to call. They’re not yet ready to buy or sell. They want more information. They don’t want to talk to someone who will try to get them to make an appointment.

Lots of good meat left on dem bones.

At some point, many people in the third group will be ready to call. Unfortunately, they won’t remember the broker’s name and will call the next broker who comes along.

The solution is simple.

Tell listeners to call OR visit your website.

At the website, they get tips about buying and selling, information about the market, hear more success stories, learn more about your greatness, and generally sell themselves on making that call.

If they’re still not ready, perhaps they will download your special report or planning guide, giving you their email and allowing you to stay in touch with them until they are ready to call.

Some won’t ever call (for a variety of reasons) but will tell their son or daughter, friend or neighbor, about you, and they will call.

Mr. Broker, by not giving listeners another option besides “call now,” you’re leaving a boatload of money on the digital table. Yes, you can continue running ads and appeal to people who are ready to call, but why not also begin a conversation with the ones who aren’t yet ready?

If there’s enough of them on your list, you may never have to run ads again.

Let your website do most of the marketing for you. Here’s how

Filed Under: Advertising, List building, Online Marketing

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