Marketing legal services Archives - The Attorney Marketing Center

If you don’t like marketing, don’t do it

January 21, 2025 by David M. Ward

Maybe you don’t like marketing. You find it frustrating, expensive, or a waste of time.

Maybe you don’t like social media, networking, or advertising.

It’s not right for your practice or you’re not good at any of it.

Stop doing it. There are other ways to bring in business.

WORD OF MOUTH

You can bring in business by inspiring your clients and business contacts to talk about you, and by getting people in your market to notice you and do the same.

Start by treating your clients better than any lawyer has done. Let them see how much you love what you do and love helping your clients. As you surprise and delight them, they will naturally tell others about you.

You can also stimulate word of mouth by sponsoring charities, volunteering for committees, and supporting causes you care about.

People notice you, ask what you do, and want to know more.

CONTENT

Do more interviews (blogs, podcasts, radio).

Write more articles, blog posts, or books.

Create reports, videos or audios, and make them available to your market.

REFERRALS

Equip your clients, prospects, and business contacts with handouts, success stories, and information about your practice area. They’ll see you as an expert in your field and refer clients to you (or hire you themself).

Stay in touch with everyone you know via a newsletter or blog.

Meet new people via informal networking, e.g., getting involved with groups and interests you like and when people ask what you do, tell them.

In short, stop doing marketing you hate and start growing your practice in ways that feel authentic and natural.

Filed Under: Marketing legal services

The simplest way to improve your marketing

January 16, 2025 by David M. Ward

There’s a simple way to get more people to read what you write, listen to and engage with your message, and contact you to learn more.

But most lawyers don’t do it. Or do it enough.

Most lawyers do a good job of presenting facts and logic, and that’s certainly important, but you can’t rely on the left side of a reader’s brain when you want to persuade them to do something. For that, you want to stimulate the right side of their brain, i.e., their emotions.

The best way to do this is to tell stories.

Tell them about someone they can relate to and what happened to them. A client, a friend, someone you heard about, or even yourself. Tell them in your articles, blog posts, emails, and presentations. Tell them when you’re talking to them on the phone or in your office.

If you want bring in more clients and keep your clients coming back, if you want your clients talking about what you do to their friends or business contacts, include stories in everything you write or say.

Stories dramatize the facts and make readers feel the fear or other emotions of your “characters”.

Facts tell but stories sell.

Besides making the logical case for hiring you or following your advice, tell your reader or listener about people who did or didn’t follow that advice.

The best stories involve people who are “like” your audience, with a similar background or circumstances. You want clients and prospect to see that the people in your stories are “just like them”.

Stories don’t need to be lengthy. A brief anecdote or mention is often enough. Neither do stories need to be overly dramatic. You can use irony or satire or a bit of fun to make your case.

Clients and prospects often want to do what you’re telling them and are just looking for an excuse to do it. A simple story with a happy ending is often enough to give them that excuse.

Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Salesmanship, Writing

The fortune is in the follow-up

January 14, 2025 by David M. Ward

Some attorneys are terrible about returning phone calls and replying to emails.

Don’t be like them.

Clients hate “not knowing” if you received their message and if you (or someone on your behalf) will reply. When they don’t hear from you, it makes it look like you don’t care about them—so why should they care about you? Or continue to hire you.

You should have a standard policy of returning calls and replying to emails within one business day, or to at least confirm receipt of their message and tell them when you will reply.

Be as specific as possible without promising more than you can deliver. Make it a pledge. Put it in writing. Put it on your website. Put it in your “new client” kit.

And apologize if you occasionally mess up.

I’m guessing you already do this to some extent. Your clients know they can count on you, which is one reason they stay with you and refer others to you.

So work on memorializing and improving your follow-up policies. Keep your clients well-fed.

That’s not all. You should also have a policy for replying to prospective clients who contact you.

Ad leads, referrals, website inquiries, networking contacts—timely follow-up is arguably even more critical.

Why? Because you know your existing clients will probably forgive you if you don’t return their calls immediately. You can’t expect the same from prospective clients.

They’ll just call someone else.

So, you need a plan.

What to do when a prospective client calls and has questions. What you will say, what you will send them, what you will do after the initial call or email, and when.

Especially when. Because the clock is ticking.

Map out a series of follow-ups—when you will call again, what you will say, what you will offer.

And when you will follow-up after that.

Don’t leave it up to the prospective clients. It’s up to you to call again, and don’t stop calling, until they hire you or tell you to stop.

Because the fortune, your fortune, is in the follow-up.

Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Marketing legal services

The power of risk reversal

January 9, 2025 by David M. Ward

In the 1980s, a lawyer friend and I started a real estate seminar business. We took out full-page ads and invited people to come to our office in the evening to hear about buying real estate with “no money down,” something my partner had had extraordinary success doing.

We charged $150 for the initial seminar, and at the end, invited attendees to sign up for our primary program, which required an investment of several thousand dollars.

This was during the real estate seminar boom, and we did extremely well.

One key to our success was offering a 100% money-back guarantee. At the end of the initial presentation, if they didn’t feel what we taught them was worth the cost, all they had to do was tell us they weren’t happy and we would refund the fee.

We had thousands of attendees and only a handful asked for their money back.

We also offered a guarantee on the primary program. If they did what we taught them to do to find properties and didn’t earn a profit of more than they paid for the program, we would likewise refund their investment.

Only one or two clients requested a refund.

The business worked because we were good at what we did and made things “risk-free” for our clients. They were satisfied or they paid nothing.

You might offer something similar in your law practice.

You might “guarantee” the first hour or two, or the initial document you prepare. Your clients are happy with your advice or your work or they pay nothing.

When prospective clients see you stand behind your work and there is no risk to them, when clients know they can hire you with total peace of mind, your bold and unique promise is likely to attract many clients who might otherwise hesitate to hire you.

Clearly, risk reversal won’t work for every law practice but it might be worth considering for yours.

Filed Under: Fees and Billing, Law office management, Marketing legal services

Which type of legal marketing has the highest ROI?

December 17, 2024 by David M. Ward

It’s not what you’re thinking. It’s not advertising, networking, social media, blogging, or speaking. It’s not even referrals, although that’s a big part of it.

Many lawyers don’t think of it as marketing, but it is. The smartest and most profitable kind of marketing a lawyer can do.

And here it is in a nutshell:

Give your clients more value than they pay for and expect.

Don’t roll your eyes. . .

Yes, it takes times and energy to do this. You’re giving away what might otherwise be billable hours, your knowledge and advice.

So there is a cost. But if you do it right, it’s not an expense, it’s an investment. With an astronomical return.

When you give clients more than they expect, they fall in love with you. As a result

You increase client retention. Clients aren’t tempted to hire another lawyer or firm, even if that lawyer or firm has significantly lower fees. This means the lifetime value of your clients is much higher than what most lawyers get. They are relatively immune to leaving and this is true no matter what the state of the general economy or your clients’ industry or local market.
Higher retention means you get more repeat business. It also means your clients are likely to give you more of their legal work, not just some of it.
Stronger client relationships mean you can charge fees commensurate with the higher value you deliver.
You also get more referrals from your clients and their business contacts to “repay” you for all the added value you deliver.
You develop a reputation for proving excellent service and, through word-of-mouth, attract better clients who hear about you. You also attract bigger cases and more business opportunities.
Your reputation allows you to attract more professionals and business contacts who want to work with you.
Your enhanced reputation makes your other marketing easier, more effective, and more profitable. Overall, you have lower marketing costs, better results, and higher profits for you.

Surprise and delight your clients. They’ll be happier and so will you.

Filed Under: Marketing legal services

You don’t need to be a brilliant lawyer to be brilliantly successful

December 12, 2024 by David M. Ward

Average is good enough.

If you’re reasonably competent, deliver value to your clients, and you’re not an asshat, that’s all you need to bring in a steady stream of clients and make a great living.

Well, almost.

You also need to be good at marketing.

Look at your competition. What do you see? I’ll tell you what you see. You see average lawyers with excellent marketing beating excellent lawyers with average marketing.

Your marketing doesn’t have to be amazing. You don’t have to write a lot of big checks. But it needs to get a lot of things right.

Your marketing needs to

Get the right prospective clients to find you
Get them to view your website and read your marketing materials
Get them to understand what you can do for them, and why you are the right lawyer to choose
Get them to contact you
Get them to meet with you
Get them to hire you
Get them to pay you in full and on time
Get them to hire you again (and again)
Get them to send you referrals
Get them to give you an excellent rating or review

It’s all about marketing.

So, in the upcoming year, do yourself a favor and pay more attention to your marketing.

Here’s a good place to start

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, success

Sell your legal services in 60 seconds!

October 15, 2024 by David M. Ward

The world is awash in ads that sell products or services in 30 to 60 seconds.

Why can’t you do the same?

Why can’t you explain what you do and why someone should hire you in just one minute? In a TV or radio ad, on a web page, in a presentation, or face-to-face?

You can do that by sharing one to three benefits—the problem(s) you solve, the solutions you offer, and why the reader or listener should choose you as their attorney.

Yes, the person who hears your message will want more information. They’ll have questions, they may want to do so some research about their issue or about you, and you will almost always have to accommodate them.

But first, you need to get their attention and stimulate interest in learning more, and you can do that with a well-crafted 60-second commercial.

Not a paid ad, necessarily. You can do this with a conversation where you tell a prospect client (or someone who can refer them) WHY they should talk to you, go to your website, read your handout, or come to your seminar.

Start by making notes about the problems you solve, the services and benefits you offer and why a prospect should take the next step to learn more.

And pay attention to ads and presentations and web pages you see, to see how others do it and especially how they get your attention.

Then, talk to a marketing or advertising professional, see what they offer, and consider asking them to put together a “test” campaign for you.

If you’ve done your homework, you’ll have a good idea of what you want from them, and what you might be able to do yourself.

Filed Under: Advertising, Copywriting, Marketing legal services

Do you need a brochure to market your legal services?

October 3, 2024 by David M. Ward

A brochure looks nice. Just like having a nice office, nice furniture, and a nice suit.

At a glance, a prospective client or fellow professional can see you are no slouch. You’re successful.

You need a brochure, right?

It can’t hurt. But a brochure isn’t necessary. Your website can accomplish the same thing, but do it better.

Your website can tell people all about what you do, your background and story, your successful cases and big-name clients, share your victories, tell people how you work, and tell people what others say about you.

Your website doesn’t need to be fancy. Or expensive. A simple “off-the-shelf” template will do.

You can add as much information as you want whenever you want. If there’s something you need to change or fix, you can do it in minutes.

You can include information that helps people understand their problem and what to do about it. You can add a blog or articles, forms and checklists, and other goodies to help visitors understand their situation and why they should choose you to help them.

A brochure tells people what you do. A website proves you can do it.

Yes, there may be times when you want to have something you can hand out at a meeting or put in the mail. Something brochure-like, like the big kids have.

You can do that. Full-color brochures are impressive. Get some if you want to.

Or put your website address on your business card and call it a day.

Filed Under: Image, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing

Sell me your services

September 23, 2024 by David M. Ward

You’ve probably seen videos demonstrating the value of sales skills by asking a volunteer to “Sell Me This Pen”. The idea is, if they can sell something as unexciting as a pen, they can sell anything. Sometimes with a single 30 or 60 second commercial.

In fact, it’s even possible to do that selling legal services.

Even though buying legal services is more complicated than buying a pen, the principle is the same. Tell prospective clients how you can help them solve their problem or achieve their goal, tell them how they will be better off, invite them to get more information, and you’ll have a powerful, persuasive sales tools that can bring your more business.

It’s easier than you think.

Your “commercial” doesn’t have to present a full-throated presentation complete with closing argument or address all possible objections. Don’t tell them “everything”. Succinctly tell them the key benefits you offer, invite them to ask questions or get more information, and you should get more clients.

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Salesmanship

Pre-marketing

September 12, 2024 by David M. Ward

Everything we do that qualifies as marketing—networking, content creation, staying in touch with clients and prospects, running ads—is easier and more effective when we “prepare” before we “do”.

Let’s call it “pre-marketing”.

Before you attend a live event, for example, you don’t just show up. You make a list of people you want to connect with, what you want to ask, offer, or tell them, notes about the speaker and his or her topic, and so on.

If you have a blog or newsletter or regularly post on social media, your pre-marketing activities would include collecting content ideas, creating a backlog of new content, verifying links, and updating your calls-to-action.

Yes, it’s all marketing. But pre-marketing activities can be done ahead of time, when you have an easier schedule.

Do these things so that when it’s go time, you’re ready to go.

Things like

Learning more about your target market and ideal client
Looking for articles to send to your key clients and referral sources
Signing greeting cards and thank-you notes so they are ready to mail
Reviewing your competition’s content
Taking seminars about SEO and AI and tools you can use to improve your marketing
Creating new forms and updating old ones
Finding and working with a “workout partner”
Reading blogs about marketing and productivity

Keep a list of these activities close at hand and schedule time to do them.

Boring? Maybe so. But you can delegate a lot of this.

Do enough pre-marketing and you might be able to hire a full time pre-marketing assistant.

Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services