Marketing legal services Archives - Page 23 of 128

It’s all about you

June 29, 2021 by David M. Ward

Your services aren’t unique.

You may put your own spin on them, offer lower fees or other benefits, package and present them differently, but in truth. . . .

You and your competition offer essentially the same services.

And clients are just a five-minute search away from choosing another lawyer.

Yes, the quality and scope of your marketing plays a role. But in the realm of professional services, that can only do so much for you because a professional services practice is built on relationships.

So how do you get clients to choose you instead of the guy next door? That’s simple.

Put more of YOU into every aspect of your practice.

Because YOU are original.

And because clients buy you before they buy your services. They choose you and stay with you because of you.

Simple as that.

How do you put more of yourself into your practice?

Show people how you think by writing and speaking more openly, and more often
Champion the causes that are important to your target market; let them see that you care about the things they care about
Share some details about your personal lifeâ€”what you do outside of work, your family, what you do for fun. Let people get to know the “real” you, not just the “lawyer” you
Judiciously share some of your flaws and blemishes. Let people know you’re human (just like them)
Own up to errors and mistakes; give clients the benefit of the doubt on billing issues.
Build relationships with clients and prospects and the professionals in your network. Stay in touch, mostly via email, so they can learn more about who you are, what you do, and how you work with your clients.

New services? New solutions? Original ideas? They’re great, if you’ve got them. But you don’t need them.

Because there’s no one else like you and clients buy you before they buy your services.

Why email is still the best (and easiest) way to build your practice

Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Relationship marketing

Meh

June 24, 2021 by David M. Ward

I watched the Windows 11 “reveal” video and was underwhelmed.

Some nice updates, but nothing special. Nothing game changing.

I like the new aesthetics. I like that the OS runs faster. I like the new “snap” feature. But I didn’t see anything that had the wow factor.

I wanted a killer feature. Something so big and exciting it would persuade Mac folks to consider switching to Windows.

Mac folks, you can stop laughing now.

Alas, Windows 11 doesn’t do anything I can’t already do. It won’t bring me coffee in the morning or tuck me into bed at night.

No killer feature.

What’s your killer feature? In your law practice, I mean.

What’s one thing you do that makes you stand out from other lawyers? Something that differentiates you and helps people remember you?

I’ll give you a minute to think about it.

I don’t expect it to be amazing. Just different.

It could be as simple as always having a plate of fresh-baked cookies in your waiting room.

No, that probably won’t persuade anyone to choose you as their attorney. Then again, billions of people are going to upgrade to Windows 11, including me, and their cookies aren’t even fresh.

How to differentiate yourself from other lawyers

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

Choose one thing as your main thing

June 17, 2021 by David M. Ward

Legal marketing agency executive Jay Harrington recently said, “You don’t need to be on more than one social media platform, nor do you have to do all forms of marketing”. He says, “the more you diversify your approach to marketing, the less effective your marketing may be.”

I agree.

The reason? Focus. You can’t be good at everything and it’s better to be good at one thing than so-so at a lot of things.

The other reason? Time. Many attorneys spend no more a few minutes a day on marketing. Trying to conquer more than one platform or marketing strategy means spreading themselves too thin.

Think of it this way: it’s better to have a good conversation with one person you’d like to know than to broadcast a message to thousands, most of whom aren’t listening.

Even if you have a lot of help and/or a big marketing budget, you should should still concentrate on one or two things, not everything.

Choose one social media platform. Study it and the people who are good at it, learn all you can about it, and then work that platform.

Show up there every day. Add quality content. Engage with key people in your niche. Get your name known, build your list, and use that to build your practice.

It’s far more effective for you to invest a few minutes a day on one platform than to use staff or automation to post links and comments across many.

The same is true for any kind of marketing.

Don’t diversify. Focus. Get good at blogging or advertising, speaking or writing articles, referrals or SEO, social media or podcasting.

One thing, not everything.

You can diversify later, if you want to, but if you focus and get good enough at one thing, you might not have to.

Harrington says the starting point is to ask, “Where is my audience?” Where do they hang out, what do they read, how do they spend their time?

Go where they are, get to know them, and let them get to know you.

Effective marketing starts with a plan. Here’s how to create yours.

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

The quickest way to build your authority

June 14, 2021 by David M. Ward

Many people assume that because you are an attorney you know what you’re doing. You’ve got a license, you’ve been vetted, you don’t have anything to prove.

Clearly, not everyone feels that way.

Your colleagues, sophisticated clients who want to hire the best of the best, business leaders who can send you referrals, promote you, and open doors for you, usually want to see more.

If you want them to see you as an authority, you can’t rely solely on your license.

To build your authority and achieve “expert” status, you typically need to do the kinds of things experts do–write for authoritative publications, speak to important groups, get invited to corporate boards, and represent top-tier clients.

You start by writing and posting authoritative information on your blog or website, along with success stories of clients you’ve helped.

You write guest articles and posts for blogs and newsletter in your target market.

You get interviewed by smaller publications, podcasts and channels, building your speaking skills, making new connections, and driving additional traffic to your website.

You teach CLE courses, serve as an arbitrator or mediator, join authoritative organizations, do charitable work and volunteer for their committees, and build your contacts and your bio.

And you use your existing contacts to meet other professionals and centers of influence in your niche, building strong relationships with key people who can help you get to the next level.

You can do these things, and you should, but it can take years for these things to bear fruit and, well, you’re in a hurry.

There is something you can do, right now, to dramatically speed up the process.

You can write a book.

Experts write books. You can, too.

You don’t have to wait years to become qualified to do it, or to be asked to do it, You can write it and self-publish it in the next few weeks.

Your book will position you as an authority. (An “author” is, by definition, an “authority”.) People will hire you and refer you and invite you to speak and write and join their group or cause because you wrote a book and other attorneys didn’t.

Writing a book is the quickest way to build your authority, and a smart way to build your practice or career.

Once you’ve written your book, promote it. Give it away, send it to everyone you know and everyone you want to know. Make sure your clients have copies for themselves and to give to friends, offer it to prospective clients, bloggers, editors, meeting planners, and influential people in your niche.

When you talk to someone who wants to know what you do and how you can help them, their clients, or their readers or listeners, stop talking and send them a copy of your book. Your book will tell them everything they need to know.

What to say when someone asks, “What do you do?”

Filed Under: Image, Legal industry, Marketing legal services

Some do, some don’t

June 9, 2021 by David M. Ward

A prospective client is sitting in your office, telling you about their situation. You listen, ask questions, tell them what you think, and share a story about a client who had a similar situation. You tell them what you did for them and how it worked out.

Your analysis and opinion help them to better understand their problem and the possible solutions. Your story inspires them or comforts them, and convinces them that you can help.

And they sign up.

Well done.

Another example of the adage, “Facts tell but stories sell.”

You see another prospective client with a similar problem. You tell them what you think and share the same story. They don’t relate to your story but hire you anyway, because they like how you explained the law and what you advised them to do made sense.

People are different. Some people won’t relate to some of your stories.

No matter how many other people do.

I bought a book the other day. It has hundreds of 5 star reviews. Many of the reviewers mentioned how they loved the author’s stories. One said, “I really liked the motivational stories, they added depth and background to the theme of the book which is to find ways to start.”

Another reviewer didn’t like the stories. He gave the book 1 star and asked, “Can I get a refund?” He said, “If I wanted to know his life story I would have just read his blogs.”

Some do, some don’t.

Lessons:

Encourage feedback from your clients and readers. You want to hear what they like and don’t like, about your stories and all of your content. They may relate to your stories but think you have too many or they are too long. Or they might love your stories and want more.
Sometimes, one story is enough; sometimes, two or three is the right number. Some people will like certain stories more than others. Keep a file of stories you can use in different situations. Experiment to find the right stories and the right number.
Don’t leave out the meat and potatoes. Talk about the facts, the law, the procedure, and use stories to illustrate your points. People make decisions, e.g., to hire you, based on emotions, and justify their decision based on logic, e.g., the facts. You need both.

Finally, practice your delivery. There’s nothing worse than a good story that goes too long or misses the point. There’s nothing better than an average story that is well told.

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

Marketing legal services, James Bond style

June 8, 2021 by David M. Ward

I recently wrote about the need to look and sound the way prospective clients expect an attorney to look and sound, and at the same time, appear different from other attorneys.

It’s a paradox, and a challenge.

Another challenge in the marketing realm is displaying the right posture.

On the one hand, you want prospective clients to know you want their business. You’re ready to help them, you promise to work hard for them, and you hope they choose you as their attorney.

At the same time, you want them to know that while you want their business, you don’t need their business. You’d love to work with them and help them but it’s fine if they choose someone else.

Thus, the paradox.

The message is that you are extremely busy because you are very good at what you do. Anyone who gets you as their attorney is fortunate.

If you were a restaurant instead of a law office, people would see a parking lot filled with cars and a line outside the door, waiting to get in.

Because you’ve got the best food in town.

In marketing, you want to be like James Bond–calm, cool, collected. Someone everyone wants because they know you will get the job done.

Bond never chased the girl but he always got the girl.

Be like Bond. Let the girl know you want her but make her come to you.

How to get more referrals

Filed Under: Image, Marketing legal services

Turning down clients for fun and profit

June 4, 2021 by David M. Ward

When you’re a new attorney trying to pay the bills, you take any work that comes your way. At least that’s what I did.

If someone needed help and had a few bucks, I was your guy.

If I didn’t know what to do, I figured it out. It wasn’t as though I was taking time away from other better-paying work. In the early days, there wasn’t any.

So I did what I had to do and (eventually) built a successful practice.

If you’re just starting out, this might be a good plan for you. If you’re not starting out, however, this is not a good plan.

You can’t take “anything”. You have to be selective.

That means turning down work that doesn’t pay well. The small cases and clients, the work that doesn’t align with your vision and goals.

You can’t afford to take the small stuff because it takes time away from the big stuff.

Ah, but what if you’re not that busy? What if your dance card isn’t currently filled with high-paying clients and life-changing cases?

You have two options.

Option one is to take the small case, not for the money necessarily but as a marketing strategy. Help someone with a small case today, tomorrow they may bring you a big case. Help the start-up get going and they may one day have a steady stream of business for you.

The “low-paying” work you do for these clients is an investment in the growth of your practice. You earn less today so you can earn (a lot) more tomorrow.

I’ve done this. I’ve taken small cases that paid little or nothing and was rewarded with some fat, juicy cases down the road.

If you consider this option, the idea is to think in terms of clients, not cases. The case isn’t important, the client is. If it is a client who knows a lot of people, for example, they could send you a lot of business, even if their own case isn’t much to write home about.

Capiche?

Option two is to stick to your guns. Turn down (or refer out) the small stuff or the work that’s not in your primary practice area. When you do that, you can use the time this gives you to focus on marketing and bringing in the types of clients and cases you really want.

I’ve done this too. It was key to my going from “just getting by” to building a big practice.

So, both options work.

What also works is to do a little of both. Turn down most of the “wrong” work but take some of it when it makes sense to do that.

I know, it’s complicated.

Which option is best for you? You might find the answer by looking at a spreadsheet or your bank account. Or by trying it one way and then the other and seeing what works best.

If that sounds even more complicated, you might do what I did.

Stop counting beans and start trusting your gut.

This can help

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

The attorney marketing paradox

June 3, 2021 by David M. Ward

There’s a paradox to this whole marketing legal services business. To be successful, you need to do something, and you also need to do the opposite.

You need to fit in and also stand out.

Fit in because you want to convey the image of an attorney consistent with the image most people have in their mind.

Most people think of attorneys as sober professionals, with an office and clients, a briefcase, business cards, and business attire. They expect attorneys to comport themselves a certain way when they speak to people, say things attorneys say, ask questions attorneys ask.

If you differ too much form that image, people get nervous.

Despite the popularity of “The Lincoln Lawyer” book and movie, most clients don’t want to meet you curbside.

At the same time, you don’t want to look and sound like every other attorney. You want to be different.

If you look the same, sound the same, and appear to do everything the same as every other attorney on your block, you offer clients no reason to choose you.

They might as well flip a coin.

So, that’s the paradox. You want to fit in and stand out. Make people comfortable so they trust you, and show them something different so they can see why they should choose you.

How you do this?

Mostly, you give people what they want and expect. You play the game. Assume the role. Walk the walk and talk the talk.

If it walks like a duck, it’s a duck. If you look like an experienced and successful attorney, in the eyes of the public, you are.

But that only gets you in the running. You still want to stand out.

You could do something with fashion. Wear a hat, a bow tie, or purple socks. Wear cuff links or a pin in a distinctive shape–an animal you like, a symbol you identify with, a shape that implies power or success, passion or justice.

Something people will recognize and remember. “Oh, she’s the attorney with the Gecko pin.”

But fashion is only one way to stand out and there are other ways that are better.

What do you do in your practice that’s unique and implies a benefit for your clients? That’s how you want to stand out.

Most attorneys don’t make house calls. Maybe you do. Most attorneys don’t have sign-language interpreters on staff or on call; maybe you do. Most attorneys don’t offer a free second meeting with new clients, to do a deeper dive into the facts and map out a plan of action. Maybe that’s something you could do.

The thing is, whatever you do doesn’t literally have to be unique. You can make it appear that way and “own” that advantage by promoting it broadly when other attorneys don’t.

Most attorneys use a questionnaire or form when they interview a client. They have a list of questions to ask, with blanks to record the answers, and a list of “instructions” to give to new clients. It ensures you don’t forget to ask something and shows the client you’ve handled this type of case so often you have your own special form.

Most attorneys might use this, but most attorneys don’t promote that they do. They assume every attorney uses a form or checklist and don’t see it as a big deal.

But it might be a big deal to prospective clients in your niche who don’t know that most attorneys use a checklist or intake form.

When you describe the forms and process you use to interview a new client, in detail, you might find a lot of clients choosing you because of that difference.

For more on how to stand out from other attorneys, get The Attorney Marketing Formula

Filed Under: Legal industry, Marketing legal services

I’d like to interview you for my newsletter

June 2, 2021 by David M. Ward

That’s you speaking to a fellow lawyer, a business contact, a client or friend. Someone you know who might have something to say your readers might like to know.

Another lawyer sharing a few tips about their practice area. An accountant or financial planner speaking about taxes, investing, debt or credit. A real estate broker speaking about your local market. Or one of your business clients talking about how they got started and sharing some advice for someone who wants to start their own business.

You tell them you’d like to interview them for about 20 minutes, over the phone, or you can email them some questions. They get exposure for their business or practice, your readers get to learn something new, and you get the day off.

Well, almost. You still need to edit the interview and post it but the hard work is done by the interviewee.

You supply the questions, they supply the answers.

If you say “pretty please,” they’ll also supply you with some of the questions. Questions they’ve been asked in other interviews or things they think your readers would find interesting.

They’ll also tell you what they’d like you to say about them. If not, grab their bio from their website.

Interviews are incredibly easy to do. They’re also a great marketing tool for you.

How so?

For one thing, some of your interviewees will ask to interview you for their newsletter or podcast. Or invite you to speak at their event or write a guest post for their blog.

You get more traffic, more subscribers, and more clients. One interview per month can bring you a lot of business.

In addition, doing interviews gives you the perfect excuse to reach out to influential people you don’t know but would like to. You’ll make some new contacts, some of whom might provide referrals and introductions to other influential people.

Are your wheels spinning? Good. Go tell someone you’d like to interview them.

Get my ebook on how to interview experts and professionals here

Filed Under: Blogging, Content creation, Marketing legal services, Networking, Newsletters

I smashed a Like button and had to go to the ER

June 1, 2021 by David M. Ward

Clicking isn’t good enough, it seems. Everyone wants you to smash the “Like” button. They also want you to subscribe, hit the notification bell, and share the link to their post or channel with everyone you know or have ever met.

Sorry, Charlie, I’ve got other things to do.

Besides, you haven’t told me why I should do any of those things.

What’s in it for me?

Science tells us people are more likely to do what you ask of them if you give them a reason. It doesn’t have to be a good reason, any reason will do.

Tell people it helps your channel or it helps other people looking for this type of content to find it or, simply tell them you appreciate their support.

But while any reason works better than no reason, telling people the benefits they get for doing what you ask works even better.

Click the button so I know you want to see more free content like this.

Download this report, watch this presentation, go to this page, and you’ll learn (some valuable things).

Call to schedule an appointment so you can find out if you have a case and get your questions answered.

Tell people why.

Something else. Don’t ask for everything under the sun. Ask for one thing, maybe two. But not everything.

Ask them to Like (and tell them why) and you might get more Likes. Ask them to Like and subscribe and share and you might get none of the above.

Ask a visitor to your website to download your report (and tell them why) and you might get more downloads (and subscribers). Asking them to also share your post, read another article and sign up for your seminar, and many visitors will simply leave.

The same goes for your services. Talk about one of your services, offers, or packages, don’t give them a menu of everything you do.

Because when you ask people to do too much, or you give them too many options, they get confused and a confused mind usually says no.

Telling people what to do is good marketing and you should do it. But if you want more people to do what you ask, ask for one thing at a time (and tell them why).

Like this:

Please forward this post to a lawyer you know who might want to get more clients. They’ll appreciate you for thinking of them, and so will I.

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