Who are you? How can you help me? Why should I trust you?

This is what prospective clients are thinking about you, even when you are referred to them by someone they trust.

It’s only natural. They want to know what you can do for them and what it will be like to work with you.

So, tell them. Tell your story.

Tell your story in your marketing materials. Tell your story to people who ask, “What do you do?” (My ebook, How to Sell Your Legal Services in 15 Seconds or Less shows you how to answer that question.)

So yes, it is good advice. But a word of caution:

Don’t be “that guy” or “that gal” who talks about themselves all the time.

Tell your story and be quick about it. A few sentences is usually more than enough.

Another caution: when you talk about yourself, some people may doubt you. So, do what you can to get others to tell your story, via testimonials and positive reviews.

What someone else says about you and how you helped them is much more persuasive than anything you say about yourself.

Testimonials and positive reviews aren’t the only way to do this, however. You don’t need clients to tell their stories, you can tell their stories for them.

When you write an article or blog post, when you deliver a presentation, when you speak to a prospective client or fellow professionals, tell stories about the clients you’ve helped.

Client success stories are a subtle but powerful form of marketing. Collect them and use them liberally, because while you may do the “talking,” it is the client’s story that delivers the message.

It’s not difficult to do this. In your next article or conversation, start a paragraph by saying, “I had a client who. . .” and tell their story. Describe the problem they had when they came to you, what they hired you to do, and what happened.

Tell your story. And tell client success stories.

How to Sell Your Legal Services in 15 Seconds or Less

Some attorneys don’t do any marketing. Not in the way most people think of it.

They don’t have a website, write a newsletter, do social media, create presentations, or advertise. They don’t network, do interviews, or stay in touch with their former clients.

And yet they have a thriving practice. More business than they can handle.

They may have done some marketing early in their career, or when they started their own practice, but they no longer need to do that.

So, how do they build their practice?

1. They work hard for their clients, deliver great outcomes, and give them great “service”.
2. That’s it. This brings them lots of repeat business and referrals.

That’s what my father did.

He did some networking when he started practicing. Later, he became personal friends with many of his better clients. And that’s about it.

Once he had some good clients, he got more of them. He didn’t ask for referrals, they just happened.

New clients led to more repeat business and referrals and, over time, his practice grew and grew.

Old school, but it works just as well today. And it should be the foundation of your practice-building efforts.

But you have to give it time.

If you want things to go faster and your practice to grow bigger, here are 3 things you should do next:

1. Set up a one-page website that lists your practice areas and contact info. Make sure your clients have the url so they can see “what else” you do, e.g, your practice areas. When they have a referral, they can send them to that page. Later, if you want to, you can add an “About” page (with your head shot), answers to FAQs, a few articles and other information a prospective clients might want to know.
2. Stay in touch with your clients and contacts. You might start with birthday or holiday cards. Later, if you want to, you can send them articles you think might interest them. Find these online or write them yourself. Send these regularly and you can call it a newsletter.
3. Create a handout to give to your clients and contacts they can pass along to their clients and contacts. A form, checklist, report, or list of resources. Something helpful your clients can give to friends, and your professional contacts can give to their clients.

Is there more you can do? Of course. But this is a good place to start. If you do a good job for your clients and give it time, you might not need to do much more.

How to start and build an email newsletter to build your practice