Marketing legal services Archives - Page 31 of 131

Minimalist Marketing

November 6, 2020 by David M. Ward

You don’t like marketing. You don’t want to network, build a list, write or speak or do anything on social media.

You’re willing to do something, as long as it doesn’t take a lot of time or money or require you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.

What can you do?

Go old school, 21st century style:

(1) Set up a one-page website that identifies what you do and how to contact you.

If you want, you can add something about your experience and accomplishments (why you’re better or different), and a few FAQs.

Set this up with your name in the domain name to make it easier to remember.

The primary purpose is to give your clients and contacts a place to send people who are looking for legal help, so they know how to contact you.

(2) Stay in touch with your clients and contacts.

Periodically send letters or emails to let them know you’re still in business, when you have news (eg., you’ve moved, added a practice area, etc.), and to wish them a happy birthday or new year.

Contact them if/when it’s time for their annual review or when you want them to know about a change in the law that affects them.

Consider calling your best clients and professional contacts once in awhile, to say hello and see how they’re doing.

(3) Ask yourself, “What would Dale Carnegie do?”

Read (or re-read) How to Win Friends and Influence People and do what it says.

Say please and thank you. Use their name. Make eye contact. Listen more than you talk. Treat them like you would like to be treated.

This is how you get repeat business and referrals.

This is “old school” marketing and it still works.

If you want to grow bigger, faster, this is what you should do

Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Unsuck your marketing

November 3, 2020 by David M. Ward

When I started practicing I hated marketing. Primarily because it didn’t work.

It didn’t work because I didn’t know what I was doing, I spent money I didn’t have, and everything I did seemed like a colossal waste of time.

It wasn’t fun.

I kept plugging away and eventually found a few things I was good at, notably, getting referrals.

I was able to build a big practice, primarily through referrals from my clients and (eventually) professional contacts.

That’s when I came to love marketing.

Marketing that worked, that is.

If your marketing isn’t working, don’t give up. There are things you can do.

First, consider fewer practice areas. Focus on one or two and let of everything else. Marketing is easier and more effective when you don’t have to compete with lawyers who specialize. (NB: you’ll get more referrals from lawyers when you don’t do what they do.)

Second, stop doing things that aren’t bringing in the kinds of cases or clients you want. Get rid of unprofitable strategies. Get rid of (or outsource) things you hate.

Try new ideas, or old ideas you did (poorly) a long time ago.

Maybe you wrote off networking but maybe you can reinvent yourself by marketing online. Maybe you’re a better writer than you think you are. Write something and find out.

Third, niche your marketing. If you’ve been trying to appeal to “anyone who needs my services,” try focusing on smaller segments of the market.

I did these things in my practice and it made all the difference.

The Attorney Marketing Formula can help

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Marketing legal services

Managing your marketing assets

November 2, 2020 by David M. Ward

What you focus on grows (and improves). So it makes sense to pay attention to the tools and resources that help you build and manage your practice.

Make a list of your marketing assets. Start with your clients. Yes, all of them, past and present.

Each client can bring you repeat business and referrals. They can promote your content and events, send traffic to your website, provide testimonials and reviews, introduce you to other professionals they work with, give you ideas for blog posts, support the businesses and causes of your other clients and contacts, and the list goes on.

If they’re not on a list, it’s too easy to forget them.

Next on your list: anyone who has ever provided you with referrals and/or anyone who is influential in your target market and, therefore, could send you referrals.

Your employees are an asset. They can help (or hurt) you in keeping clients and others happy. Add them to the list.

You know a lot of other people who should also be on your list–prospective clients, potential referral sources, people who provide services to you (copywriters, consultants, artists, other experts), bloggers, editors, centers of influence in your niche market, colleagues and friends who inspire or encourage you, etc.

They should be on your list, too.

Your marketing assets also include:

Your website(s)
Your email subscriber list
Your social media profiles
Your marketing documents and other collateral (reports, ads, sales copy, emails, templates, keywords, etc.)
Ideas for posts, articles, promotions
Notes about your niche market and the key people in it
Stories, jokes, examples for presentations, etc.
Blogs and authors you follow

And we could go on.

They all have value to you. Add them to your list so you don’t forget them.

Once you have a list, pay attention to it. Schedule days to review your list and associated notes so you can nurture your relationships, update and improve your content, and get ideas for what to do next.

Quantum Leap Marketing System for Lawyers

Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services

And now for something completely different

October 27, 2020 by David M. Ward

If you don’t promote your legal services, you run the risk of losing business to attorneys who promote theirs. If you only promote your legal services, however, you run the risk that some people will tune you out.

Yes, repetition of your marketing message is important. But if someone doesn’t have a legal problem right now, they may stop listening (reading) when you talk about what your services can do for them.

That’s why you need to talk about other things in your newsletter and/or blog or other outlets. And that’s why you need something else to promote.

What else can you promote?

How about the legal services of your partner or someone in your firm? Or the products or services offered by your referral sources or business clients?

When you do that

You help your clients and prospects who may need or want those products or services.
You earn the good will of the people you promote, some of whom will promote your services (and/or provide referrals).
And you get something else to talk about besides your services.

You can also promote your content.

Tell people about your articles, reports, websites, books, videos, courses, and so on, and let that content promote you.

Which is what I do with my books.

When someone reads them, they learn about me and how I can help them. I promote the books to get them in front of more people.

Which is what I did yesterday when I asked you to help me by leaving a review on The Encyclopedia of Attorney Marketing and told you about the .99 promotion.

Many thanks to all the attorneys who bought books. I’m looking forward to seeing your reviews (which can take a day or two to show up).

The Encyclopedia of Attorney Marketing.

Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: content marketing

Can you help me?

October 26, 2020 by David M. Ward

I need reviews for The Encyclopedia of Attorney Marketing, my 5-volume collection of “best of” articles from my blog.

So, I’m running a special on the Kindle edition:

Volume One: General Marketing and Practice Development
Volume Two: Client Relations and Referrals
Volume Three: Online Marketing
Volume Four: Productivity
Volume Five: Professional and Personal Success

For a limited time, you can get any volume for just .99.

You can see everything here

If you’ve read any of these books (and liked them), please show me some love by adding some stars and a review. Even a one-sentence review helps.

(And yes, you can leave a rating or review even if you haven’t read any of the books.)

You can get the entire series for less than $5 during this promotion.

Check it out here

I appreciate your help.

The Encyclopedia of Attorney Marketing

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, News

Do more of what’s working

October 22, 2020 by David M. Ward

Franklin Roosevelt said, “Do something. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn’t, do something else.”

Splendid advice.

Too often, we try to fix what’s not working. Too often, that’s not the best use of our time.

So, ask yourself, What’s working for me right now? What am I doing well?

And do more of it.

Because what’s working well will probably continue to do so. Because the more you do something, the better you get at it, and the better your results.

Look at your calendar and your “done” list. Look at the things you do each day to run your practice and put a star next to things you want to do more of.

Things that make money, improve your skills, and help you grow. Things that help you work more effectively and efficiently. Things that make what you do more gratifying.

Keep a list of these “keepers” in front of you, to remind yourself to do more of them–because what you focus on grows.

Where do you find the time to do more of what’s working? By eliminating or cutting down on things that aren’t.

Do more of what’s working, less of what isn’t.

How to get more referrals from your clients

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Productivity, success

Do you enjoy marketing?

October 21, 2020 by David M. Ward

For many lawyers, marketing is something they have to do, so they do it. But they don’t like it.

If you’re among them, imagine what it would be like if you loved marketing and didn’t have to force yourself to do it.

You’d do more of it, wouldn’t you? You’d get better at it. You’d be able to do it more quickly. And you’d get better results.

Sound like a plan?

Okay, a few thoughts on how to make marketing your jam.

First, it’s okay to start by not enjoying it. It’s probably best not to hate it with every fiber of your being but it’s okay if it’s not your favorite thing.

Give yourself time to try different strategies and methods, learn the ropes, and experiment.

Start small. Write one email, call one business contact, get your feet wet and see how it feels. Can you see yourself doing more of this or that? Good. Keep doing it and see if you really can.

What comes natural to you? If you like to write, do that. If you don’t like speaking or networking, don’t do those.

If you don’t like anything, or you have more money than time, delegate or hire an outside firm, or advertise. And don’t forget, “internal marketing” (great client relations leading to repeat business and referrals) is marketing and it’s okay to focus on that.

Take notes about what you did and how you felt while you did it. What worked, what didn’t, what did you enjoy, what did you want to put up against a wall and murder?

Finally, take comfort in knowing that you don’t have to do everything or be great at anything. You need to find one thing you don’t hate and do it regularly. Eventually, as you get better at it (and see better results), it may become your bff.

The Attorney Marketing Formula is a good place to start

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Marketing legal services

5-Minute Marketing

October 19, 2020 by David M. Ward

Most professional services marketing is done a few minutes at a time. We make a call, we write an email, we jot down notes for our next article.

Sure, we also spend hours writing articles, delivering presentations, and meeting prospective clients and referral sources, but in the aggregate, most of our marketing is done in small snippets of time.

Which means we could do a lot more of it.

Between appointments, meetings, court appearances, drafting documents and everything else we do, we have access to snippets of time we could use for marketing.

What could you accomplish by adding several 5-minute marketing activities to your day?

The key to doing that is to keep a running list of things you could do between appointments, in the car, or while you’re drinking your third cup of coffee.

Things that don’t require you to schedule time on your calendar or do a lot of heavy lifting. Things you can do in the moment.

You grab your list and call a former client and say hello. You open your notes app and choose a idea for your next blog post. You watch a video on a skill you want to improve or a subject you could write about in your newsletter.

You can build your practice 5-minutes at a time.

If you don’t know where to start, visit my blog. You’ll find lots of marketing ideas, many of which can be done in 5-minute increments.

And hey, since it only took you only a minute or two to read this, you’ve got time to do something else before your next appointment.

Marketing is simple when you know The Formula

Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Patience

October 15, 2020 by David M. Ward

You didn’t sign up any new clients today. You didn’t settle any cases or close any deals. You didn’t deposit any money.

Bad day? Not necessarily.

Robert Louis Stevenson said, “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”

What did you do to connect with clients or prospects today? How much content did you create? What did you do to get your name in front of bloggers, podcasters, editors or publishers?

How many professionals in your niche did you introduce yourself to? How many new contacts did you make on social? How many new subscribers signed up for your newsletter?

How many people did you call or write to? How much time did you spend improving your knowledge or skills? How many words did you write for you book?

Marketing is like farming. You have to sow the seeds, water them, nurture them, and wait for harvest time.

Do the work and give it time.

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, success