Not all clients are alike

August 29, 2018 by
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You have older clients and younger clients, clients who speak a second language and clients who speak another second language, wealthy clients and middle-class clients, business clients and consumer clients, and different clients for each of your different services.

Each group of clients is different. They need different services, they want different benefits, and they will respond to different offers.

They don’t read the same books or blogs, listen to the same stations or watch the same channels. They live in different parts of town and hang out with different people. They patronize different businesses, insurance and real estate agents, and tax professionals.

Some have to use a credit card or dip into savings to pay your fee. Some can write you a check. Some need lots of legal help, some might not need you ever again.

The point? You need a different strategy for each type of client, each market segment and each service you offer.

Go through your client list for the last few years and look for patterns. Create a profile of your ideal client for each service, for each market segment.

Then, when you write to them or speak to them, when you do a presentation for them, share content with them or advertise to them, you can tailor it to them. Use words and examples that resonate with them. Use stories of clients like them who have had similar issues and benefited by hiring you.

A lot of work? Yes. But it might allow you to double your income, lower your marketing costs, and bring in a better crop of clients.

This will help

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Filed Under: Copywriting, Marketing legal services

Building your practice by playing with matches

August 21, 2018 by
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You can’t build a campfire by trying to ignite big logs. You have to start with kindling–twigs and leaves and small branches. Get the fire going, add some small logs, and when the fire is big enough you add the big logs.

That’s how most of us started our law practice.

Most of us didn’t start by renting a big office and hiring a big staff, we started by finding a desk and a place to see clients and going out and getting a few.

We got some experience, made some contacts, and brought in some income. That’s the kindling. When we had something going, we added some logs. Eventually, we got (or will get) the big office and staff.

And it’s the same way with marketing.

You don’t start with $50,000 a month in ad spends. You start with $200 on some pay-per-click ads and see what you can see.

You set up a one-page website or a landing page and an autoresponder and start building an email list. You invest a couple of hours at a networking function and get your feet wet. You write a couple of articles and put them out into the world.

You start small and build your practice like you build a campfire.

That’s why you can build a thriving practice spending just 15 minutes a day on marketing. Make a few calls, write an article or email, sketch out a script for a video or seminar.

A little bit every day and eventually your practice turns into a bonfire.

How to build an email list from scratch

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

The only lawyer for the job

August 9, 2018 by
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Instead of targeting niche markets, the average lawyer holds themselves out to “everyone” who has a legal issue they’re qualified to handle.

That’s why they’re average.

Unless they’re in a small town and are literally the only lawyer for the job, this is a poor strategy because they wind up being one of thousands of lawyers who say the same things and offer the same services.

They have no leverage. No edge. They spend way too much time and money getting their message out into the world and have a difficult time standing out.

Why do they do it? Fear. They’re afraid that if they hold themselves out as “specializing” in one type of client or target market, they won’t appeal to anyone else.

It gets them every time.

So, if you’re taking notes, write this down: it’s better to be a big fish in a small pond than a minnow in the ocean.

When you target a niche market, you can own that market. Be seen as the only lawyer for the job.

One reason:

You can immerse yourself in the niche, learning the issues, studying the culture and networking with the centers of influence. Your subconscious mind will synthesize this information and provide you with laser-focused ideas for articles, blog posts, videos, ads, reports, emails, presentations, and other content.

In your content, you can use examples of people in the market whom you have helped. When prospective clients and referral sources consume your content, they see you as someone who truly understands their market and is uniquely qualified to help them.

You can’t do that when you try to appeal to “everyone”.

Just saying.

This will help you choose the right niche market(s) for your practice

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Is your list getting stale?

July 31, 2018 by
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Does your marketing currently look something like this?

YOU: “Here’s what I do and how I can help you”
SOMEONE: “Yeah, I know. You told me that three years ago.”

YOU: “Check out my new article”
SOMEONE: “Just read it. Kinda like the article you did on the subject last year.”

YOU: “Come to my free seminar.”
SOMEONE: “Is it any different than the one you did last month?”

Your list is getting stale.

Sending the same offers and content to the same people can eventually reach a point of diminishing returns. The simple solution is to get your existing content and offers in front of some new people.

AKA, building your list.

When you do, the conversation will look something like this:

YOU: “Here’s what I do and how I can help you”
SOMEONE: “I need to talk to you” or, “I know someone who could use your help”

YOU: “Check out my new article”
SOMEONE: “Wow, I never knew this. Could I ask you a question?”

YOU: “Come to my free seminar”
SOMEONE: “What time does it start?”

Your existing list can be a rich source of repeat business and referrals. Never stop communicating with it. But new people, who don’t know what you do and have never heard what you have to say, provide you with a very profitable lake for you to fish in.

In fact, most of your “external” marketing should be designed to get new people to opt-in to your list. If you have new people signing up every day, you’ll never run out of fresh fish.

Build your list so you can make the phone ring

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Filed Under: List building, Marketing legal services

Don’t sell the service, sell the appointment

July 18, 2018 by
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Many lawyers promulgate a marketing message (ad, email, web page, article, etc.) with a call to action that says little more than “hire us”.

That’s okay if you’re talking to people who are ready, willing, and able to hire an attorney. But most people who see that message aren’t.

Some aren’t sure they have a legal problem. Some aren’t sure they need an attorney. Some think they can wait. And just about everyone doesn’t yet know, like, and trust you.

What’s the answer? Don’t try to close the sale with your first impression. Use that to get them to the next step.

Don’t sell your service, sell the appointment. Get them into the office so you can diagnose their problem, show them their options, build trust and persuade them to hire you.

But selling the appointment at stage one may also be too heavy a burden. You’ll probably be more effective selling your report or ebook or seminar, to get them to opt-in to your list. From there, you can sell the appointment.

But wait. You have to get their attention, first. Offer them some free content, on your website, on youtube, or on others’ blogs (as guest posts or interviews). Let your free content sell the report you give them when they opt-in. Let that report and the accompanying emails you send them sell the appointment.

It’s called a marketing funnel. You start broad (with free content) and sell them on taking the next step. And so on. Until they’re sitting in your office and handing you a check.

Some prospects will skip steps. Some will speed through the steps and hire you the first day they hear your name. All good. But most will need to go through the process, so make sure you have a process for them to go through.

Marketing is easier when you know the formula

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

What? You STILL don’t want to do it?

July 6, 2018 by
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Yesterday, I talked about coming to grips with doing things you don’t want to do. Like marketing.

Basically, I talked about sneaking up on a task and giving it a big hug, until it feels familiar and you can give it a go. But there’s another way to do things you don’t want to do.

Do them anyway.

Who says you have to feel like it? Who says you have to like it? You have work to do so do it.

You may have legal work you don’t “feel” like doing. You do it anyway because if you don’t, your clients leave you, sue you, and complain about you. You can’t pay your bills. You lose your license. Your home. Your spouse.

There’s no choice here, you do the work.

With marketing, it’s different. Or so we tell ourselves. If we don’t do the work, we don’t lose, we just don’t gain.

Of course, that’s not true. If you don’t do any marketing, eventually you will lose everything.

Fear of loss is powerful. That’s why we do our legal work even when we might not want to. The desire for gain doesn’t motivate us in the same way.

That’s why we have to create habits and routines for marketing, why we have to hold ourselves accountable to others, why we have to block out time on our calendar for marketing (even five minutes a day), and why we have to force ourselves to do it.

But not forever. Eventually, we see that marketing isn’t that bad and it really does work. Eventually, we come to like it.

Or we don’t. But we do it anyway.

Your clients want to send you referrals

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Filed Under: Inspiration, Marketing legal services Tagged With:

When you don’t want to do something, try this

July 5, 2018 by
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Let’s rap about the stuff you’re “supposed” to do but don’t want to. Okay, too many things. Let’s limit it to marketing.

Actually, I’d like you to make a list. Write down all of the marketing tasks you can think of that are currently in your no-go zone.

You don’t want to do networking? Write that down. Social media sucks? Add that to the list. Blogging, asking for referrals, webinars, public speaking, email, direct mail, advertising, cross-promotions, convention booths, sponsoring sports teams. . . and the list goes on.

Look at the items on your list, one by one, and write down the reasons you don’t want to do them. What is it about each strategy that gives you heartburn? Or, is it that you don’t think you’re any good at it or you’re convinced it won’t work for you?

Don’t skip this part. Write down why you don’t want to do it.

Next, write down the answer to this question: “If I DID like this [was good at this/got results with this], what are the possible benefits?”

If you liked networking, for example, what could it do for your practice or career?

Write this down, too.

The purpose of this exercise is to get you to confront the things you don’t want to do in a rational manner. The goal is to take something you don’t do now and find a way you can do it.

Pick one strategy on your list and learn more about it. Read, watch videos, and explore the different ways people (lawyers) are using these strategies and getting results.

See if you can find someone who will let you see their content creation process–what they do to write and publish an article, for example. See if you can find someone who will let you tag along to their next networking event.

We all talk ourselves out of doing things we don’t want to do. This exercise is meant to help you talk yourself into giving it a try.

There’s a big world of possibilities out there you’re currently not doing. How might your life be different if you could find one possibility and make it work for you?

Marketing 101

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Filed Under: Inspiration, Marketing legal services

What if you’re not better?

July 3, 2018 by
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Many lawyers have a marketing message that says, “choose me, I’m better”.

If you are better, and you can prove it, bravo. Go with that.

If you’re not better, or you can’t prove it, I suggest you tell the world how you are different.

What do you do that other lawyers don’t do? What do you do differently?

You’ll be giving prospective clients a way to notice and remember you. “Oh, she’s the lawyer who rides a motorcycle to the office.”

Ideally, whatever difference you promote will also contain a benefit for clients. It will show them why they should choose you.

Yes, while showing them how you are different you will also show them how you are better.

But the “difference” you promote doesn’t have to make you better. It might just help them remember you.

If you ride a motorcycle and you handle PI cases, specializing in motorcycle collisions, you’ve both different and better. If you’re a corporate lawyer who rides a motorcycle to the office, people will remember you because most corporate lawyers don’t do that.

If you’re not better, be different.

This will help you figure out how

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Talent is overrated

June 19, 2018 by
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Sia is one of my favorite singers and songwriters. She is amazingly talented. I’ve heard that she will often write a song in a matter of minutes. Not just any song, a chart-topping song, for her or for one of many A-list performers.

Talent on loan from God.

So yeah, the chick is good. How can anyone, songwriter or performer, hope to compete with her?

In my opinion, they can’t. She’s too good.

They have to do what lawyers have to do when they are surrounded by bigger firms and more talented lawyers.

Jim Rohn had the answer. He said, “You make up in effort what you lack in skill.”

Outwork them.

There’s something else you can do. You can work smarter. Do things others can’t or won’t do.

Target niche markets and dominate them. Associate with smart people or people with great connections. Use leverage to get more done with less effort. Find the next big thing, get in early, and ride the wave.

Work hard or work smart. Because you can’t compete with talent on loan from God.

The plan

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

A simple way to cut your marketing costs

June 18, 2018 by
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When you’ve heard advertising spots on the radio or TV and even online, you’ve probably noticed that after a new ad has run for awhile, you start hearing a shorter version of it. The original spot may have been 30 seconds or one minute; the shorter version might be ten seconds.

The shorter version has the same message and offer but leaves out a lot of details. Advertisers will often run the long version for several weeks, followed by the shorter version for a period of time. They might then run the long version again, or run a mix of short and long ads.

Obviously, advertisers do this to save money. But aren’t the shorter ads less effective?

To some extent, yes. People who haven’t heard the longer version won’t hear all the details and thus won’t be persuaded to take the next step. But regular viewers/listeners have heard the longer version, and for them, the shorter version serves as a reminder to do what they “almost” did when they heard the original ads.

The shorter ads also prompt listeners to pay attention to the longer ads the next time they run.

If you don’t advertise (and never plan to), note that this concept can be applied to other kinds of marketing.

All marketing comes at a cost: money, time, or both. If you create content, for example, you either take some of your time to do that or you pay others to do it for you. Creating (or ordering) a mix of long and short content can reduce your costs without a commensurate reduction in effectiveness.

If you invest a total of four hours a month at networking events or engaging on social media, you might be able to get the same results (or close to them) by cutting out an hour or two.

Instead of writing 750 words once a week for your newsletter, you might get just as much engagement and results by writing 750 words (or 500 words) once a month, and 250 words the rest of the time.

This idea can be applied to direct mail (e.g., letters vs. postcards), printing brochures (e.g., full color vs. two-color or black and white), and any other marketing where your target market will hear from you more than once. Take the savings and spend it, or re-invest it in more ads, content, and so on.

Need more traffic? Subscribers? New clients? This will help

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Filed Under: Advertising, Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With: , ,
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