Winning

January 26, 2017 by
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You may not be a legal scholar. You may not have a lot of experience in your field. Other lawyers may have more cash or better connections.

It doesn’t matter. You can beat them. You can build a fabulously successful practice if you do the one thing most lawyers don’t do.

Focus on marketing.

Many lawyers take marketing for granted. Or use flawed strategies that do little to bring in new business. Even when they choose the right strategies, they often get poor results because their heart isn’t in it or they don’t stick with it long enough.

You can do better.

Where other lawyers seek to attract “anybody” who has a certain legal issue or need, you can laser focus on specific segments of the market and dominate them.

Where other lawyers use a weak and ineffectual marketing message, you can show prospective clients and the people who refer them the benefits you offer and the results you can help them achieve.

Where other lawyers provide good “customer service,” you can deliver outstanding customer service that surprises and delights your clients, ensuring long-term repeat business and referrals.

Where other lawyers merely provide their core legal services, you can help your clients be more successful in their business or personal life. If a client wants to refinance their home, for example, you can give them information and referrals to help them do that. If a business client needs more customers, you can use your contacts to help their business grow.

You can work smarter than your competition and deliver a better overall client experience. If you do this thoroughly, consistently and enthusiastically, clients and prospects will come to see you as the lawyer they want to represent them.

It doesn’t take much to beat the competition. Look at what most lawyers do and do the opposite.

Start marketing smarter with this

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

Competition? I don’t have no stinkin’ competition!

January 24, 2017 by
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One school of thought about building a successful business or practice is to find a successful business that does what you do (or want to do) and copy them.

Not literally, of course. You couldn’t do that even if you wanted to. Your practice will be as individual as you are, even if you have the same practice areas, target the same markets, and deliver the same caliber of service.

You are unique. So is your practice.

So don’t worry about being a copycat or being accused of stealing ideas. Your implementation of those ideas will differentiate you.

What I’m suggesting is that you don’t need to do something nobody else does. Do what others do but do them differently.

If there is a lot of competition in your market, that’s good. It means others are making money. When your town is littered with personal injury attorneys, your TV and radio airwaves are filled with ads from other PI attorneys, if the cost-per-click of advertising is insanely high, these are signs of a healthy market.

You can get a share of that market.

One way you can compete is to use different marketing channels and techniques. When everyone else is advertising, you focus on referrals. When everyone else proclaims their success in getting big verdicts and settlements, you focus your message on the types of people you’ve helped and problems you’ve solved.

Instead of touting that you handle “injuries,” you can differentiate yourself by emphasizing your experience in representing victims of one type of injury, one type of tort, or one type of client. In other words, niching what you do.

You can also differentiate yourself with your ads or marketing message. Talk about a benefit you deliver that all attorneys in your practice area deliver but don’t talk about. A USP (Unique Selling Proposition), is yours to own if you are the first or the only one claiming it.

Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Copy what successful lawyers are doing. Just do it a little differently.

More ways to differentiate your practice from the competition, here

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

I dare you to take my marketing challenge

January 6, 2017 by
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I’ve got a marketing challenge for you and it will only take five minutes. I want to prove something to you, or rather, I want you to prove something to yourself.

I want you to see that you really do have time for marketing and that it’s a lot easier than you thought.

With me? Great. Let’s get started.

Yes, right now. As soon as you’re done reading this. Because “right now” is the best time to do just about anything.

Okay, grab a pen or open a new page or tab. I want you to write something. And remember, it’s only five minutes so no excuses about being busy.

I want you to write a note to your former clients. In your note, I want you to simply say hello.

You might say, “I wanted to send you a quick note to say hi and see how you’re doing”. Or, “I haven’t talked to you in awhile and wanted to check in and see what you’re up to.” Or wish them a happy and successful new year.

Nothing brilliant. Just touching base.

If you want, you can add a line or two of news about your practice (e.g., mention your new office, new employee, new website, etc.), or share some personal news (e.g., your daughter got married, your son just got accepted to law school, etc.)

But no selling. No promoting. Nothing serious. Just saying hi.

A few lines. Write quickly. Write without stopping.

Five minutes and done. Ready, set, go.

There, that wasn’t difficult was it? (If you haven’t done it yet, go ahead and do it now. C’mon on, I’ll wait. . .)

Now what? Now, put your note in an email and send it. That’s it. That’s all you have to do.

Tomorrow, or maybe even later today, you’re going to see what happens.

I’ll let you find out for yourself what that is but I’m pretty sure you’re going to like what happens.

Will you take my challenge? It’s just five minutes, unless you don’t have an email list of your former clients, in which case you’ll need to take care of that, first. And trust me, you’ll want to do that because once you see what happens with your first email, you’ll definitely want to email again.

Let me know what happens so I can say, “I told you”.

Everything you always wanted to know about email marketing (but were afraid to ask)

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Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services

Want my advice? Will that be cash, check, or credit card?

January 4, 2017 by
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Free reports. Free consultations. Free information up the ying yang.

If everything is free, how do you make money?

Good question.

The answer is simple: give away lots of free information but charge for your advice. Another way to put it: if you talk to them, you charge them.

Your time is valuable. Don’t give it away. But information is just paper or electrons and while you invest time in writing or recording or conducting a presentation, you’re investing in creating new clients and the return on your investment is, well, incalculable.

Me entiende?

Information is free. Advice is not.

There is one exception: Free consultations.

Why? Couple of reasons.

First, if you’re in a field where most attorneys offer them, e.g., personal injury, if you don’t offer them, you won’t be able to compete.

Second, ROI. You invest 30 minutes or so talking to a prospective client and in return, you (eventually) earn thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Do ten free consultations, sign up seven new cases (or whatever), and when you add up the collective fees, you look like a friggin genius.

In other words, it’s worth it.

Simple as that.

If we’re being technical here, and we’re attorneys so that goes without saying, you do give the client some advice during the consultation. But at the same time, you’re evaluating whether or not you want the case. Hey, maybe they should charge you for their time.

You can reduce the amount of time you spend on free consults by educating prospective clients and referral sources prior to speaking to anyone. Put information on your website, in your articles, ads, and so on, and especially in your “referral letter,” so that people know when they should and shouldn’t call.

Go write something and give it away. But don’t give away your time. Unless you’re doing a free consultation.

How to create (and use) a referral letter to get more clients

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

Getting paid to learn how to practice law

December 19, 2016 by
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As you probably know, when I started my practice, I took any legal work I could get. I did divorces for two or three hundred dollars. I consulted with pro pers for $75. I took personal injury cases that settled for $750.

Good times.

I did what I had to do because (a) I needed the money; (b) these clients couldn’t afford to pay more; and (c) I often had little or no experience with a particular matter and taking it forced me to learn.

I’d spend hours in the law library. I sought the advice of other lawyers who pointed me in the right direction. I spent hours drafting and revising simple documents, (on legal pads and typewriters) learning how to do them right.

I also did some work for other lawyers. One time, I was hired to write a motion. I got to the lawyer’s office late in the afternoon. He let me use his library and stay late to finish and told me to lock up when I was done. Good thing he did because I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.

When I finished, the sun was coming up. I must have worked ten hours on that motion (ten hours!) but I only billed him for two because, well, ten hours! (He was happy with the work, btw.)

The point is that when I was new, I was paid to learn how to practice law. So if you’re new or entering a new practice area, don’t worry about how much (or how little) you’re being paid.

There’s a marketing lesson in this, too.

Sometimes, it pays (long term) to do work for certain clients at a discount or even free. That’s right, I said it. I said the “F” word. F-f-f-ree. As in no charge. Let them see what you can do and when they fall in love with you and want to hire you again, full price, baby!

If there’s a big client you’d love to work with, make them an offer they can’t refuse. If you do unlawful detainers or collection work, for example, you might pitch a prospective client with “first case is free”. If you do estate planning, you might offer a simple Will package at a steep discount.

Get your foot in the door, win them over, and one day you’ll be telling the story about how you took over your market.

Marketing is simple when you know The Formula

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Spank me and send me to bed without supper

December 16, 2016 by
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I blew it.

Yesterday I said that referrals are number one and advertising is number two on my list of favorite marketing methods. When I said that, I was thinking about the days when I was practicing. Back then, those were my top two favorites.

Today, I would give you a different answer.

For most of my days in practice, the Internet wasn’t a thing. At least not something most lawyers had access to. We didn’t have email, either. Cell phones? I wore a pager and used pay phones. For a long time, I didn’t have a fax machine.

Anyway, if I was practicing today, I would tell you that referrals are number one and email is number two. Advertising would be third on the list, not second.

If you don’t like advertising or aren’t allowed to do it, this should come as good news to you because email marketing is something just about any lawyer can do.

It’s easy. There’s little or no cost. It doesn’t take up a lot of time. And it works incredibly well.

If you’re not using email for marketing, the best place to start is to use it to stay in touch with clients and former clients. Remind them that you’re still around and can still help them and the people they know.

Most attorneys can get most of their new business from people who have hired them before and email is the easiest way to do that.

If you are currently using email to stay in touch with clients and former clients, great. But be honest: When was the last time you emailed all of them? When do you plan to do it next? NB: if you have to think about this, you’re not emailing often enough.

Next, start using email as a tool for courting prospective clients. People who have connected with you but haven’t yet hired you. They are much more likely to hire you or send you referrals than someone who doesn’t know you from Adam.

Bottom line? If I had email when I was practicing, I would have grown much bigger, much faster, and with a lot less effort. Today, my entire business is built around email.

So yeah, I should have told you that yesterday. My bad.

Referrals, first and always. Then email. Advertising if you want to take things to the next level.

How to use the Internet and email to build your practice

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Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services

Why should I buy your hamburgers?

December 12, 2016 by
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If you were going to open a coffee shop, you would start by researching the market. You’d look at the existing restaurants in town and size up the competition.

How many coffee shops are there in a one-mile, three-mile, and five-mile radius? What’s on their menu? Do they have any specialties? What are their prices?

You would look at population density, traffic patterns, parking, and a hundred other factors, in an effort to find an unmet need in the market or an opportunity to improve on what other coffee shops do.

And then, you would come up with an angle, something that would make your coffee shop stand out from the competition. It might be the furniture, lighting, or decor. It might be the name of your coffee shop, your menu, or prices.

You would look for something you could do to get customers to notice you and give you a try. You would then give them the best experience possible so they would come back again and tell their friends about you.

Which is exactly what you need to do with your law practice.

You need to give people a reason to notice you and hire you instead of the legions of other lawyers in town with a similar menu. You need to stand out from the competition by being better or different.

So tell me, why should I buy your hamburgers?

How to develop an angle for your practice

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

How to quickly get new clients

December 8, 2016 by
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If you want to quickly get new clients, here are three marketing methods you should consider.

(1) Advertising

An effective ad program can put your offer in front of a lot of prospective clients literally overnight.

If you’re not permitted to advertise your services, or you don’t want to, consider advertising your book or report or other information product.

You can sell that information or give it away, and each person who buys or downloads it will learn what you do and how you can help them. They also get added to your list so you can stay in touch with them, leading to more clients over time.

(2) Referrals

One of the best ways to build a law practice is through referrals from clients and professional contacts. For most attorneys, referrals happen when they happen. With a little effort, however, you can make them happen.

One reason people don’t give you referrals is that they don’t think about it. You’ll get more referrals if you contact them regularly and remind them how you can help their friends, clients, and colleagues.

One of the best ways to do that is to create a written document that describes your ideal client and explains the best and easiest ways to make a referral. My two courses, Maximum Referrals and Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals show you how.

(3) Joint ventures/strategic alliances

Another way to quickly bring in business is to align yourself with people with a list of clients or contacts who might need your services.

Professionals with a similar target market to your own can promote your webinar to their list, for example, in return for you doing the same for theirs. You can write guest posts for each other’s blogs or newsletters. You can promote each other as speakers at your respective networking events.

Advertising, referrals, and joint ventures give you access to other people’s lists, listeners, readers, or contacts. You can quickly get new clients by leveraging their relationships and getting your name and message in front of a large number of prospective clients.

Quickly get new clients through referrals

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

What vs. How

December 7, 2016 by
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In a “how to” article, report, or post, you describe the problem and present the various solutions you offer, but you should also tell the reader what they can do without you.

Tell them how they can avoid the problem in the first place. Tell them how to mitigate damages. Tell them how to protect themselves in the future.

The question is, having told them what to do, should you also tell them how to do it?

If you say that filing a quit claim deed is an option, should you tell them where to get the form and how to fill it out? If they can file for a simple divorce on their own will you tell them how to do it?

These are things you need to think about.

You want to provide value to readers and that usually means telling them more rather than less. More information shows them you know what you’re doing and builds trust. Being generous with your knowledge and advice endears them to you, making it more likely that if they hire any attorney, you’re the one they will choose.

But the choice isn’t always simple. If you tell them how to do something and they mess up, you may lose credibility and expose yourself to liability. If they follow your instructions successfully, they may decide they don’t need you for anything else.

Should you tell them all of the “whats” but none of the “hows”? Should you tell them all of the “hows” but encourage them to contact you to look it over?

Decisions, decisions.

My advice? Err on the side of too much rather than too little. Add your “on the other hands,” cover your backside, and encourage them to contact you to learn more. But don’t hide from telling them what to do and how to do it. Remember, you’re writing a “how to” not a “what to”.

Marketing legal services successfully starts with successful philosophies

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Presentations, Writing Tagged With: ,

What’s in your wallet? Briefcase? Desk drawer?

December 6, 2016 by
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When a client leaves your office, especially after your first meeting, what do you hand them? When you’re networking or running errands, what do you give to the people you meet?

It could be anything, as long as it has your name and website on it. Your business card, a brochure, your newsletter, a copy of your book or report.

I’m all for digital, but nothing beats a tangible handout for helping people to remember you and prompting them to get more information.

Put something in their hand they can take home with them and show their spouse or partner. Give them extras they can pass out to friends. “One for you, the other in case you talk to someone who might need my help”. Plant the seed and equip them to provide referrals.

Don’t rely on your handout to do the work, however. Use it as a mechanism to get their contact information. And make sure you follow-up with them, to tell them you enjoyed meeting them, to offer additional information, and to invite them to take the next step.

Marketing is simple. It’s even simpler when you have something to hand out.

The perfect handout 

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Networking Tagged With: , ,
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