Marketing legal services Archives - Page 83 of 129

What to do when you have nothing new to offer

January 12, 2015 by David M. Ward

What’s new?

Unfortunately, for most attorneys, the answer is “nothing”. They offer the same services today that theyÂ offered last year, and the year before that.

The clients change, the cases have different elements, but for most attorneys, same old same old. Even if they offer a menu of services, the menu rarely, if ever, changes.

Worse, many of their clients need themÂ only once in their lifetime.

If attorneysÂ owned any other type of business, theyÂ would regularly offer new products or services. TheirÂ business would always be growing.

But if aÂ client doesn’t need another divorce, or doesn’t get in another accident, it’s game over.

It would be great to be able to offer theÂ client another service, wouldn’t it? But if youÂ specialize (as youÂ should), youÂ probably don’t have anything else.

Some attorneys offer updated documents, reviews, and modifications, and that’s good. But what about everyone else?

Well, there are a couple of things every attorney can do.

First, you can partner with other attorneys and promote their services to your clients. In return, your partner promotes your services to their clients. YouÂ can also do joint ventures with other types of professionals, and businesses, too.

Your clients have problems and needs that go beyond what youÂ can do for them. They need help finding high quality professionals and vendors. They would love to get a good deal, or at least know they aren’t getting a bad one.

YouÂ can help them, and in so doing, help yourself.

Think “clients” not “cases” or “engagements”. Continually look for ways to help your clients with their other business or personal needs.

See The Attorney Marketing Formula for different ways you can work with joint venture partners.

Second, no matter what kind of practice youÂ have, you should continually be creatingÂ new content.

Every article, blog post, report, seminar, video, or ebook youÂ produce and put out into the market place can bring youÂ new clients.

They can bring traffic to your website via search and social sharing. YouÂ can ask your clients and contacts, (and joint venture partners), to share our contentÂ with their clients and lists. YouÂ can offer them for sale on Kindle and other venues, where millions of prospective clients can find them.

Each piece of content you create educates prospects about what you do and how you can help them. It pre-sells them on the need for an attorney, and why that attorney should be you. And it prompts them to contact you to ask questions, make an appointment, or sign up for your list.

New services, albeit someone else’s, and new content. These are your new products andÂ services. This is what you should continually create and offer.

Then, when someone asks, “What’s new?” you’ll be able to show them.

To learn more about joint ventures, get this

Filed Under: Increase your income, Legal industry, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Referrals, Web traffic

Don’t break the chain

January 9, 2015 by David M. Ward

You know a lawyer whose practice is rocking. More business than she can handle, lots of money, busy as all hell. Three years ago, she had just opened her doors. No clients, tiny office, nothing happening.

How did she get from a standing start to where she is today?

Many factors could have contributed to her growth, including talent, connections, hard work, and luck. But one factor may be more important than you might think.

Momentum.

When she started her practice, she did some things to bring in business, and then she kept doing them. She got better at them, and did them faster. She got progressively bigger results. Those results compounded and she continued to grow, until her practice reached the tipping point and became the juggernaut it is today.

Momentum is a critical factor in anything we do. Creating it is the hardest part of anything we do.

It’s like pushing a car from a dead stop. It takes a lot of effort to overcome inertia, but once the car starts rolling, it gets easier, and then easier still, until you have to do little more than lean on it to keep it going.

Alrighty then, how do we create momentum?

We do it with consistency.

Whatever it is you need to do, you do it regularly. You don’t “do” some marketing this week and pick it up again in six months. You do a little bit every day or every week.

You get better at it. It becomes easier. You do it faster and get better results.

Your results affect other areas of your life. If you build momentum with an exercise program, you get more energy to do other things. You might finally be able to read that book you’ve been wanting to read, or start that new website project.

When you write a blog post or newsletter article each week, you become a better writer, of course, but you may alsoÂ become a better speaker. You may get better at networking, too, as you reach out to other professionals to invite them to do a guest post for you and as they do the same for you.

When Jerry Seinfeld was starting out, he promised himself that he would write one new joke every day. Every day he did it, he made a mark on his calendar. As the marks piled up, he kept going because he didn’t want to “break the chain”.

In any area you want to improve, find something you can do and do it. Walk for ten minutes three times a week. Write two paragraphs every morning. Invite oneÂ professional to lunch every week.

Get started and don’t break the chain. Consistency breeds momentum, and momentum breeds results.

If you need a marketing plan that really works, get this.Â

Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: momentum

Selling legal services without breaking a sweat

January 6, 2015 by David M. Ward

I once had a secretary who asked me for a raise. I thought I paid her well but I told her that I would consider paying her more if she would first show me that she was worth more. I knew she capable of a lotÂ more and was only doing enough to keep her job.

She countered. She said that if I wanted her to do more, I had to pay her more. First.

She used to work for the government, so I know why she didn’t get it. In the real world, if you want to earn more, show your employer that you are worth more. If you do, you may not even have to ask for a raise.

The same goes for lawyers in private practice. Show your clients and target market that you are worth more to them, and then you can easily raise your rates.

I talked about this yesterday. I said that the foundation of marketing and building a successful law practice is delivering value to your clients and target market. The more value you give, the more clients, repeat business, referrals, and other benefits you get, and that includes being able to charge higher fees.

Give more value, FIRST.

One of the benefits of doing this is that it practically eliminates the need to do any selling. The value you deliver does the selling for you.

Something as simple as posting high quality information on your website tells your market what they need to know about you and how you can help them. Through this information, and the client stories you tell to illustrate your points, people can see that you have knowledge, experience, and a work ethic that they want in an attorney.

Prospects get to know and trust you through your content. They sell themselves on hiring you. Referral sources see how much you know and how much you do for your clients and they know that their referrals will be in good hands.

How else can you deliver value to your market?

By providing referrals, making introductions, and promoting their business or practice.

By sharing their content with your lists and contacts.

By helping their causes through donations and volunteering your time.

When you deliver enough value to your market, you don’t need to sell your services. You need do little more than mention them.

They already know and trust you. They already know you’re good at what you do. If they need your help, or know someone who does, they’re not going to go anywhere else.

Selling legal services is easier when you know the formula

Filed Under: Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Relationship marketing, Salesmanship Tagged With: sales, selling

You need new clients every month, not every day

December 23, 2014 by David M. Ward

If you don’t get a new client today, I’m sure you’ll be fine. If you don’t get a new client this month, however, you may have a problem.

I don’t know what your client quota is, or what it should be. I just know that you should have one. Whether that’s weekly, monthly, or daily (if you dare).

Whatever this number is, use it measure your performance and growth.

It’s not a mandatory minimum, mind you. It’s an average. A target to shoot for. A number to watch.

Let’s say you have a target of one new client per week. If you go a week without a new client, you notice that, but you don’t worry about it. Two weeks without a new client and you should tryÂ to figure out why. Three weeks without a new client and you need to DOÂ something.

You can’t let things go too long without taking action.

Of course you might have three new clients this week and zero for the next three weeks. That’s why these are averages.

Anyway, figure out what your current average is. How many clients are you signing up right now? Then, choose a bigger number forÂ your next goal. If you get one new client per week now, your goal might be 1.5 new clients per week (on average), within 60 days. Or two new clients per week within 90 days.

Then, all you have to do is figure out how you’re going to hit that goal.

Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services

The best way to get more legal work

December 19, 2014 by David M. Ward

I spoke to an estate planning lawyer the other day. He’s getting ready to do another mailing to his client list to encourage them to make an appointment to review and update their estate plans, due to a change in the law. It seems many people are either unaware of the new law or believe it doesn’t apply to them.

We spoke about the content of the letter, including whether or not to extend a special offer or incentive to get more people booking appointments.

I am sure he will get more work out of this, but not nearly as much as he could.

One letter (or email) isn’t enough. Selling your services to prospects or clients is a process, executed through a series of communications. Even if the letter he sends is brilliant and makes the phone ring, a second letter would bring even more.

Some people won’t read the first letter. Some will mean to call, but forget. Some will need time to take care of other business. Some won’t have the money today, or not want to spend it today, but that will change over time.

Never rely on a “one off”. If you do, you’re leaving much dinero on the table.

Your letters and emails, your newsletters, and everything else that comes out of your office, should be part of a sequence of communications, designed to educate and stimulate response.

But don’t stop with the written word. Or other static ways to educate and motivate your list (e.g., videos, seminars, speaking engagements, etc.)

I told this lawyer that if he wants to book more appointments, there’s something else he needs to do.

Call the clients.

You are their lawyer. They need to have this work done. You’ll book more appointments and get more legal work if youÂ talk to them.

Actually, have someone else in the office call on your behalf: “Mr. Twinkletoes wanted me to call you to make sure you received his report about the recent changes inÂ the tax law and to see if you have any questions. He knows you’ll want to take care ofÂ this immediately, so we’re booking appointments right now for the week of the 5th. I have an opening on. . .”.

You’ll get waaay more appointments if you call.

What’s that? You don’t do estate planning? Your practice area doesn’t have a lot (or any) repeat business?

No problem. Here’s a couple of things you can do.

Team up with an estate planning lawyer and promote his or her services to your client list. That lawyer can then promote your services to his or her list.
Call you clients and tell them you have a special offer or promotion going right now and you want to let them know so their contacts can take advantage of it.Â Referrals, baby.

Your list is incredibly valuable. Repeat business, updates, and referrals await you. Call and get some.

Filed Under: Client loyalty, Marketing legal services, Referrals Tagged With: book more appointments, get more legal work, repeat business

What’s wrong with your website?

December 15, 2014 by David M. Ward

My wife is nesting. Getting the house ready for Christmas company. Cleaning, polishing, making sure everything is ship shape. You know the drill.

I am amazed at the little things she finds that need repair. A chip in the paint that needs touching up, for example. I walk by it every day but never noticed. Why? Because I walk by it every day.

I’m used to it. So it doesn’t stand out. If you came to the house, having never been here, that chip would probably be the first thing you’d notice.

My wife is also proofreading my latest book. I’ve been through it more times than I can count. To my eye, it’s done. She spots typos on almost every page.

We all need fresh eyes to look at our work. We’re too close to it. We can’t see what’s obvious to others.

Take your website for example. Do you know what’s wrong with it? Can you spot the things that are missing or need improvement?

Even if you know what you’re doing, there’s a good chance you’re missing things, simply because you’re too close to it.

You need someone else to look at your website. You need fresh eyes.

Have a client go through your site with you. Have them narrate what they see and what they’re doing. Note the pages they go to first, and where they go after that.

Have them find and fill out the contact form. Have them find your bio, your list of services, and the directions to your office. Have them follow you on Twitter or Like your Facebook page. Have them share one of your posts.

You’ll see how others see and use your site. I promise you, it will be an eye opener.

You should also have an expert look at your site. They’ll find more things that need fixing. They can show you how to get more traffic, more subscribers and more social media followers. They can show you how to get more visitors to see you as the lawyer they should choose, and get them to call or email to hire you or take the next step.

You can hire me to do that. I’ll go through the site with you and tell you what to do. Or, you can have me do this for free.

Remember, when you order The Quantum Leap Marketing System, you get a free coaching session with me as a bonus. You can use that session to have me go through your site with you.

What’s wrong with your website? Have me take a look and help you fix it.

Filed Under: Coaching, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Web traffic

How to make 2015 your best year ever

December 10, 2014 by David M. Ward

Is next year going to be pretty much like this year? Or do you plan to do bigger things?

I’ll assume you plan on growing your practice next year.

More clients. Bigger income.

That’s what it comes down to, doesn’t it?

I’ll also assume you would like to do this as quickly as possible. You don’t want to stumble your way through the year, growing incrementally. You want to BLOW UP.

I’d like to help you do that.

A couple of years ago, I released The Quantum Leap Marketing System for Lawyers. It’s a video training series that shows you how to quickly bring in a lot of new business. Over ten hours of videos and a bunch of bonuses.

On the sales page, I make the ridiculous (but accurate) claim that the course can help you DOUBLE your practice in 90 days or less.

Yes, you will have to work your pants off to make that happen, but it is possible. If you don’t want to work that hard, would you be okay with doubling your practice in six months or a year?

Anyway, as you may know, I like to offer some kind of holiday special each year, and this year is no exception. I’m putting Quantum Leap back on the market for a few days and offering it to my subscribers (that’s you) at a huge discount.

See for yourself.

You’ll see that one of the bonuses is a personal coaching session with me. I consider this to be the most valuable part of the entire program.

In our coaching session, we’ll talk about your practice–where you’re at now, where you’d like to be next year–and I’ll tell you what you need to do to get there. You can ask me anything. You can even have me critique your website.

So, if you’re wondering what to do to make 2015 your best year ever, this is the answer.

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

Why you should stop selling your legal services

December 9, 2014 by David M. Ward

If you’re selling your legal services, you’ve got to stop. Nobody wants to buy them. Nobody wants your work product.

What they want are the benefits your services provide. Money, freedom, safety, peace of mind. That’s what clients want and pay for.

So when you talk to prospective clients about your services, they really don’t care that much. Those are just details. Your services are merely the tools you use to create and deliver benefits.

I’m not saying that your services, skills, and experience are unimportant. Not at all. But to the client, nothing is more important than what you can do to improve their life.

We sell hope. We sell the promise of a better future.

When a client is in trouble, when they are scared or confused, when they want something but don’t know how they can possibly get it, you need to give them hope.

It’s the most precious thing you sell.

How to sell the benefits your services provide:Â The Attorney Marketing Formula

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Salesmanship Tagged With: benefits, selling legal services

Why you should tell prospective clients to talk to other lawyers

November 19, 2014 by David M. Ward

I read an article this morning written for people looking for a lawyer on how to find the right one for the job. I’ll summarize it:

Attorneys specialize and it’s important to find someone who handles your type of case; [examples]
Keyword searches are a good way to find some candidates; avoid referral sites and directories, you don’t need a middleman
Check out their websites and choose three or four attorneys who handle your type of case; [examples]
Call all of them and ask questions about them (how long practicing, what percentage of their practice is this type of matter?), and about your case (what are the options, how much will they charge?)
Meet with them, ask more about the case, about how they will work with you, accessibility, fees, etc.
Most people looking for a client won’t do half of this, they will hire the first attorney they speak to, and that’s not wise. You have many lawyers to choose from so take your time and choose the one that is most qualified and “feels” right

Twelve paragraphs. Basic stuff. Something any attorney could write.

Including you.

Have you written an article like this and submitted it to blogs and websites in your target market? You should. It will bring visitors to your website who like your information and the honesty with which you presented it. They’ll want to learn more about you and put your name on their short list of candidates.

But here’s the thing. They probably won’t call other attorneys, as you advised, or if they do, there’s a good chance they will come back to you. They “met” you first. You helped them. You know what you’re doing.

And let’s face it, if they wind up hiring someone else instead of you, they were probably going to do that anyway.

One more thing. After you write an article like this, post it on your website, too. Yes, tell visitors that they should call other lawyers who do what you do, and tell them what to ask. Crazy? Not at all. They will respect you for being so forthcoming. They will see your confidence, and like it, and like you.

Just do it. You’ll thank me later. You’ll get lots of traffic from people searching for “how to find a _____ attorney,” and a good percentage of them will hire you.

Marketing online is simple when you know what to do

Filed Under: Blogging, Legal industry, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Web traffic