Marketing legal services Archives - Page 85 of 129

Marketing your legal services as if your life depended on it

October 7, 2014 by David M. Ward

Many lawyers tell me they’re doing the best they can to bring in new business. But they’re not. Not even close.

How about you?

Be honest. Are you serious about marketing or is it something you do here and there? Do you do it every day or do you wait until you’re in a slump?

Okay, let’s play “what if”. C’mon, it’ll be fun.

What if you had to bring in ten new clients by the end of this month or. . . you would die? Literally. If you don’t have ten new clients signed up by the close of business at month’s end, terrorists will behead you.

For realz.

If this was true, what would you do? Would your attitude towards marketing your legal services be different? How much time would you spend on marketing? How much money?

The clock is ticking. What would you do?

What are you not doing that you would start doing immediately?

What would you do more? What would you improve?

Would you drain the kids’ college funds and run a bunch of ads, even if you’ve never advertised before? Would you get your ass out the door and get to some networking events? Would you personally call every former client you’ve ever had to see if they have any work or referrals?

If your life depended on it, what (exactly) would you do?

If you’ve ever told yourself you’re doing the bestÂ you can to bring in new clients, now you know the truth. If you’ve been honest with yourself, you know you could do more.

Now you have to make a decision. Business as usual, or something different? Your life might not depend on it, but your future sure does.

For a simple marketing plan that really works, get The Formula

Filed Under: Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Personal development

Marketing a law firm like a strip club

October 3, 2014 by David M. Ward

One of the biggest challenges in marketing a law firmÂ is getting prospective clients to see how you are different or better than other lawyers who do what you do.

It takes a lot of thought and wordsmithery to come up with the right benefit statement. I don’t have any shortcuts to offer, but I can give you a place to start.

Imagine that instead of an office you work from a retail store in a big shopping mall. All of the other attorneys in town also have stores at the mall. The lawyer next door? He offer the same services you do. The lawyer across the hall? The same.

In fact, the entire mall is filled with your competitors. The shoppers in the mall are your prospective clients. They came to the mall looking for a lawyer to hire and they walk through the mall trying to decide which one to choose.

Will it be you? Or the guy down the hall?

You don’t want to leave it to chance, do you? You want to get them into your store.

What will you do? What will you put in your store window? What signs will you put up to entice them to stop?

Hold on. We know it’s only a matter of time before one of the other lawyers starts standing at the entrance to his store calling out things to passing shoppers. Yeah, like those guys who stand on the street in front of strip clubs encouraging passers-by to come to see their show.

You’re not going to let them get all the business, are you? Hell no. You’re going to stand outside your store, too. Whatcha going to say?

Before you know it, all of the lawyers in the mall will beÂ standing outside their store hawking their wares. It’s going to get extremely noisy in that mall. You’ll need to be really clever if you want clients to choose you.

Yes, this is a picture of a nightmare. But it’s also a decent analogy for the real world. You don’t stand outside a store shouting at passing clients, (at least I hope you don’t) but you do something similar on the Internet, in ads, and at networking events.

Use this exercise to brainstorm ideas for headlines you can use to get the attention of prospective clients who are scanning lawyers’ ads, web pages, or listings in a directory.

What couldÂ you say to get their attention? What could you offer? How can you stand out from the crowd?

Here’s a hint: Your name or your firm’s name is not a good headline. It’s not going to get anyone to come into your store. Nobody but your mama cares about your name.

The good news is that all of those ads and web pages your competitors use with their firm name as the headline make things much easier for you. You can say almost anything else and get more clients than they do.

Write a headline that promises benefits. What do you do for your clients that other lawyers don’t do (or don’t say they do)? What makes you unique or better? Why should they come into your store?

The Attorney Marketing Formula helps you choose a benefit statement for your practice. Go here.

Filed Under: Copywriting, Marketing legal services Tagged With: benefit statement, differentiation, headlines, Unique Selling Proposition, USP

What kind of attorney are you?

September 29, 2014 by David M. Ward

When you hand someone your business card and tell them you’re an attorney, what do they typically say to you? They ask, “What kind of attorney are you?” or “What kind of law do you practice?”

They can’t tell from the word “attorney” and most attorneys don’t identify their practice areas on on their card.

If you simply answer the question and state your practice area(s), you’re missing out on a big opportunity. Instead, you should say something like this:

“I handle [whatever you handle]. I also know a lot of attorneys who handle other matters, and many other professionals and business owners in town. If you ever need a referral to anyone, for any reason, please give me a call, okay?”

You can modify this to suit your practice and the people you’re speaking to. If you know a lot of financial planners, for example, and you’re speaking to people you think might benefit from financial planning, you can add “financial planners” to the list of professionals you know.

So what does this accomplish? It gets the person to see you as a resource and a nice guy or gal. Not just someone with a service to sell, but someone who can and will help them. All they have to do is ask.

It also suggests that you are very good at what you do. If you know lots of professionals, then lots of professionals know you. That speaks to your success and reputation.

Finally, it gives them a reason to hold onto your card. And, because you added the word “okay?” to the end of your statement, whether or not they verbalize a response, it makes it a little more likely that they will call you when they need a referral.

It’s a simple way to make a good first impression, and it gets more people calling. When they do, not only will you have a new contact who is grateful for your help, the professionals you refer them to will also be grateful and primed to reciprocate.

There are other things you can do when you meet a new contact, especially if you think they may be a prospective client, but this is something you can and should do with everyone. When people need help, you want them to think of you and remember that they have your card.

By the way, when someone asks me what kind of lawyer I am, the first thing I usually say is, “A good one”. I do it with a little smirk and it gets a laugh or a smile and suggests that I’m not overly serious or full of myself as many lawyers are thought to be. I follow that with my “real” answer.

Marketing legal services is easier when you know The Formula.

Filed Under: Business cards, Communication, Marketing legal services, Networking, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing

A recipe for better clients and bigger income

September 23, 2014 by David M. Ward

The other night my wife and I watched “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” a documentary about “Sukiyabashi Jiro,” a famed sushi restaurant in Japan and it’s master chef and owner, Jiro Ono. Actually, she watched it while I dozed, but I caught enough of it to realize a few things.

First, if the reaction of the restaurant’s patrons is any indication, I probably should try sushi one of these days. His customers practically swooned as they consumed their meal, and this in a country that eats lots of sushi.

The second thing I realized is that Mr. Ono is earning a small fortune. The bill for a meal starts at 30,000 yen, which is around $300, and you have to make a reservation a month in advance. That’s for locals. Customers fly in from all over the world and book a year in advance.

What’s the reason for his success? He charges premium prices for a premium meal. He uses only the best fish, which is laboriously prepared and presented. The result is an amazing culinary experience, earningÂ Mr. Ono’s restaurant a coveted “Three Stars” in the Michelin guide.

And it’s a little hole in the wall.

Clean as a whistle, but no atmosphere. Just ten seats. You sit at a counter, Mr. Ono serves you and watches you eat, gauging your reaction. No dilly dallying, mind you. He serves, you eat, and you’re done. “No soup for you!”.

Actually, there is no soup. Or noodles or appetizers. Just sushi.

Anyway, the point is that if you want to have better clients who fly in from all over the world to hire you and pay you higher fees and tell everyone they know about you, you can, if you offer a premium service. Find something you do and make it the best of it’s kind.

You will attract the best clients, the ones who value quality and are willing to pay for it. By charging premium fees, you need fewer clients. But you will have just as many hours available each day and can devote more time to each client. This will allow you to deliver remarkable service that generates repeat business and referrals.

You’ll have it easier than Mr. Ono, however, because he has discerning customers who instantly know that his work product is the best they’ve ever tasted.

Filed Under: Client loyalty, Fees and Billing, Increase your income, Marketing legal services Tagged With: Sukiyabashi Jiro, sushi

How to use your new client intake sheet to get more referrals

September 18, 2014 by David M. Ward

There’s a very simple way to get more referrals from your clients. It will also help you build your newsletter list and meet more referral sources.

All you have to do is add two things to your client intake sheet.

The first addition is a prompt for the client to list people they know who might like to receive your newsletter, special report, video series, or anything else you offer, such as a free consultation.

You or your staff point out this section to them and explain how this helps their friends solve a problem or understand their options. Tell them there is no cost or obligation or pressure of any kind.

Also tell them what you will do if they provide names, i.e., send these people a letter and mention the client’s name (or omit it if they prefer). If they don’t want to give you names, you will instead give them copies of your report or a certificate they can give to their friends to redeem for a free consultation, report, etc.

The client gives you names and you contact those people, or you give the client something to give to those people and let them take the next step. Either way works.

Even if the client does nothing on day one, you will have planted a seed that may eventually result in referrals and subscribers. You can prompt them again by sending them a letter with a blank form they can fill out, or a link to secure web page form. As the case progresses, they may be more comfortable opening up their address book.

The second addition to your intake sheet are prompts to supply the names of other professionals they know. Who are their insurance agents? Do they have a CPA or tax preparer? Do they know any other lawyers? Do they have a financial planner, stock broker, or real estate broker?

Explain to the client that you will introduce yourself to these other professionals. If there is a logical connection with the work you’re doing for the client, explain this. For example, if you’re an estate planner, it makes sense to coordinate with their financial planner or tax professional.

If not, tell the client that you do this for marketing purposes. By meeting other professionals your clients know and recommend, it helps your practice grow. It also helps you meet other good professionals you can recommend to your clients, so it helps these other professionals, too.

Provide a check box for the client to indicate it’s okay for you to mention their name, or not.

Contact these other professionals, tell them you have a mutual client, and you’d like to find out more about what they do and see how you might be able to work together.

Clients will send you referrals without being asked, but if you ask, they’ll send you more.

Learn the formula for marketing legal services. Go here now

Filed Under: Law office management, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing Tagged With: client intake sheet, new-clients

Successful attorneys do what unsuccessful attorneys aren’t willing to do

September 9, 2014 by David M. Ward

In an interview, billionaire John Paul DeJoria (Paul Michell hair products, Patron tequila) was asked about the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people. He said something you may have heard before: â€œSuccessful people do all the things that unsuccessful people donâ€™t want to do.â€

When DeJoria was a young man working in a dry cleaning shop, thisÂ meant doingÂ things he was not hired to do like sweeping floors or cleaning shelves. His employer noticed his initiative and gave him a raise.

What about attorneys? What is it that unsuccessful attorneys are unwilling to do?

Or, putting it another way, what is it that successful attorneys are more willing to do, or do more often?

Of course the answer is different for everyone. You may do things in your practice that other attorneys would never consider. You may look at something the attorney down the hall does and shake your head.

We each become successful in our own way. But we must ask ourselves what we might accomplish if we were willing to do things we have not been willing to do before.

Like what? You tell me.

Make a list of things you don’t or won’t do. You can add the reasons if you want. Here are some suggestions:

Advertise (I might lose money, it is undignified, it is unethical, it is not permitted)
Go out at night/take time away from my family (networking)
Do any marketing/sell (I shouldn’t have to, it’s not professional, I don’t have time)
Hire employees (Cost, compliance, risk, headaches)
Delegate (Risk, easier to do it myself, nobody can do it as well)
Take work home with me
Adopt new technology (Time, I’m old fashioned, the cloud is risky, cost)
Engage on social media (Many reasons)
Start a new practice area (I shouldn’t have to, learning curve, competition)
Open an office (Cost, I like working from home)
Work from home (I like to be around people, clients need to see me in an office)
Open a second office (Cost, risk, time)
Commute more than thirty minutes (Time, cost, stress, health concerns)
Move to another city
Work longer hours
Read outside of my field (Time, not interested, not needed)
Take a certain type of case or client
Operate in an ethical gray area

Next, go through your list and look for things you might be willing to re-consider. Think about someÂ attorneys you admire. Are they doing any of these things? Perhaps you could ask them how they manage it. Did they have to force themselves to start? Do they do it today even though they dislike it? How has doing thisÂ helped them reach a new level in their practice?

You might find something you’re willing to doÂ that you previously rejected. You might find yourself excited about something you have only done halfheartedly before. And yes, you might find that your unwillingness to do something isÂ justified; you’re now convinced you won’t do it.

At leastÂ now you know.

Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Personal development, success

What to do when people ask you for free advice

September 8, 2014 by David M. Ward

Do people ever ask you for free advice? Of course they do. So, what do you do about it?

Do you tell them to make an appointment? Give them the speech about “all a lawyer has to sell is his time and advice”? Or do you answer their question and hope you’re not wasting your time?

I have another suggestion. In fact, if you agree with my suggestion, you will no longer dread calls or emails asking legal questions or seeking free advice, you will encourage them.

The next time someone asks for your advice, don’t answer them over the phone or in an email. Write your answer and turn it into a blog post or newsletter article.

Quote the question but omit anything that might identify the questioner. Answer the question by explaining the law and procedure. Describe the options and the criteria for making the best choice. Provide advice in “if/then” terms.

Send a copy or a link to the inquirer and tell them you hope it helps. Tell them to contact you if they would like to talk to you about their specific case or matter or they wish to proceed further. Tell them you would be happy to quote a fee for this work or consultation.

Your post provides the questioner with guidance about what to do. It shows them that if they choose to take the matter further, you have the requisite experience and knowledge to help them. They’re happy because they got some information and advice from an expert. They understand that if they want more from you, they will have to pay for it.

You get a prospective client who is now one step closer to becoming an actual client. If they contact you again, they will almost certainly hire you and pay you.

You also get content for your website or blog that demonstrates your expertise, your thoroughness, and your willingness to help people. That content helps website visitors understand their legal issue and sells them on you and your ability to help them. If you get inquiries about similar issues, you can point people to your “library” of previous answers. That library of content will also attract visitors through search engines and social sharing.

Don’t merely answer questions, leverage those questions to create traffic, build your reputation, build your list, and pre-sell clients on hiring you.

For more on how to create online content, see this.

Filed Under: Blogging, Client relations, Communication, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Web traffic

Networking by intent, not default

August 22, 2014 by David M. Ward

If you do any networking, either in person or online, you know that most of the new business you get through networking comes from a small percentage of the people with whom you network.

Wouldn’t it be great to know in advance who they are? Wouldn’t you like to know who will refer business, hire you, or promote you so you could focus your efforts on them?

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you how to do that. But I can tell you how to increase the odds in your favor.

Instead of going to networking events and talking to whoever shows up, or adding and following people online who pop up in your dashboard, figure out who you would like to network with and then find ways to meet them.

Who are the centers of influence in your community or in your target market? Who are the players, the market makers, the ones who know everyone? Who could send you lots of business, give you advice, or introduce you to people you need to know?

Once you have answered that question, reach out to them. They may not give you the time of day, but if they do and you can build a relationship with them, it could allow you to take giant leaps in building your practice.

How do you reach out to them? You find someone they know and approach them first. Then, ask for an introduction.

Or just pick up the phone and call. You’re not some joker off the street. You have credentials. Smart people (the kind you want to meet) know that lawyers can be valuable contacts. They want to meet us as much as we want to meet them.

You’ll often find that the higher up the scale you go, the more approachable people are. It may take some time and you may have to go through other people first, but with a little effort you can meet just about anyone.

Of course that’s when the real work begins. Once you meet these people, you need to bring value to them. This too will take time, and effort, but you’ve already decided that it’s worth it.

Do you know the formula for building a successful law practice?Â

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Networking

How to beat the competition in marketing a law practice

August 21, 2014 by David M. Ward

If you want to build an average law firm, find out what other lawyers are doing and do the same thing. Target the cases and clients they target, network where they network, and make your website look like their website.

If you’re lucky, you will get average results. Why lucky? Because they got there first and will always be one step ahead of you. But in time, you may achieve parity with them. And hey, compared to digging ditches, being an average lawyer is not too shabby.

What’s that? You don’t want to be average? You want more? You want better?

Okay then. You need to be a little different.

Not radically different or spectacularly better. A little different. A little better.

Take your website for example.

AverageÂ lawyers have a piss poor website. There’s very little helpful information on it. No articles that help visitors understand their legal situation and options. What’s there is often poorly written. The articles aren’t optimized for search engines and the sites have no social media integration, so few people ever find the sites or share the content.

Good news for you. You can stand out from the average lawyer by posting some well written, helpful content on your site and making it easy for people to find it and share it. Not hundreds of articles. Ten will do. That’s all you need to stand out.

You can do the same thing with other aspects of your marketing. If other lawyers hang out at the chamber of commerce, go somewhere else. Network where they don’t. Don’t go head to head with them. Remember, you don’t want to be average, you want to be better.

How about client relations? The average lawyer does an average job of communicating with their clients. You can be better by contacting clients more often, explaining things more thoroughly, and injecting more of your personality into the mix.

How about billing? Now there’s a common sore spot for attorneys and clients alike. When average attorneys lose clients, it’s often over a billing issue. Can you be better than average by adopting better billing practices? Yes you can. In fact, I wrote a book about it.

I find that the average lawyer doesn’t want to be different. They don’t want to stand out. That’s where you have your biggest advantage.

You’re not afraid to study marketing and try new things. You dare to be different. You want to stand out.

And that’s why I’m putting my money on you over your competition.

Marketing a law practice online: click here

Filed Under: Legal industry, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing