Promote a local organization or event, not your law firm

July 17, 2014 by
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Me me me. Look at me. Call me. Hire me. I’m good. I’m really good. Hire me. Tell others about me. Like me. Share me. Love me.

Uh, no. Well, maybe. But listening to you prattle on about yourself is such a turn off. I don’t know if I want to have anything to do with someone who is so self involved.

When your marketing message is all anyone hears from you, it can become tiresome. People tune out. They label you as just another self-promoter. Nothing special here.

Talk about something else. At least once in awhile.

Perhaps you are involved with a local charitable organization that’s doing good things. Wow, you’re helping them? That’s very cool. Tell me more.

Get involved in your community. Organize an athletic event for children at your local park. Volunteer for your local blood drive. Join a committee. Get involved in a fund raiser.

And promote that, not your services.

You’ll get people listening when you speak. At some point they’ll say, by the way, what do you do?

You’ll meet other centers of influence in the community. They’ll also ask, what do you do?

You’ll have a good reason to reach out to other professionals and business owners and ask them to help. Can they donate, can they volunteer, can they mention the event on their website? Yep, what do you do?

Find something going on locally that you believe in and offer your help. Promote a local organization. Start an event. Pass out fliers, promote it in your newsletter, mention it when you speak.

You can do well by doing good.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: , ,

The Better Business Bureau for lawyers: what are the benefits?

July 14, 2014 by
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What are the benefits of the Better Business Bureau for lawyers? More than anything: trust. Being able to say that you are a member in good standing of the BBB tells clients and prospective clients (and those who might refer them) that you are one of the good guys.

Being accredited by the BBB allows you to post their badge on your website and in your office, and use it in your advertising. If that makes even one prospective client choose you instead of another attorney, it will be well worth it.

To prospective clients, lawyers’ ads and websites all look pretty much the same. Clients look for anything that can distinguish you from your competition in even the smallest way. BBB membership could be just the thing that tips the balance in your favor.

Being a member also gives you verisimilitude when you talk and write about the subject of trust. As a member of the BBB, you are holding yourself accountable by aligning yourself with an organization that encourages feedback from the public.

The BBB doesn’t rate you in the same way that Martindale or AVVO might. An A+ rating from the BBB is easier to achieve than A-V, however, and more people are familiar with the BBB.

There are additional benefits to belonging, as this article points out. I wouldn’t count on getting any business through the directory or through these other methods, but you certainly might.

In a world that increasingly distrusts lawyers, anything you can do to foster trust is a good thing. Take a look at what your local BBB has to offer.

For more ways to build trust, get this

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

Getting new clients with just one click

July 11, 2014 by
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Yesterday, I announced the publication of my new book. Even though it’s not related to marketing legal services, I sold a small boatload of books. If you bought one, thank you. If you did not see yesterday’s post, you can see the book in the Kindle store here.

I was able to do this because I have an email list. One email, click, and sales.

If you have a list, getting new clients can be just as easy.

Wait, what if you practice criminal defense, personal injury, or consumer bankruptcy, where something has to happen before people hire a lawyer? What good is having a list if the need for your services has passed, or has not yet occurred?

Good question.

Here’s the answer.

Let’s say you have a list of several thousand people who were at one time interested in what you do or something you offered. Your list may include former clients, prospective clients who never hired you, and many others with whom you crossed paths.  Putting aside the notion that out of thousands of people on any list, there is always somebody who needs your services, let’s look at what else that list can do for you.

Let’s start with referrals. The people on your list know people who need your help. Ask them for referrals. Or ask them to refer people they know to a web page where they can download your free report (and sign up for your list). Or ask them to refer people to your social media channels to follow you. Or ask them to forward your email announcing your new seminar to people they know.

You may not get “instant clients” this way, but on the other hand, you might. You will also get your name and information in front of a bunch of people who might need your help some day, or know someone who does.

Use your list to grow your list and use your list to grow your practice.

What else?

What if instead of promoting your own services or offering, you promoted someone else’s? Your former bankruptcy clients may not need you today, but they may need the services of an estate planning attorney. Or a financial planner. Or an accountant. Or an immigration attorney. A divorce lawyer. Business lawyer. Real estate agent. Insurance broker.

Find someone with a list and promote their services to your list. Ask them to promote you to theirs.

What else?

What if you write a book and put it up for sale. The book helps people with issues in your practice area. Book sales build your reputation and generate leads and inquiries for your services. You ask your list to buy it and promote it. Their efforts help you sell more books. The books help you sell more services.

Getting new clients is much easier if you have a list. If you don’t, there are other things you can do to bring in business, but you’ll have to do a lot more than click.

To learn how to build a list and what to send it, get this.

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Filed Under: List building, Marketing legal services

Keep it simple, stupid

July 9, 2014 by
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One of the most valuable skills for any lawyer is the ability to make complicated subjects simple and easy to understand.

Simple communicates. Simple persuades. Simple sells.

KISS or “Keep it simple stupid” is a principle that acknowledges that most systems work best if they are simple rather than complicated. Simplicity is a key goal in design, where the concept originated; unnecessary complexity should be avoided.

If your website is filled with complex documents and analyses, you’re not doing your clients or yourself any favors. The same goes for your ads or marketing documents, speeches and articles. Unless you’re writing for other lawyers, and I would argue that even if you are, your number one goal should be to write simply and plainly.

Robert Louis Stevenson, said, “Don’t write merely to be understood. Write so that you cannot possibly be misunderstood.”

When a prospective client comes to your site, or reads your marketing document, they want to be able to quickly understand your message. Make it easy to read and easy to understand. Use lots of white space, short sentences and paragraphs, and bullet points. Use active verbs and vibrant word pictures. Illustrate your points with relevant stories and examples.

But simple doesn’t necessarily mean less.

When someone has a legal problem and goes shopping for an attorney, they want to see lots of information. Choosing an attorney is a serious undertaking. Most people want to make sure they make the right decision.

When I go shopping for a new product on Amazon, I read everything about the product. All the reviews, too. I’m sure you do, too. Why would anyone do less when shopping for an attorney?

An article on Forbes makes the case that because people are bombarded with too much information today, offering more information “isn’t working like it once did”. The author uses Apple as a paradigm of the “less is more” approach to marketing. Their ads are indeed simple, and I have no doubt they are effective. But selling computers isn’t the same as selling legal services.

Apple can get away with less information because people are familiar with their products and what they do. They see them everywhere. Their friends have them, and rave about them. All the cool people in movies and TV have them. Apple has a well-known reputation and doesn’t need to load up their ads or their website with an abundance of information.

Apple also doesn’t have any competition. Yes, there are many other computers available, but there is only one Apple.

Buying a computer is usually not an emergency situation. Hiring an attorney often is.

Buying a computer isn’t intimidating. It’s fun. I don’t think the same could be said for hiring an attorney.

Lawyers need to keep things simple, but don’t confuse simplicity with paucity. When it comes to marketing legal services, “more is more”.

What to put on your website. Go here.

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Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Writing

How will you increase your income next month?

July 2, 2014 by
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So next month will be better than this month? You’re going to bring in new business or bigger cases and your income will increase?

How? What’s your plan? What will you do to make that happen? Because these things don’t just happen by themselves.

What will you do this month that will bring in more business or increase your income next month?

Be specific.

What emails or letters will you send? Who will you send them to? What will you ask or offer?

What will you do to build your list? Get more traffic? Get more website visitors to call?

How will you get more referrals from existing clients? Former clients? Prospective clients and other contacts?

What new markets will you target? What services will you offer? What will you say to convince them to trust you and hire you?

How will you get more referral sources? What is their background? Where will you find them? How will you approach them?

What articles or blog posts will you write? Who will you offer a guest post to? Who will you ask to do a guest post for you?

Where will you speak this month? What seminars, webinars, or teleconferences will you conduct? What videos will you post?

How will you increase your social media followers? Stimulate engagement? Provide more value?

How will you get more prospective clients to make an appointment? How will close them? Get them to hire you for bigger engagements?

What will you do to collect money that is owed you? How will modify your billing practices to get more clients to pay on time? What changes will you make to your fee structure?

Will you start advertising? Increase your ad buys? Hire a new copy writer?

What will you do to lower your overhead? What can you do about rent, salaries, or other fixed costs? How can you get better deals on variable expenses?

I’m all for being optimistic. But thinking next month will be better without having a plan to make it better is not the way to run a business. Go through the above questions and write down three things you will do this month. Then, start doing them.

Want some help?

Okay, for a simple marketing plan, get this.

For help with your website and online marketing, get this.

For help with writing and referrals, this is what you need.

And if your billing and collection practices need a shot in the arm, run, don’t walk and get this.

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

5 critical skills to teach yourself before opening your own law office

June 27, 2014 by
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Reasonable minds may differ, but rarely do they differ so completely.

Exhibit A is this article: 5 critical skills to teach yourself before starting your first business. The skills, along with my comments:

1. Daily routine

I wouldn’t classify this as a skill. More like a habit. Quibbling aside, should this really be number one on the list of “critical” skills to teach yourself “before” starting your first business? Valuable? Yes. Critical? Not really. Could you develop this habit after you start your business? Um, yes you could. But then, reasonable minds may differ.

2. Email management (etiquette, productivity, security)

Okay, you haven’t opened your business, so you’ve got no emails to worry about. Are these skills going to bring in business? Help you get financing? Or do anything else a new business owner needs to survive and thrive? And couldn’t you just read an article or two to learn what you need to know and do?

3. HTML and CSS

Seriously?

I run a business. I know basic HTML (very basic) and nothing about CSS. I certainly didn’t need to learn anything before opening shop. I could make the case that this knowledge is even less important today, in view of WYSIWYG options like WordPress.

4. Marketing and Promotion

Finally, something we can agree on. Sort of. Marketing is a critical skill (a set of critical skills, actually), but you learn marketing mostly by doing it. Reading about it (or taking classes) doesn’t provide real world context.

In the real world, you learn an idea, you try it and see how it works. You adjust, make changes or try something different. You develop your skills by taking to real people. You learn by making mistakes.

In my humble (but accurate) opinion, you will learn more about marketing in a month of running your business than you will  in four years of college.

5. Data Analytics (Google, social media metrics)

Seriously?

Again, helpful, but not critical. And something you can learn as you grow. By the way, I can’t remember the last time I checked my stats. Just sayin.

Okay, what do you think about the author’s choices of critical skills?

What’s that? You want to see my list? Well, I have a different take on the whole subject.

I think that what’s needed before opening a business or a law office aren’t skills so much as values and attributes. Things like guts and persistence, the desire to change the world, a love of problem solving, and a passion for what you’re doing. That, and a big pile of cash, so you have time to learn and make mistakes.

I don’t think there any critical skills needed before opening your own law office. But if you want to be successful, here are 5 critical skills you should develop as soon as you can:

1. Salesmanship

Lawyers sell clients on hiring us, judges and juries on finding for us, and opposing parties on settling with us. There’s probably no more valuable skill for a professional or business owner than the ability to communicate ideas and persuade people to act on them. But like marketing, this is best learned in the act of doing.

2. Writing

If you’re not a good writer, you need to become one. You can read and take classes, (hint: study copy writing) but you have to apply what you learn. Write every day. In a year, you can become a good writer.

3. Networking

Arguably the most valuable marketing skill for professionals.

4. Leadership

Leadership is a skill and it can be learned. And it should be. If you have employees, or intend to, if you want to become a leader in your community or organization, study leadership, and start applying what you learn.

5. Touch typing

In terms of every day productivity, this is the skill that that I would put at the top of the list. And hey, it is something you can learn before opening your own law office.

That’s my list and I’m sticking to it. So there.

The formula for marketing legal services.

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Filed Under: Copywriting, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Networking, Productivity

 My lawyer is better than your lawyer

June 23, 2014 by
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Two guys in a corner booth:

GUY NO. ONE: Hey, if you need a lawyer, you should talk to mine. He’s great.

GUY NO TWO: I’m really happy with my lawyer. I can’t imagine ever leaving him.

ONE: My lawyer has tons of experience. He always gets the work done on time, and always keeps me informed. His bills are are reasonable and easy to understand. And, I like the guy. I trust him and we get along great.

TWO: Well, it sounds like you’ve got a pretty good lawyer. But is that all he does for you?

ONE: What do you mean, is that all he does? What else is there?

TWO: Well, my lawyer does everything you described but he also sends me referrals. I get new business from him just about every month. In fact, I earn enough profit on the business he sends me to pay his entire bill. It’s like getting his services for free. Does your lawyer send you referrals?

ONE: Well, no. But I get my money’s work from him and I’m happy with that.

TWO: I’m glad you’re happy. Oh, my lawyer has also introduced me to some of his buddies–an accountant, a financial planner, and two insurance brokers, and they all send me business. My business has grown 30% in the last six months, just from their referrals. How about your lawyer? Does he endorse you to his professional contacts?

ONE: He sent me a link to an insurance agent’s website once.

TWO: I almost forgot, my lawyer represents one of the board members of the International Widget Manufacturers Association. He recommended me as a speaker at their national convention. I can’t tell you how many doors that has opened for me.

ONE: Uh, could I get your lawyer’s card?

Clients expect you to do good work and bill fairly. If you want to stand out, you have to do more.

How can you help your business clients beyond your core services? Referrals? Promoting their business to your list and on social media? Introducing them to others who can help them?

How about non-business clients? Could you help them get a better deal on a car, a mortgage, or kitchen remodel? Could you support their favorite cause or charity? Sponsor their kid’s baseball team? Could you teach them how to buy the right insurance coverage?

Do more for your clients than other lawyers do for their clients. Then your clients will tell others, “My lawyer is better than your lawyer.”

How to Earn More Than You Ever Thought Possible. Click here

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

How to get more referrals by getting more referral sources

June 20, 2014 by
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Every attorney wants to know how to get more referrals. One way to do that is to get more referral sources. Here’s a simple way to do exactly that:

(1) FIND THEM. Find five people who advise or sell to your target market. Other professionals, business owners, and so on. You can ask existing clients and contacts for recommendations, or just find them on the Internet. Zero in on those who have high-ranking websites, decent content, a large social media following, and a newsletter or email list.

(2) STUDY THEM. Read through their site. Subscribe to their newsletter. Follow them on social media. See who they know (e.g., professionals, clients, centers of influence), what they sell, and how they sell it (sales people, online, seminars, speaking, writing, advertising, videos, affiliates, etc.) You’re especially looking for those who are active marketers.

Read their About page and social media profiles. Find a few articles or posts you like. Follow some links and see who influences them. Look through their blog comments and social streams to see who they influence.

(3) CONTACT THEM. Send an email, introduce yourself, and compliment one or two of their articles, their products or services, or something about how they do their marketing. Mention what you do, but only mention it. If you have mutual contacts, or like or follow the same resources, mention that, too. Don’t subscribe them to your newsletter without their permission.

(4) ENGAGE THEM. Contact them again and propose a guest post on their site, and/or, suggest the same for your site. Send them a link to a resource you found, or something you wrote, that pertains to what they do. Ask them a question about something they do or something they’ve written. Share their posts and tweets on social.

(5) HELP THEM. See who responds. Learn more about them. Look for ways to work with them, promote their business or practice. Send them referrals. Introduce them to others in their niche who can help them. Promote their blog, their business or practice, their product or event on social and to your list. If they are local, invite them for coffee and get to know them better.

Is this a lot of work? You tell me. If one out of five respond favorably, and you do this every month, in six months you will have six new referral sources. If each sends only one new client per month, would that be worth the effort? What if they send three?

Marketing is easy when you know The Formula

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Referral sources, Referrals

If your three-year old was in charge of marketing your law firm

June 19, 2014 by
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It’s been a long time since I had a three-year old in the house, but if I recall, they usually don’t take things at face value, they want to know why.

Why do I need to look both ways before I cross the street? Why do I need to eat my broccoli?

Being asked why all the time can get annoying, but it can also make you think. So, let’s see what your precocious three-year old might help you figure out if they were in charge of marketing your law firm.

Question No. One

CHILD: Why do people hire you?

YOU: Because I help them solve their problems and I’m good at it.

Why? I’m good at it because I’ve helped a lot of other clients with similar problems.

Why? Because I like this area of the law and these types of cases.

Lesson: Do work you enjoy.

Okay, that was easy, Let’s try another.

Question No. Two

CHILD: Where do your clients come from?

YOU: Referrals from other clients, mostly.

Why? Because I do good work and clients like me.

Why? I do good work because I enjoy what I do; clients like me because I give them confidence that I can help them, and because I take a personal interest in them as people.

Why? Because I like people.

Why? I’ve never had a law book or brief tell me thank you.

Lesson: Give people confidence; take a personal interest in them.

Question No. Three

CHILD: Where else do your clients come from?

YOU: My website.

Why? Because people go to search engines looking for information about their problem and my website has lots of information.

Why? I know they want to know the law for their problem, and their options, and they want to know what services I offer and how I work with my clients, so that’s what I put on my website.

Why? Because this information attracts them through search engines and through social sharing, and because if I answer most of their questions on my website, they will be more likely to see how I can help them, and call me instead of another lawyer, and when they do, they are more likely to make an appointment and hire me.

Lesson: Put helpful content on your website.

Okay, you get the idea. Tomorrow, we’ll see what happens when your child asks, “Are we there yet?”

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

The quickest way to grow your law practice

June 13, 2014 by
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We’ve been talking about social media marketing lately. If you embrace it, and it’s working for you, I’m all for it. But there are two things you need to know.

First, social media may do everything it’s supposed to do for you, i.e., build your list, improve your reputation, bring you leads and clients, but it usually won’t do it quickly. It can take months or years to bring in meaningful results.

Second, you have no control over what happens. Yes, you can see that you’re getting more results on Twitter than LinkedIn and direct more energy to Twitter (and if that’s what’s happening, you should), but whatever is going to happen on a given platform, or all platforms, is going to happen. You can’t make it do more or do it faster.

The same is true of other marketing techniques lawyers typically use–networking, articles, speaking, blogging, publicity, and referral marketing. They all work, but slowly, and you have very little control.

True, you might get lucky. You might meet and sign a huge client at a networking or speaking event. Your blog post may get noticed and linked to by a major publication, sending you a swarm of traffic. And while these things do happen, they are unpredictable. They may happen next month, five years from now, or never.

One marketing technique is different. It gives you tremendous control. You can try it on a small scale and if works, leverage your results into sequentially bigger results with nearly scientific accuracy.

You can also get results much quicker. In fact, I know of no quicker way to bring in business.

Oh, and there’s another advantage: you don’t need to spend time on this marketing technique. You can just write a check.

By now you may have figured out that I’m talking about paid advertising. But I’m not talking about any kind of advertising, I’m talking about direct response advertising.

Most attorneys who advertise don’t use direct response. They use “general awareness” or “branding” style ads, and they are often a giant cash sinkhole. They might work just enough to keep running them (e.g., yellow pages), but not enough to make a difference in your bottom line.

Plus, there’s almost no control. You can ask new clients, “where did you see our ad?” (and you should), but this doesn’t give you the degree of control I’m talking about.

Direct response advertising is different. You include a response mechanism in the ad (call this number, fill out this form) and measure the response. If you get enough response, if the ad is profitable, you run it again. If it continues to pull in sufficient response, you continue to run it, and in more publications or websites.

So, you start with a small, inexpensive ad. If it works you buy more ads, and perhaps bigger ads, and you continue your campaign. If the ad isn’t profitable, you pull it and try something else.

You don’t risk big money unless and until you know you have something that’s working. And then you test some of the variables (e.g., headline, offer, list, copy) to see if you can make it work even better.

Lead generation ads are direct response, and often work better than “one step” advertising (i.e., “Call for an appointment”). In a lead generation ad you offer something other than your services, in order to get people to identify themselves to you so you can add them to a list. You might offer a free report, a book, a “planning kit,” a checklist or a set of forms. The quality of your free information “sells” the recipient on hiring you.

Instead of giving away your book or kit, you could sell it. Everyone who buys your book or paid seminar is likely to be an even better prospect for your services, and their purchases help you pay for your advertising and fulfillment.

Advertising isn’t easy. It requires expertise and some money to start. But unless you are precluded from doing so (by your bar or firm), if you want to grow your law practice quickly, I suggest you consider adding direct response advertising to your marketing mix.

Because there’s no faster way to grow your law practice.

If you’re getting started in marketing, start with this.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Social media, Social media marketing Tagged With:
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