Online Marketing Archives - The Attorney Marketing Center

Do you need a brochure to market your legal services?

October 3, 2024 by David M. Ward

A brochure looks nice. Just like having a nice office, nice furniture, and a nice suit.

At a glance, a prospective client or fellow professional can see you are no slouch. You’re successful.

You need a brochure, right?

It can’t hurt. But a brochure isn’t necessary. Your website can accomplish the same thing, but do it better.

Your website can tell people all about what you do, your background and story, your successful cases and big-name clients, share your victories, tell people how you work, and tell people what others say about you.

Your website doesn’t need to be fancy. Or expensive. A simple “off-the-shelf” template will do.

You can add as much information as you want whenever you want. If there’s something you need to change or fix, you can do it in minutes.

You can include information that helps people understand their problem and what to do about it. You can add a blog or articles, forms and checklists, and other goodies to help visitors understand their situation and why they should choose you to help them.

A brochure tells people what you do. A website proves you can do it.

Yes, there may be times when you want to have something you can hand out at a meeting or put in the mail. Something brochure-like, like the big kids have.

You can do that. Full-color brochures are impressive. Get some if you want to.

Or put your website address on your business card and call it a day.

Filed Under: Image, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing

Get more clients by making it easier for clients to contact you

August 26, 2024 by David M. Ward

You can get more new clients (and repeat clients) by making it easier for clients (and referral sources) to contact you.

Especially via email since this makes it easier for them (and for you).

The key? The contract form on your website. Encourage visitors to fill this out any time they have something to ask you or tell you. Tell them when you will reply, e.g., within 24 hours or 48 hours if it is a weekend, and what to do in an emergency.

Making it easier for people also means not requiring too much information on your contact form. Ask for the minimum, just enough for them to hold up their hand, which usually means just their email and question or reason for contacting you.

Don’t make them fill out a lengthy questionnaire (as I’ve seen some lawyers do). Don’t pre-qualify them before you speak with them. Don’t tell them what you will or won’t do or what you do or don’t need from them.

For now, you just want to know their name and an email address. You can get the rest later.

Yes, you will get a lot of inquiries that go nowhere. But you will also get a lot of inquires from prospective clients who fill out your form because you made it easy to do that, and your competition didn’t.

If you get inundated with inquires and you can’t handle the volume, well, that’s a nice problem to have. There are things you can do to mitigate this but it is likely to be more profitable not to.

Keep your form as simple as possible. If you need to talk to them, you can invite them to call or ask for their phone number so you can call them. You can also direct them to your FAQ page or an index of your articles.

Show people it is convenient to connect with you and more people will.

Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing

Add these questions to your client intake form

August 19, 2024 by David M. Ward

By adding a few additional questions to your intake form your clients and prospects can help you improve your marketing.

Start with a few questions about where and how they found you.

Was it a referral? From who? How do they know them? What did they ask them? What did the referring party tell them about you or your firm?

Was it a search? What keywords, questions, or information did they use? Did they research their problem first or immediately search for an attorney? What did they find that prompted them to call?

Was it an ad? Where did they see it? What did they like about it? Did they see it more than once?

Did they find you via one of your articles or blog posts or presentations? What convinced them to take the next step?

You can ask them to fill out a form at their initial meeting but consider talking to them in person as you will get better answers, be able to ask follow-up questions, and assess their body language.

You’re not just looking for their responses, you want to note the words they use (and don’t use), their emotional context, and additional information they might supply about themself and their situation.

You want to know what potential clients think or do when they have a problem or desire, and what they do to find a lawyer who does what you do. You can use this information to improve your content—articles, presentations, emails, etc., improve your keywords and ad copy, and improve your conversations with prospective or new clients.

Pay attention to what they say and how they say it. One client might emphasize their concern about their injuries and damages; another might zero in on the amount of time they’re losing from work, a third might speak primarily about their pain and treatment.

It’s all important, but knowing what’s most important to your prospects and new clients can help you better relate to them and they to you.

Filed Under: Client relations, Copywriting, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing

Simple and effective content marketing for attorneys

July 23, 2024 by David M. Ward

You write a blog or newsletter, do a podcast, speak from the stage, write books, create videos, show up on social media, for two reasons: (1) to build your list by attracting leads and others who are interested in your content, and (2) using that content to show people what you do and how you can help them.

The easiest way to do the latter, i.e., demonstrate your capabilities, is to create content in which you talk about your cases and clients.

Talk about the problems they came to you with and what you did for them.

And that’s it.

This is the essence of effective marketing, content, or otherwise.

The reason is simple. People like to hear about other people with the same or similar problems and desires and how they overcome those problems or achieved those desires.

They love a good story, especially when it’s about someone like them.

It’s also the ideal way to show yourself “in action,” helping your clients with the same issues.

This kind of content practically writes itself. You simply describe the case or client and what you did for them.

You rarely need to do any research. Just tell what happened.

It doesn’t matter if what happened is strikingly similar to other cases or clients you’ve talked about, or what other lawyers say about their cases or clients. Each story is unique because your clients are unique, and so are you.

So, easy?

Easy.

And effective. Since so much content online today is generic, either ai generated or devoid of stories about actual clients and an actual attorney with a unique personality, your content will stand out.

Filed Under: Content creation, Online Marketing

Invert your pyramids

July 19, 2024 by David M. Ward

Some prospective clients want to immediately know everything about what you can do to help them. All the details, the entire process, and as much proof as you can provide.

Others don’t.

When they first encounter you, most people simply want to know if you have something to say they want to hear. If looks like too much work to find out, they often don’t stick around.

One solution is to write shorter pieces so visitors can see at a glance what you have for them.

For longer pieces, the simplest thing to do is to fashion your marketing documents and website content with an inverted pyramid. Newspapers used a journalistic style to do this, with the most important information at the top, followed by increasingly less important details.

Use a headline to capture attention and give readers the big picture and follow that with the “Five Ws” (who, what, when, where, why) in descending order of importance. This way, the passing reader can quickly get the gist of your message and move on if they aren’t interested, while others, with more interest in your subject, and more time, can continue reading and learn more.

In the digital age, you have other options than they did in the 1800s when the inverted pyramid structure was first used. You can link to additional pages, use call-outs, charts, photos, and other visuals such as larger or colored fonts, and other graphic flourishes, to call attention to elements you want to emphasize, “hide” others from immediate view (and link to them), or “stage” how and when certain information is delivered to the reader.

Pay attention to how bloggers and online publishers make it easier for their readers to consume their content and emulate them.

No matter what you do, if you want more people to read your words and decide they want to talk to you about representing them, follow this rule of thumb: don’t tell them everything at once.

Filed Under: Blogging, Communication, Content creation, Online Marketing

Common sense email marketing

June 18, 2024 by David M. Ward

Everyone gets unsolicited email and I’m no exception. It’s usually from complete strangers but sometimes it’s from people I know (or knew), who apparently believe that because I know them, or subscribed to their list at some point or bought something from them in the past, it’s okay to continue to send me offers even though I opted out or never opted in.

It’s not okay. It’s annoying, and doesn’t make me want to do business with them. No matter how attractive their offers might be.

Why do they go to the bother? Because they get enough response to their offers to be profitable and not enough complaints to deter them.

Word to the wise. Don’t be that guy. Don’t send unsolicited commercial email, even if it works.

For one thing, it may violate the rules of professional conduct and anti-spam laws in some countries.

It’s okay to send a personal email to someone you don’t know, inquiring about or inviting them to something you have reason to believe might interest them, but don’t sign them up for your newsletter or put them on an email list.

But also don’t be that guy who refuses to offer free information (or services) because you don’t want to be tarnished with the same brush as those spammers. Offering free information or services to people who ask for it is not only a respectable way to market your services, it’s a great way to market your services.

It can help you get more inquires or leads, more sign-ups for your seminar or followers for your channel, help you build a bigger and more responsive mailing list, and bring you a lot of new clients.

Just use a little common sense. And treat people the way you’d like to be treated.

Always tell people what you will do with their email when they sign up, e.g., subscribe them to your newsletter or send them your report, and also what you won’t do, e.g., spam them or sell their email address to third parties. Tell them you respect their privacy and they can opt out at any time.

Your prospects and clients will respect you for respecting them, and reward you for it.

Email marketing for attorneys

Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing

Beyond FAQs

May 22, 2024 by David M. Ward

The FAQs page on your website gets a lot of views because prospective clients want information about the law and about your services. They use your answers to those questions, and how you answer them, to decide to continue reading and take the next step towards hiring you.

Bottom line, FAQs (and your well-thought out answers) are good for business.

Some say you shouldn’t tell them too much because the more you tell them, the more questions you answer, the less likely they are to contact you (or hire you) because you’ve already given them the answers they seek.

And the more likely it is they’ll find something they don’t like and cross you off their list.

And never tell them how to “do it themself”. Answer some things they say, not everything, or they won’t need you.

I say it’s just the opposite. The more you tell them, the more you sell them.

The more value you give them, the more likely they are to see the value of working with you. “If she gives away this much free information, she must have much more information (and help) available for paying clients.”

You sell legal services; you’re not in the information selling business. So give them lots of information. As you educate them, you show them the scope and depth of your knowledge and experience, and upir generosity in giving away all that information. They’ll still need to (and want to) talk to you (and hire you) for advice and help with their specific situation.

One way to do this is to add “SAQs” to your FAQs. Questions they should ask but usually don’t.

Not only will they get more information they need to know, you’ll prompt them to identify other issues and questions they didn’t know they need to ask. And thus, identify more reasons they need to hire you.

As Steve Jobs said, “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” Clients don’t know what to ask until you until you tell them. So tell them.

Do that and you won’t need to tell them why you’re better. They’ll know.

Filed Under: Content creation, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing Tagged With: faqs

The problem with lists

May 10, 2024 by David M. Ward

Everyone uses lists to record information and convey that information to others in a way that’s easy to follow. We use lists in our work, for research, opening and closing files, and every step in between.

We give our clients lists of things to do, and things to avoid, and lists of the steps we will take with their case, and they like knowing what to expect.

We also use lists in our marketing, so we can do things quickly and efficiently, in the right order, without having to think about what to do each time. And because our readers like posts that contain lists, we use lists in our content marketing.

When a business lawyer publishes a post that promises, “21 ways to use the law to increase your bottom line,” for example, this usually attracts prospective clients in their market. “There’s got to be at least one or two of those ways I can use,” they think, and they read (scan) the post to find out.

List posts work, and you should use them liberally in your content marketing.

Okay, so what’s the problem?

The problem is that because list-posts work and are easy to write, everyone writes them. Lawyers, consumer and business writers, bloggers, consultants, et al., know that list posts are popular (by looking at their statistics), and so they write lots of them.

Therefore, while you should use lists in your content, you shouldn’t rely on them exclusively.

Use your knowledge and experience and credibility as a lawyer to write more thoughtful, in-depth content, the kind only a lawyer of your experience and standing can provide.

Clients prefer to read and hire experts. A thoughtful piece by an attorney who practices in the area they need help with is more valuable to them than a simple list by a blogger.

So, you need both.

Write simple list-posts to get traffic and opens, and authoritative posts to “sell” readers on following and hiring you.

Filed Under: Content creation, Online Marketing, Writing

Education-based marketing

April 15, 2024 by David M. Ward

One of the best ways to market your legal services is to teach clients and prospects about the law. That’s what they want to know when they go to a search engine or click a link. They want to know how bad their problem or situation is, available solutions, the risks, and their options.

And if they are searching for a lawyer, they want to know why they should choose you.

Educate them and they will be much more likely to choose you, because the information you share not only helps them decide to do something about their situation, it shows them you have the knowledge and experience they need and want.

Which is why you do seminars and presentations, write articles and books and newsletters, and create other types of what we now call “content”.

One of the simplest ways to do this is through a blog. You can add a blog to your website, or set up a separate blog, easily and inexpensively (WordPress is free), and use it to write anywhere, even on your phone.

A major benefit of a blog is that you own all the content. You don’t have to send people to other platforms that might bury your content, censor it, or distract visitors with content from other lawyers.

A blog also supports any other marketing you do—networking, social media, advertising, and referrals. People hear about you and visit your blog to learn more. As they consume your content, they sell themselves on taking the next step.

That next step might be to contact you and ultimately hire you, or sign up for your newsletter, which allows you to stay in touch with them until they hire you.

Okay, before you ask, the answer is no, you don’t have to be ‘blogger’ to benefit from a blog. You don’t have to do all the things bloggers do: SEO, engaging with visitors, curating comments, or creating a never-ending series of fresh posts to please the hungry search engines. You don’t have to post continually on social media, appear on other people’s podcasts or channels, or advertise.

You can do any of that if you want to, or use your blog as a sort of online brochure, a place YOU send people to learn more about you and what you do.

To do that, set up a simple blog (it takes ten minutes) and write 5 or 10 posts about your area of expertise. Link to your blog from your website, put the url on your business card and in the “signature” of your emails, and when you talk to someone and they want to know more about what you do, send them to your (website and) blog.

This is an easy and extremely effective way to educate prospects, clients, and referral sources about what you do and why someone should hire you.

How to set up a blog for your law practice

Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing

Sorry, I don’t want to smack that bell

February 28, 2024 by David M. Ward

Everywhere we turn, somebody is telling us to do something. Fill out a form, download a pdf, watch a video, like, comment, share, subscribe.

It’s annoying, but it works. We’re more likely to click something when we’re asked to do it.

Which is why everyone asks. And why you should too.

If you want more subscribers, ask (tell) people to subscribe. You’ll get more subscribers. If you want more clients, tell people to call for an appointment. You’ll get more calls. And clients.

You’re reminding them to do something that’s good for them. The more you ask or remind them, the better off they’ll be. So don’t feel guilty about asking. They’ll thank you later, after you’ve helped them solve their problem.

Ultimately, people do what they want to do. I do that; you do that. It doesn’t matter how many times I tell you to do something or buy something, you won’t do it—unless you want to. I can’t make you do it, just as you can’t make a prospective client write you a big check.

But while we can’t compel people to do things, we can make it more likely that they will.

The simplest way to do that is to tell them why. Give them one or more reasons or benefits for doing what you ask. Tell them what’s in it for them. Because they might not know. They might not remember. They might not have wanted or needed those benefits before, but now they do.

This doesn’t mean you have to pile on the benefits. You don’t have to smother them with extras and bonuses, or go to great lengths to persuade them to do what you ask. People like helping you. They like telling others about you and what you offer. It makes them feel good about themself to do that.

Which is why many people will do what you ask simply because you ask.

But more will do it if you tell them why.

The Attorney Marketing Formula

Filed Under: Content creation, List building, Online Marketing, Social media marketing