Legal marketing for dummies

February 21, 2014 by
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Hope I didn’t just violate a copyright with that title. Hey, maybe the “For Dummies” publisher will ask me to write that book! Ahem, people of the NSA, I know you’re reading this. Could you do me a solid and pass this along for me?

My tax dollars at work.

Anyway, so this is a very simple idea for bringing in some new business. Possibly a lot of new business.

Here’s the lowdown.

You know some good lawyers in other practice areas, right? If not, you need to get out more. But you can use this idea even if you don’t. I’ll explain in a minute.

So, if you’re an estate planner, I want you to call up a divorce or small business or PI lawyer you know and invite them to coffee or lunch. If they insist on asking why you want to meet, tell them you want to talk about referrals. That always gets a lawyer’s juices flowing.

Bring a legal pad, if you still have one, and an open mind. Tell them to do the same.

The purpose of your meeting is to brainstorm some ways you can help each other.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Send a letter or email to your respective lists, introducing each other
  • Interview each other for your blogs, newsletters podcasts, or youtube videos
  • Do guest posts for each other’s blogs or newsletters
  • Put together a talk, seminar, webinar, teleconference, hangout, or video you could do together
  • Compare notes about professionals you know who might make a good referral source for each other and introduce each other
  • Like and re-tweet and share each other’s social media posts
  • Invite each other to your networking meetings

Got it? Okay, now pick one idea, set a date for completion (if you don’t, we all know it’s not going to happen), and do it. Hold each other accountable for getting your respective parts done.

After that, pick something else on the list and do that.

After that, contact another lawyer you know and do the same thing.

Now, if you don’t know any lawyers in other practice areas, or when you run out of ones you do know, go find some lawyers you don’t know, call them up, introduce yourself, and tell them you want to meet for coffee. If they ask why, tell them you want to talk about referrals.

Of course this isn’t just about referrals. It’s about website traffic and exposure and list building and networking. There are lots of ways professionals can help each other besides referrals. You know this, but are you doing this?

Go get you some marketing partners and some new business.

For more legal marketing for dummies ideas, see The Attorney Marketing Formula

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Filed Under: List building, Marketing legal services, Networking, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing Tagged With:

What if paying referral fees to non-lawyers was legal and ethical?

December 17, 2013 by
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Okay, time to put on your thinking cap and take a stroll with me down imagination boulevard.

We know that paying referral fees to non-lawyers is illegal and unethical for most lawyers. Some lawyers flout the rules and pay referral fees under the table. Others, if they were honest, would admit that while they never have paid referral fees, they have been tempted to do so. At some point in our careers, I think most lawyers have at least wondered why the rules are the way they are.

Rather than debate that hot potato, I’d like to ask you to think about what it would be like if the rules were changed. How would your practice be different if it was legal and ethical to offer referral fees to non-lawyers?

For the moment, forget about whether or not you would offer referral fees yourself, think about what might happen if you did.

When you meet someone new at a networking event, for example, instead of courting them and building a relationship, hoping that one day they might send you some business, you could simply tell them what you do and what percentage of your fees you are willing to pay for a referral.

Do you think you would get more referrals?

Ya think?

Your contacts would have dollar signs dancing in their brains. They’d start promoting you to their clients and customers, friends and family. They’d beat the bushes looking for potential clients, wouldn’t they? They’d refer everyone to you, not to other lawyers who don’t offer a referral fee, or who offer significantly less.

You could quickly build an army of referral sources, people not just willing to send you business but actively looking to do so.

You’d be signing up new clients every day of the week. You’d have more business than you could handle. What will you do with all that money. . .?

Okay, snap out of it. This isn’t going to happen. Not in our lifetime, anyway. And we don’t want it to happen, do we? Okay, maybe we do, maybe we don’t, but it’s won’t, so forget about it.

Let’s sit down, catch our breath, have a cup of coffee, and consider what we’ve learned.

We’ve learned that people who have the ability to make referrals to us often don’t, and that most people who have referred business in the past could probably refer more.

Where does that leave us? Back at square one. Building relationships, practicing the golden rule, serving our clients and professional contacts. In other words, doing the things we’ve learned about marketing and building a practice.

Your clients and contacts can and will send you lots of business. They will beat the bushes for you and promote you to everyone they know, and they will do this without a financial incentive. Smother them will love and attention, give them more value than they expect, stay in touch with them, and give it time.

Offering cash would be quicker, it’s true. But doing things the old fashioned way works just fine.

The 30 Day Referral Blitz will quickly bring you more referrals without asking for referrals. Click here.

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Filed Under: Legal industry, Marketing legal services, Referral sources, Referrals Tagged With: , ,

Get more referrals with client appreciation dinners

December 16, 2013 by
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Client appreciation dinners are a great way to recognize your best clients and thank them for their loyalty. Basically, you invite them to a free dinner where you present awards and gifts, introduce them to other clients in their niche, and enjoy a good meal.

You might have guest speakers, who may be willing to co-sponsor the event. You might invite your clients to bring guests. Or you can keep the evening information-free and pitch-free and just have a good time.

A Facebook friend of mine, a Realtor, mentioned his firm’s upcoming “Top Referring Client Appreciation Dinner.” I thought that was a smart variation on the idea because his clients have to do something to get invited to the dinner.

There’s a little bit of competition involved. Clients hear about the event and want to come. After the dinner, they see photos on your website and do their best to get invited the following year. Those who do attend will work hard to make the guest list again the following year. They’ll also talk about the dinner to their friends and colleagues.

Of course it also allows the host to promote the subject of referrals to all of their clients indirectly, by simply talking about the dinner.

Nice.

When you recognize good behavior (referrals), you reinforce that behavior and it tends to be repeated. When you recognize that behavior publicly (dinners), many of those who didn’t get recognized (invited) will change their behavior so they can be included the next time.

The bottom line is that you get more referrals, not just from those who make the grade as “top referrers” but from everyone. Your top referrer may send you ten clients, but you may have 100 clients who send you one or two.

If you can’t or don’t want to do a client appreciation dinner (criminal defense lawyers, I’m talking to you), how about a dinner for professionals? Invite your best referral sources and recognize them for their efforts. You can do this even if you do sponsor a client dinner.

If a client or referral source appreciation dinner isn’t in your budget right now, consider a breakfast or luncheon. Or, invite your best referring client or referral source out to dinner, just the two of you, to say thank you for their support throughout the year. Next year, you can invite a few more.

Want another way to get more referrals without asking for referrals? Here it is.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Marketing legal services, Referral sources, Referrals Tagged With: , , ,

The 8-Part Recipe to Get Referrals from Shared Office Space

November 26, 2013 by
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If you rent or sublet shared office space with other professionals, hands down, the easiest source of referrals for your law practice is from your officemates.

Most lawyers view office space as a necessary expense. While this sentiment may be true, it’s short-sighted.

An attorney’s office space should be viewed the same way as an associate; in theory, the income it generates should exceed its cost. And just as your junior associate has a billable hour requirement, your office space should be held to the same standard.

You should generate 1x to 2x your rent in in referrals from officemates every year.

Whether you share office space with lawyers in your own firm or other professionals in a shared office space, you should be receiving at least one to two times your rent in referrals, per year, from officemates.

Clearly not enough to make a practice, but it will take one of your biggest fixed expenses and turn it into a powerful revenue source. For a solo attorney or small law firm, the additional revenue could pay for another marketing campaign, an assistant’s salary or a much needed vacation.

Building referral relationships with officemates takes very little time.

Cultivating referral relationships with officemates takes very little effort or time – a precious commodity in in the legal business. Think about it. You’ll see your officemates every day anyway. This is the easiest networking you will ever engage in.

Plus, it’s fun — or at least less distasteful as compared to other kinds of marketing activities.

But the rules of the referral game still apply.

Whether you network for referrals inside the office or out, the rules of the referral game apply: People do business with those they know, like and trust, and it doesn’t hurt if you send a piece of business before expecting one in return.

But unlike networking outside the office, in a shared workspace, you can build strong relationships as you go about your regular workday.

Use these 8 simple steps to consistently get referrals from officemates.

Here are 8 simple tips that, if done consistently, will generate more referrals from your officemates:

  1. Do the walk-around. Once a day in either the morning or evening, do a walk around the office and say hello to your neighbors. If they’re not busy ask them a few questions about their family, weekend plans or something important to them that is unrelated to business.
  2. Be a good listener. Nobody likes a blowhard, but everyone loves to talk about themselves. Be a good listener and you’ll get the reputation for being a gracious conversationalist without having to say much. It’s a great technique for those of us who are not particularly outgoing. What your officemates tell you about themselves will be topics for future conversations, and will help accelerate the development of your relationship.
  3. Keep them wanting more. If you’ve done a stop-in to a colleagues’ office, hit the eject button early in the conversation. If you are a constant presence in your neighbor’s doorway and you regularly overstay your welcome, you’ll start to find that your neighbors’ doors may be closed. Always leave them wanting more. You’ll be able to develop trust that your visits will be fun and/or productive and won’t waste their time.
  4. Get out of the office together. Have your assistant coordinate a lunch (or do it yourself) once every couple of weeks with one or two of your neighbors. At lunch, try to keep the conversation about things other than business, because it’s likely to end up there all on its own.
  5. Market THEIR business too. While you are out of the office marketing, keep your ears open for business opportunities that you can direct to one of your neighbors. When you give something of value to someone else, it’s human nature to want to reciprocate. This is even more so when you see the ‘giver’ every day in the office. The favor will always be returned.
  6. Be helpful. Offer to cover for your neighbors while they are on vacation or if they are out sick. Even if your neighbor doesn’t need your help, the offer alone will add value to your relationship.
  7. Be generous. Every few months, buy a few pizzas and a six-pack and host an informal happy hour for your neighbors. Do it in the conference room after work hours. It will give you all a chance to blow off some steam without being too formal.
  8. Seek their advice. Ask a neighbor a question about a legal issue you are grappling with. People love to be helpful, and lawyers in particular like to appear knowledgeable. Be appreciative of the advice and see your relationship grow.

The exchange of referrals is merely a natural extension of our personal relationships – without which, the referrals won’t likely happen. As with any good referral relationship, a personal connection must come first.

In the legal profession, long days are part of the job and attorneys spend many waking hours with their office colleagues. In some weeks, you may see your officemates more than you see your spouse or children.

Taking time to get to know the people you share office space with makes work life that much more enjoyable – an investment that will return more than just referral income.
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Stephen Furnari is a corporate attorney and the founder of Law Firm Suites, an executive suite for law firms based in New York City whose attorney clientele exchange $2.5 million in client referrals each year. Mr. Furnari is the author of How to Convert Office Rent into Referral Revenue, the ultimate eBook guide to maximizing referrals in shared law office space. Stephen has been featured in the ABA Journal, Entrepreneur, New York Daily News and Crain’s New York. Follow Stephen on Twitter.

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Filed Under: Guest Posts, Marketing legal services, Referral sources, Referrals

Why lawyers should start a SECOND blog

November 8, 2013 by
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“Blog” is a scary word for some lawyers. They think it takes too much time relative to the rewards, and/or that they don’t have anything to write about that anybody (i.e., prospective clients) would want to read.

This isn’t true. But let’s put that aside for now and talk about why you should start your second blog. (If you don’t have your first blog, you can come back and start that later.)

And by the way, don’t call it a blog if that word makes you nervous. Call it a “website with mostly non-promotional content,” because that’s what it is.

Anyway, why should lawyers start a second blog? To attract prospective clients, of course. And the people who can refer them.

Here’s the idea: you choose a subject that is of interest to your target market (or the people who can refer them) and that also interests you. You write about that subject and post it on a blog, er, website. Interested people find your content and read it. They sign up for your list to get more of your awesomeness. They promote your content to their friends and followers, colleagues and business associates. Your list grows and grows.

You briefly mention your day job to everyone who visits the site and signs up for your list. You tell them what you do and provide a link to your legal website. Every so often, you remind them about what you do.

So, now you have a list of people who share an interest with you. They know, like, and trust you, and while their trust is not directly related to your legal services, when they need a lawyer who does what you do, it won’t be difficult for them to make that leap.

You create this website, promote it, and have fun with it. You write about things that interest your visitors and subscribers and yourself. Or, if “writing” is a scary word for you, think of it as “curating” other people’s content that you append with your brief comments.

Do you see how this could be easy and how it could also bring you a lot of business? Basically, you are expanding your “warm market” (people who know you). When those people need a lawyer, or when someone they know needs a lawyer, you’ll be at or near the top of their list.

What do you write about (or curate)? Well, what interests you?

If you love sports and lots of your prospective clients do too, bada bing, there’s your subject.

You could write about classic cars, photography, food, exercise, or travel. Whatever floats your boat. Hey, how about boating?

What about referral sources? Well, for other lawyers, you could write trial tips, law office management, or marketing (!) Tell them how you do what you do.

You could write about personal development, productivity, or your favorite technology.

In other words, you could write about anything, so long as there are enough people in your target market who share your interest. And if there aren’t, you could always start your third blog.

For help in creating and growing your second blog (or your first), click here.

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Filed Under: Blogging, List building, Marketing legal services, Networking, Online Marketing, Referral sources, Writing Tagged With: , ,

How to get new clients through email

October 14, 2013 by
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Can a lawyer really get new clients through email? Sure. If direct mail works, why not direct email?

If it’s ethical in your jurisdiction (it probably isn’t), and you don’t mind being accused of spamming (you should mind), you could pick up some clients this way. Go find some people in your target market, send an email and offer them something of value they would find helpful in their business or personal life. An article, report, video, seminar transcript, or newsletter that helps them solve a problem or achieve a goal.

They’ll read or listen, see that you know what you’re doing and can help them, and some of them will contact you to take the next step towards hiring you.

Make sense?

But there’s a much better way to get new clients through email that’s not unethical, tacky, or spammy. And it will probably work even better.

Instead of reaching out to prospective clients by email, reach out to prospective referral sources.

Find other professionals who serve your target market. Study their website and google them. Then, send them an email that says you target the same market they do and want to introduce yourself. You’d like to find out more about what they do and see if there’s a way the two of you can work together. Ask if they want to meet for coffee, or chat on the phone.

Make your email personal. Say something specific about them or their website, so they know you’re not sending a “form letter” to thousands of others.

When you talk to them, find out what they are looking for and see if you can help them get it. I know, they want referrals and you may not have any to give right now, but there are other ways you can help them. Do they have a seminar you can promote? Would they like to come to your networking meeting as your guest? Do they have a Facebook page you can like?

At some point, tell them about your video, report, article, or newsletter and invite them to make this available to their clients, subscribers, and followers. They also may not have referrals to give you right now and this gives you another way to gain exposure to their contacts.

Send ten emails this week and see what happens. If only one professional offers your report or video to his or her list, hundreds of prospective clients, perhaps thousands, will not only get your information, they will get the implied endorsement of that professional. New clients won’t be far behind.

Learn more about how to get more referrals from other professionals. Click here.

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Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing Tagged With:

Simple, inexpensive, and oh so powerful marketing for lawyers

October 9, 2013 by
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How would you like to have five or ten local businesses or professionals passing out your report, brochure, or other propaganda to every one of their customers or clients?

Okay, here’s what you do:

  1. Make a list of categories. What type of business or professional has customers or clients in your target market?
  2. Make a list of candidates. Go online and find websites of businesses and professionals in those categories in your market. Put a star next to the names of those who have a newsletter, blog, mailing list, or social media followers.
  3. Contact each candidate and tell them you have a proposal that could be to your mutual benefit. Basically, you’re going to hand out their literature to your clients and prospects and they’ll do the same for you.
  4. Create a handout. This could be anything with your name and contact information on it–a brochure, report, coupon, gift certificate, free consultation offer, or anything else. Have them do the same.

Print the handout. Create a pdf version, too, for email lists and website visitors. On your handout, add a different code for each cross-promotion partner, so you can see which ones are sending you the most business.

Now, all you have to do is pass out each other’s literature. When your supply gets low, notify your partner so they can provide you with more, and of course, you want them to do the same.

Okay, that’s the idea. Simple, isn’t it? But very effective.

You may have to contact ten or twenty candidates to find a few who understand the power of this idea, but you only need a few. Why? Because a cross-promotion carries with it the implied endorsement of the cross-promotion partner (so make sure you choose good quality businesses and qualified professionals). A handful of partners passing out your information to hundreds of people every day could bring you more business than you can handle.

Marketing for lawyers doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. Cross-promotions allows you to leverage the lists of other professionals and businesses, bringing targeted traffic to your website and hot prospects to your phone.

For more ways to get traffic and clients by leveraging OPL (other people’s lists), get this.

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Filed Under: Advertising, List building, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Online Marketing, Referral sources, Referrals Tagged With: , ,

What if you never met anyone new?

October 4, 2013 by
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Did you hear about the imaginary new law? It says that one year from today, lawyers will no longer be allowed to meet new people. No networking, no advertising, no social media, no speaking or writing or anything else. Whoever you know one year from today is it.

Disastrous? One more law that needs to be overturned?

Not really. The law doesn’t say you can’t get referrals. The people you know can still send business and introduce you to people they know.

The law simply says that you can’t, on your own, meet anyone new.

(Are you still with me on this imaginary sojourn? I hope so. I do have a point.)

Now, knowing that this law will take effect in exactly one year, what would you?

Would you meet some new people as quickly as possible? You probably would.

Would you do everything you could to meet more well connected, influential people in your target market? Yeah, that would make sense.

Would you also work hard to strengthen your existing relationships? I’m thinking that’s a yes.

If one year from today you could not, on your own, meet anyone knew, I think it’s safe to assume you would have a sense of urgency about improving and growing your existing network of contacts. The question is, at some point, would you have enough?

Would you know enough people to sustain your practice ad infinitem? Could you survive and thrive solely on their repeat business, referrals, and introductions?

Yes.

No matter what kind of practice you have, if enough people know, like, and trust you, and you treat them right and stay in touch with them, your financial future should be golden.

And hey, enough doesn’t mean thousands. 50 or 100 people will probably do the trick for most lawyers, assuming those people aren’t hermits. In fact, five or ten good referral sources can keep you very busy. Remember, you will also get referrals from the new clients they send you and referrals from those clients, too.

It’s not about who you know. It’s about who they know.

Anyway, even though you may already have enough people in your existing network, you probably should go find some new contacts before the new law goes into effect. I know, it’s imaginary, but if you pretend that it’s not, in a year, you’ll be a very happy lawyer.

Want more referrals? Try this.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Leverage, Marketing legal services, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing

New report shows attorneys how to quickly get more referrals

October 3, 2013 by
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The Attorney Marketing Center has announced the release of a report that shows attorneys how to quickly get more referrals. “The 30 Day Referral Blitz” is an expanded and updated version of a report previously available only to author David M. Ward’s consulting clients.

“Lawyers are often told that the way to get more referrals is to ask for them. The problem is, they don’t like asking. The 30 Day Referral Blitz gives them an alternative,” Ward says.

Not only does The Blitz show lawyers how to get referrals without asking, it shows them how to do it quickly. “A ‘referral blitz’ is a concentrated burst of activity that takes place over a 30 day period. After a few hours of prep time, The Blitz can be done in as little as 15 minutes a day,” Ward says.

The original version of The Blitz was slower and more expensive. It required lawyers to use regular mail and the telephone. The new version takes advantage of the speed and reach of the Internet and email, making it easier, quicker, and more economical. “You can do The Blitz every month, if you want to,” Ward says.

The 30 Day Referral Blitz shows lawyers how to get referrals from existing clients, former clients, and other contacts, including professionals and social media connections. For more information, visit The Attorney Marketing Center or this page.

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

Marketing legal services with a rifle, not a shotgun

September 24, 2013 by
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Most attorneys use a shotgun in their marketing. They spray marketing pellets far and wide, hoping to hit anything that flies by. Because they aren’t focused, they spend too much time (and money) and are often frustrated with their results.

The most successful attorneys use a rifle in their marketing. They aim at carefully selected prospective clients and referral sources. They may not always hit something, but when they do, the usually win the big prize.

Let’s look at two estate planning attorneys seeking to build their practice through networking.

Attorney number one goes to a networking event at his local Chamber of Commerce. He meets as many people as possible and comes home with 20 or 30 business cards. He sends everyone a “nice to meet you” email and waits to see what happens. And waits. And waits. Because everyone he met is busy, and also marketing with a shotgun, not much happens.

Attorney number two focuses on professionals in the health care industry, so he attends a networking event sponsored by an association of health care professionals. Before he goes, he does some homework. He finds out who will be speaking at the event, and gets a list of the event organizers and committee heads. He Google’s these people’s names, visits their websites, and sets up files on three people he wants to meet at the event. He knows where they work, what they do, and what’s important to them.

At the event, he meets with his chosen three. He takes notes about their conversations. He hits it off with the administrator of a big hospital, in part because they know some of the same people.

The attorney sends follow-up emails to his three. He notes that one belongs to another organization which has a meeting scheduled in two months, and makes a note to ask him if he will be attending that meeting.

The attorney calls a physician he knows whose name came up in his conversation with the hospital administrator. He tells him about his meeting and asks a few questions about the administrator, adding this information to his notes. He says something nice about the administrator.

He does more research on the administrator and his hospital. He finds out which law firms represent the hospital. He subscribes to their newsletters. He does the same thing for the hospital’s insurance brokers, accounting firms, and some of their major suppliers. He sets up Google alerts for these firms and their partners or principals, so he can stay up to date on any news.

He calls the administrator and leaves a voice mail message. He says he enjoyed meeting him and says he spoke to the physician they both know and told him about their meeting. He says the physician said to say hello.

He emails a copy of an article he just wrote for a health care web site to the three people he met at the event. Because he took notes, he is able to add a personal note to each email, mentioning something they talked about at the event.

Okay, you get the idea.

Attorney number two is focused. He doesn’t try to meet everyone, he is selective. He does his homework and he follows up. And because he’s not “targeting” everyone, he has the time to do it.

Attorney number one may get some business from his Chamber of Commerce network. But attorney number two is networking with heavy-duty centers of influence in a niche market. Because he specializes in that market, those centers of influence will notice him and eventually, provide him with referrals and introductions to other centers of influence in that market.

Marketing legal services with a shot gun can make you a living. Marketing with a rifle can make you rich.

Want help choosing the right niche market for your practice? Get this.

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Filed Under: Leverage, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Networking, Referral sources Tagged With: , , ,
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