Long time no see. Let’s fix that. 

July 15, 2024 by
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Your best clients, closest friends, strongest business contacts, people who know, like, and trust you and with whom you communicate most—your “strong ties”—are often your primary source of referrals and opportunities to grow your business. 

What about everyone else? 

What about former clients and business contacts you haven’t spoken to in a long time? People who know your name but aren’t now actively involved in your life? Experts say these are your “weak ties” and if you’ve been around for more than a few years, there are far more of them than your weak ties. 

And they represent a potential bonanza of business and prosperity for you. 

They can provide you with valuable information about your (their) market, introduce you to people you’d like to know, send traffic to your website, promote your content and events, provide you with a testimonial or endorsement, and otherwise help your practice grow. 

But their value isn’t so much what they can do for you, it is how easy it is for you to get them to do it. 

You don’t have to spend time or money to identify them, and meet and get to know them. You just have to reconnect with them. You don’t have to win their trust, you just have to kindle it. 

And it can be as simple as digging out their contact information, reaching out and saying hello.

Is that it? Just call or write and say hello? 

Yes. 

Acknowledge the passage of time, ask how they’re doing, and wish them well 

You can do more. You can also send them something, perhaps an article you found (or wrote) and thought might interest them. You can offer to meet and buy coffee or lunch, or invite them to your upcoming event. Or find out what they need or want and help them get it.

What’s next? Perhaps you’ll get together with them and continue the conversation. Or invite them to sign up for your newsletter so you can keep in touch. Or simply calendaring a few months and contact them again.

You might not need to do anything else.

How about contacting them and finding out?

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Filed Under: Communication, Increase your income, Relationship marketing

When should you publish (and how often)?

June 19, 2024 by
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What are the best days for you to publish blog posts or other content? Which days get the most “opens,” sign ups, forms filled out, clicks and engagement? 

Check your stats. 

You might find that Tuesday gets far more opens than other days of the week, in which case you should consider making Tuesday your publication day. 

But, there’s a problem. You typically need enough subscribers to see enough of a statistical variation to matter, and most lawyers don’t. 

If your list is relatively small, other factors besides the day(s) of the week can affect opens and other metrics. So which day(s) you publish might not be important.

How often you publish is another story. 

Publishing once a week will bring better results than publishing once a month. The more often you show up in their inbox, the more your subscribers will get to know you. If they like what you write, they will read most of your messages, look forward to them, and act on them. 

So, publish as often as possible.

Once a week is good. Depending on your market and practice area, two or three times a week, or even every weekday as I do, is (usually) better. 

It allows you to build a relationship with your readers, and that can make all the difference. It’s better to have 100 subscribers who like and trust you than 10,000 who aren’t sure who you are. 

Won’t you get more opt-outs if you publish more often? Probably. But you’re not writing a newsletter for everyone who happens to be on your list. You’re writing for the ones who love you and can’t get enough of you. 

The ones who read you because you teach them things they need or want to know. Because you inspire them, give them ideas, make them laugh, and otherwise lighten their burdens and make their life better.

You don’t have to write brilliant or lengthy articles or posts, or give away the store. You simply need to provide value and publish often enough to stay in your subscribers minds and hearts.

How to write an email newsletter that builds relationships

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Filed Under: Email, Newsletters, Relationship marketing

Size doesn’t matter

May 24, 2024 by
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I’m talking about your list of professional contacts. It’s the quality of your contacts that count, not the quantity. A list of 10,000 people who might recognize your name (or might not) isn’t nearly as valuable as a list of 100 who will take your phone call, reply to your email, or smile when they see you. 

You know, people who know you.

Because if they know people who need your services, or know people who know people who do, you’ve got it made. Even if it’s not a big list.

 Because it’s not who you know. . . it’s who THEY know. (And will introduce you to).

Do you know a professional or business executive who is influential in your target market? Do you know them well enough to ask for a favor? 

Great! Ask them to introduce you. 

If you know the name of someone they know you’d like to meet, ask them by name. “You mentioned you know Jack Bigtime. I’ve heard good things about him and would love to meet him. Would you be silling to introduce us?”

If you don’t know anyone they know by name, ask by category: “Do you know anyone who (describe the kind of contact you’d like to meet).” If they say they do, ask for a detail or two to get them thinking about them, maybe ask how they know them, and then ask if they would introduce you.

If they ask why, tell them the truth—you want to expand your network. Just an introduction. Not marriage. One professional meeting another, the way it’s done every day. 

You may have to talk to a few people to find someone who knows someone who would be a good fit for you and will introduce you (or let you mention their name), but all you need is one. 

Because one will lead to two. And that can lead to dozens. 

Yes, you could play the “quantity-leads-to-quality” game most professionals play, work like crazy and eventually meet someone who’s a good contact for you. But the “quality-leads-to-quality” game is much more fun, and productive. 

Here’s how to do it

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Filed Under: Networking, Referrals, Relationship marketing

Can you rely solely on repeat business and referrals?

May 15, 2024 by
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Yes, you can; many lawyers do. 

They have a client base that trusts them and have enough legal work to keep them busy, and they have friends and business contacts they can and do refer. 

Nice, isn’t it? 

They don’t advertise, network, blog, do presentations, or do any other marketing. They can if they want to, and sometimes they do, but the growth of their practice doesn’t depend on anything other than doing good work for their clients and serving them well.

It takes awhile to get to that point, so if you’re a new lawyer or don’t yet have a big enough practice to generate a steady stream of business, you’ll need to do other things until you get there. I did that when I started practicing. It was hard and took a good five years, but it was worth it. 

Hold on. It’s easy to screw up. 

Clients and their businesses die, you mess up and they leave, the economy throws you under the bus, laws change, competition steals the show, overhead can eat you alive, and other factors can change everything. 

So, never take anything or anyone for granted. Assume the best, but be prepared for the worst:

  • Continually strengthen your relationships with clients, prospects, and business contacts. 
  • Ask for testimonials, reviews, introductions, and referrals, because they may not think to provide them if you don’t.
  • Create a website that tells people what you do and how you can help them and let it do most of the selling for you.
  • Build a list and stay in touch with everyone.

Finally, continually look for new ways to bring in business and increase your profits, because you never know what the future has in store.

How to talk to clients about referrals

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Filed Under: Referrals, Relationship marketing

Remember me?

October 23, 2023 by
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Think about all the clients you’ve had over the years. Do you think some of them might have a legal issue or question but haven’t contacted you? Or know someone who has a legal issue or question but haven’t told them about you?

Your old clients might know where to find you when they need you, but many don’t. If they haven’t talked to you or heard from you in a while, some won’t even remember your name. If you stay in touch with them, even just sending an email from time to time, they’ll not only remember who you are, they will think of you first when they need some help.

But there’s another reason to stay in touch with them. Your mere presence in their mailbox makes it more likely that they will recognize that they might have a legal problem or question and be more likely to contact you to find out.

And unlike the multitude of strangers and cold leads in the world, you don’t have spend a dime to find these people, or have to convince them of your capabilities.

Just contact them and say hello. 

Yes, you can also offer them something, send them your new article, or ask them about their family or business. But saying hello is often enough. 

If they don’t have a legal issue or question to talk to you about, hearing from you will make it more likely that when they do, they’ll think of you before looking for help anywhere else.

Especially when you continue to stay in touch with them.

Guess what? It works the same way with “old” business contacts and newsletter subscribers.

They “knew” you once and might be happy to “know” you again. If they do, it could be the first step towards reestablishing a relationship with you, and all the benefits that go with that. 

Email Marketing for Attorneys

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Filed Under: Relationship marketing

Leveraging other people’s talent, knowledge, and resources

October 19, 2023 by
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One of the best ways to grow a law practice is to conduct joint ventures with other professionals and businesses that target the same markets and clients you target. 

If you handle family law and target high-income executives in the health-care industry, for example, you should talk to business owners, insurance brokers, financial planners, consultants, accountants, and other (non-competing) lawyers who have an established clientele and/or actively target the types of people who fit the profile of your ideal client (and the people who can refer them).

You identify joint venture candidates, find ways to meet them, and learn more about what they do. You then tell them what you do and see if there is some common ground for working together for your mutual benefit. 

This might mean conducting seminars together, sharing the costs of a mailing, or interviewing each other for your respective newsletters or blogs.

It might mean inviting each other to networking functions, co-authoring articles or books, or sending emails to each other’s lists with information or offers.

It might be keeping each other on a list of recommended “vendors” and referring to each other when a client or contact says they are looking for someone who does what you (and they) do. 

And it might simply mean providing suggestions, feedback and encouragement to each other in your individual marketing ventures.

But don’t try to figure that out right now. 

Just make a profile of the kinds of joint venture partners who might make a good fit for you. Once you’ve done that, you may discover that you already know people who fit that profile. Talk to them, tell them you think you should talk about “working together” and see what develops. 

How to get referrals from, and set up joint ventures with, lawyer and other professionals

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Filed Under: Leverage, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing Tagged With:

I know a lot of good lawyers

September 13, 2023 by
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Most of your clients and contacts know you don’t handle everything. If they don’t, you should tell them because you also want them to know that you know other lawyers who handle the things you don’t. 

You want to tell them this because you want them to think of you and come to you whenever they have any kind of legal issue or question, so you can refer them to (good) lawyers who can help them. 

You earn the appreciation of your clients and contacts for saving them time and sparing them the risk of trying to find a lawyer on their own. 

And you get the appreciation of the lawyers to whom you refer them, who may reciprocate with referrals to you, say nice things about you to their clients and contacts, introduce you to centers of influence they know, and otherwise work with for your mutual benefit.  

It also gives you a reason to reach out to lawyers you don’t know and learn about them, so you can expand and deepen your network. 

In a nutshell, you want to position yourself as the “go to” lawyer in your market for anyone who needs legal help. (And yes, you should also do this with non-lawyers who serve your market). 

In sum: 

  1. Tell everyone that you know a lot of good lawyers and encourage them to contact you when they have a legal issue or question of any kind
  2. Create a database and collect information about the lawyers you know and want to know
  3. Periodically connect with your lawyer network to (a) get updates about what they’re doing and how you can help them (and their clients), and (b) update them about what you’re doing and how they can help you (and your clients)
  4. Ask your growing network “who do you know I should know?” and ask them to introduce you

Your success doesn’t depend on what you know so much as who you know (and… who they know). 

How to build and grow your lawyer network

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Filed Under: Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing

The power of one

July 21, 2023 by
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Every one of your clients can send you at least one referral, or introduce you to someone who can. Some clients will send you a lot of referrals. Some won’t send you any. But if you get an average of just one referral from every client during their “leftime” as your client, you’ll never run out of new clients.  

Each client will “replace” themself. 

It’s the power of one. 

And it should be one of your goals. 

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Easy math. But how do you make this happen? 

Start by reminding yourself that every client knows people who have, or one day will have, a legal situation you can help them with. Everyone knows people they can refer. 

They also know other influential people they can introduce to you and those people have clients or customers or personal contacts they can refer. 

Everyone knows one or more insurance agents or brokers, CPAs, real estate brokers, or other lawyers. They know business owners and executives, pastors, and other centers of influence in their industry or local market. 

And each of these folks can refer clients to you even if your original client can’t.

Your clients can also refer people with legal situations you don’t handle. You do commercial bankruptcy, for example, and they know someone with a tax problem or who needs a divorce. If they refer that person to you, you can refer this would-be client to another lawyer you know, which can lead to that other lawyer reciprocating and sending you business they don’t handle. 

Referrals can come from anywhere. And people can always lead you to other people. 

Referral marketing isn’t just about the people you know, it’s about who they know. 

When you have a new client or prospect or business contact, find out who they know. You should have a form for that. With prompts to ask about their professional contacts, colleagues, and others in their industry or market. 

If every client or prospect gives you the name of their insurance broker or real estate agent, for example, you can contact them and (with permission), tell them you have a mutual client. That’s the first step towards getting referrals from them, and being introduced to their circle of contacts..

Everyone you know can send you (at least) one referral, or lead you to someone who can. 

It’s the power of one. 

How to get more referrals from your clients

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Filed Under: Referrals, Relationship marketing

Give it time

February 28, 2023 by
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I’ve heard it takes 3 to 4 years to fully get to know someone. If that’s true, it means that a lot of people you “know” you’re really just starting to get to know. 

And you should give it time. 

As you get to know them (better), and they get to know you, your relationship can grow from new acquaintances to solid business connections, referral partners, and friends. And that might take awhile.

True, sometimes you hit it off immediately. The circumstances are right, the chemistry is right, and while it will probably take time to fully know each other, you can tell there’s something there and it’s worth it.

But that doesn’t happen often. 

Which means we shouldn’t be so quick to judge someone, or make up our minds as to where they might fit into our life.

What do you do while you’re giving things time to develop? Asking about their business or family. Sending them information about things they might need or want. Asking if they need help with anything. Inviting them to meet for coffee. Or just staying in touch.

And not expecting them to do the same for you. 

Not everyone will reciprocate. You might reach out often, promote their business or cause, offer to introduce them to someone they should know, or send them a boatload of goodies, and they might do none of that for you. 

That doesn’t mean you can’t have a relationship. 

Keep the fires burning, or at least keep them from going out. One day, they might need your help with something, or reflect on how much you’ve done for them already, and realize how much you mean to them. 

And this could be the start of your “romance”. 

But don’t expect (or demand) more from them. Let the relationship develop naturally. 

If the day comes when you realize that things aren’t going anywhere—they don’t return your calls or respond to your email, they don’t show appreciation for anything you’ve done, back off. Give them less time and attention.

But don’t shut the door. 

Keep them on your list of people you stay in touch with (via email, predominately), and reserve personal time for other folks who have shown you they want you in their life. 

You might hear from them eventually. The time might finally be right for them, which means it’s also right for you

If not, that’s okay. There are plenty of other fish in the sea. 

The Attorney Marketing Formula

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Filed Under: Networking, Relationship marketing

Maybe you need some new friends

February 16, 2023 by
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Jim Rohn said, “If you wish to be successful, study success.” A good place to start is by studying successful lawyers. 

Some lawyers are great marketers. Some are great at managing their practice. Some have other skills that have helped them build a happy personal life. 

You would do well to identify, learn from, and emulate the ones who know what they’re doing, as long as what they are doing is consistent with how you work and what you want to build. 

It might be someone you know. Spend more time with your successful lawyer contacts. Ask them what they’re doing, find out the systems and methods they use, ask them to recommend vendors and resources, and follow in their mighty footsteps. 

It might be someone you would like to know. Ask your contacts if they know them and ask them to introduce you. Or just pick up the phone and introduce yourself. Tell them you liked their article, ask a question, or congratulate them on their recent victory.

Sometimes, you can learn from someone without ever speaking to them. 

Study their articles, their website, their advertising, their webinars, and anything else you can find about them. Discovering their secrets might be as simple as reading their book, watching their videos, or subscribing to their newsletter.

And there are other ways you can benefit from networking with successful lawyers. 

You can learn about their practice areas and markets. Find out who’s who and what’s what.

You can promote each other’s content, events, and practice. 

You can become workout partners, holding each other accountable to doing what you said you intended to do. 

Or you can help each other with learning how to use an app, sharing templates or forms, or providing feedback about your new project. 

At the very least, other lawyers can inspire you and show you what’s possible. Having a successful lawyer to model gives you a track to run on.  

What if you’re not sure you have something to offer in return? 

But you do. 

You can promote their practice, without asking anything in return. Send them referrals if you can, write about them on your blog, interview them for your channel. 

You’ll get their attention. And earn some of their time. And take the first step towards a mutually rewarding professional relationship.

And maybe a new friend.

How to get referrals from other lawyers

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Filed Under: Referrals, Relationship marketing
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