Paid content vs. the other kind

November 14, 2019 by
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You’ve got content you give away to get leads and build your list. Because it’s free, it may or may not bring you high-quality leads.

But, you’ll take them.

If you get 100 sign-ups this month by giving away a report and only 5 “buy” your services, you could make out like a bandit.

The other option is to offer paid content.

Being a professional doesn’t mean you can’t (or shouldn’t) create seminars or books or other content that people pay for. You may earn some extra income that way (or turn it into a new business as I did), but there’s another reason to do it.

Better leads.

If your content provides value and is targeted to your ideal client, the leads and subscribers you get, while smaller in number, will usually be higher quality.

Which can bring you more clients. Probably better clients. With less effort because your content does most of the “selling” for you.

In my humble (but correct) opinion, you should consider creating both free and paid content. At the very least, publish a short book and use it to get traffic to your website.

On Amazon, you can run free promotions for your paid books, to get your book into more hands and improve the ranking.

Which is what I’m doing over the next few days for my latest book, “How to Sell Your Legal Services in 15 Seconds or Less.”

Starting tomorrow (Friday), for the next few days you can download the ebook at no cost.

You can get it here

It’s a quick read that spells out how to quickly get other people to understand what you do and how you can help them (or their clients). It also helps you find out if they are a candidate for your services and then transition to the next step such as an appointment or phone conversation.

So, check it out.

If you like the book, I’d appreciate your showing me some love and leaving a review. Even a few words help.

“How to Sell Your Legal Services in 15 Seconds or Less.”

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Filed Under: List building Tagged With: ,

Get my book free on Kindle

August 4, 2016 by
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You may recall that I interviewed appellate attorney Steve Emmert and published that interview as a Kindle book. In the interview, we talked about how he built his “appellate only” practice at a time when other attorneys told him that was not impossible.

He explained what he did to defy the odds and become the top appellate attorney in his market. He offered advice for attorneys who want to start an appellate practice or take theirs to the next level.

Of course, we also talked about marketing and much of what he does is applicable to marketing any practice area.

If you haven’t read “How to Build a Successful Appellate Practice,” for the next few days you can get a free copy here (Note, you don’t need a Kindle device to read Kindle books.)

I’m giving the book away because I have another book coming out about how I conducted the interview and turned it into a book. It shows you how to use “expert interviews” to quickly write and publish a book and use it to promote your practice.

I’ll let you know when the new book is available. In the meantime, get your copy of How to Build a Successful Appellate Practice.

 

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: , , ,

The first book I ever wrote

March 4, 2016 by
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In my personal injury practice, I had every client bring in their auto insurance policy. As I reviewed their policies, I noticed that most of my clients were spending too much for insurance.

They bought coverage they didn’t need, had deductibles that were too low, and routinely purchased from companies that charged double or triple what other carriers charged.

Anyway, I fell into the habit of going over their policies with them and showing them how to improve their coverage and lower their costs. A nice added value service that my clients appreciated.

One day, I decided to wrote a book on the subject. I thought that in addition to giving copies to my clients, I could sell the book, something I had always wanted to do.

And I did sell a copy. Yep, just one.

Why? It was a good book. The problem was that I didn’t have a viable way to market it.

This was before Amazon and other online book stores. No websites, no “online”. Advertising was my best bet but my margins (the gross profit on the book) weren’t enough to cover the costs of advertising.

I didn’t have a back end product or service to sell. If I had been in the insurance business, I could have sold the book at break even, or at a loss, and made my profit on the back end selling insurance.

The lesson is that it’s not the product, it’s the marketing. It doesn’t matter how good your product is if you don’t have a profitable way to reach your target market.

That’s true whether you’re selling books or candlesticks or legal services.

You may deliver outstanding legal services but you will starve to death if you don’t have a way to reach potential clients and deliver your message. On the other hand, if you are merely competent as a lawyer but you use sound marketing strategies, you can make a fortune.

The good news is that legal services have big margins. You can afford to spend money (or the equivalent in time) disseminating your message. The even better news is that most attorneys do such a poor job of marketing that you can easily beat them to the punch.

Ready for more good news?

Today, we do have Amazon and other online book stores, and websites of our own. We can economically reach book buyers, and then sell them legal services on the back end. Our marketing is paid for by book sales. Instead of paying for advertising, our advertising pays us.

How to identify your best target market

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,