Spank me and send me to bed without supper

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I blew it.

Yesterday I said that referrals are number one and advertising is number two on my list of favorite marketing methods. When I said that, I was thinking about the days when I was practicing. Back then, those were my top two favorites.

Today, I would give you a different answer.

For most of my days in practice, the Internet wasn’t a thing. At least not something most lawyers had access to. We didn’t have email, either. Cell phones? I wore a pager and used pay phones. For a long time, I didn’t have a fax machine.

Anyway, if I was practicing today, I would tell you that referrals are number one and email is number two. Advertising would be third on the list, not second.

If you don’t like advertising or aren’t allowed to do it, this should come as good news to you because email marketing is something just about any lawyer can do.

It’s easy. There’s little or no cost. It doesn’t take up a lot of time. And it works incredibly well.

If you’re not using email for marketing, the best place to start is to use it to stay in touch with clients and former clients. Remind them that you’re still around and can still help them and the people they know.

Most attorneys can get most of their new business from people who have hired them before and email is the easiest way to do that.

If you are currently using email to stay in touch with clients and former clients, great. But be honest: When was the last time you emailed all of them? When do you plan to do it next? NB: if you have to think about this, you’re not emailing often enough.

Next, start using email as a tool for courting prospective clients. People who have connected with you but haven’t yet hired you. They are much more likely to hire you or send you referrals than someone who doesn’t know you from Adam.

Bottom line? If I had email when I was practicing, I would have grown much bigger, much faster, and with a lot less effort. Today, my entire business is built around email.

So yeah, I should have told you that yesterday. My bad.

Referrals, first and always. Then email. Advertising if you want to take things to the next level.

How to use the Internet and email to build your practice

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