David M. Ward, Author at The Attorney Marketing Center

Do what you can’t do

July 15, 2020 by David M. Ward

What’s holding you back? Why haven’t you achieved your goals?

The answer is inside your head.

You haven’t achieved your goals because you don’t believe you can have what you want.

There’s a voice in your head that says you don’t deserve what you want. You aren’t smart enough, talented enough, or hungry enough.

That voice is your fear talking. It’s trying to protect you by causing you to play it safe.

You have three options.

The first option is to listen to that voice and learn from it. It might be right. Hear it out so you can fix what it says needs fixing.

If it says you don’t have enough skills or experience, make those your priority. Do what you have to do to get good enough, and say “thank you” to the voice for being honest with you and pointing the way forward.

The second option is to confront the voice and challenge it.

If the voice says you don’t have enough talent, look for evidence to the contrary. Think about your accomplishments in similar situations and remind yourself of just how capable you are.

Let the voice know you’re not picking up what it’s laying down.

The third option is to ignore the voice and do what it says you can’t do. Go ahead and prove it wrong.

As Vincent van Gogh once said, â€˜If you hear a voice within you say â€œYou cannot paint,â€ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.â€™

Filed Under: Inspiration

How to get more clients without advertising

July 14, 2020 by David M. Ward

One of the simplest ways to get more clients is to work with professionals, business owners, bloggers, and other influential people in your niche.–people with clients, customers, or subscribers who might need your services or know someone who does.

Typically, you meet and network with them and eventually get some referrals.

That works, but there’s a faster way.

Step One: Find people in your niche who don’t compete with you and who have a following–a blog, a newsletter, a channel, a podcast, an active social media platform, or other list of people who know, like and trust them.

Step Two: Talk to them about “working together” for your mutual benefit.

That means using your respective lists to promote each other’s practice, newsletter, offer or event.

If you handle estate planning, for example, you might work with divorce attorneys and propose one or more of the following:

I’ll write about your practice, you write about mine
We do guest posts for each other
We interview each other
We mention each other’s offer in the P.S. of our newsletters
We promote each other’s upcoming events, book launch, or giveaway
And so on

You might close your newsletter with something like this:

“My friend Joe Lawyer has a successful family law practice and is offering a free report, ‘How to Lose Your Spouse Without Losing Your Shirt’. If you know anyone who might like a copy, give them this link: xxxx”

It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

Step Three: Rinse and repeat. Run more promotions with them and find others with whom you can do the same.

I show you everything you need to know in my Lawyer-to-Lawyer Referrals course. You can read all about it here.

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Referrals

How long did it take you to read this?

July 13, 2020 by David M. Ward

I’ve seen a lot of attorney’s newsletters. Some provide excellent content. Many don’t.

Some are interesting and are well-written. Many aren’t.

Some reflect the personality of the writer. Most don’t. Especially the “store-bought” (canned) newsletters.

Some are written in html and look “pretty”. Some (like mine) are plain text and look ugly as hell.

But despite these differences, most of these newsletters share one trait that makes it much less likely anyone will read them: they’re too long.

They have too much information, too many links, too many calls-to-action. They ask you to read too much and do too much and most people who get these missives do none-of-the-above.

Most people (even now) are busy. They don’t have time to read a long newsletter, even if they’re interested in the subject(s). What do they do? The same thing you and I do when we don’t have time to read something, we save it for later (which almost never arrives) or we delete the sucker.

Yes, there is value in having people see that you wrote them, even if they don’t open the email. They see your name and are reminded that you’re still around. When and if they need your services, they’ll go find one of your archived emails and read it.

(So don’t stop emailing.)

But, let’s face it, having people read your newsletter is a ‘ho lot better. They get to know you and trust you and feel a kinship with you. They get to hear about how you’ve helped other clients. They find out about other matters you handle.

All of which results in more clients for you.

So, if you want people to read your emails, keep ’em short. Short enough that they can read them in a minute or two.

Like this one.

Want to know how to write emails that get read (and acted upon)? Get my Email Marketing for Attorneys video course.

Filed Under: Email, Newsletters

How to get more referrals without mowing lawns

July 10, 2020 by David M. Ward

Our new gardener is doing a great job. He shows up on time, does a thorough job–our yard has never looked better–and is very easy to work with.

Having gone through so many gardeners over the years, we’re happy campers.

My wife found him by posting a notice on a digital community bulletin board. Several neighbors chimed in and provided recommendations, and we hit pay dirt.

On that same board, my wife saw another neighbor asking for recommendations. My wife gave her our gardener’s name and number and told her how happy we were with him. She told the gardener to expect a call from Nancy; he was very appreciative.

Referrals rule.

The gardener got the referral by doing a great job for us. Is there anything else he could do to stimulate more referrals?

He could give his customers business cards or brochures to hand out to neighbors.

He could provide a few talking points about his services, explaining all the things he does, the neighborhoods he services, mentioning that he’s licensed and insured, etc.

And he could offer an incentive for protectively passing out his cards and talking about his services. Perhaps, “Refer a neighbor and get one month of service free”.

So, can you do these things?

Give your clients cards and brochures to hand out? Yes.

Give your clients talking points about you and your services. Yes again.

Offer incentives for referrals? Probably not, but you can do the next best thing by “rewarding” them after the fact.

If your clients own or manage a business or practice, you can reciprocate. Send them referrals. Feature their business in your newsletter or blog.

If your clients are consumers, you can send them a small gift (a plant, a book, a Starbucks coupon) to express your thanks.

And you can always show your appreciation by sending clients a thank you note or card.

When your clients know you appreciate their referrals, they’re more likely to send more of them.

My referral marketing course shows you how to create handouts and talking points that bring in more referrals. Details here.

Filed Under: Referrals

The most important page on your website or blog

July 9, 2020 by David M. Ward

When someone visits your website for the first time, statistics tell us they’ll probably click on and read your “About” page. What they see, or don’t see, often determines whether they stay on your site, or leave and never return.

That’s why your About (“About me,” “About us”) page is the most important page on your site.

Visitors are looking for information about you and your firm. They want to know what do you and for whom you do it. They want to know how you can help them and get a sense for what it would be like to work with you.

They also want to know something about you, the person.

Your About page is the portal visitors take into your world, and the first step towards getting to know, like, and trust you.

Your About page doesn’t need to be brilliant. It just has to present the important information visitors want to know, in a clear and compelling way.

If you want to see what a good About page looks like, check out this blog post: 29 Best About Us & About Me Pages (+ Why Theyâ€™re So Good)

Use these examples for ideas and inspiration and then create or re-create your About page.

Learn more about the elements of an effective website here

Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing Tagged With: About page

You only need a few

July 8, 2020 by David M. Ward

You can’t serve thousands of clients. That’s okay because you only need a few. A few good clients will lead you to more good clients; soon, you’ll have all you can handle.

If you don’t have a few good clients right now, or you want to speed up the process, you need more new people coming into your world.

You need new leads, new subscribers, new referral sources, new prospective clients, to help fill your pipeline.

But, once again, you don’t need massive numbers. You only need a few.

In marketing your professional services, seek quality, not quantity.

How do you do that?

First, define your ideal client.

What’s their background? What type of business or industry?
What’s their legal situation?
How much work might they have for you?
What’s their timetable?
Do they need anyone’s approval?
How much do they already know about their legal situation?
What do they need or expect from a lawyer like you?
What’s important to them
Etc.

See The Attorney Marketing Formula for help defining your ideal client.

Second, what’s the source of the lead or prospect or subscriber?

Search leads are better than leads from a directory or rented list because they are actively looking for the solutions you offer.

Leads that come via your book or report or by hearing you speak are better than search leads because they know more about what you do and how you can help them.

Referred leads are better still because someone they trust is recommending your content or endorsing your services.

Third, what’s your message?

Tailor your content to appeal to the types of leads you want to attract. Use buzzwords they use in their industry. Talk about benefits that are important to them. Use examples and stories of people like them.

Talk about what they’re talking about. Show them you understand them and can help them, as you have done for other clients like them.

That’s how.

50 of the right people, brought to you with the right message, from the right sources, are worth more to you than 5,000 people who are wrong for you.

That’s why you only need a few.

The Attorney Marketing Formula

Filed Under: List building, Marketing legal services

The simplest way to get more referrals

July 7, 2020 by David M. Ward

I built my practice with referrals, prrimarily from my clients. What was my secret?

No, it wasn’t asking for referrals, although I did that and it’s a lot easier (and more productive) than you may think.

It wasn’t giving them something I call “referral devices”–a report, brochure, or referral card they could pass along to friends and family. But that works, too.

And it wasn’t doing good work for my clients, exceeding their expectations, and treating them exceptionally well, although that always has been, and always will be, the foundation of repeat business and referrals.

These strategies work, but I promised to tell you the simplest way to get more referrals. My secret, only it’s not a secret at all. You hear me talk about it all the time.

The simplest way to get more referrals is to stay in touch with your clients, past and present, because while they may never need to hire you again, they can and will send you referrals, and they’ll do that more often when you stay in touch with them.

Stay in touch with the people who already know, like, and trust you and they will lead you to other people. It really is that simple.

What’s the simplest way to stay in touch with people? You already know the answer to that, too. Email is easy, inexpensive, and massively effective. And because you can automate your email stay-in-touch efforts, it doesn’t take up much time.

Would you be willing to invest 30 minutes a week writing an email to your list if it allowed you to triple your referrals?

What do you write? How do you get started?

I show you everything you need to know and do in my Email Marketing for Attorneys program.

Filed Under: Email, Newsletters, Referrals

The 5 pillars of digital marketing

July 6, 2020 by David M. Ward

Once or twice a year, it’s a good idea to review and update your digital marketing plan. This will help you get more leads (and convert them), stay in touch with clients and contacts, stimulate repeat business and referrals, and build your “brand”.

Here’s a brief checklist of things to consider:

Your website(s)
- Home page layout, first impressions, navigation
- “About” you page
- Images
- Contact information/forms
- Content about legal problems and solutions
- Content about your services/offers
- Keywords/focus
- FAQs
- Landing pages
- Mobile friendly
Social media presence
- Which platforms?
- Your bio/links
- Promote your website and other content
- Promote your clients’ businesses/causes
- Promote other professional, bloggers content, events
- Engagement (if that’s your thing)
- Posting schedule
Content marketing strategy
- Blog posts, articles, videos, podcasts, interviews, reports, ebooks, brochures and handouts
- Valuable and/or interesting information
- Tailored to prospective clients and referral sources in your target market
- Demonstrate your knowledge and expertise
- Educate about legal problems and solutions
- Help people get to know, like, and trust you
- Testimonials, endorsements, success stories
- Easy to read and understand
Traffic
- Guest posts on other blogs, sites
- Social sharing
- Advertising
- Social media posts
- Speaking/presentations/networking
- Marketing alliances with other professionals
Newsletter/email
- Stay in touch with clients, prospects; stimulate repeat business, referrals, social sharing, reviews
- Sign-up forms on website/landing pages
- Lead magnets/incentives (to build your list)
- Schedule (weekly, daily, other)
- Content ideas
- Building engagement/fans
- Stimulate feedback, questions

You don’t have to go “all in” on all of these strategies. I don’t. But you shouldn’t ignore any of them.

Get to together with your team to review your current digital footprint and consider what you need to add or update.

This will help you sort out your website

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Online Marketing

You’re not that important

July 3, 2020 by David M. Ward

You’re not that important and neither am I. Most people don’t think about us or care about how we feel.

Most of our blog posts and articles won’t get any comments, shares, or likes.

Most of the work we do will be forgotten soon after we complete it.

Most of our clients won’t send us referrals, testimonials, or thank you’s.

And that’s okay. It’s okay because that’s the way it is and it has to be okay.

Stop worrying about what people think. If someone says something positive about you, don’t let it go to your head. If someone says horrible things about you, don’t let it ruin your day.

Do the best you can do and let it go. Move on to the next case, the next post, or the next presentation.

You’re not that important and that’s okay. Because some people love you and that’s all that matters.

Email marketing for attorneys

Filed Under: Inspiration

Oh the pain, the pain

July 2, 2020 by David M. Ward

If you ever watched the campy 1960’s TV series Lost in Space, you may recall one of Dr. Smith’s signature expressions.

If not, perhaps you recall the old Verizon TV commercials where the spokesman walked around town, speaking on the phone, repeatedly asking the other party, “Can you hear me now?”

What do these two have in common? Right, the pain.

The Verizon spots dramatized the biggest pain point for customers of other carriers, poor signal quality and dropped calls.

We all literally said, “Can you hear me now?” as we moved to find a better spot.

This demonstration set the stage for Verizon’s promise of better coverage and clearer signals, which landed them a lot of new customers.

In your marketing, you should do what Verizon did: market to the biggest frustration felt by your prospective clients.

Find your prospective client’s pain point, about their legal situation or their current attorney, and build your marketing message around this.

What makes them angry or keeps them up at night? What troubles them most about their legal issue? What is their biggest complaint about their current attorney?

Talk about that, and promise they won’t have that problem when they hire you.

Make the pain, and the relief you promise to deliver, specific to your practice area and market, because not everyone is frustrated by the same things. But if you need an idea, consider the nearly universal pain point for clients, “My lawyer never calls me back”.

Build your marketing around your prospective clients’ pain and promise to take away that pain. You can’t go wrong with that formula.

By the way, you may have noticed that the actor who portrayed the spokesman in the Verizon ads is now the spokesman for Sprint.

Oh the pain, the pain.

More

Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Marketing legal services