David M. Ward, Author at The Attorney Marketing Center

Referral marketing on steroids

October 23, 2025 by David M. Ward

No matter what other types of marketing you do, referrals will always be key to marketing your legal services. Prospective clients contact you because someone they know and trust recommends you. They come to you pre-screened as to need, or at least interest, and the ability to pay.

The odds are they’ll hire you. You usually don’t have to do a lot to make that happen.

And, not only are referred clients easier to sign up, they usually turn out to be better clients.

There are other benefits to prioritizing referrals as a marketing strategy for a law practice. Among other things, that focus can also lead to more traffic to your website, more seminar attendees, more invitations to speak, and more subscribers and followers.

Because it’s based on relationships.

It’s an idea as old as marketing itself. And while many attorneys benefit do this, they usually “watch it happen” rather than taking steps to “make it happen”.

What do I mean?

I mean, most attorneys don’t systematically identify other professionals and businesses that already serve their target market (and don’t compete with them), approach them, and propose a marketing alliance.

A mutually beneficial strategic relationship, leading to referrals and other benefits. You promote their products or services, endorse and recommend them, send them referrals and traffic and so on, and they do the same for you.

You help them build their business or practice; they help you build yours.

Hold on, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that business people and professionals who might make a good strategic alliance partner for you already have referral relationships with attorneys and law firms in your market.

They don’t need you.

But they do.

Because the attorneys they currently work with often

Target different sub-niches, industries, or types of businesses or clients than you do
Offer different services or use different fee and billing arrangements than you do
Can’t handle, or don’t want to handle big cases, or may not want the mid-size or small cases you prefer
Have conflicts of interest and can’t take every case or client
Get busy and can’t handle all the work that comes their way
Retire, die, move, or get into trouble and are no longer available

They also might not have the same reputation, experience, or skill set you bring to the table, making you a better fit for their contacts.

And even if none of this is true today, tomorrow might be another story.

Which is why you should continually look for and get to know potential referral partners.

It should be a cornerstone of your marketing.

Routinely ask yourself, “Which business leader or professional in my market sells to, advises, or otherwise influences prospective clients who would be a good fit for my practice?”

Identify them, meet them, and show them how they can benefit by working with you.

That’s the plan.

Okay, I know what else you’re thinking. You’re thinking this is extremely difficult and time-consuming. It’s not worth the effort.

It might be difficult, but it isn’t impossible. And it is indeed worth the effort.

Not only can it pay off big time for you, but you don’t need dozens of strategic alliance partners, you only need a few.

In fact, just one can make a tremendous difference.

Not only can one new referral partner send you business, they can also introduce you to other professionals and businesses they work with who might also form a marketing alliance with you.

Good referral relationships might not be easy to come by, but when they come, they can compound.

Prove it for yourself. Do you have any business or professional relationships right now? Even one?

Have a chat with them and ask them to introduce you to someone they know who might also want to work with you.

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Filed Under: Marketing Plan, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing

Tell visitors to your website what to do

October 21, 2025 by David M. Ward

People come to your website looking for something they want or need, and you should help them find it. Tell them where to see an article about this problem or that solution, where to find a description of your services, and where to find information about you and your firm.

Tell them, but don’t leave it at that. Always tell them what to do next.

That means telling them what else to read or watch (and why).

It means telling them to contact you, giving them options for doing that, and telling them why they should.

And it means telling them to sign up for your newsletter or other list, pointing to the page and telling them what they will learn or get when they do.

Most visitors won’t do anything you tell them to do. They’ll consume what they came for and leave. Or just leave.

That’s okay. Let them go.

Statistically speaking, most visitors won’t contact you or sign up for your newsletter.

Focus on the ones who do.

When someone signs up for your newsletter (or contacts you), they’re holding up their hand and saying, “I’m interested in learning more”. Tell them more and tell them what to do next.

The simplest place to do that is on the “thank you” page, where they arrive immediately after clicking the “subscribe” button.

Your “thank you” page is more than a mechanism for being polite. It is an opportunity for you to guide them on their journey to becoming your next client or paving the way for someone else to do that.

What should you put on your “thank you” page? You have many options (in no particular order):

Ask them to fill out a form, telling you more about their situation and what they need or want
Tell them about your other content, e.g., your 5 most popular blog posts or articles or videos
Encourage them to share your content on social media and provide links or share buttons to make that easy to do
Invite them to your next webinar or local event
Invite them to subscribe to your podcast or video channel
Tell them more about your services, your background, and your personal life, I.e., family, hobbies or outside interests
Point them at your testimonial or “success stories” page
Give them a preview of what to expect in your newsletter or upcoming event
Remind them to watch their email inbox, what they will receive, and when
Offer a free consultation or invite them to contact you with questions

Lots of options. But don’t make your page exhaustive. You don’t want to overwhelm them with information or push them to do too much. They are on your email list now, and you’ll have plenty of opportunities to tell them more and ask them to do more.

For now, thank them warmly for subscribing, invite them to learn more and make it easy to do that and share your information with others.

Filed Under: Client relations, Law office management, List building, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing Tagged With: welcome-email-new-client

“Thank you” is the next step, not the last

October 16, 2025 by David M. Ward

The case is closed. The client’s happy. You got paid.

Now what?

Yes, you say thank you. And send a handwritten thank-you note. And call the client the next day or the next week to see if they have any additional questions or issues.

But there’s a lot more.

“Thank you” isn’t the end; it’s the beginning of what’s next. And you should have a process in place for making the best of it.

This is the best time to get (or lay the groundwork for getting):

Additional work from the happy client; what else do they need or want?
Referrals from the client; who do they know who might also need your help or might want some information?
Additional referrals from the client or professional who initially referred the case or client to you
Testimonials from the happy client (and permission to share them).
Feedback: asking the client to fill out a survey and tell you what they liked best about what you did, how they were treated by you and your staff, and anything they think you could improve
Social sharing: encouraging the happy client to post their great results, talk about how happy they are with your work, and making it easier for them to do that by proving templates, checklists, and showing them what other clients have said about your work on their social pages
A stronger relationship with the client, e.g., a celebratory lunch, photos, tickets to the ball game

This is also a good time to write notes about the case or matter, the issues or problems presented, what you did and how it worked out. These notes can be invaluable for sharing with your partners and staff and any advisors you might consult about what and how you’re doing.

You can also use these notes in your content creation or marketing, e.g., as a success story in a blog post or article, to add to your ads and newsletter, or to reference on the “what we do” or “how we can help you” page on your website.

The end of the case is a special time, and most lawyers don’t take advantage of it.

You can and should.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

Marketing is easier today than when I started my law practice

October 14, 2025 by David M. Ward

I’m not going to tell you that marketing is easy. It isn’t. It takes focus and consistency and hard work, and you often have to do things you don’t want to do. So, no, it’s not easy. But. compared to the way it was when I opened my law practice decades ago (cue “old man” rant), it is almost laughingly easier.

When I opened my first office, I had very few clients, very little experience, and very little money. I used what I had available—time and the need to pay my rent—and did everything I could think of to bring in business.

One thing I did was volunteer several hours a week at a legal clinic. I actually got some clients that way, but most of them were as broke as I was, so while this gave me some valuable experience speaking with prospective clients, it generated little income. Eventually, I got a few cases and some paying clients, but I survived mostly on savings.

I knew I needed to focus on marketing, but my options were limited.

As soon as I could afford it, I advertised in the Yellow Pages. I did some networking but hated it and wasn’t very good at it (and I was very young and looked it). That left referrals, which became my favorite strategy.

It took years, and I struggled mightily, but eventually. I made it.

It’s much easier today because the opportunities for building a practice are unlimited.

Social media provides you with free access to prospective clients and people who can refer them, and you can connect with them without getting up from your sofa or going to a single networking event.
YouTube, podcasting channels, and other portals looking for content allow you to get your name and face or voice in front of your target market and show them how you can help them. Medium, Substack, and other platforms not only give you exposure without asking you to pay for it, some of them actually pay you.
You can post articles on a (WordPress) blog, or get exposure by guest posting on others’ blogs, or be interviewed on their channel, allowing prospective clients to find you and get to “know” you before they ever speak to you.
Search engines weren’t a thing back then. Today, that’s how most clients find attorneys.
You can use Amazon KDP to self-publish a book, which can build your reputation and generate targeted leads from prospective clients.
You can build an email list and continually follow-up with everyone who expresses interest in something you said or wrote.
Referrals are more plentiful today because clients and professionals don’t have to actually know you to refer you; they can share your website or blog or article, recommend your book, or tell someone they heard you interviewed and thought you had some good things to say.
And the list goes on.

You don’t need a big budget for advertising or to hire marketing consultants—you can tap into everything that’s available today, at little or no cost, without putting in years building your reputation.

Yes, there is more competition today, but there are so many more opportunities to bring in business, if you’re willing to put in a bit of effort, it almost doesn’t matter how much competition there is.

You have unlimited potential today and can be as successful as you want to be, without breaking the bank—or your back.

Of course, that also means you have no excuse for not being as successful as you want to be.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, success

Marketing without the hype

October 9, 2025 by David M. Ward

Some attorneys resist using certain types of marketing, e.g., blogging, advertising, or email, because they don’t want clients or colleagues to see them as “needing” business and think less of them. Of course, some lawyers think this applies to most marketing and either don’t do it or do it reluctantly.

Whatever the cause of their resistance, one way to engage in marketing without the stigma attached to it, real or perceived, is to do it mindfully. In particular, this means paying attention to

Your content or message,
Your language and tone,
Your calls-to-action or offers, and
The frequency of your communication.

If you have testimonials or reviews you would like to use but don’t want to appear boastful, you could convert them into stories. Feature your best testimonials or reviews on your website, perhaps, but in your newsletter or article, speak about the case or matter that resulted in that testimonial to illustrate a point you’re making in your article.

For example, if you’re writing about tax strategies you recommend for high net worth individuals, after you describe the strategy, you might add that you recently used this strategy to reduce a client’s tax liability by 25%. You offer proof that your strategy works without sounding like an infomercial.

Which leads to something else you could and should do in your marketing—focus on strategies about solving problems, not selling your services.

“I’m a tax lawyer” might be an accurate statement but clients want to know what that means for them. If you say, “I help high net worth taxpayers minimize their tax exposure,” and reference your recent successful case to show what is possible, the focus is on the client more than on you.

Talk to clients and prospects about themselves, their business or industry, their wants and needs, more than about you and your services. But don’t take yourself completely out of the picture. After all, you are the one they will hire and rely on, and you should make the case for your ability to help them. Just don’t make it all about you.

To do that, use specific language and examples that show you understand them and have experience with clients like them. That means avoiding the generalities so common in lawyer marketing.

Don’t over-promise, but don’t hide your light under a bushel.

You want to be seen as a serious professional but friendly and relatable. The best way to do that is to talk “to” them, not “at” them, and to do it as plainly as possible.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Writing

The most important question you can ask a new client

October 7, 2025 by David M. Ward

When you sign up a new client or meet with a prospective new client, there are lots of things you want to know. About their legal situation, what they need or want, and so much more. But there’s one question you should ask that’s more important than any other.

“Where did you hear about us?”

Most lawyers ask a variation of this question, but it is often perfunctory rather than strategic. You shouldn’t ask merely out of curiosity but because the answer is valuable.

You want to know if the client saw your ad, read your article, found you through search or through referral. This information can dramatically improve your marketing.

First, it tells you what you’re doing right, so you can do more of it. Write more articles on the subject, in the same or similar publications, use the same keywords on your website, continue running the ads that are making your phone ring, and so on.

Second, it tells you what you’re doing wrong.

If new clients don’t mention having discovered you through things you’re currently doing, you know you should probably stop doing them. If no one identifies the ads you’re currently running or events you’re promoting, you know you need to change something.

The third reason for asking how the client found you is that if they were a referral, you can ask what the referring party told them about you. What clients and business contacts say about you tells you how effective you are at serving clients and building your reputation. Valuable information, to say the least.

Finally, if they were a referral, you want to know who referred them so you know who to thank.

And thank them you should.

Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because the referring party will appreciate it and make it more likely that they will do it again.

I was reminded about the importance of thanking people who refer clients by my friend and fellow attorney Barak Lurie, who told me about an effusive thank-you message he recently received from a real estate agent he had thanked for referring a client to him.

When you get a thank you for a thank you, you know you’re doing something right.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Referrals, Relationship marketing

The most important decision of your legal career

October 2, 2025 by David M. Ward

Ever notice that the most successful lawyers aren’t necessarily the best lawyers? If you’re smarter, work harder, and do a better job than those other lawyers, why do they earn more than you do?

It’s because being a better lawyer doesn’t mean prospective clients and the people who can refer them will notice you, trust you, and hire or refer you.

You may be a brilliant lawyer, dedicated, hard-working, and well-liked, but if you’re not good at the business side of your practice, you’ll always be a step behind.

The good news is that you can change that. It starts with a decision.

The most important decision of your career.

You have to decide to commit to the business side of your practice. That it is at least as important as the legal work and deserves your time and energy and money.

Decide to get serious about business and marketing. Study it, schedule time for it, and consistently and enthusiastically work at it.

Average lawyers don’t do that.

Average lawyers provide lip service to marketing and management, taking action only when something falls in their lap, there is a fire to put out, or they have a few extra minutes between appointments.

Unless driven by desperation, they don’t schedule anything, try anything new or otherwise work on improving the business side of their practice. They see it as a burden, an expense, at most a necessary evil, instead of embracing it as the path for achieving their biggest goals.

Why? Ego, mostly. They believe that to be successful, they shouldn’t “have to” do anything more than be a good lawyer. Or they don’t know what to do and aren’t willing to find out.

They might assume that the lawyers who earn more have the right connections, innate interpersonal skills, or just got lucky.

Excuses. And any excuse will do.

Don’t make excuses. If you want to achieve more, decide that you will do everything possible to make that happen. And do it.

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Personal development, success

Clients don’t always know what they want

September 30, 2025 by David M. Ward

Henry Ford once said that if early automakers had listened to their customers, they’d have built a faster horse. Customers don’t necessarily know what they want until they see it. Ford catapulted to the top of the auto industry by showing customers what was possible.

Lawyers should do the same.

Let your clients, no, encourage them, to tell you what they want and what they think you should do to help them get it. But don’t bow and say “yes, sir” and get to work without speaking to them, explaining all the options, risks and rewards, and telling them what you advise.

You have an ethical duty to do that, of course, but it’s also good for business.

Clients want a lot of things from you, not the least of which is your respect. They don’t want you to just tell them what to do and collect your fee any more than you want them to tell you what to do and expect you to do it without question.

It has to be a conversation.

Ultimately, clients have the last word on (most) big decisions, while you manage (most) of the day-to-day, but both of you need to listen to the other and let your conversation inform your decisions and advice.

Respect must be mutual.

Clients might not know what they want until you show them the options and your advice. And you shouldn’t be too quick to advise them until you understand what they want and why.

Filed Under: Client relations

Do you know your numbers?

September 25, 2025 by David M. Ward

Many lawyers don’t hit their marketing goals because they don’t set the right ones. They decide how many new cases or clients they want to bring in for the month, and how much they’d like to bill (and collect), and these are important, but they’re not enough.

They also need goals that, if achieved, help them hit their goals for new clients and revenue.

They need to know how many prospective clients they need to meet with or speak to, for example, in order to sign up a new client. They need to know many leads or inquiries they need to receive, how many viewers of their videos or listeners to their podcasts, how many eyeballs on their ads, or how many attendees at their presentations.

Those kind of goals.

How about you? To reach your goals each month, how many new sign-ups for your newsletter or new followers on social do you need in order to generate enough inquiries, leads, or appointments?

But it’s not just raw numbers. You also need qualitative goals.

Getting 1,000 people to watch your videos, for example, is meaningless if they aren’t the right people.

You’re wasting your time engaging with people who don’t need your services, or don’t need them often enough, or don’t have the money to hire you no matter how much or how often they need or want your help.

For a professional, quality is (usually) more important than quantity.

What do your best prospects look like? What kind of business do they own or manage? Where do they live or work, and what do they sell or do?

You need to answer questions like these so you know where to spend your time and money.

Rather than being seen by many people who may or may not be interested in what you do, you want to become well known to people who are very much interested in, and even looking for the kinds of services and solutions you offer.

Identify your best prospects and invest in communicating with them (and their advisors). If you do that, you won’t need huge numbers in order to hit your goals.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

They can help you build your practice, but you can’t hire them

September 23, 2025 by David M. Ward

If your competition is more successful than you are, there is always a reason. Or several reasons.

They might get better results for their clients. They might provide better “customer service”. They might package or bundle their services differently, giving their clients more of what they want instead of just what they need.

Or they might offer more value than you do (or can) because they’ve found ways to lower their overhead and provide more attractive fees.

Of course, you know my favorite reason—they might simply be better at marketing.

It could be any of these reasons, or other reasons, and while it might be painful to admit that other lawyers in your field do things better than you do, that realization could be your salvation.

Because while your competition probably won’t tell you the details of what they’re doing, if you pay attention, you might figure it out.

Study them. Set up a file on them, read everything you can find that they’ve written, or that’s written about them, watch their videos, attend their seminars, get on their mailing list, and soak up everything you can about them.

What do they do? What do they say? And, just as importantly, what do they not do or say that you and other lawyers do and say?

And if you are fortunate enough to meet any of their clients or other professionals who know them and have worked with them, and they are willing to tell you some of what they know, listen and learn.

And look for patterns.

You’ll probably find that your most successful competitors are good at a lot of little things and great at a few big things. You can use this information to improve your practice.

Most attorneys won’t do that. They’ll ignore what they see or hear, blame other factors, and resent their competition all the more.

Not you.

You’ll learn what they’re doing, decide to improve your ways, and get to work. You won’t let your competition make you bitter; you’ll let them make you better.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized