David M. Ward – Page 275

The Fortune is in the Follow-up

April 21, 2014 by David M. Ward

One of the most important aspects of marketing any business or professional practice is follow-up. For many, it’s also one of the most challenging.

Because they must, most attorneys have a process for communicating with existing clients. This process is driven by the demands of the case or legal matter. Copies are mailed, calls are made to discuss strategy, progress reports are sent on a pre-determined schedule. Once the case is settled or the matter is completed, however, follow-up is often done haphazardly and too often, not at all.

And then there’s everyone else.

Prospective clients
Former clients
Referral sources/professional contacts/”friends of the firm”
Prospective referral sources
Bloggers/editors/publishers
Meeting planners
Etc.

Each category has a different purpose. Following-up with former clients, for example, can lead to repeat business, updates, referrals, traffic to your website or sign-ups for your event. Following-up with bloggers can lead to guest posts, interviews, and links to your web content. Following-up with prospective clients can lead to new cases or engagements but can also lead to referrals.

Within each category are individuals who are further along in their relationship with you and thus more likely to respond to your contact. There are also individuals who have more potential than others, e.g., a prospective referral source who is well known in your target market, a prospective client who could bring you a lot of business, etc.

I’m sure you appreciate the value of following-up with these people. You know that former clients are your best source of new business (repeat, referrals). You know that staying in touch with prospective clients is good for business.

But how do you manage everything?

You start by creating lists. There are many software solutions for doing that. Pick one. Import your existing database or create new lists manually. It is time well spent.

Add a code or tag or field to each contact in your database so you can sort your lists by type and date range and other criteria. For example, you should be able to do a sort and find a list of former clients with whom you haven’t spoken OR emailed in more than 90 days.

Now what?

You’re almost there. The hard part is done. Now, you just need a plan for staying in touch with everyone. There are three parts to the plan:

Schedule. How often will you contact them?
Media. Will you use email, phone, regular mail, or social media?
Content. For example will you send them personal emails, a general newsletter, or both?

You’ll probably find it easier to start with one category. Create a plan for following-up with former clients, for example. Once that’s done, you can consider other categories.

Once you have things set up, flag key individuals for customized follow-ups. You’ll want to call certain people more often, for example, or call some people but only send email to others.

This may seem a daunting task but if you take it step by step, you can do it. Once you have, you’ll be glad you did.

Marketing is easy, when you know The Formula

Filed Under: Client loyalty, Communication, Law office management, Marketing Plan, Referral sources, Referrals Tagged With: follow up, staying in touch

How to get your work done on time

April 18, 2014 by David M. Ward

The statute runs on the ninth, so we get the complaint filed by the eighth. We have to, so we do.

What about things that don’t have a deadline? We put them off. We procrastinate. Especially if it’s something we don’t want to do.

But we know this is a bad habit and we want to overcome it. So we make up a deadline. A firm date when we will have the work done. We put it on our calendar. It’s in writing. We see the due date coming up. We’re determined to beat the deadline.

But we don’t.

The day comes and goes and we don’tÂ do the work. We were probably busy doing things that had a real deadline.

I read about a study that confirmsÂ what we already know: self-imposed deadlines don’t work. At least for things we really don’t want to do. We procrastinate for a reason, and writing down a deadline doesn’t eliminate that reason.

There is a solution. A way to make a self-imposed deadline work.

You need a deadline AND a penalty for missing it.

When you set a deadline, tell someone. Someone who will hold you accountable.

Tell your client when the work will be done. Promise to deliver it on that day. Put that in writing. You don’t want an unhappy client. Or a client who thinks you are incompetent. Or a client who sues. So you get the work done. Because you have to.

If you really have a problem with procrastination, put in your retainer agreement that the work will be delivered on the date promised or there will be no fee. Or, 10% reduction for every day it is late. Or some other costly consequence.

You’ll get the work done on time, won’t you? Yeah, you will.

You can do something similar with non-billable work or projects. Have you beenÂ procrastinating on your website?Â Tell your boss, partner, or spouse when the work will be done and ask them to hold you accountable.

If you have difficulty estimating when you can finish a big project, break it down intoÂ componentsÂ and set a deadline for the first one. If you want to write a book, for example, set a deadline for completing the first chapter or the first draft. After that, set another deadline for the next component.

You can use penalties to finish any project or achieve any goal.Â I know a vegetarian who publicly promised that if she didn’t meet a certain goal, she would eat a McDonald’s hamburger every day for a month. Her goal was a big one, but yeah, she made it.

Get serious about marketing. Here’s help.

Filed Under: Goal Setting, Law office management, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: procrastination

Getting more bang for your content marketing buck

April 17, 2014 by David M. Ward

If you have a website or blog, write a newsletter, or post anything on social media, you are engaging in content marketing. I just read an excellent articleÂ about the value of evergreen content for bringing a steady stream of traffic, in contrast to, well, non-evergreen content.

I’ve always been inclined towards writing evergreen content because I’m ~~lazy~~Â smart. If you write about technology, as soon as it’s posted, it’s out of date. The same is true of many other timely and news-oriented topics. If you write evergreen content, however, it will bring traffic today and for years.

This doesn’t mean that one should avoid non-evergreen topics. They can bring a lot of short term traffic, which can lead to long-term followers and subscribers. When Steve Jobs abruptly resigned, I did a post that mentioned his resignation in the headline and got a big spike in traffic. I’m sure some visitors still read my blog today and that post still gets new traffic.

Evergreen content should be the foundation of your site, however. Make most of your content something people will always be interested in.

The articleÂ does a good job of listing what constitutes evergreen content (and what doesn’t), and it’s what you might expect. How to’s, authoritative answers to FAQ’s, and basic information that beginners search for qualify. Best of the year roundups, statistical pieces, and event-specific content don’t.

There are also some good suggestions for sharing evergreen content. I like the idea of creating an “evergreen hub” on my site, something I should have done a long time ago. This can take the form of a “start here” page or a “top posts” widget in the sidebar.

Anyway, you can access this article on this page. Let me know what you think in the comments to this post.

To learn more about online content marketing, get this.Â

Filed Under: Blogging, Newsletters, Online Marketing Tagged With: content marketing, evergreen content

Welcoming new businesses to your community

April 15, 2014 by David M. Ward

My local Chamber of Commerce puts out a weekly email newsletter. It features upcoming events such as networking mixers, charity golf tournaments, and a meet and greet with our mayor. It also welcomes and lists new members.Â

If I were still practicing, I would contact the new members, congratulate them on their new business, and welcome them to the community. If they aren’t a new business, I would congratulate them on joining the chamber.

If they are new, I’d ask if they are having a grand opening. If they aren’t new, I’d ask about any current sale or promotion. Then, I’d mention this in my newsletter and post it on my blog.

It doesn’t matter whether I handle business matters or consumer matters, or that they already have a lawyer. They have customers and vendors and business contacts who may need a lawyer, now or in the future. They joined the chamber to meet other businesses and some of those businesses might need a lawyer, or have customers who do.

I’d ask what kind of customers or clients they wanted and do my best to send them some referrals. I’d introduce the owner or manager of the business to other business owners and professionals in the market.

Do you think some of these business owners and professionals might also introduce me to other business owners and professionals they have met? Is it possible they might have some referrals for me? Do you think they might offer me some kind of special deal I could pass along to my clients and prospects?

Yes or yes?

How many other attorneys do this? Approximately zero. You can be the one and only.

You can start with a short phone call. Leave a message if you need to. Or send an email. Don’t pitch anything, just welcome them. If you speak to them, ask about their business. If you hit it off with them, meet them for coffee.

Marketing is easy. Lawyers are difficult.

Get The Attorney Marketing Formula and learn more about marketing legal services.

Filed Under: Blogging, Networking, Newsletters, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing

Why I don’t obsess over SEO

April 14, 2014 by David M. Ward

I take a rather relaxed approach to SEO. I pay attention to a few things like using keywords, but not at the expense of good writing, and by that, I mean writing that informs, persuades, inspires, and (at times) entertains.

I don’t study search engine optimization. I don’t hire consultants. And I don’t spend time contorting my posts to conform to arcane rules of the day.

Why?

First, I hate this kind of stuff. It’s boring. And frustrating. One day it’s this way, next week it’s something else.

Second, I don’t need to. Google is smarter than I am and they always find a way to figure out what I’m saying and who should read it. What they want more than anything is well-written, high quality information, and that’s what I try to give them.

A recent article over at the SearchEnginePeople.com blog, about five common SEO misconceptions, agrees that quality is king.

My favorite misconception is, “every headline needs a keyword.” I like this because I do try to include a well-searched keyword phrase in most of my headlines, but frankly, it often ruins an otherwise compelling headline.

Apparently, I can loosen up on the reins a bit. “If you can add a niche keyword in there, then all the better but don’t make that the be all and end all of your headline writing… A captivating headline brings click-throughs, links social shares and more traffic.”

There is a trade-off between being found (keywords) and being clicked (benefit rich headline). Apparently, if we write clickable headlines and high quality copy, Google will send us people who want to read it.

Content marketing for attorneys: click here

Filed Under: SEO, Web traffic Tagged With: google+, search engine optimization

Starting an email newsletter

April 11, 2014 by David M. Ward

Quick, give me a legal tip. Something in your area of expertise you recommend I know or do.

Got it? Okay, write it down. Just the idea or title. Make a few notes if you want, but don’t spend a lot of time.

Congratulation. You now have the makings of an email you can send to your list. All you need to do is to take the idea and write three paragraphs that explain your tip.

Could you do this again? Could you come up with something for next week? A tip, a quick story, a recommended website? I’ll bet you could. Excellent. You have next week’s email.

You can post these on your website, too. Great! You’ve also started a blog.

Many attorneys hesitate to start a newsletter or blog because of the perceived immensity of the task. If you think in terms of a writing a few paragraphs, once a week, it shouldn’t appear so daunting.

You have a lot of knowledge you can share. Substantive law, procedure, advice. You don’t realize how much you know.

You also have a lot of experiences you can share. Interesting cases or clients, war stories.

You run a practice. People want to know about your employees, how you manage information, how you stay productive. What’s a typical day like? How do you open a new file? What do you do when you have a conflict? How do you keep track of deadlines?

You know other professionals who have information your clients want to know. You can ask them to share some of their knowledge with your readers.

You celebrate the holidays. Your readers enjoy hearing from you and sharing the joys of the season.

You have problems. People want to know how you deal with them.

You have goals. People want to hear what you are doing to reach them.

You have likes and dislikes people want to know about. Technology, books, movies, blogs and magazines.

Write something and send it off. Do it again next week. Pick a day when you’ll send your email and put it on your calendar. The whole thing, from start to finish, shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes.

Now, once you’ve done this for a few months, you can take your backlog of emails and load them into an autoresponder. When someone joins your email list, they will automatically receive these emails. Once a week, they’ll get something from you, perhaps something you wrote months ago. You won’t have to write new emails if you don’t want to.

Starting an email newsletter isn’t difficult. Just start. One tip, one thought, and send.

For more ideas for your newsletter or blog, get this

Filed Under: Blogging, Newsletters

The quickest way to create a new website

April 10, 2014 by David M. Ward

I’m working with an attorney who is setting up his first website. One of the things I told him to do was to find websites he likes and study them, so he can use them as models for creating his own. They don’t have to be attorneys’ sites but they should probably be professionals or other service providers.

The idea is to use the structure of another site for ideas for laying out yours. Actually, you might combine elements from several sites. Perhaps you like the column layout from one, the color palate from another, and the page order from a third.

Yes, Jack, you can set up your own site. Get hosting, install WordPress (one button click), and you have a site. With WordPress, you can set up your site with a blog or as a static websiste. You can start with a single page if you want.

Then, change the theme. Many themes are free or low cost. Install some plug-ins to make managing the site easier, and you’re ready to add content. You can see some of my recommended resources for all of this on thisÂ page.

Once the basic site is set up, use other sites for content ideas. Find several “About” pages, for example, and look at them side by side. What do they have in common? How long are they? Where is the head shot? What do they link to? How much personal information is included?

Instead of starting with a blank page, you have a framework into which to pour your words.

Do the same thing for other pages that describe services, hours, directions, parking, fee and payment guidelines.

Don’t worry about making everything perfect, just get something on the page. You can update and revise it later. If you don’t want anyone to see your work in process, download a plug-in that allows you to put the site in “maintenance mode” so that if anyone visits, they will only see an “under construction” or “coming soon” page. “WP Maintenance Mode” is one I’ve used.

For more on how to create a new website, get this

Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing Tagged With: wordpress

Content marketing for lawyers: don’t forget about your other clients

April 9, 2014 by David M. Ward

Okay, so you write articles and blog posts targeted to prospective clients. You educate them about the law and procedure, what an attorney can do for them (or can’t), and how to choose the right attorney. You show them what you can do for them and why they should choose you instead of any other attorney.

That’s good. But don’t forget your other clients.

What do I mean? I mean writing for other attorneys who can send you referrals. If I’m a California attorney and need a referral for my client who has business in New York, I’m going to go online and look at New York attorney’s web sites. Yes, I want to see what you have to say to lay people but I would be even more impressed if you wrote something for me.

The same goes for other professionals who might be able to send you business. Do you do real estate closings? How about some content for real estate agents? Do you handle estate planning? Maybe it would be good to write something financial planners and insurance agents.

Anything else? Sure. How about something for bloggers and the media? They’re always looking for authoritative content for their articles. Make their job easier by summarizing key areas of the law or prominent legal trends.

These are some of your other clients. They may not be able to hire you themselves, but they can send you a lot of business. You should be marketing to them.

You have a couple of choices. You can set up separate pages on your site for these other clients or you can set up separate sites and link to them.

Okay, homework time. Choose a category of referral source for your practice and write your first article. If you’re a California divorce lawyer and you want referrals from small business lawyers, for example, write something that helps business attorneys advise their clients. Post it on your website. Then, email a link to business attorneys you know and ask for feedback. Ask them to forward the link to their colleagues.

I told you marketing was easy.

Content marketing for lawyers made simple: Go here

Filed Under: Blogging, Referral sources, Referrals, Writing Tagged With: content marketing

Networking and your legal marketing plan

April 8, 2014 by David M. Ward

If you do it right, networking can become a cornerstone of your legal marketing plan and one of your biggest sources of new business and career opportunities. But it can also be time consuming.Â

One way to get more out of your networking is to use it as a springboard to finding content for your blog or newsletter.

Interview people you meet through networking and post it on your blog or in your newsletter. Do a profile of them or their business or practice, or promote their cause.

They get exposure, traffic, and new clients or customers. Your readers learn valuable tips from these subject matter experts. You get content for your blog that may bring you more search engine traffic.

And you get the gratitude of your new networking partner.

Their gratitude may lead to good things for you. Or it may not. Not all of people you feature in your interviews will reciprocate by interviewing you or sending you traffic or referrals. But some will.

These interviews can lead to other things. You can invite your networking partners to submit guest posts or articles for your blog or newsletter. You can explore other marketing joint ventures.

Go find some professionals, businesses, or vendors who sell to or write about your target market or community. You can find them online or in person. Reach out to them and ask questions about what they do. Then, ask for the interview. I can’t imagine anyone turning you down.

Wait, I’ll make it even easier for you. Start (this week would be good) by approaching someone you already know. Call your best referral source or business client and tell them you want to interview them.

What’s that? You don’t have a blog or newsletter? I guess you better start.

Learn how to create or grow a blog or website. Click here.

Filed Under: Blogging, Networking, Newsletters, Relationship marketing, Web traffic, Writing Tagged With: Leverage