Marketing professional services: strategy vs. tactics

January 7, 2014 by
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Marketing professional services requires both strategies and tactics. A strategy is a process or plan. Tactics are specific actions for implementing that plan.

You may have several tactics you use to effect a given strategy. For example, your strategy may be to build your reputation in your community, target market, or among other lawyers. Your tactics may include doing charitable work, issuing press releases highlighting key victories, or teaching CLE classes.

Most attorneys employ similar strategies because we have similar objectives. We want to meet new prospective clients and referral sources, grow our lists, and generate more repeat business and referrals. Where we differ is in our tactics.

And that’s okay. You get to choose. You may like meeting people through social media while the next attorney prefers pressing the flesh. For most strategies, there are several tactics to choose from. You can do any or all.

If your strategy is to offer value to prospective clients so they (a) find you, (b) learn how you can help them, and (c) get to know, like, and trust you, there are many ways to accomplish this. You can conduct free seminars, offer a newsletter, put content on a blog, advertise a free report, create youtube videos, or engage with prospective clients via hangouts.

If your strategy is to meet and build relationships with centers of influence in your target market, your tactics may include general networking (e.g., Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, etc.), networking at niche-specific events, joint venture marketing, speaking at luncheons, or asking your existing professional contacts to introduce you to their counterparts.

If your strategy is to get more referrals from existing and former clients, tactics include educating them about your “ideal client,” making it easy to give referrals (e.g., outlining the process, providing a form), creating hand outs they can deliver to people they know, and endearing them to you by delivering more value and service than they expect.

If your strategy is to build your list of prospective clients, you can accomplish this through guest posts, keyword rich blog content, improved landing pages, and offering an incentive (i.e., a report) to encourage opt ins.

In my opinion, all of the above strategies are important, if not essential for building a professional practice. But there is enough variety in the tactics to allow each attorney to effect those strategies in a way that suits their practice and preferences.

In your planning, start with strategies. Decide what you want to accomplish. Then, choose from a menu of tactics. Infuse those tactics with your personal brand and style to create a plan of action that is both effective and well suited to you.

Once your plan is working, you can expand on the scope of your tactics (e.g., add more content to your site, find more places for networking), add additional tactics to your marketing mix, or both.

For a simple marketing plan that really works, get this. If you will be marketing online, get this.

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

When is procrastination a good thing?

January 6, 2014 by
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I’ve got until the first of next month to complete my CLE credits. I’ve been watching videos over the last couple of weeks and making good progress. I know some people would say that doing three years worth of CLE in a few weeks is unwise. They would point out that I could have done an hour a month and been done months ago.

Their math is correct but their advice is misplaced. They assume that procrastination is a sign of weakness or poor organizational skills and leads to unnecessary anxiety and poor results. But is that always true? Is there a time when procrastination is a good thing?

I think so.

Procrastination helps you prioritize. It allows you to filter your list of tasks so you can focus on what’s important and not merely what’s urgent.

CLE isn’t important to me since I no longer practice. Now, it is urgent that I get those credit done, but waiting as I did allowed me to concentrate on important projects.

Procrastinating served me another way. It allowed me to express (to myself) my resentment at being required to take courses I don’t need and don’t want. It allows me to give the middle finger to the system.

Hey, I’m human.

In school, procrastinating served me another way. Waiting until the last day to write a paper or study for exams gave me a built in excuse in case I got a poor grade. “Hey, I didn’t spend any time studying.”

I almost always got good grades, however. But what if I hadn’t?

What if procrastinating is harmful? What if it keeps you from doing what’s important? What if it results in poor performance or results?

Then you have a problem.

There are lots of techniques for dealing with “bad” procrastination. I think the simplest solution is to get the task out of your head and onto paper–your calendar or other “trusted system”. Give yourself enough time to get the task done and then forget about it. If you’ve schedule a start date and given yourself enough time to do what you need to do, you can then devote your mental energy to other things until it’s time to start.

That’s what I did with my CLE. I knew what I needed to do and when I needed to do it. And I’m getting it done.

Calendaring tasks for the future also gives you a buffer of time which may allow you to adjust your priorities. When the scheduled start date arrives you may find that the scheduled task can be safely postponed, or that you don’t need to do it at all. Since I am not actively practicing, I keep thinking about changing my status to inactive. If I do that I won’t have to do CLE.

When is procrastination a good thing? When it serves you in some way. It’s okay to do things at the last minute, as long as you are getting important things done. And as long as you’re still getting good grades.

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Filed Under: Continuing Legal Education, Dealing with stress, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: , ,

The best way to market your law practice

January 3, 2014 by
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I read a book once about book writing. The author gave some sound advice. He said to write the book you can write, not the book you think you should write.

Some books are harder to write than others. A how-to book, especially in your area of expertise, is much easier to write than a historical romance novel, for example, especially if you’ve never written fiction.

Write the book you can write. Let others write the books they can write.

The same is true for marketing your law practice. The best way is to do what you can do, not what you think you’re supposed to do or what some expert says you must do.

If you allow yourself to do what you can an do, you may actually do it. You don’t have to learn something completely new and different or force yourself out of your comfort zone, you’re doing what you already know you can do.

You’ll do it better. And stick with it longer. And get results, which will inspire you to continue. As you grow, perhaps you’ll add something new to the mix. And then, you’ll be able to do things you previously could not do. Instead of forcing yourself to be something you’re not, or do something you can’t, you’ll grow naturally and you will enjoy the process.

Where do you begin? With something that feels right to you. Yes, feels. Don’t assume that because you have experience with something that this is where you should begin. You might have a lot of speaking experience, for example, but if you really don’t enjoy speaking, you shouldn’t do it.

Here are some common marketing tactics for attorneys. As you go through this list, imagine yourself doing them and note how you feel.

  • Networking with other lawyers
  • Networking with prospective clients
  • Writing blog posts and articles
  • Finding and engaging prospective referral sources on social media
  • Working with your clients to foster repeat business and referrals
  • Radio advertising
  • Youtube videos
  • Writing a newsletter
  • Podcasting/webcasting (e.g., interviewing other professionals, authors, etc.)
  • Creating websites to attract search engine traffic
  • Self-hosted seminars
  • Joint venture marketing
  • Pay-per click advertising

When you think about some of these tactics, you feel anxious. It’s not a good feeling. You find that your thoughts want to intrude and tell you why you shouldn’t, can’t, won’t do that.

With others, you feel lighter. More relaxed or more excited, but better. You can see yourself doing it, or at least exploring it further.

Trust those feelings. If something feels good when you think about it, it’s probably something you should do.

What if nothing feels good to you?

You can continue doing what you’re doing to bring in clients even though you don’t particularly like it, but to be honest, if there’s nothing that feels good to you, you might want to re-think the idea of being in business for yourself.

Yes, you can hire someone to do some of your marketing, or you can partner with someone, but those are really only workarounds. Marketing is an extension of you and your commitment to your clients and if you can’t find a way to express that commitment in a way that feels good to you, perhaps that commitment doesn’t really exist.

On the other hand, maybe you just need more information.

I find a lot of lawyers who say they don’t like marketing don’t really have much experience with marketing. They made up their minds early on that marketing wasn’t for them and they’ve spent years believing this to be true and acting in ways that are consistent with that belief.

If that’s you, do yourself a favor and take another look. Do some reading and try some new things. You may find that they’re not so bad and you’re not all thumbs and that there are some things you’re actually quite good at and enjoy.

The best way to market your law practice is to do what you can do and you can do more than you think.

The Attorney Marketing Formula will help you to choose the best marketing strategies and tactics for you

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Filed Under: Legal industry, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan Tagged With: , ,

How NOT to propose a guest post

January 2, 2014 by
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One of the best ways to get targeted traffic to your blog or website is to write guest posts on other blogs in your target market. Guest posts bring traffic from prospective clients, exposure to prospective referral sources, sign-ups for your newsletter, and new clients. They should be a regular part of your online marketing activity.

Getting the go-ahead for a guest post is not that difficult, especially for a lawyer. Show the owner of the blog that you have something to say that will be of interest to their readers, show them that you are qualified to say it, and show them that you can write.

I get a lot of emails offering to write guest posts for my blog. Most of them don’t follow these basic guidelines and get no more than a glance from me before I delete them. Like this one which arrived this morning:

—
Hi,
I am interested in guest’s posting on your site, how much time you will take to review my articles. I assure you that all content will be legal and would add value to your reader.
Here are samples given below:

[links]

Kindest Regards

[Name]
—-

C’mon now, really?

If you want me to consider you for a guest post, sending me a poorly written bulk email with links to poorly written, off-target articles isn’t going to cut it.

Show me that you read my blog and understand my readers. Comment on one or two of my posts and tell me what you like about them.

Tell me what you propose: What would you write about and why would this be of interest to my readers? How would it be different from anything they might read elsewhere?

Tell me why you are qualified to write this. What is your background? Do you have your own blog I can look at? Have you done guest posts on other blogs?

It’s not difficult. And plenty of blogs want guest posts, especially from subject matter experts. You provide their readers with quality information and they provide you with traffic. You get to demonstrate your expertise to a targeted market of prospective clients and they get the day off from writing.

That’s the good news. The even better news is that because so few people follow these basic guidelines, blog owners are inundated with unprofessional proposals like the one above, making it so much easier for you to get their attention.

In fifteen minutes of searching you could find dozens of blogs in your target market that accept guest posts and would love to hear from you. Spend some time reading those blogs and then approach them with a proposal.

Learn more about guest posts, traffic, and marketing online for attorneys.

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Filed Under: Blogging, List building, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Web traffic

The truth about goal setting

December 31, 2013 by
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“You can’t handle the truth!” Okay, yes you can. I just wanted to yell and sound like Jack.

The truth about goal setting is that it is what you want it to be. Don’t want to set formal written goals? You don’t have to. Many successful people don’t. You want lots of goals or just one or two? Whatever floats your boat.

But whether or not you go through a formal goal setting process, it is important to know what you want. Someone once said, “you can have anything you want, just not everything.” You have to choose. You only have so much time and energy and resources.

So, what do you want?

Choose something you really want, not something you think you’re supposed to have or do.

How do you know the difference? When you think about it, it should feel good. Both the doing and the having. Because if it feels good thinking about it, you’ll be inspired to do it, you’ll enjoy the process, and you’ll get what you want with far less effort.

Over the years, I’ve written many articles dealing with setting goals. Here is a sample to help you:

The surprising truth about written goals

Why goal setting works

What’s the one thing you most want to accomplish this year?

Goal setting and the law of attraction

Instead of setting goals this year. . .

Once you’ve decided what you want, the plan for achieving it should come more easily. That’s because when you know what you want, you also know what you don’t want so you can eliminate certain things from you plan.

For marketing, here’s some help for creating that plan:

Marketing plan for lawyers: getting ready for the new year

Have a safe New Year’s celebration.

The Attorney Marketing Center’s products can help you earn more and work less.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Goal Setting, Marketing Plan

Slowing down to speed up: getting ready for the new year

December 30, 2013 by
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It’s time. The last few days of the year when the holiday craziness is nearly over, the tree and the lights are coming down, but the new year has not begun. This is the time when I tie up loose ends from the current year and get ready for the new one.

I’m sure you’re doing something similar. Or you will in the next few days. Much like we do in the days leading up to a vacation.

It’s called “slowing down to speed up”. We shut off the flow of regular business and look at things from a different perspective. Because we’re not consumed with taking care of clients and projects, we can better see where we are and make plans for where we want to be.

In addition to doing some goal setting and planning, I’m getting caught up on CLE and learning some new software I plan to use extensively next year. I’m also cleaning up my computer workspace, catching up on email, consolidating files and folders in “my documents,” and consolidating my Evernote tags.

Not difficult stuff. Kinda fun, actually. But important, because it will allow me to start the new year with fresh eyes and fewer distractions and, therefore, be more productive with “real” work.

At least it feels that way. And that’s why we do this year-end ritual, isn’t it? So that we’ll feel refreshed and empowered?

So, how about you? How are you getting ready for the new year?

If you’re planning to upgrade your Internet presence next year, you need this.

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, Law office management, Productivity Tagged With: ,

How to make next year better

December 26, 2013 by
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If you want to make next year better than this year, start by taking a look back at your practice over the last 12 months. Look at every new case or client and figure out where they came from.

Who referred them? How did they get on your list? What did you do to get them to call?

Do the same thing for repeat clients.

Also look at the quality of those clients. Some clients are better than others. They hire you more often, pay higher fees, and provide more referrals. Which of your new and repeat clients fall into the category of “better”? Where did they come from?

Grab your calendar, your bank statements, your website statistics, your notes and records, and take a mile high look at what you did last year and your results.

Look at your networking, speaking, writing, and blogging. Look at your keywords, your content, your offers.

What worked for you? What worked better? What worked best?

Look at your professional relationships. Who provided referrals or other help? Who referred more or better clients? Who provided you with important intangibles–support, ideas, friendship?

(Note to self: “Make sure to keep better records next year so the next time I do this analysis I’ll have everything in front of me.”)

You can see that some things you did this year worked great, many didn’t work at all, and most fell somewhere in the middle. The same with your relationships.

If you look hard enough, you will see that although a lot of things produced a lot of results (clients, money, subscribers), a few things produced the majority of your results. You may find that

  • Eighty percent of your results came from just twenty percent of your activities
  • Eighty percent of your referrals came from twenty percent of your clients and professional contacts
  • Eighty percent of your income came from twenty percent of your cases
  • Eighty percent of your new subscribers came from twenty percent of your posts, keywords, speaking gigs, ads, (etc.)

Or not. It doesn’t have to be eighty percent and twenty percent. But it is almost certain that a big percentage of your results came from a small percentage of efforts or sources.

Identify the activities that produced most of your results so you can do more of them. Identify the handful of referral sources that sent you most of your referrals or your best referrals, so you can strengthen your relationship with them and leverage those relationships to meet their counterparts.

If you want next year to be better than this year, you need to find what worked best and do more of it. To find the time and resources to do that, cut down on or eliminate things that didn’t work, or that didn’t work as well.

For me, one thing worked better than any other. My twenty percent activity was writing. The books, courses, and blog posts I produced brought me more traffic, subscribers, and revenue than anything else I did. Knowing this means I can make next year a better year by being more prolific.

I know where to focus. I know my priorities. I know where to spend my time.

How about you? What will you do more of next year? What can you cut down on or eliminate? How will you make next year better?

The Attorney Marketing Formula comes with a simple marketing plan that works. Check it out here.

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: , ,

Social media marketing for introverts

December 23, 2013 by
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I just took a CLE course about improving client communication. The instructor used the Meyers-Briggs assessment to explain how different people relate to the world. I’ve taken the Meyers-Briggs self-test several times in the past, but don’t always get the same results on all four of the functions or preferences.

One thing is clear, however. I am an introvert.

You might be, too. According to the instructor, while the general population (U.S.) is 49% Extroverts, 51% Introverts, among lawyers it is 43.6% Extroverts and 56.4% Introverts.

What does this mean? It means we process information differently from Extroverts. According to Wikipedia,

“People who prefer extraversion draw energy from action: they tend to act, then reflect, then act further. If they are inactive, their motivation tends to decline. To rebuild their energy, extraverts need breaks from time spent in reflection. Conversely, those who prefer introversion “expend” energy through action: they prefer to reflect, then act, then reflect again. To rebuild their energy, introverts need quiet time alone, away from activity.”

I started thinking about this in the context of social media. I know many people draw energy from sharing and conversing on Facebook and the like, but I do not.

In a physical social setting, you will usually find me off to the side of the room, speaking to one or two people I know, rather than meeting new ones. I’ll be thinking, observing, and soaking it all in. I’m not shy. I do a lot of public speaking. But for me, social media isn’t energizing, it’s enervating.

If I understand it correctly, Extroversion and Introversion aren’t about personality. Introverts and extroverts are often very much alike in many respects, it’s just that we have a different process for digesting and utilizing information and relating to the world around us. So perhaps it is an oversimplification to say that Extroverts like social media and Introverts don’t. It’s entirely possible that the way I feel about social media has more to do with my being a private person (or overly cautious) than anything else.

But the question remains, how can people like (you and) me, utilize social media in our work, specifically, in marketing our services?

I don’t think there is a simple answer. Some of us are more open to sharing and engaging than others. We may not love it but neither do we hate it. So we do it, because we think it has to be done or because we want to learn and grow.

I use social media to share content. I use it for research and to find people I want to meet. I visit Facebook regularly, to see what others are up to, and to get ideas. I share quotes and links to stories. I comment occasionally and “like” cautiously. But mostly, I lurk. There I am, on the side of the room, observing, thinking, taking it all in.

If you enjoy social media, God bless you. Your challenge will be to not let it take up too much of your time.

If you don’t love social media, but want to make the effort to use it, you can get some help. No, you can’t delegate “relationship building,” meaning using social media to locate people in our niche and build relationships with them, and while that is arguably one of the best uses of social media, it’s certainly not the only one. You can have someone manage your firm’s Facebook page. You can automate posts and tweets.

Social media can be an excellent tool for marketing legal services, but it’s not the only tool. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. People did business, found clients, networked, made money, and had a life, long before social media, the Internet, and smartphones.

Social media marketing for introverts is very much possible. Even the most private of persons can find ways to utilize it in their work. But nobody should feel like it’s something we must do or that we’re missing out on if we don’t.

Now, if you’re an Extrovert, please share this with everyone you know. Like, Tweet, Post, and Pin. And leave a comment on the blog. I’d like you to do the same thing if you’re an Introvert, but if you don’t, I’ll certainly understand.

Internet marketing for attorneys made simple. With or without social media.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing Tagged With: , , ,

Law firm marketing: why you need to zag when other lawyers zig

December 20, 2013 by
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Most lawyers are pretty much like their counterparts. We all do the same kinds of work for the same kinds of clients and get it done with the same degree of skill and efficiency.

At least that’s what most people think.

If you’re better than average, you need to let the world know. Brag a little. Strut your stuff. Prove that you’re the better choice.

If you’ve got a successful track record, awards, endorsements, testimonials, and the like, they should be featured in your marketing.

But what if you don’t? Or what if your accolades aren’t any more impressive than the next guy’s or gal’s? What if you’re just getting started in your law career? How do you stand out in a massively crowded field?

You need to be different. When everyone zigs you need to zag.

If you do what everyone else does, the way everyone else does it, you’ll blend into the fabric of lawyerdom, where everyone looks alike and smells alike, and you will get lost.

Instead, I encourage you to get creative about how you package and present yourself. The good news is that because most lawyers are bland and boring conformists, it doesn’t take much to stand out.

What do most lawyers in your market do? What do they look like? What kinds of fees do they charge? How do they package their services? What’s on their website? What’s not on their website?

What can you do that’s different?

It might be something as simple as wearing red socks or a green bow tie. Make it your signature. You’ll stand out and people will remember you. It might also define you in a positive way. “Oh, she’s the lawyer who always wears a rhino pin on her lapel. She must have thick skin and a hard head.”

It might be something as complicated as taking a controversial stand on an important issue, when doing so risks alienating a large segment of the market. You might relinquish your claim to half of the market, but in return, gain the lion’s share of the remaining half.

If most lawyers charge by the hour, you can stand out by offering flat fees. If most lawyers avoid sharing information about their outside interests, you might stand out by promoting photos of your antique cuckoo clock collection.

As you make plans for the coming year, think about what you can do to stand out from the crowd. I know that might make you nervous. Lawyers don’t like to take chances. And if we’re honest about it, we really don’t want to stand out, unless it’s to get noticed for our good work.

But you should. Go a little crazy. Throw caution to the wind. Get down with your bad self. Because if you don’t get noticed and talked about and remembered, it might not matter how good you are at what you do.

Don’t like bow ties? This shows you more traditional ways to stand out in your law firm marketing

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Filed Under: Image, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan Tagged With: ,

Marketing plan for lawyers: getting ready for the new year

December 19, 2013 by
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I’m being interviewed later today by a reporter for the Canadian Bar Association. She’s doing a story about what young lawyers need to do to prepare for the new year. I plan to tell her the same thing I would tell any attorney. Just follow these three simple steps:

STEP ONE: TAKE INVENTORY

The first thing you should do is to figure out where you are. A good way to do that is with a “S.W.O.T. Analysis”–figuring out your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

THREATS

Are you in danger of losing a good client? Are unreasonably high expenses causing cash flow problems? Have you been accused of doing something wrong that’s hurting or may hurt your reputation?

If there are holes in your ship, plug them so you can continue your journey. Do what you have to do to eliminate threats and minimize potential losses, but don’t dwell on them. Deal with them and move on.

WEAKNESSES

Are you deficient in any areas of knowledge? Do you need to improve certain skills? Do you need more referral sources, more clients, or better clients? Are you attracting clients who can’t or don’t pay? Do you need to get better at getting retainers? Is your bookkeeping a mess?

Figure out where you are weak and then look for solutions. Take courses, ask other lawyers for help or advice, buy equipment, delegate or outsource the problem so you can focus on your strengths and opportunities.

STRENGTHS

What are you great at? Find something you excel at and leverage it to make it even bigger and better. Focus your time and energy on taking something that’s going well for you and build on it.

If you get good results with a certain type of client or case, you should focus on getting more of those clients or cases. That may mean eliminating other practice areas or turning away clients who don’t fit your ideal client profile.

In the marketing arena, if you are good at networking, do more of it. Ask your contacts to introduce you to their colleagues. Find a second networking group if you have the time or a better group if you don’t. Work deeper within the organization to gain even more influence. Volunteer for committees, take on more responsibilities.

If you like the Internet, create more content, learn about SEO and social media, do more guest posts, and start creating videos.

If you like to write, write. If you like to speak, speak.

Look at your skills and your preferences and focus on them. What do you do best? How can you do more of it and get even better at it? How can you leverage it to get an even bigger return?

OPPORTUNITIES

Make a list of people you know and like and brainstorm ways you can improve and deepen your relationship. They can lead you to new clients and new referral sources. They can provide you with advice and ideas. They can send traffic to your website, provide content for your blog or newsletter, and promote your event or offer.

Make another list of people you don’t know who sell to or advise your target market. Make plans to approach them to see how you might work together.

Go through your notes and files and collect all of the ideas you have recorded for marketing your practice, improving your work product, increasing your productivity, or increasing profitability. Put a star next to your best ideas.

STEP TWO: CHOOSE ONE BIG GOAL

Once you know where you are, the next step is to determine where you want to go. What do you want to accomplish next year relative to your practice or career?

Instead of writing down five or ten goals, as you may be inclined to do, I suggest you write just one big goal. Come up with as many candidates as you want to but then, choose one big goal that gets you excited.

Selecting one goal will force you to focus on that one goal, and nothing else. The odds are that many of your candidate goals are related to your one big goal and are, in fact, stepping stones on the path to reaching it. If your goal is to increase your net income to $250,000, for example, other goal candidates, e.g., “bring in six new clients per month,” are action steps you need to take to accomplish your singular income goal.

Of course you will have additional action steps. You don’t just bring in six new clients, for example, you have many things you need to do to bring in those clients. And that leads us to step three.

STEP THREE: WRITE A SIMPLE MARKETING PLAN

Why a plan? Because you need to know what to do, silly. Because come the first of the year, when you’re ready to get to work, you need a list of projects and tasks that will move you forward towards your goal.

Why simple? Because if your plan isn’t simple, you won’t do it. You’ll get bogged down in detail. You’ll spend more time working with your lists and planning your plans, and have little time to get anything done.

So, figure out where you are, then where you want to be, and from that, write a plan for accomplishing it. Keep in mind that the plan you start out with will almost never be the plan that gets you to your goal. That’s because plans change, circumstances change, and you will change. And that’s okay. Your plan will get you started, and getting started is the most important part.

The Attorney Marketing Formula comes with a simple marketing plan for lawyers. And a lot more stuff you need to know.

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Personal development, Productivity Tagged With: , , , ,
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