Void for vagueness: Does this describe your marketing plan?

February 6, 2013 by
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Freeman Dyson, theoretical physicist, mathematician, and all around smart guy, once said, “It is better to be wrong than to be vague.” He was not referring to marketing, but I thought he might as well have been.

Some attorneys have a marketing plan that is filled with generalities. Their plan is too broad and long term. You’ve got rent due on the first, you’ve got to bring in a new client this week–whatcha gonna do?

Some attorneys have a plan, usually created by a high paid consultant who never practiced law, that is waaaay too complex and detailed. It usually winds up sitting in a file because nobody really understands it or wants to do it.

Of course, most attorneys don’t have any plan at all.

Here’s what I can tell you about marketing plans:

  1. You need one. Otherwise, you won’t know what to do next.
  2. It must be simple. You won’t do it if it’s not.
  3. It must be specific. What exactly are you going to do and when?

You may have a goal to “get six new clients in the next 60 days.” Pretty good goal. Now, how are you going to accomplish it?

Networking? Writing? Contacting former clients?

Too vague. Be more specific.

A good plan would be something where 60 days from now, if I ask you, “Did you do it?” you can answer yes or no.

A good plan would look something like this:

  1. Write one article of 300-500 words every week [every other week/every month] to post to my blog/web site/newsletter.
  2. Every week day, send three emails to clients/former clients saying, “I’m just checking in, hope you are well. . .”.
  3. Once a week, have lunch [coffee] with a new professional/executive/business owner from my networking group. Learn about their business or practice. Ask what kind of referrals they want. Send a thank you note. Schedule a follow up for 30 days.

Specific. Simple. Something you can do.

Will it work? I think so. Quite well, in fact. But. . . I could be wrong. But then it’s better to be wrong than to be vague.

If you want help in creating a marketing plan that really works, order The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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

How to turn $100 a month into a steady stream of referrals

February 5, 2013 by
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In his twelve year career selling cars at a Chevrolet dealership, Joe Girard personally sold 13,001 cars. Do the math. That’s 90 cars a month, every month, twelve years in a row.

Holy cow. That’s got to be a world’s record.

Actually, it is. The Guinness Book of World Records says so, giving Joe the title of “The World’s Greatest Salesman.”

How on earth did he do it?

In his book, “How to Sell Anything to Anybody,” Joe tells all. One of his “secrets” was sending everyone who ever bought a car or stopped in for a test drive a monthly greeting card. Each month had a theme. In January, it was New Years. February was President’s Day, March was St. Paddy’s Day, and so on. The cards were colorful and fun, with a funny or charming line or two. Each card was hand signed by Joe.

If you were on his list, every month like clock work you got a card from Joe. If it was your birthday that month, you got a birthday card.

Now that’s not all Joe did, but he says these cards kept his name in front of enough people that in a very short period of time, he was getting a steady stream of referrals. Every day, people would call and people would walk-in and ask for Joe. Eventually, he had to hire assistants to handle all the customers.

Could you do something like that? Of course you could. Would it work today when nobody sends regular mail anymore. It will work even better today because nobody sends regular mail anymore.

Start with $100 a month as your marketing budget. (Yes, you can do more.) Send out 100 cards a month to clients and former clients. (It shouldn’t cost you more than $1 per card, including postage.) Do this every month for the next six months and watch what happens.

Every month you remind people who know, like, and trust you that you’re still around and still thinking about them. And every month, they’re prompted to think of you and, naturally, people they know who might need you.

Eventually, Joe’s customers looked forward to getting his cards each month. One month he was late and he got a bunch of worried calls from folks who thought he might be sick. Talk about a following.

Once you’re convinced that this is working, you can expand it to include your prospects, referral sources, and other “friends of the firm”.

Will you get referrals? Yes. Will you get 90 referrals a month and set a world record? I don’t know, but if you do, have a drink on Joe.

Marketing can help you earn more than you ever thought possible. Go here and find out for yourself.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Marketing legal services, Referrals Tagged With: , , ,

A simple way to add value to your legal services

February 4, 2013 by
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Our garage door was damaged when it closed on the rear bumper of my car.

We had three companies come out to give us estimates.

The first one said it was damaged beyond repair and explained why. He gave us an estimate to replace everything except the motor for $1129.

The second one agreed. Estimate: $875.

The third one said the door was fine. He said the track was bent and he could fix it. An hour and half later, he’d fixed the track, replaced some brackets, and installed a new weather strip. Total bill: $219.

The door has never been this quiet or run this smoothly. Even when it was first installed. My wife and I keep opening and closing it, marveling at our splendid “new” door.

Oh yeah, my wife sent the guy over to talk to our neighbor about her door. One of the previous estimators had noticed a gap or something and said to tell her she needed to have it serviced. Nope. The guy who got our business said her door was fine.

Imagine that.

Yes it does pay to shop around. And yes you should be leery of what so-called experts tell you, especially when they have something to sell. And yes you should pay attention to what other people say on Yelp and other such sites. The company we hired had dozens of five-star reviews and sterling comments. We’ll be adding ours.

Now, suppose you had this experience with your garage door and the next day a client asks if you could recommend a garage door company. Would you tell him about this one? Of course you would. You’d be doing him a big favor.

You probably know other companies you would recommend to your clients and contacts, as well as CPAs, insurance brokers, and other lawyers. And if your clients call and ask for a referral, you’d be sure to tell them.

But why wait for them to ask?

If you’re looking for a simple way to add value to your legal services, it doesn’t get any simpler than this. Contact your clients and tell them that if they ever need a referral to a garage door company, auto dealer, roofer, or anything else, they should call your office. Tell them you have a list of companies you have used personally or that other clients have used and recommended.

Encourage them to call. “What do you need? I’ll help you find it.”

Your recommendations help your clients save time and money and avoid problems. Do you think they might love you even more and tell all their friends about their wonderful attorney?

Your recommendations also help the vendors and professionals you recommend. Do you think they might be thankful for your referrals and inclined to reciprocate?

What’s that? You don’t know if you have time for all those calls?

Trust me, you want your phone ringing off the hook with people asking for recommendations because every time it does, you plant more seeds that grow into repeat business and referrals.

One more thing. Encourage your business clients and referral sources to do something similar for their clients and prospects. Why? So you can get your name on their list, of course.

Marketing is simple, if you know The Formula.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Marketing legal services, Referrals, Relationship marketing Tagged With:

The virtue of wasting time

February 1, 2013 by
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“Quit goofing off and get back to work!” Have you ever said that to your kids or your employees? I know you’ve said it to yourself.

We seemed to be obsessed with the idea that wasting time is a bad thing. I know, “wasting” implies “no value,” but is that really true?

Me thinks not.

Playing video games, checking in or posting on social media, watching football, or whatever you like to do when you’re not doing what you think you’re supposed to do, is not wasting time. I can think of several reasons why it is good for you. And if its good for you, then its good for your work and other aspects of your life.

  • It helps you relax. Stress is a major health risk. Goofing off helps us forget our troubles and lower our blood pressure. Laughing has been proven to improve mental and physical health.
  • It helps you think. When our conscious minds are distracted, our subconscious minds come up with ideas, solve problems, and help us make decisions.
  • It improves skills. Gaming can improve hand-eye coordination and sharpen critical thinking. Watching sports can teach you about leadership, strategy, and team effort. Social media can help you learn about pop culture, which can be used in conversation and writing.
  • It helps you meet new people. With many hobbies and personal interests, you get to meet new people–at the game or the sports bar, online, at the concert, or the convention. New people bring new ideas, new contacts, new business.
  • It affirms life. The purpose of life is joy, not work.

Is there such a thing as spending too much time “wasting time”? Our bosses, parents, and spouses may think so, especially if they’ve seen us spending an hour or two on a site like this one. But it’s really the wrong question.

Better to ask, “Are you getting your work done?”, “Are you making a contribution to the world,” and “Are you happy?”

If you can answer those questions in the affirmative, I don’t think the amount of time you spend conquering pretend kingdoms or contemplating your navel really matters.

Earn more so you can goof off more. Here’s how.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Dealing with stress, Just for fun, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: ,

Is your web site boring? Try these quick fixes

January 31, 2013 by
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Many competent and successful attorneys are, frankly, a bit dull. They live in a world of dry facts and esoteric knowledge and in that world they may be brilliant, but clients don’t usually live in that world.

The truth is, if your web site is boring people won’t read your content. If they don’t read it, they won’t know what you can do to help them. And trust me, they won’t call to find out.

How can you improve your writing? One of the best ways is to study good writing.

Think about your favorite web sites, the ones that aren’t boring. The next time you visit, save some of their articles and study them. Read them several times, slowly. Read them out loud. Copy them, by hand. Then, create an outline of the article and use it as a template for your own.

Now, what can you do right now to improve your web site’s content? Here are three quick fixes:

  1. Don’t write, speak. Dictate and record your thoughts and transcribe them. You’ll have a more natural, conversational first draft. You’ll be more likely to say what you want to say and leave out the boring bits. You could also record your content on audio or video and post that on your web site, along with a transcript.
  2. Put people in your posts. Stories breathe life into writing because they engage human emotions. Readers relate to the people in stories and keep reading to “find out what happened.” I’d much rather read about your client and what happened when he didn’t follow your advice than to only your advice.
  3. Make it visually appealing. Many people don’t read anymore, they scan, so give them something scanable. Use more white space and photos. Shorter articles, shorter paragraphs, and shorter sentences. Use bold headlines, sub-heads, and bullet points. By scanning, they’ll get the gist of what you’re saying and for now, that might be enough.

Don’t stop with quick fixes, though. Writing is one of the most valuable skills any attorney can have and worth the time and effort to improve. Read books or take courses on writing, copy writing, and sales. Make writing a daily habit. The more you practice, the better you will get. And, if you have more money than time, hire an editor or writing coach. Their feedback will help you get better.

You may be boring but your writing doesn’t have to be.

If you aren’t open minded, don’t buy this course.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Communication, Online Marketing, Writing Tagged With: , ,

Marketing legal services by offering digital document signing

January 30, 2013 by
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Technology allows us to get legal documents signed without ever printing them. This post on the Evernote blog shows how to do that with two free apps, Docusign and Evernote (or Box, Google Drive, Dropbox).

I have Docusign and several other apps like it. I have pdf’s emailed, open them in the app, sign them, and send them back. It saves time, paper, postage and/or the cost of a messenger. And saving a copy in Evernote allows me to access those documents everywhere. (For more on how to use Evernote for storing client and other documents, check out my ebook, Evernote for Lawyers: A Guide to Getting Organized & Increasing Productivity).

If you have a tech savvy client, they can download the app to sign and return the documents to you by email. If you don’t, or if you need to explain the document to the client before signing, you can meet with them and have them sign on your tablet.

Offering digital signing is a benefit to you and to the client. If you offer it, you should promote the fact that you do. Make a big deal out it. Let clients and prospects know what you do, how it works, and how it saves them time and money.

Even if other attorneys do it the same way, most of them don’t promote it. When you do, you will “own” that benefit in the eyes of your target market.

To stand out in the crowd, you must show people how you are different. Click here to learn how.

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Technology Tagged With: , ,

Why that client hired another attorney instead of you

January 29, 2013 by
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Why do prospective clients come to your office to talk to you and then go out and hire someone else?

They need your help. They have the money. You answered all their questions thoroughly and politely. But they still said no.

We assume that because we have the skills and they have the need that they’re going to sign the retainer agreement, and most of the time they do. When they don’t, we have to remind ourselves that the first meeting with a prospective client is a job interview. When we don’t get the job, we have to stop and figure out why.

Sometimes, we don’t get hired because of the nonverbal cues we communicate. Did you fail to make eye contact? According to a survey of people who hire employees, 67% of job applicants make that mistake. Was your handshake too weak? 26% of job applicants failed that test. How about forgetting to smile? That omission plagues 38% of applicants.

Statistics say as much as 55% of the impact we make when meeting another person is nonverbal: the way we dress, walk, and act.

But maybe it’s not your body language. If you don’t get the job, maybe you made one of the “Top ten common mistakes at a job interview”. For example, number 8 is “Lacking Humor, Warmth, or Personality”. What, attorneys? No way.

How about number 6, “Concentrating Too Much on What You Want”. “Out out, damn ego.”

Number 2 on the list: Failing to Set Yourself Apart From Other Candidates.” That’s true of most attorneys, isn’t it? Again, we assume that because we have the skills and they have the need, they’re going to sign up. When they don’t, there’s a good chance this is why.

Number 1 on the list of mistakes: “Failing to Ask For the Job.” Relax, you don’t have to ask the client, “Do I get the job.” There are other ways to ask, such as, “Do you have any other questions before we get started on your case,” or “Would you like me to send your ‘New Client Kit’ to your home or to your office?” But you do have to close the deal.

One more thing. Don’t be complacent because prospective clients usually hire you. Yes, you got the job but that doesn’t mean you passed the interview. They may not have been thrilled with what you said or how you comported yourself but hired you because they were intimidated or didn’t know they had a choice.

You want your clients to like you and be glad they chose you. So work on yourself, even if you don’t think you have to, because marketing is everything you do to get and keep good clients.

Are you doing everything you can to get and keep good clients? If not, read this.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Closing the sale, Communication, Marketing legal services, Salesmanship Tagged With: ,

Building your marketing investment account one day at a time

January 28, 2013 by
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Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Is marketing a habit for you?

You’ll often hear me say that you can build your practice with 15 minutes a day of marketing activity. Anybody can find 15 minutes today, but most don’t do it every day because it isn’t a habit. Unfortunately, it won’t become a habit until you do it every day.

Catch 22.

But then nothing starts out as a habit. Everything starts out as “the first time”. And then you do it again. Now you’re two days into it. One more day and you’re on your way. Keep going and it will become a habit, especially once you see some positive results.

Leo at Zen Habits has an excellent article today on building habits. He uses the analogy of saving and investing money, i.e., putting away a little bit every day. Over time, the dollars compound.

If you want to (or need to) write, for example, but have not been able to make it a habit, he says:

“. . .just write a sentence today. I’m completely serious. Then write a sentence tomorrow. Do that for a week. Next week, write two sentences. This sound ridiculously easy, so most people will ignore this advice. But if you follow it, you’ll be writing 1,000 words per day, every day, this time next year. Maybe 2,000 per day the following year.”

In the context of marketing, then, if you have not developed the habit of doing something every day for 15 minutes, start with one minute. Read something, write down an idea or two, or just sit and think. That will get you started.

The other thing about habits is that we have to be reminded to do them. “Set a daily reminder. . . and make it a priority to do each day,” Leo says. I take it a step further, suggesting you making a daily appointment with yourself and put this on your calendar. Then, keep that appointment. If a new clients wants to see you at 2 and that’s your marketing time, you must tell them you have an appointment and can’t see them until 2:15.

Yes, we are what we repeatedly do. Today, you may be in the habit of NOT marketing. You’re excellent at not marketing, in fact. But today, you can start a new habit. All you need is one minute.

Want something to read during your marketing minute? Try this.

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With:

How to get targeted traffic to your web site by commenting on others’ blogs

January 25, 2013 by
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As a group, attorneys don’t seem to post a lot of comments on blogs. It’s not that we don’t have anything to say. We’re friggin blabbermouths when we’re getting paid for it.

Guess what? If you do it right, you CAN get paid for posting comments. You’re paid in the form of traffic back to your web site from people who read your comments and think you have something intelligent to say.

If your web site is doing it’s job, those people see something they like on your site, opt into your list, and let you court them. Eventually, they hire you.

The key to getting targeted traffic is to choose the right blogs to add comments. You might have an opinion about the legality of claiming a fake girlfriend, but unless you market to a sports niche, your comment on ESPN.com isn’t going to do you much good.

To get started, here’s all you have to do:

  1. Make a list of blogs in your target market. If you target Enterprise software developers, American couples seeking to adopt Russian babies, or diamond brokers in New York City, Uncle Google will help you find the blogs they read.
  2. Note the blogs that accept comments and a link back to the poster’s web site. Not all do. The ones that don’t accept comments might prove useful, however, if they accept guest posts, that’s another way to get targeted traffic.
  3. Subscribe to the RSS and comment feeds. Learn what you can about the kinds of articles posted and the frequency and nature of their comments. A blog with lots of comments is probably going to have more people reading your comments. Also pay attention to the style of the comments and the sophistication of their readers.
  4. When you read a post that is worthy of your two cents, add a comment. Reference the post, tell why you agree or disagree, and offer something of value to the discussion. Tell readers about resources you have found on other sites. Demonstrate your expertise, knowledge, and especially, your experience in the particular niche. When you say, “I represent several diamond brokers. . .” within your comment on a blog for diamond brokers, you will get noticed.
  5. The best way to link back to your site is to link to an article you wrote on the subject being discussed or something related. Tell readers why they should click through to read your post, e.g., “I just posted an article with 27 do’s and don’ts for adopting Russian babies.” If nothing else, your web site link appear when readers hover over your name above your comment.

Post a comment a few times a day or a few times a week and you should see traffic coming to your site from these blogs. And because it is targeted traffic, it doesn’t have to be a swarm to be profitable.

Marketing is easy. Clients are waiting. Start here.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

How to get more clients to sign up when you quote your fees

January 24, 2013 by
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I’m listening to Spotify as I write this. The ’70’s station. Elvin Bishop, Paul Simon, Elton John, Al Stewart, Seals & Crofts, America, Earth, Wind & Fire. . .

How cool is that?

I “liked” every single song so far and now they’re in my playlist.

So much music, so little time.

Anyway, I wanted to share something with you that I think will make your day. Or your week. Maybe even your year.

Our microwave died two days ago. It’s amazing how much we use that thing. Boiling water on the stove is so 1970’s.

Anyway, my wife goes online and starts pricing replacements. We’ve had this one for 18 years so it wasn’t that simple. It has to fit in the space above our range and match the oven.

She finds one that works and gives me the price. Holy crap! “It’s a microwave, not a car!” I was overhead saying.

She took that to mean, “keep looking,” and she did. Sure enough, she finds one that has everything we need, fits in the space, and is 40% cheaper than the first one.

“Order it!” I said. And she did. It will be installed tomorrow.

Now, here’s the thing. If she had first come to me with the price on the one we ordered, knowing how I am, I still would have thought it was too high. But because she showed it to me second, it looked like a bargain.

I don’t know if it IS a bargain. I just know I was happy to order at the lower price. “Look at how much we saved. . .”.

Anyway, this reminded me to remind you about pricing your services.

If possible, you should put together a lower priced version of your services to offer prospective clients. If the deluxe package is ,000, and the basic package is ,500, you can show them both and let them choose. If ,000 is “too much,” they can choose the basic version. Instead of “no sale” you get a ,500 sale, and a new client. The client gets his basic needs met and could possibly upgrade later.

Or, show him the ,000 package first. If he objects, (“It’s a legal document, not a car!”) you can show them the ,500 package. It may not have all the bells and whistles but it does the job. In comparison to what he thought he had to pay, it will seem like a bargain.

You’ll get more prospects saying “sign me up,” instead of “I have to think about it.”

Get the Attorney Marketing Formula and find out how to earn more. Click here for details.

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Filed Under: Fees and Billing, Handling objections, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Salesmanship
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