David M. Ward, Author at The Attorney Marketing Center

Marketing without social media

July 26, 2022 by David M. Ward

Let’s say you’re like me and you don’t like social media, or you don’t like it enough to make it a mainstay of your marketing.

If you do like it, or don’t want to ignore it completely, there are a lot of benefits, but it’s not the only game in town.

You can get traffic to your website or blog without selling your soul to the master of the universe, through:

(1) Search.

People looking for information (about legal issues and/or lawyers who can help them) will find your content if the search engines deem it worthy of the same. So, make it worthy.

No clickbait. Good information. Published more often than “once in a while.”

(2) Sharing.

If your content is good, visitors to your blog or website will share it. Make it easy for them to do that by providing share buttons that allow them to link to or post your content on their social media platforms.

(3) Posting.

Sign up for accounts on the major social media platforms and, when you write new content, post a link to it on those platforms. You can also post in groups that cater to your niche market, besides posting in your timeline.

(4) Advertising.

You can do pay-per-click advertising, ironically through social media companies, or display advertising, or even offline advertising. Advertise your content, your services, or both.

(5) Everything else.

When you speak or write articles or give interviews, promote your blog or other content properties. When you meet people, via networking, or socially, and you think they might benefit from your recent article or video, tell them about it.

And don’t forget to share your content via your newsletter and invite (ask) your readers to share it.

Tell folks what they’ll find and how to get there, and they will come.

Social media is free marketing, but it can take up a lot of time. Optimizing posts for SEO, guest blogging, commenting, and especially, consuming other people’s and content and engaging with them. You could easily spend an hour or more per day.

For some, that is time well spent. For others, like me and perhaps you, the time factor is a big reason for not making social media a big part of your marketing.

If you want to do something, choose one social media platform used by the people in your target market, and spend your time there instead of everywhere. And limit yourself to ten minutes a day.

But you don’t have to do that, either.

If social media just isn’t your thing, you can still benefit from its power and reach without a formal social media marketing plan or hiring people to run it for you.

Make it “something else” you do, in support of your primary marketing activities, and spend your time on those.

My primary marketing activity is email

Marketing shouldn’t hurt

July 25, 2022 by David M. Ward

Let me guess, marketing isn’t your favorite thing and if you were being honest, you would admit you’d prefer not to do it.

Ask me how I know.

It’s marketing’s fault, not yours. You can’t be blamed for wanting to “just do your work” and not be smothered by mountains of information and endless lists of things you have to do.

Marketing is vitally important, and it can be challenging, but it shouldn’t hurt.

You should be able to be easy about it, do what you want to do, and do it at a comfortable pace.

Marketing should be an extension of who you are and what you do. It should feel natural, easy almost, and never be something you dread.

And it can be if you focus on the basics.

The basics?

Internally, that means serving your clients well, making sure they know what else you do, and staying in touch with them. It means building relationships and getting to know the people they know.

Repeat business and referrals. Just like Dad used to do it.

What about externally? With people who don’t yet know, like, and trust you?

Also the basics.

Get your name in front of people. It doesn’t matter whether you do that via ads, blogs, networking, public relations, producing content, social media, or anything else—it’s all good.

But whatever you do to get your name in front of people, build a list so you can keep your name in front of them.

You don’t have to do everything. One or two “reaching out” strategies can be enough. Find something you’re good at and enjoy and do that.

And do yourself a favor. Don’t worry about everything the experts tell you is a “must do”. In a perfect world, they might be right, but in the real world, a lot of what they say will simply distract you from the basics.

Unless you want to do more, stick to the basics and keep it simple.

And do something every day.

Make a call, write an article, send an email, learn something, meet someone.

Do what feels right for you. Don’t force yourself to do anything that doesn’t.

And don’t worry about getting everything perfect.

You can be “sloppy” and build a big practice. As long as you get the basics right.

The basics

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

The novelty effect and writing

July 22, 2022 by David M. Ward

A writer says that when he is blocked or stuck or unmotivated to work on or finish a piece, he knows he has to come at it with fresh eyes.

One way he does that is switch to a different “word processor”—computer or phone or tablet.

I do that, too. It works.

The author thinks it is the “novelty effect” which was first discovered in the 1930s during an experiment at a factory where researchers changed the lighting levels to see if it would improve the productivity of the workers.

When they raised the lighting level, productivity went up. When they lowered the level, it also went up.

Which told them it wasn’t the lighting, it was the novelty of the changed environment.

The author says, “It almost doesn’t matter what type of change you make to your work environment — just so long as you make a change. So long as it renders your work slightly askew, you get a novelty effect.“

I agree. Our brains like novelty. It helps us focus. This is true no matter what the task, project, or goal.

If you’re stuck, change something—about the task or how you do it. Changing the place, the tools, the time of day, the order of the steps—anything different can trigger the novelty effect and help you move forward.

For writing projects, another writer has an interesting idea. He says he does all his writing “one sentence per line”.

Sentence, hit return, next sentence.

(Note, this is for his eyes only. He doesn’t publish his writing like this.)

He’s been doing it this way for 20 years and cites several benefits to writing this way.

He doesn’t specifically mention the novelty effect, but the next time I’m stuck, I’m going to try it.

Filed Under: Productivity, Writing Tagged With: Novelty Effect, writers block

The best place to find ideas for your blog or newsletter

July 21, 2022 by David M. Ward

Ideas for blog posts and articles and other content are literally everywhere.

Find a post written by an attorney or other expert in your field, for example, and write a post about the same subject.

You can even use their article as a template. Rewrite the headline and bullet points, add your own comments, recommendations, and examples, and be done in minutes.

Make sure you follow the blogs and subscribe to the newsletters published by attorneys in your field.

Yes?

It is a quick and easy source of ideas. But there’s something even better.

I’m talking about the blogs and publications written for and read by the people in your target market.

If you want to represent people in the health care industry, read what they read, and write about the things they’re doing, talking about, worried about, hoping for, or working towards.

Write about the issues, the people, and the tends, in their niche. Write about the things they care about.

Other lawyers may write about generic legal topics. When you write about topics that are specific to an industry, occupation, or niche, your content will resonate with readers in that niche.

Your content will also be completely original. And valuable to the people in your target market, which means they are more likely to see you as the go-to expert in their market, and share your content with their colleagues and contacts in that market.

Write niche-specific content and you can own your niche.

How to write content your readers what to read

Filed Under: Blogging, Content creation, Newsletters

Some people are weird

July 20, 2022 by David M. Ward

Some prospective clients just don’t get it. They hear the reasons, want the benefits, understand the urgency, have the resources, and still say no.

What’s up with that?

Why don’t they see the value of saying yes?

Don’t get your panties in a festival trying to figure it out.

Yes, examine all of your marketing collateral and look for ways you can make things clearer or more compelling. See if you can find stronger testimonials or more relevant success stories. Do what you can to improve your services and offers.

And stay in touch with them.

Stay in touch with them until they buy or die. And when they die, stay in touch with their heirs until they buy or die. And when they buy, stay in touch with them until they buy again or buy something else you offer, or send you referrals.

Never stop marketing to anyone. Unless someone’s a jerk and you don’t want them, or their referrals..

But if you want them and you’ve done everything you can do to get them to say yes, and the answer is still no, move on.

Again, don’t stop emailing. Keep them on the list. When I say “move on” I mean focus your time and emotional energy on other people.

Because some people will never “get it” no matter how compelling their need, or how clearly or how often you communicate.

Some people are weird.

Just the way it is.

You’re a problem solver, not a miracle worker. Go find some other people who want you to solve their problems in this lifetime.

Email marketing for attorneys

Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services Tagged With: Follow-up

Getting to “yes”

July 19, 2022 by David M. Ward

Do you have any clients or prospective clients who need one or more of your services but can’t seem to pull the trigger?

Of course you do.

They might have legitimate reasons for waiting and one day surprise you with the go ahead.

They didn’t have the funds, and now they do. They didn’t trust you (enough) and now they know you better. They needed approval from someone and finally got their blessing.

On the other hand, they might want to do it, plan to do it, but never get around to doing it.

Because they don’t feel the urgency to do it.

They might never feel that urgency. Unless you tell them something that tips the scale in favor of “now”.

Which is why you drip on them, via your newsletter or other mechanisms, providing them with reasons and social proof, and reminding them of the need to do it by continuing to show up in their mailbox.

Drip, drip, drip, and one day, they’re ready.

That’s a great plan. But there’s something else you can do to help them reach the tipping point.

And it’s pretty darn simple.

If they don’t yet feel the urgency, you can create that urgency through the use of scarcity.

Find a way to trigger their innate FOMO, their fear of missing out, by limiting the quantity of your offer or the dates when it is available.

Even something as simple as “There’s only one appointment left this week” can work.

Now before you say, “that’s manipulate and I won’t do it,” remember, these folks need what you’re offering, want to say yes, and plan to say yes, but have been dragging their feet.

You’re doing them a favor by giving them a reason to do what they want (and need) to do sooner rather than (possibly) never.

You and your little friend, FOMO.

Email is the best way to drip

Filed Under: Closing the sale, Increase your income, Marketing legal services

Make sure your clients have these

July 18, 2022 by David M. Ward

You want your clients to make your job easier, don’t you? To help you do a better job for them?

Yes you do.

You also want your clients to help you prosper. Send you more work (theirs and referrals), promote your events, send traffic to your website, and do other things that help your practice grow.

So, help them. Send them the information you want them to know.

About their legal matter—what will happen, what they need to tell you, what they need to do, what they need to avoid.
About you. What you do, what it’s like to work with you, why they made a good decision to hire you (and stick with you).
How to help the people they know get the benefits and solutions you offer.

Substantive information (reports, checklists, forms about the law and procedure), and information about you and how to work with you.

Examples of the latter:

A summary of your practice areas and services—your capabilities and solutions
Information the client should record and/or send you
FAQ’s—Questions prospective clients and new clients ask, and your answers
Your bio, your firm’s bio
Awards and accomplishments
Testimonials, reviews, success stories
A description of your ideal client (and what to do when they recognize them)
Hand outs: information reports, business cards, checklists, referral cards
Links to your socials, websites, channels
Your content: books, blogs, articles
Your events (seminars, videos, podcasts)
Talking points: what to say to people about you and your solutions
Your policies and procedures re protecting your clients and safeguarding their data
Other: what to do in an emergency, where to park, how to reach someone after hours, how to do a Zoom, what not to send via email, etc.
A pitch to sign up for your newsletter and/or subscribe to your blog
What to do if they have questions, a new legal issue, or their existing problem worsens
When to contact you about an update or to discuss additional services

Make a list of information you want your clients to know and a schedule for delivering it. Some should be sent to (or handed to) new clients, some should be sent at the end of the engagement, some in the weeks and months that follow, and some should be sent every year.

And get writing.

Then, do something similar for your professional contacts.

It may seem like a lot of work, but (a) you don’t have to do it all at once, (b) you probably have a lot of content you can use, and (c) most of what you write will only have to be written once.

Which means you’ll be able to automate the process of helping clients help you.

The Attorney Marketing Formula

Filed Under: Law office management

Your best market

July 15, 2022 by David M. Ward

Of all the possible markets you could target, one is better than the rest. It’s easier and less expensive to reach this market, and likely to produce the most new business and profits.

People in this market require little or no persuading about the need for your solutions or your ability to deliver them. They are easier to work with, more likely to hire you for other legal matters, and more likely to send you referrals.

What’s more, the names and contact information of everyone in this market are readily available to you.

In fact, you already have them.

Yes, we’re talking about your warm market. People who know you and trust you. They’ve hired you before or know you professionally or personally. If you email, call, or knock on their door, they’ll answer and greet you by name, because they know you.

We should also include the people on your newsletter list, subscribers to your blog, and your social media connections, because while you might not know their name, many of them know yours.

It’s called your warm market, in contrast to your cold market, which includes everyone who doesn’t know you.

It’s much more difficult and expensive to market to the cold market. Yes, the cold market is bigger than your warm market, but that is its only advantage.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean you should stop marketing to the cold market and only market to your warm market. Some attorneys can and should do that. Some shouldn’t.

Some should market to both.

The question is, if you do market to both the warm and cold markets, how much of your time and resources should you dedicate to each?

Talk to your partners, accountant, and marketing people. Take a good look at your numbers, market trends, and your goals.

And don’t be afraid of change. Don’t stick with something because you’ve always done it that way or because most of your competition does it that way.

And ask yourself some questions:

If I could get most of my business through repeat business and referrals, would I want to? Or would I always want to keep a hand in the cold market?

Is this the time for me to go all out and build this thing as big as I can as fast as I can? Or am I happy where I am and satisfied with my current rate of growth?

What’s my plan for the next two years? Ten years? What does my gut tell me is right for me now?

I don’t know your numbers or goals or anything else about you but I can offer one piece of advice that worked well for me and countless others.

Focus on your warm market first.

Give your practice a solid foundation of repeat business and referrals before you venture into or expand efforts in the cold market.

Then, no matter what happens in the cold market, you will always have that foundation.

Unless you’re brand new, in which case, all bets are off.

Here’s The Formula

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

Ask me anything

July 14, 2022 by David M. Ward

A Chicago law firm encourages visitors to their website to fill out a contact form, or call their office, to ask questions about any legal matter, which a lawyer at the firm will answer free. Questions and answers are then posted on the firm’s blog.

“We get so many good legal questions that aren’t worthy of a full blog. So every few months I like to group the “best of the rest” in to one post. Here are some great questions we’ve received recently:“

They do answer these questions. But I see a problem with their approach.

They say they answer questions, “Every few months”. But when someone has a legal issue, the clock is often ticking and they need immediate answers. Even if they could wait a few months for an answer, most people don’t want to. They’ll go find another lawyer who won’t make them wait.

So I hope the lawyers review these questions every few days and reach out to the people who need immediate answers.

Help the folks now; post your answers for others to see later.

Besides, what do they (the lawyers) do when they can’t answer a question without getting additional information?

They need to talk to the folks. I hope they do that.

On the other hand, there’s a lot to like about this strategy and it might and it might be something other lawyers should consider:

It’s easy to do. And you can do research if you need to and edit your answers before posting.
It gives you new content for your blog, newsletter, and socials.
It might bring in new clients or cases. Probably not a lot, but even one new client a year could be worth it.
It’s free to the public and might generate publicity and positive word-of-mouth for your firm.
It can bring traffic from people with questions, helping you grow your email list and social media following.
It can bring you prospects you can refer to lawyers in other fields, earning their good will and reciprocal referrals.
It can help you promote your other services to visitors. There may be nothing that can be done about their immediate problem, but they might remember you favorably when they have another issue.
It gives you something to promote when you speak or network. Tell folks what you’re doing. They might send people your way, or want to know more about you and your services.

It takes time to do this so you might consider an alternative: periodic “call-in” days.

You talk to the folks and get additional information that allows you to provide more complete answers. They immediately know what they can or can’t do. And you know if they have something you can help them with (or refer).

Nobody has to wait months. Except readers of your blog who don’t care when the questions were asked or answered.

Your blog can make your phone ring

Filed Under: Blogging, List building, Publicity

Got referrals? Great! Here’s how to get more.

July 13, 2022 by David M. Ward

It’s makes sense to focus most of your attention on your clients and professional contacts who regularly send you business. But there are many other people who can send you business.

I’m talking about

Prospective clients. Folks who signed up on your list, attended your event, downloaded your report, or talked to you about their case.
Former clients. They hired you once and while they might not need to hire you again, they might know people who do.
Social media connections. Even if you’ve never met them or talked to them, you’re connected digitally and that gives you permission to communicate with them, which can lead to referrals.
Professionals, business owners, consultants, experts, and others in your niche or target market who don’t know you, or know you but have never referred, and others who don’t know you but are open to meeting you.
Your business clients’ employees, vendors, and other business contacts. Your clients know a lot of people who know a lot of people and have influence with many of them.
Friends and relatives. They have neighbors, co-workers, businesses they patronize, and more, who might need your help today or one day.

According to people who have studied the subject, the average person knows 250 people. You probably know more. If each of those people knows 250 people—do the math. That’s a lot of people in your extended network. An untapped source of referrals.

Why not tap into it?

You can do that by simply educating your network. Make sure everyone knows 3 things about you:

What you do—your services, practice areas, problems you solve, benefits you deliver. Many don’t know what you do or they don’t know everything you do, or all the ways you help your clients.
Your ideal client. Tell them what a good referral looks like for you. What do they look like? What do they do for a living? What are their problems and desires? And, what are the life events that typically trigger their need for an attorney who does what you do?
Your content—your book, blog, channels, seminars, etc., and how to access it. Many in your network might not be willing or able to refer clients to you, but they might do the next best thing—refer their contacts to your content, directly or through social media. That can lead to a lot of new business.

It’s also good to educate your network about what to do when they recognize someone who might need your help. What should they tell them about you? What should they tell them to do if they have questions or want to hire you?

Most of the people you know have never sent you a referral. Many are willing and able, but don’t know how.

Educate them and you might awaken an army of new referral sources.

Step-by-step instructions

Filed Under: Referral sources, Referrals