David M. Ward, Author at The Attorney Marketing Center

Choose one thing as your main thing

June 17, 2021 by David M. Ward

Legal marketing agency executive Jay Harrington recently said, “You don’t need to be on more than one social media platform, nor do you have to do all forms of marketing”. He says, “the more you diversify your approach to marketing, the less effective your marketing may be.”

I agree.

The reason? Focus. You can’t be good at everything and it’s better to be good at one thing than so-so at a lot of things.

The other reason? Time. Many attorneys spend no more a few minutes a day on marketing. Trying to conquer more than one platform or marketing strategy means spreading themselves too thin.

Think of it this way: it’s better to have a good conversation with one person you’d like to know than to broadcast a message to thousands, most of whom aren’t listening.

Even if you have a lot of help and/or a big marketing budget, you should should still concentrate on one or two things, not everything.

Choose one social media platform. Study it and the people who are good at it, learn all you can about it, and then work that platform.

Show up there every day. Add quality content. Engage with key people in your niche. Get your name known, build your list, and use that to build your practice.

It’s far more effective for you to invest a few minutes a day on one platform than to use staff or automation to post links and comments across many.

The same is true for any kind of marketing.

Don’t diversify. Focus. Get good at blogging or advertising, speaking or writing articles, referrals or SEO, social media or podcasting.

One thing, not everything.

You can diversify later, if you want to, but if you focus and get good enough at one thing, you might not have to.

Harrington says the starting point is to ask, “Where is my audience?” Where do they hang out, what do they read, how do they spend their time?

Go where they are, get to know them, and let them get to know you.

Effective marketing starts with a plan. Here’s how to create yours.

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

Why you should email often

June 16, 2021 by David M. Ward

The other day, an entrepreneur I follow wrote and said he’s emailing daily again. He says it’s easier to email daily than to remind himself to do it occasionally.

Some readers might be turned off by a daily email, he acknowledges, but he feels it is the best way to connect and stay top-of-mind.

“I like to think of my emails like a little television show, where readers want to tune-in to see what happens next,” he says.

He also pointed out that writing daily provides him with a lot of content he can use elsewhere–on social media, in reports and handouts, blog posts and books.

Needless to say, I agree with all of the above. These are some of the reasons why I now write every week day, and why I recommend emailing at least once a week.

Not everyone will open all of your emails, and that’s fine. They regularly see your name and remember who you are and what you do. When they need a lawyer, they can quickly find your contact information or the link to your site in their inbox.

Contrast that with lawyers who only write once in awhile.

People don’t remember their name or that they signed up for their newsletter and typically let everything go to spam.

These lawyers are the ones who say, “I tried email but it didn’t work.”

Take it from me and my entrepreneur friend, email works. And emailing frequently works even better.

How to use email to get more clients and build your practice

Filed Under: Blogging, Content creation, Email

My latest productivity hack you might want to use

June 15, 2021 by David M. Ward

You’ve heard me say, “Plan tomorrow before tomorrow begins”. Make a list of what you intend to do each day so you can focus on your most important tasks, instead of being distracted by whatever might come up.

Sometimes I do that in the morning. Usually I do it the night before, when things are quiet and I can think about what I want to do. The next day, I know what’s on tap and I can immediately get to work.

I get my important tasks done early in the day, which means that no matter what else I do (or don’t do) the rest of the day, every day is productive.

As you know, I write a blog post/newsletter article every weekday and have done so for many years. Writing the post doesn’t take long. I can usually crank out a first draft in a few minutes. What takes time is figuring out what I want to talk about.

And sometimes, that can take a minute.

Recently, I made a small change to my workflow that makes things easier. I choose the topic for my blog the night before.

I go through my notes and choose an idea. I jot down a line or two or some bullet points, things I want to say about the topic. I might also add a working title.

That’s all. But that’s enough, because the next day I don’t have to do any of that, I can just start writing.

I get my post done quickly and I’m on to other things.

Anyway, you can use this idea even if you don’t write a blog or newsletter. You can use it to flesh out any project or case you’re working on.

Gather up your notes and resources and make a list of tasks or steps to do the next day.

Who will you call? What will you say? What do you need to research?

When you plan and organize your day the night before, your subconscious mind works on your project or post while you sleep.

Which is why the next day, your work is easier to start and quicker to finish.

How to get more referrals without asking for referrals

Filed Under: Productivity, Writing

The quickest way to build your authority

June 14, 2021 by David M. Ward

Many people assume that because you are an attorney you know what you’re doing. You’ve got a license, you’ve been vetted, you don’t have anything to prove.

Clearly, not everyone feels that way.

Your colleagues, sophisticated clients who want to hire the best of the best, business leaders who can send you referrals, promote you, and open doors for you, usually want to see more.

If you want them to see you as an authority, you can’t rely solely on your license.

To build your authority and achieve “expert” status, you typically need to do the kinds of things experts do–write for authoritative publications, speak to important groups, get invited to corporate boards, and represent top-tier clients.

You start by writing and posting authoritative information on your blog or website, along with success stories of clients you’ve helped.

You write guest articles and posts for blogs and newsletter in your target market.

You get interviewed by smaller publications, podcasts and channels, building your speaking skills, making new connections, and driving additional traffic to your website.

You teach CLE courses, serve as an arbitrator or mediator, join authoritative organizations, do charitable work and volunteer for their committees, and build your contacts and your bio.

And you use your existing contacts to meet other professionals and centers of influence in your niche, building strong relationships with key people who can help you get to the next level.

You can do these things, and you should, but it can take years for these things to bear fruit and, well, you’re in a hurry.

There is something you can do, right now, to dramatically speed up the process.

You can write a book.

Experts write books. You can, too.

You don’t have to wait years to become qualified to do it, or to be asked to do it, You can write it and self-publish it in the next few weeks.

Your book will position you as an authority. (An “author” is, by definition, an “authority”.) People will hire you and refer you and invite you to speak and write and join their group or cause because you wrote a book and other attorneys didn’t.

Writing a book is the quickest way to build your authority, and a smart way to build your practice or career.

Once you’ve written your book, promote it. Give it away, send it to everyone you know and everyone you want to know. Make sure your clients have copies for themselves and to give to friends, offer it to prospective clients, bloggers, editors, meeting planners, and influential people in your niche.

When you talk to someone who wants to know what you do and how you can help them, their clients, or their readers or listeners, stop talking and send them a copy of your book. Your book will tell them everything they need to know.

What to say when someone asks, “What do you do?”

Filed Under: Image, Legal industry, Marketing legal services

Would you write more often if you could do this?

June 11, 2021 by David M. Ward

A blog post or newsletter can be brief. A few paragraphs, even a few sentences.

As long as you say something valuable or interesting.

Seth Godin and others do it. I just did it. You can, too.

Filed Under: Blogging, Newsletters, Writing

‘Til your daddy takes your T-Bird away

June 10, 2021 by David M. Ward

I’m guilty of this myself. Too much information in my articles and posts. Telling you what and how, why and when. Giving you bullet points and instructions, telling you what to do and how to do it.

There’s nothing wrong with the how-to’s, of course. It’s just that there are other things to talk about.

Suppose you and I were buds. We get together for to hang out, shoot the shite, bring each other up to speed on what’s going on.

We have a few adult beverages and share a few laughs. In other words, we have some fun.

Why can’t we do that online?

We can and we should.

When we write a blog post or article, when we record a video or podcast, when we post on social media, we don’t have to be “all business, all the time.”

That doesn’t mean being unprofessional or always going for the laugh. It means letting down our hair, speaking or writing informally, and sharing information and ideas that aren’t strictly law-related.

If you had an interesting day, tell people about it. If your son or daughter tells you something funny that happened in school, share it. If your neighbor charges his Tesla at night and you can hear that annoying electric hum through the wall of your house and it drives you crazy, mention it–like I just did about my neighbor.

We can also have fun playing with language. One way is to use phrases your readers don’t expect you to use. You feel me? Are you picking up what I’m laying down?

You know, fun.

Now, you may be wondering, why. Why should we put fun in our writing or speaking, or for those of us who do it already, why should we do it more?

Because our readers want us to.

They want to see our human side. They want us to make them smile. They want to have more fun, and and they don’t want us to give them homework every time they hear from us.

Yes, we should teach our readers something. But we can do that and also entertain them for the few minutes it takes for them to read what we write.

It’s called infotainment. A friend of mine describes it as “Education wrapped in candy.”

Give your readers their peas and carrots but also give them dessert.

You may find it difficult to do this, to loosen up in front of an audience who is used to you being straight. But you can do it (it just takes practice) and when you do, you’ll be glad you did.

You’ll enjoy writing more. You’ll get more replies and engagement from your readers. You’ll build a following instead of just a list of people who consume your content.

Which means you’ll also get more business.

Start slowly. Add a sprinkle of lighter material here and there. One way you could do that is to make your usual (boring) legal point and then use a colorful analogy or story to illustrate it.

A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.

Give it a try. You might find you’re good at it. You might enjoy it immensely. It might give new life to your writing and speaking.

One thing’s for sure. Your subscribers will love it.

They’ll look forward to your next post or email or presentation, and they’ll tell their friends about you, because you’re not like all those other (boring) lawyers.

Email Marketing for Attorneys

Filed Under: Communication, Email, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Writing

Some do, some don’t

June 9, 2021 by David M. Ward

A prospective client is sitting in your office, telling you about their situation. You listen, ask questions, tell them what you think, and share a story about a client who had a similar situation. You tell them what you did for them and how it worked out.

Your analysis and opinion help them to better understand their problem and the possible solutions. Your story inspires them or comforts them, and convinces them that you can help.

And they sign up.

Well done.

Another example of the adage, “Facts tell but stories sell.”

You see another prospective client with a similar problem. You tell them what you think and share the same story. They don’t relate to your story but hire you anyway, because they like how you explained the law and what you advised them to do made sense.

People are different. Some people won’t relate to some of your stories.

No matter how many other people do.

I bought a book the other day. It has hundreds of 5 star reviews. Many of the reviewers mentioned how they loved the author’s stories. One said, “I really liked the motivational stories, they added depth and background to the theme of the book which is to find ways to start.”

Another reviewer didn’t like the stories. He gave the book 1 star and asked, “Can I get a refund?” He said, “If I wanted to know his life story I would have just read his blogs.”

Some do, some don’t.

Lessons:

Encourage feedback from your clients and readers. You want to hear what they like and don’t like, about your stories and all of your content. They may relate to your stories but think you have too many or they are too long. Or they might love your stories and want more.
Sometimes, one story is enough; sometimes, two or three is the right number. Some people will like certain stories more than others. Keep a file of stories you can use in different situations. Experiment to find the right stories and the right number.
Don’t leave out the meat and potatoes. Talk about the facts, the law, the procedure, and use stories to illustrate your points. People make decisions, e.g., to hire you, based on emotions, and justify their decision based on logic, e.g., the facts. You need both.

Finally, practice your delivery. There’s nothing worse than a good story that goes too long or misses the point. There’s nothing better than an average story that is well told.

Filed Under: Closing the sale, Communication, Marketing legal services

Marketing legal services, James Bond style

June 8, 2021 by David M. Ward

I recently wrote about the need to look and sound the way prospective clients expect an attorney to look and sound, and at the same time, appear different from other attorneys.

It’s a paradox, and a challenge.

Another challenge in the marketing realm is displaying the right posture.

On the one hand, you want prospective clients to know you want their business. You’re ready to help them, you promise to work hard for them, and you hope they choose you as their attorney.

At the same time, you want them to know that while you want their business, you don’t need their business. You’d love to work with them and help them but it’s fine if they choose someone else.

Thus, the paradox.

The message is that you are extremely busy because you are very good at what you do. Anyone who gets you as their attorney is fortunate.

If you were a restaurant instead of a law office, people would see a parking lot filled with cars and a line outside the door, waiting to get in.

Because you’ve got the best food in town.

In marketing, you want to be like James Bond–calm, cool, collected. Someone everyone wants because they know you will get the job done.

Bond never chased the girl but he always got the girl.

Be like Bond. Let the girl know you want her but make her come to you.

How to get more referrals

Filed Under: Image, Marketing legal services

When you don’t know, find a lawyer who does

June 7, 2021 by David M. Ward

When you don’t know how to do something, when you’re looking for new ideas or ways to improve what you do, the simplest place to find some answers is to look at what other lawyers do.

Read their blogs. Listen to their podcasts. Subscribe to their newsletters. Analyze what they’re doing and find some ideas you can use.

Because some lawyers know things you don’t know and are better at certain things than you.

When they talk about a strategy they use to win cases, take notes. When they mention a book or blog that inspired them, read it. When they describe the tools and techniques they use to improve their productivity or results, go take a look.

Study successful lawyers and learn from them, so you can emulate them.

But don’t copy them.

Take what you learn and adapt it to your practice, your market, your style. Because you’re different and so are your clients, friends, and followers.

But. . . a word of caution.

When it comes to marketing and practice building, many successful lawyers can’t teach you anything.

They were successful because they had connections you don’t have, or spent a lot of money you don’t have (or don’t want to spend), or they were in the right place at the right time.

They had an uncle who opened a lot of doors for them, a few key clients who sent them a lot of referrals, or a case that got them featured in the right publications.

Study them. See what you can learn. But don’t assume you can do what they did.

You also need to be careful when you read lawyers’ blogs or newsletters looking for ideas you can write about in yours.

This can be a great source of ideas, but don’t automatically assume you should write about the same topics.

Why?

Because many lawyers write what they want to write, not what their readers want to read.

Just because you’re in the same practice area doesn’t mean you should write about the same subjects, or do it the way they do it.

Make sure you know your readers, so you can write what they want to read.

One more thing.

Don’t limit yourself to studying other lawyers. Read and follow and learn from other professionals and business owners who sell to or advise the same markets you target.

You may not be able to (or want to) do what they do to market or manage their practice or business, but you can learn about your target market–what they want, how they think, and how to connect with them.

Your local real estate broker can teach you things you’ll never learn from other lawyers.

How to choose your target market

Filed Under: success

Turning down clients for fun and profit

June 4, 2021 by David M. Ward

When you’re a new attorney trying to pay the bills, you take any work that comes your way. At least that’s what I did.

If someone needed help and had a few bucks, I was your guy.

If I didn’t know what to do, I figured it out. It wasn’t as though I was taking time away from other better-paying work. In the early days, there wasn’t any.

So I did what I had to do and (eventually) built a successful practice.

If you’re just starting out, this might be a good plan for you. If you’re not starting out, however, this is not a good plan.

You can’t take “anything”. You have to be selective.

That means turning down work that doesn’t pay well. The small cases and clients, the work that doesn’t align with your vision and goals.

You can’t afford to take the small stuff because it takes time away from the big stuff.

Ah, but what if you’re not that busy? What if your dance card isn’t currently filled with high-paying clients and life-changing cases?

You have two options.

Option one is to take the small case, not for the money necessarily but as a marketing strategy. Help someone with a small case today, tomorrow they may bring you a big case. Help the start-up get going and they may one day have a steady stream of business for you.

The “low-paying” work you do for these clients is an investment in the growth of your practice. You earn less today so you can earn (a lot) more tomorrow.

I’ve done this. I’ve taken small cases that paid little or nothing and was rewarded with some fat, juicy cases down the road.

If you consider this option, the idea is to think in terms of clients, not cases. The case isn’t important, the client is. If it is a client who knows a lot of people, for example, they could send you a lot of business, even if their own case isn’t much to write home about.

Capiche?

Option two is to stick to your guns. Turn down (or refer out) the small stuff or the work that’s not in your primary practice area. When you do that, you can use the time this gives you to focus on marketing and bringing in the types of clients and cases you really want.

I’ve done this too. It was key to my going from “just getting by” to building a big practice.

So, both options work.

What also works is to do a little of both. Turn down most of the “wrong” work but take some of it when it makes sense to do that.

I know, it’s complicated.

Which option is best for you? You might find the answer by looking at a spreadsheet or your bank account. Or by trying it one way and then the other and seeing what works best.

If that sounds even more complicated, you might do what I did.

Stop counting beans and start trusting your gut.

This can help

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