The Attorney Marketing Center--Earn More. Work Less

What’s next for you?

June 19, 2019 by David M. Ward

It’s the middle of the year. It’s also the middle of the month and the middle of the week. For some, it’s also the middle of the day.

You’ve accomplished some things this year, yes? The question is, “What’s next?”

What project are you working on now? What do you plan to start soon?

It may be vacation time for you and your clients. Things may be slow. But that won’t last. Before you can say, “motion granted,” the holidays will be here and we’ll be on the cusp of a new year.

My advice: use this time to figure out what’s next for you (if you haven’t already done that) and begin working on it.

Get thee ready for the coming storm.

You should do this even if things aren’t slow right now because you have to stay ahead of the game.

Where do you start?

When I start a new project, the first step I take is to write down the desired outcome. What do I want and why do I want it. Nothing fancy.

This may change. The project may expand in scope, contract, or the entire idea may become something else.

Then, since I’ve probably been thinking about this for awhile and have some notes, I gather up those notes and divide them into three categories: Tasks, Resources, and Notes.

Tasks are things I have to do or might have to do, even if that means thinking about something or doing a little exploratory research.

Resources are links and docs or people I might need.

Notes is for everything else.

And with that, the project is begun.

I give myself permission to put it aside, however. If I’m not ready to move forward on a project or I find something else I want to (or need to) work on, I put the project aside.

I have more than a few of these residing on my hard drive, ready for me to pick them up again.

Grab a legal pad or digital device and flesh out a project to work on over the next few months. If you have several options, choose the one that excites you (scares you) because that’s probably the one you should be working on.

If you decide you’re not ready for it, put your notes aside and flesh out another project. And don’t dillydally. It may be the start of summer but I can already hear the sound of sleigh bells in the distance.

I keep my notes in Evernote. Here’s my Evernote for Lawyers ebook

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: Project planning

Pay-per-ouch!

June 18, 2019 by David M. Ward

I read an article about the options available to lawyers for marketing their services. One of the options was pay-per-click ads.

But, it’s expensive, the article says. To wit: “The search term “Los Angeles personal injury lawyer” can cost as much as $140 per click.”

Not for a lead. Just for the click.

If ten people click on your ad, you’re in the hole for over $1,000 before you talk to anyone to find out if they have a case and can show them your dog and your pony.

That’s crazy, right?

Not necessarily.

There’s a reason PPC ads for PI lawyers in Los Angeles are expensive. They’re expensive because there are a lot of lawyers competing for those clicks, and they do that despite the high cost per click because they’re still able to make a profit.

If they weren’t, they wouldn’t bid so much for those clicks and the price would come down. Supply and demand.

The seemingly high price is proof that “Los Angeles personal injury lawyer” is a profitable keyword. At least for some lawyers.

If you’re a PI lawyer in LA, it is precisely the kind of keyword you should consider.

If you have the money. And you’ve got your act together and can convert enough of those clicks into clients, and those clients back into dollars.

Lawyer #1 thinks:

“If I spend $10,000 for 100 clicks and sign up just one case that earns me a $20,000 fee, I double my investment. Plus, I might get an a smaller case or two out of those clicks. Plus, I can build my list and generate some referrals. Sure, I might not bring in any business the first few months doing this, but eventually, I could bring in one or two massive cases.”

Lawyer #2 thinks:

“Yeah, but I might not get any cases. Or the cases I get might not be any good. I could lose my shirt.”

Both lawyers are right, of course.

There are other options. Other keywords to bid on, other forms of advertising, and other forms of marketing.

Be thankful you have options. And don’t rule out anything just because it’s expensive. It might be expensive for a reason.

If you’re ready to take a quantum leap in your practice

Filed Under: Advertising, Marketing legal services

A missed opportunity?

June 17, 2019 by David M. Ward

If you’ve ever been to the Old Town Mall in Scottsdale, Arizona, you may have noticed the statue of a bronze cowboy seated on a bench, near some of the shops. You may have seen the many tourists who pass by and touch his hat or sit down next to him to have their picture taken.

But The Bronze Cowboy isn’t a statue at all, he is a man dressed, head to toe, in an amazingly realistic costume, much to the surprise and delight of the passersby who see the statue wave at them or put his arm around their shoulder when they sit down.

When the statue moves, his “victims” are startled and then laugh as they realize they have been fooled by what they were sure was a “real” statue. It’s great fun and makes for some great video content.

The Bronze Cowboy has a satchel on his lap and a few folks put a dollar or some coins in it but surely that’s not enough to justify sitting in the hot sun for hours at a time. No doubt his income comes from ads on his videos.

I was watching one of his offerings the other day and thought he’s missing a great opportunity to build his channel.

No doubt most of the dozens of people each day who sit next to him and have a good laugh would like to see themselves on youtube. Why doesn’t he give them a card with a link to his channel?

Many victims would subscribe to the channel and tell their friends to go watch them. Those friends would tell others.

But he doesn’t pass out a card. He remains silent and in character, waiting for his next victim to sit down.

Maybe he does hand out something and edits this out. Or maybe he has an assistant hand out a card off camera.

I hope so. With a little promotion, his channel and income would multiply.

The lesson for lawyers: The best source of new clients are your existing clients.

Encourage your victims, uh, clients, to tell their friends about you, your website, your presentation or offer, and your numbers will grow.

And you won’t have to get dressed up or sit in the hot sun to do it.

This shows you what to hand out to clients

Filed Under: Referrals

Reading this could be a waste of time

June 14, 2019 by David M. Ward

Most people aren’t that interested in learning the bulk of what you could teach them about the law. If you’re trying to build a following by pushing out as much information as possible, no matter how good that information might be, you’re probably wasting your time.

In the beginning, prospective clients read what you write in a blog or newsletter because they’re looking for information–about their problems or interests and about your ability to help them.

Once they’ve satisfied themselves that you can help them, they won’t continue to read what you write or watch your videos or listen to your podcast unless you give them a reason to do that.

And you want them to do that.

You want them to continue to read or listen to you until they’re ready to take the next step. You want to build a relationship with them because that relationship will mean that if they hire any attorney, they will be more likely to choose you.

That relationship can also help bring more traffic to your website, build your following on social media, and generate more referrals.

That’s one reason why I put a lot of “me” into my content, and why you should do the same. We are a lot more interesting to our readers and followers than the information we provide them.

Building a following isn’t just about showing people what you know. It’s as much about showing people who you are.

Let people get to know you; liking and trusting and hiring won’t be far behind.

To learn how to build a following with email, go here

Filed Under: Communication, Email, Newsletters Tagged With: content

Fix what’s broken

June 13, 2019 by David M. Ward

If you’re like me (and you are), you have one or more habits that often lead to problems or wasted time.

Back in the days when I was making a lot of calls, I had a habit of waiting until I finished the calls before scheduling the follow-ups. I liked to get through the calls as quickly as possible, and then do “paperwork”.

With some people, the follow-up was two days. With others, two weeks. It depended on the situation and the conversation.

The problem was, after the calls, even an hour later, I often couldn’t remember enough context to decide the best time to follow-up and had to go through all my notes again to make that decision.

Sometimes, I got busy with other things and the follow-up fell through the cracks. I would up with a bunch of people I needed to contact but no schedule for doing it.

The fix was simple.

I decided I would take a few seconds after each call to record a follow-up date. It might be a specific date or just “3 days” but I wrote something down before I went onto the next call.

Problem solved.

How about you? What do you often do inefficiently? Do you have any bad habits that slow you down or lead to errors?

Do you forget to put things on your calendar? Avoid dealing with certain types of situations (clients, emails, problems) and find them getting worse? Do you misfile things and have trouble finding them later?

These are relatively easy to fix, and worth fixing.

Create a new habit, a checklist, a reminder, or delegate the task to someone who can do it for you.

Figure out what you need to do and do it. You’ll save time and have fewer things to fix later.

Does your marketing need fixing? Here’s what I recommend

Filed Under: Productivity

No, really, why should I hire you?

June 12, 2019 by David M. Ward

If a prospective client asks you why they should choose you as their lawyer instead of any other lawyer in your field, what would you say?

Most lawyers would point to their experience and track record. Some will mention well-known clients they represent. Others will point out their positive reviews or testimonials.

And all of that is good.

What’s even better is being able to show prospective clients the added value you bring to your clients that other lawyers don’t offer.

Something that benefits your clients in a material way.

What might that be?

It will be different for different client niches.

Most lawyers don’t target niches. They offer their services to “anyone” with a given legal issue or “anyone” who is interested in a given legal service.

It’s hard to stand out that way.

It’s better to choose a niche market and “specialize” in it.

A niche is defined by industry or culture, type of business or occupation, or other socio-economic or demographic factors. Specializing in a niche means dedicating yourself to it.

Immerse yourself in the niche, study it, and learn everything you can about it. Learn what they do, what they want, their problems, their pains, what’s important to them. Build relationships with the people in that niche and the professionals who advise them.

That’s how you find the added value you can offer prospective clients.

Example time.

Let’s say you choose “start ups” in a certain field as a niche market. You’ll no doubt discover that these companies need investors.

Because you have built relationships with people in that niche, you will have access to investors.

The added value you bring to your clients in this niche is your ability to introduce them to investors.

Your clients benefit when they choose you as their lawyer because you do something for them other lawyers don’t do, or don’t do as well because they don’t specialize in that niche and don’t have the relationships you do.

You also add value to your relationships with the investors and their advisors in the niche, because you’re the lawyer who can bring them the deals they’re looking to invest in.

You build a reputation in that niche which helps you attract more clients.

Choose a niche and dedicate yourself to it. When a prospective client wants to know why they should choose you, you’ll have the perfect answer.

Want help in choosing a niche? Here you go

Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: Niche marketing, target marketing

Greased lightning

June 11, 2019 by David M. Ward

I woke up with the words “low friction” in my head. To me, this means reducing complexities and removing bottlenecks in what I do, so I can get things done more quickly and with less effort.

I guess I’m thinking about this because I’m on (another) simplification binge.

I look at what I’m doing and ask, “How can I make this (app, process, tool) simpler or work better?”

Sometimes, the answer is to use one app to do a job instead of two. The second app might be better at what it does, but I have to weigh that against what I gain by not having to learn it, update it, and use it.

Sometimes, it means getting back to basics.

As you may know, I use a version of Getting Things Done to manage my tasks and projects. I’ve gotten sloppy about a few things, leading to a mind like mud rather than a mind like water.

Instead of doing things the way they’re supposed to be done, I fell into shortcutting the process and wound up complicating my life.

To fix things, I’ve gotten back to writing “next actions” the way they’re supposed to be–the single next action I can do to achieve the desired result or advance the project.

It only takes a few seconds to write down the task in “verb plus noun” format, and this really helps. Before, when I scanned my “Next Actions” list, I wasn’t sure what to do next.

Frankly, I didn’t want to look at my list at all.

When I look at my list now, instead of feeling resistance and confusion, I feel drawn to do things.

I’m also taking a little more time to flesh out projects by asking, “What’s the desired outcome?” and “What’s the next step?”

Doing this has helped me realize that some of the projects on my list shouldn’t be there. By moving them to the someday/maybe list, I have less stress (friction) and more time to focus on a shorter list of things I’m committed to doing.

Finally, I’m getting back to doing a weekly review. Now that I’m more intentional about next actions and projects, the weekly review is no longer the big mess it had become. It’s actually enjoyable.

No matter what apps or systems you use, if you find yourself lacking clarity, feeling resistance, or failing to get things done, I encourage you to simplify what you’re doing and how you do it.

Slow down (and assess what you’re doing) so you can speed up.

And if you don’t know what to do, go back to the basics.

The fundamentals of effective attorney marketing

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: getting things done, gtd

Who knows what danger lurks in your legal marketing?

June 10, 2019 by David M. Ward

In the 1960s, Los Angeles based Adee plumbing began running TV ads featuring an actor who asked, “Who knows what danger lurks in your plumbing?” It was a play on the 1930s radio show, The Shadow, that opened with an announcer asking, “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?”

In the TV commercial, the answer was “Adee do”. That ad, and others using the same concept and catch phrase, ran well into the 1980s.

Two things.

First, in your marketing, look for ways to piggyback on ideas and themes that are already in your market’s consciousness. It’s a simple and effective way to help your message be understood and remembered.

DUI defense lawyer Myles L. Berman does this in his long-running commercials that use the tag, “Because ‘Friends don’t let friends plead guilty(TM),” playing off the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) slogan, “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk”.

There’s an added bonus here because of the obvious tie-in with drinking and driving, but you could use this idea no matter what your practice area.

A family law attorney, for example, could use, “Because friends don’t let friends get married without a prenup.” Okay, maybe not the best, but you get the idea.

Second point: when you have something that’s working–a tag, a commercial, a presentation, or any kind of marketing message, resist the urge to change it.

Yes, even after thirty years.

You may be tired of hearing or seeing the same thing, but that doesn’t mean your market is tired of it. It makes no sense to throw away something that’s been working well for a long time.

Test other messages or ideas, headlines, and offers against it, to see if something else works better, but make sure it does before you change it.

Who knows what danger lurks in your legal marketing? That would be me.

The Attorney Marketing Formula

Filed Under: Advertising, Marketing legal services

The market is boss

June 7, 2019 by David M. Ward

It doesnâ€™t matter how good your services are, how much value you deliver to clients, or how good you are at marketing. . . if there’s no demand for your services, you’re not going to sell any.

The good news is that the converse is also true.

If you offer services your market wants and is willing to pay for, you don’t need to do a lot of selling. You just need to get your message in front of the right people.

In One More Customer, football great turned mega-entrepreneur Fran Tarkenton said, “Look, if your big idea needs super-salesmanship. . . it’s not so big after all. Steven Jobs didn’t sell the iPad; he announced it. If you’ve got a truly great idea, you’ll only have to announce it and inform people about it.”

When you offer legal services people want and need, your job is to identify the people who need those services (or know people who do) and keep your name and message in front of them.

As a business partner of mine used to put it, “You don’t have to be good, you just need to be busy”.

Tell prospective clients how you can help them. Give them ways to learn more, e.g., information, seminars, consultations, etc. And stay in touch with them.

That doesn’t mean you don’t need to improve your skills, your “customer service,” and your marketing. You do, because your competition is doing all of the above and you need to stay out ahead of them.

You will always need to work on personal and professional development. But if you offer something people want, you don’t need to obsess about it.

The easiest way to stay in touch is with email

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Personal development

I’m up!

June 6, 2019 by David M. Ward

I really don’t like “push” reminders. When I’m in the middle of doing something and I get a text or a pop-up from my calendar or an app (or both), reminding me that I should be doing something else. . .

Kinda annoying.

Like your dad reminding you to get up and get dressed for school. Or you’re watching your favorite show and your mom barges in and reminds you to finish your homework.

Yeah, that kind of annoying.

I still use reminders, but I’m thinking about turning them off for everything except appointments (and maybe for those, too.)

What’s the alternative? To do what I do every day for all of my tasks:

In the morning (or the night before if I remember to do it–hmmm, maybe I need a reminder for this. . .), I go through my calendar and task list and my projects and decide what I’m going to work on that day, and put this on a “Today” list.

I usually have 3 to 5 items on the list. Today, I have 7 tasks on the list. Some days, I have only one or two.

Once I have my “Today” list, I close up everything else and keep that one list in front of me. Keeping it visible is the only reminder I need. If I go out, I have that list available to me on my phone.

If I finish my list and I want to do more, my “next” list is always nearby, but not in front of me.

One list, no distractions or interruptions.

It’s a digital version of what I used to do in my law practice with file folders. I’d make a stack of what I needed to work on that day, start at the top and work my way through it.

I also had a desk calendar to see the day’s appointments.

No annoying reminders.

Yes, my secretary would remind me if I forgot something, but only if I forgot something (which I usually didn’t).

As I write this, I think I’ve convinced myself to turn off reminders.

And with that, I’m off for another cup of coffee. No reminder necessary.

Evernote for Lawyers ebook

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: list making