The Attorney Marketing Center--Earn More. Work Less

Why you need to offer a “deluxe” package of services

August 28, 2023 by David M. Ward

I used to sell a course in two versions: “Basic” and “Deluxe”. The Deluxe version had more value at a higher price. Customers got more services and “stuff” and I earned more revenue.

You should do something similar in your practice.

Bundle or package your services in ways that are attractive to clients because they get more value and/or the convenience of getting everything they will need from you sooner rather than later, all at an attractive “price”.

For example, if you have a typical fee package that goes for $5000, consider putting together a higher-priced package that sells for $6500.

If you don’t offer flat fee billing, consider it, at least for some of your services. Clients like the certainty of paying a flat fee rather than paying by the hour, and you may find more clients signing up (at a higher flat fee) for that reason alone.

There’s another reason for offering higher-priced packages, however. It often generates more sales of your lower-priced or “regular” package because of a phenomenon known as “price anchoring”.

It’s about perceived value.

Your $5000 package appears more “affordable” because the client compares it to the $6500 alternative. If you only offer the $5000 bundle, however, the client has the choice of paying that or paying nothing, e.g., telling you they’ll think about it.

Even if nobody signs up for your “Deluxe” package, you will often earn more due to the increased sales of your lower-priced package.

Reason enough to get to work on your Deluxe package.

Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing

How do you know if it’s working?

August 25, 2023 by David M. Ward

Everyone says, “Do more of what’s working and let go of (or change) what isn’t”. I said it myself yesterday. But how do you know if something is working?

Sure, the numbers. Your return on investment. How many new cases or clients, how much revenue, how many leads, what percentage you close.

Are you hitting your KPIs, getting lots of butts in seats, increasing your list of subscribers and followers?

Yes, the numbers tell the story. But not the entire story.

Because there are things you can’t measure. Testimonials, reviews, and new referral sources which haven’t (yet) paid off but could soon rock your world.

Invitations to speak in front of a prestigious group, being endorsed by an influential professional in your target market, or meeting the right person at the right time.

You can’t measure these things. Or predict their effect. The small case that doesn’t pay much (or anything) but leads to a big referral. Writing 20 articles that nobody reads and then someone does read one, likes it, forwards it a friend, and it goes viral and brings in a steady stream of new business.

You don’t always know something is working. Or where it might lead.

The numbers aren’t irrelevant and in some situations (advertising) they are critical. But you can’t always count on the numbers. So, I propose another way to tell if something is working.

Are you having fun?

Fun? Yes, fun.

If you’re enjoying what you’re doing, you’ll want to continue. You’ll do it regularly and enthusiastically, without forcing yourself or reminding yourself. You’ll be more creative and consistent. And your excitement in the doing, not just the results, will attract clients and referral sources and opportunities galore.

Do more of what’s fun. Because if it’s fun, it’s working.

Filed Under: Marketing Plan, success

Start before you’re ready

August 24, 2023 by David M. Ward

You want to create a new and improved marketing plan. You do some research, talk to some people, figure out the steps, allocate funds, set some goals, and schedule time to do what you need to do.

Logical. Thorough. But often a waste of time.

Why? Because you don’t know what you don’t know. You don’t know if the information you’ve collected and the decisions you’ve made will get you where you want to go. The only way to know that is to start.

Do something and see what happens.

Once you see what happens, you adjust. You do more of what’s working, change or abandon what’s not.

If it’s working, or you feel good about those first few steps and want to keep at it, you give it more time, add more elements, change your pace, change your words, and fine tune your approach.

Research and planning are fine, but at some point, you have to do something. The sooner you do, the sooner you know if you’re going in the right direction.

Pick something and start. Before you’re ready.

Call some old clients, even if you don’t know what you’re going to say. Outline an article or presentation, ask a friend if you can join him at his next networking breakfast, get some quotes for a makeover of your website.

Starting may be the toughest part, but it is the most important.

When you take action, even a little, you learn things, meet people, get ideas, establish some momentum, and feel good about taking the first step.

Or you don’t.

You might mess up, hire the wrong people, waste time, spend too much money, hate everything you see or write or do, and want to give up.

That’s okay, too.

Get some help. Try it a different way. Take a break and come back at it with fresh eyes. Or kill the idea and do something else.

Try lots of things. You’ll learn what you like, what you hate, what you’re good at, and what you never want to do again.

Progress.

Eventually, you’ll find something that sticks.

And that’s your plan. Messy, exciting, and ultimately your path to success.

Helen Keller said, “Life is either a big adventure or nothing.” Clearly, she was talking about marketing legal services.

This will help you create a simple plan

Filed Under: Marketing Plan

Get more referrals by making it easier to get more referrals

August 23, 2023 by David M. Ward

All things being equal, the easier it is for your clients and contacts to refer clients to you, the more referrals you’re likely to get.

You have to be “referable” of course—get good results for your clients and provide good “customer service”–but even when you do, if the mechanics of making a referral are unclear or difficult, you simply won’t get as many referrals as you could.

How can you make this easier?

First, teach your clients and contacts how to recognize someone who might be a good fit for you.

Give them a profile of your ideal client—their legal situation, their background, and what they typically say or do before looking for an attorney.

Second, equip them with tools and resources they can use to show people what you do and how you can help them. Give them handouts they can hand out, links they can forward, and articles and videos they can share. If you do presentations, make sure they know when and where they are available, and how to sign up.

Third, because you also want your clients to tell people about you or answer questions about you, give them the language they can use to do that.

Teach them what to say to describe you, your practice areas, your services and offers, how you helped them, and why they recommend you.

Most of your clients and professional contacts know people who need your help. They want to tell them about you. Make this process as easy as possible and you will get more referrals.

Here’s how to do it

Filed Under: Referrals

Do you love your work?

August 22, 2023 by David M. Ward

For many lawyers, the answer is no. The thrill is gone and if they could, they’d do something else.

But what?

I don’t know. But I do know there’s an answer. Something you can do that allows you to use your skills and interests and pays you as much—or more. Something gratifying and “just right” for you.

Ready for some good news? You might be a lot closer than you think.

Before you decide to jump ship in search of work you love, what if you could stay where you are and simply stop doing work you hate?

Yes, it’s possible.

Start by making a list. What do you hate about your career or practice? Daily tasks, responsibilities, rules, people, costs, lack of time, lack of fun—everything. Don’t hold back. Get it all out of your head and onto paper.

Feels good to vent, doesn’t it? It’s practical, too, because acknowledging what you don’t want is the first step towards getting what you do want.

But first, another list. This should be a list of everything you like about your work.

Think about a typical day or week, see yourself doing what you do, and write down the things you’re good at and enjoy.

You might realize that there’s more good than you thought. More good than bad. And gain some perspective you didn’t have before.

You might appreciate the good things, the good people, the positive you do to help others. You might feel a lot better about everything and if so, that alone has made this exercise worthwhile.

But there are still bad things, right? What do you do about those?

Make another list. Think about the things that cause you pain, the things you’d like to eliminate or fix. And then, brainstorm possible solutions.

Start with the big things—your practice area(s), partners, clients, markets, and your marketing methods. Changing one of these could make a huge difference. It could provide you with the career and work you’ve previously thought missing.

Then, look at the other things you do. Your workflow and resources might need a refresh. What would you change about how you handle cases or create work product? What would you delegate or outsource if you could?

Pretend you have a magic wand and could eliminate or change anything. What would it be?

If you had more employees, or fewer? Bigger clients or more of them? Shorter hours, a simpler schedule, or a few new ways to bring in more business?

You might not have the complete solution, but you’ve got a place to start. And realize that you’re a lot closer to doing the work you love.

Filed Under: Career satisfaction

You or that other lawyer?

August 21, 2023 by David M. Ward

According to a Martindale survey of consumers who need an attorney, 50% said “they’d contact 2-4 attorneys before making a decision on hiring”.

I doubt it.

These are consumers, likely unsure of what to look for or ask and no doubt intimated by the process. I’m guessing they say they contact several attorneys because they don’t want to admit, even to themself, they choose the first attorney who looks good on paper.

The lesson? Make sure you look good on paper.

That means not relying on a directory listing, but fleshing out a website with enough information to persuade visitors to take the next step.

That means you need a website that’s not just about your services and practice areas but about you, your philosophies, your target market, and the results you have obtained for your clients. It means including testimonials, reviews, and success stories that provide third-party evidence of your capabilities, and attest to what it’s like having you as their attorney.

Because this is what clients want know.

It also means going beyond “telling” them what you know and do and “showing” them, by writing the kinds of articles and other content a successful attorney would write.

You can dazzle them with your knowledge and charm when they contact you, but you need to convince them to do that.

Make sure you look good on paper.

How to make the phone ring

Filed Under: Online Marketing

Want vs. Need

August 18, 2023 by David M. Ward

You want that cool task management app that does “everything”. But you don’t need it. You need a piece of paper and a pen. Or the free app that comes on your device.

You may want a lot of things you don’t need. If you can afford them and they give you a benefit, why not?

But ask yourself why you want it.

Will it make you more productive? Help you earn more? Save time? Give you a harmless way to distract yourself from long hours of work?

Is it fun? You’re entitled to have fun, you know.

It’s okay to buy things or do things you want but don’t need. You don’t need a reason.

And neither do your clients.

A client may need your basic service but want your deluxe package. Give it to them.

People want things they don’t need and their reasons are their reasons. They might want convenience, to feel safer, or feel more important.

If they want to give you more money, let them.

On the other hand, be prepared to give them what they need when they can’t afford what they want.

Make sure they get what they need, but if you really want to make them happy, give them what they want.

That goes for you, too.

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Client relations, Marketing legal services

Help me help them

August 17, 2023 by David M. Ward

You never look better than when you’re helping others. I’m not talking about getting paid for your services, I’m talking about using your legal and business skills, your list of contacts, your creativity, your time, your money, and your reputation, to help people who need help.

It’s a good thing to do, and a good way to build your practice.

This might mean doing pro bono legal work, organizing a fundraiser, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or sponsoring (or playing in) a charitable golf tournament. You don’t have to be the organizer of the event. You can do a lot of good by participating in their events and otherwise supporting their cause.

Promote their organization or event in your newsletter, on your website, and on your social media channels. Interview the leaders and write articles about their work and their cause. Speak at their events, buy space in their publications, volunteer for their committees, and introduce them to people who are also willing to help.

There’s always something you can do and whatever you do will be noticed and appreciated.

Will it also be rewarded? Can you do well by doing good?

You know that’s true. But in case you need a reminder, consider that, if nothing else, your clients and contacts will see or hear about your efforts and see you in a positive light. How do you tell them what you’re doing? By asking them to join you.

Also consider that supporting these good causes will allow you to meet a lot of influential people in your target market or community. People who can hire you, send you referrals, and introduce you to other professionals and industry leaders who can do the same.

Promoting a cause also gives you a great “excuse” to contact people you would like to know and enlist their support.

Of course, the primary reason you do any of this isn’t for marketing. It’s because it makes you feel good to help people who need help. But keep in mind that the more your practice grows, the more people you’ll be able to help.

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Marketing legal services

Got a minute? Try this. . .

August 16, 2023 by David M. Ward

It’s easy to do and makes a lot of sense. A simple way to find things you need to do but often don’t.

All you do is create a list of small tasks you can do when you don’t have a lot of time, energy, or motivation. Add labels or tags so you can find these tasks when you have a few minutes between appointments, for example, or when you’re tired and don’t want to do anything cognitively demanding.

This isn’t primarily for regular routines or for tasks you schedule in advance. It’s for the things that tend to fall through the cracks.

When you have 5 or 10 minutes before your next appointment, call, or meeting, for example, you can jot down a few notes about an article you’re planning to write. In the afternoon, when you’re low on energy, you can read an article or watch a video for an upcoming project.

I’ll bet your task app, or list, is filled with tasks that qualify. Find them, tag them, and do them when you the opportunity presents itself.

Some people create tags for 5, 10, and 20 minutes. Or “energy” tags for “low, medium, and high”. Some people set up filters for combing time and energy, e.g., “10-minute low-energy” tasks or “5-minute tasks for the xyz project”.

One benefit to these kinds of lists or filters is that they allow you to more easily bundle tasks, e.g., errands, chores, admin, or involving other people, so you can get them done in one go.

Having lists of tasks you can knock off when you’re tired or busy feels good and might stimulate you to get other things done.

But I think one of the biggest benefits is that it allows you to create shorter lists devoted to your “most important” tasks each day, without the clutter or distraction of everything else you could do.,

Shorter lists of “must do” tasks allow you to focus and do them. After you do them, you can easily find other things to do.

Filed Under: Productivity

When price is the problem

August 15, 2023 by David M. Ward

Yesterday, we talked about what you can do to “close” more prospective clients. What to say to get them to see the need and make the commitment. But what can you do when they can’t afford your fees, or don’t want to spend the money, despite the fact that they know they need to?

The obvious answer is to offer a lower-cost service, which may not take care of everything they need but is better than doing nothing. They can get the rest of what they need later.

Attorney Gordon Firemark told me about another option he uses in his practice. When a client can’t afford his “done for you” fee, he offers them his (paid) “do-it-yourself” course that shows them, in this case, how to file a trademark application.

Do-it-yourself options like this are clearly good for the client, and when they are ready to take the next step, or have another legal matter, they don’t have to start from scratch to find an attorney.

Which means this is also good for the attorney.

It’s also a way for the attorney to differentiate themself from the “all-or-nothing” approach followed by most attorneys. And, depending on the service and the market, paid courses can provide an attorney with significant additional revenue.

But you don’t have to offer a paid course if that doesn’t work for you. You can create a free course, or a course with a very nominal price tag, and use that to help prospective clients instead of turning them away when they can’t afford you.

You can also use it as a marketing tool.

Having a course gives you the opportunity to show prospective clients how you can help them, and what it is might be like to work with you. They get to hear your “voice” and the quality and depth of your knowledge and experience.

As a result, many clients who avail themselves of your course will convince themselves that they need to sign up as a client and let you take care of everything for them.

But it doesn’t have to be a course at all. You can accomplish the same effect with a variety of different content, free or paid:

A video (or series)
Book or report
Checklist
Form with instructions
Seminar or webinar
Newsletter
Blog
Articles
Speaking events
“Ask me anything” events
Consultations

Free content almost always gets more people accessing it, but paid content might lead to more clients overall because prospects are more likely to read or watch the content they pay for, and more likely to value it (and you).

Free or paid, content can be an effective marketing tool, helping you build your list, generate leads, and get more prospective clients to see why they should choose you as their attorney.

Which is why I’m a big proponent of content marketing.

How to use free content to get more clients

Filed Under: Content creation Tagged With: content marketing