How to get more clients when you don’t have a big list

November 16, 2021 by
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Email marketing is one of the best ways to drive the growth of a law practice. And I recommend building your list immediately, if not sooner (as my grandfather used to say).

Building a list organically can take time, so while you’re doing that, there’s another way to use email to bring in clients, promote your events, or get more readers or listeners for your blog or channel.

You can leverage other people’s lists.

Get influential people in your niche to tell their subscribers about you, your seminar, your website, your book, your newsletter, or your services.

Think about this.. . .

One of the biggest reasons people hire a lawyer is because someone they know recommended them.

If you can get influential folks with a large audience (or even a small but well-targeted audience) to recommend you or something you offer, they do the selling for you.

And they’ll usually do it better than you could. . . because they’re not you.

How do you get in on this? How do you get others to promote you?

Unless they’re a personal friend, it usually takes more than just emailing and asking pretty please. You have to offer something in return.

What do you have to offer?

Well, if (when) you did have an email list or newsletter, or a robust social media following, you could offer to promote their products or services or events in exchange for them promoting yours.

But I’m assuming you don’t (yet).

Do you have a blog? You could invite other professionals to publish a “guest post”. Or you could interview them and publish that on the blog, where your readers can learn all about them.

This sounds simple, because it is. It’s also do-able.

If I was a professional, business owner, or blogger in your niche, and you offered this to me, I’d jump at the chance.

These other professionals might also be open to interviewing you or inviting you to write a guest post for their blog or newsletter. They’ll do that if they believe you have something to say their readers would like to hear.

You do, don’t you?

Talk to other professionals in your niche and see what you can work out. Immediately, if not sooner.

Okay. One more thing. Maybe I should have started with this.

You say you don’t have a prospect list (yet), a blog, or a following worth mentioning. Something you can use to promote other professionals, in exchange for their promoting you.

Ah, but you do.

You have a client list.

People who know, like, and trust you and will listen to you when you recommend something.

It might not be a big list, but it is better list than a list of prospects. Everyone on your client list knows you personally, has given you permission to contact them, and will open and read your email.

Your client list is extremely valuable.

If you write and tell them about an accountant who is conducting a seminar or has some great videos, and you recommend they check it out, they probably will.

Which means this accountant should be willing to write to his list and recommend you.

Can I get an Amen?

Email Marketing for Attorneys

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Filed Under: Email, List building, Marketing legal services, Newsletters

Say it again

November 15, 2021 by
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One of the most important principles in marketing is repetition. If you want to put more butts in seats at your events, get more people reading and sharing your content, and more people hiring or recommending you, once is not enough.

Because the first time you say it, offer it, or ask for it, the odds are nothing will happen.

Why?

Maybe they didn’t get your message. Maybe they didn’t read it. Maybe they weren’t ready to take the next step.

For a lot of reasons:

  • They didn’t have the money
  • They didn’t want to spend the money
  • Their problem wasn’t yet painful enough
  • They didn’t understand you, believe you or trust you
  • They needed to get someone else’s buy-in
  • They have another attorney and feel bad about switching
  • They didn’t want what you offered
  • They had more pressing issues

So, you say it again.

You send the same message, or a different message. You repeat your arguments, examples, and stories, or you use different ones.

But they still may not be ready. So you follow-up with them again. And again. And again. And when they’re ready to take the next step, they will.

But that’s not the end of the story.

You continue to stay in touch with them, even after they hire you, because they may have other legal matters that need addressing (and may not realize they do), or they might not need your services right now but know someone that does.

Each time they hear from you, each time they find your message in their inbox, you remind them about what you do and how you can help them.

And people need to be reminded.

On the other hand, guess what happens if you only send one message, or even two or three?

A year, two years, three years later, when they need you and are ready to take the next step, you will be a long-forgotten memory and some other lawyer will get the call.

So, two rules for your rulebook:

  1. Don’t rely on one message to close the deal, and
  2. Stay in touch with people repeatedly, over time.

When they’re ready, willing, and able to hire you (or refer you), there you will be, in their minds and in their mailboxes.

The easiest way to do this? Yes, email.

Hey, have you noticed that I’ve said this before? Many times, in fact?

Just practicing what I’m preaching.

Email Marketing for Attorneys

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Filed Under: Copywriting, Email, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Newsletters

You’re so vain, you probably think this post is about you

November 12, 2021 by
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You want people to know you’re good at what you do. That you’ll work hard for them, advise them, protect them, and help them get what they want, and you know how to do this because you’ve done it for many others.

But it’s hard to talk about yourself without sounding self-centered.

So, what do you do?

For one thing, whenever possible, you let others do the talking.

You share client testimonials and reviews. You share letters of endorsement from other professionals. You share articles written about you, your awards and your victories.

You let others talk about why they hired (or referred) you or wrote about you, and why they would do it again.

Let them tell the world how good you are.

Yes?

What else can you do?

You also share your own writing and recordings, which demonstrate your knowledge and experience. To illustrate your points, you cite examples from your work, showing yourself “in action,” helping people, solving problems, delivering results.

And when you do that, you talk about the client or case or other person in the story, not about yourself.

You’re still in the story. But as the narrator, not the protagonist.

Your reader will understand that you were the driving force in solving the problem and delivering the results. But the story is about your client, so let them have center stage.

You don’t have to avoid using the word “I” or hide behind the stage curtain. Your readers want to know what you think and what you did. And you should tell them.

Just don’t make the story all about you.

The Attorney Marketing Formula

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Filed Under: Image, Marketing legal services, Writing

Failure must be an option

November 11, 2021 by
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I heard Elon Musk say this in an interview about his hiring practices. He values innovation and doesn’t like it when “bold moves that go wrong are punished,” he said, “and keeping your head down isn’t”.

He rewards people who take risks and lets go of people who don’t. Which is no doubt a key to his success, even if there is a lot of breakage along the way.

If you aren’t willing to accept the risk of failure, you aren’t trying hard enough. You can’t innovate, reach higher, or go further, if you’re not willing to pay the price if things go wrong.

I thought about how a lawyer might apply this philosophy to building a practice or career.

We help clients avoid and minimize risk; must we always do this for ourselves?

No. Not if we want to grow.

We can’t grow without trying new ideas. If we’re focused on avoiding risk, we’re unlikely to do anything that might lead to significant reward.

Fortunately, innovation isn’t our top priority. We’re not in tech or space or anything cutting edge, with the eyes of the world, investors, regulators, and competitors upon us. We’re not putting billions of dollars on the line and risking everything venturing into unknown territory.

We can try new ideas on a small scale, take time to get them right, and be satisfied with incremental growth.

We may never fly to Mars, but we can make a fortune helping the people who do.

And that works for me. How about you?

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Filed Under: success Tagged With:

Let’s talk

November 10, 2021 by
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Well, we’ve done “like” and “trust“. How about ‘know”? How do you get more people to know you, so you can get them to like and trust you (and eventually hire and refer you?)

The simplest way is to “talk” to more people. But I’m not just talking about actual conversations.

When I say “talk,” I mean getting your name in front of your target market by publishing content (and advertising, if that’s something you do), anywhere and everywhere they are likely to see it, and inviting them to contact you or visit your website or do something else to get more information.

You publish on your blog, newsletter, and social media. And you publish on other people’s blogs, magazines, newsletters, podcasts, and video channels, or you speak at local or online events.

Wherever your target market is, you get your name and ideas in front of them, and invite them to contact you. .

That’s marketing at its simplest. And it works. But there’s something that works better.

Since it often takes more than one “conversation” before someone knows you or trusts you enough to contact you, you also invite them to sign up for your newsletter or download your report or ebook, and provide their email address so you can deliver it.

When they do that, you can continue the conversation by sending them more information. They learn about the law, their options, and what you can do to help them, and hear stories about how you’ve helped others.

Eventually, they get to know, like, and trust you enough to hire you.

Which they may never have done if the conversation hadn’t continued.

Email marketing for attorneys

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Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services, Newsletters

Trust me, I’m a lawyer

November 9, 2021 by
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Yesterday, we talked about likability, one of the key factors in why a client tends to choose the lawyer they choose.

All things being equal, they choose the lawyer they “know, like and trust”.

Trust is the most important of the 3. A client will hire and stay with a lawyer they don’t particularly like, if that lawyer does a good job for them, but if they don’t trust that lawyer, they’re probably not going to hire them, let alone stay with them.

Building trust takes time. Referred clients come to trust you sooner because, to a great extent, they “borrow” some of the trust that exists in the person making the referral.

Note to self: focus on referrals.

But what about leads and other prospective clients who come your way other than by referral? Is there anything you can do to build trust and make it more likely they will hire you?

Perhaps the easiest way to do that is with your newsletter, blog, podcast, or other content.

It’s easy because all you need to do is show up.

If you publish once a week, show up once a week. Like clockwork.

Stick to the schedule and let your audience see you do what you said you would do.

They’ll see that they can count on you to give them what you promised. They’ll see that you are organized and disciplined about your work, and that you are generous in sharing some of your knowledge and experience.

Even if it’s a few paragraphs every Wednesday.

Keeping your promises is one of the pillars of trust. So is consistsency

You don’t need to be brilliant or chart new territory. You don’t need to give away the store.

You just need to show up.

Email and newsletter marketing for attorneys

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Filed Under: Newsletters, Writing Tagged With:

Why you should tell people about your sick cat

November 8, 2021 by
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I spoke with an attorney over the weekend about marketing his practice. We were scheduled to talk last week, but he was at the vet with a sick cat who didn’t want to take his pill and we rescheduled.

I’ve had cats and told him we used to swaddle our fur babies in towels when they didn’t want to take their pills. He told me he saw a video about that, something about making a “cat burrito”.

So, when we spoke, before we talked marketing, we talked about his little one, who is doing better.

And now, I’m telling you about it, to remind you to talk about things like this, not just with clients and others you speak to, but in your newsletter.

Yes, it’s okay to write about things like this in a newsletter, even though they are “off topic”. In fact, it’s more than okay. It’s recommended.

It’s recommended because it shows your readers that you’re like them. Human, vulnerable, busy taking care of sick cats or kids or cars that need to be taken to the shop.

And similarity is one of the key factors in likability.

When your readers and followers learn something about your personal life and recognize things they have in common with you, they are more likely to see you favorably, that is, to like you.

Which means they’re more likely to hire you and tell others about you. You’re not just an arm’s length professional they read, you’ve taken a step closer to being a friend.

If you’re making notes right now, you might want to add “me too” as a way to remember this concept.

This doesn’t mean you need to open up your entire personal life to your readers or followers. I’m sure you don’t want to do that and frankly, nobody wants you to.

Share bits and pieces here and there, like a color commentator on a baseball broadcast. Just enough, but not too much.

By the way, I told my wife about the “cat burrito” video and she agreed it was an apt description for what we used to go through.

Coincidentally, she made burritos for dinner last night. Call me crazy, but they were a bit spicier than usual.

Email Marketing for Attorneys

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Filed Under: Newsletters, Writing

Do you speak your clients’ language?

November 5, 2021 by
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I just read an article about working with clients who aren’t proficient in English. There were some good tips, but no surprises.

For most of my legal career, I maintained offices targeting non-English speaking clients. So I was surprised to see that the article didn’t mention hiring staff that speak those languages, which is what I have always done.

No, you can’t do that for every language. You also have to be ready to use one of the other options mentioned, e.g., hiring interpreters and using translation services.

But having full-time staff who spoke the languages spoken by a preponderance of the people in my target market not only made sense, it also gave me a competitive advantage over offices that didn’t.

When people in the community heard about me or saw my ads in their language, they felt more comfortable coming to me and referring their friends, customers, or clients. Even if they were fluent in English, I know they appreciated the effort we made to accommodate others who weren’t.

Niche marketing isn’t just about providing foreign language capabilities, however. Every niche has its own lexicon, its own fabric of experiences, and targeting niche markets allows you to show them you speak their “language”.

You can create content and marketing messages that are more relevant to that market. You can use their buzzwords and provide examples and stories that reflect their world. You can talk about niche-specific issues, quote influential people they recognize, and be seen as an advocate for their causes.

And thus show them you understand their market, care about it, and have experience in helping the people in it.

Word of mouth is strong in niche markets. Which means if you do things right, you can usually build a practice more quickly in a niche market than you can outside of it.

But only if you speak their language.

How to choose your niche market

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

Don’t want to blog? Do this.

November 4, 2021 by
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If you don’t want to set up a blog but you’d like to use your knowledge to bring traffic to your website, guest blogging is a viable alternative.

Basically, that means offering your content to blogs that target your niche or market in return for a link to your website.

This allows you to write content when and if you feel like it, instead of sticking to a schedule.

But the biggest benefit is that this gives you the ability to leverage the traffic that visits those blogs.

And, by appearing on authority blogs, you also gain their implied endorsement; sometimes, their actual endorsement if they add some kind words about you.

You get traffic, build your authority, and get a lot of eyeballs looking at what you do when they arrive at your website.

If your website includes an opt-in feature, you can also build your email list this way.

You can even this with just a one-page website.

Start by searching for blogs in your niche that accept guest posts. Review their guidelines. Read several posts to get a sense of what they publish (subjects, length, slant). If some posts have a lot of comments or shares, see if you can figure out why.

And then, contact the publisher to offer your first post.

Blogs like to publish content written by authorities, and as an attorney, you certainly tick that box. You need to show the publisher or editor a subject they think is appropriate for and of interest to their readers, and you need to show them you can write.

As for your writing chops, link to articles you’ve published online, or send a sample or two.

Note, most blogs that publish guest posts will link to your website (or social media), but some may not be willing to do that. I once wrote a post for the ABA and they wouldn’t provide a link to my site. I wrote it anyway because it’s a nice credit, but I probably wouldn’t do that for other publications.

If you know anyone in your niche that runs a blog or other publication, start by querying them. If your practice area isn’t right for their audience, they can point you to other blogs that may be better suited, and possibly recommend you to them. They might also offer general advice about how to approach publishers.

Finally, if you know a blog that would be a good match for you but they don’t publish guest posts, contact them anyway. Yours may be their first.

How to use a blog to build your law practice

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Filed Under: Blogging, Content creation, Newsletters, Online Marketing Tagged With:

It takes as long as it takes

November 3, 2021 by
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You’re writing a blog or a newsletter. You’re doing interviews, podcasts, videos, or presentations. You’re regularly posting on social, making new contacts, or advertising..

And it’s just not happening.

You’re not seeing a significant bump in clients. Nothing is happening, so why bother?

Well, maybe you shouldn’t bother. Maybe you should pull back on some of your “external” marketing, or stop doing it completely.

Or maybe the breakthrough is right around the corner.

Someone hears or reads you and becomes your next big client. Someone likes your face and your voice and starts referring their clients to you. Someone shares your blog post with someone with a big following and your subscriber list blows up, followed by your client list.

You never know what might happen, or when. One big case or client or opportunity might make everything you’ve done more than worth it.

So, think of this as a long-term investment. Because that’s what it is.

Along the way, in the short term, you might make enough money to cover your costs and your time. Maybe even earn a nice profit.

Or you might not. Let that be okay. It’s an investment.

Keep going, but don’t do it blindly. Look for ways to do it better or make your investment go further.

Keep going. As you become more skilled, more knowledgeable, and more confident, you’ll get better results. Things will happen more quickly.

Keep going, even though you may not see a lot of growth in the client or revenue department just yet, because those aren’t the only results that count.

There is tremendous value in the lists and relationships you’re building. Those lists and those relationships are your as yet unrealized future.

And they could be worth a fortune.

How to create a simple marketing plan that works for you

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Filed Under: Inspiration, Marketing Plan
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