How to get more clients with joint venture marketing

February 9, 2012 by
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John Jantsch shared a great marketing idea today and he used attorneys as an example. The idea is to get together with other professionals and businesses who target the same market you do and create a content-filled blog as a resource for that target market.

So the small business attorney pairs up with an insurance broker, an expert in employee benefits, a CPA, and a marketing expert, all of whom contribute articles or blog posts speaking to the issues business owners want and need.

The site or blog will get search engine traffic, attracting prospects who will learn about the individuals who write the posts and the services they offer.

Jantsch provides recommendations for WordPress plug-ins that will help you organize and run the blog. Here’s another post I saw today that recommends 15 plug-ins for multi-author blogs.

But what if you’re not up to the task of organizing and running this little venture just now? Is there anything else you can do to utilize this idea?

Yes there is and thanks for asking.

You can organize a one time collaboration where you and other profoessionals contribute articles, posts, reports, audios, or other content. You can put that on a web site that won’t necessarily attract a lot of search engine traffic because the site wouldn’t be regularly updated, but it would be a tremendous resource for each of the contributors who send traffic to the site.

You can put the content on a cd or dvd or in an ebook and use it as a reward for opt-ins to your regular web site. Or as a gift to people who attend your seminar, webinar, or teleconference. Or as a giveaway to your clients and contacts, encouraging them to send copies to their friends and contacts.

You can also organize a live event in your local market, with half a dozen speakers, each of whom invites guests.

The value of a collaborate marketing effort like this is that each of the participants is repsonsible for creating only their article or report, but each of you benefits from the content of the others. In addition, with each of you sending visitors to the site or otherwise distributing the content, each of you will get the tacit recommendation of the other professionals, as well as exposure to their clients and prospects.

If even a simplified version of this idea seems like too much work to take on right now, find one other professional or business owner who targets your market and do something together.

Send an en email to each other’s lists, offering a free consultation or a free report. Do a guest post for each other’s blog or newsletter. Invite each other to attend a networking group you belong to and introduce each other to centers of influence you know.

Cooperative marketing is effective because it instantly exposes you to a large group of prospective clients, all of whom have the implied or explicit recommendation of a professional they know, like, and trust. It’s a great idea no matter how you go about it.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Referrals, Relationship marketing, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Attorneys: are you spending too much time on blogging and social media?

February 8, 2012 by
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The big knock on blogging and social media is that it takes up too much time. And so many attorneys give up on it before they see any appreciable results. Many others never start.

It takes two things to be successful marketing online:

  1. You have to know what to do, and
  2. You have to do it long enough to see results.

You can’t just throw up some content or tweets and expect the world to come rushing to your (virtual) door. You need to know the fundamentals. And you need to put in some time and effort.

But you don’t need to take courses or read countless books. You don’t need to keep up with the latest plug-ins or stake your claim on every new site. Read a few blog posts, watch a couple of videos, and you’ll be on your way. The real learning comes from the doing, as this post clearly shows.

How much time do you spend on blogging and social media? Now, how much time do you spend reading about blogging and social media, or thinking about it and wondering if you should? What if you traded in some of the reading and thinking time and used it to actually write a blog?

Blogging and social media (the doing part) don’t require a lot of your time. It’s not the quantity of time that’s paramount, it’s the consistency. A few minutes a day, every day. Do that for six months and you’ll be amazed at what can happen.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Productivity, Social media, Social media marketing, Time Management Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

The secret to creating blog and newsletter content your prospects actually want to read

January 3, 2012 by
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Many lawyers say they want to start a blog or newsletter but are afraid they won’t have enough to write about.

If you think your prospects don’t want to read all about case law and procedure, you’re right. There will always be exceptions, but most clients have their own lives and businesses to run. If they were that interested in the law, they would go to law school.

Here’s a heads up: PI lawyers, nobody wants to read for the umpteeth time what to do in an accident or how to maximize the value of their case. I’m not saying this isn’t important information–it is. You should write about it. Once. And link to so those who want and need this information can go read it.

So, what do you write about if not about your field of expertise?

Actually, the answer to this question is incredibly simple. And yet, not one in 10,000 lawyers does it, at least not consistently. When you hear what it is, you may just slap your forehead and have one of those “of course!” moments.

Now, I should also point out that when you do this, you will have a never-ending supply of fresh content and a huge surge in reader involvement and viral traffic. You’ll have people talking about your blog and about you. Other blogs will mention your posts and link to them. Reporters may call to interview you.

Have I got your attention?

Here’s the secret: don’t write about the law, your services, or your cases, other than occasionally. When something interesting happens. Instead, most of the time, write about the niche market or markets you are targeting.

Did I just lose you? Well, if you don’t have a target market, maybe so. If you think “anyone who gets injured as a result of someone else’s negligence” is a target market, you’re wrong. It’s way too big. And every other PI lawyer says the same thing.

You want to target smaller sub-sets of the entire market. In a niche market, the people know each other on social media and in real life, they attend the same meetings, and read the same blogs. There is strong word of mouth in niche markets. And it’s easier to identify the key people in them.

A niche market would be something like “health care professionals in Los Angeles County”. Not too big, not too small. As a matter of fact, this happens to be a good target market. When a physician is seriously injured, there’s usually some serious damages. But I digress.

So, you write about health care in Los Angeles. You write about who’s doing what–promotions, speaking gigs, published articles. You write about trends and issues that affect this market. You champion their causes and support their charities.

You interview people who work in this niche. You read the popular blogs and comment on their posts.

So, you might write about some changes in policy at XYZ hospital. Not legal issues, necessarily. It could be anything that people want to know about.

Here’s more good news: you don’t have to do all the writing yourself. Other professionals who target this market will be happy to supply content. Consultants, sales people, other lawyers, accountants, hospital administrators, insurance brokers, medical supply reps–dozens of informed people with big networks of their own and they would love to provide a guest post or supply some tips or let you interview them. All you have to do is ask.

Guess what will happen? The people in your posts and those affected by this information will talk about them and share them with their colleagues and co-workers. They’ll post them on Facebook and link to them on their blogs. Your blog will get noticed and so will you.

Writing a blog about your target market is one of the smartest things you could do. You’re learning about this market, aren’t you? Take what you learn and turn it into content.

Use your blog as a platform to stay in front of your market. You will become the attorney in this niche, the one that everyone thinks about when they think about personal injuries and the one they call when they need your services or know someone who does.

This is not rocket science. Choose a niche market and dedicate yourself to it. Learn everything you can about the market and the people in it. Subscribe to their blogs and newsletters. Attend their meetings. Become an expert in that market and then write about it.

And if something law-related occurs in that market, go ahead and write about that, too.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Networking, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Publicity, Social media marketing, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Attorney marketing video challenge

December 28, 2011 by
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attorney marketing videosAbout a year ago, I wrote and “produced” a simple video about a new lawyer attending his first ABA Convention. This was around the time the ABA was considering new rules to regulate attorneys behavior online and the video played off that theme and an ad hoc write-in campaign to tell the ABA to back off.

The ABA didn’t go nuclear on us, but I don’t think my video was the reason. What my video did do was get a lot of attorneys watching it and sharing the link with others. I got a lot of traffic from it.

No, it wasn’t a big hit on youtube, but in my niche market, it did okay.

My challenge to you is to create your own video and put it on youtube and on your blog.

You can use the free service I used, Xtranormal, which allows you to give voice to animated characters. Or, you can act out a skit with other live “actors”. You can narrate slides on your desktop, or simply talk into the camera.

Your best bets for going viral are to use humor or to take a controversial stand, but I would stay away from politics. How about a funny commercial by one of your “competitors”? Or something about one of the new laws that take effect in January?

Anything goes, but remember, your clients are watching (and so is the ABA!)

Keep it under five minutes. Watching my video today, I realized I could have achieved the same effect with a much shorter spot.

You may not see a ton of results from your video but you will learn some things that might allow you to create another video that does. And you’ll have a lot of fun.

Send me the link to your video. I’ll choose a winner and feature it in a future post.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Blogging, Just for fun, Legal industry, Marketing legal services, Social media marketing, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So you decided to start your blog? Don’t read this post.

December 21, 2011 by
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starting a blogIf you’ve decided that 2012 will be the year you (finally) start a blog, here are “70+ Resources on How to Start a WordPress Blog“.

Don’t read it. Yet.

Oh, it’s a great article, chock full of common sense, easy to follow advice and resources. If you read this article and follow the author’s recommendations, you will quickly create a WordPress blog. You could set it up today if you want to, even if you have zero technical experience.

So why do I say you shouldn’t read it? Because a blog requires far more than following set up instructions (or hiring someone to do it for you). It requires commitment.

A blog does you no good unless you put in regular time and effort to build it. Unless you are prepared to do that, you might as well not start.

I’m not saying the time and effort is unreasonable. You don’t have to labor over it every day. A few hours a week is more than adequate. An hour a week will do.

I’m not saying you have to be a great writer. Or original. Or clever. If you can pass the bar, trust me, you can write a blog.

And I’m definitely not saying it isn’t worth it. Writing a blog could bring you a ton of clients, as well as relationships with other professionals who can otherwise enhance your career. It can also be a source of tremendous personal gratification.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t start a blog. I’m saying don’t do it unless you are committed to sticking with it for the long haul.

And sadly, most people aren’t. I think the abandonment rate for new blogs is in the 95% range. Lawyers are probably better but I would be surprised if it was less than 80%.

“But I said I decided to start a blog,” you remind me. “I’m ready.”

I respond with an attempt to wax philosophical: “Two birds are sitting on a telephone line. One decided to fly away. How many are left?”

Yes it is a trick question.

“Two birds are left. Just because one decided to fly away doesn’t mean he did.”

Talk to other attorneys who blog. Ask them to share their experiences with you. How much time and effort do they put in? What’s a typical week or day like for them? What tips would they give you for getting started?

Of course you still won’t know what it’s like unless you start and you won’t know if you are committed until you’ve done it for six months.

“Two lawyers were talking about blogging. One decided to start. How many settled a huge case and retired?”

Starting a blog could be the best career decision you ever make. Or it might not.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A simple way to promote your blawg you’re probably not doing

December 16, 2011 by
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increase-blog-trafficDo you have a print brochure for your law practice? Most attorneys don’t. They pass out their business card with the url to their web site or blog but a business card generally doesn’t tell people what you do or the benefits you offer. People have to go the your web site to find out and too often they simply don’t.

A brochure would help. But if you don’t want to spend the time or money hiring professionals to create one, there is a simpler alternative.

Take your best and most read blog post or posts and print them. You don’t need to re-set the text so it looks like a brochure, just print out the the posts as is. Add a cover sheet on your letterhead or add a screen shot of your blog’s home page. Or just staple your business card to the front and you’re done. Instant brochure.

No, it’s not slick and polished like a “real” brochure, and that’s okay, it’s not a brochure, it’s a reprint. In truth, your reprint is more effective than a brochure because it’s not slick and it’s not a sales document, it is valuable content that prospects want to read.

Hand out your reprints when you’re you’re speaking or networking. Put some on the table at the back of the room. Put a few copies in your new client welcome kits. Ask your referral sources to put them in their waiting rooms.

You can use this idea online, too. Gather up some of your better posts and assemble them into a PDF.

One of the easiest ways to get more traffic to your blawg is to give people a taste of what they get when they visit. This is a simple and very effective way to do that.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

How to get more clients from cases you don’t handle

December 8, 2011 by
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shield laws for bloggersI’m sure you read the story about the blogger in a defamation case who got hit with a $2.5 million judgment because, the judge said, she is not a journalist and was not protected by the state’s shield laws.

Interesting story. Important subject.

You read the story but did you make any money with it?

Attorneys can easily leverage a story like this to get more media attention, more traffic to their web site, more prospects, more referral sources, and more clients. And I’m not talking about the attorneys who handled the case itself, I’m talking about you.

Interested? Here’s all you have to do.

First, write a two or three page report summarizing defamation laws in your jurisdiction. You don’t have to practice in this area to do this, Uncle Google will help you, or you can ask an attorney friend who does (and tell him about this idea so he can do it, too).

In your report, mention the case about the blogger. Offer your opinion. Include a few citations, maybe a few resources.

Now, go back to Uncle Google and ask him to give you a list of bloggers in your target market(s) who are in your state or province.

Next, contact these bloggers (a personal email will do) and tell them you wrote a report for bloggers about how they can protect themselves against lawsuits like the one in the news. Offer to send it to them, free of charge. Tell them they are welcome to send it other bloggers they know and care about. (If you know the blogger, you could just send them the report in your first email).

In one day, you can get your report into the hands of dozens of people who every day write and influence the people you are targeting for your services. You have provided value to the blogger on a personal level, and asked nothing in return.

Where can this lead? Interviews, hosted webinars for their readers, guest posts, referrals, introductions, you name it.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t practice tort law. If you do, that’s an added benefit, but the point of this effort isn’t to show these bloggers you can help them in this particular area of the law, it’s to meet them.

Now, what else could you do with your report? Here are a few ideas:

  • Send it to local media with a cover letter letting them know you are available for interviews.
  • Call or email your clients and contacts: Who do you know in (your area) who writes a blog? Tell them you have a report that can help them.
  • Offer it through social media; post a video on youtube, opining on the story and linking to your report; offer it via forums, chat groups, listserves, and other areas where bloggers and people who know bloggers congregate.
  • Contact local blogger groups, business groups (anyone who has a blog), and offer a lunch talk.
  • Write about it on your blog or in your newsletter.
  • Take out ads and offer the report, as a “public service”.
  • Send it to lawyers in your practice area in states or provinces where you don’t practice. Tell them what you’re doing with the report in your area, invite them to do the same in theirs. (If you have to ask how this could help you, forget about this idea.)
  • Do a presentation at your bar group’s next function on how you used a news story to market your services.

You get the idea.

Oh, and you don’t need a news story to do this, you can write about anything that affects people in your target market or they people who influence them.

It’s about providing value in a leveraged way. It’s simple and it works. And if your report goes viral, it could help you take a quantum leap in the growth of your practice.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Blogging, Increase your income, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Networking, News, Online Marketing, Publicity, Referrals, Relationship marketing, Social media marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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