The truth about duplicate content in blog posts and newsletter articles

August 27, 2013 by
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I used to worry about duplicate content in my posts. I didn’t want to repeat myself. I thought people would notice. “Wassup, you wrote about that six months ago. Out of ideas already? Wimp!”

Now I know that most people don’t notice and don’t care.

But even if they do notice, it doesn’t matter. What I write today will be different because I’m a different person today. I have different experiences to draw on. I’ll use different words and different examples.

You’re different, too. You’re not the same person you were six months ago. Your experiences give you a different context within which to receive my words. You will notice things you missed before. Ideas that weren’t important to you before will take on new significance.

My audience is different, too. Every day, new subscribers join my list and read my posts for the first time.

And good ideas bear repeating. I never stop reminding you to stay in touch with your clients. Even though you know you should do this, I’ll bet hearing it again helps.

So don’t worry about writing things you wrote before. It’s probably a good thing because you’re writing about something important.

No, Google won’t penalize you for duplicate content. Google’s Matt Cutts says, “I wouldn’t stress about this unless the content that you have duplicated is spammy or keyword stuffing.”

When you write as much as I do, you’re bound to re-visit old ideas. You can create new content by updating or expanding old posts, but if you wind up writing the same thing you wrote before, it’s okay. Somebody needs to hear it, or hear it again.

Need help with creating content for your blog or newsletter? Click here. 

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Filed Under: Blogging, Communication, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Writing Tagged With: , , , , ,

The art of the handshake: how not to be creepy

August 23, 2013 by
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“The probing handshake is where the other person probes you with their index finger pressed against the inside of your wrist.” Sounds creepy and, according to this article on “The Art of the Handshake,” it’s not something you ever want to do (or have done to you).

We’ve all been the victim of bad handshakes. My favorite is when the other person doesn’t look you in eye. Ladies, I’m sure you know what I mean.

I wrote before about Bill Clinton’s hand shake. I said, “He doesn’t just clasp your right hand in his, he also touches your arm with his left hand. During the conversation, as he makes a point, he might reach out again to touch your arm or put his hand on your shoulder.” This is the right way to do it, according to the author, who says we should never use the more familiar, “Politician’s Handshake”:

“That is where you use two hands to cover or cup the other person’s hands. No one likes it, it is too personal, and you have to earn the right to do it. Politicians do it thinking you will like them more – you won’t. If you feel you need to touch more, shake the hand normally and with the other touch the forearm.”

Apparently, Hillary doesn’t have Bill’s touch. The author quotes an executive who said, “I shook hands with Hilary Clinton: two-handed and clammy.”

I used to have an office administrator who had an incredibly limp handshake. I couldn’t stand it. It was like shaking hands with a corpse. Actually, no. A corpse would be stiff. Of course being the he-man that I am, I had to squeeze his hand to show him how it should be done. Apparently, I was an ignorant and ill-mannered boob:

“If you are meeting with a person who gives a very weak handshake, perhaps that is their custom. Don’t grimace and don’t make a face, match their handshake with equal pressure and give thanks you have an opportunity to demonstrate that you have social intelligence and good manners.”

It could have been worse. When Bill Gates was introduced to the president of South Korea on a recent trip, he kept his left hand in his pocket. That’s rude in any country, but especially so in South Korea. But hey, at least he didn’t stare at her chest.

Need a marketing plan? Get this.

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Filed Under: Communication, Image, Networking, Personal development Tagged With: , ,

WTF: Cussing in email, blogs

August 16, 2013 by
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Last week I got an email from a subscriber who disapproved of my use of the word “bastard” in a blog post. He referred to it as a “strong cuss word” and thought I should refrain from using such terms.

That surprised me. I don’t consider that a strong cuss word. I’m not even sure it’s a cuss word anymore, at least in most circles.

I think I monitor my language pretty well. I don’t use four letter words in my posts and emails. But coarse language does have its place in communication. If used appropriately and not overdone, it can add color and contour to our writing and speech.

So, at the risk of pissing off some of my subscribers (oops), I don’t plan to change anything.

On the other hand. . .

If most of my subscribers told me they didn’t approve of my language, I would be foolish not to listen. If you want to stay in business, you have to pay attention to your market.

But you can’t listen to everyone who is unhappy with something you said.

At the end of the day, you have to be yourself. You will attract people who like you “as is”. They may not like everything you say, but if they read something that bothers their sense of propriety, you have to assume they will let it go. If they don’t, it’s their loss, not yours.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Communication, Image, Presentations, Public Speaking, Writing Tagged With: , ,

10 tips on public speaking for lawyers

August 14, 2013 by
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Admit it. You’re a ham. You like the limelight. You love to be in front of the room.

Okay, even if you don’t, you know that public speaking is an excellent way to market legal services.

Here are 10 tips on public speaking for lawyers:

TIP #1: Write your own introduction. Your audience will hear everything you want them to hear and nothing you don’t. It’s better to let the host say nice things about you than it is to say them about yourself.

TIP #2: If you use handouts, pass them out at the END of the talk. Otherwise, everyone will read and not listen. (The exception would be handouts that track on screen bullet points.)

TIP #3: Don’t read. You should know your material well enough that you don’t need to read anything. It’s okay to have notes with you but only as reminders of points you want to cover.

TIP #4: If you use slides, aim for no more than three bullet points on each slide. Keep it short, simple, and easy to read. No animation or fancy graphics. Also, try to use no more than a dozen slides. The audience is there to listen, not read.

TIP #5: Tell stories. All facts make Jack a dull boy. Stories show people what is important and why. People relate to the people in your stories on an emotional level.

TIP #6: Engage the audience. Make eye contact. Speak to individuals in the room, not to “the crowd”. Mention people by name. Ask rhetorical questions (e.g., “What would you do if that happened?”) and questions that call for an audible response.

TIP #7: Mix it up. Vary your speed, tone, and voice level. Pause for effect. Gesture. Walk from one side of the room to the other. Point to something.

TIP #8: Aim for one main take-away. One main point, one memorable line, one evocative story. If they are asked about your talk two weeks later, what’s the one thing you want them to remember?

TIP #9: Keep it short. Twenty minutes is ideal. After twenty minutes, people get restless. If you have a bigger topic, break it up into twenty minute segments.

TIP #10: Close with a “call to action”. Tell them what to do next: visit a website, fill out paperwork, call to make an appointment. If you tell them what to do, more people will do it.

Do you have any tips to add to this list? Please share in the comments.

Start your marketing library with The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Presentations, Public Speaking

My clients are driving me crazy

August 13, 2013 by
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I got an email from an attorney who said, “my clients are driving me crazy”. Apparently, many of his clients don’t appreciate him. They are rude and think they know better and he is finding it difficult to maintain his composure.

What do you do in a situation like that?

The first thing I would suggest is to take a look at yourself. Why? Because your law practice is a reflection of you–your attitudes and habits. If you have a preponderance of clients who don’t appreciate you, that may be because you don’t appreciate them.

We don’t attract the clients we want, we attract the clients we deserve.

Do you appreciate your clients? More importantly, do they know it? Do you show them by your words and deeds that you care about them and will do whatever you can to help them? In what ways do you show them? How often do you show them? Is it sincere or is it something you do because you think you have to?

You can’t fake this. People know.

But you may not know. You may not be able to see yourself clearly. So, ask your staff what they think. Ask other professionals who know you. And ask your clients. Send them a survey they can respond to anonymously and leave room for their suggestions.

The other thing I suggest is that you focus on the clients who do appreciate you so you can attract more like them.

What’s different about them? What services do they hire you to perform? How did they find you? (Clients who come from referrals are often better than clients who come through the Internet or advertising).

Are they at the high end of the fee spectrum or the low end? Are they first time clients or repeat clients? What is their background or occupation? Age? Income level?

Survey them as well and see what they like best about you.

Look for patterns and create a profile of these better clients. Then, work on attracting more like them by focusing your time, energy, and resources marketing to people who fit that profile. Start with your existing and former clients who fit that profile. They will lead you to people like themselves.

And, as soon as possible, start pruning your client garden. Get rid of the clients who don’t appreciate you, first, before you have found clients to replace them. Scary? Yes. But you will feel great getting rid of all that negative energy and soon, the void you create will be filled with the clients you want and deserve.

This shows you how create a profile of your ideal client.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Client loyalty, Client relations, Communication, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Personal development Tagged With: ,

How to market by email (NOT)

August 8, 2013 by
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I got an email this morning from a guy trying to sell me his Internet marketing services. You’ve probably seen emails like this a thousand times.

The subject says, “Schedule call”. The email starts, “Are you getting the most out of your Internet marketing efforts? More than 80% of businesses and consumers research products and services online before making a purchase, creating a massive opportunity from an effective campaign.”

Blah blah blah. Yada yada yada.

He goes on to tell me how great his company is and asks to schedule 30 minutes on the phone to tell me what they can do for me.

Now if this guy knew ANYthing about Internet marketing, he would not be doing this. This is NOT how to market by email.

Yeah, I know, he wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t working. Lucky for him, there are plenty of people who know even less than he does about marketing and if he sends enough of these emails, he will get some business. But not nearly as much as he could if he was doing things the right way.

I’m not being critical of his email because it arrived unsolicited. I don’t get bent out of shape when I receive unsolicited email. But. . . don’t subscribe me to your list without my permission and make me DO something to get off of it. So guess what this idiot did?

Oh no you didn’t! (Yes, he did.)

So. . . instead of simply deleting his email and parting friends, after I unsubscribed, I clicked and identified the email as SPAM. As others do the same, eventually none of his emails will get through to anyone’s inbox.

As I say, this dumb bastard doesn’t know anything about Internet marketing.

But the problem with the email isn’t that it arrived unsolicited. The problem is that the email is a stinker.

It should be blindfolded and executed by firing squad.

You don’t need to see the entire email. All you need to know is that it’s all about the company and not. . . about ME.

There are some bullet points that attempt to suggest benefits: “Maximizing social media for business development,” and “Ensuring your website stays up-to-date on search engine. . .”.

Zzzzzz.

Boring. Weak. Trite.

Stuff we’ve seen so often our eyes glaze over.

And I don’t want to “maximize social media for business development”. I want clients. I want people to hire me and pay me. I want more people to find me and sign up for my list so that more people will hire me and pay me.

Okay, what is he offering? Even a poorly written email can be effective with a strong offer.

Hmm, . . a 30 minute phone call. . . so he can try to sell me something. . . yeah, thanks but I’m just going to have to pass.

Even if I liked his email, it’s too soon in our “relationship” to close for a phone call.

What could he have offered that might have gotten me to click?

Information. A report, for example, with tips and advice about how I could beef up my Internet marketing, get more traffic, more sign ups, and more clients.

I might have at least taken a look.

If the report delivered good information, I might have been open to learning more about his company and what he can do for me.

Most lawyers aren’t going to send out unsolicited emails. But if you do, that’s how to do it. The same goes for your ads, speeches, and articles. Or when you are networking.

Don’t talk about yourself. Don’t go for the close the first time you communicate. Talk about the prospect. Offer information.

Let the information demonstrate your knowledge and experience and sell the reader on hiring you or taking the next step.

There. Now you know more about Internet marketing than this guy. Please don’t subscribe me to your list.

Need help with Internet marketing? This shows you what to do and how to do it.

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Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Email, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing Tagged With: , , ,

Long blog posts, articles, and emails, or short?

August 7, 2013 by
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How long should an article or blog post be? Right, long enough to say what you have to say. If you can communicate your information or message in three well written paragraphs, great. That’s what it should be. If you need 2500 words to get the job done, that’s what you should do.

But there are other considerations.

It is well known that long blog posts (articles), I’m talking 2000 words, or more, tend to get more search engine traffic and incoming links. Longer posts tend to be perceived as authoritative and rank well with search engines and human beings (social media sharing).

On the other hand, the objective isn’t just traffic. It’s clients and sign-ups for your email list. To accomplish that, visitors have to read your content and see how smart you are and what you have to offer. If your content is long, they may save it “for later”. I don’t know about you but I’ve got gigabytes of saved articles (and pdfs) that I’ll probably never get around to reading.

Also, if you write to your email list frequently, as I suggest you do, you may overwhelm them with too much content. They either won’t read it or they will unsubscribe from your list.

How frequently you post or write, and how long individual posts should be, does depend on context. Are you writing for consumers or business people? If you’re writing to professionals and providing valuable and relevant content, they will probably make the effort to stay with you. Consumers may not, but if are writing about the very problem that currently plagues them they’ll read every word.

So, the answer to the question of “long or short” is a very lawyer-like, “it depends”. The best course is to have a mix of both.

Write longer, authoritative articles and posts for search engine traffic and to address issues prospective clients want to know about. Write shorter posts to engage your readers and allow you to contact them more frequently.

One thing you can do with longer material is to break it up into segments. Three 700 word posts instead of one with 2000 words. In addition to giving readers the impression that there’s not “too much to read so I’ll save it for later,” it gives search engines three opportunities to find you. (Make sure each of the three parts is optimized for different keywords).

So, this post is around 400 words. Not too hot, not too cold, but just right.

Learn more about internet marketing for attorneys. Click here.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Communication, Email, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Web traffic, Writing Tagged With: ,

How to write a thank you note

August 6, 2013 by
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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, people used to use a pen to write thank you notes. When someone did something nice for you, or even when you just wanted to acknowledge that you enjoyed meeting them, a hand written note was de rigueur.

Today, not so much. Email is the new standard. Therefore, if you really want to make an impression on someone, take a few extra minutes to write a note, on a note card, and put it in the mail.

What do you say? I found a great article about how to write a thank you note. The author, who sent a gift (books) after his conversation with a subject matter expert who generously gave of her time and information, made sure to include in his note specific details about the conversation and about the expert.

He used a G.R.E.A.T. format:

G stands for Grateful: Express appreciation for the other person’s time or graciousness or other contribution.

R stands for Reference: Tell them what you got out of your conversation –what you learned or what you will remember.

E stands for Explain: He told her he was sending her a book related to the problem their conversation helped him solve.

A stands for Action: If you talked about working together or the next time you might meet, mention this “next step,” but don’t focus on it.

T stands for Thanks: End your note with “thanks again” or something similar, followed by your signature.

You can see the actual note the author sent, using the above points, in the article.

Your thank you notes don’t have to include all of these points, nor are you obligated to send a gift. But when someone does something especially nice for you, such as providing a referral or taking extra time to provide advice, you should do everything you can to acknowledge their help.

Think about the last time you received a heartfelt thank you note. It felt good, didn’t it? Like you made a difference in someone’s life? You make others feel that way when you send them something similar.

Sending a thank you note is not just an act of courtesy, it’s good for business. It makes people remember you and want to see you again or help you again because they know you appreciate them and what they have done.

Thank you for reading this post and sharing it with others.

Marketing is simple. Say please and thank you and in between, try not to mess things up.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Communication, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Thank you letters, Writing Tagged With: ,

3 ways to turn boring legal topics into interesting articles and posts

July 26, 2013 by
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If you write a newsletter or blog (and if you don’t, make sure you see me after class), you may struggle with finding interesting topics to write about. The law can be incredibly dry and arcane. Why would clients and prospective clients ever want to read about boring legal topics?

It’s a fair question. After all, if people don’t read your articles, they won’t act on them and, well, what’s the point?

Here are three ways to turn boring legal topics into something people want to read:

1. Write something else.

You don’t always have to write about legal issues and, frankly, you shouldn’t. In my posts, I often write about topics that aren’t overtly about marketing legal services. I’ll write about my wife’s dealings with various vendors, our cat, or anything else that catches my attention. It makes things interesting and provides a never-ending source of topics.

I do tie things together with some reference to marketing legal services, however, because that’s what you pay me for.

You can either start with a legal issue and look for something in your everyday life or outside interests to illustrate or contrast that issue. Or, you can do the opposite, that is, write about your dry cleaner, a movie, or something in the news, and relate it to a legal issue. Or neither. You don’t always have to write about the law.

2. Write about people.

Talk about your clients or other lawyers or judges. Talk about people in the news or in history. Tell stories about how people and the law intersect, how their lives were affected, or will be.

People are always more interesting than a code section or appellate decision. Stories are interesting because they have conflict in them and people want to know “what happened?”

Write about people. Tell their stories. Put most of the “legal stuff” in another article and link to it for those who want to know.

3. Write it anyway.

Boring legal topics are not boring to someone who is facing those issues. Write for those people.

When someone goes to a search engine, they are seeking information about their problem or objective. They want to read about the law, procedure, options, and risks. They want the details, even if most of your other readers (currently) do not.

Write for the person who wants to know.

Your other readers may skip over those articles, waiting for your next post about your cat’s antics or your crazy next door neighbor. They’ll stick around while you help someone with a pressing legal issue. They probably won’t read your posts that are pure legal content, but they’ll be glad to know that if and when they need that kind of information, they know where to find it.

Now, if you can just figure out a way to write a legal analysis post and illustrate it with a story about your cat using your Twitter account to send naked selfies to your neighbor’s puppy. . .

For hundreds of ideas for articles and posts, see Make the Phone Ring.

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Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Presentations, Web traffic, Writing

Email marketing for lawyers

July 25, 2013 by
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I talked to a lawyer yesterday who told me looks forward to reading my emails every day. I hear that a lot.

There’s a lesson in this.

When you deliver value–information, ideas, stories, tips–you can email your list often. Even daily.

Your readers will look forward to getting your emails and they will read them.

The ones who don’t, the ones who either don’t read your email or unsubscribe from you list, would probably never hire you anyway and you can safely let them go.

The ones who like your emails:

  • Know you. They know your name and what you do.
  • Like you. They like hearing your “voice” and reading your advice and stories.
  • Trust you. They see that you are consistent, dependable. They see that you are continually solving legal problems for other clients and believe you could do the same for them.

So. . .

  • When they need your services, they’ll almost always call you instead of any other lawyer
  • When they know someone who needs your services, they’ll refer them to you instead of any other lawyer
  • When you ask them to “Like” your page, share your article, or invite their friends and contacts to register for your seminar, there’s a good chance they will

Compare this to lawyers who don’t have a list. They have no way to stay in touch with prospective clients so none of the above can occur.

And compare this to lawyers who do have a list but either don’t send value or don’t email often enough:

  • When they do email, it goes into spam or is not recognized, so it is not opened and read
  • Or, it’s been so long since they have heard from the lawyer, they don’t really know, like, and trust him, and thus, won’t hire him (or refer)
  • Or, the email is opened and read but it’s been so long since they heard from the lawyer, they’ve already hired someone

You don’t have to mail every day. Once a week is fine. But do mail often and do deliver value.

Your emails can be short and sweet. A tip, a quick story, a reminder. If you write an article or blog post, send that. If you find an interesting article or video on someone else’s site, send them a link. If you have an interesting case or client, tell them about it.

Email marketing for lawyers is simple. Build a list and build a relationship with the people on that list.

You know you’re doing it right when your subscribers tell you they look forward to getting your emails.

Want to know how to build a list and what to send them? This shows you what to do.

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Filed Under: Communication, Email, List building, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Relationship marketing Tagged With: ,
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