The wave of the future for attorney marketing

October 24, 2013 by
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In the 1967 film, The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman’s character was at a party, wondering about his future career, when he was taken aside and offered some advice. “Plastics. There’s a great future in plastics,” he was told.

Plastics were the next big thing in 1967. Today? Who knows.

The thing is, when it comes to attorney marketing, there is no next big thing. It’s still all about information and people. Always was. Always will be.

Technology changes. Fundamentals don’t.

Educate your market place about the law, about problems and solutions, and about the process. Stay in touch with your clients and prospects. Treat people the way you would like to be treated. That’s all attorneys have ever had to do to build a successful practice and it still is.

Don’t get hung up on what “everyone” else is doing or feel left behind if you aren’t following the latest trend. But don’t stick your head in the sand, either. Technology does make things easier, quicker, and cheaper.

Put content on a website or blog because it makes it easier to educate your market and communicate with clients and prospects, not because someone said you must. Use social media to find and engage people because it expands your reach (and you enjoy it), not because all the cool lawyers do it.

The wave of the future for attorney marketing is information and people, same as always. Slicker and more fun with an iPad, but still the same.

Starting or expanding your website or blog? Start here.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Client relations, Communication, Legal industry, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Social media, Technology

Testimonials for lawyers: How to use them when you’re not allowed to use them

October 23, 2013 by
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Some lawyers aren’t allowed to use testimonials. They are precluded from doing so by their bar association or law firm. That’s a shame. Testimonials are powerful “third party” evidence of the lawyer’s skills, dedication, and trustworthiness. They can help you sign up more clients, get more referrals, and make new clients feel better about choosing you.

If you want to use testimonials, but you aren’t allowed to, here’s what I suggest.

First, make sure you know exactly what you can and cannot do. Carefully read the rules and any case law in your jurisdiction. Contact your bar association and get clarification. You may find that you can use testimonials in print, but not in electronic communication. You may be able to use testimonials if they don’t mention specific results but merely attest to your work ethic or “customer service”.

Look for the loopholes and use them.

Second, consider that a testimonial is essentially a story. The client had a problem, you fixed the problem, and the client lived happily ever after. When the client tells that story, i.e., in their own words, it is a testimonial. You may not be allowed to use their words, but you may be able to use their story.

Let’s say you have a page on your website where you would post testimonials if you were allowed to. What you could do instead is post “success stories” about clients you’ve helped and legal problems you’ve solved. You could title the page, “Recent Client Success Stories”.

You could do something similar in your ads, videos, and presentations. Anywhere you would use a testimonial you can use a success story.

Perhaps the best way to use these stories is to put them in your articles, blog posts, and presentations, to illustrate the points you are making. Weave those stories into your narrative, like this: “Last week, I had a client who. . .”. Describe the problem and the happy solution. You could also tell stories about clients who didn’t follow your advice and had a bad outcome.

To make this even more effective, describe the client. Give a detail or two about their age or background. Help the reader see them in their mind’s eye.

Are clients’ success stories as effective as their testimonials? In some ways, they are more effective.

In some contexts, testimonials may come off as crass and commercial or inconsistent with a lawyer’s image. A success story, on the other hand, especially one that is woven into the narrative of an article, doesn’t have that challenge.

Success stories are a natural, believable, and compelling way to depict you “in action,” solving problems and helping clients. They should be used in all aspects of your marketing, with or without testimonials.

Learn more about success stories and testimonials for lawyers. Click here.

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

No list? No clients for you!

October 22, 2013 by
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Most of us marketing folks go on and on about the need for a list, especially an opt-in email list. If you don’t have a list, you’re probably sick of hearing about it. If you do have a list, you know we’re right.

With a list, you are one click away from new business. Send an email, clients call. Without a list, what do you do? Please don’t say, “call prospects and ask if they’re ready for an appointment”.

With a list, you can remind people who you are and what you do. You can introduce a new service. You can ask for (and get) subscribers to promote your webinar or local event, Like your page, or forward a link to your new blog post. You can get former clients to hire you again. You can get referrals. Lots and lots of referrals.

Without a list. . . you do a lot of waiting.

You’ll hear some “experts” say that email is dead or dying. They are wrong. Email is as strong as ever.

There’s nothing wrong with social media. It just doesn’t pull in clients like an email list. Not even close.

Advertising is fine and dandy. But instead of “call or don’t call” give them the option of getting more information by signing up for your list. You’ll be able to get your name and message in front of them again next week, next month, and next year.

Networking is awesome. So is public speaking, blogging, and writing articles. But if you don’t build a list, you’re only getting a small percentage of the results you could get from those activities.

If you want to know how to start a list (or grow one), you can learn what to do in “Make the Phone Ring”. It’s not hard to get started and make the phone ring. What’s hard is waiting for the phone to ring.

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Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

How to get more legal clients with promotions

October 21, 2013 by
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In many ways, selling legal services is like selling any product or service. You tell people what you can do to help them solve a problem or achieve an objective, you tell them your “price,” and they make a decision. They hire you or they don’t.

Many of the ones who don’t hire you are on the fence. They’re not sure if they can afford it, they’re not sure if they should choose you or another attorney, or they’re not sure if they really need to hire anyone right now.

There are many fence sitters on your list. People you have talked to or sent some information, people who heard you speak or saw your video, prospective clients who almost hired you, but didn’t. One of the easiest ways to get more clients is to offer those fence sitters a special incentive that tips the scale in favor of hiring you.

There are two key elements to this offer. The first is value. Something extra for saying yes: a discount, a bonus (i.e., a free extra service), recognition on your website or in your newsletter, enhanced access to you, or an entry into a drawing for a special prize. Another example: Announce an impending fee increase and allow them to lock in the current rate.

The second element is scarcity: a time limit or limited quantity. A date when the offer expires or a limit on how many you will accept.

The second element is the more important of the two. Remember, they were already interested in your services. They don’t really need anything extra. It is the time limit (or fixed quantity) that gets them off the fence.

Fear of losing the special offer gets them to decide.

Promotions can help you sign up a lot of business. In addition to getting fence sitters off the fence, they can get prospects to choose you instead of your competition, get former clients to return, and get new clients to sign up for more services than they originally contemplated.

Find something you can promote. Add a deadline or limited quantity. Promote it.

Promoting is much more than announcing. Promoting means dramatizing the benefits of the special offer (as well as the core services). It means telling them what they will gain and also, what they will lose if they don’t accept the offer.

Promoting means repeating the special offer frequently, reminding prospects of the benefits and the impending deadline. It means telling them there are “only 48 hours left” or “only three spots remaining” and that the clock is ticking.

You don’t have to look beyond your email inbox to see examples of promotions. You’ve gotten them from me and from others, and no doubt purchased many products and services about which you were previously on the fence.

Promotions work, and you can use them to sell more of your legal services.

By the way, if you’re thinking a promotion might be unseemly or inappropriate for your practice, here’s what I suggest. Tie your promotion to a charity or worthy cause.

You might run a holiday promotion. For every new client who signs up before December 10th, you’ll donate $100 worth of new, unwrapped toys to your local “Toys for Tots”. C’mon folks, do it for the kids.

Marketing is simple. If you want to know how to get more legal clients, this is how. Create a special offer, put a time limit on it, and promote it to your list.

Want more referrals? Get The 30 Day Referral Blitz.

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Filed Under: Closing the sale, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Salesmanship Tagged With: , , ,

Do one thing every day that scares you

October 18, 2013 by
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Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” I like that advice. It reminds us to get out of our comfort zones, try new things, or do old things in a new way.

That’s how we learn and grow. In fact, without change there can be no growth.

Attorneys do the same things every day. Same documents, same activities. Yes, different clients, and that does keep things interesting, but when today is pretty much a re-run of yesterday and tomorrow will undoubtedly be like today, we risk growing stale.

Yes, change is scary. Our fears are like signposts leading us into uncharted territory. We might get lost. We might get hurt. But we also might have an exciting adventure.

I realize that when you look up the word change in the dictionary you’re unlikely to see a photo of an attorney. Attorneys don’t like change. We avoid risk. We’re boring and we like it that way. So I don’t expect you, dear reader, to do something every day that scares you, but how about doing something every once in awhile?

Think about your marketing. Is there a prospective client you would love to approach but you’re nervous and don’t want to blow it? Great! That’s who you should contact next. Is there a negotiating or trial tactic you heard about at a seminar but have been afraid to try because it’s so different? Cross your fingers and take a chance.

Yes, I know, you might blow the case. That’s the risk. But there is also the possibility of reward. You might discover something that allows you to reach amazing new levels of success.

What else could you do that scares you? Or, if scares is too strong a word, what could you do that you don’t like?

If you don’t like networking, that might be exactly what you should do. Not forever, necessarily. I’m not suggesting you make yourself miserable. Try it once and see what happens. Maybe you’ll meet the client of your dreams. Maybe you’ll discover that networking really isn’t so bad and you’ll want to try it again. Or maybe you’ll confirm that networking isn’t your thing but you’ll be proud of yourself for trying something new.

Commit to doing something new (scary) before the end of this month. Start small. Try a new route to the courthouse, perhaps. Maybe you’ll save five minutes or find a better parking space. Or maybe you’ll be late for court and get yelled at. Embrace the risk and the excitement of trying new things.

If you don’t know what to do, ask someone else for a suggestion. Your spouse or partner probably know you better than you know yourself. In fact, I’m going to take my own advice. As soon as I’ve published this post, I’m going to ask my wife what she thinks scares me but could lead to my growth. I’ll admit, I’m nervous thinking about what she might say, because she will probably suggest something I’ve been avoiding for a long time.

Want to Make the Phone Ring? Click here to see how I do it.

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Personal development Tagged With: , , ,

How to get new clients through email

October 14, 2013 by
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Can a lawyer really get new clients through email? Sure. If direct mail works, why not direct email?

If it’s ethical in your jurisdiction (it probably isn’t), and you don’t mind being accused of spamming (you should mind), you could pick up some clients this way. Go find some people in your target market, send an email and offer them something of value they would find helpful in their business or personal life. An article, report, video, seminar transcript, or newsletter that helps them solve a problem or achieve a goal.

They’ll read or listen, see that you know what you’re doing and can help them, and some of them will contact you to take the next step towards hiring you.

Make sense?

But there’s a much better way to get new clients through email that’s not unethical, tacky, or spammy. And it will probably work even better.

Instead of reaching out to prospective clients by email, reach out to prospective referral sources.

Find other professionals who serve your target market. Study their website and google them. Then, send them an email that says you target the same market they do and want to introduce yourself. You’d like to find out more about what they do and see if there’s a way the two of you can work together. Ask if they want to meet for coffee, or chat on the phone.

Make your email personal. Say something specific about them or their website, so they know you’re not sending a “form letter” to thousands of others.

When you talk to them, find out what they are looking for and see if you can help them get it. I know, they want referrals and you may not have any to give right now, but there are other ways you can help them. Do they have a seminar you can promote? Would they like to come to your networking meeting as your guest? Do they have a Facebook page you can like?

At some point, tell them about your video, report, article, or newsletter and invite them to make this available to their clients, subscribers, and followers. They also may not have referrals to give you right now and this gives you another way to gain exposure to their contacts.

Send ten emails this week and see what happens. If only one professional offers your report or video to his or her list, hundreds of prospective clients, perhaps thousands, will not only get your information, they will get the implied endorsement of that professional. New clients won’t be far behind.

Learn more about how to get more referrals from other professionals. Click here.

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Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing Tagged With:

Simple, inexpensive, and oh so powerful marketing for lawyers

October 9, 2013 by
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How would you like to have five or ten local businesses or professionals passing out your report, brochure, or other propaganda to every one of their customers or clients?

Okay, here’s what you do:

  1. Make a list of categories. What type of business or professional has customers or clients in your target market?
  2. Make a list of candidates. Go online and find websites of businesses and professionals in those categories in your market. Put a star next to the names of those who have a newsletter, blog, mailing list, or social media followers.
  3. Contact each candidate and tell them you have a proposal that could be to your mutual benefit. Basically, you’re going to hand out their literature to your clients and prospects and they’ll do the same for you.
  4. Create a handout. This could be anything with your name and contact information on it–a brochure, report, coupon, gift certificate, free consultation offer, or anything else. Have them do the same.

Print the handout. Create a pdf version, too, for email lists and website visitors. On your handout, add a different code for each cross-promotion partner, so you can see which ones are sending you the most business.

Now, all you have to do is pass out each other’s literature. When your supply gets low, notify your partner so they can provide you with more, and of course, you want them to do the same.

Okay, that’s the idea. Simple, isn’t it? But very effective.

You may have to contact ten or twenty candidates to find a few who understand the power of this idea, but you only need a few. Why? Because a cross-promotion carries with it the implied endorsement of the cross-promotion partner (so make sure you choose good quality businesses and qualified professionals). A handful of partners passing out your information to hundreds of people every day could bring you more business than you can handle.

Marketing for lawyers doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. Cross-promotions allows you to leverage the lists of other professionals and businesses, bringing targeted traffic to your website and hot prospects to your phone.

For more ways to get traffic and clients by leveraging OPL (other people’s lists), get this.

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Filed Under: Advertising, List building, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Online Marketing, Referral sources, Referrals Tagged With: , ,

Illegal aliens can now practice law in California

October 8, 2013 by
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California Governor Jerry Brown just signed a bill allowing illegal aliens to become attorneys.

Yep.

Officers of the court no longer have to abide by the law. That oath thingy? Upholding the Constitution? Nobody really takes that seriously, do they?

Grow up, people. Laws are silly.

I am curious, though. When an illegal alien attorney reports his or her income, whose social security number are they using? Who cares, as long as it’s not mine.

Anyway, just when you thought there were already too many attorneys competing for clients, now this. What to do. . .

Take sides. Make some noise for or against this, on your blog and in the media. Tell the world what you think. Why it’s wrong (or right), what it means, what’s next. Issue a press release. Write a paper. Give interviews. You can do this even if you’re not in California.

Whatever you do, do it loudly. You’ll get support from people who think you’re saying something that needs to be said. And you’ll get attention from people who think you’re evil and should be burned at the stake.

Either way, you’ll get traffic to your website and new clients. Just like I’m sure this post will do for me.

Need ideas for blog posts? Other ways to get traffic? Make the Phone Ring has what you need. Go here.

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Filed Under: Legal industry, Marketing legal services, News, Online Marketing, Press release, Publicity, Web traffic Tagged With: , ,

What if you never met anyone new?

October 4, 2013 by
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Did you hear about the imaginary new law? It says that one year from today, lawyers will no longer be allowed to meet new people. No networking, no advertising, no social media, no speaking or writing or anything else. Whoever you know one year from today is it.

Disastrous? One more law that needs to be overturned?

Not really. The law doesn’t say you can’t get referrals. The people you know can still send business and introduce you to people they know.

The law simply says that you can’t, on your own, meet anyone new.

(Are you still with me on this imaginary sojourn? I hope so. I do have a point.)

Now, knowing that this law will take effect in exactly one year, what would you?

Would you meet some new people as quickly as possible? You probably would.

Would you do everything you could to meet more well connected, influential people in your target market? Yeah, that would make sense.

Would you also work hard to strengthen your existing relationships? I’m thinking that’s a yes.

If one year from today you could not, on your own, meet anyone knew, I think it’s safe to assume you would have a sense of urgency about improving and growing your existing network of contacts. The question is, at some point, would you have enough?

Would you know enough people to sustain your practice ad infinitem? Could you survive and thrive solely on their repeat business, referrals, and introductions?

Yes.

No matter what kind of practice you have, if enough people know, like, and trust you, and you treat them right and stay in touch with them, your financial future should be golden.

And hey, enough doesn’t mean thousands. 50 or 100 people will probably do the trick for most lawyers, assuming those people aren’t hermits. In fact, five or ten good referral sources can keep you very busy. Remember, you will also get referrals from the new clients they send you and referrals from those clients, too.

It’s not about who you know. It’s about who they know.

Anyway, even though you may already have enough people in your existing network, you probably should go find some new contacts before the new law goes into effect. I know, it’s imaginary, but if you pretend that it’s not, in a year, you’ll be a very happy lawyer.

Want more referrals? Try this.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Leverage, Marketing legal services, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing
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