Who loves ‘ya? 

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Among your many professional and business contacts, who loves you and your work enough to recommend you to their clients and customers? 

Not just when their clients or customers or business contacts mention a legal issue or question or ask for a referral–immediately, without being asked?

Who loves you enough to go out of their way to send a letter to all of their clients and contacts telling them that they recommend you wholeheartedly, and why? Who loves you enough to tell the people in their world to hire you, sign up for your newsletter or seminar, or download your report? 

Who loves you enough to endorse you? 

Endorsements (from the right people) give you instant credibility and can instantly bring you new business and new opportunities. If the endorser has even a small list of people who trust and respect them, their endorsement can cause your list, your following, and your practice to blow up. 

You get testimonials and positive reviews from your satisfied clients that convince prospective clients that you are “the one”. Endorsements can do much more.  

Endorsements can introduce your name and capabilities to legions of people who don’t know who you are and don’t know they need you. They can open doors to speaking and networking opportunities. They can help you meet key people in your market that bring you scores of new clients and better clients.  

Endorsements are marketing gold. And you should do everything you can to earn them. 

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It’s not who you know

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It’s who they know. Which means you don’t need a large network to build a successful practice. Just a well-connected one.

If you know just 10 people who are influential in your target market, they can lead you to a multitude of new clients and referral sources. 

Lessons? 

  1. Stop wasting time networking with the masses of people who aren’t influential in your market. Focus on the “precious few” who can send you a lot of business or introduce you to other influential people in your market. 
  2. Identify people you want to know by name, and work out a plan to meet them. 
  3. Start with people you already know. Go through your list(s) and identify 5 contacts who are influential in your target market and like and trust you. Spend more time with them. Find out who they know and ask them to introduce you. 
  4. Next, draw up a list of 25 or 30 people you don’t know but would like to. They might be high quality prospective clients or other centers of influence who appear to know the kinds of people you would like to meet. Ask the people you know if they know any of these people and, if so, ask them to introduce you. 
  5. Study the people you identify. What do they want or need? Who do they know? How can you get their attention? What can you do to help them and/or their clients or customers? 

And then get to work meeting these new people. 

You might have to go through quite a few people before you find the ones who are receptive to meeting you and eventually working with you. 

But you only need a few. 

This will help you do all of the above

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Content marketing. Are you doing it wrong? 

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Content marketing is perfect for attorneys because it allows them to showcase their knowledge and experience and give prospective clients (and the people who refer them) a taste of what it would be like to work with them. 

It’s an extremely effective, low-cost way to attract a steady stream of leads, prospects, subscribers, fans and followers, and new clients. 

No advertising or promotion required. 

There are two steps:

  1. Create content (or hire people to create it for you), and
  2. Post it on a website, blog, newsletter, podcast, or on social. You can also share it with other professionals and content creators who can share it with their clients and prospects. 

It doesn’t have to be brilliant. Or comprehensive. But it does have to provide helpful information.

Something attorneys can deliver in spades.

You educate prospective clients about the law and procedure, their risks, responsibilities, and options, and thus show them what you do and how you can help them (and their clients and prospects). 

Some attorneys tell me they don’t want to do this because it means giving away their knowledge and advice, the very things they charge for. “If I show people what to do, they won’t need to hire me,” they say, “they’ll just do it themself”. 

Au contraire. 

You don’t have to tell them everything. Just enough to get them to realize they need to talk to you about the specifics of their case. When they do, you get more clients, not fewer.

Or, go ahead and tell them everything. Tell them how to prepare and file the document or solve the problem. Some will. But these “freebie seekers” were never really prospective clients, so you lose nothing. 

A small percentage will do it themself and won’t need you. A much bigger percentage will try, mess up, and need you even more. 

Yes, some people will consume your content and successfully do everything themself. That’s okay. Because they will then hire you for something they can’t do themself. Or refer you to others who can’t or don’t want to do it themself. 

Bottom line, the more content you produce, the more you prosper. 

So, what do I mean by doing content marketing wrong? I mean not doing it all. 

There are a lot of things you can do to bring in more clients and increase your income but nothing is as simple and cost-effective as telling people what they need and want to know (and search for) and letting it do most of your marketing for you. 

How to create better content (and more of it)

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Do this and you’ll get more leads, subscribers, and clients

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Notice I didn’t tell you what “this” is. You want to know what it is, don’t you? So you started reading. And thus, illustrate the power of this principle—curiosity.

Humans are curious creatures. And you can use their curiosity to get them to do what you want them to do.

Prospective clients want information. They want answers. They want to know what can be done to solve their problem and achieve their goal. Which is why they visit your website, read your posts, sign up for your newsletter, watch your videos, and sign up for your seminar. 

It’s also why they contact you, make an appointment, and keep it.   

But hold on. You can’t rely on their innate “desire to know” to get them to do what you want them to do. You have to build on their curiosity. Make them hungry enough to take action. 

How? By not telling them everything they want to know. 

Hold back. Tell them some of the basics, but don’t tell them everything. 

Most lawyers know that but don’t always do it. They want to impress the prospective client with their knowledge and experience and wind up telling them too much. Too much information, too many answers to frequently asked questions, too much detail.

They don’t have to take the next step if you’ve already told them everything.

Many lawyers do the opposite. They don’t tell them enough. They tell them their practice areas and accomplishments (in an ad or directory listing or website) and nothing else. They assume this is enough to compel prospective clients to call or write or fill out a form. 

But it’s not. They want more. 

Your challenge is to tell them enough so they see you have the information and solutions they need and want, but not so much that they don’t need to take the next step.

Make them curious. Don’t satisfy their curiosity. 

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Are you better than your competition?

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Maybe. But the average lawyer is, by definition, average and unless you can delineate what you do better than other lawyers, you can’t call yourself better. Just average. 

Do you get better outcomes for your clients? Give them more value? Help them in ways that go beyond your core legal services? 

What. Exactly. Do. You. Do. Better? 

I know that’s a tough call. Start by noting what you do differently, meaning that your competition doesn’t regularly do. 

I know, that’s also tough, because many attorneys do what you do and you do what they do. Same laws, same procedures, same basic process, and very much the same outcomes and deliverables. 

It’s true. 

Still, if you want to stand out and show prospective clients an advantage to hiring you (instead of them), you need to give them reasons. 

Why should they hire you “instead”?

You need to figure that out. Don’t worry. It’s not as difficult as you think. Because in marketing, “different” is often seen as “better”. 

So, what do you do that’s different? 

It doesn’t have to be big and amazing. It could be as simple as your process for investigating a new case and setting up a new file (for example). 

What’s so special about that? Maybe nothing. Probably nothing. Your competition probably does the same things you do (questions, research, investigation, forms, first steps, etc.)

But while you (and your competition) see how you open a new file as small and commonplace and not worth mentioning, it can be a big deal to your clients who don’t know what you do and why it’s important.

By providing a few details about what you do, and why, something small and commonplace can be a big deal.  

Clients don’t know all the steps you take, the forms you use, the procedures you follow, and the benefits these confer. 

So, tell them. When you do, what’s commonplace and boring to you (and your competition) becomes important. 

And gives you an advantage. 

And, if you describe what you do when you open a new file and your competition doesn’t (because they assume everyone does it and it’s not worth mentioning), in the eyes of your prospective clients, you “own” that advantage. 

Which is why you start by researching your competition, to see what they do (and don’t do), and what they say (and don’t say) about it.

More:

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I like pain. It feels so good when it stops. 

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Why do people hire you? Because you help them solve their problems and alleviate their pain. Or protect them from problems that could cause them pain.

Sometimes, they think they can do this themself. Or they don’t realize how bad things could get and they wait.  

You need to splash cold water on them and wake them up. 

Tell them why they shouldn’t try to fix things themself and why they shouldn’t wait. 

Tell them why they need to call you now.

Tell them they should at least find out their options (and risks), and give them examples of clients who didn’t do that and suffered. The clients who didn’t listen when you told them to have you review that contract before they sign it or ask you about their problem when it was small and relatively easy to fix. 

Talk about the pain this cost them. And then talk about the clients who took action, and how everything turned out okay. 

You know the drill. 

Of course “prevention” is a harder sell then “cure” so when you’re talking about what could happen if they don’t talk to you or follow your advice, be a little dramatic about what can happen—you’re doing them a favor.

Use their fear to motivate them to act.

One way to do that, especially right now, is to talk about the economy. Inflation, foreclosures, losing their job, credit card debt, the rising cost of feeding their family—it’s on everyone’s mind, especially the people who need to talk to you the most.

They’re in pain and afraid things will get worse. Agree with them, and then tell them how they can get relief. 

People do things (and hire lawyers) for two reasons: pain and pleasure.

Make sure you talk about both. 

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It’s like dating

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You meet a lot of people and eventually zero in on someone you’d like to know better. You go out on a date, things get serious, and if all goes well, you get married and live happily ever after.

The same way you get your next (good) client. 

No, it’s not the only way. In fact, most lawyers don’t do this. They don’t single out someone they’d like to “date,” but they could. 

Should they? Should you? 

Find a few prospective clients, people who have the things you want in a client, figure out a way to meet them, and eventually date them and sweep them off their feet. 

Sound like a plan?

You’d have no competition to speak of, other than the lawyer or firm they’re currently “married” to. If they “split up,” or decide they like you better, they may become your next client.

Or introduce you to their unmarried friend from work who needs your help. 

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The best way to get prospective clients to find you

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The best way to get prospective clients to find you is to get them to find YOU (not your blog or content, not “a lawyer or law firm” that does what you do—YOU. 

By name. 

Because if they search for a lawyer who does what you do, or content offered by lawyers who do what you do, they’ll wade through countless pages of content from your competitors and may or may not find your ad or article or listing. And you’ll pay a fortune to even be in the running. 

But if they search for you by name, they’ll find you. And it might not cost you a dime. 

Brand yourself. Your name. Your story. That’s what you want prospective clients and the people who can refer them to think about when they need help. 

Yes, you should also create content that can capture their attention (if they happen to see it) but the best way to use this is to show it to people after they find you. 

Get people to notice and remember your name and what you do. Then, when someone needs the kind of help you provide, they’ll go looking for you—the lawyer whose name they’ve been hearing about.

Do this and whether or not you advertise, your marketing will be much more effective. And profitable. 

How do you do it? By doing things worth talking about. And by making sure your existing network knows about them because they will tell others. 

Do something different. Something other lawyers aren’t doing or aren’t talking about. 

Do something bigger. Something that provides more value or benefits. Or something newsworthy. 

Do something that promotes a cause that is important to the people in your target market, or align yourself with people who do that. Sing their praises, recognize their accomplishments, and let the world hear your name when their name (and cause) is mentioned. 

Lawyer, promote thyself. That should be the mantra underlying all of your marketing.

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A simple marketing and management checklist

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There are a lot of things you can do to increase the gross and net income in your practice. This checklist can help you identify strategies that might be a good fit for you to use or improve: 

MORE CLIENTS

  • Client relations
  • Referrals
  • Following-up/Staying in touch
  • Networking
  • Advertising/Lead Generation
  • Public Speaking/Seminars
  • Public Relations
  • Content Marketing (Blogs, Articles, Books, Audios, Videos, Podcasts)
  • Event Marketing
  • Social Media Marketing

MORE OFTEN

  • Stay in touch (clients, prospects, business contacts)
  • Repeat Services/Updates/Maintenance
  • Other services (Yours, Partners’, JVs)

INCREASE FEES

  • Higher Rates
  • Bigger Cases/Clients
  • Upsells
  • Addons
  • Bundling/Packaging
  • Sell Value, Not Time

REDUCE COSTS

  • Better Employees/Vendors
  • Better Training
  • Outsourcing
  • Parnters/JVs
  • Systems
  • Personal/Professional Development
  • New Skills
  • Better Tools/Equipment

Which of these strategies do you currently use? Which need improving or expanding? Which should you let go of or downsize to make room for something else? Which seems like a good fit for you and is worth starting or exploring?

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The aim of marketing 

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Peter Drucker said, “The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous”. 

Sounds good, but what does it mean? 

It means giving prospective clients enough information to convince them they need an attorney and why they should choose you. 

It means creating websites and marketing documents that speak to the prospective client’s needs and wants, and the solutions and benefits you deliver. 

It means collecting and sharing testimonials, reviews, success stories, and endorsements attesting to your abilities, results, and what it is like to work with you. 

It means creating answers to frequently asked questions so prospective clients don’t have to ask you those questions. 

It means setting up simple methods for following up with prospective clients who have contacted you, offering them additional information, inviting them to ask you about the specifics of their case or matter, and making it easy for them to do that. 

And it means establishing systems that help prospective clients and the people who can refer them find you. 

If you do it right, prospective clients are pre-sold on hiring you. The only thing left to do is to make the arrangements. 

Well, almost. There’s more. Marketing is everything we do to get and keep good clients. 

Big things and small things. Things we do once and things we do repeatedly. Things we do to get the client to sign up, things we do to get them to pay us, and things we do to get them to come back (and bring others). 

And while “selling” is an essential component, when you do things right, your clients do most of it for you. 

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