Eighty percent of success is showing up

October 11, 2017 by
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Woody Allen famously said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Being where you need to be when you need to be there.

In the context of marketing legal services, that means showing up when someone needs your help. But how do you do that?

You don’t know when someone will be in a collision, want to file for divorce, or start a business. You don’t know when someone is unhappy with their current attorney and is looking for a replacement.

And if you don’t know, you can’t show up. Or maybe you can.

You can create search engine optimized content so that when someone needs a lawyer and goes looking, they can find you.

You can write articles and run ads in publications and on websites where your target market is likely to see them.

You can educate your clients about who would make a good client for you and the best way to refer them and let them keep their eyes and ears open for you. You can do the same thing with professionals and other referral sources.

These strategies will help you get your name and message in front of prospective clients when they need your help. But there’s another strategy you should consider.

You should get your name and message in front of prospective clients before they need you.

You do that through a newsletter, a blog, a podcast, or a video channel. You build a list of subscribers and you stay in touch with them, sharing your knowledge and showing them how you can help them. As you do that, they see your passion and commitment to their niche or local market. They get to know, like, and trust you, and when they need your services (or know someone who does), you’ll be right there, ready to help.

Many lawyers do marketing sporadically. When you understand the value of building a list of prospective clients and you “bake” marketing into your daily method of operation, when you are never not marketing, you are never without clients.

Start or improve your marketing with this

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Newsletters Tagged With:

How to get more positive reviews

October 6, 2017 by
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You obviously know that positive reviews and testimonials are some of your most powerful marketing assets. If you’re not actively soliciting and using these in your practice, you’re missing the boat.

If you’re on the boat and you want to get more (and better) reviews, I’m going to show you how.

STEP ONE

Gather up a handful of your best reviews and testimonials. (If you’re lacking in this department, I’ll show you what to do.)

STEP TWO

Take three or four of your best reviews and send them to all new clients, along with a letter that says something like this:

“My practice depends on keeping our clients not just satisfied but delighted. That’s what I’m working to achieve. Enclosed are a few reviews I’ve received from clients that show me that I’m doing things right.

I’m proud of reviews like these and I will do my best to provide you with the same high level of service and satisfaction as expressed by these clients. That’s my promise to you.

At the end of the case, if you feel I’ve delivered on that promise, I hope you will also leave me a great review.”

STEP THREE

At the end of the case, when you survey your clients, include a letter reminding them of your promise and your hope that if they believed you delivered on that promise, they would be inclined to leave you a good review.

Enclose a few additional positive reviews and give them a link to your review profile or a page where you’d like them to post their review.

And that’s it. This should bring you more reviews and better reviews, because you planted the idea that reviews are normal, expected, and appreciated, gave them examples of great reviews, and at the end of the case, reminded them to leave one.

Now, what do you do if you don’t have great reviews to show your clients?

That’s simple. Write them yourself.

Write the reviews you’d like to receive from your clients. Include all the accolades you’d love to see, and more importantly, prospective clients need to see to convince themselves that you’re the one.

Send these to new clients as examples of good reviews.

Tell them you wrote the reviews yourself because although you have positive reviews (if you do), they are brief and you hope that by sending these examples to your new clients, when the time comes, they will find it easier to write a more detailed review.

Tell them you promise to work hard and keep them happy and that if you deliver on that promise, you hope they will feel compelled to write a review of that caliber.

Live up to that standard and it won’t be long before you’ll have some amazing real reviews to show your clients.

Make your website great again

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

The secret to my success

October 5, 2017 by
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Want to know the secret to my success? The secret is simple. I do a few things well.

That’s it. A few things. The “precious few” in 80/20 parlance, that deliver the majority of my results.

I run three businesses. In each business, there are only a few things I focus on to keep the wheels turning. Well, actually, one business is nearly 100% passive income and requires almost none of my time anymore. The other two businesses are flexible enough that I can work at them when (and if) I choose. So for me, at this stage of my life, my precious few are “writing, learning, and marketing.”

How about you?

If you run a law practice, your precious few probably include, “marketing, management, personal development, and work product”. Am I right?

[Sidebar: Don’t be one of those lawyers who foolishly boasts that they don’t do any marketing. Everything you do is marketing.

Every time you speak to a client you’re showing them why they should remain your client and refer their friends. Every time you give someone your card or mention your website you’re inviting them to learn more about you do. Every time you talk to a prospective client or fellow professional you’re showing them why they should do business with you. It’s all marketing. All of it.

Okay, back on the record.]

Let’s start with “areas of focus”. You run a law practice, you have a personal life. That’s two. You might also do charitable work, be active in your church, or have a hobby or outside interest that’s important to you.

What are your precious few areas of focus?

Next, for each area of focus, think about the precious few things you focus on (or need to).

For your practice, what are the precious few things you do for marketing?

You may focus on a few types of clients, niche markets, or practice areas. Your strategies might include client referrals, professional referrals, and driving traffic to your website. If you advertise, your precious few might include a group of niche publications, keywords, or offers that deliver the majority of your results. You might create content, build a social media following, or speak or network in the “real world”.

What are they? What are precious few in your marketing?

For work product, you might derive most of your income from a certain type of case or client or a certain type of work. What are your precious few?

For management, you might focus on new client intake procedures (although that’s also marketing), billing, and document management. You might focus on hiring the best people, training, or building culture. What are your precious few?

For personal development, you might work on building a new habit, improving a particular skill, or acquiring a certain type of knowledge. What do you focus on? What are your precious few?

In the end, success comes from doing a few simple things. It can’t be any other way. You can’t do 100 things and expect to do them all well. You can’t focus on 100 things you can only focus on a few.

I built my practice with referrals. It was one of my precious few.

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Personal development, success Tagged With: , ,

What breed of dog does your client own?

October 4, 2017 by
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What’s the name of the last client you spoke to? How well do you know them?

Are they married? What’s their spouse’s name?

Do they have kids? How old are they?

What part of town do they live in? Do they play any sports? Do you know the name of their accountant, tax preparer, and insurance agent? How about the name of their dog?

I know it’s difficult to build a personal relationship with all of your clients but how about some of them?

Or are you the type who does the work and that’s the end of it?

No communication, no relationship, nothing from you. If they contact you again, fine. Otherwise, you don’t have time for them.

Please say that’s not true. Please say you make an effort to get to know at least some of your clients and that you make it a habit to stay in touch with all of them.

If you don’t, it’s not too late to start. Reach out at least one client this week and have a conversation with them. Take a few minutes to find out something about their personal life. Write it down so you’ll remember it. Verify their email address so you can stay in touch.

Every client you do this with represents potential growth for your practice. Even if they never hire you again, they can send referrals, introduce you to other professionals, share your content, promote your events, and send traffic to your website. Oh yeah, they can also write a positive review about you, including how much they appreciate that you stay in touch with them after the work was done.

Before you spend another hour attending a networking event and talking to strangers, how about networking with the people who already know, like, and trust you?

Start here

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Marketing legal services

Live, from your office. . .

October 2, 2017 by
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The other day I recommended not relying solely on live presentations but to record them so they can go to work for you 24/7.

It’s leverage. Do it once, use it over and over again.

But don’t stop doing live presentations.

I don’t just mean “live and in person”. I mean live online. Podcasts, hangouts, chats, webinars, and so on, that are presented in real time. There’s magic in something done live.

When you promote a recorded video, it’s harder to create a sense of urgency. You can say, “This will only be available until. . .” but you then lose the ability to get eyeballs on an ongoing basis. If you leave it up all the time, many people say, “I’ll catch it later,” but we all know that later often never comes.

When you do it live, however, you can promote it as a special event because it is special. You can say, or more likely imply “Never before and never again,” has this been done, creating an even bigger sense of urgency.

When it’s live, you can say, “Join me” or “Ask me anything” and thus provide more value and build a closer relationship with your followers. Or you can promote it by saying you’re presenting some new or timely information that shouldn’t be missed.

One of the biggest draws of a live event is that nobody knows what will happen. What will be said, what will be asked, what information will be shared for the first time? And let’s face it, one reason people watch live events is that they know it could be a train wreck and they want to see that.

One way to make your live events have more train-wreck potential is to have someone else speak with you. If you have a co-presenter, a panel discussion, you interview someone or have someone interview you, the likelihood of something noteworthy or cringeworthy happening is even greater. (You’ll also get the other speakers’ followers to tune in.)

Do some live events and watch your subscriber numbers and engagement soar. Of course, you should also record these events so you can use them again or make them available 24/7. But you might not want to mention that you’re recording it when you promote it for the first time.

Let your website do the heavy lifting: Marketing online for attorneys

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Filed Under: Blogging, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Presentations, Seminars and webinars

If I could save time in a bottle

September 29, 2017 by
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If I could save time in a bottle. . . I’d sell it. I mean, who wouldn’t want to buy more time? More time with your family. More time for hobbies or worthy causes, more time get more work done.

How much would like to buy?

Unfortunately, I can’t sell you any time. But I can show you how to get it for yourself.

The first way to get more time is to steal it. Steal it from what you’re currently doing by taking on fewer tasks and projects or fewer cases and clients, and focusing on a smaller number of more valuable matters. Delegate less valuable work to others.

The second way to get more time is to get your work done more quickly. You can do that by improving your skills and knowledge, learning new skills and methods, using better tools, and developing better habits and workflows. Delegating work to others will also help.

The third way to get more time is to specialize in your practice areas and in the clients you target. This will allow you to charge higher fees and attract more clients (and better clients) who prefer attorneys who specialize.

The fourth way to steal time is through marketing, which will allow you to bring in bigger cases and clients, and allow you to hire more help.

Even better, instead of “one and done” marketing activities, do things that can bring in new business with little or no additional effort. Instead of only doing live presentations or seminars, for example, record them so they can go to work for you 24/7. Instead of networking to find clients, network to find more referral sources.

All of these will give you more time and more income. I know, because this is what I did to build my practice when I was struggling.

Work on fewer more valuable things, become more efficient, specialize, and get better at marketing. That’s how I was able to earn more and work less, and that’s how you can, too.

How I did it: the formula

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Filed Under: Leverage, Marketing legal services, Productivity, Specializing

What’s your shtick?

September 28, 2017 by
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I just downloaded an app that provides a collection of “sleep sounds,” that is, recordings you can listen to when you want to rest or fall asleep. There are many of these types of apps available. I’ve tried more than a few.

But this one is different.

It’s the only app I know of that doesn’t come with all of the audios in the initial download. You choose the ones you want and download them separately. Any sound you don’t like can easily be deleted.

I like this because it means I don’t have to fill up my phone with gigabytes of sounds I’ll probably never use. I can choose a few I like and forget the rest.

Most of the app’s reviewers agree. Choice is good. Smaller downloads are good.

But some disagree. They hate having to download each audio one at a time. “It takes too long!” they moan.

So yeah, you can’t please everyone. And you know what? You shouldn’t try.

Suppose the app developer listened to the cries of the customers who don’t like the “choose your own” feature? They would wind up with an app like all the others that use an “all or nothing” approach. They would find it difficult to stand out from their competition. And the would alienate those of us who like being able to choose.

“Choose the ones you want” is this companies shtick. Their thing. Their Unique Selling Proposition. And it works. They knowingly give up trying to please the “I want it all” crowd and from a marketing perspective, this is the right thing to do.

And guess what? Lawyers should do the same thing.

Stop trying to please everyone. Stop offering “all things to all people”. Be different. Carve out a niche. Choose a segment of the market and show the folks why you’re their guy or gal. Promote your differences to prospective clients who like those differences. And let go of everyone else.

Need help choosing your shtick? Here it is

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

Give your practice a little push

September 13, 2017 by
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If you’re doing things right, your practice grows primarily by attracting new clients, that is, clients find you, you don’t find them.

They find you online, respond to an ad, someone refers them, or they’ve hired you before and come back when they need you again.

Clients show up and are “pulled” into your legal machine, with very little effort on your part. Once there, you deliver high-quality services (and high-quality service) to keep them happy and ensure they return and refer, and generally speaking, they do.

Sure, you have to do maintenance, making sure your systems are working well, your content is fresh, and you have sufficient resources to do your job. But other than that, you don’t have to do much else to keep your practice running and profitable.

On the other hand, you can’t rely on this dynamic forever. You can’t expect to always be able to attract clients and pull them in, you must also do some pushing.

Clients die or no longer need you. Businesses fold or get bought out. People move away. Clients can no longer afford you or find another attorney who charges less. No matter how well you do your job, there will always be attrition and you need to do something affirmative to keep your funnel (and your bank account) full.

And let’s not ignore the fact that there is a continual wave of competition. New lawyers, better-financed lawyers, and more aggressive lawyers eager to eat your lunch.

Bottom line: you can’t rely on pulling in new business, you have to do some pushing.

Pushing means reaching out to prospective clients and referral sources and centers of influence in your niche market or community. It means trying new strategies, networking with different people, and creating new types of content.

Pushing means expanding on what’s working and eliminating or changing what isn’t. It means continually upgrading your client base, replacing good clients with even better clients. It means never getting complacent and assuming that what was will always be.

The world changes. Make sure you keep up with it.

Give your practice a little push with this

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

The easy way to stand out from your competition

September 12, 2017 by
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“Most lawyers offer the same services and deliver the same results. There’s no advantage to hiring anyone in particular so you might as well hire the cheapest one”.

That’s what many clients think, isn’t it? And the client is always right.

Most lawyers look alike and sound alike. Their websites are nearly interchangeable. Swap the name and contact information of lawyer A with lawyer B and you would never know the difference.

That’s also true with ads. Presentations. Podcasts. Videos. Social media posts. Brochures. Newsletters. Articles.

Lawyers wear the same clothing. They have offices on the same street. Their waiting rooms, desks and chairs, and wall adornments all look a movie set.

Welcome to Blandville, where everyone is the same.

If clients can’t perceive any difference between you and your competition, how do you expect them to notice you, remember you, and choose you?

It’s a problem but it is incredibly easy to fix.

There are many ways to differentiate yourself from the competition. Many ways to show clients why you are the better choice.

One of the best ways is also the easiest.

Do this one thing and you will no longer be McLawyer, serving the same (dull) food as everyone else.

The missing element? The magic potion? The easy thing you can do to stand out?

It’s you, my friend.

Your personality is what’s missing from your marketing and your public persona. It’s the one thing no other lawyer has or can copy.

Put your personality, your style, your stories, your opinions on your website and in your emails, articles and presentations. You are unique. There’s only one “you”. Let that uniqueness shine through the boilerplate and the legalese and you will instantly stand out from the masses of legal humanity.

I know this may be tough for you. You play your cards close to your vest. You don’t like to share anything personal. You do good work and expect your work to speak for itself.

It doesn’t. It needs a spokesperson. It needs you.

Give this a whirl. Start with something small. Put a little you into your next email to a client.

Add a P.S. and share something that doesn’t belong in that email. Mention something you did recently or something interesting you saw or read. Ask for their opinion about something other than the subject of your email. Ask if they’ve seen an article you posted on your website. Or if they’re a fan of a program you’ve been binge-watching on Netflix.

Go ahead, try it. You may like it. I know your clients will.

More ways to differentiate yourself found here

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Filed Under: Image, Marketing legal services

Would you Invest $1000 to earn $1500?

September 11, 2017 by
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Looking for a great investment? One that has the potential to bring you big returns?

I’m talking returns of 50%, 100%, or more. Perhaps a lot more. Over time, you might earn ten or twenty times your initial investment.

What’s that? You put your money in savings, not investments. You don’t like to “gamble”? Well, you might want to re-think that position in this case because the investment I’m talking about is “you”.

Your practice. Your career. Your future.

I know you make a substantial investment each month run your practice. Money to keep the doors open, money to protect yourself from liability, money to help you serve your clients. And money on marketing, to make sure you continue to bring in new clients.

I’m suggesting you consider spending more.

Add another $1,000 per month to your budget, to invest in your practice. If that’s too much, start with less, but start with something because if you invest wisely, that $1,000 or $5,000 or $100, will result in a handsome profit.

What should you invest in? Well, what do you need? What’s working now that might work better? What can you expand?

What could you invest in to attract more clients? What could you invest in that might help you meet new referral sources? Where might you put some dollars to improve your skills or help you deliver a better client experience?

Here’s a list to help you brainstorm the possibilities:

  • Advertising
  • New employees, virtual assistants; incentives
  • Outside services
  • Second office/better location
  • Signage
  • Furniture and equipment
  • Personal and professional development
  • Software
  • Consultants
  • Networking
  • Websites/content
  • Accounting/financial planning
  • Training courses

As you ponder this list, also consider areas where you might spend less. Where could you eliminate waste? What could you do to free up cash to invest in things that bring you a better return?

What’s that? You don’t have any cash to invest in your practice right now? That’s why you need to take this seriously.

Find the money. Borrow it. Get a line of credit. Sell something.

Remember, you’re not increasing your overhead, you’re investing in your business.

Let me guess, you’re thinking, “What if I do this and it doesn’t work?”

My answer: “What if it does work?” What if you invest $1000 and it brings in an additional $1500? You would want to do it again, right? You’d want to increase your investment so you can increase your profit, yes?

Look, don’t throw money at anything that moves. Be judicious. Reasonable. Careful. Smart.

Sure, there’s risk. You might lose money on the path to earning more. But there’s an even greater risk in doing nothing.

Truth.

You really do have to spend money to make money. Go figure out how you can spend more.

Improve your website 

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services
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