Mark the date, you’re invited!

July 28, 2017 by
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An attorney friend sent me this email:

“Have you heard? The sci-fi classic film, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” is being re-released on September 1st, on its 40th anniversary. It’s Spielberg’s “director’s cut” and has been remastered in 4k. I can’t wait to go and I want to invite you to join me as my guest.

I’m sending this email to my entire list. The first 25 who RSVP will get a free ticket for themselves and a plus-one. After the movie, I’ll buy you a burger.

Why am I doing this? Why not!? It will be fun!

Bring some business cards and I’ll introduce you around.

I need to hear from you before August 15th, so don’t wait. Hit reply to this email and let me know.”

Wow, what a great marketing idea. For less than $20 a head, he gets to reward some of his clients and/or referral sources, and create a buzz among everyone on his list. Whether they go or not, everyone who hears about this will tell people about the attorney who invited his clients to the movies.

Good will. Word of mouth. Repeat business. Referrals. And fun!

I salute the attorney for coming up with this idea.

One more thing. I AM that attorney. I didn’t get that email, I made it up. But now, you can send this email (or one like it) to your list. (I hope I’m on that list.)

Lawyers are complicated. Referrals are simple.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

We’ve got trouble. Right here in River City

July 25, 2017 by
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According to the Wall Steet Journal, there’s a lot less suing going on these days. “Fewer than two in 1,000 people. . . filed tort lawsuits in 2015,” down significantly from 20 years ago.

Why? You know the drill: higher costs, caps on damages, changing jury sentiment against “frivolous” claims, carriers taking a hard line, and the list goes on.

Alternative legal services (paralegals, mediation document prep services, legal plans, etc.) and self-help measures are also thinning the herd. The latest? You can now use a chatbot to get answers to a variety of legal questions and help (advice, sample letters) in fighting parking tickets.

On top of this, more firms offer “low cost” legal services, educating the public to not pay “retail”.

Should we panic? Yes. If panicking is what you need to do to wake up and smell the coffee. Otherwise, no. There may be less business overall, but there is (and always will be) more than enough for you.

But you may need to make some changes. It’s not your father’s profession anymore.

  • Consider changing practice areas. If you handle tort litigation, consider refocusing on business litigation. Or at least adding this to your menu of services. Also consider “emerging” practice areas like “Drone Law”. (I mentioned this the other day, not realizing it’s not “coming” it’s already here, according to the email I got later in the day offering a CLE class on the subject.)
  • Don’t expand your practice areas in order to compete with multi-practice-area firms, in fact, don’t compete at all. Specialize. Be the best you can be in fewer practice areas. Clients prefer specialists, remember?
  • Target the high end of the market and charge higher fees to clients who are willing and able to pay them. Of course you’ll also need to up your game and offer more value and premium services.
  • Target niche markets and dominate them. Become the best known and most highly regarded lawyer or firm in smaller markets. Leverage word of mouth and “influencer” marketing and take the lion’s share of the business.
  • Make marketing an even bigger priority. Pick a handful of strategies and get good at them.

On the latter point, you’re in luck. Many lawyers still don’t get it. Some don’t believe they need to do any marketing at all. You should find them easy to beat. But don’t get complacent. There’s a new crop of young attorneys coming up who do understand the need for and power of marketing, and they’re eager to take business from you.

But don’t get complacent. There’s a new crop of young attorneys coming up who do understand the need for marketing and they’re eager to take business from you.

So basically, do what you should have been doing all along. Narrow your focus, develop your skills, offer more value, and hustle.

There’s plenty of work out there. Go get it.

Good marketing comes down to getting good at the fundamentals

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Filed Under: Legal industry, Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

Why you might want to take your grandma to lunch

July 21, 2017 by
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Let’s rap about this niche market thing I’m always talking about.

Suppose you’ve looked at a niche market but rejected it because it looks like it’s not lucrative. Let’s use the “senior” market as an example.

Most people consider the senior market to be “price sensitive,” given the preponderance of fixed incomes in that market. If you want to find the best deals on dinner, go where the seniors go. If you want to charge premium fees for your services, seniors aren’t the first demo you think of.

You might want to think again.

Not all seniors live on a fixed income. Many have investments and real property, some have retired from running businesses but still draw an income, some are still running their business, and some are quite wealthy.

These folks may identify as seniors but lack of money isn’t an issue.

Okay, what about a lack of need? Most seniors aren’t as active as they once were, most have already taken care of their estate planning needs, and many have long standing relationships with attorneys and don’t really need you.

Many, but not all.

What if you could identify well-off seniors with unmet legal needs? A niche market within a niche market.

You could own that market.

Seniors get divorced. They get into car accidents. They even commit crimes.

They have tax issues, real estate issues, investment issues, business issues. And more than a few have not yet taken care of their estate planning needs because, you know, 70 is the new 50.

And even if they don’t need you. . .they know a lot of people. They have a lifetime of contacts: family, former co-workers and employees, professionals they have hired, and centers of influence in your niche market and community.

They can send you referrals and they can introduce you to prospective clients and referral sources.

In other words, even if they don’t hire you, their contacts can be very profitable for you.

I’m not trying to get you to choose the (wealthy) senior market as a niche necessarily. I’m simply trying to get you to think outside the box about what makes a viable niche market.

Okay, that’s it for me. I’m off to an early lunch and some networking. I hear Denny’s has a great senior special.

Need help choosing a niche market? Here you go

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

What’s wrong with this picture?

July 20, 2017 by
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Yesterday, my wife and I were speaking about some legal work we had done a few years ago. We had a question, the answer to which might lead to more work for our attorney. Unfortunately, we couldn’t remember his name.

We got lucky and found the old file and my wife called him.

He answered the phone himself. My wife explained the situation and asked the question. She said he didn’t remember us but he was very pleasant and helpful. He answered her question by telling her what we could do to handle our issue that would not entail additional legal work.

Nice.

Now, what’s wrong with this picture? What’s wrong is that we didn’t remember his name.

We didn’t remember because after he did the work for us, we never heard from him again.

Not a card, not an email, nothing.

If we hadn’t found the file, we might have called another attorney.

What if we did need additional legal work? What if we had a referral?

Some other attorney would get the work.

So, for the 298,304th time, do yourself a favor: stay in touch with your clients.

The simplest way to stay in touch is an email newsletter

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Filed Under: Client relations, Marketing legal services

Tell ’em why if you want ’em to buy

July 17, 2017 by
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Years ago, I read Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi, the lead prosecutor in the case against Charles Manson. Bugliosi presented the timeline and documented the evidence in the case in meticulous detail.

But he didn’t just describe the facts and the evidence. He explained why it mattered. He put everything together into a masterfully persuasive account, as though he was again presenting the case to the jury.

I remember thinking, “nobody who reads this would have any doubts about what happened, or the correctness of the verdicts”.

That’s what we expect of a prosecutor doing his job. It’s also what we expect lawyers to do when advising their clients.

When you tell your clients what you recommend, you must tell them why.

It may be obvious to you, but it isn’t necessarily obvious to the client. Even when it is, telling them the facts and arguments you considered helps them to see why they should follow your advice.

I’m sure you do this (most of the time). You’re not like my father who sometimes grew tired of my relentless “why” questions and said, “Because I said so!” (Wait, your dad did that too?)

Anyway, I’m sure you tell clients why they should follow your advice, but do you do that in your marketing?

I’ve seen too many ads, blog posts, articles, videos, emails, presentations, and so on, where the lawyer doesn’t tell people what to do (call, email, fill out a form, etc.), or if they do, they don’t tell them why.

Tell people why they should call, download your report, or subscribe to your newsletter. Tell them why they need a lawyer, why they should choose you, and why they shouldn’t wait.

If you want to get more clients, tell people what to do. And why.

Marketing is easier when you know the formula

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Filed Under: Copywriting, Marketing legal services

Prospecting for gold in your law practice

July 14, 2017 by
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When my daughter was in grade school I went with her on a field trip to Sacramento. One of the events on the agenda was panning for gold in a stream that once teamed with prospectors. They spent their days sifting through water, dirt, rocks, and sand. The more “non-gold” they got rid of, the more gold they found.

There’s a marketing lesson in this for lawyers.

If you want to find more “gold” (bigger cases, better clients), you need to get rid of as much non-gold as possible, as quickly as possible.

Why spend your time and resources courting clients who aren’t a good fit for you?

Other lawyers filter out cases and clients they don’t want after they talk to prospects. What if you filter them out before you talk to them?

When you create a profile of your ideal client, make a list of clients and cases that aren’t ideal. If you handle plaintiff’s personal injury cases, for example, your second list might include fender benders and soft tissue injuries.

Then, create a page on your website and describe the clients who aren’t a good fit for you.

You’ll stand out for being honest and transparent. You’ll build trust and create higher perceived value for being selective. You’ll attract better clients who see that unlike other lawyers, you don’t take anyone as a client.

Be honest about what you don’t want. You’ll get rid of more dirt and find more gold.

Need help figuring out who you do and don’t want as a client? Get this

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Online Marketing

Get bigger by thinking smaller

July 13, 2017 by
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Seth Godin just said what I’ve been telling you for a long time: niche it.

Actually, he put it this way:

“When you seek to engage with everyone, you rarely delight anyone. And if you’re not the irreplaceable, essential, one-of-a-kind changemaker, you never get a chance to engage with the market.

The solution is simple but counterintuitive: Stake out the smallest market you can imagine. The smallest market that can sustain you, the smallest market you can adequately serve.”

In other words, target small niche markets and own them.

Godin says that when you focus on “the minimum viable audience,” your message is more powerful and more effective, and as your influence in that market grows, word of mouth about you will spread throughout the market and into others.

In other words, you get bigger by thinking smaller.

Godin says that this is how big companies and brands got that way. “By focusing on just a few and ignoring the non-believers, the uninvolved and the average.”

Focus on your ideal clients and the influencers in your chosen niche markets. Get to know them. Serve them. Let them see your dedication to their market.

Forget about the rest. Let other lawyers fight over the rest, while you get the lion’s share of the best.

Want help choosing your target market? Here you go

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: , ,

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em

July 5, 2017 by
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If a professional poker player managed your law office, one of the first things he would do is talk to you about hand selection. He’d show you, mathematically, why you should play the hands where the odds are in your favor and, unless you’re planning to bluff, fold the rest.

Play the odds. You’ll win more hands and the hands you win will have bigger pots. The hands you lose won’t cost you as dearly.

In college, I played a lot of poker. Most people didn’t know what they were doing. They’d play just about every hand, often going “all in” merely because they could. By the time the game broke up, they almost always went home empty handed.

You don’t want to do that. You don’t want to waste time and money in your marketing. You want to maximize your wins, minimize your losses, and go home a winner.

Playing the odds starts by choosing the right clients to target. Instead of targeting “anyone” with a legal problem you can solve, as most lawyers do, let your competition fight it out for the bottom eighty or ninety percent of the market while you target (and win) the better clients at the top.

If networking is a mainstay of your marketing, instead of spending your time at generic meetings (e.g., chamber of commerce, local mixers, referral groups, etc.), where you meet professionals who can’t send you much business, or the right business, choose small organizations comprised of your ideal clients and the people who can refer them.

If you advertise, don’t bid on the same keywords as your competition hoping to outspend them. Bid on cheaper “long tail” keywords that target smaller niche markets.

If you rely on “one shot” marketing, hoping to turn first-time website visitors into clients, you’re leaving too much money on the table. It’s much more profitable to capture visitor emails and stay in touch with them and convert them over time.

To be successful in marketing, you don’t need to the best player. As long as you play the hands where the odds are in your favor, and avoid the hands that aren’t, you’ll do just fine.

Marketing is more effective when you know The Formula

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Mom always said, “Don’t play ball in the house”

June 29, 2017 by
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If your parents were like my parents they told you not to talk to strangers. This was meant to protect us, of course, but it stunted our ability to learn discernment, to think for ourselves about who we’re speaking with and whether or not they pose a threat.

It also kept us from broadening our experiences and trained us to keep to ourselves.

I propose you eschew mom’s advice. Not only should you talk to strangers, you should go out of your way to do it.

Talk to people you don’t know. Learn their story. Find out what they do. Tell them what you do and see what they say about lawyers and legal issues.

You’ll learn how people think about the world and about your community. You will sharpen your interpersonal skills and train your brain to be open to new experiences.

Talking to strangers will also provide you with fodder for your newsletter or next presentation. You’ll have stories to share with your family, your co-workers, and friends.

And who knows, you might meet someone who needs your services.

Lunch hour is a good time to meet strangers. Walk up to someone and ask a question or pay them a compliment.  Ask if they work nearby. Ask what they do.

This works anywhere. Even in places like NYC where eye contact can be seen as a mortal threat.

Practice the art of talking to strangers. Your life will be richer for it.

Your website can help turn strangers into clients

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Personal development

An imperfect plan implemented immediately

June 27, 2017 by
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Of all the lawyers who read yesterday’s message about reaching out to other professionals to see if they are open to some kind of referral relationship, how many do you think actually did it? How many will?

My guess is that most are still thinking about it, weighing the pros and cons, trying to figure out the best way to go about it, and most will eventually do nothing.

And that’s sad because the only way to get results is by taking action. As General George Patton said, “An imperfect plan implemented immediately and violently will always succeed better than a perfect plan.”

Anyway, one lawyer wrote to tell me he went for it and reported his results.

He’s a sole practitioner and identified a lawyer in his field who manages a mid-sized firm in a nearby country. The firm does a lot of marketing and could be a big source of referrals for him.

He sent the managing partner information about a new law in his country which might be relevant to some of the firm’s clients. The partner wasn’t aware of the new law and appreciated him for bringing it to his attention.

The solo broached the subject of mutual referrals between the two firms. He offered to add a link to the firm’s website on his website and asked if they would do the same for his.

He also asked if the firm would be willing to provide a (brief) free consultation to people he refers to them.

The partner said they would gladly provide a free consultation. The firm has a lawyer they already work with in his country, however, so they can’t post the link to his site or send him referrals. But, he said, when they have a matter that is outside their lawyer’s area of expertise, they would be happy to send the referrals to him.

An imperfect plan? You tell me:

  1. The solo can now promote the firm’s free consultation to his current and former clients, adding value to his relationship with them.
  2. He can promote the free consultation to prospective clients in his country who might have interests in the nearby country.
  3. By posting a link to the larger firm (and saying something nice about them), he will identify as having a relationship with them, and thus augment his credibility and prestige.
  4. He has opened the door to future referrals from the firm.
  5. Emboldened by these results, he can approach other firms in the other country and work out similar arrangements.

Not bad for a couple of emails to someone he didn’t know.

How to get referrals from other lawyers

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Relationship marketing
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