Create a better marketing message by keeping it simple

February 23, 2016 by
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The best marketing messages are simple. They are easy to understand and easy to remember, and the ideas embodied in them affect the reader or listener on a basic emotional level.

The same can be said for any message.

The strength of a simple message is in its clarity. The reader or listener grasps the message on its face, without explanation or documentation, and without delay. It says what it means and it means what it says.

Robert Louis Stevenson said, “Do not write merely to be understood. Write so you cannot possibly be misunderstood.”

But how does one do that?

Ultimately, this is a function of the writer’s or speaker’s understanding of the essence of the message and their ability to communicate it. In other words, it takes some skill and effort. But there’s a lot you can do to make your message simpler, clearer, and more effective, even if you’re not (yet) a great writer.

Make your message about fewer ideas

Include a few key points in your message, not everything you could say on the subject. This is true no matter who your audience is, but even more so for a lawyer seeking to influence lay people.

Be brief

Spare the details. Don’t write pages when paragraphs will do. See if you can convey the same idea in a sentence or two.

Most people want no more than the bottom line and a fact or two that supports it. You should have additional information available, however, for those who want it. On your website, for example, put your message on the home page; provide links to the details for those who want to drill down to get them.

Write at a fourth grade level

You want your message to go from the page or the lectern to the recipient’s brain at the speed of thought. You don’t want anything slowing it down. So use shorter paragraphs and sentences, and simpler words. “Don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do,” Mark Twain told us.

Use repetition

No matter how effective your message is, it will be more effective if it is repeated often. Repetition helps people understand, accept, and remember your message. It is key to earning their trust and their business.

Think of your message as a campaign speech, if that helps. You address the same handful of ideas and repeat them over and over again, to new crowds and to your die-hard supporters alike.

Repetition makes your message stronger and affects people at a deeper level. The first time they hear it, they may be critical and doubtful. After they’ve heard it several times, they are better able understand and accept the message. Eventually, after they’ve heard your message repeatedly, they can remember it and articulate it to others.

And that’s what you want.

You want your clients and prospects, friends and followers, to know what you stand for and what you promise, and you want them to easily share that message with others.

Need help crafting an effective marketing message? Try this

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Public Speaking, Referrals, Writing

Why should I hire you? Really, tell me why?

February 22, 2016 by
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You make some big promises in your marketing. At least I hope you do. I hope you tell prospective clients that you offer something that’s different and better than what other lawyers offer.

I also hope you explain the “reason why” you are able to do that.

I heard a radio commercial the other day for a Toyota dealer. The copy said that they have lower prices than other dealers. Okay, fine. But a lot of dealers claim they have the lowest prices. So hearing “lowest prices” usually goes in one ear and out the other.

But then the ad explained why they are able to offer the lowest prices. They said, “We sell more Toyotas than other dealers in [the market], so we get more Toyotas allocated to us, and that’s why we can sell them to you for less than other dealers”.

It’s not brilliant, but it does explain WHY this dealer can sell you a car for less. They back up their assertion with a fact that makes their claim to lower prices more credible.

You need to do the same.

In your ads and on your website, in your presentations and on all of your marketing documents, give prospective clients the “reason why” you are able to do what you say you do. Your assertion is more believable and powerful when it is backed up with facts or logic or with a story that illustrates its veracity.

If you say you have a lot of experience in your field, tell them how many years, how many cases, or how many clients. Or tell them some of your accomplishments or accolades that are consistent with a lawyer who has a lot of experience. You teach CLE or serve as an arbitrator or Judge Pro Tem? Wow, you must have a lot of experience.

If you say you work hard for your clients, tell a story about a case that was thought lost and how you burned the midnight oil, hired another investigator or expert, talked to witnesses again, or reviewed your research or notes, and found something that allowed you to win the case.

In other words, don’t just make empty promises, say something that proves what you say.

Your “reason why” needn’t be remarkable or unique, however. In a world where most attorneys offer no reasons why, stating that you can call up every single state and federal decision published in your field of practice since 1892, right from the iPad you carry in your briefcase, may be enough to “prove” that you are the better choice.

So tell me again, Why should I hire you?

For help in formulating your “reason why,” get The Formula

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Filed Under: Advertising, Marketing legal services

What would happen if you stopped marketing?

February 18, 2016 by
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A few years ago, I saw a few episodes of a program called, “Life After People”. It depicted what the earth would look like in 25, 50, 100 and 300 years (I think) if mankind was extinct.

It showed our tallest skyscrapers decaying and eventually crumbling into dust. It showed the forests overtaking our cities. It showed some animal species thriving, and others becoming extinct.

It was both a fascinating and frightening portrayal of nature reclaiming the earth, and it made me realize all of things humankind does to maintain and nurture our planet.

Thinking about this program made me think about what would happen if professionals stopped marketing. If we no longer did anything to bring in new clients and keep them happy, what would our practices look like in a few years?

What would happen if you pulled all of your advertising and stopped networking, writing, and speaking. If you never added anything new to your website, posted on social media, or sent your clients and prospects another letter or email?

What would your practice look like if you did nothing more for your clients than the legal work you were hired to do? If you did nothing else to inspire your clients to tell the world about their great experience with you?

If you stopped all marketing, what would your practice look like in a year? Five years? Ten? Would you still be open for business or would the weeds overtake you and hasten your extinction?

Just as mankind maintains the world’s infrastructure and continually creates new and better ways to add quality of life to our days on Earth, so must every lawyer maintain their practice and make it grow.

Do yourself a favor and make a list of everything you do that could be considered marketing. Big things and small things. Old things and new things. Easy things and challenging things. Making this list will help you see how much you do to keep your practice’s engine in good repair.

Then, imagine what would happen if you stopped doing these things and let the practice run on it’s own. No doubt the image you see in your mind’s eye would be sobering, even if you haven’t seen “Life After People”.

Finally, look at your list again and imagine what your practice might look like in a few years if you made a little extra effort to do the things we call marketing a little better, and found some new things you could do to help your practice grow.

And grow you must, because if your practice isn’t growing, it’s dying.

If you want a simple marketing plan that really works, get this

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services

Would you hire you?

February 16, 2016 by
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Suppose you were interviewing attorneys to come work for you. You take out an ad or contact an agency and before long, you’re paging through resumes, trying to decide who should make it to the interview stage. One of the candidates you decide to interview is. . . you.

You made the first cut (surprise) and you’re interviewing yourself. Now tell me. . .

Would you hire you?

This is a good question to ask and answer. If you would hire yourself, the next question is why?

What do you bring to the firm in terms of talents and accomplishments? What could you do to make the firm more profitable? Would you be good at bringing in clients? Better clients? Will you bill more hours? Will you be a good fit for the firm in terms of practice areas, target markets, marketing and management philosophies? Will you get along with the other employees?

Whatever you offer as reasons why you should get the job, your next step is to prove it.

You (the applicant) say you would bring in more business to the firm, for example. Why should you (the interviewer) believe that statement? What have you done in the past that provides evidence of what you will do in the future?

The answers might not appear on your resume. Impressive though it might be, if it’s like most resumes, it is a record of where you’ve been, not what you have accomplished. You need to show the interviewer what you have done and make the case for hiring you instead of a plethora of other candidates with equally impressive resumes.

You may never consider working for someone else. You may have always worked for yourself. Nevertheless, this is a good exercise for exploring the “four corners” of value you bring to the market.

To make it more meaningful, you might update your resume and write a cover letter. You might fill out a job application. Then, write down questions you think an employer (you) would ask you, and answer them.

When you’re done with this exercise, you’ll be better able to assess your strengths and weaknesses and see yourself as the world sees you. You can use this information to improve your image, develop new skills, or neutralize your weaknesses.

Once you have done this, I suggest you do it again, but from a different perspective. Instead of pretending that you’re interviewing for a job with your firm, pretend you’re interviewing to be hired by a prospective client.

Look at your website and all of your marketing materials. Note what’s good and what could be improved. Write down the questions prospective clients typically ask you. Add questions they should ask but usually don’t. And then interview yourself and record your answers.

If you can’t make the case as to why someone should hire you, you shouldn’t expect to be hired. Not even by you.

Why should anyone hire you? The answer is in The Formula

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Have you done your marketing workout today?

February 11, 2016 by
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You don’t have to fall in love with marketing any more than you have to fall in love with exercising. You keep doing it because you love the results.

Do it long enough, however, and you might fall in love with the marketing itself.

At some point, your brain will associate the positive results you’re getting with the activities you’re doing. You’ll get a chemical rush in much the way you do when you exercise. Eventually, you’ll do the activities as much for the enjoyment of doing them as for the results.

When that happens, you won’t have to force yourself to do the activities, they will be a natural part of who you are and what you do. When you wake up in the morning, you won’t think about legal work necessarily, you’ll think about writing a blog post or calling someone to invite them to lunch.

How do you get to that point? You keep at it, a few minutes every day, no matter what else is going on in your life. You get your marketing workout done, no matter what.

You do the laps. You do the reps. And you keep doing it, over and over again, until the day comes when you realize that you can’t keep up with all the new business you’re bringing in.

Like exercise. One day you look in the mirror, and you don’t recognize yourself.

Like exercise, the hardest part is getting started. After that, the hardest part is to keep going, to get through the pain and the desire to quit, until it’s a part of your daily routine.

Here’s how to do that:

MAKE A COMMITMENT  

Schedule marketing time on your calendar. Make an appointment with yourself and don’t miss your appointments. If someone wants to see you or talk to you during that time, they’ll have to wait until you finish your appointment.

START WITH EASY

If you’re completely out of shape, don’t start training for a marathon, start with a 15 minute walk. Keep a list of easy things you can do that are marketing related, things like writing down names of people you want to talk to or ideas for articles or blog posts or presentations.

GET A WORKOUT PARTNER

Like a trainer at the gym, find someone who will hold you accountable to getting in your workout, but also someone with whom you can share ideas and cheer each other on.

KEEP A JOURNAL 

Write about your tough days and your doubts, your victories and goals. Take notes about your execution. Write down ideas.

STUDY MARKETING 

Read, takes courses, and never stop learning. Associate with other professionals who value marketing and do it every day.

REWARD YOURSELF

Take pride in your progress. When you hit a milestone, treat yourself to a nice dinner or a weekend getaway, or buy yourself a new toy.

THINK LONG TERM

Don’t measure results in days or weeks, give yourself months or years. If you give yourself a year before you evaluate your progress, it won’t matter if you mess up today. You’ll shrug it off and get it right tomorrow.

Eventually, you’ll see a breakthrough and you will literally be a new person. Like many formerly out-of-shape people who start walking and eventually get into the best shape of their life, you’ll find yourself saying, “I’ll never go back”.

Marketing is easier when you have a formula and a plan 

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Personal development

It’s a blog about nothing

February 10, 2016 by
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Remember the Seinfeld episode where George and Jerry pitch a show to a studio head? “What’s it about?” the boss asks. With a smirk and dramatic pause, George says, “Nothing. It’s a show about nothing!”

No they didn’t sell the show. That wouldn’t have been funny. Better we should laugh at our pals and their madness.

But we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the value of “nothing”.

In keeping with my assertion that you can write a blog post or email about anything, or nothing, I’m going to give it a shot. I’m going to take a random idea and see if I can fill the page with something interesting and useful.

First thing that pops into my head: shopping. Here goes.

I’m not a shopper. If I go to the mall with my wife, you won’t find me trying on clothes. In the past, you’d find me at a bookstore. Today, I’ll hit a computer store, but only for a few minutes. Mostly, I find a comfy chair, read and watch people.

Basically, I do nothing.

But that’s okay. What I like to do at a mall and what my wife likes to do are different. We’re different people. One person’s gourmet meal is her husband’s poison.

We need to remember this in selling our services.

Not everyone will see the need or the value of what you offer. Some will say yes, some will say no, and some will say, “Ah, get me out of here, there’s an attorney talking!”

We must also remember that the ones who say no do it for different reasons.

One prospect may say no to your estate planning services because she thinks you charge too much. Another might say no because she doesn’t see the need or the urgency.

I spoke to a young woman recently who had a baby eight months ago. I asked if she and her husband had updated their will (knowing they probably didn’t have one at all). She told me they were going to wait until after they had a second child before doing that.

Yep, that’s what she said.

If you are an estate planner, what would you have said in response?

The point is that you need to know the different reasons prospective clients say no to your proposition and be prepared to address them. You can handle an “objection” by presenting the information as part of the pitch or on your website, etc., or you can address it when they vocalize it. (NB: it’s better to handle an objection before it comes up.)

The point is that people are different and so are their reasons for saying no. If you want to sell more of your services, you need to figure out those reasons and do something about them.

So there you go, a post that started out about nothing and turned into something. Sweet! I’m calling my buddy Art Vandelay and letting him know.

What to put on your website. 

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Filed Under: Blogging, Communication, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Writing

Get better at writing by invoking your inner couch potato

February 9, 2016 by
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One reason I’m able to turn out emails so quickly is that I’m lazy. I get ideas from lots of sources but I primarily write what’s in my head.

I don’t slow down to do research, or spend time looking for graphics. I don’t stop to ask myself if I’ve addressed the subject before or worry about contradicting myself. I don’t spend time hunting down every typo.

I just write. Fast. You can, too.

It doesn’t matter if you said something before. This time, you’ll say it differently. But even if you don’t, no worries. Repetition is the mother of learning. Your readers might not have absorbed your message the first time, or the 31st time. Maybe this time, they will.

Your readership is constantly changing, too. Every day, new people come to your website or blog and subscribe to your list and they’re hearing your words for the first time.

Marketing isn’t solely about delivering information. That’s part of it, but an even bigger part is that you are regularly touching the lives of the people on your list. You know, the people who can hire you or send you referrals. Yeah, those people.

Write a few paragraphs and tell people what you’re thinking or how you feel. Share an idea or comment on someone else’s. Ask subscribers questions, ask them to do something, or just say hello.

Stay in their minds, and their mailboxes and they will hire you (again) and send you referrals and traffic and promote your events.

Write a lot, and write quickly. It will make you a better writer. Writing quickly allows you to bypass the filters in your brain that tell you what you should and shouldn’t do, or that tell you you’re not good enough.

Just write, okay? Don’t worry about what comes out. Emails aren’t briefs or white papers or reports. Nobody is expecting you to be scholarly or brilliant. Besides, you know more than your readers do and they won’t know if you left something out or got something wrong.

Stop trying so hard. Get lazy and write something.

Want ideas for blog posts and emails? This is what you need

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Filed Under: Communication, Email, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Writing

Two “musts” for every lawyer who wants more referrals

February 8, 2016 by
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Some smart wag said that if you’re not getting enough referrals, there are only two reasons. “Either you don’t deserve them or you’re not asking for them.”

Let’s talk about this, shall we?

What do you have to do to “deserve” referrals?

Is it enough that you do good work, deliver good “customer service,” and charge reasonable fees?

No. This is expected of every lawyer. If you want more referrals, you need to do more than what is expected.

Look, you can’t depend on your clients telling people about how great you are if you merely do what they paid you to do.

It’s like buying a new car. When it does what it’s supposed to do, i.e., get you where you want to go safely, comfortably, and economically, that’s fine. You might tell others about your new purchase, you might not. If someone asks about the car, you’ll tell them. Otherwise, who knows?

If you buy a car that puts a big smile on your face, however, a car that has a bunch of extras and cool features, a car you can’t wait to show off to the neighbors, that’s different.

To get more referrals, you need to put a smile on your clients’ faces.

Give them more value and a better experience than other lawyers deliver. Surprise and delight them, give them more than they expect, and your clients will be much more likely to tell their neighbors about you.

This isn’t difficult. Little things make a big difference. But you have to want to do those little things, not because you see them as a means to more referrals, but because you enjoy putting smiles on your clients’ faces and hearing them say thank you.

Okay. Now what about the asking part of the equation?

This is where it gets sticky for many lawyers. They try it once or twice, but get tongue tied, and never do it again.

What if there was a way to ask for referrals that was natural and comfortable for you and for the client? A few simple sentences about referrals that didn’t put any pressure on them but nevertheless set the stage for referrals?

Would that help?

What if you could ask for referrals without actually uttering any words? If you could give the client a document or send them a letter that did the “asking” for you. . .

Would that help?

If you ordered my new course, Maximum Referrals, you not only know that this is possible, you know how to do it. You also know what to do to deliver an exceptional experience that makes clients not just willing to refer, it makes them want to.

If you haven’t ordered yet, do yourself a favor and grab a copy.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Marketing legal services, Referrals

How to simplify your marketing

February 5, 2016 by
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If you have ever assembled a piece of furniture from Ikea, you know that some items are more complicated than others. Even with detailed instructions and proper tools, it’s easy to mess these up, or take much longer than you were led to believe.

The same is true of any task or project. The more complicated it is, the more moving parts or steps, the more likely it is that you’ll get it wrong.

Some tasks and projects are so complicated we put off doing them. Or we make the effort, get flummoxed and frustrated and swear we’ll “never do that again!”

Marketing legal services is like that. Do yourself a favor and make it simpler.

On the macro side of the equation, that means using fewer strategies, and for each strategy, fewer techniques.

Try lots of things, and then settle in with a few things that work best for you. That’s what I do, and that’s what I recommend.

On the micro side, you simplify your marketing by using fewer apps and targeting fewer markets. You use forms, checklists, and “scripts”. You memorialize your process, in writing, to make it easier to train new hires and temps and so that you can continually examine your process and improve it.

When marketing is simpler, it is easier and takes less time. You get better at it and get better results.

It’s the 80/20 principle. Figure out what works best for you and do more of it.

Simplify your marketing by doing more of fewer things.

Referral marketing is one strategy every lawyer should use. Find out how

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Filed Under: Leverage, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With:

Referral marketing for lawyers–roots before branches

February 4, 2016 by
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Let’s say you want to get more referrals from your clients. Not a bad idea. Now, how will you go about it?

Your strategy might be to give your clients lots of attention, show them that you care about them, and make them feel good about choosing you as their lawyer.

Good. An excellent strategy. What techniques will you use to effect your strategy?

What will you say to them at their first appointment? What will you give them? What will you send them, and when? What will do, and how often?

Strategies before techniques. Roots before branches.

Strategies derive from your values and beliefs. If you believe it’s important to surprise and delight your clients with over-the-top service and extra value, if you believe that doing so will endear them to you and make it more likely that they will return to you, say nice things about you, and send you referrals, your actions will reflect those values and beliefs.

If you believe that giving clients lots of attention takes too much time and won’t produce more loyal clients or more referrals, however, your actions will be different.

If you believe that your clients can provide you with more referrals than they now provide, you will be more inclined to invest time equipping your clients with information and tools they can use to send you more referrals. If you believe that your clients do what they can and can’t do any more, you probably won’t.

What many lawyers do, I think, is implement certain techniques before they have firmed up their beliefs and committed to a strategy. They hear that it’s a good idea to send new clients a thank you letter, for example, so they do it, but their heart isn’t in it. They say the words, but they don’t feel the sentiment behind them.

Sure enough, when they speak to the client, their words and behavior often tell a different story.

Start by asking yourself what you want to accomplish and choose one or more strategies for accomplishing it, based on your values and beliefs. Only then should you examine the techniques that are available to you.

My new course, “Maximum Referrals,” can help you do that. It shows you both the strategies and techniques you need to build a successful referral-based practice.

Check it out, here.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Marketing legal services, Referrals, Relationship marketing
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