Newsletters Archives - The Attorney Marketing Center

How often should you email your newsletter list?

April 22, 2024 by David M. Ward

More often than you think. Because you (probably) think that if you email “too often,” you’ll annoy them and they’ll unsubscribe.

That’s true for some people. But not all.

In fact, the people who need your help the most, and are arguably more likely to hire you, typically want to hear from you more often, not less.

On the other hand, people who signed up to get your free report and aren’t really interested in your newsletter (or your services) might not like it if you email often and may leave.

That’s okay. They weren’t a prospective client. Just a subscriber. And subscribers come and go.

But things aren’t always black and white.

Many subscribers are interested in your services, but aren’t ready to hire you and may not be for a very long time. You don’t want to push them away; you want them to stay on your list until they eventually hire you or refer you.

But I wouldn’t worry about it. If you provide valuable and interesting information in your newsletter, things usually take care of themselves.

So, choose the frequency that feels right to you.

Consider your market (business or consumer) and the length and complexity of your newsletter. Does it require research or are you having a chat with the folks?

Most of all, consider how often you can comfortably publish so you can keep doing it.

For most attorneys, a short email once a week is about right.

Email Marketing for Attorneys

Filed Under: Email, Newsletters

No, it’s not cheating

March 28, 2024 by David M. Ward

Yesterday, I was busy with (something) and didn’t have time to write a new blog post/newsletter article. So, I re-posted an article I originally wrote ten years ago. I changed the headline, did some minor editing, done.

Did you notice?

No, you didn’t. Because you weren’t a subscriber ten years ago. Or didn’t see it. Or can’t remember.

That’s good news for content creators like you and me. Re-posting gives us another way to create content, especially when we’re busy with other things.

Yes, you can re-publish old posts. No, they don’t have to be ten years old. And no, you don’t have to change the headline. It’s your blog, your newsletter, your content, and you can do what you want.

I hope this encourages you to do that.

I wouldn’t do it too often. Uncle G might object. But it’s better to be spanked occasionally by The Masters of the Universe than to deny your new subscribers the opportunity to learn something valuable or interesting because they weren’t around a few months (or years) ago and never had the opportunity to see it.

Besides reposting, you can also update old posts with new information, statistics, cases, or trends. You can re-post and offer a different opinion, because your thinking has changed. You can add new resources, ideas, or quotes from other experts, or stories about cases you’ve had since you first wrote about the subject.

And thus, turn an old post into a new one, without spending a lot of time.

Another way to save time is to do no writing. Invite another lawyer or professional to write a guest post for you. Or, interview them, which can be as simple as sending some questions via email and posting their answers.

A “listicle” is another way to create a blog post or article without doing a lot of research or writing. A listicle is a list of resources, tips, ideas, or quotes,often just a few sentences on related topics. For example, you could write a listicle about important new laws in your field, or changes to old ones.

So, there you go. Alternate ways to get new content, without slaving away at the keyboard.

For more ways to get more content, see my course, Email Marketing for Attorneys

Filed Under: Blogging, Content creation, Newsletters

How can I increase my email open rates?

March 8, 2024 by David M. Ward

We’re not talking about emails sent to clients who (one hopes) open everything from you because it might be important. We’re talking about your newsletter or promotional emails, because, let’s face it, a significant percentage of your subscribers don’t open these.

Guess what? It’s okay if they don’t. What’s important is that they regularly see your name in their email inbox because each time they do, it reminds them you’re still available to help them if they need help (or know someone who does).

When they do need help, they’ll go find an email from you, get your contact information, and call or write (or pass it along to someone who needs help).

Sure, it’s better if they do open and read your email. That’s how you build value with readers, engage with them, and get them to learn more about what you do and how you can help them. But seeing your name regularly, consistently, is most important.

Unfortunately, many of your subscribers won’t see your name in their inbox. And that’s a problem.

If you send your newsletter from your computer’s email software, your IP address can get blacklisted for sending too many identical emails. If you use a commercial email provider (with a good reputation), however, you shouldn’t have that problem.

But, even if you do use a trusted email provider, your messages can still wind up in SPAM (or, in some cases, never delivered) if you use certain words in the email subject line typically used by spammers, or include too many images or links in the body of your messages, which can also trigger spam filters.

Note to self: use a commercial email provider to deliver my newsletter. Don’t include too many images or links.

Hold on. Even if your message doesn’t land in your subscribers spam folder, if they use Gmail, it might wind up in their “promotions” folder, which they might rarely open. It’s a common problem. Make sure you tell your new subscribers to add your email address to their contact list and this will minimize that problem.

Okay, a few best practices (and some common sense) should help you get more subscribers to see your message. And while that should be your top priority, you also want them to open and read your messages. That’s how you deliver value, show them what you do and how you can help them, engage with them, and present a call to action (e.g., contact you, fill out a form, share your content, etc.) which they probably won’t do unless you ask.

Okay, you’ve got those emails delivered. How do you get them opened and read?

The simplest way to is to use better subject lines. Motivate recipients to open your message by offering a benefit for doing that. Promise (or imply) they will learn something interesting or useful—how to solve a problem (or avoid it), for example.

Or make them curious about what’s inside your message.

You can also get more opens by keeping your promises. Deliver the information or other benefits mentioned in the subject line in this week’s email and your subscribers will be more likely to open next week’s.

For more about getting your emails open and read, check out my course on email marketing for attorneys

Filed Under: Email, Newsletters

Make it personal (even if it’s not)

February 29, 2024 by David M. Ward

Thousands of people are reading these words right now, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s just you. When I say something or ask a question, I’m not asking or speaking to everyone.

Just you.

If you want to get more people listening and reading, more people responding, sharing, and liking what you write (and ultimately hiring or referring you), you should do the same.

When you write, write to one person. Not “everyone”.

Even if you’re writing a blog post or newsletter article, or speaking from the stage—even on social media. Write or talk to one person. Don’t call for a show of hands, don’t address everyone in the aggregate, don’t say, “I’m wondering what y’all think about this?” And whatever you do, don’t say “Hey gang!” (my personal pet peeve).

As far as your listener is concerned, there’s nobody else there. Don’t bust that bubble, however fictive it might be.

They’re sitting in their office chair or propped up in bed, reading your words or listening to your voice, and for a moment, hearing a personal message from a friend. When you speak in the collective, it puts distance between you and the reader. Communication is most effective when it is personal.

So, make it personal.

That also means writing from your perspective, not “for the firm”. Tell the reader what you think about the subject, what you did yesterday, what you plan to do later today. Tell them to call you, not “the office”.

“Talk” to them as though you were sitting together, having a chat. Because, virtually speaking, you are.

How to write an effective blog

Filed Under: Communication, Content creation, Email, Newsletters

A proven way to get more newsletter subscribers and seminar attendees

February 13, 2024 by David M. Ward

The theory is that people sign up for your newsletter or attend your seminar or other event because they want to learn your wisdom, ideas, and advice. Or they want to know more about what you do and how you can help them.

That’s the theory but, unfortunately, they don’t always take the time to do that. That’s why most professionals who write a newsletter or conduct seminars, etc., offer an incentive or bonus, aka “lead magnet” to entice more people to sign-up.

And it works. In fact, more often than you might think, people sign up primarily (or solely) to get the bonus.

But only if they believe that said bonus offers sufficient value in return for giving you their email.

And so, if you want more sign-ups, make sure you create an effective lead magnet.

How do you do that? You work just as hard (or harder) on the report or other bonus as you do on your newsletter or event.

Because if they don’t sign up, it won’t matter how good your newsletter or seminar might be, prospects won’t see or hear it.

The key to an effective lead magnet is the headline or title. It must instantly get the reader’s attention and persuade them to read or listen. Tell them what they will learn or get or be able to do as a result of reading or consuming the report.

Your report should help them solve a (painful) problem, one they know they have and want to get rid of. Or it should help them achieve a meaningful objective they ardently desire.

Something they want or something they need.

Ideally, your description of the report should say or imply that they can’t (easily) get this information anywhere else. One way to do that is to point out that your report is based on your years of experience working with clients with the same problems or desires as your reader, or it is a form or checklist you use regularly in your practice.

The length of the report isn’t important. As long as it does what it says it does, and is something the reader wants or needs, you’ll get more sign ups. But since the ultimate goal is to get more clients, consider giving them a lot of high quality information.

The more value, the better.

You want them to think, “If she provides this much value in a free report, she must truly know what she’s doing and can afford to be this generous. I can’t wait to see how much value she gives paying clients.”

This gives you great posture—and a lot more sign-ups.

How to create an effective newsletter, get more subscribers and more clients

Filed Under: List building, Newsletters

Create content about what you do

January 22, 2024 by David M. Ward

Your clients, prospective clients, subscribers, friends and followers, and even your business and professional contacts, want to know about you and your work.

Even more than they want to know about the law.

In fact, unless someone currently has a specific legal issue or question, or has a client or friend who does, they probably don’t want to hear you talking about the law.

It’s boring.

It’s people who are interesting. And you are one of those people.

Tell them about your typical day, the kinds of clients and cases you handle, your staff, how you stay productive, and even the software you use.

Tell them how you do research, the forms and docs you depend on, and how you get new business. (Perfect opportunity to talk about all the referrals you get—and plant a few seeds for your readers).

They want to hear what you like about your work, and what you don’t. They want to know about your favorite case, and about your “client from hell”.

You may think what you do is dry and uninteresting, but you’re too close to it. What you find humdrum is fascinating to others.

However… don’t make your content all about you.

You also need to talk about the law. Because some people find you by searching for a legal topic, and when they do, they want to know everything you can tell them.

But more than you or the law, your content should be about your reader.

Their issues, their industry, their market, and the people in their industry or market.

Yep, talk about clients and prospects and the people in their world. Because there is nothing more interesting to your readers than reading about themselves.

Email marketing for attorneys

Filed Under: Blogging, Content creation, Newsletters, Online Marketing

Running out of ideas?

January 17, 2024 by David M. Ward

If you ever have a difficult time coming up with ideas for your newsletter or blog or social media posts, I have a very simple solution for you. Not the only solution, of course. There are many sources of ideas. But when it’s crunch time and you’re looking at a blank page and a deadline, this should be your “go to”:

Find something you wrote (or said) before and write it (or say it) again.

You may notice that I do this all the time. In fact, the subject of this post is something I’ve written about more than a few times. I don’t feel guilty about that and (if you do it) neither should you. Because not only is it good for us to be able to repeat ourselves, it’s also good for our readers.

Here are 4 reasons:

Repetition is the mother of learning. Hearing an idea more than once helps the reader or listener understand and remember that idea.
Hearing that idea again may prompt the reader to actually do what they have learned but aren’t doing, or stopped doing.
Many subscribers or followers may not read what we have written. They were busy, didn’t think they needed the information, or didn’t open the email or visit your blog.
Many subscribers are new and never saw your article or post.

One more reason: the preeminence of fundamentals.

In my case, it’s much more important to remind you why you should prioritize referrals in your marketing, and tell you (again) how to get them, for example, than to tell you my latest strategy for keeping notes.

Okay, repetition for the win. But… a few guidelines:

Spread it out. Don’t write about the same idea 3 times this month, write about it 3 times this year.
Use (different) stories and examples to make your points, to keep it interesting and give your readers something different they might relate to and remember.
Vary the style and length of your articles and posts. One time, you might have a lengthy and comprehensive article, the next time you might rhapsodize about a portion of the same, or simply refer to the idea parenthetically as part of another article or post.

Finally, if you’re really in a pinch, it’s perfectly fine to write nothing new but simply copy and paste your old article as though it is new. (You may find this especially handy when you’re going on vacation).

Most readers won’t notice and those who do won’t care.

Email Marketing for Attorneys

Filed Under: Blogging, Newsletters

Does quantity lead to quality?

January 16, 2024 by David M. Ward

In the old days, when we sent out our newsletter via the postal service, every subscriber cost money. There was good reason to do our best to control the size of our “mailing” list by removing bad addresses and troublesome subscribers.

Today, in the digital world, there is virtually no such thing as “too big” or “too many”.

Almost.

There is still a cost to acquire and maintain our list, and while this is usually not prohibitive, we need to consider the cost of our time answering questions and building engagement, plus any additional costs for providing incentives for signing up e.g., a copy of your book, a free consultation.

Since we don’t sell chewing gum, for most lawyers, the added cost of maintaining a bigger list is usually worth it.

If you have 5000 subscribers, and it turns out that only 500 are good prospects and eventually hire you or refer a client, it doesn’t matter if 4500 aren’t interested, don’t have a case, can’t pay you, refer no one, or don’t even read your newsletter.

The cost of maintaining your newsletter is relatively insignificant compared to your potential return.

Besides, you never know when a “bad” prospect might become a good prospect, or meet someone who is.

Which is why, unless your list is extremely large and the costs of maintaining it are prohibitive, don’t worry about how much “dead wood” is on your list, or invest a lot of time or money to remove them.

However, if you want to “clean your list” and eliminate subscribers who are unlikely to become a client, here are a few ways to do that:

Narrow your focus. Don’t make your newsletter (blog, etc.) about “the law,” make it about your practice area(s). Don’t target “business owners,” target specific industries or professions.
Offer fewer freebies. Many, perhaps most, subscribers sign up primarily to get the bonuses you offer as an enticement to subscribe. Offer fewer bonuses, or tone down your rhetoric about the benefits thereof, and you’ll get fewer subscribers.
Make them “qualify”. Ask questions about their industry, problems, needs, or interests as part of the sign-up process. The more you ask, the fewer will subscribe.
Tell them how often they’ll hear from you. If you email once a week or daily and they think that’s too often, you’ll get fewer subscribers.
Periodically ask subscribers if they still want to continue getting your newsletter. Make them reply in the affirmative to continue getting it. Or, track your “opens” for a few weeks and remove the ones who aren’t reading your messages.

Conversely, and more importantly, if you want more folks on your list, do the opposite. Build your list as big as possible. Quantity does lead to quality.

Email Marketing for Attorneys

Filed Under: Newsletters

How to get subscribers for your new newsletter

January 3, 2024 by David M. Ward

You’re thinking abut starting a newsletter for your law practice, but wonder if it will be difficult getting people to sign up.

It won’t.

If you have something to say that people want to know, and you make it easy for them to subscribe, they will.

Use an autoresponder to manage the mechanics for you. Add an opt-in form on your website or blog or on a landing page. And write a “welcome” email that will be automatically sent to your new subscribers, thanking them for signing up and telling them what to expect, e.g., how often they’ll hear from you and what they will learn or get.

You can do all of that in a weekend.

The next step is to tell people about your newsletter.

Ask your current and former clients, your prospects and leads, your social media followers, and your friends to sign up and tell them why they should. Tell them the benefits they get—what they’ll learn, how it will make their business or life easier or better—and tell them they can opt-out (unsubscribe) at any time.

Sweeten the pot by telling them they’ll also get a report or checklist or form as a bonus for signing up.

Depending on the size of your list and your relationships with the people on it, this might be all you need to do to get your first 100 or 500 subscribers.

And that’s a great start.

It may be enough to get a new client, repeat client, referral or inquiry.

Then, if you deliver decent content, your subscriber count will grow organically as people talk about you and your website or blog gets more traffic.

If you want to grow further or faster, there’s plenty you can do to make that happen.

But for now, just start.

Check out my course on building your practice with a newsletter