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TLDR?

June 5, 2023 by David M. Ward

I usually write short blog posts because long posts often get skipped (because readers are busy) or postponed (and then skipped).

I’d rather show up in your inbox frequently and give you something you can read in a couple of minutes.

But there are advantages to longer posts:

Longer, more detailed posts tend to get more traffic than shorter posts because they often rank higher in search engines.
Longer posts give you room to provide more tips and more thorough explanations of complex or abstract concepts, providing more value to visitors looking for help, and to find an attorney.
Longer posts are generally more authoritative than shorter posts because there is room to provide more examples, citations, graphics, and links to other posts (yours and other authorities).
Longer posts keep visitors on your blog longer, making it more likely they will read your other posts, as well as pages about your services, your upcoming events, and other content, and more willing to sign up for your newsletter.
Longer posts tend to get more Likes from readers and links from other blogs.

In short, longer, more detailed posts provide opportunities to get more readers, subscribers, and clients.

But none of that happens if people aren’t reading your posts because they look too long to read. In addition, longer posts take more time to research, write, optimize, and format, which means you can’t publish as often.

What’s the solution? A combination of long and short posts can give you the best of both worlds. Long posts for traffic, authority and engagement, short posts to get more people to read what you write, creating a gateway to your longer content.

If you’re new to blogging, you might write 1000- to 1200-word posts once or twice a month, and 300- to 500-word posts, once or twice per week. On the other hand, if you’re new, it’s better to write anything, because building the habit of regularly creating content is more important than how long it is or often you publish it.

How to write a blog people like to read

Filed Under: Blogging, Content creation, Newsletters

New blog, newsletter, or podcast? This will help.

June 1, 2023 by David M. Ward

When I started writing a blog, one of the first things I did was to find other blogs in my niche, to see what they were doing. I learned a lot and was convinced I could do what they did. If you’re thinking about starting a blog or newsletter, or want to re-start or re-invigorate yours, I suggest you find blogs and newsletter published by other lawyers and use them as a model for your own.

It doesn’t matter where they are located, or even their practice area. You can learn something from each blog you follow or subscribe to.

Study them and take notes:

How often do they publish?
How long are their posts, articles, episodes, etc?
What is their writing style? Formal? Informal? Somewhere in between?
Do they write about news or evergreen topics?
Do they advocate or educate?
Do they write detailed posts, with citations, or something more beginner-friendly?
How are their posts structured? What formatting choices have they made?
Do they do interviews? Guest posts?
What do they offer as an incentive to sign up?
What calls-to-action do they use?
Do their blog posts get comments? Shares? Or is that function turned off?
Do they use images or mostly text?
Do they promote their services directly or just a provide a link to their website? If they promote their services, do they “pitch” hard or less so?

What do they do that’s working? What do you like? What would you change?

Also note ideas for topics you could write about.

You’re not looking for the perfect newsletter or blog to emulate, you’re looking for ideas and inspiration. You might like how one blog structures its content but prefer another’s writing style. You might like how one blog is consistent or how another uses a variety of detailed and lengthy posts mixed with brief and lighter fare.

Guess what? You get to choose.

This exercise might get you excited and ready to start or re-start your blog or newsletter. On the other hand, it might convince you that you don’t want to do this, at least not right now, and turn your attention to something else.

Before you decide, try something. Put some content out there and see what happens. Content marketing might not be your favorite marketing method (now), but if it makes your phone ring the way I know it can, you might just change your opinion.

How to start a blog that makes your phone ring

Filed Under: Blogging, Content creation, Newsletters

The key to getting new subscribers to take the next step

May 31, 2023 by David M. Ward

They came (to your website), they saw (what you do), are interested in hearing more, and subscribed to your newsletter. But they’re not ready to make an appointment or contact you with questions.

What should you do?

As soon as they subscribe, you should send them your “Welcome Sequence”–a series of emails that tells them who you are and how you can help them, invites them to learn more, and tells them what to do if they have questions or want to speak to you.

A “Welcome Sequence” is a series of 5-7 emails (but it could be more, or less), that everyone gets as soon as they sign up for your newsletter, sent automatically by your email service provider via an autoresponder.

Your welcome sequence acknowledges their problems and your solutions, provides information about you and your services, and tells them what to do to learn more.

And it’s important. It’s their second (third, fourth, fifth, etc. impression of you, the first being when they visited your website or blog, and it is the key to getting them to take the next step.

More than providing information, your welcome sequence needs to make the new subscriber feel a sense of relief about finding you. It should make them feel good about you and be hopeful about getting the soluton to their problem.

You do that by talking about them and their problem more than you talk about yourself. You also talk about your other clients who are like them or have had similar problems.

The good news is that you don’t need brilliant sales copy to do that. In fact, the best thing you can do is to “be normal”–talk to them the way you would if they were sitting in your office or talking to you on the phone.

Normal is vastly underrated.

Don’t try to impress them. Don’t make your messages all about you. Ask them questions about them and their situation and give them general guidelines about what’s possible via “If/Then” statements.

Tell them what to expect about your newsletter—what you’ll be sending them, how often, where to go to get more information, and what to do if they want to speak to you.

Tell them enough, but not too much. Whet their appetite to learn more.

You know, be normal.

Email Marketing for Attorneys

Filed Under: Email, Newsletters

Why we don’t do things we know we should

May 25, 2023 by David M. Ward

My dad always told his business clients not to sign any contracts without showing them to him first. More often than not, they didn’t listen, usually because they didn’t want to spend the money.

No doubt you’ve seen the same thing in your practice.

Why don’t clients listen?

For the same reasons you don’t do things you know you should.

You’ve repeatedly heard from me and others about the value of staying in touch with your clients and prospects. You’ve heard that you should delegate more of your work and not try to do everything yourself. You’ve heard about the value of improving your writing, speaking, and interpersonal skills.

You know these things, but don’t always do them.

Maybe you don’t want to spend the money, or the time. Maybe you’re busy. Maybe you intend to do them but forget.

But the biggest reason you don’t do these things, and others, is that you don’t believe they are important. Or important enough. Because if you did, you would.

Think about it, if you truly believed that staying in touch with your clients and contacts via a weekly email (for example) could help you double your practice in less than a year, you would do it, wouldn’t you?

If your clients truly believed that calling you before they sign a contract would save them a lot of money and a lot of grief, they would do it.

Reminders help. Accountability helps. But if you want to change your clients’ behavior, or your own, work on their (and your) belief.

Show clients and prospects what happened to other clients who didn’t follow your advice. Show them testimonials and positive reviews and success stories of people who did.

Because if you say it, they can doubt it. If your other clients say it, it must be true.

Build your practice with a weekly email newsletter

Filed Under: Email, Newsletters, success

Ad Nauseum

May 23, 2023 by David M. Ward

Why do I tell you things I’ve told you before? While will I tell you again?

And why should you do the same with your subscribers, followers, clients, and prospects?

Because people don’t always hear us the first time. They might not get our email, or read it. They might read it but not believe they need to do anything, now or ever. They may have other things on their mind and can’t deal with anything else.

Maybe they see the need but don’t have the money. Maybe they need to get someone else’s okay. Or maybe the problem isn’t that bad and they think they can live with it or it will resolve by itself.

And then, things change. The problem worsens. The threats increase. Their desire grows. Or they finally have more time to take care of something you’ve been telling about but had forgotten until you mention it again.

You’ve heard me talk about the value of having a newsletter so many times, I’m sure you could write that message yourself. But you haven’t started a newsletter (or improved the one you have) because you were busy as hell last year and didn’t see the need. Or have the time to do it.

But this year, business has slowed, and you realize that it’s time.

Sometimes, people hear your message, need what you offer, have the money, but still hesitate. Then they hear the same message or advice from someone else. Or they hear about someone who did what you’re telling them to and were very glad they did.

And, let’s not forget that every day, new people find you, join your list, and hear your message for the first time. Some people call you and make an appointment immediately. Others might not do that for years.

Stay in their mailbox or feed, keep reminding them, and when they’re ready, they’ll give you a holler.

People are ready when they’re ready, not before.

How to use a newsletter to build your practice

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Newsletters

How-to articles for lawyers are good. This is better.

May 3, 2023 by David M. Ward

Lawyers write a lot of blog posts and other content that explains how to do things. That’s good because “how to” is a very popular search term for people with legal issues.

But prospective clients also want to know “why”.

You tell them to do something, or avoid doing something, but your advice is much more persuasive and valuable to them if you tell them why.

If you handle personal injury cases, don’t just tell people what to say to the other driver, and what to avoid saying. Tell them why.

In fact, it’s a good idea to write blog posts and articles with a headline or title that features the word “why”. When someone sees that word, they become curious. “Why should I do that?” “Why is that a mistake?” and they read the article to find out.

You should also use the word “why” in your calls-to-action.

You want them to call and make an appointment? Tell them why. What do they get if they do? What are the benefits? What will that appointment help them do or avoid?

You want them to download your report? Fill out a form? Sign up for your webinar? Hire you (instead of any other lawyer)?

Tell them why.

Don’t stop writing how-to articles. They always have and always will be effective. But they are more effective when you also tell people why.

Filed Under: Blogging, Content creation, Copywriting, Newsletters, Writing

If it’s Tuesday, it must be Belgium

April 27, 2023 by David M. Ward

If you write a blog or a newsletter, have a podcast or channel, write articles or post content on social media, I bet there are times when you don’t know what to write. So you skip this week or this month but, unfortunately, before you know it, you’re not producing anything.

You know you should, and you want to, but life (and work) get in the way.

You’ve tried setting up a schedule. You want to write a weekly blog post or newsletter, for example, and have calendared Thursdays for doing that. But Thursday rolls around and you still don’t do it.

Sure, collect ideas throughout the week, so you have more than enough for next Thursday. But there’s something else you can do.

What’s that?

First, choose 4 or 5 areas in your niche your subscribers and followers are interested in. One of those areas would obviously be your core practice area.

If you handle personal injury, this would include writing about the law, procedure, insurance, negotiation, settlement, litigation, trial, appeals, and so on. If you have other practice areas, they would be one of your other subjects. You could also create content about debt, investing, credit, and other consumer-oriented matters.

Once you have chosen your broad content areas, make a list of subjects related to each. Then, calendar one of those areas or subjects per week (for a weekly newsletter, etc.). Dedicate that week to that subject and rotate through these areas on a recurring basis.

The first week of the month, you might write about the law in your field. The second week, you might provide consumer (or business) tips. The third week, you might share stories about interesting cases or clients you’ve had or heard about, or something law-related in the news. The fourth week, you might write about how you do what you do (interviewing clients, opening and closing files, research, investigation, etc.)

Next month, you do it again.

This way, you keep things fresh and interesting for your readers and never run out of things to talk about.

Newsletter marketing for attorneys

Filed Under: Content creation, Newsletters

When you have nothing new to say

April 24, 2023 by David M. Ward

Do you ever feel like you’re repeating yourself? Saying the same things again and again in your newsletter, blog, or on social media? Talking about the same services, the same problems and solutions? Making the same offer? Promoting the same event?

You want to stay in touch with your list (and you should), but if you keep saying the same things, they’re going to tune out.

Or will they?

They tuned in because they’re interested in the things you know and share. So don’t change your message. Change the way you present your message.

As a friend of mine puts it, “Change the wrapping paper around your core idea and you can repeat the same message every time you connect. . . but it will feel new and different”.

The simplest and often the most potent way to do that is to tell a different story.

It can be something simple—something your client or another party said or did, a question they asked, how you met them, or something you thought about the facts or the law.

You can write about almost anything and make your blog post or article interesting. . . and different.

You can even write about your pets.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you may recall that I used to have cats and wrote about them from time to time. I’d talk about things they did or about a recent trip to the vet and how long they kept us waiting before they saw us, and use this as an example of how not to treat your clients in your waiting room.

You can use things that happen to you personally or in your practice to add color and interest to your message, without changing your message.

Change the wrapping paper and you can keep readers interested and engaged no matter how often you deliver your message.

How to use an email newsletter to build your practice

Filed Under: Content creation, Email, Newsletters

Speaking of mistakes. . .

March 14, 2023 by David M. Ward

I’m subscribed to an email list and every time this company writes to me, they make the same mistake. They change the name of the “sender”.

One week it’s Mary, the next week Sally and Melinda, people I don’t know. The only way to tell that the email is from the company I know is to open it.

Why make people do that? Why take the chance of confusing people, getting people to delete the email unopened, or sent to spam.

Not good. And completely unnecessary.

If you’re smart, and I know you are, you put your name in the sender field, not your firm’s name, not your administrator’s name, your name—first and last—because the email is from you.

You want people to recognize your name and read your email because it is from you. Even if the subject doesn’t promise a benefit or make them curious.

Even if it’s click-bait-y or goofy like many of mine.

Your email isn’t just a conveyer of information and offers. It is also a means by which to build relationships with people who can hire you or refer you.

Which they will do if they know it is you who is writing to them.

Email Marketing for Attorneys

Filed Under: Email, Newsletters

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

March 7, 2023 by David M. Ward

Wouldn’t it be great if the first time you talked to a prospective client about your services they said, “Where do I sign up?”

It would, but they don’t.

They usually want more information. Maybe a lot more. And they want you to explain things in enough detail that they not only understand it, they see that your solution is their best solution.

Because they don’t want to make a mistake.

They will have questions. As you answer those questions, they’ll often think of more.

Getting them from not knowing to knowing, and from knowing to doing (hiring you) is a process, and it usually takes time.

The prospective client needs you to explain things again, in different want, so they can understand everything.

And, no matter how good you are at explaining, not everyone “gets” it as quickly as others. Especially with something complicated (like the law) and scary (like the law) and expensive (like the law).

When you’re sitting with the prospect, you can take your time explaining things properly, ask questions to make sure they understand, show them the paperwork, read their body language, and answer all of their questions. You can take as long as they need.

And you no doubt do all that. But it’s a different story when you’re communicating with them online.

Putting up more FAQ’s, videos, and other information can help. But sometimes, all that information overwhelms or confused them, leading them to conclude they’re not ready to do anything.

What can you do?

The answer isn’t to wait until their problem gets worse and they’re in enough pain to finally call. The answer is to stay in touch with them, via email.

Send more information. Send them the same information stated in different ways. Send them more examples, use cases, and stories about others who had what they have and found relief by hiring you, or found relief by speaking with you (and then hiring you).

Don’t do this once or twice. Do it over and over again, for as long as it takes, because you don’t know when (or if) they will be ready.

Let your newsletter do the heavy lifting. Until they’re ready for you to get on your white horse and save the day.

Email marketing for attorneys

Filed Under: Closing the sale, Communication, Newsletters