Why every attorney needs to have a global presence

December 3, 2012 by
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You only practice in one state or province or country. You can’t do legal work outside of your jurisdiction. So why should you pay attention to anything elsewhere? Because we live in a global society.

Every day, people move into and out of your city. New arrivals in your city will need an attorney. Some research attorneys before they move. If someone in Los Angeles is being transferred to New York where you practice, they might find you online long before they arrive in town.

Others will ask their attorney, CPA or other professional (in LA) if they know any lawyers in New York. If you have a relationship with those professionals, there’s a good chance that you’ll get the nod. But even if you don’t have a relationship, many professionals will go online to find an attorney in another city to whom they can refer their client.

It happens all the time, even when nobody is moving. People ask people if they know an attorney in LA or NY or Houston or Miami, because their aunt or cousin or business partner has asked them and they thought you might be able to help.

When you send referrals to attorneys in other parts of the country, or other countries, those attorneys will be inclined to send their referrals to you. The same is true of other professionals and businesses.

A law practice is a local business but from a marketing perspective, it is also a global business.

No matter where you practice, you need a strong online presence. You never know when someone in a country you’ve never heard of might be looking for an attorney in your town.

You also need to reach out to professionals and businesses in other parts of the world so that when a client or professional contact asks you if you know a real estate agent, insurance broker, CPA, or lawyer in another city you can give them a referral.

The more referrals you give, the more you will eventually get. But where do you start?

Well, you could pick a city and pick a profession and ask your contacts if they know someone in xyz who does abc, or you could go online and find someone yourself. Then, when someone asks for a referral to someone in xyz who does abc, you’ll have someone. But this is too slow. I suggest you do things in reverse.

Start by announcing to your clients and contacts that you have connections throughout the country–in law, real estate, banking, insurance, and businesses of all kinds. Encourage them to come to you when they need a referral or know someone who does.

When someone asks for a referral, go find someone. The urgency of having someone who needs that referral will force you to find someone fast. But now, instead of merely introducing yourself and saying you hope the two of you can do some business together some day, you’ll actually have someone ready to refer.

It’s called “working smarter” for a reason.

Want to know more ways to work with other professionals and get more referrals? Get The Attorney Marketing Formula and find out.

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Filed Under: Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Networking, Online Marketing

Is your law firm listed on Yelp? You might be getting reviews and not know it

September 27, 2012 by
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When my wife is checking out a new restaurant or other local business, she often checks the reviews on Yelp. If they have a poor rating she usually moves on. She may also use Yelp’s directory to find businesses in our area. She found a great auto service business that way and we’re very happy with them.

If you target consumers or small businesses, prospective clients may be checking you out on Yelp. If you have a listing, it’s one more place people searching for an attorney can find you.

The thing is, clients can post a review about you even if you don’t have a listing. You might want to do a search and see if anyone has. While you’re there, create an account so that you can post your details and contact information. This article points you in the right direction.

Once you have an account, you can add your photo, additional details, and special offers (i.e., a coupon, a free report or video, etc.). You can engage with people who post reviews.

The listing is free and it’s easy to set up an account so there’s really no reason not to. Tell your (satisfied) clients to post their reviews. You may or may not get new clients from the directory, but if anyone hears about you somewhere else and goes to check you out on Yelp, you’ll be ready.

Are you listed on Yelp? Have you gotten clients from your listing? Let me know in the comments.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Online Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing, Web traffic Tagged With: , ,

4 tools for finding ideas and content for blogs, articles, and presentations

September 19, 2012 by
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How do I create content that will rank well and bring me traffic? What are my prospects searching for? What should I write about?

If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, help is on the way. I just discovered 4 tools for finding out what people are looking for (aka, what people want to read), generating ideas for content, or fleshing out content you’re already working on.

I know I’m going to be spending some time playing around with these. (After I’ve updated to iOS 6, of course).

Check out the post on this page for a description of these 4 tools.

I don’t spend much time on SEO. Frankly, the whole subject is daunting. But I do pay attention to writing content that people want to read and I am always looking for ideas. That’s why these tools are helpful.

If you have used these tools, or others like them, please let us know in the comments.

Find out how to earn more than you ever thought possible. Download The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Presentations, Public Speaking, Social media marketing, Technology, Web traffic, Writing Tagged With:

How to use someone else’s blog post to get traffic to your website

August 9, 2012 by
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You read lots of blogs, right? For work, for news, for fun. You might think most of it isn’t something of interest to your clients and prospects. But you might be surprised at how much of it is.

Your clients and prospects are interested in lots of things that can make their lives better. They want to make more money, cut expenses, protect their credit, and get a better return on their investments. They want to get their kids into college and plan for retirement. They want to know how to be safe when they travel.

No matter what your clients are, they are also consumers.

So when you see an article entitled, 6 Things You Should Never Say to a Police Officer, and share it with your list, you’re providing them with value. The next time they see something from you, they’ll be more inclined to read it. And the next time they need a lawyer, they’ll be more inclined to think of you.

When you come across a post that’s interesting or useful, you probably do share it via social media. But when you share a link to a story and someone clicks on that link, it will take them to the website with the original story. Wouldn’t you prefer to have them go to your website?

Why not write your own article on the subject and share that link?

People will come to your website to read your article (and then onto the original), but by coming to your website first, they may see something else you wrote and be reminded that they need to hire you. When they share your link with their friends and followers, those folks will also come to your site first and hire you, sign up for your newsletter, or see something else they want to share with their friends and followers.

If you are a criminal defense lawyer, an article on what not to say to a police officer is a natural. You can add your comments, agree or disagree, and tell stories about your clients who messed up. What you have to say could be even more interesting than the original post.

If you are not a criminal defense lawyer, you can still comment on an article like this. You might have a personal experience you can share or know someone who has. You can ask a criminal defense lawyer for his take on the subject and add his comments or stories. A quick search may lead to a another article or two you can link to.

A blog post doesn’t have to be authoritative. It doesn’t have to be long. A few short paragraphs are fine. Tell your readers you found something you want to share, and why you like it (or don’t).

If there is a connection with what you do, yes, that is better. Your post will be longer and readers will stay on your page longer to read it. Your post will also be more valuable. That can only lead to more sharing and more appreciation.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Client loyalty, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Which of these companies do you think we hired?

July 31, 2012 by
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Our air conditioning is having some challenges. My wife called a few service companies. It’s been hot lately so they were all busy.

As she told me the story, I couldn’t help thinking about the parallel to calling lawyers. Clients, like air conditioning customers, often choose a lawyer based primarily on how they are treated on the phone.

So, which of these companies do you think we hired?

COMPANY #1:

  • Abrupt, unfriendly, not compassionate
  • Can’t come out for a week.
  • Laughed and said,”good luck” when my wife said she’d have to call around

COMPANY #2

  • Pleasant
  • Can’t come today
  • “We should be able to come tomorrow; call in the morning and we’ll give you a time”

COMPANY #3

  • Can come today; gave us a 3 hour window and will call 30 minutes before to make sure we’re home (in case we need to run an errand)
  • Friendly, patient, re-assuring, confident
  • Gave us a price range: “Most repairs run between $x and $y
  • Described the technician’s licenses and (extensive) experience
  • Gave her name; “call me personally if you have any questions”
  • Asked, “Where did you find us?”
  • Mostly “5-star” reviews on Yelp

So, which company do you think we hired? And which one do you think we’ll recommend?

Plaintiff rests.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Closing the sale, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Salesmanship

3 smart ways to create content your prospects really want to read

June 5, 2012 by
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Have you ever struggled to come up with ideas for your blog or newsletter? After you read this blog post, you’ll never have that problem again. Even better, you’ll be able to create content your target market actually wants to read.

It makes no difference whether you have a static web site, a blog, an ezine or a paper newsletter. There are three proven ways to find out what people want to know. You can use these strategies for any kind of content–seminars, webinars, white papers, articles, audios and videos–and come up with the perfect idea every time.

CONTENT CREATION METHOD NO. 1

Let’s start with the most obvious way to find out what your target market wants to read: asking them.

You can email (or write) your list, or ask via your blog or through your social media channels, to find out what people want to know. A free online poll service like Surveymonkey makes it easy.

When a lot of people say, “I want to know X,” you can be fairly certain that this will be a popular topic for a blog post or newsletter article.

For best results, give people a choice of topics: “Do you want to read about A or B?” “Rank these five titles in order of preference. . .”. Of course, this means you will have to come up with the titles you are asking them to choose between so you might want to start your inquiry with one of the next two methods.

CONTENT CREATION METHOD NO. 2

Every day, your target market searches online for information and solutions. A keyword tool like Google Keyword Tool or Wordtracker.com will tell you precisely what words are being searched for and in what volume.

You should have a list or spreadsheet of your keywords and phrases. If not, using a keyword tool will help you get one started. Searching on words like, “Los Angeles divorce lawyer” will lead you to related words and phrases to add to your list.

You’ll also be able to see the volume of searches for each keyword, and the number of web sites that use them, i.e., your competition.

Although optimally, you want a combination of a high number of searches and a low number of competing sites, the purpose of this exercise isn’t to find the best keyword deals for you to bid on, it’s to find keywords that allow you to create content people want to read. Therefore, for writing purposes, it doesn’t matter how much competition you have for those keywords.

Nevertheless, if you can find variations of high-ranking keywords with low competition, i.e., “Certified family law specialist Torrance,” instead of “Los Angeles divorce lawyer,” you will increase your chances of getting search engine traffic, especially if  you use those keywords in the title, in subheads, in the text itself, and in the image tags.

CONTENT CREATION METHOD NO. 3

In school, we were punished for copying off of someone else’s paper. In marketing, copying others can get you a gold star.

The simplest, and arguably the most accurate way to find out what your prospects want to read is to look at what they are reading on other blogs. If a particular topic is popular on the blog of another lawyer with a similar target market, you can be fairly certain that topic will be popular on yours.

Create a list or spreadsheet of your competition’s blogs and add the urls of the posts they’ve published recently. Then, look at each post and note how many tweets or Likes those posts received. If they don’t have buttons for Twitter or Facebook, type the URL into twitter to see the number of re-tweets or mentions. You could also find a non-competitive lawyer, i.e., in another state or province, and ask them which of their posts is getting the most traffic.

Now you know exactly what your target market wants to read and you can write content related to those topics. Don’t plagiarize the post. Write your own unique content, a different take on the subject, your own stories and so on, and change the title.

For example, if a lawyer is getting a lot of re-tweets and shares for a post entitled, “How to get joint custody in California,” you could write a post with the title, “Strategies for men seeking joint custody in a California divorce.”

With all of these methods, the key is to first let the market tell you what it wants, then go create it. You’ll save time, you’ll never run out of ideas, and you’ll always give people content they really want to read.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Communication, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Social media marketing, Web traffic Tagged With: , ,

Should attorneys list their fees on their web site?

May 10, 2012 by
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Do you post your fees on your web site or in your ads? Some attorneys do; most don’t, but should they?

Of course for many legal services, it’s nearly impossible to quote an accurate fee without more information. So we say, “it depends,” and encourage the prospect to call. In truth, most people don’t call, because they are intimidated or don’t want to listen to a sales pitch or be told they have to come into the office.

But if you charge a flat fee for a given service–incorporation, bankruptcy, real estate closing, living trust–should you list those fees up front? If you charge by the hour, should you post your hourly rates for the world to see?

Let’s think this through together. . .

PRO: Posting fees lets prospective clients see if you are “in the ballpark” of what they can afford and are willing to pay. Theoretically, you’ll get more clients hiring you who might not take the time or trouble to call to get an actual quote.

CON: Quoting fees invites price shopping and creates pressure to compete on price, which is a slippery slope for any attorney because there will always be someone “cheaper”. And, do you really want clients who are merely looking for the lowest price?

You could say, “fees starting at. . .,” or, “fees range from X to Y, depending on the complexity of your matter. . .”. This gives the prospect an idea of what to expect and may be an acceptable compromise for your practice.

Indicating the fees you charge with any degree of specificity may not be something you want to do, or can do, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid the subject completely.

If you charge flat fees, explain why the client is better off knowing in advance how much they will pay, in contrast to the open-ended nature of hourly fees. If you charge by the hour, explain why the hourly rate isn’t the only factor, that while they can probably find an attorney who charges less per hour, that attorney’s comparative lack of experience may wind up costing the client more. Explain how contingency fees work to the advantage of the client. Explain costs and retainers and trust accounts.

In addition, you can help prospective clients to appreciate the value of what you do by explaining how fees are determined, the information you need to know (and why), and the options and possible outcomes their case may entail.

When you are open with prospective clients about the subject of fees, they may be more inclined to trust you, at least enough to make that call to find out “the bottom line”.

I’d like to know what you think and what you do in your practice. Do you post your fees on your web site? Do you explain how your fees are determined?

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Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Build a more profitable law practice by relaxing and doing less

May 9, 2012 by
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Yesterday, I spoke with an attorney who is on the verge of burnout. I could hear it in his voice. After thirty years of practice, he’s struggling to attract clients, he’s stressed out and he doesn’t know what to do.

He tells me he’s competent and people like him when they meet him. “Put me in front of someone and they’ll sign up,” he said. He doesn’t do a lot of networking and admits he doesn’t get in front of enough people.

He has a web site and a blog for each of his five practice areas. He’s spent considerable time and money creating content for his blogs and optimizing them for search engines. Unfortunately, the clients who have contacted him through his site have had little money or were looking for free advice.

Within a couple of minutes, I could see his problem and told him what I thought. I could do that because his “ailment” is so common. Like many attorneys, he’s spread too thin and trying to do too much.

I told him he needed to slow down and get focused. Choose one practice area, the one he likes and is best at, and stick with it. His background is in business law. He doesn’t like doing divorces but that’s the kinds of clients his web site seems to be attracting so he added that to his repertoire. While you can’t ignore what the market wants, you are never a slave to it.

I also told him to specialize in the kinds of clients he represents. Some clients are better than others. They have more money and more legal work, the kind you enjoy doing, and you should concentrate on attracting them. Choose an industry or market niche where you have some knowledge and experience and own it. Everything is easier when you do.

His blogs have a lot of content but I suspect it is content created for search engines more than for real people. When you write for SEO purposes you often wind up with content that is mechanically correct but lifeless. When your content is organic, coming from your experiences with real clients, you attract similar clients who resonate with your message.

The process I recommended was one of subtraction: getting rid of most of what he was doing and starting over with a clean slate. Most of his good clients had come through referrals and that’s where they will continue to come from, once he stops trying so hard.

Marketing professional services should be a natural outgrowth of who you are. It starts with knowing what you want and giving yourself permission to have it, choosing your clients instead of letting them choose you.

Relax, do less, but do what you are, not what an SEO expert says you should be.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Career satisfaction, Communication, Dealing with stress, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Specializing, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

If I were starting my law practice today, here’s what I would do to bring in clients

May 7, 2012 by
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If I were opening a law practice today, my “marketing plan” would be very different than it was when I opened my office thirty-plus years ago.

The Internet changes everything.

So. . . here’s what I would do:

I would start by setting up a web site to showcase what I do. It would be my online brochure as well as a mechanism for networking and lead generation. It would be an information hub, the center of all of my marketing activities.

My web site would be a self-hosted WordPress blog so I could update it without depending on anyone else. I would spend less than $10/yr. for a domain, and less than $10/mo. for hosting.

I would keep things simple, with a clean, professional look. I would favor quality content over bells and whistles. The look would say, “competent, confident, accomplished and approachable,” because that’s what I would want if I was looking for an attorney.

I would add articles and other content to the site, to provide value to visitors and generate search engine traffic. I would continue to add content, seeking to make my site the most comprehensive in my practice area. When someone needed an answer, everyone would point them to my site.

I would make it easy for visitors to contact me through the site and I would encourage this. I want people to ask questions. My answers bring me one step closer to an appointment and a new client. Their questions and my answers would also give me fodder for new content.

I would add testminonials and success stories to the site, providing social proof of my capabilities and add a dramatic aspect to otherwise dry material.

I would set up a lead capture system, using an autoresponder to deliver an online newsletter. I would encourage visitors to subscribe so I could stay in touch with them. Over time, I know they will become clients, provide referrals, and generate even more traffic to my site through their social media channels.

Once my hub was set up, my focus would be to drive traffic to the site and grow my list. I would start by leveraging my existing contacts, telling them about my site and the benefits of visiting. I would ask them to spread the word to the people they know.

Every piece of printed collateral, including my business cards, would include a link to my web site. Every email I sent would link to the site. Every article I wrote would include a resource box and a link to my site.

I would become active in forums and on social media. I would do some networking and speaking to meet new contacts and to stay up to date with the news in my target market.

I would look for other professionals who target my market and propose writing for each other’s blogs and newsletters. If they were physically near me, I would meet them for coffee and explore other ways we could help each other.

I would regularly email to my list, notifying them of new content on the site and sending them other content I found that I thought they might like to see. I would stay in touch with them so that I would be “in their minds and their mailboxes” when they needed my services or encountered someone who did.

I would let people know I appreciate their referrals and thank those who have provided them in the past. I would suggest other ways they could help me, i.e., forwarding my emails to their friends and contacts, promoting my seminar or other event, or introducing me to people they know that I should meet.

I would look for ways to provide added value to my list and even more so to my clients. I would give them information and advice, but not necessarily in my practice area or even anything legal.

I would smother my clients with attention, exceeding their expectations in every way possible, because I know the best way to build a law practice is with referrals from satisfied clients and other people who know, like, and trust me.

Wait. . .  the Internet doesn’t change everything. Marketing is the same today as it was thirty years ago. The Internet just makes it easier, quicker, and less expensive.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Email, Image, List building, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Referrals, Social media marketing, Technology, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Help, my website isn’t getting me any traffic (or clients)!

May 3, 2012 by
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“If you build it, they will come,” may have been true of fictional baseball fields, but it’s clearly not true when it comes to web sites. More like, “if you build it and do nothing else, the only ones who will see it are the ones you send there.”

But you know what? That’s a pretty good reason to have a web site. Being able to send clients and prospects to learn all about what you can do for them is a good thing.

Not only that, your clients and prospects can send their friends and collegues to your web site, and that’s even better. I’ve said it before, you don’t have to be a social media maven to take advantage of social media. If you have the right buttons and links on your site, your visitors will promote it to their social media contacts.

But there are things you can do to get more traffic to your web site. This blog post about how to start getting traffic to a new web site can obviously be used with an existing web site:

  1. Set up a listing in Google Places (et. al.) A law practice is a local business. When someone searches for an attorney with your practice area in your city, your page will be much more likely to show up in their search results.
  2. Set up a content plan. Attorneys frequently object to the idea of blogging because they don’t have time to keep it up. As mentioned, you don’t have to add a lot of content to your blog or web site if you are relying on your existing network to send visitors. You certainly have time to put up a handful of good quality articles to showcase your experience. But if you want the search engines to send you more visits, regularly updating your content is something you should do. Add something once a week, if possible. It’s not as challenging as you might think.
  3. Get some links. The author suggests asking for links from associations or groups you belong to because incoming links “tell” the search engines that you have some content others should read. If you represent businesses, ask your clients to post a link from their site to yours. You can do the same to theirs.
  4. Set up Google Analytics. The more you know about where your traffic is coming from and what key words your visitors are using to find you, the more you can “tune” your site to get more of the same.
  5. Mobile enhance your web site. Many people use their mobile devices to find businesses today. If your site isn’t easy to view and navigate on a mobile device, you may be losing traffic and clients. I’m currently updating my blog and this is one thing I’ve been itching to take care of. It was as simple as installing a free plug-in.

If you have a new web site or want to bring more traffic to your existing site, these are five good ways to do that. If you don’t have a web site, as a friend of mine frequently asks, “how’s that working out for you?”

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Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing, Social media marketing, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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