How to make a quick screen capture video for your blawg

December 29, 2011 by
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How to create free screen capture video for your blawgYesterday, I issued an “attorney marketing video challenge“. Today, I want to show you a free and very easy to use web app that allows you to make screen capture videos. I’d seen ScreenR before and was reminded to take another look when I read a review of screenR this morning.

I created the following video a few minutes after I set up an account. I uploaded the video to my Youtube account and then embedded it in this post.

Very easy, very quick.

Even if you don’t want to take the video challenge, I encourage you to set up an account and do a few practice videos. Put your web site or blog on screen, say something intelligent, and you’re done.

You can download the video, post it at youtube or other video sharing sites, put it on your web site, or leave it hosted at ScreenR and post the link to your social media friends and followers.

Note, your video will be public (on the free account) so don’t go too crazy in your video.

Take a look and share your comments. If you are unable to see the video, refresh your browser or you can view it here.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing, Technology, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A simple way to promote your blawg you’re probably not doing

December 16, 2011 by
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increase-blog-trafficDo you have a print brochure for your law practice? Most attorneys don’t. They pass out their business card with the url to their web site or blog but a business card generally doesn’t tell people what you do or the benefits you offer. People have to go the your web site to find out and too often they simply don’t.

A brochure would help. But if you don’t want to spend the time or money hiring professionals to create one, there is a simpler alternative.

Take your best and most read blog post or posts and print them. You don’t need to re-set the text so it looks like a brochure, just print out the the posts as is. Add a cover sheet on your letterhead or add a screen shot of your blog’s home page. Or just staple your business card to the front and you’re done. Instant brochure.

No, it’s not slick and polished like a “real” brochure, and that’s okay, it’s not a brochure, it’s a reprint. In truth, your reprint is more effective than a brochure because it’s not slick and it’s not a sales document, it is valuable content that prospects want to read.

Hand out your reprints when you’re you’re speaking or networking. Put some on the table at the back of the room. Put a few copies in your new client welcome kits. Ask your referral sources to put them in their waiting rooms.

You can use this idea online, too. Gather up some of your better posts and assemble them into a PDF.

One of the easiest ways to get more traffic to your blawg is to give people a taste of what they get when they visit. This is a simple and very effective way to do that.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

How to get more clients from cases you don’t handle

December 8, 2011 by
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shield laws for bloggersI’m sure you read the story about the blogger in a defamation case who got hit with a $2.5 million judgment because, the judge said, she is not a journalist and was not protected by the state’s shield laws.

Interesting story. Important subject.

You read the story but did you make any money with it?

Attorneys can easily leverage a story like this to get more media attention, more traffic to their web site, more prospects, more referral sources, and more clients. And I’m not talking about the attorneys who handled the case itself, I’m talking about you.

Interested? Here’s all you have to do.

First, write a two or three page report summarizing defamation laws in your jurisdiction. You don’t have to practice in this area to do this, Uncle Google will help you, or you can ask an attorney friend who does (and tell him about this idea so he can do it, too).

In your report, mention the case about the blogger. Offer your opinion. Include a few citations, maybe a few resources.

Now, go back to Uncle Google and ask him to give you a list of bloggers in your target market(s) who are in your state or province.

Next, contact these bloggers (a personal email will do) and tell them you wrote a report for bloggers about how they can protect themselves against lawsuits like the one in the news. Offer to send it to them, free of charge. Tell them they are welcome to send it other bloggers they know and care about. (If you know the blogger, you could just send them the report in your first email).

In one day, you can get your report into the hands of dozens of people who every day write and influence the people you are targeting for your services. You have provided value to the blogger on a personal level, and asked nothing in return.

Where can this lead? Interviews, hosted webinars for their readers, guest posts, referrals, introductions, you name it.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t practice tort law. If you do, that’s an added benefit, but the point of this effort isn’t to show these bloggers you can help them in this particular area of the law, it’s to meet them.

Now, what else could you do with your report? Here are a few ideas:

  • Send it to local media with a cover letter letting them know you are available for interviews.
  • Call or email your clients and contacts: Who do you know in (your area) who writes a blog? Tell them you have a report that can help them.
  • Offer it through social media; post a video on youtube, opining on the story and linking to your report; offer it via forums, chat groups, listserves, and other areas where bloggers and people who know bloggers congregate.
  • Contact local blogger groups, business groups (anyone who has a blog), and offer a lunch talk.
  • Write about it on your blog or in your newsletter.
  • Take out ads and offer the report, as a “public service”.
  • Send it to lawyers in your practice area in states or provinces where you don’t practice. Tell them what you’re doing with the report in your area, invite them to do the same in theirs. (If you have to ask how this could help you, forget about this idea.)
  • Do a presentation at your bar group’s next function on how you used a news story to market your services.

You get the idea.

Oh, and you don’t need a news story to do this, you can write about anything that affects people in your target market or they people who influence them.

It’s about providing value in a leveraged way. It’s simple and it works. And if your report goes viral, it could help you take a quantum leap in the growth of your practice.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Blogging, Increase your income, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Networking, News, Online Marketing, Publicity, Referrals, Relationship marketing, Social media marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to create an effective FAQ page for your law firm website

November 21, 2011 by
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faq for law firm web siteProspective clients visit an attorney’s web site to get information. They want to know what you can do for them and how they will be better off as a result. If you’ve done a good job with your web site, they will learn enough to either make a decision to hire you or to take the next step, e.g., call for an appointment, opt into your list, or contact you with questions.

Often, visitors have questions but don’t contact you for answers. They may be intimidated by speaking to an attorney or afraid you will pressure them. A page of frequently asked questions and, of course, your cogent answers, can get more visitors to take the next step.

A FAQ page also allows you to sell yourself without appearing to do so because you’re “just answering questions”. Your answers can demonstrate your experience, your patience, and your personality. They can show that you are thorough and professional and give readers a sense of what it would be like working with you. Ultimately, they can show why the reader should choose you instead of any other attorney.

I encourage you to create a FAQ page for your web site. Alternatively, you can incorporate FAQ’s into your “About” page. Your FAQ’s can also be used in a brochure or handout.

Ask your staff to help you brainstorm. What do prospects and new clients always ask you? What do you think they would want to know but may not ask?

I recommend starting with the following:

  • Practice areas (by name, i.e., estate planning, and features (documents you prepare), and benefits (what happens when you do it, what they get, i.e., protect their family, help them make better decisions)
  • Legal/procedure (what are my rights, what are my options, what are the risks, what’s the first step?)
  • Why you/your firm (why you are different, better)
  • General (office hours, directions, parking, appointments, payment options)
  • First appointment (what to bring, what will happen, what is expected of them, what they get from you)

Add a call to action to your FAQ page, directing the visitor to “Call for an Appointment” or “Subscribe to Our Newsletter”.

A FAQ page is also helpful for current and former clients, as well as referrals sources. An attorney in New York may be looking for an attorney in California. Keep this in mind as you create your page.

Once your page is live on your site, ask your clients directly or via a web poll if there is anything that is unclear and if there is anything you should add. And ask your staff to make a note of any questions clients and prospects routinely ask and add these to the page.

Your FAQ page will evolve over time, and eventually could turn out to be one of your most effective marketing tools.

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Filed Under: Online Marketing, Referrals Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Internet killed all the good clients

October 26, 2011 by
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questions clients ask attorneys lawyersI’ve represented thousands of clients in my career. As far as I know, only one prospective client interviewed me and chose not to hire me. The rest I either signed up or I chose not to.

I say “as far as I know” because there may have been others who interviewed me and I wasn’t aware of it. But the woman who thanked me for my time and was never seen again stands out in my mind because the experience was so unusual.

New York criminal defense lawyer, Scott Greenfield, says that in the Internet age, things are different. People read articles and blog posts that provide lists of questions a well educated consumer should ask lawyers before retaining them, and that’s what they do. Questions like, “how many cases do you have,” “how many have you handled in the past,” and “how many have you won?” are now common.

The problem, Greenfield says, aren’t the questions but the prospective client’s inability to interpret the answers. Greenfield quotes Matt Brown’s original post at Tempe Criminal Defense:

They want numbers about my experience, my practice, the system, and their case. It’s because numbers make an unscientific decision like hiring a lawyer seem somewhat scientific. It’s a complex decision, and the idea of boiling the process down to comparing statistics comforts some people.

Unfortunately, a little knowledge can be a bad thing. A numbers-obsessed prospective client can easily end up worse-informed than someone who doesn’t ask any questions. The problem isn’t the information, but their perspective. Information, especially numbers, can be misleading without context.

Greenfield says this is a relatively recent phenomenon, and I agree. “Rarely did people run around interviewing a dozen criminal defense lawyers whose names they found online. They sought recommendations and then acted upon them. Weeks and months weren’t lost to interviews, not to mention many hours of both lawyer’s and potential client’s lives, in this strange new process.”

Matt Brown wrote about the challenge of being interviewed by a prospective client with a list of questions:

They wanted an exact number, so I told them. At the time, the number was fourteen. I immediately realized they weren’t going to hire me.

The number startled them. They asked me how I kept them all straight. Fourteen seemed like a huge number to them. Without a frame of reference, I might as well have told them I was too busy to handle the case.

One client hears “fourteen,” thinks that’s a big number and that you won’t have time to handle their case. The next client hears “fourteen” and thinks, “that’s all; you must not be very good.” This is an issue you must be prepared to deal with, but it’s not a problem. It’s an opportunity.

When a prospective client comes to see you, armed with a list of questions, it is an opportunity for you to educate him and give him the context they lack.

Show them what the numbers mean in the real world. Explain how attorneys work and how you are different. Tell him what he needs to know and give him credit for being intelligent enough to make the right decision. And ask him questions to find out what he wants and to make sure he understands what you are telling him.

You see, it’s not his job to interpret the numbers, it’s yours.

Most attorneys provide a proforma answer to these questions and cross their fingers. Some attorneys get frustrated and wish people would stop asking. Smart attorneys are not only prepared for these questions, they welcome them.

Questions from prospective clients open the door for you to demonstrate your knowledge, your experience, and your compassion. In teaching prospects what the articles do not, with patience and respect, you provide value to the prospective client that he doesn’t get anywhere else. That value fosters trust and ultimately, clients hire attorneys they feel they can trust.

That’s why referred clients ask so few questions. Because a friend referred them, they already trust you.

Yes, it takes effort on your part to earn that trust when a client finds you online. If you want their business, if you want them to choose you instead of the many other attorneys they find online, you need to give them a reason.

Take a few minutes to teach them what they need to know, answer their questions, and make sure they understand and are satisfied with your answers. The extra effort is worth it. Once they trust you and hire you, they will refer other clients to you and you won’t have to work so hard.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Referrals, Salesmanship Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Attorney Marketing 101: How to Improve Your Social Media Profile

October 21, 2011 by
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Marketing legal services on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other social media platform, begins with your profile. This is the first thing prospective clients and referral sources see.

Here are five tips for making a good first impression:

  1. Your account name. Ideally, this should be your name, not your firm or practice. Social media is about people engaging with other people. You may “like” or “follow” a company or product page but you can’t talk to that product, only to the people behind it. The ultimate purpose of social media marketing is to expand your “warm market,” i.e., the number of people who know, like, and trust you. YOU, not your firm. Brand yourself, not your firm. Your firm can also have a page or profile, but this is not a substitute for your own personal profile.
  2. Your profile photo. This should be a photo of you. Not your firm logo, not a group shot, not a sunset, not your dog. People want to see who are they are friending/following/engaging with/thinking about hiring. Anything other than your photo puts distance between you and them. Use a professional looking head shot. It doesn’t have to be a professional photo, but you must look “professional”. No mugging. Clients don’t hire clowns.
  3. Your bio. Don’t make it all about your work, include personal references. This invites conversation. The first step in any networking conversation is the “search for commonalities,” so if you like to play chess, as I do, include it in your bio. Also, your bio is not a resume. (If you’re looking for a job, include a link to your resume or linkedin profile). Therefore, don’t make your bio about your work history. Nor should it be an ad for your services. Talk about how you have helped clients in the past, so that prospective clients can see what you can do for them. One more thing: include your location. People hire local attorneys.
  4. Link to your web site and other social media accounts. Don’t rely on one account, give people as many ways to read about you and engage with you as possible. Someone may find you on LinkedIn, for example, but converse with you via Twitter. Also, I just updated my Twitter profile to include a link to my web site, even though I already had it in the box Twitter provides for that purpose. The reason: when you first look at a Twitter profile you don’t see the web site link until you click through to the actual profile. This post says that making this change increased the number of clicks from Twitter to her web site. Make sure to include “http://” to make the link clickable.
  5. Include keywords. Social media profiles show up in search results on the site itself and via search engines. Include your key words throughout your profile, so someone looking for an estate planning attorney in Tampa can find you.

Go take a look at your social media profiles. Can people find you? Are you making a good first impression?

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Filed Under: Networking, Online Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How often do you need to update your blog?

October 18, 2011 by
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When I converted this website from a static site to a blog in 2007, I didn’t want my “new house” to look unfurnished so for the first month or so I added posts and articles almost every day.

It was a very good thing that I did.

I saw an immediate upsurge in traffic to my site, I received many emails thanking me for the content, and I got a lot of new leads for my products and services.

I was new to blogging, but I was very glad I made the leap. Today, I post every day, Monday through Friday, and I am again seeing an increase in traffic and engagement like I experienced in the early days.

Wait. I know what you’re thinking. You’re too busy for blogging.

But hold on. Hear me out.

Many lawyers would like to have a blog. They see other lawyers building their practices online and they want to do the same. But they “just don’t have the time.”

Some argue that quality is more important than quantity, that frequency of posting isn’t a critical factor. But frequency does matter.

It seems that most people who read blogs do so by visiting the blog itself (instead of reading posts in a “feed reader”) and their visits to that blog become a habit. They visit the site to see the latest post and if there isn’t an update today, and there isn’t one tomorrow, they fall out of the habit of visiting. Soon, they don’t visit at all.

Posting once a week is considered the minimum for keeping a blog alive. (If you do post once a week, do it on the same day.) But if you can’t blog daily or weekly, if the best you can do is post content once or twice a month or once in awhile, does this mean you shouldn’t bother?

No. Not at all.

You may not get as much traffic to your blog if you don’t post frequently but if you post anything of decent quality, the traffic you do get will see you as an expert who can deliver the benefits they seek. A blog is just a web site that is updated more than once in a blue moon. It’s a great idea, even if you don’t update it all that often.

Besides, frequency of posting is only one way to get traffic. You may not get a lot of search engine traffic if you post infrequently, but you can send traffic to your site in other ways: offline, via networking, advertising, public speaking, and writing, for example, and online, via social media, your email signature, and dozens of other ways.

And, while infrequent updates won’t get your visitors into the habit of regularly returning to your site, if your site has an opt-in list (and it should), you can capture visitor emails and notify them when you do have updates or something else to offer.

If you want to start a blog but think you don’t have the time, you do. If you have a blog but it’s not being updated very often, don’t worry about it.

Think of a blog as a place to showcase your problem-solving abilities, if nothing else. Prospects may or may not find your blog when they search for “your key words” but when they hear about you from a friend and search for you by name, they will find your blog and your content will convince them to call for an appointment.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Create a (free) social media web page about you with about.me

September 16, 2011 by
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A social media hub page is a virtual business card: a single web page with a brief bio (or link thereto) and links to your websites, blog, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media accounts. This allows you to provide a single link in your email signature, your (paper) business card, in an article byline, and anywhere else your name appears in print or online. A single link is clean and professional looking, one reason why virtual business cards are becoming more popular.

I’ve experimented with different options. Recently, I set up an account with about.me. My page was easy to set up and customize. I uploaded a background image (me, looking fierce) but did not include a bio. Instead, I listed my professional roles as attorney, writer, and entrepreneur.

If you click on the doo-hickey at the top of the page, it will take you to a random assortment of other about.me pages, many of which are quite creative. Great for ideas.

About.me is integrated with Klout, a new social media “rating” service that tells you how influential you are in the online world. It also tells you who you influence and who influences you. I’m not sure how useful this is but it’s interesting to watch my klout index increase.

I also set up an account with flavors.me, which allowed me to create an almost identical page. They have a paid version ($20/yr.) with added customization features. Attorney Dan Gold set up a page on flavors.me and took advantage of those upgraded features.

About.me is free; I couldn’t find a paid version. I’d like to see more options for configuring pages, like the paid version of Flavors.me seems to provide, but all in all, this is a great way to quickly set up a virtual business card. Give it (or flavors.me) a try. Send me a link to your page and I’ll feature it in a future blog post.

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Filed Under: Business cards, Online Marketing, Social media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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