What’s the best lead magnet?

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What’s the best freebie to offer people as an incentive for signing up for your email list?

A report? Ebook? Checklist? Form? Webinar?

The format isn’t that important. What’s important is that you offer your target market something they want enough to get them to give you their email.

So, what do they want?

They want to solve a problem, learn about the process, understand their options, get their questions answered, make a better decision. . .

Offer them that and they’ll sign-up.

But don’t spend days or weeks creating the perfect lead magnet. You can create something that’s “good enough” in just a few minutes.

Here’s how:

  1. Write down 5 or 10 questions prospective clients typically ask you before they hire you. You know the drill: questions about the law, procedure, their risks, their options, your services, how you can help them, how to get started.
  2. Grab your phone and dictate answers to these questions.

You can also spend a minute or so telling them about yourself, how you work with your clients, and what to do if someone wants more information or is ready to take the next step.

No hard sell. Just information.

And you’re done.

Yep, you can copy that recording and make it your lead magnet.

Or transcribe the recording, edit it, and use that.

Give it a title that promises the benefit they want. And start offering it.

Remember, good enough is good enough. You can improve it later.

The point is, you need to create something today so you can offer it on your website tomorrow.

Because every visitor to your site who doesn’t opt-in is, you must assume, not coming back.

Email marketing for attorneys

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If you do this, you’ll get more clients

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If you’d like a mind-numbingly simple way to get more clients, read on my fellow legal peep. I think you’re going to like this idea.

It will work for just about any type of practice or practice area and you can start using it immediately.

And, did I mention it was simple?

All you need to do is create a one-page letter, form, card, web page or email that says:

“Please send me free information on:”

Under this, put a list of subjects that might interest a prospective client.

For example:

  • “How to hire a good xyz attorney without losing your shirt”
  • “The least you need to know about X”
  • “An easy way to protect your [family/business/estate, etc.]
  • “How to [benefit] in 30 days or less”

Anything a prospective prospective client (and the people who can refer them) might want to know.

These can be old blog posts, reports, articles, videos, presentations, or anything else you’ve created (or can create). You can start with a few options and add more later.

Provide check boxes or links and explain what to do to request the information. Include a paragraph about you and your practice, so they know who you are and how you can help them. And tell them there is no cost or obligation.

When someone requests information, you learn who they are and what they’re interested in. You can follow up with them, offer more information, offer a free consultation or other incentive, and stay in touch with them until they’re ready to take the next step.

Your report tells them something they want to know, and shows them why they should hire you or contact you to get more information.

But, here’s the thing.

Even if they don’t read your report, they have your contact information. If and when they decide they need to talk to a lawyer, the odds are that you’ll get the call.

Once you have created you “information request form,” put it in your new client kit, send it to former clients (a good excuse to re-connect with them), and encourage everyone to share it with their friends and contacts.

See, I told you this was simple.

How to get more clients

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The first book I ever wrote

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In my personal injury practice, I had every client bring in their auto insurance policy. As I reviewed their policies, I noticed that most of my clients were spending too much for insurance.

They bought coverage they didn’t need, had deductibles that were too low, and routinely purchased from companies that charged double or triple what other carriers charged.

Anyway, I fell into the habit of going over their policies with them and showing them how to improve their coverage and lower their costs. A nice added value service that my clients appreciated.

One day, I decided to wrote a book on the subject. I thought that in addition to giving copies to my clients, I could sell the book, something I had always wanted to do.

And I did sell a copy. Yep, just one.

Why? It was a good book. The problem was that I didn’t have a viable way to market it.

This was before Amazon and other online book stores. No websites, no “online”. Advertising was my best bet but my margins (the gross profit on the book) weren’t enough to cover the costs of advertising.

I didn’t have a back end product or service to sell. If I had been in the insurance business, I could have sold the book at break even, or at a loss, and made my profit on the back end selling insurance.

The lesson is that it’s not the product, it’s the marketing. It doesn’t matter how good your product is if you don’t have a profitable way to reach your target market.

That’s true whether you’re selling books or candlesticks or legal services.

You may deliver outstanding legal services but you will starve to death if you don’t have a way to reach potential clients and deliver your message. On the other hand, if you are merely competent as a lawyer but you use sound marketing strategies, you can make a fortune.

The good news is that legal services have big margins. You can afford to spend money (or the equivalent in time) disseminating your message. The even better news is that most attorneys do such a poor job of marketing that you can easily beat them to the punch.

Ready for more good news?

Today, we do have Amazon and other online book stores, and websites of our own. We can economically reach book buyers, and then sell them legal services on the back end. Our marketing is paid for by book sales. Instead of paying for advertising, our advertising pays us.

How to identify your best target market

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