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The Attorney Marketing Center

Earn More. Work Less.

Today’s homework assignment: piss off someone

April 26, 2012 by David M. Ward
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If you want to create content that gets widely shared through social media (and you do), humor is often thought to be your best bet. But humor can be risky, as those of us who do any public speaking can attest. As an attorney, you certainly don’t want to appear frivolous or unprofessional. If humor isn’t your schtick, go for anger.

According to a study on the virality of New York Times articles, mentioned in this post, “content that evokes emotion is more viral, even if the emotion is negative, like anxiety or anger.”

If you want to get people talking and sharing, make them feel something. One of the best things you can do in your social media content and your marketing copy is to get people fired up.

Tell them how they are being ripped off. Show them the missed opportunities. Find a bad guy or a cadre of evil-doers and call them out. It’s one thing to get people to understand the issues. If you want people to pick up the phone and call you, or share your content with others, you need to make them feel something.

People in pain usually do something about it. In fact, there is no stronger motivation to act. Yes, you can get people to act by appealing to their desire for gain, but you’ll get a much bigger response when you show them how to stop their pain.

What if they aren’t in pain? They may have a problem but not know it. Your job is to tell them. What’s the problem? What will happen if they ignore it? What might they lose and how will they feel when this occurs?

Dramatize the problem and get them to feel the pain. Only then will they pick up the phone.

Do you think this is manipulative? Is this taking advantage of your prospects’ misfortune? Not at all. If your services are truly in your clients’ best interests, you have a moral and ethical duty to say or do whatever you can to get them act. Anything less is irresponsible.

Does my saying so make you angry? I sure hope so.

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Steal this idea

April 19, 2012 by David M. Ward
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Every month we get a free home improvement magazine mailed to our home. Actually, it’s not a magazine, it’s a collection of advertisements by home improvement companies–landscaping, custom closets, window treatments, patio furniture, kictchen cabinets–you get the idea–bound into a 24 page publication and mailed to “the top 250,000 homes in [our County]”. The masthead says their mission is “to provide our readers with a trusted guide to the best and most reputatable professionals.”

The publisher uses the inside front page of the magazine to write about success and personal development. He shares his thoughts, interesting stories, and quotes from famous notables or business people he knows. If you’re not currently in the market for a home improvement product or service, you have something worthwhile to read.

The publisher takes pride in his advertisers. In fact, not only does he screen every one of them, he stands behind them. He a offers a “$1000 service warranty”: “We are so confident in the reputation and quality of our advertisers. . .in the unlikely event you have a bad experience, we [will] contribute up to $1,000 to make it right.”

When you’re ready to fix up your home and you want someone you can trust, I’m sure his advertisers will be on your short list.

Now, you don’t publish a magazine but if you represent business clients, why not feature them on your blog or in your newsletter? Post their ad. Do a feature story about their business. Publish an article with helpful tips they provide. Or simply add their names and a link to their web site on your “recommended resources” page. Your clients will be thrilled with the additional exposure, especially since it is imbued with your tacit or explicit endorsement.

And, when the business world knows that you promote the businesses of your clients, do you think more business clients might be interested in hiring you?

If you don’t represent business clients, you can do the same thing for either (a) your referral sources–their practices and businesses, or (b) your consumer clients’ charitable and community causes and groups.

Growing a law practice means adding value to your relationships with your clients and referral sources. Featuring them in your blog or newsletter is a simple and effective way to do that. Growing a practice also means adding value to the lives of your prospects. Providing them with content from, and recommendations to, trustworthy professionals and businesses is a great way do just that.

An extra benefit to doing this is you’ll never run out of content for your blog or newsletter. Your clients and referral sources will supply you with articles, tips, guest posts, interviews, and other ideas.

You don’t have to offer a warranty like the publisher of the home magazine does. But if your clients are in an industry where there are many abuses and broken promises, as there are with home improvement, this could be the “big idea” that really makes you stand out.

Promoting your clients and referral sources this way will not only ensure their loyalty to you, it will undoubtedly lead to more referrals from them. After all, how many other lawyers promote their business?

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Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Referrals Tagged With: httpwww-attorneymarketing-com20120419steal-this-idea, lawyer-recommended-resources-site-edu, lawyer-referral-ideas, referral-marketing-ideas, referral-source-marketing-ideas-for-may, steal-these-10-most-requested-local-niche-markets-for-your-business, steal-this-idea, yellowpageslogo
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