Laura Lee Sparks
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Laura Lee Sparks
“Ack! My open rate is 25%!”
I’ve heard this a few times from lawyers who believe that they are shooting for a 100% open rate. The thing is, the open rate is not an accurate measure for determining how many people are reading your email or ezines. Here’s why:
Email programs are finicky!
There are some email programs that are not capable of displaying the HTML (the behind the scenes code that makes your email look good) and images. There are a few programs that only display straight text, and you really need nice looking, easy-to-read content. Even the email programs that allow HTML and images, gives the user the option to turn that feature off. So, if someone opens your email in text-only, the program does not count this as an open. Several email clients also have a preview pane option. Many people read through the preview feature so those would also not count toward the open rate.
Even the email development services will tell you not to expect high numbers. According to Mail Chimp, in the best case scenarios the open rate would be around 50%. When they measured open rate per industry, the found that the average open rate in the legal industry is 22%.
Once explained, we tend to hear something a bit different from our clients. Like this…
Oh boy! My open rate is 25%!
Almost the same words, but with a completely different attitude!
I’m not advocating for ignoring your open rate, just know that this isn’t an exact number and should be used as a guide. If you would like to learn how to get the best bang for your marketing buck, give us a call.
Did you know you can join our Inner Circle Accountability & Private Group Coaching Program for just $1.00? That’s it! Click here and you’ll see all that you get for 30 days!
Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.
Our mission here at Legal Marketing Maven is to make law firm marketing easy, efficient and affordable. We do this by offering a wide range of services that will allow you to have access to professionally developed marketing that works. No matter what your budget is, we have something for you. But, there are a lot of things that you can do on your own that cost you nothing to catapult your law firm on the top of the heap of your competitors.
Here are a few very simple ideas for you:
Attend events in your community.
Business networking events are great, but the events that you attend don’t have to be situations where you sell. Attend community celebrations, fundraisers, religious events, the PTA at your child’s school, or any other gathering in your local area. The idea here is to be seen. People want to do business with people they are familiar with so give them the opportunity to get to know you.
Look for opportunities to teach.
You could offer free classes in your community or even serve as an adjunct professor in your local community college or university. Not only do you benefit from getting to know more people, you’ll also be in a position to demonstrate your expertise.
Remember that referrals go both ways.
You know how valuable referrals are to your law firm, right? They are also valuable to others so send referrals to other attorneys and other colleagues. Not only will you be doing a very nice thing for them, you are increasing the likelihood that you will get more from them.
Get to know your clients before you meet them.
Research your potential clients before they meet with you. You might want to pick the brain of the person who referred them or talk to others who may know them. You can even give Google a try. I’m not suggesting that you stalk them, but having an idea about who they are could go a long way in your first meeting.
Knock their socks off!
It probably doesn’t really need to be said because for most it is common sense but do a great job and provide great customer service to each and every client. This will set you up very nicely for repeat clients, but it will also help your reputation in your community.
Take advantage of social media.
There are just too many lawyers that fail to take advantage of social media. This is a big marketing miss. Unless you truly live off the grid, you must know that this is where people are communicating. Even if you aren’t using social media personally, you can still have a professional presence there. Social media can be used to attract new clients and to keep your past clients interested.
Regularly update your blog.
With so much information available on the internet people tend to turn to search engines for almost every purchasing decision they make. You should be the one who provides that information. You can attract the attention of a lot of potential clients simply by sharing your thoughts and providing basic information. Also, all that new content gives the search engines something to work with. T
Create a marketing plan.
Rather than aimlessly working your way through the year throwing money at this marketing agency or that ad publication, create a plan that allows you to more forward confidently and with much less risk. Not having a marketing plan is like constructing a building without blueprints. You might be able to muddle through, but you won’t be happy with the results. A strategic marketing plan allows you to understand the direction you want to go and determine the actions to take to get you there. Oh, and once you develop a marketing plan, don’t just sit it on a shelf. Use it! As they say, “Plan the work and work the plan.”
I understand that some of these things might not be easy for you to do. In particular, the more technical marketing things. That is why I created this “Keep it Consistent” program. In a nutshell, it is a very affordable service where we do all the heaving lifting to create your blogs, social media content and email newsletter – and, we even manage the implementation. If, while you were reading this blog, you thought, “Oh yeah, but who has the time!” you should take a look to see if this will work for you.
These are just a few of the things you can do to accelerate your marketing efforts. Do you want to talk about other strategies to help you implement your marketing plan? Feel free to schedule a time on my calendar for a no strings virtual cup of coffee to chat about your business. I promise you will come away with a good plan for turning your ideas in actions!
I am a big believer in the refocus and personal renewal the new year can bring. It’s that time of year when you can reset your path and chart a new course for the future. Although many people do this with enthusiasm as one year rolls to the next, the new direction and goals set in January are nothing but a distant memory by March for some.
But that doesn’t have to be the case for you! There are a few tips that I’d like to share with you that I use to stay the course with my New Year resolutions.
Writing things down does two things; first, it provides a visual reminder that is hard to ignore – especially if you keep them posted in a prominent location. Second, the act of writing helps set the intention. The physical act of writing helps solidify the goals in your heart and mind.
Here’s my process for writing my goals. First, I find a nice, quiet spot that helps me feel inspired. I love to grab my journal, wrap up in my favorite blanket and sit in front of my fireplace. It’s really cozy, but it’s also a place where I feel most inspired. I recommend that you find a location that makes you feel the same.
Once I am in my zone, I start writing. I normally have about 5 major goals that I choose to focus on for the year. You may choose to write more than 5 or fewer. Just find the goals that will take you to the place that you’ve envisioned to be by the end of the year.
Here’s where the resolution-keepers leave the resolution-breakers behind in the dust – make a real, step-by-step plan for reaching those goals. It’s not critical that you create your plans at the same time that you are writing your goals, but if you feel inspired to do so at that time, move ahead! However, it may be necessary for you to do research or enlist the help of a coach or technical expert to create a plan that will allow you to achieve the life you are dreaming of. If you do decide to do your plan later, give yourself a timeframe to get it done. Actually block time on your calendar to do your plan. Just whatever you do, do not allow too much time or you will lose steam and allow your daily grind to get in the way.
Each goal would be a different plan, so a good way to start with your plan is to put your goal at the top of the page and then brainstorm the steps. At this point, you may want to get the help I mentioned before. If so, find that help right away. Remember, while you are creating your plan, you will have specific tasks that you will need to do so make sure you capture everything you’ll need to do to reach that goal.
You will need to take steps to hold yourself accountable to the plans you created. A great way to do this is to add deadlines for each plan and every task. Again, your daily life will constantly whisper in your ear encouraging you to focus on what you are doing right now – the “same ole.” Don’t allow that to happen. Write these dates in your calendar and stick to them!
If you find it difficult to keep these critical appointments, you may want to get additional help keeping yourself accountable. Join a mastermind or coaching program where you will be encouraged when your plan is on schedule, or nagged when you are not. For some, that voice that whispers in your ears telling you to ignore your goals is more of a screaming banshee! I totally understand this! That is what makes accountability groups like our Inner Circle so valuable. I have been a member of several type of groups and they have taught me more about building a profitable company than all of the business books in Barnes and Nobles!
Sometimes, people who are building a business tend to move as fast and furious as possible and simply place a checkmark next to each goal they achieve. Take time to celebrate! Celebrate at many milestones along your journey. You find the right coaching group? Take your family for a nice dinner! You complete a task early? Allow time to get outside and enjoy nature, or to call a friend, or to sit with a café latte at your favorite coffee shop. What you do to reward yourself doesn’t really matter. Just make sure that you recognize and celebrate steps along your journey. This will not only allow you to celebrate the moment, it adds fuel to your burning fire that will take you to your goal.
Did you take time to refocus and concentrate on where you want to be on December 31? If not, why not? If you did, tell me how you are going to achieve those goals. Just respond to this post and let’s chat. Maybe we can share more tips and tricks for evolving our businesses and lives in this next year. After all, we both deserve it, right?
Is implementing a social and content strategy in your plan? If so, let us take care of your email marketing, content, and social media this year. Schedule a no-strings virtual cup of coffee with me, and let’s chat about how many hours we can save you each month.
Legal project management systems can be a great way to increase efficiency in your law firm, which leads to more clients and more revenue. Introducing project management strategies to evaluate your practice, identify strengths and weakness, and implement a plan for strategic growth may be one of the best investments you could make in your law firm. But as with any practice management change, you’ll have to get buy-in from your staff. Here are 5 tips for presenting legal project management to your staff in order to get the best outcome possible:
Guidance
Let’s face it, even if your staff needs help in becoming more efficient, it doesn’t mean that they’re completely incompetent – in fact, no one knows how your law firm works better than your staff. That’s why any project management approach should not be about teaching your staff things they already know, but more about guiding them to the path of more efficient outcomes. Acknowledge that your staff is aware of the basic tenets of project management, and explain that you’re merely putting their knowledge and experience into a more structured and streamlined approach in order to become more efficient and effective.
Simplicity is Key
Don’t try to achieve grand goals all at once, or take up copious amounts of work time on training sessions. Instead, focus on the simple aspects of the practice that you can turn around and make more efficient through proper project management. In fact, in order to get better buy-in from your staff with this approach, you should come to your staff and ask them what they need help with or what processes they’d like to see improved.
Concentrate on One Thing at a Time
As stated before, simplicity is key. That means you should focus on improving just one process at a time when engaging in project management in your law firm. This way your entire staff can focus on improving one aspect of the firm without losing track and getting caught up with other projects. Once this pattern sets in, your staff will become more efficient at identifying issues and – more importantly – discovering effective solutions.
Follow Up
Track your staff’s progress and follow up with them so your project management strategies don’t fall through the cracks. It’s very easy for new initiatives to fall by the wayside, especially when there is a glut of day-to-day work to contend with, but it’s important to stay on track in order for your law firm to grow.
Discuss and Debate
The most valuable information you’ll receive during the project management process is the feedback from your staff. Allow them the opportunity to discuss and debate the effectiveness of their undertakings and learn from what they’re saying. However, it’s extremely important to make sure that discussions and debates have a positive focus and that the end goal is about improving your law firm – there should never be a discussion or debate that ends without a resolution.
Would you like to learn more about implementing project management strategies in your law firm or discuss how we can save you time on your marketing? Schedule a no-strings virtual cup of coffee so we can discuss how you can become more efficient and gain staff buy-in!
Constantly having to replace employees who quit is a huge drain on your time, money, and patience. Training team members only to have them leave within a year can be painful and demoralizing, and your practice will suffer because of it. Below are some things to think about if you want to keep your employees happy and reduce turnover:
Compensation: The Be-All End-All?
When asked, most employees say that compensation is the most important factor when staying at job. And it is – but it’s not the only factor. Make sure you’re paying your employees a decent wage for the type of work they’re doing, and compare the wages you pay with what your colleagues pay their employees. If you notice that you’re paying much less than everyone else, you might want to consider upping your pay scale before your employees become their employees. But like I said, money isn’t the only factor. I’ve heard stories about plenty of employees who were making decent money at their law firm jobs, but left because they just couldn’t deal with the stress, felt like they had no work-life balance, or didn’t get any additional benefits like flexible PTO. Find out what’s important to your employees (besides money) and do your best to provide it. You can only work within reason, but it will mean a lot to your employees if you go the extra mile trying to provide them with a good workplace environment.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Don’t wait for the exit interview to ask employees why they’re leaving; instead, conduct interviews with current employees to ask them why they’re staying, what might motivate them to stay longer, and what might make them leave. You’ll get valuable information on your strengths and weaknesses as an employer, and you’ll be getting it straight from the people who it applies to. Most importantly though, you need to act on this information where possible, because in a year from now, it could be the difference between a stay interview and an exit interview.
It’s the Little Things
Small gestures of kindness can go a long way for your employees. Does it seem like one of them is having a bad day? Take a couple minutes to ask how you can help or even just give some encouraging words. Do your employees come in early or stay late consistently in order to keep your firm running smoothly? Buy them lunch or dinner to let them you know you appreciate it. You never know how much a tiny gesture will mean to someone, so it’s a good idea to always be aware of what’s going on and how you can help, even in the smallest of ways.
If you have more questions about lowering turnover in your office or you are interested in implementing some of the strategies listed above, please feel free to schedule a no-strings virtual cup of coffee. We can also talk over how we can help you save time on your marketing.
The Joy of Delegating
No one needs to tell you – lawyers are busy people, especially if they run their own practice. Sometimes, they’re so busy running their practice, they don’t get to spend too much time doing what they got into law to begin with: helping people achieve the best outcomes possible and providing peace of mind that their affairs are in order. And that’s where delegating comes in.
Building a confident, cohesive team that you can depend on to run your law office while you focus on helping your clients will put you on the path to success. In order to do that, though, you need to learn which tasks you can delegate and choose the right people for the job. Here are some of the key tasks you’ll want to delegate in order to build that successful law firm you’ve always dreamt of:
Accounting
One of the most important tasks to delegate in a law firm is accounting. Why? Because that’s how you get paid! I don’t know how many lawyers I’ve spoken to who are constantly seeing clients, but their cash flow just doesn’t reflect that fact. Managing invoices, accounts payable, trustee accounts, and payroll is a huge task – especially on top of all the legal work that comes along with being a lawyer. Hire a bookkeeper – full-time, part-time, or even virtual –and you may see an increase in your finances and, just as important, a decrease in your stress levels.
Phone Calls and Paper Work
How much of your day is spent taking phone calls or filling out paperwork? A competent administrative assistant can definitely help in this regard. You need someone who can handle difficult phone calls, answer a wide range of questions (and also know when not to answer a question), and take care of the mountain of paper work that comes with running a law office. If you’re running your office on a budget, consider hiring a virtual receptionist to pick up the phone for you.
Intakes
Separating the good potential clients from the bad can be a time-consuming process, and one that requires a person skilled at intakes. You don’t want to bring in every person who calls – you’ll spend all your time in initial consultations that never go anywhere. And obviously, you can’t be TOO picky otherwise you’d never see any clients. A good intake specialist can make or break your business, so fill this role carefully.
HR
You went to law school to become a lawyer, not a manager. Let someone else handle employee disputes, vacation requests, and all the other little day-to-day things that keep you from focusing on the practice law. Give them enough input so they know how you want your firm to run, then let them have at it!
If you want to talk more about delegating tasks in your law office and freeing up your valuable time, along with how we can save you time on your marketing, then schedule a no-strings virtual cup of coffee with me and let’s chat about how many hours we can save you each month.
“You have to spend money to make money.” That’s a well-known saying and there’s a lot of truth to it. I’ve worked with law firms for MANY years and I see these same 5 mistakes over and over. All of these mistakes start out as good intentions, but the good intentions never make it through to full implementation which results in a losing investment. The list is shared with you to help you avoid, or correct, your good intentions gone wrong.
1. Hire a great receptionist, but never train him to close the deal
You place ads or hire recruiters to find the best candidates. You take your valuable time reading resumes and interviewing them. You bring the best candidate on-board paying a competitive salary and benefits. Good job! You did all of the right things. But, if you fail to train him to “close the deal” with prospects who call your office, you might as well toss all of that money and time spent out of the window! Your receptionist, or whoever answers your phone, should be fully trained to be able to talk to prospects and convince them to make an appointment with you. Make sure that this person understands your ideal client’s pain points and can describe how you can help them. Good customer service is great, but being able to talk about your services and persuade them to make an appointment is invaluable.
2. Not following up on workshops, seminars or presentations
This one really causes me pain. I know that workshops and presentations take a lot of time and effort. Finding the presentation and workshop opportunities, advertising the event, the costs of the workshop such as food or hand-outs, not to mention the time it takes for you to prepare, is really expensive! So many lawyers bring a list of names back to the office and hope they’ll call the office and make appointments. You stopped short of what you need to do to get the best bang for your buck. It is critical that you follow-up with these people. They are obviously interested in your services or they wouldn’t have taken their time to attend your event. For whatever reason, many people will still drag their feet about calling your office to schedule a time to see you. You need to properly finish this process with a well thought out follow up plan. You might schedule a series of calls or you might choose to follow up via email or snail mail. Or better yet, do both!
3. Not using CRM properly
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems can be pricey. Make sure that you are taking full advantage of your system. It’s easy to use CRM for contact management, but you need to use the powerful tools many of them have that can automate your practice management activities as well as your follow up activities. Setting up a CRM and the automated systems takes time, but you really aren’t getting your money’s worth if you invest in one and don’t take the time to use it to its fullest extent.
4. Advertising with brochure ads
Advertising takes money. You need to spend money on a designer who will create your ad and then the fees of the publication to place the ad. Advertising can reap great rewards, but only if you have a fully developed strategy. Many law firms pay big bucks to place ads, but the ads are just all wrong. If you have an ad that only provides your name, contact information and a list of services you provide, you are wasting your money. Before you do anything else, develop your marketing strategy and make sure it includes non-threatening ways for them to take another step toward you. For example, you could create a free report and offer that through your ad. They are more likely to go to your website and download a report than to call your office right after seeing the ad. When they download the free report, make sure to collect their email address and other contact information so that you can follow up with them.
5. Learn tips and not implement
With the power of the internet, you now have scads of great law firm marketing tips at your fingertips. If you follow this blog, you know that I provide tons of tips and tricks that you can easily implement. If you haven’t already, sign up for our 21-Day Marketing Bootcamp and you’ll see what I mean. But, don’t just stop at reading – implement! Take steps, even small ones, every day to grow or tweak your marketing. Don’t just learn it, DO it!
If you would like to learn more about legal marketing AND be held accountable for taking those consistent steps to implement, check out our Inner Circle Accountability and Private Group Coaching Program. In fact, here is a coupon that will discount the month fee to $97 – just enter SAVE at check out.Our group is lively and fun and best of all, I will hold you and your team accountable each month to achieve consistent and measurable growth. This is the perfect group for you if you need help and encouragement to get things going and keep them going.
There are a lot of ways for law firms to get marketing wrong. But, there is one critical mistake that law firms make that makes me a little crazy. When I see it, I get that same feeling that you get when someone rakes their nails on a chalkboard. I call it the “premature marriage proposal.” It’s like meeting someone for the first time, not knowing if you are good for them or if they are good for you, and just blurting out, “Will you marry me?”
Let me explain…
Take a look at a few attorney ads and you’ll see what I mean. Most attorney ads are really brochures. They are filled with phrases like “We do this,” and “We do that.” Then, in big bold letters at the bottom they say, “Give me a call TODAY!”
News flash most prospects….they aren’t going to.
To most people, calling a lawyer’s office is scary. It takes a lot before someone is willing to call the office and schedule an appointment. They aren’t going to schedule an appointment just because you told them to. They need to know more about you and how you can help them before they take the step of coming into your office.
Advertising is expensive! Be sure that you do it right. Before you throw your money away on brochure ads, stop and think about your strategy first, then develop baby-steps that will guide your prospects to your front door.
Here’s an example:
You decide your strategy is to target motorcycle drivers who’ve been injured due to negligent drivers. The trick is to give them a step that is easy and less intimidating than coming into the office. Address their pain points. Answer the questions you know they have. They may be wondering, “Do I have a case?” or “Should I call my insurance company first?” or any number of things. Speak to them about these things by offering a free, downloadable report. Explain the pros and cons of their choice so they understand it really is in their best interest to work with you. You should also be ready if they still need more encouragement by developing a follow-up sequence that provides even more information – easily done with an automated email follow-up sequence.
I challenge you to take a look at any ads you are running right now and to put yourself in a position of being someone who really doesn’t want to see you. I know that sounds strange, but with this mindset you can determine if you are jumping to the marriage proposal too soon. If so, take a step back and think more about the courtship. Woo your clients rather than demand. You are spending too much money to not make sure that you are in the best position to convert prospects to clients!
If you would like to learn more about “wooing” prospects, sign up for our free 21-day Day Legal Marketing Bootcamp. It’s filled with ideas about how to reach your clients in a multitude of ways and concrete steps to take to produce results.
It is still early in the year and many of you are still dealing with ice and snow, but now is the time to think about spring! In the spring, you’ll see a flurry of activity around high school graduations. Families are focusing on their young adults’ impending graduation and it is the time when the “rubber hits the road” for parents regarding paying for college. That would be a great time to jump in and offer some help to parents in the form of a scholarship. Scholarship winners will benefit by the added boost of funds and you’ll benefit by the positive exposure you’ll receive in your community.
Creating your scholarship opportunity doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming, but you should get started now. (Before your competition beats you to it!) Here is what you need to do:
Develop the guidelines
You’ll need to decide what criteria you’ll use to select the winning students. We’ve done this with our clients and we find that asking each applicant to write an essay is ideal. You should pick a topic that is something people care about and is relevant to your practice. For example, if you are a personal injury lawyer you could ask students to write about how losing a young person to drunk driving impacts the community. (Sadly, almost every community has at least one of these stories.) If you are a business attorney, you could gear your scholarship towards business students asking them to explain how their knowledge of business has helped them overcome a personal challenge. The sky is the limit when it comes to the topic of the essay.
Contact the schools
Once you have the criteria set, you need to reach out to your local high schools to let them know about the scholarship. We’ve had great luck with sending a letter to high school principals and counselors. Be sure to include the criteria and let them know that you would be happy to attend their senior awards ceremony to announce the winner personally. (Extra exposure!) Once you have sent the letter, be sure to plan a follow-up series of phone calls. In many cases it won’t be necessary to call them because they’ll call you back immediately. Most schools look for as many scholarship opportunities as possible! But, high school principals and counselors are very busy people so you may need to follow up by phone. You could do this personally or you could delegate that to someone in your office. Just be sure that you do follow up. This will increase your chances tremendously!
Promote the opportunity
You’ll find that scholarship opportunities spread quickly among the high school senior community. You can extend this even further by offering to pay for an ad in their high school paper (generally, very inexpensive!) and you can publish the scholarship opportunity on your website and social media channels.
And the winner is…
One of the benefits of your scholarship is that it is open to everyone. The student doesn’t have to be the best athlete or musician or even the best student. This opens the door for students who might not otherwise be eligible for other scholarships. And, even though you may offer scholarships as low as $500, this could make a tremendous difference to them. You can rest assured that you are making a positive impact while you are increasing your presence in your community. It’s really a win-win.
This is just one of the law firm marketing methods we brainstorm with the attorneys in our Law Firm Marketing Inner Circle and Accountability group. If you’d like to join this group and get more easy-to-implement marketing ideas directly from people who already had success with them – join us today.
Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.
Clients find you online. Period. The days of skimming the yellow pages for an attorney are gone. You know this. But, being online means a lot more than just having a website. It means writing and sending e-newsletters, engaging social media and online advertising. Improving your social media presence is a topic that comes up quite frequently in the LM2 Inner Circle. The lawyers in the group and I talk about different online marketing tactics – what’s worked and what hasn’t. One of the tactics that find to be the most successful is blogging.
There are many reasons why blogging for lawyers works so well. One of the top reasons is to improve your search engine optimization (SEO). People need to be able to find you when they search for your services on Google. Regular consistent blogging with using quality keywords will help optimize your website and then improve your chances of Google listing you at the top of the list. Many people know this and simply write with this in mind. This means they stuff their blog posts with keywords like “drunk driving arrest” or “business litigation” and write with the search engines in mind. This is a mistake. The search engines might get your potential clients attention, but it is your content that will keep them.
The lawyers that are truly successful with online marketing know that their blogs should be an educational resource that serves a need in their community. They write for clients, not search engines. They provide information that helps them with their problems. By doing so, they are seen as leaders in their practice areas and it demonstrates that you care about them since you are answering their most burning questions.
Writing blog posts doesn’t have to be daunting. Just think of the most common questions that you get and schedule an hour each week to write a post – 250 to 300 words will be just fine. You might even be able to write 2 blog posts in that hour. At minimum, get 4 new articles per month on your blog. That 1 hour per week will return big dividends!
Blogging is just one of the topics I cover in the 21-Day Legal Marketing Bootcamp. Sign up today for this free course where you’ll get one easily digestible marketing lesson on creating and implementing the most effective online legal marketing strategies.
Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.
With 2016 just around the corner, many of us are thinking about our New Year’s resolution. Well, about 45% of us are making them according to statistics. If you are like most Americans, getting fit and healthy is at the top of that resolution list. However, the number of people who managed to stay focused is infinitesimal. In fact, 1 in 3 will ditch that vow by the end of January. The top reasons that people give for this is being “too busy” but most likely they weren’t committed to their goals in the first place.
Even with this abysmal track record, we encourage you to make a resolution. Resolve to get your marketing organized and consistent. You may not need a resolution if your marketing is already consistent and it bringing a steady flow of clients to your door. So, three of you can stop reading this article right now.
Now, for the rest of us…
You simply must get your marketing system in place. Don’t fall into that trap of doing a bit of marketing, getting a few clients in your pipeline, and then ignoring marketing again because you are busy with client work. This up and down is no way to live – and certainly no way to run a successful law firm.
I get it. The thought of developing a marketing plan for the year is overwhelming. Okay then, set quarterly, monthly, or even daily goals. How about this resolution, “I will touch base with one potential referral source every business Monday.” Doable, right?
Breaking an overwhelming project down into smaller chunks makes anything doable. Deciding that you will write one blog article per week, can be done right? A quick 250 to 500 work article about how you can solve a client’s pain point should be simple for you.
The hardest part may be getting started. Sit down with a calendar and plot out assignments that can be carried out to you or an assistant. Here are a few ideas:
Once you have a plan, be sure to follow it! Wherever possible, delegate, delegate, delegate!! You don’t have to do it all. Consistency really is the key to keeping a steady flow of clients.
You may not keep that resolution to lose 5 pounds, but you really should keep the promise you made to yourself – your law firm is depending on you!
Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.
Are you one of the many lawyers running online Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns to try and boost business for your law firm? If so, you’ll want to take a second and read this article to learn more about ad blocking, which is a trend that’s changing the landscape of digital marketing.
Ad blocking is a way to basically tune out pop-ups, banners, and other intrusive ads that can ruin your web browsing experience. Ad Block Plus is the most popular ad blocking plug-in, as it can be downloaded for free right from their website. In fact, Ad Block Plus claims it is the most popular web browser extension in the world. However, Ad Block Plus has been shown to be a bit overzealous when it comes to which ads the extension blocks: Google AdWords, Facebook ads, and Twitter ads have all been affected. Thus, if you’re currently spending money on any of these PPC campaigns, you may be at risk of not reaching your target audience and, depending on the specifics of your campaign, you may be charged for ads that no one is even seeing.
So what can be done to combat this new trend? As of this writing, advertisers and developers are working on ways to make ads un-intrusive by focusing a better user experience and creating ads that are less bulky and do not take up a lot of bandwidth, since these issues were the the whole reason ad blocking software was developed. AdBlock Plus is also working with Google and Twitter to find a solution to this issue, though whatever solution is reached will likely cost those companies extra money – and that cost will presumably be transferred to you, the ad buyer. However, none of these solutions are imminent, meaning some extra steps need to be taken in regards to your law firm’s digital marketing strategy.
While PPC marketing can get your law firm to the top of Google searches through paid means, there’s a very good chance potential clients will not see your ads. Instead, a marketing strategy that relies on content and SEO rich blogs will help your law firm rank higher on search engines and will be visible to your specific audience. Organic searches are not affected by ad blockers, and the content you offer will be beneficial to your audience, who may then share it with others who may be in need of your services. Blogs, YouTube videos, and ebooks are just some of the many marketing materials you can use to get around the ad blocking trend.
Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.
Guest Feature Article
Molly Hall & Laney Lyons
We have written about how ineffective and destructive “Come to Jesus Meetings” are – how they inspire fear but don’t solve problems, thus can’t provide lasting change. Trust me on this, because I can call a Come to Jesus Meeting with the best of them.
But I got a strong reminder just this week that there is a better way.
My company had a client service issue where a mistake was made. And I realized as I worked through it that having a “Come to Jesus Meeting” with my team never crossed my mind.
When you know without a doubt that your employees have tremendous integrity and work ethic, and truly care about your clients, you have no desire to dump any of the emotionality of a situation on them. You communicate clearly what happened and the consequences to the company, then you move to problem-solving. In fact, instead of dumping the emotion on your employees, you try your best to support them.
(Dumping doesn’t necessarily mean you are being mean or harsh. Dumping is just passing on the emotion – it might be you gravely explaining the seriousness of the situation and allowing everyone to sit with that, or showing your nervousness about the possible consequences and pleading with them to do better. None of that helps.)
An employee who does care will already feel AWFUL about the mistake and will be nervous to have upset you and the client. You will have to deal with an employee whose confidence is shaken. Your biggest opportunity to be a leader is at this moment.
In this situation, I talked with the client who was upset. I listened, apologized, and expressed that I understood the concern. Then I explained that I wanted to meet with my team and talk with them about what happened and how we can improve our process to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I then spoke to my team, having all the information about what happened and how it happened. I didn’t need to drag them through the emotional experience. I calmly explained what happened, I conveyed the client’s perspective and reason for being upset, and I suggested an adjustment to our process that would greatly reduce the possibility of it happening again. I also asked the employee who was mainly at fault for her suggestions, and I assured her that I believe in her and understand that mistakes happen. I made it clear that I know it was completely unintentional, but that we simply need to constantly look for ways to improve our processes to reduce the possibility of mistakes.
My employee is an adult. I don’t need to burden her with the emotion and “story” of what happened. She is not a child. I don’t need to ask her, “Why did this happen?” It was obviously unintended. She cares about our clients as much as I do. And she has integrity – she will in fact be MORE upset than I could possibly be about making a mistake. My job, as her boss, is to support her, empower her, encourage her and help identify process changes that improve the client experience.
Scared employees make more mistakes. Scared employees don’t share ideas or innovate. Scared employees usually end up leaving you. Don’t scare them – empower them, support them, and encourage them.
And when you have employees with integrity and work ethic, employees who care about how you are helping clients, they WANT to improve. They want to make a difference, and a Come to Jesus Meeting serves no purpose.
Wouldn’t you rather work with a team that focuses on improving?
Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.
You’ve likely heard time and time again how important it is to have a print book or downloadable e-book when marketing your estate or elder law practice.
Of course it positions you as an authority, looks great in the eyes of professional partners and always perks up the ears of the media.
But… if you’re like most lawyers I know, there’s just ZERO time in your life get something meaningful typed out and into print.
Even writing an e-book can be a challenge…and you may feel that because the content requires a ton of legal expertise, its not something that you can easily delegate to your team for the sake of “saving time.”
Well if you are struggling in this area, I want you to know that the LM2 TEAM has the legal background you are looking for and we have an awesome selection of e-books that are available to the lawyers we work with!
Just this month, we released our 25 + page Caregiver Guide. Not only is it professionally written and graphically designed, but we also give you EVERYTHING you need to market your new “book,” including:
This is one of my FAVORITE campaigns we’ve ever created and its received rave reviews from every client that we’ve given it to so far!
That’s because the book itself is written in such a way to not only support the needs of caregivers, but to show them just how much easier their job/life can be when they have a great estate planning attorney on their side. Essentially, the book sells YOU in a non-pushy and empowering way.
Because I have been a caregiver for most of my adult life and feel this campaign is so critically important to get out into the local communities, I am making the FULL package available for $695 just until the end of the week.
You do not have to join our monthly program and I will give you all of the pieces a la carte.
Just so you have a point of reference, the cost of having the e-book alone designed by a high-end graphic designer in an EDITABLE file (like we are providing you so that you can customize the material as you see fit!) is WELL OVER the cost of this entire campaign. That doesn’t factor in the copywriting, editing and marketing support!
This is a labor of love for me and the materials have COST ME lot more to create than it will cost you to get the campaign live on your website and implemented in your practice. Don’t miss the chance to snag everything at such a discounted price.
If you would like to get started, contact me and let me know. If your area is available (we don’t work with competitors), I will then email you back the link where you can download all of the campaign pieces. Easy peasy!
P.S. If you would like to talk about some of the other e-book campaigns we have available on many topics related to estate planning and elder law, schedule a no-strings virtual cup of coffee with me. I’d love to talk over how we can help with your marketing!
