1. Ask to promote their services, no strings attached- Let your referrals sources know that you have a blog or newsletter reaching thousands of families in the local area and that you’d love to tell your clients more about them. Offer to post a guest blog on their behalf or feature their upcoming events in your email newsletter. Besides creating good will with your referral partners, they’ll be more receptive to promote your events and services when approached in the future.
2. Make Promoting YOU Beneficial For THEM- One strategy we use for our private clients is to craft a beautiful letter and custom certificates that the referral source can send to THEIR clients saying “…because you are so important to us, I wanted to personally send you a valuable gift to say thank you for your business.” The gift, of course, is a free session with the attorney, which we note has a value of $500. The referral partner’s clients feel great about receiving such a valuable gift (increasing business for THEM), while you benefit from all the new appointments!
3. Share Without Selling- Don’t overlook the importance of sending along helpful articles or resources to your referral partners from time to time. It’s a great way to keep the relationship going without a huge time investment. We always like to include a note along the lines of, “Hey–I thought this information would be helpful to you and wanted to pass it along…hope you are doing well” at the top of the email for that extra personal touch. It’s almost always appreciated and keeps you at the top of your referral partner’s mind.

What are you favorite strategies for nurturing relationships with referral sources? We’d love to hear what gets you consistent results! Leave a comment below and let us know!

To make things as easy as possible for you, we’ve put together a comprehensive article highlighting the new features below. We’re really exited about the changes, as we’ve personally seen a huge increase in reach and engagement just by transitioning over to the new timeline.

Of course it may not seem like a huge deal, but your reach on social media matters! Even when you’re not immediately getting huge exposure or ROI, if you keep doing it, you’ll get noticed at just the right time!

In fact, our COO Amber, (whom many of you know as my right-hand gal) got an email today from an editor on Facebook asking her to write an article for a large New Jersey family magazine. And just last week, one of our LM2 clients landed her very own blog within a huge family magazine in her area because of a connection she made on Twitter.

It goes to show that there are people out there interested in your expertise, so stay consistent and active in the social media space! Get your timeline updated, make it look wonderful and fully utilize it as a tool for marketing your firm!

In other exciting news, I’ll be a guest teacher at a class at Suffolk University Law School next week called the Business of Practice. It’s a practical course designed to help students run their own successful law practices after they gradate. Many thanks to attorney Andrew Garcia for the invite. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity!

Have a great week , and do reach out to us if you have any questions about social media or converting your Facebook page over to a timeline this week.

Laura Lee

What Attorneys Need To Know About Facebook’s Timeline For Pages

For attorneys who use Facebook as a marketing tool, you’ve likely heard that your page will be convert into a public timeline on March 30th.

Besides learning how to manage the new layout, we’ve heard from many lawyers who want to know how to best utilize these changes to expand their reach and maximize social media ROI.

After converting our client’s pages and keeping a close eye on the stats, we are excited at possibilities Facebook is now giving to business owners to better connect with their target market. Social media marketing is about building relationships, and for us, the changes make reaching and engaging with prospects easier than ever.

If you haven’t taken the plunge yet, or you simply want to know how to leverage your new timeline to the fullest, here is an overview of 10 key changes to your Facebook fan page and easy ways to use them as part of your overall marketing strategy:

1. No default landing tab- If you were using a custom landing tab to encourage people to like your page and engage with your content, you may be disappointed to find out that your tab is now gone. Well, it’s not entirely gone, but it’s no longer the default landing tab for your page. Instead, visitors will be taken directly to your timeline where they can see all of your posts and interact with your content without having to become a fan first. Don’t worry though, as you utilize some of the other tools we’re going to discuss and post great content, people will naturally be inclined to hit “like” and follow your updates!

2. The Timeline Cover Photo- Your landing tab may be gone, but the new cover photo gives you significant real estate to showcase your firm. The dimensions for your new cover photo are 851 x 315 pixels. There are some limits to what you can put in this space, however. According to Facebook, your cover photo can NOT contain:

• Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”
• Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section
• References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
• Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”

In other words, you cannot use your cover photo to ask for “likes” or overtly promote your business. You can’t even include your phone number or URL! You can, however, use this space to display a little personality and use a tagline or bullet points listing the types of matters you handle in your firm.

3. Small profile picture- In addition to your cover timeline photo, you’ll also have the opportunity to upload a square 180 x 180 photo to use as your profile picture. For attorneys, it’s a great idea to use a picture of your face here instead of a logo. The reason for this is that your small photo will show up next to your updates in the ticker on the right hand side of the page. People are more likely to pay attention to your posts if they appear to be coming from a friend, rather than a law firm marked by a logo or cartoon.

4. About Section- What you can’t promote in the cover image can safely be promoted in the new About Section, which is the box located below your small profile picture. You have 130 characters to tell the public who you are, what you do and leave a live URL back to your website or blog.

5. Custom Apps- A great feature of the new Timeline For Pages is that you can now install custom apps on the top right side of your page that help people connect with your other content, free reports, event page signups and even subscribe to your mailing list–right from Facebook! There are also apps that display your most recent blog posts, YouTube videos and updates from other social media accounts. Some apps are push-button, while some do require a little html know-how to set up. If you can’t do it yourself, get help and leverage this space to introduce people to more resources offered by your law firm.

6. “Pinned” Posts- If there’s a post you want to draw more attention to, you can now “pin” it to the top of your timeline for up to 7 days. To do that, hover over any post, click edit pencil and pin to top. This is a great feature if you’re promoting an upcoming event or have a great article you want to be highly visible to your fans.

7. Private Messaging- In the new timeline format, fans and visitors can now send private message to page administrators. Prior to this, communication with a company or brand could only be done publicly on the wall. This feature can be turned off, but why do that when you can spark more communication with prospects? Remember, legal questions are often private matters and people are hesitant to call law firms. Private messaging gives people another non-confrontational way to inquire about your services easily thorough Facebook!

8. Starred Posts- Similar to starred posts on personal profiles, you can highlight a post and have it feature across the width of your timeline. This is a great feature if you have an image or video you want to showcase prominently on your page.

9. Milestones- Milestones are another way to highlight significant events and important moments for your firm. Milestones will also be shown across the entire width of your page, making them impossible for anyone to miss!

10. Preview feature- If you’re overwhelmed by these changes and afraid you’re going to mess up your page, take comfort knowing Facebook has a preview feature so you can see how everything looks before you actually go live. Just look for the preview link at the top of your Fan Page in the old design.

Finally, as an additional resource, Facebook has a great video tutorial that you can watch highlighting these changes at http://www.learnfacebookpages.com. Use this free tool to get up quickly up to speed and put your team to work creating a Facebook presence that’s actively promoting you!

PS: Be sure to check out and “like” our Facebook Page where we share tips additional tips and resources.

As I reflected, I thought about how much things have changed for me personally over the past few years. Many of you know my story but I’m sure others do not and wonder why the heck does this woman do legal marketing for estate planning attorneys? What does she know?

Well first and foremost, I have worked with estate planning attorneys and tax attorneys for well over 20+ years, as a senior paralegal and office manager for many of them. I shifted into the marketing side of things about 8 years ago when my husband was diagnosed with cancer for the first time.

During the past eight years, I have cared for and lost my dad, my mom, my mother-in-law and my husband. I understand both professionally and personally how important planning is.

I don’t say this for sympathy; yes it has been really hard and I’ve experienced more loss than anyone should endure in such a short period of time. But, it has also increased the passion that I have for helping estate planning and elder lawyers get their message out about being prepared for life’s unexpected twists and turns and making things as easy as possible for your loved ones when tragedy strikes.

Since I can not create legal documents or serve clients as an attorney, I instead pursue my passion in this area by creating great marketing content and campaigns– in easy to understand terminology–to get consumers to take action instead of leaving the planning on a to do list that they never get around to.

Next month is National Health Care Decision Day (April 16th). I want to encourage you to take this opportunity to get the message out about the importance of documenting health care wishes and having conversations with family members and the people you trust. It’s also a great opportunity to spread your message to the community at large!

We created our entire campaign for our DFY marketing program for March around this topic. This campaign includes a professionally designed postcard/display ad, a flyer designed to spark action, letters for prospects and clients, Facebook ads, an article/blog post and social media feeds.

Because this topic is so near and dear to my heart I am doing something I have not done in the past and I’m going to make the campaign available to those of you who want the materials but aren’t quite ready to join the monthly done-for-you program (provided your territory is not already taken by one of our members). You can click here to see what all is included for this low price of $397.

Regardless if you decide to use our materials or create some of your own, please reach out to the members of your community regarding this important topic. We also encourage you to partner with hospitals, nursing homes or any other potential referral source who has witnessed the dangers of not making your health care decisions known.

And finally, please remember that we are here as a resource for you, so if you have further questions about how to spread the word, please do not hesitate to jump over to our facebook page or leave a comment below and let us know how we can be of assistance to you.

But how do you know if you’re using the right ones?   How do you know that you are using the same language potential clients are typing into Google?

The only surefire way to tell is research.

Many times in the legal world there is a huge disconnect between how attorneys describe their services and what an average person would search for online.  For example, an estate planning attorney may call their services as such–but an average person unfamiliar with that term may simply look for an attorney who specializes in “wills and trusts”.

That’s why it’s so important to do the research and find out what your prospects are actually searching for.  Here are 3 easy ways for you to do this:

1. Ask Google- Google has a great keyword tool that you can use for free here.  Start by typing what you think someone would search for, so you can see just how accurate your hunch was.  Then check out the related keywords Google provides for a better understanding of how people are finding you in search.

2. Ask Your Family and Friends- Talk to people who aren’t familiar with the jargon and formalities of the law. Ask them to describe what you do and how they would search for you in Google if they needed your help.

3. “Spy” On Your Target Market- If you are a bankruptcy lawyer, check out online forums of people who have bankruptcy related questions and see what they are asking.  If you are a divorce attorney, spy out popular books on Amazon related to divorce and see what real people are saying in the comment section.  Pay close attention to the language they are using and how they are framing their questions so you can target them on your site.

So get researching and in the next article, we’ll tell you what to do with your top keywords once you’ve identified them!

You may have heard the saying, “the money is in the follow-up,” and when it comes to legal marketing, I promise this is true. So with that said, here are four easy steps you can take after each live speaking event to ensure each prospect is still receiving regular “touches” from your firm:

1. After the event, compare the initial registration list to the names of those who were in attendance.

2. From there, break those names down into three categories:  those who took your offer at the event, those who were in attendance but didn’t take your offer and those who registered but didn’t attend–then create appropriate follow up sequences. The follow up sequence should include multiple touches in various ways (email, phone, snail mail) for the best results.

3. If the free gift you offered requires fulfillment, be sure to distribute your materials promptly while you are still fresh in the prospect’s mind, or outsource this to a company that will make sure that happens.

4. Add all new leads to your house list and maintain consistent, friendly communication with them via both email and direct mail.

As you can see, the hardest part of this maximization effort is automating the follow-up process so you can contact your prospects long after the event has taken place.

Infusion is my personal automation software of choice because it allows for segmented lists and very specific follow-up campaigns designed to motivate prospects and get them to say YES to your services.

But don’t let not having a good email marketing/ contact management system stop you from getting started with this!  Either bite the bullet and make the investment into one (which is money VERY well spent), or use an excel spreadsheet or some good ole’ fashion tickler systems.  Either way–just get started communicating with your leads from speaking engagements in the New Year.

Here is tip that will increase your Google relevance and will cost you absolutely nothing.  It starts with these 3 steps:

• Tweet
• Like (Facebook)
• Comment

To begin, you’ll develop a network of colleagues, peers, and friends who all agree to promote each other by Tweeting, Liking and Commenting on each other’s blogs and videos.  When you are planning to post a blog or video, let your group know to be expecting it so they can read and respond.

Let’s say your financial advisor Mary has 200 followers; John, one of your best clients has 4,000; CPA Sam has 500 and insurance broker Sue has 6,000 followers.  If each of them Tweets, Likes and Comments on your post; you have just been placed in front of almost 11,000 people with no extra work and for free!

As Google’s algorithms do their complicated and scientific thing, key factors in ranking include key words and reviews.  Those Tweets, Likes and Comments help you increase your relevancy and rankings and cost you absolutely nothing!

To recap, develop a network of people who will Tweet, Like and Comment on your blog content (and you will do the same for them) in order to increase rankings in Google searches.  Doing those small things will translate into higher rankings, more visibility and more business.
 
 
 
 

Saying these things will almost always land your press release in the trash and alienate you from the particular publication or TV station you are trying to target in the future.

Here they are:

1. The word “publicity”. We all know that the point of reaching out to local media is to score free publicity for your firm, but if you actually say that in your press release or pitch, your story will never see the light of day.  You would be amazed how many lawyers craft pitch letters saying, “dear so and so, I am reaching out to you with hopes to secure media coverage or publicity about our firm”. FAIL.

2. Anything that resembles a blatant advertisement for your firm -  The media’s job is to run unique, interesting and timely stories for their audience, not just cover small businesses in the area, just because.  You should be pitching with this in mind and offering real story ideas or useful tips (i.e. 5 Ways to Avoid Financial Strain When Caring for Aging Parents or Getting Your Legal House In Order Before The New Year), and not just asking them to run a glorified advertisement about your practice (ex. Please cover why we are so great or what kind of results we get for our clients….).

3. “I’m really busy so please schedule an appointment with my secretary so we can talk further…”- Yes, you are busy, but so are producers and journalists.  If getting a hold of you for an interview is like pulling teeth, they will almost always move on to the next credible source.  So if you are serious about adding free publicity as part of your overall legal marketing strategy, don’t drop hints that you might be hard to work with or get a hold of in the future.

Know of any other “kryptonite” words or phrases that have backfired on lawyers in their media pitch or press release in the past?  Be sure to share your experiences in the comment section below!

HELPFUL RESOURCES:  Have you tried to score free publicity for your firm in the past with little or no success?  Or are you a total newbie in the world of Public Relations and need some help creating timely PR pitches or campaigns that WORK?

If so, check out our Do-It-Yourself PR Kit that will give you in-depth strategies, tools and sample press releases/pitches that are guaranteed to land you coverage in the press in no time!

And if you are an estate planning attorney, be sure to check out our Done-For-You Monthly Marketing Campaigns here. Each campaign comes with a custom press release written by PR professionals that are designed to get RESULTS.  This can be purchased as part of the overall package here or a la carte each month, here.

Curious how well these materials really work? Here are just a few links to interviews or TV segments featuring attorneys who have used our done-for-you marketing materials or DIY PR training programs in the past few months:

Nancy Chillag, Interview with CBS

Darlynn Morgan, LA Parent

Heather Chubb, Sacramento Bee

Steve Worrall on NPR

Don’t wait to get your hands on these important training materials.  Slash your advertising budget in half and start getting the local newspapers and TV stations to promote your firm for you!  It’s easy when you know how, and these materials will show you exactly what to do to see results!

And yes, social media CAN be just that.  However, it is also much more importantly the new media way of marketing.  People are no longer turning
to the yellow pages or ads run in newspapers and magazines when they
are looking for a service provider.  Instead they are going to their network,
their “social network”.  And YOU need to be there!

The question then becomes about how you show up once you are there.

I see a lot of lawyers making what I consider to be three huge mistakes.

• Setting up an RSS feed ONLY and just feeding the content from their blog onto their social media profile.  While this can be good for SEO, it is not doing much to build you a following of local prospects and leads.  Nor does it usually generate any interaction.
• Building relationships with other lawyers but neglecting looking for prospects and potential referral sources in their own back yards to build relationships with that will turn into real ROI for the time they are investing in “new media” marketing.
• Not realizing that social media contacts (fans, followers, connections) are worth FAR less than email and direct mail contacts. And failing to set up systems by which they *leverage* social media to build these much more valuable lists.

Next week I am hosting a teleconference and will be interviewing Nate Hagerty, who is helping CPA’s do just that, systematically use social media to get local clients from social media into the doors of their practices.

If you want to learn more about how you can use this “new media” for marketing your business and not have it suck up tons of your precious time without any ROI.  Join us!

It’s a free call, and we will send a replay but only to those that register
http://www.lawyersocialmedia.com

To your success & productivity!

Laura Lee