• By Laura Lee

The Joy of Delegating

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.

• By Laura Lee

5 Ways Law Firms Waste Money

“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.

• By Laura Lee

Will New Ad Blocker Trends Affect Your Law Firm?

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.

• By Laura Lee

I love this marketing strategy that NEVER goes out of date!

Lawyer Marketing Strategies: Direct Mail

As a strategy for marketing law firms, direct mail has been around forever. It was there before business websites, e-newsletters, and social media. Considering the convenience and low cost of digital marketing methods, many lawyers find themselves wondering if direct mail is even a good strategy for marketing a law practice in today’s world.

In a word, yes. Direct mail marketing might not seem as modern as the other strategies listed (which are also good strategies, by the way), but it’s still around for the simple fact that it works. We’ve told you again and again that the best way to succeed as a small law practice is to take care of the clients you already have. This keeps them coming back, as well as referring their contacts to you.

However, it’s impossible to overlook the need to cultivate new prospects, and that is where direct mail marketing really pays off. Direct mail allows you to target potential new clients based on a variety of factors such as income level and geographic area. One direct mail piece can reach thousands of potential clients at once, and it does it in a way that people don’t find particularly intrusive. According to a study done by Epsilon, 70% of participants reported that they prefer direct mail to email when receiving unsolicited information!

Another advantage of direct mail is that it’s less likely to get lost in the shuffle than email. For one thing, you can make a direct mail piece completely unique. Skip the boring form letter and find cool and unusual ways to market your law practice by using different types of paper, dye-cut brochures, interestingly folded documents, and so much more. A surprising direct mail piece can really capture potential clients’ imagination and is more likely to be kept for reference than an unsolicited email that would probably get no more attention than is necessary to hit “delete.”

Remember, prospects (and everyone else, it seems) can receive hundreds of unwanted emails a week. Because it’s an easier approach, many law practices rely on it far too heavily for marketing. That’s certainly not to say you shouldn’t use email to market to current clients, but it’s not necessarily the best path to take to reach new folks. On the other hand, it’s been found that direct marketing pieces can also bolster your email marketing. Consider sending a unique direct mail piece to current clients letting them know to watch their email inbox for an upcoming offer, and you’ll likely find that the open rate on that future email outpaces most of your others by a long ways. Similarly, you can use your direct mail piece to invite prospects to log on to your website in order to access a special promotion.

Law practice marketing is certainly a different beast than it was 20 or even 10 years ago. That doesn’t mean, though, that the old-school marketing techniques don’t still have their place in your strategy!

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.

• By Laura Lee

Search Engine Integration: A “New” Concept That We Recognized Years Ago

It’s good to be validated.

Not that we needed it, but it is a good thing to find a widely-respected publication affirm the very advice that you have been giving for years. That happened to us recently when the online publication Search Engine Watch published an article about the future holds for effective marketing.

In short, the article points out the fact that “being found” is much more than writing articles with the appropriate keywords and meta tags. It is about integrating SEO tactics into marketing. What this means is that it is simply not possible to focus heavily on one aspect of marketing and expect it to be effective.

This is not news to us at Legal Marketing Maven. Even back in the day when everyone else was pushing rankings, we recognized that this was just a small part of a commanding online presence. We recognized that marketing tactics should be looked at as holistic, integrated approach and not individual parts. It was with this idea that we developed our Done-For-You marketing program.

We recognized a long time ago that an effective marketing program only works if you include Branding, PR, and demonstration of thought leadership through articles, videos and social participation. We put a package together that allowed estate planning attorneys to easily implement this marketing strategy on their own and managed to keep the cost very low.  That was 2 and ½ years ago.

Are we tooting our own horn here? Probably. But, sometimes when you are leading the pack you should let people know about it.  In fact, we hope you are doing the same!  Toot away!

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.

• By Laura Lee

What Is the Point of Social Media Anyway?

I’ve heard this question over and over from lawyers who are wondering why they would want to invest their valuable time into what they consider to be some frivolous conversations that take place on social media outlets.

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.

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.

• By Laura Lee

Addressing Some FAQ’s

We‘ve had a ton of interest in the DFY materials that we have been talking about for the last few months but I’ve also received a quite a few emails and wanted to answer some of the frequently asked questions I’ve been getting.

Does Legal Marketing Maven also help with implementing the marketing materials? I don’t have enough time to do it myself.

Yes!  We are an implementation company!  The DFY packages were put together to help lawyers that have in house staff (or virtual teams that they are working with) so that they didn’t have start every month from scratch.  But we will happily put together an implementation package that meets your needs, just reply to this email and schedule a complimentary strategy session with me to explore those options.

Do all of your DFY materials focus on general estate planning (or focus on one particular niche)? I am an elder law lawyer, will it work for me?

Our DFY materials are eclectic and focus on estate planning for the young and old, we try to incorporate basic estate planning, elder law and administration into our materials each month because we believe your practice will benefit from serving clients in all stages of their life.

Do you have DFY materials for other practice areas? I am a bankruptcy lawyer and would love materials like this for my law firm.

Currently our DFY materials are only for Estate planning attorneys however, we are planning to launch 2 new practice areas this year.  If you are interested in these types of materials for your practice area please reply to this email and let me know what that is, it will help me determine which 2 areas we will roll out next.

If you need the services now, let’s schedule a time to chat about what your needs are and create a custom package that will meet your needs.

Does Legal Marketing Maven work with lawyers in other practice areas?

Yes!  We privately work with clients in a variety of practice areas – personal injury, medical malpractice, bankruptcy, business law and family law.  Our services span a wide range including but not limited to:

•    Development and execution of direct response marketing campaigns
•    Web writing, Copywriting and Blogging
•    Teleseminars and Webinars
•    Landing Pages/ Squeeze Pages
•    Email Marketing
•    Newsletters
•    Infusionsoft Management
•    Autoresponders
•    Search Engine Optimization
•    Social Media Marketing
•    Article Marketing
•    Reputation Management
•    Press Releases and Public Relations
•    Marketing of In-Person Events/ Conferences
•    Creation and Launch of Lead Generation Pieces
•    Product Launches

Do you have more questions, or 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.

• By Laura Lee

Do You Have Enough Business? How PR for Lawyers Can Help!

We’ve spoken to many attorneys throughout the country and Canada and the answer we get to this question over and over is a resounding, “No!”

Well, that isn’t surprising. According to the American Bar Association there is one attorney for every 300 people in the United States and 1 for every 450 people in Canada.

Yikes! So, how does an attorney stand out in this very large and ever-expanding crowd? You need to become the expert in your community in the niche that your serve.

How you become this is through a combination of efforts– many which are quite affordable (sometimes f’ree) but often overlooked. Once such great tool is the development and implementation of a public relations strategy.

Inside of the public relations strategy you will have many tasks but the goal is to demonstrate yourself as an expert in your field to increase your presence in your industry and attract new business. The question is…how do you accomplish this? Simply put you must inform the public (your client base) and referral sources of the services you provide and how you are different from the thousands of other attorneys in your community. And there’s no better way to do that than being quoted and identified as an expert in the media. Being interviewed on television, in your local newspaper or other publication can vastly increase your credibility.

So, how do you gain this type of exposure?

One of the best ways is to create relationships with reporters and become their ‘go-to’ source for stories or news broadcast reports. You have to reach out to reporters and prove to them that you have expertise but if you make the right connection it can result in huge rewards. But, building this type of relationship takes work. A great way to start building this relationship is to help them do their job! They are constantly looking for ideas for stories. Be sure to keep an eye out for trends or news where you can showcase your expertise that would also be interesting to the public. Pitch the story idea to them in a complete package so they can easily pick it up and make it news.

Here’s three other ways to increase your chances of getting picked up by the press:

-Spend just as much time on your “pitch letter” as you do on your press release! In most cases, it’s the pitch letter that opens the door for f’ree publicity. The press release is often a secondary tool in this process.

-Recognize the media’s interest is to cover timely stories– not just to provide free advertising to any small business owner that wants it Before you pitch, think “is this something I would care to read if I saw it in the paper about another local business in town?” If the answer is no, go back to the drawing table.

-Tie into holidays and national observances when possible. These “hooks” dramatically increase your chances of getting covered as they automatically provide you with a timely platform when pitching the press.

Image above is of one of our private clients Heather Chubb on being interviewed on her local morning television show. If you pitch the right story at the right time you may find yourself sitting in a chair during a news broadcast showcasing your skills and abilities.

Want to learn the step by step process on how to build these relationships, and obtain great PR for your firm, check out our training “Behind the Scenes Secrets of Great Legal PR Campaigns That You or Your Team Can Implement Now” 

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.

• By Laura Lee

Turn Your Law Firm Team Members Into Raving Fans!

Through my years of working with attorneys I have heard more than one complaint about how their team members aren’t very good at discussing the services their law firm provides to prospective clients. The disappointment is usually because their staff members are unable to describe services to the satisfaction of the prospective client to where they make an appointment to meet with the attorney. And this is a very valid concern.

But there are a lot of people who aren’t good at sales.

So, what’s an attorney to do?

Fire all the staff and start over?

No, please don’t do that! Instead, turn them into raving fans of the firm and the services you provide.

Yes, make sure they can describe the services that your firm provides like they would if you asked them to describe their children, their favorite pet, or a hobby they are passionate about.

Get them EXCITED about what you are doing at the firm.

In my experience, the inability to describe services the law firm provides with enthusiasm is a result of not really understanding the value and benefits. Here are a few things you can try before you give your team the boot.

1. Explain why you chose the practice areas that you did.

Most attorneys choose their practice areas because they were passionate about them. Do you have a personal experience that made you choose that particular area? I once knew an attorney who had lost her husband at a very young age. Even though she was an attorney she had failed to plan properly for her own death or the death of her husband. After all, rarely to 20-somethings get motivated to do so. The story she had to tell was extremely touching and it is her passion to make sure that families don’t struggle needlessly at a time when they are grieving for the loss of a loved one. So, there was at least one person on her staff that understood that she was an estate planning attorney and could explain the services that were provided, but didn’t really have that passion that is needed to motivate people to do their own planning. That is, until she finally heard the attorney’s story.

2. Give them real-life stories of the services you provide.

If your law firm is like most, your staff is extremely busy with day-to-day tasks. Their heads are down and they are working on bits and pieces of the matters that flow through your office. But, have they ever really seen the whole picture? Share with your staff some of the stories of the problems you have solved for people. People go to attorneys to solve their problems. Just share with your staff some of the inspirational stories that you surely have and help them see, in real-life terms, how you help people.

3. Make sure they are describing the benefits instead of just the services you provide.

Your staff may be very clear and quite articulate about describing the services that your law firm provides and still not be able to effectively sell your services. The reason is that people need to understand the services you provide in terms on how it will benefit them. For example, they may understand that you litigate personal injury cases, but what they should be describing is how you put the pieces of people’s lives back together after an unexpected event like an injury due to automobile accident takes them tragically off-course. Teach them to describe your services in a way where people can understand, in terms of their particular situation, how their lives would be better if you worked with them. Ticking off a list of services you provide means very little to the general population, but taking those services and explaining how they will benefit that person will generate more clients in your door.

These are just a few examples of situations that I have observed where there may be a disconnect between having your staff members being able to bring clients into the firm. If you have a particular situation with a team member that you would like to solve, please feel free to listen to this workshop that I did with my partner Paula Woolley on effective follow-up.

Do you have more questions, or 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.

• By Laura Lee

Law Firm Management: Do you have an emergency plan?

I don’t usually share too much of my personal life on this blog (mainly because I’m just naturally a private person), but this morning as I sat and drank my coffee and looked out at the early morning dew drying under the rays of the morning sun across the pastures, I realized how important this topic was for me to share.

It’s part of the journey, it’s part of running a successful business, and I need to share it.

This year has been the absolutely hardest year of my life. In January and February my husband had four major surgeries, and then we received the horrifying news from the doctors that his cancer was not only back but it had metastasized and was all throughout his body, stage IV and no treatments were available.

About that same time, I was forced to make some sudden career shifts when it became clear the person I spent the last two years and a half years building revolutionary tools and systems for the legal industry with, no longer had the same vision for the company (or the future) that I did.

Really, could life get any worse? I wanted to crawl up in bed, pull the cover over my head and not wake up. But I have 2 kids and a sick husband so that wasn’t an option.

I’m not brave, I’m not strong, I simply am. And I had to do what I had to do when it became clear my back was up against the wall.

So, I brushed myself off, let go of the anger and ego, and said we need to make the best of this—which meant I re-launched my own business that I had put on hold doing the things I talked about above over the past few years.

However, a strong team grew from the relationships that I had made during that process (being some of the dearest friends I have) and we re-built the business that I had neglected for so long within a matter of months.

So why am sharing this now? Well, it is 6 months later and my husband’s cancer is progressing, hospice visits regularly, (nurses, doctors, CNA’s, social workers, therapists, chaplains…) he is on lots of meds, and requires more and more of my attention.

Yet because I knew this day would someday come, I re-launched my business with clear plans and systems in place so that if I ever needed to take a temporary absence (whether that be a day or 2-3 weeks) I could rest easy knowing everything would carry on smoothly and efficiently until I was able to jump back in and take the reins.

I am lucky (which seems strange because most days I’m not feeling to lucky right now), but I have been given time to plan for my absence and to have systems in place, so that my business will run without me when I need to be gone. Because, I will need to be gone a few days here and there to be with my kids and my husband as we go through this journey together.

So I said all that to say: what is your emergency plan?

Do you have systems and plans in place that would allow your business to run without you should unexpected circumstances arise? Or forget unexpected circumstances! Perhaps you just want to go on vacation. Do you have things set up so you can leave town for a week and not have to worry about whether your clients are being serviced in the same manner that they would be if you were there doing it yourself?

So many of you are my friends, and I care about you, don’t leave things to chance, you have worked hard to build your business, PLEASE make sure you have a documented, systematized plan in place in case of an emergency that would require you to be “gone” because you may not have weeks or months to plan for it….as I was blessed to have.

Do you have more questions, or 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.

• By Laura Lee

Social Media Marketing for Lawyers Means More Than Trolling for Cases

An interesting article was published today by the Wall Street Journal detailing how plaintiff’s lawyers are using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to find, target and ultimately sign up new clients for their firms.

The article also briefly touched upon the use of Pay-Per-Click  and Facebook ads as part of this growing strategy, which are undoubtedly helpful for lawyers who engage in “quick strike campaigns” or campaigns designed to reach plaintiffs as a breaking injury or product liability story hits.

And while I agree that social media sites are a place to find and engage new clients in a systematic, consistent and authentic way, it’s only a small piece of the puzzle as far as an overall social media strategy should be concerned.

Remember, social media conversations happen in real time.   Never in the history of man have consumers had the ability to express their feelings (positive or negative) about a product or service to thousands of people the moment they experience them.

Of course that could mean disaster for firms who are ignorant of such conversations (ever read about the Motrin Moms debacle?) or for those firms who give less than adequate service to clients who are actively involved on Twitter or Facebook.

In the ignorance category, I’m specifically reminded of a lawyer who called me a few months ago for social media help.

Essentially, his firm (which is nationally known) did not have a social media strategy and they never quite got around to developing one either.  Until of course they were notified that their social media profiles were hijacked and someone was posting comments and information that made them look VERY bad in the public eye.

The partners of this firm did their best to jump in and fix the problem, but the damage was already done.  Yet had they been more involved in monitoring the chatter about their firm to begin with, they could have caught the imposter and started damage control right away.

So in talking about social media, I like to encourage lawyers to take a four-prong approach to their strategy in which they will:

1. Consistently and systematically connect with, and educate,  prospective clients on their practice area/ services
2. Show their firm (and trial lawyers in general) in a favorable light to the local jury pool
3. Engage in real-time reputation management
4. Connect with and reach out to the local and national media

Again, I want to reiterate that an attorney’s presence on social media sites requires more than simply trolling for cases or potential clients.

Instead, resolve to implement a comprehensive approach to social media and you’ll find the cases and clients come naturally in time.

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.

• By Laura Lee

5 Tips For Setting Up Your Law Firm For Outsourcing Success

The entire Legal Marketing Maven team is traveling this week to Fairfax, VA, to participate at Ben Glass’ Great Legal Marketing Conference.  Our good friend Jay Fleischman is our guest author this week.  Jay has been outsourcing the tasks in his law practice for many years, and shares below 5 tips for outsourcing success.  We’ll be back next week and ready to share many new ideas that I’m positive we will come away from Ben’s event with.  Have a great week!
~Laura Lee

Are you thinking about outsourcing certain tasks or workflow issues in your law firm?  If you are, you’re not alone.  Outsourcing is on the minds of many solo and small firm lawyers.  The promise of lower overhead, more freedom and the ability to concentrate on core business problems creates a siren song for attorneys.

But as with any other decision in your law office, you’ve got to have a roadmap; without one, you’re doomed to failure from the outset.  The notion of outsourcing is not nearly as quick and easy as making a phone call to a stranger and walking away.

Here, then, are the 5 tips I live by when outsourcing any process for my law firm:

Determine:  Think about your needs and goals.  What do you want to outsource, and why do you want to do so?  This may sound simplistic, but the “why” portion of the question gets many lawyers hamstrung.  Rather than having a reason do something, they frequently think in terms of what they do NOT want to do.  “I don’t want to be bothered with drafting these motions,” rather than, “I recognize that drafting routine motions is best left to someone else, leaving me free to carefully review and revise drafts for a final review.”

Document:  When outsourcing, don’t presume that anyone else in the world has your brain or background.  You need to be able to provide any professional with a detailed set of instructions on exactly how you want tasks accomplished.  Without such documentation, you’re leaving results up to chance.  You’re also guaranteeing that an outsourced professional (who likely charges by the hour) will need to spend more time than is necessary merely to get up to speed.

Interview:  When it comes to outsourcing for your law firm, there’s nothing more important that ensuring that there is a match of skills and attitude.  Office-bound employees are subject to vetting, so why would you not do the same with an outsourcing professional?

Manage:  The service you provide is always your responsibility, so you need to manage the work your law firm outsources.  Some tools you may decide to work with are Basecamp, Google Wave, or even Google Docs.  Wikis and project management solutions abound, and it’s your responsibility to ensure that they are utilized to maximize the efficiency of your law firm.

Hone:  Your initial experience with outsourcing will be merely a trial run for the long-term.  Mistakes will be made, none of which will be anyone’s fault in particular.  Instructions will be misunderstood or poorly communicated, and the ball will be dropped.  You will be managing each task closely, but it may be frustrating to both you and the outsourced professional.  Take the time to listen to suggestions for improvement, and make some constructive ones of your own.  Refine the process regularly and you will minimize the problems later on.

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.

• By Laura Lee

Law Firm Marketing Brain Tapped Dry? 4 Ways to Replenish the Source

In our world, no magic potions exist to give us infinite motivation or a download of creative energy to our law firm marketing brains. For the lawyer, the long hours and stress can tax your energy reserves pretty quickly.

Luckily, there are easy, practical ways to stimulate your brain, keep your energy up and motivation full force.  Here are a few:

Glucose

To complete any task (especially those that require a lot of creativity and ‘out of the box’ thinking like new law firm marketing campaigns), a person must have a lot of self control and discipline to keep on track and stay on a schedule. This can be taxing on your energy supply. In fact, according to researchers from Florida State University, “Some patterns of poor self control are attributable to drops in glucose level.”

So what does this tell you? If you find your mind wandering, your finger itching to go click endlessly to the outer edges of the Internet when you should be focusing on work, it may be due to low blood sugar (glucose). Replenish the supply! Drinking some fruit juice is a quick and easy response to wandering minds.

Exercise

More than just getting into your swimsuit for the summer – exercise has been shown to keep your mood elevated, reduce the risk of certain diseases and also increase your mental ability. In a paper by Henrietta van Praag of the National Institutes of Health it is shown that exercise is one of the most active stimuli in creating new brain neurons! It’s a process called neurogenesis, and it factors into your learning ability and memory retention.

Meditation

Don’t roll your eyes – many studies show that meditation can improve your ability to focus, as well as build on your emotional control. The more you mediate and learn to control your thoughts, the more attention you will be able to give to your tasks. Meditation also reduces stress and helps you to live a more balanced lifestyle. There was a study done in the Science Daily that actually shows you can reap these benefits by meditating just 20 minutes a day for FOUR days. However, researcher Fadel Zeidan points out – ‘This doesn’t mean that you meditate for four days and you are done – you have to keep practicing.’

Nature

We are all a part of nature, so it’s only (no pun intended) natural that the beauty and splendor of our world would add to the relaxation of the mind. Beyond aesthetics, putting plants in your office or even just hanging nature pictures can improve your memory! Really! An experiment conducted at the University of Michigan gave the participants a string of random numbers to memorize and repeat backwards. Half of the group was sent to a busy street and the other half to an arboretum – there they repeated the test.

Those in the arboretum outperformed by 20% or more! So, hang some pictures and if you can take weekend trips out to just relax in the natural world for a while, see if you don’t have some improvements if not in your memory, then at least in your anxiety levels.

Would you like to talk about how we can save you 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.

• By Laura Lee

Give Back, Get Involved…..and Get Clients for Your Law Firm

I wanted to address something today that’s seemingly fallen by the wayside in the legal industry, and that’s getting involved and giving back to your local community as part of your long-term, law firm marketing plan.

Of course let me first make clear that you should NOT get involved in your local community simply to GET back.  If you read this post with those intentions, you will surely be disappointed.

But, if you can identify a cause that you feel passionate about and truly offer some sweat equity, cash or pro-bono legal help toward making that charity, organization or non-profit flourish, you’ll find referral sources and client streams in places you’ve never thought of before.

Now I understand as a small or solo attorney, your schedule is insane.  Most of you are holed up in your offices so long that you rarely see the light of day.   But I want to throw out 3 simple ways you can give back, get involved and ultimately get more clients for your law firm:

1. If you DO have some extra time, I recommend finding a non-profit, charity or religious organization that you believe in and put some cold, hard- sweat-equity into making it grow.  Serve on a board of directors, volunteer your time or offer pro-bono legal help.  It’s a hands on approach but it will grow your network base and position your firm to make a real impact where  it matters the most.
2. If your time is limited, I suggest offering monthly contributions or donating a percentage of your fees to the charity, non-profit or religious group of your choice.  One of my Legal Marketing Maven clients gives back 10% of her fees to any non-profit group that allows her to speak and ultimately serve their members.    Of course, the group is thrilled to have her donations and she’s thrilled to work with their client base.  It’s a win-win for everyone.
3. If you have office staff willing to get involved, start your own community outreach.  Distribute blankets and sandwiches to the homeless. Buy pack packs and schools supplies each fall and personally give them to families in low-income areas.  Make care packages of toiletries and other household items and hand them out to residents living in local motels.  The opportunities here are endless , provided you have the time and support staff to make it happen.

Finally, I recommend creating a page on your website entitled, “giving back” or something of that nature so  prospective clients can see what you’re up to and how you’re using the money they pay into your firm (you’d be surprised at how much community and charity involvement influences buying decisions).   You can check out my friend  John Bisnar’s page for a great example of this.

But the overall message here is that you must get involved.  By doing so, you’ll grow your referral and client base, open the door for speaking engagements and other promotional opportunities and sleep well at the end of the day knowing you played a part in helping others in your own back yard.

And as always, I’d love to hear how this strategy has worked for you and/or your law firm in the past.  Feel free to leave your success stories (or challenges) in the comments section below!

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.

• By Laura Lee

A lesson on nurturing, and a FREE resource for you!

WoW! The flood gates have opened which is such a lesson in marketing.

Since making the announcement of the relaunch of Legal Marketing Maven and the awesome team I have put in place, I have been overwhelmed at the response from attorneys across my networks who are interested in working with us or who want to help us by referring business.

The important lesson here, it is important to nurture your list, and your relationships all the time, no matter what!

I confess, other than this blog and social media, I haven’t been PERFECT at this but I have been CONSISTENT with it and because of that, my calendar is full of phone conferences with attorneys and other service providers that would like to work with us going forward or simply want to reconnect to see how we can serve each other.

During these conversations, something else became clear to me as it should be for you.  Not everyone is going to be a perfect fit to be your client, and there are a multitude of reasons that can contribute to that.  Sometimes, it is simply timing and you should always look for a way to bring value to those that are in your tribe.

Because of this, and because there have been so many that do want to stay more closely connected to me and my team, I have decided to set up a F*R*E*E private forum for attorneys and service providers, to share resources, ideas and conversation – introducing LM2 Connections.

If you would like to join this private forum there are some basic guidelines you must meet:

1.  You must be an attorney (law students will be considered email us for more info)

2.  You must have a website where this is verifiable.

3.  You must have a phone number where this is verifiable.

All membership requests will be subject to our approval.

To apply, simply email help@tremendous-arm.flywheelsites.com from your business email account with your name, contact information (including website and phone number) and a short line or two about why you would like to be part of our community.

We look forward to seeing your application!

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.