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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.

Free Legal Marketing Tool: Prepare Great Videos Online With EasyPrompter.com

recoding online videoI stumbled upon a great legal marketing resource the other day which has the potential to take the fear, anxiety and sheer excuses out of recording online videos so you can incorporate this media back into your overall law firm marketing plan.

The site is http://www.easyprompter.com and it’s just that—a web-based teleprompter that rolls a script across the screen as you record videos online.

With this tool, there’s no more stumbling for words or trying to figure out what to say next as you literally copy and paste your script onto their site, choose a comfortable font size, set the speed you want the words to scroll and start talking.

You can even insert pause brackets which physically stop the scroll for one second to remind you to slow down and take a natural break when you need to.

Not to mention, you won’t have the noise distraction of someone trying to hold a paper in front of your face or give away the fact that you’re reading a script by continually looking away from the camera.

It’s President Obama eloquence on a shoe-string budget.

I’m loving this tool and if you’re a lawyer hesitating to record videos, I know you’ll love it too.

But don’t just take my word for it, go over and try it and let me know what you think.  I’ll tackle WHY you should be doing videos as part of your law firm marketing strategy anyway in next week’s post.

 

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.

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

networkingWoW! 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.

Twitter Directories for Lawyers: Getting the Most out of Social Media Marketing

legalbirds-1For legal marketing professionals and attorneys, getting signed up and active on Twitter is an important step in any social media marketing campaign.

But what’s the point of signing up if you can’t be found?

That’s where twitter directories come in.

Twitter directories are third party apps that allow you to submit your twitter handle and profile so that potential clients or colleges can find you and follow in a matter of minutes.

Clearly, this is an extremely valuable tool when it comes to networking with other legal marketers, attorneys, and members of the media that may be looking to use you as a source.  Likewise, these directories allow potential clients to search by practice area (i.e, personal injury, criminal, estates), so if you don’t utlize the 5 minutes it takes to get listed, you might miss out on a great case!

You also want to make sure you are following the key players in your industry and Twitter directories make it so much easier to do that.  They also help the key players find YOU and follow what you have to say.  Obviously, it’s a win- win situation as far as networking is concerned.

So without further adieu, here are a handful of Twitter directories to get started with.  The first two are specifically for the legal profession, while the rest offer general directories and categories in which your twitter handle and profile can be named:

 

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.

Legal Marketing Tip: Get Your Law Firm on the First Page of Google with Google Maps

Do you want to explode your legal marketing efforts and show up on the first page of Google without the help of an SEO firm or an expensive Ad Words campaign?  Fortunately, that’s possible with the help of a separate search engine known as Google Maps.  Google Maps is a free, quick and easy way to ensure your law practice can be found by local clients by simply setting up an optimized account.

What is Google Maps, aka Local Search?

Local search is a special algorithm (or search method) that helps the searcher (or your potential client) find more relevant results closer to home.  The following screen shot of the search “divorce attorney, Moorestown, NJ” will illustrate what I mean by this:

google-local3

As you can see by the image, there are 10 law firms listed next to a map at the top of the page.  You’ll also notice these listings are well above firms that spend thousands of dollars a year on SEO and PPC campaigns for better search rankings.   This happened because the client “googled” a search term + a specific location or zip code and the local search engine kicked in to trump the regular search results.

As mentioned before, Google does this to provide more relevant results for those that look for goods and services in their immediate area.  If people weren’t searching this way, Google wouldn’t have created local search.  Therefore, by simply recognizing this trend and setting up an account, your firm can snag the best clients on a shoe-string marketing budget.

How to Get Your Law Practice Set Up on Google Maps

Setting up your law practice on Google Maps only requires 15 minutes of undivided attention and access to a few good videos or pictures to upload with your listing.  To get started, you’ll have to create an account with Google’s Local Business Center (www.google.com/local/add).   Fill out your personal information and follow the instructions given.  When you’ve successfully completed this step, you can then choose “add a new listing” on the following page.

From there, you will be taken to a screen asking for general business information and a brief description of the company.  Now, before you rush through and put a blanket statement such as “Florida family law practice” in the description, remember this is a search engine similar to regular Google search.  Therefore, you must use as much optimized content as possible if you want to show up above the other listings.  Going on the example above, a better way to set up your description would be, “ABC Company is a Florida (FL) family law firm specializing in divorce, wills, estates, prenups and child support cases”.

Get Personal and Showcase Your Firm

The next screen will bring you to a more personal page where you can add the firm’s hours or acceptable payment methods, in addition to pictures, YouTube videos and a personal message from the firm.  It’s important that you take the time to utilize each of these optional areas, as Google is essentially giving you the chance to add some personality to a generic listing. Similarly, it’s a known fact that seeing pictures of the building, the staff, or maybe a video of a key attorney saying a word or two about the firm can help a client overcome the fear of calling an attorney in the first place.

This page also gives you the opportunity to add 5-7 categories in which your business qualifies.  Start by typing in the words “lawyer” or “attorney” into the blank field and see what specific categories populate.  Then choose among the drop down list the categories that best describe your law practice.   Always be sure to utilize every category possible, as this too can determine when and how your firm is shown in the local search results.

Validate Your Listing

The final step in setting up Google Maps is to validate the listing.  The following screen will give two options on how to do this: 1) an automated system can call the main phone line ask for a password or 2) Google will mail a postcard within 2-3 weeks with a password to confirm the listing.  The second option will be necessary for those firms that bounce their calls to a switchboard or a pre-recorded message, as a live response must be given with the phone option.  But whichever option you choose, follow the instructions and confirm the listing to complete the set up process.

Congratulations! You Have Now Mastered Local Search

Now that you’ve mastered Google Maps, go ahead and try your hand with Yahoo and MSN local.  The larger your web presence is in this area, the more clients you will draw in for the firm.  And as a final warning, if the listing is not optimized correctly or your firm is entering a crowded industry, it may take some time before your listing shows up near the top of the map.  Remember, at the end of the day Google Maps is just another search engine, in which time and keyword popularity will always dictate who holds the top spot on the first page.

 

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.