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The dangers of placing all of your eggs in the online marketing basket

Was your site affected by Godaddy’s hacking yesterday? 

Fortunately, only a handful of our clients went down when Godaddy’s servers were attacked by someone living in their mother’s basement–er, Anonymous. Our website managed to stay up, which is strange because our domain is registered with GoDaddy, although it’s hosted with Hostgator. No complaints here though!

But as I watched people on Facebook argue about the security of Godaddy and the dangers of trusting this particular company, I was quickly reminded of the dangers business owners face simply by placing all of their financial eggs online! 

Over the past 5 years, many lawyers have been told to cancel their yellow page ads, stop hosting seminars and quit sending print newsletters because the only thing that mattered in the future would be your web presence. 

Of course SEO and social media matters tremendously, but it’s only ONE piece of the marketing puzzle! At any given day, your site could go offline. Google could change it’s algorithms and your site could fall out of the search results. Hackers could strike–or unscrupulous marketing and internet companies could hold your site hostage simply because you don’t want to work with them anymore. 

That’s why as a local business owner, it’s critical for you to embrace other forms of marketing to ensure your income is continuously flowing in, even if one particular source runs dry. 

Every quarter, you should be mailing a print newsletter. It’s a great way to communicate about upcoming events, important legal information and build deeper relationships with your clients and prospects. 

You should be running ads in places where your ideal clients hang out. Contrary to popular belief, advertising per se is NOT dead. If you are creating ads the right way and driving to free events, books/reports or planning sessions, you’ll still see great results! 

You should be nurturing relationships with your referral sources. We just gave all of our clients a sample email to send to their Financial Advisors as about an upcoming observance that would be great to tie into for marketing purposes. We want to keep the good will flowing and stay on top of our key advisor’s minds. 

You should be actively searching for opportunities to present to groups or hosting speaking engagements of your own. 

And, now that we are approaching the holidays, it’s a great idea to create holiday cards or purchase small gifts that can be sent to your clients and referral sources. A small gesture in the mail goes a LONG way! 

Finally, when possible, your firm should be participating in local charities and fundraiser events to keep your name out there while giving back to your community. 

These are just a few ways diversify your marketing so that you are not 100% tied to the internet. As much as I love the web and enjoy running a online company, I am keenly aware that what works today many not even be in existence tomorrow. Please keep that in mind too as you plan your marketing out for the remainder of the year.

 

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.

CSI for a Poor Lead Generating Law Firm Website

CSIOne nice thing about attending the Planning for the Generations Symposium last month was the ability to sit down with attorneys and have in-depth conversations about what they felt was…or was not working in terms of driving new business to their law firm. 

By far, the biggest area of disappointment we heard had to do with their law firm website. 

Most told us they had spent big money to have a site designed, but it wasn’t driving leads. This was especially frustrating for attorneys who did not own their websites, but were hosted with big companies which charge hefty monthly fees to maintain and keep the site live. 

At the very least, they just wanted to see their website cover the costs of maintenance–but they were certain the site wasn’t even generating that much. 

Finding the Disconnect 

Whenever a client tells us their website isn’t bringing in new business, our first job is to identify the disconnect. Here are some of the questions we ask:

  • Is there a website MARKETING problem? Having a website and website MARKETING are two totally different things. It takes ongoing work to ensure your site is found by ideal clients. Is the site optimized for SEO? Is the attorney (or legal staff) blogging regularly? Is the site being promoted on social media or via Pay-Per-Click ads? All of these strategies can increase the effectiveness of your firm website and must be done on a consistent basis or you WON’T see results! 

  • Is there an ADMINISTRATIVE problem? Whenever an attorney tells us they aren’t getting calls from the website, we go into full-blown data gathering mode. What I typically find is that their phone is connected to a voicemail answering service (so they don’t actually know who is calling and where they are coming from)–OR the secretary is not asking each and every lead how they found the firm. Once we take care of these two very simple things, it then becomes clear that leads ARE coming in from the website….they just didn’t know it! 

  • Is there a CONTENT problem? Maybe you’re ranking on page 1 in all of the search engines, but people STILL aren’t calling your office. It could be that your content is unclear, overwhelming or has no real call to action. Perhaps it looks too generic and doesn’t display you as the expert you are. All of these issues can cause visitors to immediately leave and move onto to the sites of your competition. 

  • Is there a NICHE problem? More people than ever are searching for services online, but what if your ideal clients still aren’t there? Do you handle elder law? VA Benefits? Social Security? Many of your ideal clients may simply not know how to find you because they can’t use the web. In this case, it’s still important to have a great website, but you’ll need to focus your efforts on traditional advertising and offline marketing strategies, too.

Collecting The Data 

Until you figure out the answer to the questions above, you can’t really come up with a solid plan to increase the effectiveness of your website. Here are a few things to set up and start tracking to help you get to the bottom of these issues:

  • Google Analytics- You must have analytics installed on your site. You can’t make an educated plan of attack if you don’t know exactly how many people are visiting your site, where they are coming from, how long they are staying on your pages (i.e. if your content is not relevant or is overwhelming, they’ll bounce right off), what keywords people are using to find you and what the most popular pages on your site are. Google analytics gives you all of this data every single day–for FREE. 

  • Track all inbound calls- I know things can get crazy during the day, but every single caller must be asked how they found your firm. This can be done conversationally as your secretary works to gather more information and determines how you might be able to help them. Some secretaries may feel awkward asking this question until a potential client actually schedules an appointment, but encourage them to ask everyone regardless. 

  • Make sure your calls are being answered by a live person- You can’t do the step above if your calls are being forwarded to an answering machine. If you don’t have anyone to answer phones at this time, sign up for Call Ruby. I highly recommend their services. 

  • Ask people you trust to critique your website- Find out how they feel about your content, the layout and the first impression it gives them. Where do they feel confused? Overwhelmed? Turned off? You’d be surprised what an extra set of eyes can discover. When doing this just last week for a client, we found out  his homepage said he practiced in a completely different state and his phone number was wrong! Would you call that guy? And if you did–you wouldn’t even get through! 

  • Google yourself- Know where you are ranking for your top keywords (including your name!). If you can’t find yourself past the first few pages in Google, you are virtually invisible to potential clients. Time to do some SEO.

These are just a few steps we take when undergoing website analysis for a client. If you’re unhappy with the results of your website, I encourage you to do a little “tech CSI” and seek to uncover the answers to some of these questions. Your findings may make a huge difference in the business you are able to generate from your website and marketing efforts this year.

 

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 Struggling To Get More Business From Your Website?

Are you struggling to get more business from your website? Are you driving regular traffic but it feels like no one is taking the next step to pick up the phone and call? 

As you probably know from browsing online yourself, people often bounce from website to website “vetting” local professionals and trying to find the answers to their questions. The whole process can feel very overwhelming, as most legal websites look the same and consumers are afraid to make the wrong choice. 

A great way to neutralize the overwhelm and capture a prospect’s information anyway–even if they aren’t quite ready to call–is to implement a strategy of lead generation. 

Effective lead generation is the process of offering something of value to the prospect in exchange for their contact information. They are getting something they want for free with no pressure to buy. You, on the other hand, are getting their email address and phone number so you can stay in touch and continue to build a relationship with them via your newsletter or other campaigns until the very moment they are ready to make an appointment. 

Can you see how this strategy is different than passively putting up a website and hoping people call? By focusing on lead generation, you are getting permission to put new prospects on your LIST, which means you can now communicate with them indefinitely. They may not call right away, but as you build the relationship and become someone they know, like and trust, you are creating a higher quality client and increasing the chances they’ll refer their friends and family to you. 

So what kind of lead generation strategies can you implement to encourage prospects to take the next step and request a no-charge offering from you? Here are a few of our favorite ways to capture fresh leads online: 

1. Offer a free digital download that’s accessed by entering their name and email address on your contact form. You can give potential clients a free report, a digital brochure, an MP3 or even video series. An example of this would be the report we created this month for our Done-For-You program was entitled, “Surviving The ‘Sandwiched’ Years: How To Protect Your Parents’ Assets, Honor Their Wishes & Provide Long-Term Care….Without Losing Your Money–Or Your Mind!” By downloading this report, someone who is looking to do legal planning for their aging parents can get the information they need without pressure and you are able to capture their contact information so you can follow up and stay in touch. 

2. Require registrations (opt-ins) for your public seminars. Don’t just pass out flyers hoping people will come. Send prospects to a landing page that is designed to capture the full contact information of attendees. This allows you to stay in touch with your new leads after the event and reach out to no-shows with a special marketing campaign. 

3. Make available a free gift by mail. For consumers who would like more information on a key topic or about your firm, offer to send out physical products by mail. This could include Cds, DVDs, a copy of your book or a “shock and awe” package for your firm. This is similar to offering digital downloads but you may find that your ideal clients are less tech-savvy and prefer to receive things the old fashioned way. 

I encourage you to take some time this week and think of your most frequently asked questions or the greatest challenges your clients face and create an educational piece that addresses these issues free of charge. Then put this new lead generation piece on your website, social media profiles and even in your traditional advertising campaigns to entice more potential clients to reach out to your law firm. 

We will talk about some creative follow up strategies next time!

This is the complete marketing campaign from our Done-For-You program that includes a free report to help aging parents plan for long term care which will help you capture leads on your website, landing page copy, advertisement copy and a follow-up email campaign to help convert readers into paying clients of your firm. It’s one of our largest and most comprehensive packages that will WOW your prospects. Get the campaign now for just $497. 

 

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.

3 Creative Ways To Capture Leads At Live Speaking Events

A few months ago I had a strategy call with an attorney who was frustrated he didn’t have more business coming in the door. As I started to ask he questions about his current marketing efforts, I found out that he was doing speaking engagements almost every week! 

Stunned by this, my very first question was, “how are you staying in touch with the people you’re meeting at these events?” and “what are you doing to convert them into clients?” He told me that he typically passes out business cards and just waits for them to call. 

Ouch. 

When doing any kind of live speaking engagement, your primary goal (besides putting on a great presentation!) is to capture the contact information for as many people as you can in the room. 

Remember our trusty rule of 7? Capturing attendee’s information now gives you the opportunity to add them to your mailing list and communicate with them on a regular basis. 

In fact, when our private clients do speaking events, we have multi-step, automated follow-up sequences in place to ensure we are staying in touch with these warm leads and gently pushing them toward becoming a paying client. These sequences typically include an immediate post-event email, a letter and sometimes a personal phone call. 

Now remember, people will not just give you their name, email and phone number just because you ask. You may have to get a little creative in order to capture this valuable information. Here are 3 of our favorite ways to collect personal information without acting ike a used car salesman:

1. Do a raffle or prize giveaway- Make sure the prize or free giveaway that you are offering is something the particular audience you are speaking to wants. Examples might include tickets to a ball game, a certificate for a local restaurant, spa, etc. To enter, attendees must include their contact information on your registration form. Be sure to note on the form that they’ll also start receiving a complimentary subscription to your email newsletter as a bonus for registering. 

2. Offer bonus educational materials- Another great way to capture leads during events where you are not allowed to overtly promote yourself is to offer supplemental learning materials that you can “mail out” to attendees free of charge. This could include free guides, brochures, informational CDs etc. Examples might include a guide to securing VA benefits for a loved one or a CD on 7 things you should know before filing bankruptcy. Have an order form ready so that you can deliver the goods (and stay in touch with your leads!) after the event. 

3. Make a special offer for a free appointment with you- Many of our estate planning clients will offer a free, 2-hour planning session with anyone who fills out a questionnaire and qualifies during their live events. It helps them to book more initial consultations while simultaneously builds their internal database. If your practice area allows you to make a similar offering, bring your calendar and consider ways to capture names and book appointments on the spot. 

Finally, don’t forget to ask attendees to follow you on sites like Twitter and Facebook, as it’s another great way to stay in touch with warm leads! Make a plan to start collecting this information any way you can so you can stop leaving money on the table at live events!

 

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.

3 Ways to Get More Love From Referral Partners

Referral ImageIf your referrals from local professionals are running dry, it might be time implement new strategies to nurture those professional relationships and keep business flowing again. Rather than just asking for their recommendation, here are three creative ways to add value to your referral partner’s business and make it irresistible to work with you:

  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!

 

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.

5 Ways To Spark More Engagement With Your Law Firm Email Newsletter

Law Firm Ezine EngagementOne of the biggest frustrations I hear from attorneys sending email newsletters is that people seem to ignore them and open rates suggest they aren’t being read.

If you’re also concerned about this, or you just want to make sure your email marketing is bringing in maximum results, take a few minutes and read the 5 strategies I’ve outlined for you below.

5 Ways To Spark More Engagement With Your Email Newsletter

If you’re sending an email newsletter but feel like it’s not getting much attention….or perhaps not even getting read at all, it may be time to change your approach.

The purpose of email marketing is to build relationships, not just occupy inbox space.  It’s one of those low-cost “touches” that help people get to know, like and trust you, so that they feel comfortable doing business with you down the road.

But if you’re not being heard, or worse, your email is not being delivered–all of your efforts will be in vein.

Before we get into the 5 steps you can take to get more mileage out of your ezine , an important first step would be figuring out your current email marketing “stats” as they stand.  This will help you to track your results as you implement some of the suggested strategies below.

Specifically, pay attention to your current open rate and deliverability stats if you have them.  Then try some of these small, but powerful changes to increase your engagement and help ensure your hard work doesn’t end up in the virtual “trash”:

1. Spark curiosity with your subject lines– If your email open rates are low, start using creative subject lines that make opening your email irresistible. Pull something from the ezine that leaves them hanging so they feel the need to click and learn more.  Here’s a few examples of highly clicked titles we recently used for our clients: “My Valentine,” “I stole the chairs,” and “I never saw this coming…”.

2. Open with a personal note– People want to do business with people–not law firms.  Don’t be afraid to add a few personal tidbits before your article each week to help people relate and connect with you on a personal level.  Talk about your family, vacations, weekend activities…and even include some pictures, too!

3.  Avoid too many “promotional” or “spam” words– One reason your emails may not be getting opened is that you are using too many words that cause your email to be filtered into spam.  Free is a big one, and so are other promotional phrases like “50 % off!”  and “call now !”.  In some cases, email providers won’t even deliver these messages to their users at all…filtering them instead into the black hole of the internet.

4.  Make your email newsletter interactive.  Ask your readers questions and seek out their opinions.  You can even go outside the box and ask questions that have nothing to do with the law.  One of our clients recently moved into a new office, so we asked readers to share their favorite places to find inexpensive artwork and décor.  Responses came pouring in from people she hadn’t heard from in years.  It’s great to know that people are listening, asking questions helps to build relationships without sacrificing too much of your time.

5.  Tell people what you want them to do– If people aren’t taking action after reading your newsletter, it might be that you aren’t telling them clearly enough what to do. Don’t be afraid to include clear calls to action asking readers to sign up for an event, take advantage of a discount, follow you on social media or forward your email to a friend.  As long as you are providing quality content and are not being overly promotional, people will appreciate you helping them take the next step.

Try implementing these changes and pay close attention to your results.  If more people are interacting with you and open rates improve, you’re on the right track!

Have any other tips to increase engagement with your email newsletter? Please come share them on our facebook 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.

Does the Rule of 7 Apply to Law Firm Marketing?

ConsistencyIf you’re not consistent, you’re non-existent

If the marketing for your law firm is not producing the ROI or results you want, you may have a problem with being consistent.

Consistent marketing isn’t just slick sales lingo from a marketer or advertising rep. trying to get more business from you.  In order for people to know, like and trust you, they have to hear from you regularly.

If you’ve never heard of the “Rule of 7”, it’s an old marketing adage that says a prospect needs to see or hear your marketing at least 7 times before they’ll take action and buy something.

If you think about this in light of your own buying habits, you’ll probably find it to be true.  How often do pick up the phone and call a high-end service provider based on a one-off advertisement coming from someone you don’t know?

But when you start to hear from someone regularly…and then maybe a friend or a independent 3rd party (like the local news media) drops this service provider’s name too, your relationship with the company can quickly move from ice-cold to warm and receptive.

Now consistent marketing doesn’t mean you have to buy expensive ads in local magazines or the yellow pages every single month, either.  That may work for your particular business, but here’s a few other places where you can increase your marketing results by committing to consistency:

•    Email newsletter- Pick a frequency that you are comfortable with and start sending your email newsletter regularly.  If you decide to send it bi-weekly on a Friday, make sure it goes out bi-weekly on a Friday!  Be a consistent presence in your prospect’s inbox.

•    Social Media- Building a presence on social media requires consistency! With so much happening on sites like Twitter and Facebook, you can’t expect to post an update once a month and get noticed!  At the very least, commit to posting and interacting on your channels at least once or twice a day.

•    Blogging- Great SEO results depends on posting regular content.  You don’t have to post daily–but shoot post on your blog at least once or twice a week.

•    Follow-up- There MUST be consistency in your follow-up!  Every client and every prospect needs to be hearing from you the exact same way, every single time.  If you’re not sure how to put a consistent follow-up strategy in place, or you’d like do train your staff how to  follow-up more effectively with the prospective clients of your firm, grab our free audio training on follow-up in the law firm here.

These are just a handful of places where implementing consistent marketing can maximize your efforts. Take the next 60 days, try our advice and track your results. We guarantee you’ll see a much greater return for your marketing dollars!

 

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.

Take a break from your legal marketing this Spring …(yes, really)

If you’d like to simplify your life and stop worrying about marketing this spring without having to jeopardize new clients coming in the door….

…then take a peek at the special we have right now on our Done-For-You monthly marketing packages for estate planning attorneys.

DFY SamplesWe know that you are so busy taking care of your business, servicing your clients and building referral relationships that your marketing sometimes takes a backseat to everything else going on.  That is why we created this program specifically for you.

These are high-quality, professionally done marketing materials with a proven track record of helping estate planning attorneys gain more clients, more page 1 search rankings, better conversions, newspaper and TV coverage, increased referrals, new speaking opportunities and more!

Each month, our DFY program includes:
•    A direct-response marketing campaign and step-by-step instructions on how to implement it (i.e. free reports, landing pages, postcards, brochures, follow-up scripts);
•    A press release and media pitch letter for maximum local publicity and SEO;
•   A weekly blog post professionally written and optimized to dominate the search engines (…for many DFY clients, our blog posts show up on page one in Google before any other page of their website!),
•    A done-for-you print newsletter to stay in-touch with clients by mail;
•    4 video scripts for video marketing; and
•    Area exclusivity!  We will not work with your competition.

It’s all of your marketing, professionally done for you each and every month, without theDFY Brochures aggravation or expense of hiring in-house staff.  All of the materials are delivered to you in editable format so that you can customize and edit as you see fit.

To head off March, we’re offering these marketing materials at just $797 per month–a $200 monthly savings off the regular price of $997.   There’s no time commitment either; try it out at the discounted price and cancel if it’s not for you. No worries, no hassles.

This is like hiring a part time legal marketing professional for your firm for only about $12 per hour, that is a huge savings while still giving you expert results.

This offer is only good until March 5th, so to learn more about the program and request exclusivity in your area, visit https://legalmarketingmaven.com/dfy

 

P.S.-  Please feel free to browse through our Portfolio photo gallery on Facebook to see real results that our clients are getting and samples of materials that you will receive in the program.

 

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.

 

The Real Reason You Need a Blog For Your Law Firm


Our Clients Say the Nicest Things

Laura Lee and her team have been instrumental in helping me consistently put out quality and informative content on social media. I have worked with other companies and virtual marketers in the past, but have run into problems because they didn't understand my industry or brand. Laura Lee and her team took the time to better understand me and have helped me refine my messaging so that my brand resonates. What is most important to me is the value of the content which is above board. I am constantly getting great feedback on my presence and the helpfulness of the content. I also don't need to manage them, it's more like the other way around! They keep me on task for deadlines and help me to keep the marketing engine moving forward. Which was something else that was lacking with others I've worked with in the past. I wanted valuable content, brand awareness, and someone to make the process easy. They nailed it on all those marks and more! Plus, Laura Lee has so many great marketing resources available to her clients and earnestly cares about them. That in and of itself is invaluable.
Kevin S.
Attorney at Law
I hired Laura Lee as a virtual assistant for my solo law practice in Richmond, VA. Anything that I wanted to get done or implement in my law practice, she knew how to do for me. Her work was always outstanding and she became a trusted implementation manager and brainstorming partner.
Bob B. Attorney at Law
I have been using Laura Lee for the past couple years for legal marketing. She is an invaluable asset for any law firm, especially those entrepreneurial attorneys flying solo! She is caring and has a deep love for helping others - plus she keeps you on your toes to help you work to achieve your goals. I highly recommend Laura Lee for the small and solo law firms for marketing needs!
Maura C.
Attorney at Law
As a very busy solo practitioner I know the importance of making certain that "things" do not fall through the cracks. Laura and her team understood the importance of this as well. I retained Laura's services a few years ago to assist me in implementing processes and procedures for each type of client I assist. The methods she and I put together worked with my goals and the quality of service I wanted to maintain and provide my clients with. Laura made suggestions that I had not thought about and provided alternate (and honestly...better) methods to accomplish my end result. I have also used several of Laura's marketing campaigns and strategies. They were each written with the goal of educating the public and spotlighting the firm. And they worked! Without a doubt, I would recommend Laura with any type of Legal Marketing. She will grow your firm...you just need to listen and implement!
Sabrina W.
Attorney at Law

Law Firm Marketing Tips: 4 Free Ways To Increase Registrations To Your Next Live Speaking Event

The number one concern when booking a live speaking event or workshop on a legal topic is, “how can I put more butts in seats and make it worth my time?!”

I don’t know one attorney who does not feel this way—and, quite frankly, it’s a legitimate concern.

You’re spending a bunch of money and time to put on a speaking engagement or workshop and it’s only natural to expect some ROI for your efforts.

So to increase the chances that you get the outcome YOU want, try these 4 FREE strategies to get more publicity and registrations for your next speaking engagement:

1.   Send an email to your database:  Let your clients, prospects and referral sources know about your upcoming events and encourage them to forward the information any friends or family members that may also need help.

2.   Canvas your town with a great flyer:  Make a great flyer with a strong call to action and have someone on your staff put it on bulletin boards or drop it off at all the places where your target market hangs out around town.

3.   Submit the event to online event calendars:  Many newspapers and TV stations have online calendars dedicated to promoting local events.   For the most part, these submissions are free and give you a great opportunity get in front of new people with your events and workshops.

4.   Write a press release and pitch local journalists-  If you know of a journalist who covers the topic you will be speaking on (i.e. senior issues, parenting issues, tax issues), write a press release  and ask him or her to cover the event.  You can also pitch your release to hyperlocal sites (i.e, patch.com) that like to publish events and any information beneficial to local citizens.

So there you have it—4 FREE ways to increase registrations to your next live speaking event or workshop.  Give them a try and be sure to come back and leave a comment about the results you get from these easy 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.

How To Book Legal Speaking Engagements Without Making Cold Calls

Regular speaking engagements are a key piece of any good legal marketing strategy.  The more you can get out and educate How to book speaking engagments for your law firmthe public about your practice area and the value of your services, the more quality leads you’ll see flowing into your law firm.

Perhaps your phone isn’t currently ringing with invites and the thought of cold-calling organizations gives you the creeps.  Instead of letting it deter you from speaking all together, think of it as a chance to give our favorite LM2 multi-step technique a try:

1.    Target ONE specific group or organization– It could be non-profit organizations, moms clubs, nursing homes, companies that host regular “lunch and learns,” etc.

2.    Gather all necessary contact information– You can manually compile the contact information of local groups you want to target or work with someone to compile the full contact information of every group or organization within a 25 mile radius.

3.    Warm them up with a mailing– This can be an email or a physical mailing explaining who you are, what you’d like to present, and most importantly, how inviting you to speak will benefit their particular group or organization (never forget to address the issue of “what’s in it for me!”).  Adding a lead generation piece or free guide to this mailing will supercharge your efforts.

4.     Follow up with a phone call– Now instead of “cold” calling, you are simply following up to make sure someone received your letter or marketing materials.  From there you can gauge whether there is interest in having you speak or work with their organization in some capacity in the future.

It’s a great technique that works in just about every practice area.  Just be sure not to neglect that follow up phone call (even if you have to ask your secretary do it for you!) as it often makes the difference between having your materials collect dust on someone’s desk to getting your speaking opportunity booked and confirmed.

 

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.

Relationships are Important and Must be Nurtured

relationsihpsHow are you nurturing the relationships in your business? I’m not talking about the relationships with your prospects, clients, or referral sources; instead, I’m talking about the people who support you and your business.

If you haven’t thought about this question before, let me just say having a support team and building & nurturing those relationships plays a VITAL role in the success of your law practice.

Whether you are a solo with a few contractors that work on a freelance basis or you have a large in-house staff; having a team that supports you free of drama or complications is an integral part of building your business. Note: If you do not have someone to support you please put that on your list of priorities for the New Year!

However, to ensure you are receiving the best support possible, you must know how to communicate effectively with your team or they can be a regular source of stress, unnecessary work load and aggravation– just the opposite of what you want in your firm.

That is why open, honest and direct communication with your team (or at least the manager of your team if you are not the best communicator) is critical to keeping everyone in sync.

This means empowering your team with communication about what the goals of the firm are, what the marketing plans are and exactly what you expect of them. Learning how to disagree and come to resolutions where no one is walking away feeling unheard or respected is also a vital part of the process.

So with that said, here are a few tips for effective communication:

* Always respect all your team members; and insist they honor/ respect each other as well, respect is a two way street and the only way to build good team morale.

* Be sure to give your team members clear project requirements and standard operations in your office — including the HOW and WHY behind each task for clarity and understanding.

* Conduct regular team meetings WEEKLY to understand and discuss the doubts, questions and concerns of every team member and provide solutions accordingly; remember no question is ever stupid!

* Explain the why when answering questions so your team understands the desired outcome and feels empowered to make decisions on their own based on this information.

* Define the role and responsibility of every team member clearly which allows the team member to take ownership of their responsibilities, avoid confusion or un-necessary re-work.

* When in a meeting or discussion, allow everyone have their turn to speak and suggest. Meetings do not serve a purpose if you alone keep talking and ignore/ dismiss what others have to say.

* Listen to your teams opinions and use their suggestions if found to be effective. Listening plays a significant role in effective communication.

* Always be polite in your way of speaking and behavior. When you tear down, criticize, use rude tone or body language it will usually bring upon negative feelings among team members.

* Clear out any personal differences and misunderstandings by dealing with them directly in a private setting. Keeping it inside and harboring grudges against one another may affect the team spirit and have a direct impact on the quality of everything in your law business.

* Always look for ways to display acknowledgement and appreciation through face to face interaction or electronic modes when a team member performs well. Just a pat on the back, or two lines of appreciation in an email can have a great impact to motivate a team member.

* Deal with tense situations calmly. If you are unable to do that because of the situation, simply say, let me think on this for a little while and schedule a time to deal with it after you have had a chance to relax.

* Avoid placing blame on others when any work is not done. Instead, try to figure out the cause and create a solution

Of course, these are just a handful of suggestions to improve communication in your firm. Start by implementing just 1 or 2 and add new strategies weekly as you feel comfortable with them.

It may seem like a hassle, or even a waste of time at first, but as you observe how communication directly correlates with productivity, morale, and the support you receive I guarantee this will become a permanent fixture in your law firm!

 

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 Maximizing Your Most Valuable Legal Marketing Resource?

emailWhat does legal marketing mean to you?

Is it buying a full-page spread in a glossy, high profile magazine?

Maybe it’s starting a blog and hoping someone, somewhere will come and read your posts?

Whatever “legal marketing” means to you, if your campaign does not include the intentional gathering and centralization your email contact list, you are missing out on one of the cheapest and MOST EFFECTIVE ways to generate referrals and additional revenue sources to your firm.

Think about it.  The contacts on your email list are people you already have a relationship with.  Chances are, they aren’t going to delete your emails as “spam” as though you were a stranger.  Instead, a client or former client will generally open your email to see what you have to say.

So now that you have their full attention, you can use this opportunity to build relationships, educate your clients on changing areas of the law that pertain to them, or send out friendly reminders that you and your team are always willing to help—or will at least refer them to another practicing attorney that CAN help if the problem goes beyond your expertise (again, thinking about income from passive referral sources).’

It’s also a great opportunity to ask for referrals from friends and family if the client has been satisfied with your work as an attorney.

But most importantly, email marketing provides that constant contact that you may not be able to achieve during office hours with your client.   It keeps you involved in their life and in their face, without sacrificing countless hours of your time as a busy attorney.

So hopefully by now you realize why the contact list is an “overlooked goldmine” when it comes to generating referrals and repeat clients.

What you may not know is how to get started, or how to centralize your email list so you aren’t manually adding your contacts one by one in Outlook, etc.

In my experience, one of the best (and low-cost) programs to assist with your email marketing campaign is A-Weber.  Not only does A-Weber allow you to centralize your contacts in one database (as well as individual groups), but it also helps you create an opt-in mailing campaigns to reduce the chance that your emails get marked as spam (and hence face the threat of landing on an email blacklist).

Yet for those that want to go one step further and use the list to promote products, services, etc., I recommend using a fully integrated program such as Infusion that offers shopping cart solutions, individual and group email history, fax and voice broadcasting, sale tracking, web forms, etc. all in this one platform.

But whatever program you chose, I encourage you to make a serious effort to not only collect email addresses for each and every client that walks in the door, but to also centralize your contacts into one of these programs to fully maximize your successes in an email marketing campaign.

 

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.