• By Laura Lee

Happy Teams Make More Money!

It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations of running a law firm that you’ve probably overlooked a HUGE component to your success—and that’s team morale.

Remember happy teams make more money—and boosting team morale is one of the easiest ways to help them do this…hands down.

That’s because an employee treated well by her boss will radiate a “you must spend your money with our firm because this place is the best!” energy to prospective clients on the fence about signing with your law practice.

Not to mention, happy team members are more productive, they won’t drag their feet on the clock, nor will they cut corners or blatantly disregard tasks out of sheer loyalty and gratitude for all you do for them and the great work environment you’ve attempted to provide.

So what can you do to boost team morale and create loyalty among your staff?

Try some of the following:

• Order lunch (or even breakfast) for your team often. Or just give your office manager permission to take the team out to a nice restaurant on you.  Even if you can’t be there, the gesture goes a long way.
• Surprise your team with ice-cream or water ice at 4 pm as they are finishing up their day.
• If your team is pulling 15 hour shifts helping with trial prep or upcoming litigation, hand out a few $50 bills to say thanks for burning the midnight oil with you.
•  Institute a policy on Fridays that if everyone’s work is done, the team is can get a two hour start on the weekend by leaving early.
• Say thank you and give praises often.  Your team needs to hear a balanced message from you—not just criticism when things are messed up and stress is rising high.

Taking steps to boost team morale is a time-tested principle that can’t go wrong and will easily turn into more dollars for you as your team works harder, projects a better image of your firm to prospective clients and morphs into your own little “word-of-mouth army” that constantly sings your praises to their family and friends.

So what are you waiting for—make it your goal to boost morale this holiday season and get ready to grow!

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

Give the Gift of Gratitude to Your Clients This Holiday Season

As we head into the season of giving, now is a great time to show appreciation to your clients and customers. Taking the time to give thanks to your clients will set you apart, increase loyalty, improve retention, inspire more sales, and deepen relationships that last long after the initial sale.

Here are 10 easy ways you can say thank you to your clients:

1. Greeting Cards

My husband often teases me that I should own stock in Hallmark for the amount of money I spend a year on cards. I love to send cards, for a specific reason or for no reason at all.

For business, you’ve probably heard of SendOutCards (and no, I’m not an affiliate or a distributor). I get a lot of cards this way, from colleagues, and it definitely deepens the relationship for me. And it is a super-easy way for you to do that with your customers too.

2. Personal Notes

I love to send personal notes too. I have specially designed notecards that I send when I just want to connect with someone after a particularly powerful coaching call, when someone makes an investment in Platinum, when I’ve made a special connection with someone in person, or when a client just needs a little cheer.

3. Invitations

One of the things you can do for your top clients is to invite them to a special event just for them. It can be a lunch or dinner at an event you’ll all be at, or carve out a portion of your own live event to spend time just with them.

You can also invite them to special teleseminar or webinar where you offer them free content just for being your top clients.

4. Small Gifts

Flowers, books, a mug, or something more specific are all thoughtful gifts for clients. They can be sent for certain occasions or just because (that’s actually my favorite way to send a gift).

Click here to keep reading more ideas.

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

Relationships are Important and Must be Nurtured

How 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.

• By Laura Lee

Is there a Plan Behind Your Legal Marketing Efforts? If Not, You’re Wasting a Ton of Cash!

In this economy, legal marketing is a given.  You must be spending money on email marketing, internet marketing or direct marketing campaigns to get your name out there or you’ll fall prey to your market-savvy competition.

Yet if you’re marketing without a PLAN, I can guarantee you are wasting a ton of cash on your efforts.

Why?

Because a marketing plan is the only way to ensure you are strategic in your objectives and actually get a return on your money at the end of the year.

They also help you to see and monitor your day-to-day marketing goals so you can quickly ditch a plan that isn’t resonating with your target audience.

Plus your marketing plan allows you to see what tasks or goals can be handled in-house with your team and what needs to be outsourced to effectively get the job done.

Finally, your marketing plan shows you months in advance what you’ll need to create products or campaigns that WORK rather than throwing money at “trendy” or run-of the mill campaigns and merely hoping they stick.

And while I’m not going to cover the nitty- gritty of creating a great legal marketing plan, here are a few attributes to let you know if you’re on the right track:

1. Your legal marketing plan will tie into your overall business objectives– If your goal is to make 6 or 7-figures of revenue this year, your marketing plan should pin-point exactly how many leads you need to attract (and convert) to reach that dollar amount.  It should also track your marketing budget dollar- for-dollar to ensure your campaigns are contributing to that goal and not detracting from it at the end of the year.
2. Your marketing plan should communicate your objectives to your entire team and pull them into the process– Great companies ensure everyone is on board when it comes to marketing.  Everyone has a task and key piece of the puzzle to implement.  Your marketing plan, then, will give your staff the clear guidance and instruction they need to ensure your plans are being carried out and reaching your target market accordingly.
3. Your plan will help you stay on track and manage objectives– It’s so easy to get off track when a semi-good legal marketing plan brings a few customers into the pipeline. Yet before you know it, that short burst of clients WILL dry up and you’ll be at square one all over again in your marketing efforts. Instead, resolve to keep your appointment book full at all times by creating a plan that keeps you on track and makes sure your campaigns go off each month without a hitch.

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

Three Things You Should NOT Include in Your Law Firm Newsletter

If you dread writing your law firm newsletter each month because a) it’s not fun or b) clients are generally unresponsive to your efforts, you’re probably committing one of three legal marketing sins.

Remember, the point of your newsletter is to develop a relationship with your leads and prospective clients on their own turf.   It’s so easy to just “start a newsletter” because a marketing guru tells you to, but you really must understand the “why” behind the “what” if you want to be effective and generate leads/referrals in this area.

So with that said, let’s jump right into the top three things you should NOT be writing in your newsletter:

1. Case Briefs– It seems logical that a law firm newsletter would have case briefs of relevant decisions in your practice area, right?  Wrong. While information on recent case law may be valuable to your clients, what you have to say about it is probably WAY over their head.  Unless you can write on a third grade level and explain what the case means for THEM in plain English, leave complicated case briefs out of the newsletter.
2. Promotional Hype– Your newsletter isn’t another opportunity to pitch your firm and services.  You might get by with that here and there, but eventually the client will get sick of “being sold” and throw it in the trash.  Instead, stick to useful content, tips and how-to’s that will improve or add value to their life in some way.
3. Legalese– Again, you’re trying to reach clients on their level so try to leave complicated legal jargon out of the mix.  And if you’re trying to educate your client on a certain area of the law and absolutely must drop a few legal terms, be sure to provide clear and alternate definitions so your prospects can actually follow along with the article.

Hopefully you’re noticing a trend here with my emphasis on words like them, their, etc.  Understand that if you can bring the focus of your newsletter back on the client and away from the firm, you’ll be much more effective in bringing in referrals and converting existing leads.

And of course, if you still hate the newsletter process and can’t seem to unleash its true potential, then consider this a job to be outsourced!  In today’s economy, a newsletter is one marketing tool that you MUST have, so commit to having one that works for you—even if that means bringing in outside help!

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

Free Legal Marketing Resource: Setting up a Google Profile

If you’ve ever tried Googling yourself and find that a bunch of other people share your name and it’s hard to distinguish yourself on the web, you’ll want to get a Google Profile set up ASAP!

Essentially, your Google Profile will show up in the search results when someone looks for you by name.  However, the profile contains more detailed information about your background, current location, alternate names, etc. so people can distinguish you from the other people that pop up on the same page.

For example, a Google search of an attorney friend of mine from New Jersey by the name of  “Joel Schwartz, esq.” pulls up a personal injury attorney from Boston AND  an estate planning attorney in Ohio. 

I hope you can see how a potential client who’s not too tech savvy may end up calling the wrong attorney looking for your services if you share the same name of someone else in your immediate practice area!

And of course that’s never a good thing.

But, what is good is that you can put links back to your firm, which is an added benefit for SEO purposes and your current link building strategy. 

Likewise, having a Google Profile set up gives you yet another spot on the first page of Google—which means your “importance factor” goes up and there’s less room for the competition on page 1!

Not to mention, setting up a Google Profile is so simple and literally takes 5 minutes—so there’s no reason not to do it.  Just go here and start filling in your personal information.   You can even include an image or a branded logo for your firm to further distinguish yourself from neighboring competition.

Then give it a few hours and your profile should be showing on the first page of Google when you search for your name.

It’s that easy!  Now go do it!

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 for Lawyers: 3 Easy Ways to Engage

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the necessity of implementing social media marketing as it relates to your overall legal marketing strategy.

In fact, most online gurus talk about social media marketing as though it’s the end-all, be-all to all to your legal marketing plan!

Unfortunately, most of those web 2.0 marketing “gurus” have never set foot in a law firm and don’t understand just how crazy your schedule really is!

Fortunately, there are still a few ways to engage (and be effective) in social media marketing without being “inauthentic” or non-transparent to your target market (which is a very bad situation to be in if you get caught!).

These are just a few strategies that I’ve found to be really helpful for lawyers that can’t devote too much time social networking.  I encourage you to pick and choose what works for you and just jump in as soon as possible!

1. Outsource SOME of your social media marketing- This is a really great idea for the lawyer that just doesn’t have time to engage, but really wants to.   If you’re using twitter as your main social media source, have someone on the team pre-write tweets of events, links to blog posts or other things going on at the firm that you can approve.  Then ask them to schedule the tweets in a Twitter client like Hootsuite or Tweetlater to go off randomly during the week.  Then when you actually have time to engage, you can just focus on talking to people and won’t have to worry about getting your marketing out.   You can also follow the same strategy for posting updates on Facebook if that’s your network of choice.
2. Encourage your team to start networking– This is the scariest option for most lawyers, but it can be quite effective if you set things up right!  You’ll need to lay down some guidelines, but it can be done.  For example, you may want to have your team open a corporate twitter or facebook account separate from that of their personal account.  It’s also a good idea to have them setup branded user names around the firm (for example, the people at Dell Computers use names like @JoeatDell or @MaryatDell just to show it’s a corporate account).  You’ll also want to make it clear that they can’t give legal advice! While their goal is to engage and make strategic relationships, they’ll need to direct people to a blog post or to an attorney if someone has a legal question.  Other than that, let them loose and have them engage throughout the day.  It will make work fun for them and increase your sphere of influence at the same time!
3. Outsource ALL of your social media marketing–  While some people really look down on this approach, it can be effective if done the right way and for the right reasons.  If you are absolutely intimidated by social media—or just aren’t the social type, this might be a good route for you.  You’ll definitely want to find someone that has a background in the legal industry and will use social networking to promote and engage on behalf of YOUR FIRM, not on behalf of you.   That should be the understanding right from the beginning.  You don’t want someone pretending to be you, the attorney (and I hope you can see why that’s a bad idea for a number of reasons).  Instead this person or company will be part of the “team” and will essentially be doing your marketing as though they work in-house.  If you have further questions about this or need someone qualified to handle your social media, feel free to email help@tremendous-arm.flywheelsites.com for further assistance.

But as you can see from the tips above, all that matters is that you get involved.  And fortunately there are so many ways to do it that even you, a busy attorney, have no reason to stay behind in the dark ages of legal marketing 1.0.  So pick a strategy and get started with social media marketing ASAP!

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

How to be a “Legal Expert” in National Publications and on TV

Understanding How Legal PR Impacts Legal Marketing Efforts

For any client browsing an attorney website, the words “As featured in the New York Times” or “as Featured on the TODAY Show” really brings a sense of credibility to the table.

After all, if the “unbiased” media considers you a credible source, the client is inclined to feel that way too.

Getting Estatblished as a Legal Expert on a Budget

So now you must be wondering, “what exactly does it take to get a quoted in a national publication or land an interview on TV without hiring an expensive PR firm?”

Well it’s quite simple actually—it just requires a plan, a team in place to carry out the work you need done and a budget for pitch-related expenses.

To start with one of the free resources you can tap into, I suggest setting up Google Alerts for any topic you feel qualified to speak on should a story break.  For example, a medical malpractice attorney should set up alerts on the words “medical error” or “medical neglect” to stay abreast of relevant stories as they hit the mainstream media.  A divorce lawyer may want to keep the words “custody battle” on alert to stay on top of that subject as another example.

The second and relatively-low cost thing you should do is hire someone with media and writing experience to pump out press releases or story pitches when something breaks in your area of expertise.  This person can work either in-house or virtually, but it should be someone that knows how to write a pitch that’s not only newsworthy, but interesting enough to catch a journalist’s eye as they wade through hundreds of pitches and releases every single day.

Remember, your press release or direct pitch is the key to landing a spot in high profile publications or a TV segment.  After all, how can the media invite you to speak on their TV show or to give a quote in a magazine/newspaper if they don’t know you exist or why you’re qualified to speak on the subject in the first place!  So to ensure you’re on their radar, you must find someone media savvy enough to know what journalists are looking for and how to write in a way that doesn’t get your content rejected the minute it hits a news desk.

Finally, you’ll need to invest in a press release service like PRNewswire or a similar database that offers paid access to contact information to writers, editors and producers.  This can be a rather expensive task (In the case of PRNewswire, there is a yearly fee plus a $400-$650 charge per press release), but it is much more effective than sending out blind pitches to the “contact us” section of a publications’ website.

The Key to Great Legal Marketing Through Legal PR:  JUST GET STARTED!

So if you’re ready to get some good publicity and you haven’t taken any of the steps listed above, I suggest you start implementing what you can immediately (after all, your competition is doing it—might as well get started!).

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

Legal Marketing Tip: Quick Ways to Ensure Your Legal Copy is Not Being Plagiarized

For all you legal marketers and ambitious attorneys out there, I just wanted to post a brief update reminding you just how important checking your work for “content scraping” is.

This has been happening a lot lately in the cyber world, but I was really inspired to write on this after my friend and renowned Virginia personal injury lawyer, Ben Glass,  had content directly stolen off his website by another Personal Injury attorney.  You can read more about the unauthorized use of Ben Glass’s legal marketing and informational materials here.

Whether you write your own web copy/ marketing materials or you may pay someone a nice fee to do it for you, I’m sure you don’t want someone else reaping the benefits of your work.

So to ensure other people aren’t using your content, I recommend you visit www.copyscape.com every now and again and test out some “unique” phrases from your work.    You can also use http://www.fairshare.cc to ensure your blog copy is not published illegally by someone else.

Either way, be proactive with your web copy and assign someone in your office the task of keeping tabs on this.  When you stop someone from making money with your copy, you’ll be glad you took the time to do this.

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

Are You Maximizing Your Most Valuable Legal Marketing Resource?

What 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.

• By Laura Lee

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

For 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:

• LexTweet (A service of LexBlog): http://www.lextweet.com/
• Legal Birds (powered by Justia): http://legalbirds.justia.com/
• Twitter Fan Wiki: http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Apps
• Twellow: http://www.twellow.com/
• Just Tweet It: http://justtweetit.com/
• Twitter Packs: http://twitterpacks.pbwiki.com/
• Gov Twits (Find Gov’t Employees & agencies): http://newthinking.bearingpoint.com/2008/11/20/govtwit-directory/
• Book Trade (List of publishers & book execs- great if you want to get published!): http://www.highspotinc.com/blog/2008/12/a-directory-of-book-trade-people-on-twitter/

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

Lawyers: Still Not Sold on Blogging as Part of Your Legal Marketing Strategy? This Post is For You.

For lawyers entering the world of legal marketing, social media and web 2.0, the concept of blogging is a tough thing to grasp.  You may be wondering “Why do I need a blog?” or “Who in the world will even read my blog?” Better yet, “I just don’t have time for a blog” is something that frequently gets thrown out there in regards to online marketing efforts

Well this article from Kevin O’Keefe of LexBlog may just convince you to make time for your blog once and for all.

Essentially, Kevin’s article explains the “whys” behind the “what” of legal blogging, while offering concrete steps on how to make the most of a blog to bring in clients and media opportunities. 

Here’s a short snippet from the article:

The results of such effective blogging are far reaching. People conducting relevant Internet research, both lawyers and prospective clients, will see your name over and over again. You’ll receive regular calls from reporters looking for commentary from a knowledgeable lawyer. Ultimately, word of your passion and expertise as a trusted authority in your niche will spread by word of mouth – both on and offline.“Easily 80 percent of my new business comes from people who found me through my blog,” says Seattle lawyer Philip Mann, who publishes the IP Litigation Blog (www.iplitigationblog.com). “The Internet and blogs are the great equalizer. No longer do the large, established firms have a monopoly on the power to get their name out and attract business.”One hundred years ago, lawyer marketing was all about entering into conversations with opinion leaders, business associates, and the public to spread word of one’s passion, expertise, and care and to further enhance one’s reputation as a trusted authority. Today, it’s still the same, except that the conversation has moved online.You, too, can enter the conversation through blogging.

To continue reading the entire article, visit the  Canadian Bar Association Website.

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

How to Create a YouTube Channel For Your Law Firm

For law firms seeking to market their practice through social media and search engine optimization (SEO), creating a YouTube channel is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get started.

Brief YouTube videos are sort of like mini-commercials for your firm– without the $50,000 price tag. They allow you to create a personal and visual connection with potential clients as you show off your personality, expertise or educate the public on a particular area of law.

Similarly, YouTube videos can also help with your SEO campaign, as Google continues to add more videos directly above the regular search results. And while having YouTube videos may not directly bring in clients, seeing your video next to a pay-per-click ad or a  few organic search listings helps further dominate the page and reinforce your branding efforts.

So How Do I Get Started?

Setting up a YouTube channel for your law firm is easy and requires approximately 10 minutes of your time.  To get started, go to the YouTube homepage and click “Sign Up” in the upper right hand corner, as the arrow shows below:

You will then be taken to a page where it asks you to create a username and password for the account.  Fill out the prompts as directed and confirm your registration via email when you are done.

The link to confirm your registration via email will take you back to the main page, where you can then click on your username at the top right hand side of the page.  You should end up at the page below that gives you the option to click the “Edit Channel” button:

Click on the “Edit Channel” button and you’ll  be taken to a page that allows you to enter some vital  information about your firm.

Optimize Your Page Wisely

When entering a title and description for your firm, remember to keep good SEO practices in mind.  The keywords you use in this section will determine how you are found by clients or by search engines that display videos before their rankings.

Therefore, use the most specific and keyword rich description as humanly possible.  If you’re not sure what I mean by this, see the example i’ve created below:

In addition to optimizing videos, you can also use the links on the left to organize the placement of your videos or customize the background colors on the channel page itself.

When you’re finally done customizing, save the information and start uploading videos by clicking the yellow “upload” button at the top right side of the page.

It’s really that easy!   Now relax, have fun and start creating videos as part of your overall Internet marketing 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

Attorney Outsourcing Series: What Should You Outsource? – Part 1

Attorney Outsourcing: How To Get Started

The  first step you should take when looking to outsource is to really determine what you are spending your time doing. I suggest keeping a list of everything you do for a week and how much time you spend doing it. At the end of the week, make three columns:

Things Only “I” Can Do
Things I Do NOT Enjoy
Things I LOVE

Next, Put a checkmark next to each item in the applicable category. Be very careful selecting the “Things Only “I” Can Do” category!  Is that really true?

Next evaluate your list, the only things you REALLY have to be doing are those things only you can do. Of course, I usually recommend continuing to do the things you LOVE to do, IF it is not a huge time zapper.

Once you have the list of things you can let go of, it’s time to start determining the type of vendor you need to outsource to.

Here is a short list of some items that I see attorneys (and other small businesses) commonly outsource:

• Marketing – Creating Direct Mail Pieces, Creating Display Ads, Creating Monthly Newsletters, Setting Up Seminars, Handling Distribution of Weekly Ezines or Email
• Admin Support: Keeper of the Gate, Email Management, Calendaring, Client Intake, Travel Arrangements, CLE Management, negotiation with Vendors.
• Paralegal Support: Drafting Documents, Research, Transcription
• Bookkeeping
• Website Development & Maintenance
• Graphic Design
  
• Social Media Management
• Blog Management

In Part II, we’ll talk about each of these categories and how to find the best vendor to outsource to.

Hint – it’s NOT finding a Virtual Assistant who can do it all!

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 Newsletters: The Key to Referrals and Relationships for Life

A monthly newsletter from a law firm is more than fluff; rather, a newsletter is a way to engage and communicate with your clients to create trust, relationships and eventually referrals down the road.  If you already have a monthly newsletter and aren’t reaping the fruit listed above, chances are the publication needs some help.

The key to understanding what makes up a good newsletter is to understand why you need one in the first place.  To keep things simple, a newsletter gives the people of the firm a chance to showcase their personalities and expertise.  By writing a small article each month, lawyers can personally show prospective clients that they are not “ambulance chasers” or just another name in the phonebook, but rather a public servant that really cares about his or her clients.

Oddly enough, most firms I encounter think publishing a list of recent verdicts and settlements, attorney bios or summaries of high profile court decisions constitutes a newsletter.  But think about it- what exactly does that information do for your clients?  Nothing if you ask me. The majority of people signed up (or thinking of signing up with the firm) don’t care about the latest decision out of the 9th Circuit, nor do they care to see pictures of you and your buddies golfing while they are heartbroken and going through a bitter divorce or custody battle.  Similarly, the art of just throwing words on a page to take up space shows the client that you value appearances and the “look” of engagement more than the actual issues affecting their lives.

But, if you connect with clients where they are by using stories, tips, answers to frequently asked questions and things they can relate to, they will feel directly engaged with you and the firm.  This is so important when you think about the way clients call and want to speak with you on a monthly or weekly basis just to know you are “still there”.  You probably don’t have the time to take these calls, which irritates the client, but all they are looking for is that assurance that you care about their case and what happens to them.   The newsletter, then, can be used as a broad platform to explain that you really do care, while answering those burning questions that new clients may have.

If you still aren’t quite sure how to build relationships and trust through a newsletter, check out the December issue from the Ben Glass Law Firm. Notice how the firm starts with an educational piece about something that matters to their clients, namely how chiropractors are scamming PI victims and impacting their bottom line at settlement.  Then notice how they publically answer letters and recognize local business people to keep that level of trust and involvement going.  They touch on topics that affect and confuse average people, such as disability insurance and the fine print behind rebates and other consumer topics.  The information is 100% client focused rather than being a soapbox for “the big, fancy rich lawyers that can’t relate to me anyway.”

And this gesture of building relationships goes along way.  Word of mouth is clearly one of the cheapest forms of marketing, but the returns are astronomical.  Learn how to make word of mouth marketing work for you and you’ll be in business forever.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how a satisfied client that felt engaged and kept in the loop through the legal process will refer friends and family for life.  Similarly, a happy client will go out of their way to speak to someone that was hurt, or involved in a custody dispute or looking to draft a will to give out your number and pre-sell that person on your services.

Realistically though, isn’t it the ultimate goal of any firm to generate clients based on referrals, which do not cost a dime in advertising or marketing?  If you’ve answered  ‘yes’, then take the time  to utilize this powerful marketing tool right at your fingertips and begin to connect with clients in their own space.  Show them that you really do care what happens to their children, their 401k and the town in which they live by starting a newsletter and building relationships for true ROI (Return on Investment).

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

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:

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.

• By Laura Lee

Attorney Outsourcing Tip: Letting Go – One Key to Finding Freedom

Blind to the Need for Attorney Outsourcing

After working with attorneys for twenty something years, I have to admit that I have taken on many of the same “traits”, some great, some not great. I think the one that will wreak the most havoc on your time, is that of being a control freak. The thought that “no one can do it as good as me” or “it will take too long to teach someone else”, keeps us constantly doing things that we should not be doing.

Keeping track of everything you do for a few days, and I mean EVERYTHING, will give you a great insight to how many things you are doing that you should not be doing yourself. Instead they should be delegated to someone with the right skill set that can complete the task effectively and efficiently. Give that person a clear direction on the outcome that you expect, set a definitive timeline, make yourself available for questions, and let go.  You should only be doing what ONLY YOU CAN DO!

You may be very surprised at the results you get!

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

Attorney Outsourcing Tip: S.M.A.R.T. Delegation – My Twist

Attorney outsourcing and delegation is the key to your freedom, yet so many times, we just ask for help, but don’t let go enough to realize the freedom that the delegation can truly bring. Instead we do the complete opposite of delegating and we micro manage, causing even more stress to ourselves and our team.

Here are a few tips on SMART Delegation that will help you with the process of letting go and will help your team successfully complete the projects that you delegate.

S – Specify – Specify the end result that you want. Give the details and scope of the project and let your team member know exactly what you want at the end and why. By giving these details, you team member is going to understand exactly what they need to do and the reasons that it is important.

M – Milestones – Have some built in milestones so that you are comfortable that the project is staying on track. Again, this should not be at every turn (micromanagement) but at predefined times during the scope of the project. Let the team member control the progress of the project with a clear expectation that the milestones must be met.

A – Answer – Make yourself available to answer questions as they arise. If the team member has questions, answer the questions as fully as possible and explain your reasons. Many times if a team member asks a question; and then is explained “why” they may develop a better solution or way to approach the tasks necessary to complete the project.

R – Realistic – Make sure the scope and milestones of the project are realistic. Never set a team member up for failure. Ask for feedback during the initial delegation of the task and during milestone meetings.

T – Thanks – Show your appreciation. This is so often overlooked, but I can promise you that when you show your appreciation to your team members when they manage a project and meet a deadline, they will be much more inclined to do it over and over again! A simple “Thank You” goes a lot further than you think.

Do you have other tips that have helped you delegate projects? Leave your comments!

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.