• By Laura Lee

Still holding out for the client fairy? A story of consistency and OUR most skeptical client.

Around the time I wrote this post declaring that legal marketing is not magic (…and to stop expecting it to be!), we recently started working with a very skeptical new client who was hoping for such magical results.

He’d been around the marketing block quite a few times, having worked with all of the gurus who made beautiful brochures, fun websites….and he even tried public seminars a time or two, to no avail.

Every time a campaign seemed to flop, he’d put the brakes on hard and look for better solutions to bring in more clients to his practice.   A totally natural response.

He was no doubt frustrated with marketing and made a comment to us that he was hoping to see more results after just a month or two of work.  I assured him that they would come, not because I’m a rockstar, but because it takes a solid formula of consistency, sweat equity and time to make a big impact on referral sources and prospective clients in the community.  He had to give it more time.

Fast forward to last week.  After spending much of the summer traveling, he reported on our monthly strategy call that September was pretty well booked with lunch meetings with key referral sources and prospective clients for new business.   Old (and very high-net worth) clients were coming back in for more work in droves—partly fueled by the fact that he was now staying in front of them regularly with electronic and print communications and creating top of mind awareness.

And, after making it through the typical doldrums of summer that practically all firms experience, he was able to hire someone else part-time to take more marketing off of his plate and work with us to ensure he was communicating with clients, prospects and referral sources even more regularly.

I hung up feeling very proud… not of myself or my team, but of HIM.  He is a brilliant attorney and a very neat person that more people SHOULD know about. It was HIS diligence and HIS commitment to CONSISTENT marketing that brought results.  He literally had to put blinders on to all the bright, shiny objects that came his way, got a routine going and watched the snowball effect take place.

I had a similar conversation with another client out in California.  Through consistent marketing, we were able to infiltrate all of the nursing homes in her area.  Not only did we land on their speaker rounds, but managed to build meaningful relationships with the staff.  Beyond our automated communications, SHE worked hard to connect with them in very personal ways that no other attorneys were doing (remember, this type of marketing makes the shift from “What’s in it for me” to “How can I be of service/value to you?”). Although initially very introverted and hesitant to do it, she has such a wonderful and caring personality that made this type of networking and relationship building a great fit for her.

So while in the beginning, and even now, the seminars in the nursing homes are not very profitable (they are mostly for the residents and not too many family members show up), she now gets a tremendous amount of referrals from the staff…which is what really counts.  She is favored over other attorneys in the area and keeping them out of her “territory” that she worked hard to claim.  The seminars are just the FIRST step.   A great legal marketing plan always has a bigger picture, massive follow up and multiple long-term steps to achieve practice goals.

I just wanted to share these two quick stories again to reaffirm that legal marketing is not magic.  It doesn’t have to be slimey.  It doesn’t have to be a “hard sell”.  You don’t even really need all the bells and whistles. It simply needs to be educational, reach your target audience on an emotional level and designed in such a way to elicit a response (whether that be for coffee, speaking opportunities or direct offers for appointments, etc.—depending on your ethics rules).

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

Attracting the Types of Cases You Want with SEO

Because of the specialization within the field of law, you clearly don’t want to attract every kind of case.  Any tax lawyer who has friends asking her for family law advice knows this only too well.  You have your specific knowledge base, and you want to use it.  When potential clients are coming to you for the wrong things, it wastes everyone’s time.  Worse yet, what about those who have exactly the right kinds of cases but aren’t bringing them to you at all?

Perhaps one of the most important marketing tools you have at your disposal is your business’ web site.  Fortunately, it is also fairly easy to manipulate your web site into helping drive very targeted traffic to your door.  The nature of search engines like Google and Bing provides you the opportunity to narrow down the types of clients who are finding you and calling you for help.

Through search engine optimization (SEO), you are able to develop your web site in a way that helps you to be found by those who are looking for precisely what you offer, while also discouraging those who need a different type of attorney altogether.  If you’ve optimized your site correctly, you are more likely to pop up in the search results for “estate planning attorney orange county” and pretty unlikely to pop up for “elder lawyer in California.”  (Assuming you are an estate planning attorney and not an elder lawyer, of course.)

Pay Attention to Your Copy

You will come across lots of tips when it comes to SEO, but as with most things on the Web, the answer boils down to those three words: “Content is king.”  You want the content on your site to clearly reflect who you are and what you do, without any ambiguity.  If you don’t provide representation for divorces, avoid using the word “divorce” on your site.  On the other hand, if you assist with prenuptial planning, be sure to mention it, and to do so repeatedly.  You can improve your chances of being found by including your city or state, too, even going so far as to use phrases like “prenuptial lawyer in Denver.”  That way, you’re more likely to show up in results when someone is looking for a Colorado-based lawyer and less likely to show up when they want someone in Hawaii.

The goal isn’t to “spam” the system, though.  Remember that real people will be reading your copy, and if it’s full of obvious keyword phrases that don’t flow well or that appear too often, it’s going to be a turnoff.  Instead, think of the phrases that will speak to your target market and then sprinkle them naturally throughout your site.

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

Making a Case for Hiring Out Your Legal Marketing Efforts

We’ve talked before about how a lawyer running a practice has to be a little of everything to everyone. In addition to actually using the skills that you went to law school to learn, you’re likely also overseeing nearly every tiny detail of running your business. When you’re busy juggling employees’ schedules, paying the utility bill for your office space, attending meetings—oh, and actually working with clients—it’s easy to put marketing on the back burner.

But, that’s a dangerous place for it. Your ability to do all of those other things relies on the fact that you have clients in the first place. You need to keep in touch with former clients, give great service to current clients, and reach out to potential clients. And you need to do it all simultaneously. That’s marketing.

Since good marketing builds a solid foundation for your law business, you either need to devote a lot of time to it or hire a marketing company with experience in law. That way, many of the activities that would otherwise fall to you can be taken off your plate. And, let’s be realistic, a lot of the marketing stuff that you “should” be doing, just isn’t getting done anyway. Am I right?

Let’s suppose that you make the argument that you do have the time to do your own marketing. I know a lot of lawyers that really enjoy marketing because they like talking and writing about their services. I love marketing too so I totally understand this! But, you need to be realistic; do you really understand the mechanics of marketing? Can you create your own professional-looking client newsletter using sophisticated design software? Can you use the right meta tags, URLs, and keywords to dominate Google? Do you have time to create brochures, fliers, e-books, white papers and other collateral that is critical to effective lead generation? If your answer is “yes” you probably do not have enough clients!

And, there’s the conundrum – not enough clients because you aren’t doing marketing well and not getting the professional marketing you need because you don’t have enough clients.

This is exactly why we created the Done-For-You program. We provide lawyers all over the country with professional marketing material that gets results at an absolutely rock-bottom price. All of the material is ready to customize, which they can do with minimal time invested. Then, they simply shoot it out of the door. Easy, peasy. 😉

So, how are you managing? Are you trying to juggle the many balls of running your law practice and letting the marketing ball fall helplessly to the ground? There’s really no reason for that. If you haven’t already, check out our Done-For-You program. I promise you that you will feel like a 50-pound weight has come off your shoulders!

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

Busting your butt and still not getting referrals? Here’s the answer…

Are you frustrated by the number of referrals you are (or are NOT) receiving?

You’ve undoubtedly read lots of articles from business leaders about the importance of getting referrals and you understand that the key to getting them is to provide absolutely top-notch legal services and exceptional customer service.

I’m sure that you’ve heeded all of that advice and every client leaves your office feeling satisfied and happy with your service, but for reasons you can’t quite figure out – they are not referring their family members and friends to you.

In my years of working with lawyers I’ve found the solution to this dilemma hiding behind a very simple question…

Are you asking for referrals?

Simply having the old staple phrase, “The highest compliment we can receive is a referral” on your business card and/or email signature is NOT enough.

In my experience, too many lawyers just assume that their satisfied clients, friends, family members and colleagues will refer clients to them. You know what happens when you assume…

The key to getting referrals is to have a system in place and effective methods for asking for referrals. This system can take many forms. Here are a few ideas specifically for lawyers in the estate planning field:

• Send a card or gift to clients 30 days after the completion of an estate plan or probate work. In the note, thank the client for their business and mention that you would appreciate referrals to their family and friends.

• When hosting an event, send the details to your referral partners in advance, along with pre-written copy that they can paste into an email and pass along to their contacts. Ask them to share and make it easy for them to do so.

• Encourage clients to have “critical conversations” with their family and friends to discover their wishes and find out what planning they may have in place. Offer discounts or complimentary planning sessions if they discover their loved one is unprepared for a crisis.

It’s upon this third example that we built this month’s Done-for-You marketing campaign for lawyers struggling to mine high-quality prospects already connected to their database!

In the campaign we provide you with effective resources to help educate your existing clients on starting these difficult conversations with their friends and family. Not only will you be doing your clients a huge favor by helping them bring up a touchy, but very important, topic, but you will also be asking them for referrals. It’s a win-win for both sides!

The moral to this story is that you need to complete the circle when it comes to getting referrals. You’ve done the front-end work by providing great service. Now all you need to do is ask for them!

P.S. Our referral-boosting campaign that comes with this month’s Done-for-You (DFY) package can be used for all of your past clients and all of your future clients. If you would like to get your hands on it, you’ll need to join our program. You’ll find the details about the DFY program here.

Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.

• By Laura Lee

What’s the SWOT?

When you’re running your own practice, you are so much more than “just” a lawyer. You also have to be a manager, a planner, and a marketer. All of these roles take a different set of skills, and to be successful, you need to have at least a basic knowledge of each. In some cases, though, there is a single thing you can do that works for all these different categories. One of the activities you can, and should, do in order to be a better manager, planner, and marketer is to identify your business’ S.W.O.T.

The S.W.O.T. is a part of strategic planning that helps to identify where your business is now and help steer it in the right direction for the future. It takes some work on your part, but by the time you’re done, you’ll likely have identified several areas that you can use to bolster your marketing plan. Sharing what you’ve learned with your employees also works to make sure that everyone is on the same page and working toward the same goals.

So, what is the S.W.O.T?

S = Strengths: When you look at your business as objectively as possible, what do you feel your strengths are? Perhaps you have specialization that sets you apart from other attorneys in the area. Maybe you are great at “hand-holding” new clients who are intimidated by the legal process. Spend some time and come up with at least five strengths and put some thought into how you can leverage them in your marketing to really shine.

W = Weaknesses: It’s not necessarily fun to look at your own flaws, but when you do it from an objective perspective, it can be a really powerful exercise. Weaknesses are those things that you want to target for elimination. For example, maybe you are having trouble keeping up with the workload and some things are falling through the cracks. By writing this down, you can give yourself permission to find a solution, such as realizing that it’s time to hire some help.

O = Opportunities: Uncovering opportunities for your business is one of the most enjoyable parts of the S.W.O.T. process. Opportunities are things that you want to capitalize on, either now or in the future. Are there services that are lacking in your area that you could add to your practice? Do you have ideas for a referral system that could pay off? It might be helpful to lay out all of your opportunities with some deadlines and milestones for making them into reality.

T = Threats: Threats are those things that could negatively impact your business but that you don’t have any direct control over. For example, are there some changes in the law coming up that may cost you clients? Is a rough economy a problem when it comes to building your client list? The point of listing your threats is to give yourself the chance to monitor them and find ways to mitigate their impact.

Realistically, it doesn’t have to take a ton of time to do a cursory S.W.O.T. analysis. The important part is that you take that time to identify what is working for and against you so that you can take steps to capitalize on that knowledge.

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

Refreshing Your Content for Better Results

Your marketing materials are so important for reaching out to prospective clients.  The time and effort that goes into creating the perfect web site or brochure can be intense, but the simple choice of words can play a pretty significant role in the number of folks who make it through the front door.  We live in a time when content gets stagnant pretty quickly, though, so don’t forget to revisit your content and give it some tweaking from time to time.

Obviously, it’s harder to update your print collateral than your digital marketing materials.  Because of the way the printing industry has changed in the last decade, though, it’s reasonable to update even your brochures and flyers between printings.  Whether you want to go with a whole new look or just update a bullet point list of services, there doesn’t have to be a whole lot of cost involved.

Your web site is even less of a hassle to update, and it may be even more important.  Search engines are constantly reviewing your web content, and when they register that it has been recently updated, they take note of that.  The idea is that a site that has recent changes must be active, while one that has been stagnant for some time may not be relevant or even in use anymore.

Changes to your site can range from minor to major.  A few quick tweaks might include:

• Update your bio to reflect additional education or achievements

• Add directions to your office from nearby public transit

• Update your client list

• Rearrange your list of services

• Add in keyword phrases for better SEO (search engine optimization)

• Add a Facebook follow button or email subscription feature

• Slowly expand sections over time to include more information than before

More in-depth changes would have to do with rewriting entire sections altogether.  Perhaps you have reevaluated the tone of your copy (too formal, too friendly, too vague) and want to come at it from an entirely different angle to see if that affects response rates.  You might also consider adding a “frequently asked questions” page.  This can help potential clients to evaluate if your services will be a good fit for them, allowing those who would not be a good match to “self-select” out before ever even calling the office.

Don’t overlook the value of blogging for your law practice either.  Blogs mean that you are continually adding new content to your web site, and as we mentioned above, the search engines tend to rank updated sites higher on results pages.  Our clients are seeing a great return on the efforts they’ve put into their blogs.

So how about a little spring cleaning for your website and marketing materials this week?  Dedicate a few hours and freshen up your online real estate. Then move on to your print materials and other collateral to ensure everything is an accurate reflection of your brand. If you ‘re not sure about the look or feel of something, please feel free hit “reply” and share it with me and my team for some unbiased feedback. We promise to be gentle (…well, maybe not gentle but at the very least honest!)  Or please feel free to post your links or questions on our Facebook page. We have a wonderful community of attorneys and professionals who would be happy to look at your materials with fresh eyes and offer an opinion.

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

WARNING: Before you sign with a coaching or marketing company this Spring, read this

Did I get your attention? Good, because this is important.

Spring tends to be an “open enrollment” free-for-all for many coaching, training and legal marketing organizations. We will in fact be having our own webinar March 5th to share details about our programs…..but that’s not the point of this post.

What you may not know about me or my company is that we regularly get to see the inner workings of many of these organizations. You might be surprised to know that we do behind- the-scenes campaigns, business development and copywriting for quite a few of them….many of which are well- known and highly- respected in this industry (and whom you may have considered our competition).

On the flipside, through our client base, we’ve worked with many other lawyer marketing and training organizations that are a mess internally and have significantly drained the finances of our clients. We are often hired to implement what these “coaches” or programs are teaching–and more often that not, it turns into our team cleaning up a huge mess when the attorney breaks up with the company or quits the program.

It’s no wonder why I’ve been bombarded with Facebook messages and emails this week asking me what I think of the various offerings, enrollments and teleclasses happening right now.

Let me first be clear that there are some very good companies and organizations out there....and hiring a coach or a legal marketing agency can be one of the best decisions you will ever make in the quest to grow your firm. Again, I don’t just speak of our company… because there are MANY times that I refer clients to trusted colleagues who may be a better fit. But as a whole, if you are serious about taking things to the next level in your practice, getting a mentor or some hands-on help is a great place to start.

But there are also companies in the legal industry right now who are all smoke and mirrors and quite frankly dangerous to your sanity and your bottom line.

In an attempt to help you make the best decisions if you are looking to join a program or hire a legal marketing company this Spring, I’ve compiled a few “warning signs” that I’ve been offering to the attorneys reaching out for my opinion. Heeding this advice could mean the difference between having a thriving law practice or one saddled with six-figures of debt with little to nothing to show for it next year. Here they are:

1. Avoid companies that could hold your intellectual property hostage– Without mentioning names, it has shocked some of our clients to find out that they are merely RENTING their fancy website or other IP from their marketing agency each month. When they decide to part ways the company, they retain ZERO ownership of the site and many times ZERO ownership of the content. We had one client who signed with a well-known company and when they launched her new site, they completely deleted her old one with all of her blogs and links that she worked so hard to build for SEO. Then once she realized this company was taking her for a ride and she quit, they deleted her site a second time and she lost everything AGAIN. We’ve also seen marketing agencies and companies who insist on “hosting” websites, email lists and client databases so that you can’t access them or make changes without their help. They retain all the power and you are at their mercy in a sad attempt to get you to stay on board. Avoid these situations at all cost!

2. Watch for companies and organizations that make you scrub content when you’re not in “good standing.” Imagine this: You pay 6-figures to be in a program and invest in their marketing campaigns, systems and products. Over the course of time, you outgrow the program or it’s not a good fit. After dealing with the expected calls & emails trying to get you to stay in the program, the company then comes back with a vengeance, stalking you at every turn and insisting that if you leave, you must remove every blog article, report and campaign that YOU PAID FOR because you are no longer in good standing and it really never belonged to you in the first place. Unbeknownst to you…your six-figure investment only allowed you to “rent” some marketing and ideas. We see it happen almost monthly and it infuriates me. That’s why when we create marketing for clients, they own it. If we spend time building their blog up, we aren’t going to sabotage their SEO years down the road and insist everything comes down if we part ways. So before you join any program, get clear on content ownership and their rules for usage. Then decide if it’s palatable for you if you breakup in the future.

3. Long-Term Commitments– As a marketing professional, I understand that some commitment time is necessary to truly gauge your results, but be cautious of long- term commitments that leave you stuck if the program turns out to be the exact opposite of what you signed up for….or just not the right fit for YOU. It happens and you should be prepared for it.

4. Make sure you can speak to CURRENT CLIENTS– A company may put out great testimonials showing results of their clients, but go one step further and ask to speak to people who are currently in the program. You may be surprised to see a company using testimonials that speak of results from 5-10 years ago, which have not been duplicated since (I’ve actually seen companies using testimonials from lawyers whom I personally know went out of business and no longer practice law!)

5. Do they work with your competition? A VERY important question to ask right up front is whether the company or agency works with other attorneys in your geographical area. If so, how many and what’s the scope of the work? Here’s why this matters. Let’s say you hire someone to do SEO. If the company is trying to increase rankings for you and your competitor down the street, they are essentially competing with themself. Will you come out on top or will their other client? It’s unethical and puts you and them in a bad position. Or say you hire a PR person. You don’t want someone approaching journalists or producers with the same exact press releases being used by someone else. That’s a fast way to make a bad name for yourself in the local media. Or, in the case of marketing materials,   you don’t want the exact same newsletter going out to the same pool of people in your community….and you don’t want to be reaching out to referral sources with the same campaigns and seminar info as the guy down the street. As a rule of thumb, we only take one client per media market, because we do PR & blog content for SEO. We literally have waitlists because of this rule, and I’ll be the first to admit that as a business owner, it’s hard to turn away a paying client. But any other way would be icky, and my integrity and the peace of mind of our clients means more to me than money. Of course this can vary based on the nature of the services being offered, but make sure your coach or agency feels the same.

6. Is there “stickiness” among the members?- Pay close attention to whether or not the company or coach has long-term clients. For example, one particular organization for estate planning attorneys that we work with has had members in their program for over 15 years! That says something about an organization. On the flipside, if they are a newer agency or organization, check out the results of the leaders. Have they successfully done what they want to teach you how to do? Are they still doing it, or did they get lucky for a year and now they are trying to cash in on that fleeting success? Have they been successful at duplicating their efforts….or are they all talk and theory and no action? This matters more than you think.

7. Who is on the team? With many companies transitioning to done-for-you services these days (hey–we’re trendsetters…what can we say!), it’s important to scrutinize the actual team since they will probably have more interaction with your firm than the company’s figurehead. For example, everyone on our team has a legal background and most have worked in law firms. I would never allow someone control over an attorney’s social media accounts, for example, who didn’t understand the law….or have a basic understanding of the English language. Other companies are using outsourced teams overseas to do these tasks. Your image and your ethics are on the line. Find out who exactly will have their hands on your account and make sure everything is to your satisfaction.

8. If you are working with an agency, where are they driving traffic? Not long ago, one of our clients hired an outside agency to do Pay-Per-Click ads for them. Instead of driving to the firm’s website, they company insisted on creating separate sites using ALL OF THE FIRM’S CONTENT! They were basically “duplicating” the site exactly and driving the ads to the site they owned with a different phone number. They also wanted to change the local profiles in Google and Yahoo using this “duplicated” site as well. Again, the name of the game is to stay in control so always find out where your leads are driving to and what happens when the company is no longer in the picture.

These are just a few things to look out for if you are seeking to hire a marketing agency or join a coaching program this year. Of course no company is perfect and it’s important to have a realistic expectation of results going into it. Your results could vary on your budget, your niche, your area, etc…..but these are some steps you can take to ensure you suffer the least amount of pain and financial loss if the services are not what you expected them to be.

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

Low Cost Easy Ways to Repel Tire-kickers and Attract Deep-Pocket Clients To Your Firm

If you’re sick and tired of tire-kickers and D-list clients finding their way to your office, it’s time to take a look at your overall client experience and see how you can create an environment that attracts only the best and ideal clients to your firm.

The good news is that it doesn’t take deep pockets to attract those who have them. If you’re goal is to reach affluent clients, or simply those who can easily afford your services, a few simple positioning techniques will do the trick.

My right hand gal, Amber, decided to surprise her foodie husband for Valentine’s Day by taking him to Eleven Madison Park, a restaurant in New York City rated the 10th best in the world. At $195 a plate (not including drinks!), they certainly know something about attracting affluent customers.

As she shared her experience with me, we noticed that many of the techniques they used to create an exceptional client experience and attract high quality patrons were similar to how we accomplish the same goals for the firms we work with. I want to compare these strategies and give you 4 easy steps that you can implement this week to start attracting
better quality prospects to your firm. Here we go:

1. They secured the reservation with a credit card. This is HUGE. This 5-star restaurant knew the value of their tables and only allowed reservations if you gave a credit card number to hold your place. If you canceled within 48 hours of your dinner, you were charged $125 per person because they lost valuable time and money that could have been spent serving other patrons. YOUR time is equally valuable!If you struggle with cancellations or a lack of respect of your time, it’s time to start securing free consultations with a credit card. Have your staff tastefully explain that while there is no charge for the meeting, you do require a credit card to hold the space and it will only be billed in the event of a no-show, as you often run a waitlist during the month. This step alone will weed out those who would have wasted your time in the first place, and subliminally conveys to the prospective client the true value of working with you.

2. They maximized 3rd Party Endorsements– How did Amber know the restaurant she picked was the best? Because everything she found online and on their website told her they were the best! They prominently made mention of their Star Michelin rating and had plaques of their awards around the restaurant. They had great reviews that were easily found online. They had tons of fans and followers on social media networks that built credibility and trust. These types of third party endorsements MATTER to those who would consider spending a lot of money with you. They want reassurance that you are the best and that they are making the right decision. The good news is that this is super easy to pull off. Start gathering testimonials from happy clients and putting them on your website, your brochures, your welcome packet, etc. If you’ve won any awards (even if you paid for them like “Best Attorney in Town” in the local paper) flaunt them! Start writing press releases or letters to the editors that land you media coverage you can use as an “endorsement” from the press. Ask people to leave you great reviews on Google Places, Yahoo Local, Yelp, etc. Run a Facebook ad to build up your social media “Fan” base. When prospects know you’re good, they’ll be a bit more prepared to pay your fees…and these steps offer a great way toot your own horn without crossing ethical lines.

3. They Clearly Set Expectations from the Start– We’ve all had those needy clients who harass your staff, complain about everything and insist on talking to you almost daily. By the time you calculate the time spent with these people, minus your fees, you’re almost guaranteed a financial loss. This can easily be mitigated, or eliminated all together, by setting expectations right from the start. Although Amber made her reservation online, she received a phone call the next day from the Maître d’. He confirmed that she understood the pricing, explained that it would take 3 ½ hours to complete the 15-course meal and discussed dress code. It was a very friendly conversation but set expectations right from the start of what was and was not acceptable. You can accomplish the same goals in your office. Every client who schedules a consultation should receive a pre-meeting package. This may contain answers to frequently asked questions, your fee schedule, office policies, contact information of people on your staff, etc. The goal is to answer all of their questions and suppress complaints before they even have a chance to voice them. Tell them how your communication policy works and how often you’ll be in touch. Think of qualifiers you can convey to ensure you are only meeting with people ready to move forward with your services. For example, one of our clients insists married couples come in together for a consultation. If one is not available for the meeting, the appointment is rescheduled for a time when he or she can be. It’s practically impossible to move forward without the other present, so she sets the expectation and guards against time wasters right from the start. Think of ways you can do the same in your firm.

4. They Shocked and Awed– While she wasn’t particularly in-love with the food (her husband happens to be a great cook and she’s spoiled), Amber couldn’t deny the first class service she received that truly made it a worthwhile experience. They were greeted by name by people waiting to take their coats. The staff was polite, accommodating and made them feel like the only people in the room. Details mattered. Extra and over-the-top touches were the norm. They were even presented with a gift of granola for breakfast the next day! These are all critical things that you must be doing in your office, starting TODAY. Think of ways to make working with you a first-class, red-velvet rope experience. Invest in the “people skills” of your staff. Insist on a culture of first-class service in your office.Make people feel welcome and important. One of our clients has welcome signs printed for clients with their name on it and they are instantly greeted with waters, snacks, coffee and tea as they wait for their appointment. Overhaul your décor and look for ways to create a more warm and non-threatening environment. Create your own over-the-top touches. Another client of ours gives beautiful cakes from a bakery with their firm logo on it to every client after their document signing. You can imagine the impression this leaves and people can’t stop talking about it! Simple attention to detail will make people feel good about their experience and encourage them to refer their friends and family—which are typically warm and better quality leads right from the start!

Working with YOU should be a 5-star experience, and as you can see by these examples, it doesn’t take a whole lot of time or money to raise the bar. When you create a culture of quality and excellence, you’ll attract higher quality clients…causing you less stress.

Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.

• By Laura Lee

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

It’s good to be validated.

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

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

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

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

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

Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.

• By Laura Lee

Blogging to Grow Your Law Practice

There’s no doubt that the Internet has changed the way that most businesses work, especially when it comes to garnering new clients.  There are plenty of reasons for that, but web sites and search engines certainly play a huge role.  One of the most powerful tools on your web site is the blog feature.  (You do have a blog feature, don’t you?)

Blogs are an excellent marketing resource for several reasons, and if you’re not blogging yet, then it’s time to get started.  Just a few of the reasons you NEED to start blogging include:

• Authority
• Relationship
• SEO

Authority
Just by virtue of being an attorney, you already have a significant amount of authority when it comes to matters of law.  It’s understood that you have extensive education and understanding in areas that most lay people do not.  But, what sets you apart from all of the other lawyers in your field?

Blogging about your topic gives readers the reassurance that you know what you’re talking about.  When they see your words on the screen, offering them information they truly need, they recognize you as being an expert.  When it comes time to hire an attorney, they’re going to remember you over the lawyer whose static web site does little more than offer some pretty pictures and a contact form.

Relationship
Blogging is a form of social media, and “social” means building relationships.  When people read your blog, they begin to feel like they have a relationship with you.  In addition, many blogs allow for readers to leave comments, questions, and feedback.  When you respond to a comment left on your blog, you are doing more than simply answering a question.  You are showing the reader you are responsive and  you care about their needs.  Simply put, you are building a relationship which creates a great starting point for further engagement with your readers.

SEO
SEO, or “search engine optimization” refers to using proper methods to help search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing to notice your site and to rank it as relevant to search terms input by users.  Blogging is great for SEO!  For one thing, the search engines notice that your content is updated often, which is a good sign to them that you’re engaged and active.  Additionally, you can use “keywords” in your content.  By dropping in terms that you feel others might be using when looking for your type of information, you can show the search engines exactly why you are relevant to certain topics.

There are other good reasons to consider blogging, but these three alone are enough to get you more business.  If you don’t have time to blog on your own, it’s possible to hire “ghost bloggers” to cover topics which fit your practice and give you all of these benefits.  We are happy to give you recommendations to companies we love, or if you are an estate planning lawyer, check out our Done-For-You program where we take care of this for you.  Either way, commit to blogging in 2013. As much as it can feel like a chore, the benefits are well worth the effort!

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

3 Ways to Get the Most Out Of Your Attorney Coaching Program

Over the years we’ve worked with many lawyers who have easily spent 6 figures on coaching and mentoring services to get their law firms off the ground.  A lot of these  coaches are really great. The attorneys come away with a great understanding of what marketing needs to be done, yet they fail to see results. When we’ve worked with these  attorneys and peeled back the layers we typically see the same disconnect.

The attorney doesn’t have a marketing problem; they have an IMPLEMENTATION problem.

What we’ve found is that the knowledge and strategies that they’ve paid 6-figures to learn isn’t being implemented because there is an expectation that everything they learned can be done in-house.  We’ve identified 2 common reasons why this isn’t happening for them.

• The attorney never finds the time to implement what they’ve learned on their own. They have discovered that creating and implementing marketing takes quite a bit of time.
• They turn marketing over to their staff that did not have the benefit of the coaching or mentoring. They simply do not have the know-how to move forward creating technical email marketing, direct response marketing and online marketing campaigns.

The good news is there are solutions to these issues. You can get the benefit of great attorney coaching programs and get things implemented.  Here’s a little help.

1. Involve key team members in your coaching and training programs.

If you go to a marketing or practice management event, bring your staff! The extra cost will be well worth the benefit of having the team all on the same page and receiving the training that you have gone out of your way to receive. You can’t do it all yourself but you also can’t expect your staff to be mind readers or overnight gurus either…so bring them!

2. If you are a solo and don’t have staff, you must start blocking time to work ON your business and not just in it.

Having all of that knowledge in your head and doing it sporadically when you can find the time is not going to bring results. If you want your pipeline full, you need to set aside regular time to implement your marketing campaigns. Block off an hour to make phone calls and touch base with new referral sources. Set aside a Saturday morning to write your email newsletter and print newsletter for the month. If you don’t start intentionally making time for it, it will never happen.

3. Get a head start by getting help.  

We created our Done-For-You program to get you over the barriers. We give attorneys and their teams a “head start” on creating their marketing each and every month.  As much as you may hate marketing, it’s a necessary evil and has to get done if you want new business.  With a program like DFY, you don’t have to worry anymore about more starting from scratch and expecting your team to be marketing gurus and wasting hours that should be better used servicing your clients. We create the campaigns, have everything designed by a professional designer, write the blog posts, do  the newsletter so all you are doing is editing and making tweaks where you see fit.  It’s easy for you and easy for your team, and it is affordable!  Take a look.

If you’ve felt frustrated by the lack of clients coming in the door, don’t blame your coach or mentor. Just take the necessary steps to turn all of the terrific training into
reality and make it happen!

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

Tracking Responses with Email Marketing in Your Law Firm

Like those in so many other fields, attorneys are beginning to really understand the benefits of email marketing. While there is so much that can be said about the importance of keeping in touch with former clients and reaching out to new ones, there are some less obvious benefits to the email marketing programs available. One of the most useful is the ability to track nearly everything that happens with your email newsletter from the time it leaves your inbox to the time it’s read…and beyond.

The features available to you will depend on the email marketing program you use, but some of those to consider include being able to see–in real time–who is opening your emails and when. Not only that, but you are able to track how much time they actually spend reading this communication from you. If you’ve included links (say, back to your blog or another really interesting article), you can also see if the recipient is bothering to follow them.

Don’t underestimate the power of the “forward” button, either. If someone reading your email newsletter feels like it is particularly relevant to a friend, they can easily forward it to that person. And, of course, you will be able to see that this activity took place.

By analyzing the information that you gather, you can improve the quality of your newsletters and better meet client needs. Perhaps you notice that people are spending more time than usual on a recent newsletter. If that’s the case, you can deduce that there’s something about it that is pulling them in and work to cover those topics again.

Many email marketing programs will allow you to split up your mailing list, too. This lets you do a little experimentation. Try sending slightly different versions of the newsletter to different sections of your mailing list to see if it brings about different results. Did people tend to spend more time on reading the version with the light, friendly intro, or were they more engaged with the straight-to-business approach?

Does a link get more clicks when the article appears earlier in the newsletter or later?
Rewrite your headline to see if that simple change brings about different results

Format your links differently to see if one style is more appealing than another

Write the same information from different perspectives to see if people respond differently

Use the content exactly as written, but place the articles in a different order
Email marketing is a really effective tool, and being able to track results makes it that much more powerful. By analyzing those results, you can create a newsletter that people actually look forward to receiving and want to share with others. When someone hits that “forward” button, they are endorsing you and letting others know that you are an expert that they trust.

The payoff, of course, is that your current clients keep you on their radar while also introducing you to new prospects.

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 Facebook’s New Search Engine Affects Google, SEO and YOUR Law Firm

The big news in the tech world today is Facebook’s unveiling of a new, “smarter” search engine known as “Graph Search”.

This tool would seek to effectively rival Google, as users will receive more personalized results based on the interactions of people already in their social circles.  Here’s a great description of how it works from Mashable:

The search improvements involve the ability to ask questions in regular English, such as “which of my friends live in New York?” The search is now intelligent enough to rank your friends based on how much interaction you’ve had — so that closer friends will appear higher up the results list.

It can also search based on stories or photos you’ve Liked. One example Zuckerberg offered: the site can now display which of his friends have Liked the HBO show Game of Thrones. You can search for people who Like multiple products or services, which seems likely to be a bonanza for marketers.

And for those search queries that can not simply be answered by looking at the recommendations and “likes” of close family and friends, the graph search will default to a web-based search powered by none other than Google’s rival, Bing.

SO the big question in all of this is what do these changes mean for your law firm, SEO plan and current social media strategies?

Graph search was not intended to replace Google as a “traditional search engine” for web based results, but there is a very good chance that this “social” search engine will cut into a decent chunk of Google’s pie.  As we’ve seen with the integration online reviews and the popularity of sites such as Yelp, people are interested to hear honest feedback about local businesses from neighbors and friends before they make a buying decision.

As far as SEO, the writing has been on the wall for years now that social media would one day have a greater impact on SEO and search results.  Social sharing is already a factor that affects Google’s algorithm, and with Graph Search on the horizon, users may no longer have to turn to Google at all to find a local professional.  Again, from Mashable:

Facebook’s Graph Search isn’t just for looking up your old buddies and potential new friends, it’s also designed for Business Pages.

The company gave the example of a search for “sushi restaurants that my friends have been to in Los Angeles” and “TV shows my friends like.” Though these are largely organic results rather than paid ads (“There are no new ad formats available today,” Facebook noted on its marketer-friendly Facebook Studio blog), Sponsored Stories will show up in searches as will Sponsored Results.

Overall rankings will be based on top search suggestions including people, Pages, apps, places, groups and suggested searches. The results are also based on data shared by a business and connections of the person searching. In the blog post, Facebook urged business owners to “Continue to invest in your Page” by making sure it’s up-to-date. That means updating addresses to show up in local searches and cultivate “the right fans.”

http://mashable.com/2013/01/15/facebooks-graph-search-businesses/

Essentially, if you have been late to the social media marketing game for your law firm, now is a really smart time to jump in and get ahead of the curve (…and ahead of your competition!).   If people are going to be searching for legal services based on the recommendations of those in their network, you want to do everything in your power to get “liked” and show up on that list!

Here are a few action steps to ensure that happens:

• If you haven’t done so already, set up a Facebook business page and claim your vanity URL.

• Spend the money on a graphic designer to create a cover image that is professional and reflective of your practice.

• Take the time to fill in all relevant details about your firm, including your current address and all contact information (this will be important for geotargeting reasons).

• Use various Facebook apps to spotlight your events, opt-ins and free reports.

• Start promoting your page by sending an invitation out to your Facebook friends.

• Commit to updating your page daily.  Post helpful articles, videos, tips and more on legal topics and current events.

• Interact and engage with people who comment on your links. Encourage shares and likes in a tasteful way.

• Consider running targeted ads and sponsored stories aimed at prospects in your own backyard in order to increase your page “likes”, get new opt-ins for your free reports, generate referrals and more.

If you need help with this, our team at Legal Marketing Maven is available to get you up and running with an amazing Facebook fan page before these changes take place.

Our Fan Page set up for attorneys in any practice area is a one-time fee of $250, which includes a professionally designed cover image reflective of your branding and the values of your firm.   Prices on Facebook ad management and fan base growth vary depending on the length of the duration and campaign, so just “email us” to inquire of those services.

And of course, don’t forget to check with your local bar regarding any ethics rules that pertain to social media marketing—ESPECIALLY if you are going to have staff members contributing to, or updating your page!

I’m interested to see how this plays out.  Millions of people are already on Facebook, so I can see this new search engine being something that sticks.  Regardless, you still need to be there.  Follow the tips I outlined above and get started this week!

Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.

• By Laura Lee

5 great resources for a profitable 2013

We all make resolutions to be more profitable and bring in more business
in the New Year, but the real question is…

What specifically are you doing to ensure your goals become a reality
in 2013?

• How will you command the attention of better quality prospects
  each month?

• How will you increase your referrals from local professionals?

• How will you pull together live seminars that fill your pipeline to
  capacity for 2-3 months at a time?

• How will you land FREE publicity in your local papers and on TV?

-and-

• When will you find the time to focus on your marketing and create
  the materials necessary to make 2013 your best year in practice yet?

If you keep doing the same things you’ve always done, you’re likely to get
the exact same results. Einstein called that insanity, right? I happen to
agree.

Instead, why not start off 2013 with some NEW tools in your arsenal?
I’m talking about tools designed to get the job done right, with a proven
track record of RESULTS (i.e. new quality clients, 1^st page SEO rankings,
publicity in your local paper or TV stations, etc.).

To kick off the New Year, I’m releasing 5 of our favorite campaigns and
marketing resources that continue to bring in excellent results for our private
clients, and I KNOW they’ll do the same for you!

But I don’t want you to just take my word it. Here’s solid proof that they WORK:

• Using our Estate Planning Seminar Mega Pack for spring seminars, our
  private clients in various parts of the country averaged 20-25 attendees
  EACH NIGHT during a 4 night seminar spree. Average amount of
  appointments madeat the seminars consistently ranged between 35-45.
  What would you do with an extra 30 appointments this month?

• Our clients were regularly featured in their local media using our press
  releases and publicity campaigns. Here are a few links from 2012 for you
  to check out

Steven Spewak featured on STLtoday.com, “Estate Plan Strategies, LLC Offering
Free Health Care Directives For Local Heroes November 26-30^th http://interact.
stltoday.com/pr/local-news/PR110112011010912

Darlynn Morgan featured in the Orange County Daily Pilot, “When Teens Become
Adults” http://articles.dailypilot.com/2012-05-24/opinion/tn-dpt-0525-mailbag-20120524 _1_water-taxi-service-harbor-commission-harbor-character/4

Albert Hehr featured in the Plain Dealer, “When Your Graduating Teen Becomes a Legal
Adult, Take Steps To Protect Your Right to Parent In a Crisis” http://blog.cleveland.com/
letters/2012/06/when_your_graduating_teen_beco.html

Need some more page one rankings? Here are a few screen shots showing how our
supercharged blog content packs great SEO results:

And the BEST part with all of our products and campaigns? There’s no guess work.

We walk you step by step through EVERYTHING you need to know to implement the campaign fast and get the best results. We’re also easily accessible by phone and email if you need guidance purchasing mailing lists, fulfillment, etc.

So, if you’re ready to hit the ground running in 2013, you can now scoop up one… or ALL of our favorite resources for the next 48 hours ONLY at 25% off the regular price. This is a firm deadline…the page will come down and purchases will NOT be possible after January 10th.

Use the code SUCCESS2013 at checkout to apply the 25% discount to your order.

The only catch is that the materials are area exclusive, so they will be issued
on a first-come-first serve basis. If your area is no longer available because
someone purchased it first, or we have a client already in your territory, we will
contact you immediately and issue a full refund. We believe in marketing integrity
and do not work with competing firms.

With that said, I encourage you to check these resources out if you desire to build
stronger, more profitable relationships in your community this year. This New Year’s
blowout because is based on our commitment to YOU and YOUR success, so don’t
wait to take advantage of the materials at this pricing. As always, if you have questions
or would like more information about a particular campaign or product before you buy,
just email us and we’ll help you out.

If you are training someone to handle marketing and community relations at
your firm, purchasing these materials to use as a guide or template of a solid direct
response marketing campaign is an excellent idea. Check it out here!

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

Being held hostage by a contractor or service provider?

It never fails that when we start working with a new client, we discover some area where an old contractor or outside firm is holding their intellectual property hostage.

It may be a social media account or website hosting.  It could be access to a CRM or your email marketing platform.

The point is that you can NEVER be too careful when it comes to ensuring that you have long-term access and control of your various accounts.

Not long ago, we started working with a client who asked us to take over the management of his Facebook Fan page. It hadn’t been used in a while and they were ready to start posting more updates on behalf of the firm.

When we asked this attorney to make us an authorized “admin” of the page, it turned out he couldn’t. Lo and behold, a former employee had set up the page under THEIR personal name. That meant the attorney could no longer access the page and we were forced to start from scratch setting up new accounts and building up their fan base.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I can’t TELL you how many times we started working with clients only to discover that they did not own the hard coding or hosting of their website! Rather, the contractor or web company who set it up retained this control and if the attorney wanted to make any changes or use a different provider, they would lose their entire site!

In fact, this recently happened to a very good friend of ours (and a very brilliant attorney) who had to redesign her site from scratch after paying $10,000 for a beautiful site that she did not own and no longer had access to once she terminated her relationship with the designing company.

I shared the following tips with her in order to avoid this nightmare in the future, and I encourage you to use them as well to protect your intellectual property or online real estate.

1. Any accounts set up in YOUR name and on your behalf must be done using a central email address that YOU OWN. When we start working with clients, we set up a basic gmail account that the attorney has access to at any time. We use this gmail address when we make purchases, submit press releases, submit event listings, open new accounts, etc.  That way, the client has access to everything in one central location should we decide to part ways in the future.

2. Do not sign a contract for a website or hosting services unless you retain total control! I don’t care how pretty it looks or how fancy it seems; unless you own that html code, do NOT sign on the dotted line! Same goes for sites you “rent” too. It’s not the brightest idea to pay $2500-$5000 a month for a website that you CERTAINLY won’t have access too if you want to break up with the service provider down the road. For what you pay in one month’s “rent”, you could OWN a site with all the bells and whistles they are offering you.

3. Ensure social media accounts are set up using either your PERSONAL login or a central account like I mentioned in step 1.  This goes for Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, YouTube and even a hootsuite account—which is used to manage these profiles all in one place.

4. Retain ownership of your phone number! This may sound like a “duh” tip, but we recently had a client who learned this the hard way. When she decided to stop renting her office space, she learned that her phone number (which goes to the main switchboard of the building) would not be coming with her, nor would the receptionist be forwarding the calls.  I’m sure you could imagine what a nightmare this turned out to be.

A few proactive steps like these can save you from a TON of headaches and hassles when working with outside companies and independent contractors.

If you’ve ever found yourself held hostage, I’d love to hear your experience and what you did about it. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.

• By Laura Lee

Expecting magic vs. momentum in your legal practice

In most professional fields, people seem to equate the word “marketing” with “magic”. Maybe you’ve unknowingly done it in your practice, too. You create a marketing plan, hire the appropriate staff members, run some campaigns and nothing happens.

Sound familiar?

I know the frustration of this from personal experience. Typically around the second or third month of working with a new client, this becomes the topic of our private coaching calls. They express concern that their phone is not ringing off the hook, no one seems to notice what they are doing and it feels like their money is getting wasted in the process.

They are striving for magic, not momentum.

After effectively talking them off the ledge, I’m able to teach them how REAL, relationship-based marketing works. Typically it’s front-end loaded, requiring a small investment of time to lay a foundation in which you are REGULARLY reaching out to prospects and potential referral sources in the community.

It’s a further understanding that you can’t just swipe a cold mailing list of financial advisors or CPA’s from the Internet, mail to them one time and expect business like crazy. Instead, it’s recognizing the Rule of 7 at play and making a plan to constantly stay in touch.

And, especially when it comes to internet marketing, it’s understanding that the website you spent ZERO time marketing in the past will not show up on page one of Google just because you posted a blog or two.

You have to do these things consistently, usually over a period of a few months before you can accurately gage results!

So back to my coaching calls. Once I’m able to help the client see that business relationships and momentum are not built overnight (much like relationships in real life!), it never fails that within the next 30-60 days I’m getting emails from the SAME EXACT CLIENTS like this:

“I don’t know what happened but the largest nursing home in my
community just called. Said they’ve seen my name all over the
place and I was also mentioned by someone on staff. They’ve
invited me to speak to their residents. I had two similar calls this week for smaller speaking engagements. I’ve had zero invites prior to this”.

“I’m finally starting to get calls from my website and ranking all over the place. And not just waste of time calls before, but these are actually quality cases. Amazing how this works”

“We engaged a very lucrative client today. She inquired about our services a year ago but put it on the backburner. I started sending my newsletter and after reading it for the past two months, she knew she had to come in and get everything taken care of. She thanked us for the push…but I should probably be thanking you for the same”.

I encourage you to take a cold, honest look at your marketing expectations today. Are you expecting magic or are you realistically focused on building momentum and long-term relationships?

It’s wise to expect some form of ROI (return on investments) but make sure you are allowing the proper timeframe for that to happen. Just like you probably wouldn’t agree to marry someone after the first date, you also need to allow for proper “courtship” and “wooing” before a client is willing to fork over $5,000-$10,000 on your services.

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

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.

• By Laura Lee

CSI for a Poor Lead Generating Law Firm Website

One 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.

• By Laura Lee

Overcoming Your Fears of “Indecent” Exposure

Do you feel ‘dirty’ promoting your business? Do you feel uncomfortable picking up the phone to ask for speaking engagements or letting potential referral sources know more about what you do? 

Whether you like it or not, growing your law firm and reaching new clients depends on exposure in your community. If you are not constantly showcasing your services and expertise to new clients, referral partners and local organizations every single day, you will not see the results you desire. 

Let me make something very clear: although you are an attorney running a law practice, the primary business you are in is sales. If you are not SELLING the value of your services and sharing your expertise to as many people as possible, you are losing out on the numbers game necessary to make your practice grow! 

For many attorneys, this is the most painful part of hanging out your own shingle. You may have envisioned helping clients with their legal problems and doing those things you went to law school for…NOT cold calling, promoting, networking, advertising and pouring your heart and soul into lead generation. 

We had a client who felt absolutely icky doing all of those things above. Maybe you can relate. She had a hard time closing business in the office and would let potential opportunities for speaking engagements or partnerships pass her by because she felt uncomfortable picking up the phone and exposing her services to others in town. 

I asked her a simple question to shift her mindset and make her feel less uncomfortable asking for a “sale”. You see, she receives calls just about every day from potential referral sources and local businesses seeking to partner with her–and great things have come of those opportunities. I asked if she felt uncomfortable, or even irritated, when those people have reached out to her. Of course she said no. Some offers she had to pass on, but never did she look at the person or organization reaching out to her as “slimy” for attempting to build a relationship. 

You don’t have to feel slimy or icky reaching out and letting other people know what YOU do either. In fact, when you do it the right way, you’ll leave the other person feeling as though THEY have benefited enormously from talking with YOU! We’ll cover some of these strategies on how to turn the tables and “sell without selling” in future newsletters. 

For now, keep in mind, when you truly believe in the value of what you are doing and know your services are making a difference in people’s lives (…and no matter what practice area you are in, you are helping people), you should not feel embarrassed telling others about what you do! In fact, it would be a disservice to NOT open your mouth and let people know! 

Back to our client: During one of our accountability calls, I set a deadline for her to call two people, whom she had met in passing, from two different organizations in town. After weeks of putting it off, she finally picked up the phone to touch base, let them know what she was doing and offer to be of service to them in the future. From these two simple phone calls, she was invited to speak for BOTH organizations…which are filled with her ideal clients …and she increased the chance of bringing in a ton of new business during the slow summer months. 

What have you put off doing because you were afraid to “sell” your services? Who have you neglected to call because you didn’t want to seem like a “pest” or a “slimeball”? 

I encourage you to shift your mindset about this today so you don’t miss out on great opportunities for new clients and referrals. Your business success depends on constant exposure, so don’t be afraid to speak up to those around you! If you are truly an introvert, you may also want to pick up the following books: 

Self-Promotion for Introverts: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead 
by Nancy Ancowitz, 

Networking for People Who Hate Networking: A Field Guide for Introverts, the Overwhelmed, and the Underconnected 
by Devora Zack 

Both are great resources if you struggle to close sales and market your practice in a strong, confident manner.

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 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.