Test, Track & Do It All Over Again
Once you have your system down pat, your next step is to make sure you are tracking everything you are doing.
Most online newsletter creation software will allow you to track how many ezines were sent out via email; how many were actually opened; how many readers took a second action (like clicking through to your website); how quickly after delivery your email was opened and other factors that will help you gauge your success.
Testing your market and tracking your results is crucial, and not a step you want to ignore.
Overall, remember the five-to-one rule: you want to achieve five times the return on investment that you would make in your marketing. When you consider you will spend less than $50 a month, it’s not hard to imagine how quickly you will reach that number to get the best bang for your buck with a limited amount of time, energy, and money.
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You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take on creating your own ezine – and more -- when you attend a Rainmaker Retreat, a two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms. So if you’re a partner in a small law firm or are on your own and want to grow your practice while enjoying the lifestyle you deserve, you owe it to yourself to attend a Rainmaker Retreat. The next Rainmaker Retreats are scheduled for Friday, February 20th through Saturday, February 21st, in Los Angeles and Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th in Las Vegas. Register early and receive $200.00 off your registration fee and $800.00 worth of bonuses. To register or for more information, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 1-888-588-5891.
Growing Your Mailing List
Before you begin creating your newsletter, think carefully about who is going to be reading it. What are their needs? What are their problems? What are their challenges? How can you make their lives easier and more enjoyable?
Where do you find the answers to these key questions? Well, if you have a website, are generating traffic (visitors) to your website, and capturing their names and email addresses via an opt-in or another conversion method, you have already begun to build your list.
Every single website visitor must be accounted for, because every visitor to your website is a potential customer. It’s very important that your website provides several different means for visitors to provide basic contact information so you can add their names to your list and grow the list over time.
After all, if you do not have much of a list, why produce an ezine? Your ezine is designed to connect with your clients and prospects via your list, so building your list is actually your first step.
And don’t worry about snapping your already stretched budget, either. With so many terrific newsletter management programs available, you can reach a list of thousands every month for under $50.00.
The one we recommend is www.constantcontact.com. It’s an excellent resource, allowing you to produce professional-looking newsletters at an affordable price.
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You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take on creating your own ezine – and more, when you attend a Rainmaker Retreat, a two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms. So if you’re a partner in a small law firm or are on your own and want to grow your practice while enjoying the lifestyle you deserve, you owe it to yourself to attend a Rainmaker Retreat. The next Rainmaker Retreats are scheduled for Friday, February 20th through Saturday, February 21st, in Los Angeles and Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th in Las Vegas. Register early and receive $200.00 off your registration fee and $800.00 worth of bonuses. To register or for more information, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 1-888-588-5891.
The Key to Online Success
The key to connecting powerfully with current clients and winning new clients online is frequency and consistency.
Numerous marketing studies have shown that it takes a minimum of seven ‘touches’ or contacts from your company to a client or prospect—whether an email, phone call, piece of mailed advertising—before most of your best prospects will stop what they’re doing long enough to say, “Who are you and what can you do for me?”
The entire world is bombarded with advertising messages, as many as 5,000 each day. All of us suffer from information overload, because there’s just so much information now. We can’t possibly absorb every individual message the first, or even the second, time we hear it.
The key to success, then, is communicating with your clients and prospects multiple times, frequently, consistently, and then developing systems, like the ezine, that can be automated and simplified so you just need to devote only one hour a month to keeping in touch with the people you most want to do business with.
The Anatomy of an Ezine
Thinking about creating an ezine? You should. And the sooner you do it, the sooner you can build better relationships with your current clients and help invigorate your referral process, for starters.
But if thinking about creating your own ezine has got you thinking about writing the next War and Peace, stop! Ezines are most effective when they are brief.
For an effective ezine, all you need is:
- No more than 1,000 words, total.
- Several interesting, timely topics.
- Killer headlines.
That’s it. And that’s the anatomy of the ezine.
5 Reasons Why Your Law Practice Needs an Ezine
In less than a few hours a month, you can produce an effective electronic newsletter, also known as an ‘ezine.”
We are not talking about the glossy 4-page printed newsletters attorneys pay a third party distributor to mail it to their client base with their practice named slapped on it.
Nor are we talking about a simple 2-color brochure sent through the mail. We're not even talking about "mailing' in the conventional post-office sense, either.
What we are talking about is a customized electronic newsletter that is commonly used in business but rarely in the field of law.
If you are truly interested in the long-term success and sustainability of your practice, you need to learn how to leverage technology and the Internet to build it.
Here are 5 reasons why you should publish an ezine:
- Low Cost & Immediate. An ezine gives you a low-cost and instantaneous method of sending out your information to current and prospective clients. All you need is a database of email addresses from people who’ve given them to you. Once your ezine system is set-up, you can also use it to send out alerts, advisories and messages as frequently as you desire.
- Two-way Dialogue. Not only does an ezine provide you with an easy way to reach customers; it also gives them an easy way to reach you. You don’t have to be a programming genius to build in this feature, because many of the user-friendly ezine programs available provide you an easy way to add contact links for your ezine recipient to use to contact you.
- Helps Boost Your Marketing Efforts. You can use an ezine to easily reinforce what you want current and potential clients to know about your law firm; to showcase your expertise; provide important information.
- Measurable Marketing. Many ezine programs come with easy-to-use methods of tracking your results. Your time is valuable, so it’s important for you to know how your ezine is working for you.
- Saves Printing Costs. With the cost of paper and postage rising, it’s getting more and more expensive to mail newsletters. And, as those costs continue to rise, you’re faced with deciding whether or not a certain client or prospective client is “worthy” of receiving the newsletter. With an ezine, there are neither paper nor postage costs, so you can send to as many people—or as few—as you desire, without concern for costs.
20 Tips for Marketing Your Law Firm in Tough Times (Tips 16-20)
When economic times get tough, law firm marketing is often the first line item to be lopped from the budget.
That’s extremely unfortunate, because this is precisely the time when you need to increase the number of clients you’re serving; find new clients in new markets to serve and/or increase the amount of revenue you get from current clients.
And it’s only through law firm marketing that you can do all three. It’s only through law firm marketing that you can help skyrocket your profits.
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So to help you and your law firm through these tough economic times, I want to share with you 20 tips for marketing your law firm.
With this blog post, we’ll cover Tips 16-20.
16. Be aware of the effect of every message you’re sending – Consistency in your message, your office, your speech and all that revolves around working with a client is vital to building trust in your abilities. This is what is meant by your law firm’s “brand.” Everything related to your business sends a message and modifies the buyer’s image of your company, from your letterhead to the size of your aisles. Control every message and make every message “sing the same song.”
17. Make everything as attractive as possible – Having a well-designed and appealing law firm website can do wonders as a first impression. So start with an attractive, easily navigable legal website, making everything as comfortable as possible for a client.
18. Write ads that make people want to know more – Here is where legal marketing expertise can help you determine what to say. Ads are little pieces of seduction, designed to make the buyer want to know more. They don’t have to make the sale; they just have to get buyers to take the next step. Make them alluring, not weighty.
19. Use the Internet to market and sell – Most people with computers go there first to research products and check out sellers. Be there, or be left behind.
20. Be flexible and watch for new opportunities – Even in the legal marketing world, there is always something new and better to try. Take calculated risks when you approach a new marketing method. Turn to legal marketing experts for advice on what kind of opportunities would work best for your firm and your budget; but don’t let your law firm marketing approach be stagnant. Change is constant, creating both dangers and opportunities. Those who do not respond to change do not survive for long.
(My thanks to the Marketing Psychology Group for their article “20 Marketing Tips for Hard Times” that provided the ideas for these tips.)
20 Tips for Marketing Your Law Firm in Tough Times (Tips 11-15)
As 2008 is swept away like sand erased by a wave, now in 2009 is the time—more than ever—to emphasize marketing, because when economic times get tough, law firm marketing is often the first line item to be lopped from the budget.
That’s extremely unfortunate, because this is precisely the time when you need to increase the number of clients you’re serving; find new clients in new markets to serve and/or increase the amount of revenue you get from current clients.
And it’s only through law firm marketing that you can do all three.
So to help you and your law firm through these tough economic times, I want to share with you 20 tips for marketing your law firm. With this blog post, we’ll cover Tips 11-15.
11. Don’t think of your product as your baby—You should be proud of your firm, your previous cases and even the case you are trying to acquire. However, from a client perspective, your clients have come to you for the fastest and most beneficial solution so they can move on with their lives. Don’t ever forget why you do what you do in the first place.
12. Provide outstanding customer service—This is often the differentiating factor among competitors. Today good customer service isn’t enough. Great customer service is required. For example, make sure you call a client back when she leaves a message. Pay attention to your client when he arrives. Showing a client she matters can be a deciding factor when she chooses an attorney.
13. Know their doubts and overcome them—Doubts and fears are part of any buying decision. Recognize what they are and confront them directly. Although you can’t guarantee a case result, through your legal expertise, you can ease their concerns of having a valid case.
14. Treat customers like friends—If they feel a personal connection with you, that will help them feel more inclined to pick you as their attorney.
15. Use testimonials and other validators (honors, awards, etc.)—Let other people praise you and your legal expertise. Display this on your law firm website and in your other advertising.
(My thanks to the Marketing Psychology Group for their article “20 Marketing Tips for Hard Times” that provided the ideas for these tips.)
20 Tips for Marketing Your Law Firm in Tough Times (Tips 6-10)
When economic times get tough, law firm marketing is often the first line item to be lopped from the budget.
That’s extremely unfortunate, because this is precisely the time when you need to increase the number of clients you’re serving; find new clients in new markets to serve and/or increase the amount of revenue you get from current clients.
And it’s only through law firm marketing that you can do all three.
So to help you and your law firm through these tough economic times, I want to share with you 20 tips for marketing your law firm.
With this blog post, we’ll cover Tips 6-10.
6. Make your message interesting—Use your personality and personal experiences (confidentiality permitting) to explain your story and what your prospective clients get when they hire you as their lawyer.
7. Make your message believable—Don’t promise something you can’t do for a client just to sign them. Word-of-mouth can be a harmful thing if you don’t deliver on what you promise. To hire you as their lawyer, their first impression of you is vital and they must be able to trust you. So in your law firm marketing, state what you can do and what you believe in. If you have had an 80% successful case rate state it; however, be prepared to back-up your messages when a prospective client calls.
8. Value their time—Their time is valuable, so at the outset in your marketing message, emphasize what you can do for them. Free consultation forms on your website and even free consults (if applicable) in the office can help you make the most of their—and your—valuable time.
9. Don’t assume you know what your customers want—If you don’t know what each specific target group of your buyers really wants, research. It’s easier to sell them what they want than to convince them to buy what you think they want. From a law firm marketing perspective, you find out what your clients want by talking to them and keeping track of what is important to them. Your marketing can be tailored to focus on their needs. Is it important for a car accident victim to know your previous success with their type of accident or with the auto company they are going against? Listen, learn and apply it.
10. Satisfy their emotions—People often buy on the promise of emotional satisfaction and then justify it with logical reasons. As a lawyer, understand how your prospective client feels about his or her case. For example, if they are angry, empathize with them and see what you can do to help them feel vindicated. And never overlook other powerful emotions like security, safety, acceptance, guilt, fear, longing, and a dozen others, even in business-to-business sales.
In my next blog post, we’ll cover Tips 11-15.
(My thanks to the Marketing Psychology Group for their article “20 Marketing Tips for Hard Times” that provided the ideas for these tips.)
