Legal Marketing Strategies: 4 Tips to Generate Clients Using Speaking and Seminars - Tip #2
A very powerful law firm marketing strategy to generate more clients is to hold educational seminars or speak at events. Throughout this week, and into Monday of the next, I’ll be discussing 4 tips to help you effectively use this strategy.
Today I’ll discuss Tip #2: Educate Your Audience
In talking to your audience, you should make your talk educational. Don’t stand up there and spout legal jargon and legal theory or sections and codes because that’s not what people want. They want practical, useful information.
So give them lots of practical, useful information that will help them. You may say, “Well, I don’t want to give away the store. I don’t want to give them so much information that they can do it themselves.” Please understand, if you could give them enough information where they could do it themselves, the people who actually would do it for themselves are not your clients.
You want to target the people who have the money to hire an attorney and don’t want to do it for themselves. You don’t want to hire tire kickers or “do it yourselfers” because all they’re going to do is try to get your lowest price. I actually follow the opposite principle. I purposefully try to overwhelm my audience with practical, useful information when I give a seminar on law firm marketing. Why? Because I want them to walk out of the room with so many great ideas that they don’t know where to start so they will turn to me and hire my company to implement the law firm marketing plan for them.
You must recognize that not everyone in the audience is in your target market and you need to qualify them as much as they qualify you. You need to ensure that they need you, they want you and they can afford you. If you don’t want to attract “Yellow Page Clients” then don’t charge Yellow Page prices.
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Where can you read articles like: “9 Proven Keys to Recession-proof your Law Practice”;
“4 Secret Strategies of Law Firm Marketing” or “Supercharging Your Law Firm’s Referrals?”
In The Rainmaker Advisor Journal. To get your free trial copy, go to www.therainmakeradvisor.com
Legal Marketing Strategies: 4 Tips to Generate Clients Using Speaking and Seminars - Tip #1
A very powerful law firm marketing strategy to generate more clients is to hold educational seminars or speak at events. Throughout this week, and into Monday of the next, I’ll be discussing 4 tips to help you effectively use this strategy.
Today I’ll discuss Tip #1: Always Speak to Decision Makers
The first important tip is to always speak to the right group. Make sure you get in front of the right group (people who either can refer you clients or who are highly likely to need, want and be able to afford your services) by asking about:
- What is the average attendance?
- What is your average attendee like? Their job title? Description? Age? Decision maker?
- What percent of your usual attendees are decision makers?
- What kinds of topics have had the best turnout?
- Who has recently spoken to your group and what did they speak about?
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Do you want to double your law practice, increase client referrals and make more money in these challenging economics times? Then subscribe to The Rainmaker Advisor Journal. To get your free trial copy, go to: www.therainmakeradvisor.com
Law Firm Marketing Success Tip: 4 Excellent Resources for Creating Your Fully-automated Follow-up System
The key to enhancing your credibility as an expert, and building relationships online is to connect consistently with your potential clients. Remember, statistics show that it takes a minimum of 7 contacts to enroll a new client.
The best way to ensure consistent follow-up with those clients while saving your precious time is to automate that system by using autoresponders and online newsletters, also known as “ezines.” 
Here are some resources to get your started:
Autoresponders
Two of the resources I recommend are: www.GetResponse.com and www.Aweber.com
Newsletters/ezines
For newsletters, I recommend: www.ConstantContact.com and www.VerticalResponse.com
A Bonus for You
If you want to see what a popular legal online newsletter looks like, go to: http://newsletters.findlaw.com/nl/
To your success!
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Where can you read articles like: “9 Proven Keys to Recession-proof your Law Practice”;
“4 Secret Strategies of Law Firm Marketing” or “Supercharging Your Law Firm’s Referrals?”
In The Rainmaker Advisor Journal. To get your free trial copy, go to www.therainmakeradvisor.com
Law Firm Marketing Success Tip: 5 Components of a Successful Blog
Having your own blog is vital to effective law firm Internet marketing. To have a successful 
blog, there are 5 components you must keep in mind:
- Highly-targeted, well-branded.
- Provides quality content that solves your prospects’ challenges.
- Publish your blog constantly and consistently: 2 to 4 times per week.
- Write in relation to the most popular current events.
- Register your blog in directories and promote actively. (A top blog directory: www.masternewesmedia.org/rss/top55)
To start creating your own blog, here are some resources: www.blogger.com; www.typepad.com; and www.wordpress.com
For a professionally-designed blog, we highly recommend the firm: www.LawFirmMediaGroup.com. They specialize in working with law firms to create, design and optimize websites and blogs that will not only get highly-ranked but also attract qualified clients.
Here’s to your law firm marketing success!
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Would you like to know more about getting increasing your referrals? Then come to Los Angeles April 24 & 25th to attend The Rainmaker Referral Intensive. For more information and to register, please call 888-588-5891.
Law Firm Marketing Made Successful: The Law of 7
Law firm marketing can be made successful. Notice I said “successful,” not easy. The truth is, when done correctly, law firm marketing is a complex endeavor that requires diligence, consistency and commitment. Only then is there a good chance that it will be successful, too.
Consider the following statistics regarding contact with prospective clients:
- 48% of lawyers give-up after the first contact.
- 25% give up after the second contact.
- 12% give-up after the third contact.
- 5% give-up after the fourth contact.
In other words, 9 out of 10 prospective clients are never followed-up with more than 4 times.
This amounts to leaving money on the table. Why? Because legal marketing statistics also show that it takes an average of 7 contacts to enroll a new client. This is “The Law of 7.”
If you want your law firm marketing to be successful, you must obey “The Law of 7.”
You’re probably thinking right now, “I know I should connect frequently and consistently with my prospective clients, but don’t have the time.”
True. That’s why you should also connect automatically with those clients. It’s essential you leverage the power of technology to build relationships with your prospects.
Then what you need is a strategy and a process that leverages the most recent advancements in technology (autoresponders, social media, blogs, for example) to simplify and automate your marketing efforts, building rock solid, long-term relationships and helping you earn more, work less and spend time doing what you love to do.
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Do you want a step-by-step system to get more referrals? Then come to Los Angeles April 24 & 25th to attend The Rainmaker Referral Intensive. For more information and to register, please call 888-588-5891.
Law Firm Internet Marketing Strategy: 3 Ways to Build Your Million Dollar List (Part 3 of 3)
In Monday’s post, I outlined 3 law firm Internet marketing strategies to build your million dollar list:
Strategy #1: Build.
Strategy #2: Borrow.
Strategy #3: Buy.
The law firm Internet marketing strategies we’ve covered so far are Strategy #1: Build and Strategy #2: Borrow. Today we’ll discuss Strategy #3: Buy
In law firm Internet marketing, a very effective tool to build your million dollar list is buying “Pay Per Click” Internet advertising.
Here’s how it works:
- Open an account with $5, $10, or $20.
- Select your keywords.
- Write your ad.
- Prospective clients start coming to your website.
When done correctly, you get to Step # 4 very quickly. And compared to banner ads, link exchanges, buying space in e-zines, waiting weeks or months for your search engine listings to show up, Google AdWords is certainly much faster. It’s an attorney’s dream come true.
When using GoogleAdWords, it’s critical to the success of your law firm marketing efforts to select the right keywords and to write the ad using only 2 or 3 lines. So to help get you started, I suggest two online video courses:
How to use GoogleAdwords in your law firm marketing:
Virtualpracticebuilder.com/googleadwords
How to select the right keywords:
You’ll get a lot of information to better understand GoogleAdwords and how to use them with the most effect and greatest law firm marketing results. Plus, both resources are free.
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Do you want a step-by-step system to get more referrals? Then come to Los Angeles April 24 & 25th to attend The Rainmaker Referral Intensive. For more information and to register, please call 888-588-5891.
Law Firm Internet Marketing Strategy: 3 Ways to Build Your Million Dollar List (Part 2 of 3)
In the last post, I outlined 3 law firm Internet marketing strategies to build your million dollar list:
Strategy #1: Build.
Strategy #2: Borrow.
Strategy #3: Buy.
In that post, I focused on Strategy #1: Build. Today our legal marketing topic is: Strategy #2: Borrow.
Strategy #2 is a combination of law firm Internet marketing and face-to-face meetings to help you build your million dollar list. Here are the 7 steps for you to take:
- Identify your target market.
- Select specific industries or professions that have connections with your target market (e.g., accountants, financial planners, other attorneys who don’t do what you do.)
- Create something tangible – your freebie – an eBook, an audio recording, etc.
- Meet with 3 – 5 potential Strategic Referral Partners (SRP’s) a week.
- Set-up a customer relationship manager system: crm.zoho.com
- Keep in touch with them every 30 to 60 days.
In the next post, we’ll conclude our law firm Internet marketing strategy discussion by discussing Strategy #3: Buy.
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Would you like to know more about getting increasing your referrals? Then come to Los Angeles April 24 & 25th to attend The Rainmaker Referral Intensive. For more information and to register, please call 888-588-5891.
Law Firm Internet Marketing Strategy: 3 Ways to Build Your Million Dollar List (Part 1 of 3)
This week I’ll be discussing using three law firm Internet marketing strategies to build your million dollar list:
Strategy #1: Build.
Strategy #2: Borrow.
Strategy #3: Buy.
The law firm Internet marketing strategy today is Strategy #1: Build.
When it comes to Internet marketing for lawyers, one of the easiest ways to build your list is through article marketing.
This is how it works:
- You write an article in your area of expertise, solving a problem your prospective client has.
- People find your article on the Internet because it’s “search engine optimized” (SEO’d).
- They read your article.
- They respond by signing up for your newsletter, contacting you for a consult or sending you their contact information – whatever it is you want them to do.
- You are now building your million dollar list.
That’s article marketing in a nutshell. Here are the steps you should take:
- Write 2-4 articles each month. (Remember, frequency and consistency is key.)
- Focus your article on a theme. Edgy, controversial, already being tossed about in the media.
- To make it search engine optimized, add your keywords (wordtracker.com).
- Write like a marketer:
Clearly identify your target market.
Describe a primary challenge or problem they are experiencing.
Provide a realistic and simple solution to their challenge.
Write a “call to action.” Tell them what you want them to do: sign-up for a newsletter, contact you for a consult, give you their contact information, etc.
- Use an automated submission service to publish your articles to thousands of hungry editors. (articlemarketer.com; isnare.com; submityourarticle.com)
- Test and track your success. (google.com/alerts)
In my next post, I’ll discuss law firm Internet marketing Strategy #2: Borrow.
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Do you want a step-by-step system to get more referrals? Then come to Los Angeles April 24 & 25th to attend The Rainmaker Referral Intensive. For more information and to register, please call 888-588-5891.
To Niche or Not to Niche: An Essential Question in Law Firm Marketing
To niche or not to niche? When it comes to legal marketing strategies, there are different schools of thought on this topic. You may be “pro-niche” or you may be “no-niche.” Or you may be a combination of both, like me.
Why Niche Your Practice?
It’s certainly helpful to concentrate your law firm marketing efforts in a particular area. This does not limit you; rather, it helps you better focus your efforts. The benefits of niching your practice include:
- Targeted legal marketing materials.
- A clearly-stated Unique Competitive Advantage, (UCA), or elevator speech. (Just a reminder: selecting a niche doesn’t mean that you can never work with clients outside that niche.)
- Improves your name recognition and branding.
- Makes you more memorable to people you meet.
- Increases your chances of getting referrals.
How to Determine a Niche
(Refer back to your answers to the law firm marketing exercises in my last 2 posts and look for overlaps between what you have to offer and what your clients need. Brainstorm possible target markets or niche names.)
Why Be Flexible About a Niche?
Your ideal client profile may change over time. In addition to building confidence and experience, this will help you determine who you enjoy working with and who you don’t. You’ll discover which practice areas energize you and which ones drain you. (It’s much easier to apply legal marketing strategies to potential clients whom you’d enjoy working with and in 
practice areas that energize you.)
During this experimental phase, you may want to remain open to possible target markets. It’s important to pay attention to the types of clients who come your way.
What Types of Clients Are Most Commonly Referred to You?
When you get inquiries from prospective clients, what’s drawing them to you and your services? Keep track of your clients and see if they don’t begin to naturally fall into one or more groups. You may find that you attract clients you can learn from or who can learn from you. Their situations may mirror your current or recent challenges. Becoming aware of these commonalities is a way to let your niche find you, helping you develop your law firm marketing.
Only One Niche?
It’s fine to have more than one specialty or niche. Often attorneys have a bread and butter niche – a segment that can afford to pay them well and another one, perhaps for starving artists, whom they love working with but who pay scholarship rates. Sometimes it’s helpful to test the waters to see if there’s a demand for your specialty. You can continue working with an established clientele as you determine whether or not to branch out into a new practice area. Remember, nothing is set in stone. You can always rename your business, print new business cards and update a website. That’s the beauty of legal marketing.
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Where can you read articles like: “9 Proven Keys to Recession-proof your Law Practice”;
“4 Secret Strategies of Law Firm Marketing” or “Supercharging Your Law Firm’s Referrals?”
In The Rainmaker Advisor Journal. To get your free trial copy, go to www.therainmakeradvisor.com
To Make Your Legal Marketing Easier, Use These 9 Keys to Identify Your Ideal Client
Now that you have a better understanding of what it is that you, as an attorney, uniquely do, it’s time for the next step in legal marketing strategies: identifying your ideal client.
Not all clients are created equal, especially when it comes to law firm marketing. Neither you nor your firm can be all things to all people. Nor should you ever try.
There are clients whom you’re uniquely qualified to help, clients who can afford your fees and clients who can bring you repeat business. If you’re to effectively conduct law firm marketing, you need to know who your ideal client is.
Below I’ve listed 9 keys to help you determine your ideal client. Now I suggest that you should answer these questions as specifically as you can. Ask yourself, “If I had my druthers, what would I most like to focus on with my clients and what kinds of clients seem like a perfect match for me?”
Here are the 9 keys:
- Who’s your ideal client? (Think in terms of age, profession, gender, education, interests, marital status, family size, hobbies, and lifestyle.)
- Who can afford your fees? How much can they afford? What’s your value to them?
- Who could be a good long-term, repeat client?
- What qualities, characteristics and values do they have?
- What are you helping them accomplish?
- What are their issues, challenges or pain?
- What is it like working with them?
- Who could be a good source of referrals for these ideal clients?
- Who is NOT your ideal client?
I strongly suggest that you spend some time thinking about these questions and answering them as carefully, as specifically, as you can. When you do take the time, you’ll have laid a strong foundation for all your legal marketing strategies.
In my next post, I’ll discuss niching your practice.
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Where can get practical, proven and results-producing law firm marketing help in one place? In the The Rainmaker Advisor Journal. To get your free trial copy, go to: www.therainmakeradvisor.com
8 Questions for Developing Your Brand to Improve Your Law Firm Marketing
Usually when most attorneys think of their law firms and their legal practices, the word “brand” doesn’t readily come to mind. But it should. And here’s why.
Developing your unique brand is essential for effective law firm marketing because prospective clients:
- Have many, many attorneys in your practice area and geographic area to choose from.
- Believe all attorneys are equal.
- Want to know why they should select you for their attorney.
So the more clearly you can define yourself and your practice, the easier it will be to convey that through your law firm marketing materials; the easier it will be to attract more clients; and the easier it will be to grow your practice.
To help you begin branding your law firm and your legal practice, here are 8 questions for you to answer: (If you find these difficult to answer, ask them of the people you trust. Often they’ll see aspects you’ll take for granted, because these aspects come so naturally to you.)
- Who are you? (Think in terms of roles, values, personal qualities and who you are in relation to others.)
- What are your natural gifts and strengths?
- What have you experienced in your life and career?
- What specialized training have you received?
- In what areas are you already well-connected?
- In what areas do you feel uniquely qualified to serve your clients?
- Where are you perceived as an expert?
- How do you bring out the best in others?
Although these questions may seem rather simple on the surface, they are designed to help you dig deeply into what makes you and your practice unique. Once you have a clearer idea of what makes you and your practice unique, then the next step – identifying clients – will come even easier.
In my next post, I’ll discuss 9 keys you can use to identify your ideal client.
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Do you want to grow your law practice, increase client referrals and make more money in these challenging economics times? Then subscribe to The Rainmaker Advisor Journal. To get your free trial copy, go to: www.therainmakeradvisor.com
Use These Strategies to Get Better Legal Marketing Results from Speaking Venues
As you’re actively considering using speaking venues in your law firm marketing, there are strategies you need to apply before, during and after the event if you want your legal marketing to produce results. Here are these strategies:
Legal Marketing Strategy: Before Your Presentation
- Get attendees’ contact information.
Legal Marketing Strategy: During Your Presentation
- Have a drawing for a “giveaway.” Then have attendees submit their business cards to participate. (This is especially effective If the organizers won’t give you attendees contact information.)
- Announce that you’ll be giving away a special report to anyone who emails you after the event.
- Give away something at the end of your presentation (like a CD) to anyone who gives you their business card.
Legal Marketing Strategy: After Your Presentation
Create and implement a follow-up strategy. Here’s an example:
- Email #1: (Within 24 hours) Thanks for attending and give a free offer.
- Phone call: (Within 48 hours) Thanks for attending and giving a free offer.
- Letter 1: (Within 48 hours) Repeat of Email #1
- Email #2: (3 days later) Invite for a consultation and sign-up for your newsletter.
- Email #3: (within 7 days after event) Offer brief tip about the topic.
- Phone call #2: Reiterate free offer (special report or tip sheet) and ask if they are interested in an individual consultation.
- Email #4: Ask some questions to help them determine next steps, how they will take action based on your talk.
- Email #5: Invite for a consultation or promote next upcoming event.
- Email #6: Monthly newsletter/ezine.
Before you give your presentation, make sure to outline these law firm marketing strategies and to implement them at the appropriate stage. Do that, and you increase your chances for successfully adding new clients to your law firm’s roster.
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Where can you read articles like: “9 Proven Keys to Recession-proof your Law Practice”;
“4 Secret Strategies of Law Firm Marketing” or “Supercharging Your Law Firm’s Referrals?”
In The Rainmaker Advisor Journal. To get your free trial copy, go to www.therainmakeradvisor.com
Your Law Firm Marketing Success in Speaking at Events Depends on These 13 Factors
Speaking at regular events—like annual conferences—is an effective law firm marketing strategy to attract new clients. However, there are many factors to keep in mind when considering speaking at these events as one of your legal marketing strategies. Here are 13 of them:
1) Find out the average size of attendance.
2) Determine the demographics of the group.
3) Find out what are the common interests among members.
4) Ask what topics have been covered before.
5) Find out if the group is interested in current or “hot” topics.
6) Ask who will be introducing you at the event.
7) Find out if you can have the attendees’ full contact information (name, phone, email).
8) Get permission to contact the attendees after the event.
9) Find out if you can offer a “give-away” during your presentation. (CD, book, special report).
10) Ask if the organization will publish your article in their newsletter or ezine before the event.
11) If there is a trade show attached to your speaking engagement, try to barter a booth in return for your speaking.
12) Find out who are the other scheduled speakers and their topics.
13) Know where you are in the schedule, what precedes and follows your talk. Be aware, for example, that the worst times to speak are early in the morning, right after lunch, right before or after dinner, Friday afternoon, Monday morning or as the last speaker at the event. Conversely, the best times to speak are mid-morning, from 2 to 5 PM, as the conference opener or as the keynote speaker.
As you work on your law firm marketing, do keep in mind speaking at regular events. These can be great sources of new clients.
In my next post, I’ll discuss strategies to get better legal marketing results from speaking venues.
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Where can get practical, proven and results-producing law firm marketing help in one place? In the The Rainmaker Advisor Journal. To get your free trial copy, go to: www.therainmakeradvisor.com
