Legal Marketing Strategies: 15 Ideas for Keeping in Touch with Referral Sources: Ideas 11-15
Our legal marketing strategy for all this week is discussing 15 ideas you can use to keep in touch with your referrals. Today we’ll cover Ideas 11-15
#11. If you’re really into social media, try www.Twitter.com, a microblogging site. You can post updates on your status, but it limits you to only 140 characters. You can see how I use it and follow me on Twitter at: www.twittter.com/stephenfairley.
#12. Send them a gift. It doesn’t have to be something large, but once a quarter or every six months (not necessarily around the holidays) send them a good book you just red, a bottle of wine or a gift basket. Ask their assistant for some ideas on what they like.
#13. Bring a group of them together for a luncheon. Ask three or four of them who are non-competitors to join you for lunch and introduce them to each other. This is a great way to be known as a connector. Have lunch at a local restaurant or in your conference room.
#14. Offer them a seminar at your office or their office. If you have a service you could provide them or their staff, set up a complimentary seminar for them, perhaps over lunch.
#15. Rank your referral sources based on specific criteria so you know who you should spend more time with.
A = Referral sources who have the exact same target market as you and have already sent you at least 1 great referral. Spend most of your time cultivating these relationships.
B = Referral sources who have a very similar target market and have great potential to send you great referrals. Consider holding a joint marketing event or seminar to assist them in making the referral to you.
C – Referral sources have some potential, but may serve a different market and have not referred anyone to you yet.
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If you think . . . you can’t make more money and have the time to enjoy your life . . . you’ve never been to a Rainmaker Retreat. 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. In this two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms, you’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take to better market your practice. For more information or to sign-up for the next one, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 1-888-588-5891.
Legal Marketing Strategies: 15 Ideas for Keeping in Touch with Referral Sources: Ideas 6-10
#6. Send them a holiday card, but not on the major holidays like Christmas. Instead, try a Thanksgiving card or a St. Patrick’s Day card so it will stand apart.
#7. Set-up a Google alert for a topic of interest to your referral sources. For example, “tax law changes” for CPAs or 
“Los Angeles commercial real estate market update” for a commercial real estate. (To find out how to do this, click here.)
#8. Ask them if they would like to receive your monthly newsletter or e-zine. Use www.ConstantContact.com to manage and send out your monthly electronic newsletter (e-zine). Send a copy to your referral sources (with their permission, of course.)
#9. Invite them to connect with you on www.LinkedIn.com. This powerful social media tool is a great way to stay connected to referral sources. Be sure to set-up a free account, fill in your profile information, and update your status. You can connect with me at: www.LinkedIn.com/in/StephenFairley. Just click the button “Add this person to your network” and I will accept your request. Also, be sure to check out the various groups for attorneys you can join. Use the “status update” to keep in front of people.
#10. Invite them to connect with you on www.Facebook.com. What started out as a teenage phenomenon has quickly budded into a marketing tool for small business owners. Set up a profile (it should be more personal and a little less professional than your LinkedIn profile) and start to add friends. Search for me on Facebook and request a friend add.
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Are you trapped into working more and more, while enjoying your life less and less? There is a way out. It’s called the Rainmaker Retreat. In this two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms, you’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take so you can better market your small or solo law practice. For more information or to sign-up for the next one, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 1-888-588-5891.
Legal Marketing Strategies: 15 Ideas for Keeping in Touch with Referral Sources: Ideas 1-5
Our legal marketing strategy for all this week is discussing 15 ideas you can use to keep in touch with your referrals. Today we’ll cover Ideas 1-5.
#1. Send them an email immediately after each meeting with them. Send it the same day whenever possible. In the email express thanks for meeting with you, add any points you discussed and close with any action items or next steps.
#2. Send them a handwritten thank you card or form letter two to three days after your initial meeting.
#3. After your initial meeting, put a “to do” or task item in your Outlook for approximately 6 to 8 weeks later. Have your staff contact them to set-up another time to get together face-to-face. Make your next meeting more about the relationship than business. Perhaps meet at the golf course, over drinks or in another casual environment.
#4. Use your press releases. Each time you write and submit a press release, send them a copy. It’s easier if you use PRWeb (www.prweb.com) because they will automatically convert your release into a PDF file which you can print off and mail.
#5. Send them a copy of your published articles. As attendees to the Rainmaker Retreat learn, there are dozens of online article directories that will publish your articles for free. When one of your articles is published, print off several copies and send them out with a note.
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Tough times call for tough action. This is especially true today in small law firm marketing, when the competition is fierce, the client dollars tight and your bottom line precious. Get battle-ready now with a two-day marketing boot camp called the Rainmaker Retreat. For more information or to sign-up for the next one, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 1-888-588-5891.
Law Firm Marketing: Keys to Reaping Rewards of Relationships--Key #2
Of the many legal marketing strategies, one of the most powerful is leveraging relationships to boost referrals. In today’s post, I’m going to be talking about the 2nd key to reaping the rewards of your relationships.
Key #2: Increase the Frequency of Your Contact
Try as we might, it’s difficult with our hectic schedules to meet with every potential referral source on a regular basis. Here’s one strategy I teach lawyers: Set up a Google Alert for a specific phrase that would be of interest to your referral sources, such as “becoming a rainmaker.”
Collect interesting articles and keep them in a separate folder (Referral Articles). Once a month, pull one out, print off a punch of copies and attach a brief handwritten note on each copy (“I thought you might enjoy this article.”) Enclose your business card and mail a copy of the article to all of your referral sources.
Several of my clients have doubled and tripled their referrals in 6 months using this simple technique to stay in front of their referral sources on a frequent basis. You can set up a Google Alert at: www.google.com/alerts
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To find out more ways to grow your practice while still having a life, attend the “Get a Life” conference in Chicago May 27th and 28th. Sponsored by Total Attorneys Practice Management Association, this conference is designed to help attorneys in small or solo law practices grow their businesses while achieving a balanced lifestyle. Register today at: www.totalpma.org and click on the banner to your right to access more information!
Law Firm Marketing: Keys to Reaping Rewards of Relationships--Key #1
Of the many legal marketing strategies, one of the most powerful is leveraging relationships to boost referrals. In today’s and Friday’s post, I’m going to be talking about 2 keys to reaping the rewards of your relationships.
Key #1: When it comes to Referral Relationships, Take an Active Role.
There is a Jewish saying “A man who has friends must show himself to be friendly.” Don’t wait for someone to take the initiative and contact you—be the first to reach out. In the last few years, we have coached and trained thousands of attorneys and the ones who are the best rainmakers are the ones who make at least 3-4 contacts with potential referral sources every week.
Law firm marketing action step: Take 2 minutes and scan your contact list. Select 15 to 20 names of potential or current referral sources and send them an email or, better yet, pick up the phone and call them with an invitation for lunch or coffee. Set a goal of having three face-to-face meetings per week for the next month.
Here’s a sample script: “It’s been a while since we’ve connected. I was wondering what your schedule looks like for the next week. I’d like to get together with you for lunch or coffee, just to catch up—my treat. Let me know what dates would work better for you.”
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To find out more ways technology can be harnessed to free your life, attend the “Get a Life” conference in Chicago May 27th and 28th. Sponsored by Total Attorneys Practice Management Association, this conference is designed to help attorneys in small or solo law practices grow their businesses while achieving a balanced lifestyle. Register today at: www.totalpma.org and click on the banner to your right to access more information!
Legal Marketing Expert's Article Mentioned in ABA Publication
Law firm internet marketing expert Aviva Cuyler, in her article “Small Marketing Steps with Big Impact” that appeared in the American Bar Association’s online publication GP Solo, mentioned my article “10 Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.”
Although I am certainly honored by her mention, I’m mostly excited about the opportunity to help more attorneys in small and solo law practices to succeed in these challenging times.
Today, more than ever, attorneys must understand and implement sound legal marketing strategies to survive, let alone to thrive. And one of the very first strategies you must implement is to create a law firm marketing plan. My article will help walk you through the process, giving you a good foundation.
So get started now . . . get started on building that lifestyle law practice that you deserve. And I wish you much success.
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To find out more ways to grow your practice while still having a life, attend the “Get a Life” conference in Chicago May 27th and 28th. Sponsored by Total Attorneys Practice Management Association, this conference is designed to help attorneys in small or solo law practices grow their businesses while achieving a balanced lifestyle. Register today at: www.totalpma.org and click on the banner to your right to access more information!
Sometimes Your Legal Marketing Strategy Requires Sacrificing Sacred Cows
These days, nothing is sacred, especially as it relates to law firm marketing in tough economic times. As an attorney who wants to grow your legal practice, you need to be willing to sacrifice those sacred cows. Here are just few questions that will help you prepare them for the pyre:
- Can you provide the same level of services at a lower cost?
- How price-sensitive is your target market?
- How can you structure payments to better fit the new financial realities?
- What parts of your practice make the most profits?
- Should you expand your practice areas or get rid of one?
- Should you really hire another associate or paralegal or could you outsource that need to a part-time contractor for half the price?
By no means is this an exhaustive list; I’m sure you could come up with many other ideas in the same vein. My point, however, is this: Business – and our economic climate – have changed so dramatically that it is far past the time, as Tom Peters has said, to “think outside the box.” Now, we must be willing to “destroy that box” if we want to survive, let alone thrive, today.
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To find out more ways to grow your practice while still having a life, attend the “Get a Life” conference in Chicago May 27th and 28th. Sponsored by Total Attorneys Practice Management Association, this conference is designed to help attorneys in small or solo law practices grow their businesses while achieving a balanced lifestyle. Register today at: www.totalpma.org and click on the banner to your right to access more information!
Effective Law Firm Marketing Depends Upon Technology: 5 Tech Tips to Boost Your Practice
For law firm marketing to be effective, it’s a given that you need to harness the power of technology. By doing so, not only will you lower your costs but also you’ll improve your legal marketing results many times over. Here are 5 tips to help you get started:
- Instead of using a large office suite with onerous monthly payments, use a virtual office or rent one by the hour. HQ.com and Regus.com are two popular options.
- Consider hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) instead of a full-time, onsite one. I have used VA’s for several years now with much success.
- Use an electronic newsletter (e-zine) instead of a print one to reduce costs. We recommend www.ConstantContact.com
- Instead of hiring a fulltime receptionist at $15 to $25 per hour, use a virtual receptionist (www.CallRuby.com has packages from under $200 per month.)
- If you have to fly to meet with clients face-to-face, try using www.Skype.com and a webcam instead. Although it’s not exactly the same, the quality of the video is amazing these days, plus Skype is free. A good webcam costs $75 to $150 (half the price of a plan ticket.) Send your client a webcam as a gift. Set-up takes less than 10 minutes.
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To find out more ways technology can be harnessed to free your life, attend the “Get a Life” conference in Chicago May 27th and 28th. Sponsored by Total Attorneys Practice Management Association, this conference is designed to help attorneys in small or solo law practices grow their businesses while achieving a balanced lifestyle. Register today at: www.totalpma.org, plus click on the banner to your right to access more information!
Legal Marketing Strategies and Practice Management Advice Presented at Conference
Helping attorneys to improve their law firm marketing while achieving the lifestyles they deserve has been my passion for more than 6 years now. On May 27 and 28th, I’ll be taking that message to Chicago at the “Get a Life” conference presented by Total Attorneys Practice Management Association. To register, click here! To access more information about the event, click on the banner to your left!
If you’re a partner at a small law firm, a solo practitioner or an attorney who just wants to lead a more balanced life, you should attend this conference.
In addition to myself, there are many other well-known names in law firm marketing, including Gerry Riskin, Larry Bodine and Allison Shields.
On Wednesday I’ll be speaking on The Five Immutable Secrets to Building a Seven Figure Law Practice While Staying Sane and on Thursday I’ll be speaking on Technology Enabled Services to Improve Your Life.
So plan to attend. Just go to Total Attorneys to register.
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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
Internet Marketing for Lawyers Includes Press Releases: 10 Top Reasons to Send Them
Here are 10 top ten reasons to send out press releases:
1) Accomplishments
i) Winning political office.
ii) Leadership positions in professional organizations.
iii) Additional professional education.
2) Appearances at major events
i) Participant or speaker at a state, national international conference.
ii) (Caveat: as long as it demonstrates the capabilities or the capabilities of your firm you especially want to promote; i.e. – that meets your marketing objectives.)
3) Appointment to a board or committee
i) Corporate.
ii) Non-profit.
iii) Civic.
4) Articles by or about you
i) (Caveat: as long as it demonstrates the capabilities or the capabilities of your firm you especially want to promote; i.e. – that meets your marketing objectives.)
5) Awards you are receiving
i) Professional.
ii) Civic.
iii) Non-profit.
6) Books you have written
i) (Caveat: as long as it demonstrates the capabilities or the capabilities of your firm you especially want to promote; i.e. – that meets your marketing objectives.)
7) Books you are mentioned in
i) (Caveat: as long as it demonstrates the capabilities or the capabilities of your firm you especially want to promote; i.e. – that meets your marketing objectives.)
8) Community classes you are sponsoring
i) (Caveat: as long as it demonstrates the capabilities or the capabilities of your firm you especially want to promote; i.e. – that meets your marketing objectives.)
9) Contest you are sponsoring
i) (Caveat: as long as it demonstrates the capabilities or the capabilities of your firm you especially want to promote; i.e. – that meets your marketing objectives.)
10) Contributions to charities, donations, scholarships
******************************************************* 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
Internet Marketing for Lawyers Includes Press Releases: 3 Key Questions Answered
One vital component of effective law firm Internet marketing is the press release. Today I will answer three key questions regarding press releases and Friday I’ll discuss the top 10 reasons for sending press releases.
What Can a Press Release Do?
A press release is a great public relations tool that can do many things. For example, it can: help you improve your ranking on search engines; get added traffic to your website; provide information to your target market and inform the community of your accomplishments and charitable work.
Is a Press Release Considered “Marketing?”
In and of itself, it is not marketing; however, it can assist you in your marketing, provided that you are very strategic about the press releases you send out. For press releases to be the most effective for you, they must meet at least one of your marketing objectives.
Where Can I Send My Press Releases?
You can send your press release the traditional way: directly to members of the media. There are many media listing resources (like Bacon’s) that will list members of a wide variety of media (print, radio, TV, etc.) with their address and contact information, such as an email address or fax number.
But doing this manually – or even using a software version of Bacon’s – still takes a lot of time.
A better way to send out your press release is through an online service such as PRWeb or Business Wire. Journalists, bloggers, and others read press releases online sent through these and many other online services. This is a great advantage over manually finding the contact information for each and every journalist.
Another advantage of this approach is that journalists and others do read releases online that are sent through the Internet by these services.
Lastly, properly writing a press release for online submission by using keywords to “search optimize” the release helps boost the rankings of your website, blog and other aspects of your online presence. That means that people – your potential clients – can find you when they’re ready to hire an attorney.
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If you think . . . you can’t make more money and have the time to enjoy your life . . . you’ve never been to a Rainmaker Retreat. 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. In this two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms, you’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take to better market your practice. For more information or to sign-up for the next one, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 1-888-588-5891.
Legal Marketing Strategies: 4 Tips to Generate Clients Using Speaking and Seminars - Tip #4
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 # 4: The Fortune is in the Follow-up
The number one reason why lawyers don’t get results is because they don’t have a written follow-up system. You must develop a follow up strategy before the talk.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say your follow-up strategy is a series of emails, phone calls and maybe a letter or postcard. Your follow-up system would include 4 emails, 3 phone calls and 1 letter.
Email I would be sent within 24 hours post-seminar. It would be a thank you email with an offer for a free consultation, special report of audio CD phone Call 1 would be made by your staff and would be made within 24 hours past-seminar. The call would be to thank them for attending and make the same free offer. That’s made in the email. Your letter would be sent out the next day (They should receive it within 3 days if they are local.) and the letter would repeat what you have written in the email. All of this would happen in the first 24 hours after the seminar. Some of you will question if that’s too aggressive. It’s not. It demonstrates a high level of professionalism and commitment to your attendees. We give dozens of law firm marketing seminars every year and this works.
Email 2 is sent 3 to 5 days after the event. Remind them about the seminar they attended and invite them to sign-u for a consultation for your newsletter. Email 3 might offer a brief tip about the topic you spoke about: top 10 tips or recommended resources, etc. Every person should be followed –up with at least three phone calls before you stop trying to reach them. Every attendee should receive at least 5-78 emails and 1-2 letters from your law firm.
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We of The Rainmaker Institute have partnered with more than a dozen state and local bar associations and other trade organizations to bring you a professionally-designed, statistically-valid survey.
Through it, we hope to answer questions such as:
*Current challenges and obstacles to growth faced by small law firms.
*Specific strategies used by top attorneys to build their practices.
*Statistically-valid data on what variables are most critical in determining a law firm’s success.
But to do that, we need you. So please take the survey by going to www.rainmakersurvey.com
Legal Marketing Strategies: 4 Tips to Generate Clients Using Speaking and Seminars - Tip #3
Today I’ll discuss Tip # 3: Get Attendees Contact Information
Have a plan for obtaining the attendees; contact information both before and after your presentation. You want to get it before so that you can get ready to follow-up with them, but also after your presentation just in case somebody shows up at the door. If you can’t get the contact information from the conference organizer, do a giveaway for a prize and have them pass their business cards to the front or have them email you their contact information to get a free copy of the handout or PowerPoint slides.
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Where can get practical, proven and results-producing law firm marketing help in one place? In the Rainmaker Advisor Journal. To get your free trial copy, go to: www.therainmakeradvisor.com
