Law Firm Marketing: How to Create an Effective Online Video
There is more to online video than simply adding it to your law firm Internet marketing efforts.
Like many things, if video is done well, it can have a significant, positive impact on your law firm Internet marketing – by attracting clients and increasing visibility.
Done poorly, an online video can sidetrack your law firm Internet marketing goals, hurt your credibility and even deter clients from choosing you. 
Use these five simple guidelines to make a highly effective online video for use in your law firm Internet marketing efforts:
- Use real people, using real words. One of the biggest mistakes attorneys make is using video the way they use PowerPoint. Stringing together static images accompanied by a faceless voice on audio is not an effective use of online video. While this may get seen by some potential clients, it is not nearly as valuable as giving them a chance to see your face and hear your sincere words.
- Create a well-thought out script designed to persuade potential client to call you. To accomplish that, ask yourself what makes your law firm different from, and better than, your competition – and then build your script around those key points.
- Focus on the viewer, not yourself. It is easy to get caught in the trap of thinking potential clients want to hear about all of your qualifications. The real truth is they want a law firm that understands their problems, and knows how to solve them. Your script should describe some of the problems clearly, and then explain how you can solve them.
- Use sidebars to emphasize key points. The time to use still images in your online video is in a sidebar to emphasize your most important points – such as key statistics related to your area of law.
- Include your contact information 2-3 times within your video. The goal of your online video is to persuade potential clients to call you. Yet, no matter how well crafted your video is, if those clients do not know how to reach you, it’s wasted effort. With that in mind, say it once within the video, usually at the end, and “write” it at least once in full screen, at the beginning and the end. By including it at the beginning, return viewers can quickly get your contact information without wading through the entire video again.
Take our Twitter Poll: If you’re an attorney, we want your feedback! Click here (or go to http://twitter.polldaddy.com/done/3364850) to let us know what business development topics you’re most interested in right now.
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Exclusive Rainmaker Retreat Preview Call – Learn Before You Go!
If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 7,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then register now for our one-hour complimentary teleseminar.
Hosted by Rainmaker Institute CEO Stephen Fairley, this teleseminar will give you a preview of the valuable material that is taught at our 2-day Rainmaker Retreat.
Sign up now for one of these upcoming one-hour teleseminars:
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
11am-12pm Pacific | 12-1pm Mountain | 1-2pm Central | 2-3pm EasternTuesday, July 13, 2010
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 5-6pm Eastern
Join us to learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
Law Firm Marketing Blogs: A Highly Effective Legal Marketing Tool
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There is no denying the value of blogging when it comes to law firm marketing.
When used properly, it becomes a clear, consistent voice for your practice. It entices prospects, referral sources, colleagues, clients and thought leaders to engage you in dialogue.
It keeps you top of mind. It builds visibility among your target clients. Ultimately, it earns you more of the kind of client you most desire.
Technorati, the top blog search engine, was indexing over 126 million blogs as of December 2009. Two years ago, there were only about 1,800 to 2,200 blogs written by lawyers. Law.com now indexes over 23,000 legal blogs.
Have you seen the huge opportunity here? Or are you still on the sidelines waiting to see if blogging is a fad?
The problem arises when you begin blogging without a clear law firm marketing strategy behind you.
Blogging should be a part of, but not your entire law firm marketing strategy. It is your forum to connect with the community at large and to make it clear that you are an expert in your field.
But to make it the highly effective medium you need it to be, your law firm marketing and promotion strategy should include:
- A topic list designed to engage your target audience
- A list of social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) to promote it
- A list and schedule for article marketing services to add visibility and to feed it to reporters and thought leaders
- An up to date blog that you write articles for at least 2 to 4 times per week
- A search engine optimization formula to increase your page rank
When you have all these things in place, you will be well on your way to creating a blog that will enhance your overall law firm marketing efforts.
Take our Twitter Poll: If you’re an attorney, we want your feedback! Click here (or go to http://twitter.polldaddy.com/done/3364850) to let us know what business development topics you’re most interested in right now.
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Are you looking for specific marketing strategies you can use in your law firm?
Then order the Rainmaker in a Box 5-DVD set!
Some of the information and strategies you will learn include:
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The 5 Immutable Secrets to Building a 7 Figure Law Practice
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Secrets of Building a Referral-based Law Practice for Busy Practitioners
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The Top 6 Most Powerful Online Marketing Strategies for Attorneys
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Action, Accountability and Next Steps
This program also includes a data DVD which includes all 4 PowerPoint presentations.
To order this information-packed set click here.
L.A. Law: Attend Our 2-Day L.A. 'Boot Camp' on Law Firm Marketing
I am excited to announce the date of our next Rainmaker Retreat: July 30-31, 2010! Come join us In Los Angeles at the State Bar of California and prepare to take your law firm to the next level by learning law firm marketing techniques. Register today to reserve your space and begin to chart the course to an incredibly successful future.
This two-day, power-packed event has been designed to assist small law firms and solo practitioners to grow their practices through learning and implementing Rainmaker’s proven law firm marketing strategies. More than 7,000 attorneys are already employing our law firm marketing techniques and reaping the benefits.
Among the many things you will take away from this event:
- Step-by-step guidance in finding the best, most strategic referral partners
- How to cut costs by eliminating ineffective law firm marketing strategies
- Create a ‘Master Plan’ to guide your firm’s growth through marketing for lawyers
- How to focus your time, energy and dollars on the most effective law firm marketing techniques designed specifically for small and solo law firms
- Five proven strategies to get more attention, command more respect and charge higher fees
- Leveraging the Internet to create the most “buzz” for your firm
- How to create a steady stream of new referrals using law firm marketing techniques
- Learn to set your firm apart from your competitors
Each day is filled with sessions (with built-in Action Steps and Action Groups) to guide you in putting these law firm marketing strategies into practice immediately. You will leave Los Angeles with a specific plan – uniquely suited to you and your firm – that will help you to create a successful and highly-satisfying legal practice!
Register now and take advantage of the Early Bird special pricing -- a $200 discount!
Take our Twitter Poll: If you’re an attorney, we want your feedback! Click here (or go to http://twitter.polldaddy.com/done/3364850) to let us know what business development topics you’re most interested in right now.
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Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. You can download them now free! Go here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!
5 Reasons Why Every Law Firm Should Publish an Ezine
In less than a few hours a month, you can produce an effective electronic newsletter, also known as an ‘ezine.” .jpg)
An ezine 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 and 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. It is ridiculously expensive to produce and 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 cost.
Take our Twitter Poll: If you’re an attorney, we want your feedback! Click here (or go to http://twitter.polldaddy.com/done/3364850) to let us know what business development topics you’re most interested in right now.
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Transform Your Practice in 2 Days by Attending a Rainmaker Retreat
If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then come to one of our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:
- July 30-31, 2010 Los Angeles, CA
- August 6-7, 2010 Las Vegas, NV
- October 8-9, 2010 New Brunswick, NJ
We will send you a free DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat. Yes, we know you are skeptical. So instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your business, we will let our clients do the telling.
Click here to get your complimentary DVD right now.
Law Firm Marketing: Are You LinkedIn?
Even though it has 70 million members and is the planet’s largest business networking website, LinkedIn sometimes gets lost in the social media cacophony. Maybe because it’s not as fun as Facebook. Or doesn’t have a cute alias for communicating like “tweet”. 
But for lawyers, it’s hard to beat LinkedIn as a vital social media tool for building referral sources. Some more stats for LinkedIn:
- All Fortune 500 companies are represented
- 46% of users describe themselves as Decision Makers
- Average household income is $109,000
- Average age is 41
- Over 1 million senior executives use LinkedIn
The best uses of LinkedIn for attorneys:
Connect. Use LinkedIn to connect with referral sources and joint venture partners. One of the most compelling reasons to join LinkedIn is for the professional groups. Do you practice real estate law? There are 3,418 real estate groups on LinkedIn. Does your practice target tech? There are 6,270 technology groups. Need to boost your visibility with finance professionals? Join a few of the 1,852 finance professional groups on LinkedIn.
Boost Expertise Profile. Joining and contributing to the discussion within the LinkedIn professional groups helps you build your profile as an expert in your area of law practice.
Boost Search Engine Ranking. LinkedIn profiles rank high in Google and the other search engines.
Here are 8 steps to get you started on LinkedIn:
- Create a comprehensive profile
- Start by connect with people you know (tip: use LinkedIn toolbar for Outlook)
- Recommend others and be recommended
- Join groups for attorneys, referral sources and prospects
- Start a group for your target market
- Answer questions
- Update your status at least three times every week
- List all your events on LinkedIn
I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn at www.LinkedIn.com/in/StephenFairley.
Take our Twitter Poll: If you’re an attorney, we want your feedback! Click here (or go to http://twitter.polldaddy.com/done/3364850) to let us know what business development topics you’re most interested in right now.
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Looking for more Rainmaker Institute Wisdom?
Then sign up for a complimentary Law Firm Marketing Strategy CD. It contains information that will enable you to Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice.
The CD is free, so sign up now!
Tweet Success: Promoting Your Practice on Twitter
Everyone these days is all atwitter over Twitter, the burning hot social media site that lets you send out short messages (140 characters or less) called “tweets” to followers to let them know what you’re doing right that moment.
Basically, Twitter is micro-blogging, so the same guidelines for establishing a successful blog also follow for Twitter:
Build your brand – your online brand should be the same everywhere, so be sure your Twitter profile matches your other online profiles. If you are tweeting for business, create a business account – Twitter has good tips on how to do this in their Business section.
Market yourself – add a Twitter button on your website, include your Twitter handle in your email signature, add it to your other online accounts, even put it on your business card. The point of Twitter is to gather as many followers as possible.
Create and/or join a group – Twitter has both private and public groups, which are great for networking and establishing yourself as a reliable resource for information or services you’re selling. To start or join a group, go to TweetWorks or TweetDeck, two of the most popular group services.
Listen and learn – use Twitter search to see if anyone is talking about you and what they’re saying; it’s a great platform for ensuring your online reputation is up to snuff, and fixing any problems you may not even be aware of. It’s also a great way to learn more about – and from – your competitors.
Interact – social media is all about community and you aren’t a valuable member of any community if you don’t give something back. Comment on and “retweet” other posts you like and share news items or useful information you come across.
Poll – Twitter is great for polling. And why would you want to do that? To learn what is important to your prospects so you make sure your messaging is right on target. To get feedback on a hot legal issue and then publish an article and press release about it to promote yourself on other platforms.
Take our Twitter Poll: If you’re an attorney, we want your feedback! Click here (or go to http://twitter.polldaddy.com/done/3364850) to let us know what business development topics you’re most interested in right now.
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Exclusive Rainmaker Retreat Preview Call – Learn Before You Go!
If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 7,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then register now for our one-hour complimentary teleseminar.
Hosted by Rainmaker Institute CEO Stephen Fairley, this teleseminar will give you a preview of the valuable material that is taught at our 2-day Rainmaker Retreat as well as teach you:
- How to Avoid the Most Deadly Marketing Mistakes Attorneys make
- 3 powerful strategies you must put into action in your practice immediately
- How to set yourself apart from your major competitors
- Secrets top attorneys are using to generate more referrals right now…
- How attorneys are winning even in this economy by implementing this proven 8-step system
Sign up now for this upcoming one-hour teleseminar:
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
3-4pm Pacific | 4-5pm Mountain | 5-6pm Central | 6-7pm EasternWednesday, July 7, 2010
11am-12pm Pacific | 12-1pm Mountain | 1-2pm Central | 2-3pm EasternTuesday, July 13, 2010
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 5-6pm Eastern
Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
How to Attract Targeted Website Traffic
It’s not enough to simply generate lots of traffic for your law firm website; if they’re not the right kind of visitors – the kind who are interested in what you’re selling – simply driving traffic for the sake of numbers is a fool’s errand.
So how to attract the right sort to your site? It takes some discipline and a methodical approach.
Audience identification
Identifying exactly who your top prospects are for your practice is critical to online success. One of the biggest mistakes attorneys routinely make is targeting the wrong market – typically, a market that is too big for them to adequately reach. Remember, it takes an average of 7 to 10 meaningful “touches” to move someone from knowing nothing about you to being ready to buy from you. Your Ideal Target Market is one you can affordably reach at least 7-10 times before expecting them to utilize your services.
Keyword research
Those prospects for your services will use certain words to search for what they want. Knowing what those words are – and using them throughout your site in content and meta tags as well as in PPC campaigns and social media marketing -- is the key to driving targeted traffic to your site. There are several helpful keyword research tools to help you, including Google Adwords, Wordtracker and Wordstream.
Relevant content
Your keyword-rich content should not only attract and engage your site visitors, it should also lead them to an action -- sign up for a newsletter, call for an appointment, etc. Serving up the right information at the right time adds value to the user experience, helps with the decision-making process and leads to sales. Keeping your content fresh – and this is where a business blog on your site can be most useful – not only keeps visitors engaged and returning, but also boosts your search engine rankings.
Social media
Engaging prospects in other online venues, in groups or discussion forums, also provides assistance in attracting targeted web traffic. Establishing yourself as an expert presence in these online venues adds professional credibility and provides you with link building opportunities that help your search engine ranking as well.
Remember that the goal of your legal practice website is to generate interest that leads to engagement, which can only come from attracting the right target audience. It’s not just all about the numbers – it’s about the numbers that translate into dollars.
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Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD Set
The Practice Made Perfect CD set and manual applies Stephen Fairley’s unique High Impact Marketing System to the practice-building challenges faced by solo practitioners and partners at small law firms.
It includes dozens of specific marketing and sales recommendations that can be easily and quickly applied to your firm, including:
- The only 7 sure-fire ways to get clients in your door NOW
- Why advertising doesn’t work for most small law firms
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- The 7 reasons why people don’t buy from you
- How to market and sell with USP’s (Unique Selling Proposition)
- Using audio logos to attract immediate attention for your business
- Using low-cost, high impact marketing strategies
- Strategies for achieving maximum results from all of your marketing efforts
- How to discover your Ideal Target Market
- 3 critical factors to remember when looking for new clients
- The NEW sales cycle for professional services
- How to retain your best clients
Click here to order your Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD set and manual now.
Is Social Media a Fad....or a Fundamental Shift In Our Communication?
Today is Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, a result of the earth’s axis tilting towards the sun.
Until Galileo came along, 17th century scientists believed the Earth to be the center of the universe. Building on Copernicus’ work, he set out to prove that the Sun was the true center of the universe, and the Earth merely one planet that revolved around it. It was heresy in that time, and Galileo spent the last part of his life under house arrest for his heretics.
Old beliefs die hard. But die they must, or progress is impeded. Are you still thinking that Social Media is merely a fad and has no application to your legal practice? If so, you need to take another look:
The way we view the universe was fundamentally changed by Galileo over 350 years ago. The way we communicate has undergone the same type of fundamental shift with the advent of Social Media.
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Phoenix Attorneys: Learn About Social Media at June 23 Legal Networking Group
Join us this Wednesday, June 23, when Stephen will address a meeting of the Phoenix Legal Networking Group about integrating social media into a law firm marketing program. Learn:
- Practical tips for attorneys just getting started on social media
- Case studies from law firms currently using social media
- Why social media is a fundamental shift in our communication method
- What's working and what's not for law firms
- How to start tracking your results
- 8 steps to get started with LinkedIn
- How any attorney can use Avvo to get more business
- Ways to quickly boost your Avvo score
The event will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe. Cost is only $15 per person.
To register for this seminar, co-hosted by FindLaw, Attorney at Law Magazine and The Rainmaker Institute, click here.
3 Steps to Building Rewarding Referrals
I was recently coaching a law firm partner at a small east coast law firm who was lamenting how slow new business has become in the past few months. As we talked, I asked him, “What have you done in the past 3 months to build relationships with potential referral partners?” 
He mentioned going to lunch a few times and speaking with a couple of people over the phone when they made a referral to him. I asked him to open up his Outlook contact database; there were more than 200 non-client contacts in it including: accountants, financial planners, angel investors, business brokers, and private investment bankers.
Here's the 3 steps I shared with him to develop the relationships in his “golden Rolodex.”
Step 1: Take an Active, not Passive, Role
There is an old 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 & trained more than 7,000 attorneys and found the top Rainmakers are the lawyers who make at least 3-4 contacts with potential referral sources every week.
Action Step: Take 2 minutes and scan your contact database. Select 12-15 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 up 3 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 or so. 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 best for you.”
Step 2: Increase Frequency of 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 my coaching clients: Set up a Google Alert for a specific phrase that would be of interest to your referral sources.
Collect articles and websites that might be of interest to your referral sources. Keep them in a separate folder (Referral Articles). Once a month pull one out and forward it with a brief note (“I thought you might enjoy this article.”). Email a copy of the article to all of your referral sources.
One of my clients built his network of strategic referral sources from less than 5 to more than 300 in 2 years using just this simple technique to stay in front of his referral sources on a frequent basis. He now has a multi-million dollar practice.
Step 3: Focus on Serving Not Selling
When you meet with potential referral sources, don’t make the mistake of dominating the conversation. You are there to listen and learn about them, not hear yourself talk! Any attempt to “sell” them on your services will be a complete waste.
Look for ways you can serve them and their clients by connecting them with other resources or pointing them in the right direction regarding a legal issue. Ask a lot of questions about their business. For example:
- How did you first get started in your line of work?
- What are some of the major trends in your industry?
- What kinds of challenges do you face?
- What do you like best/worst about your job?
- And here's the most important question: How will I know if I'm talking to someone who's a good referral for you?
Educate them about your Ideal Target Market and how you can benefit their clients only after you have carefully listened to them.
Rainmakers don’t wait for the door to knock or the phone to ring or the referral to come in. They take the initiative, stay in touch, and focus on serving their referral sources, not selling them a service.
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More Rainmaker Retreat Dates
If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then come to one of our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:
July 30-31, 2010 Los Angeles, CA
August 6-7, 2010 Las Vegas, NV
October 8-9, 2010 New Brunswick, NJ
We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat.
Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.
3 Ways for Your Law Firm to Stand Out From the Competition
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One of the questions our clients struggle the most with when it comes to marketing their law firm is “How do I differentiate my law firm from my competition?”
In Practice Made Perfect, our 90-day business development program for attorneys, we cover 10 specific ways to differentiate your services. Here are 3 of them:
1. Create a micro niche. In these days of hyper-specialization, it’s NOT about “mass marketing.” It’s about “micro marketing”—creating a micro niche that best positions you as a specialist. If you developed a tumor on your brain, you would go to an oncologist specializing in neurosurgery, not a general practitioner.
It’s the same way with law firm marketing. You must position yourself as a specialist, not a generalist.
One way to do this is by focusing on a very defined niche. For example an intellectual property attorney could say, “I concentrate on helping inventors and owners of small software development companies in Los Angeles with less than $1 million in revenues protect their intellectual property and develop creative ways to generate multiple revenue streams from their invention.”
Creating a micro niche, or focused target market is critical to your success as a small law firm.
2. Focus on solutions and results. Too many attorneys try to sell their legal services. Attendees at my Rainmaker Retreat 2 day law firm marketing boot camp program are surprised when I tell them that people don’t buy legal services! People buy solutions to their problems. They buy results, not your services.
When meeting with a prospective client, emphasize the benefits you offer to clients and the value you bring through your specific expertise with their kind of legal problem. Discuss the results you have achieved for other clients, but be careful not to overstep the ethical boundaries or promise results based on someone else’s case. There's an old adage “Facts tell. Stories sell.” While your colleagues may be thrilled to know all about how you found a loophole for your client, don’t forget to meet the needs of your client by focusing on the solution.
3. Build an online presence. The Internet has changed everything when it comes to law firm marketing and how consumers select law firms. Many attorneys either don’t realize or aren’t willing to admit that most savvy individuals will check them out online before they ever finalizing their decision.
In fact, current research shows that 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations; only 14% trust advertising. An online presence today means not only a website, but also immersion in Social Media – blogs, video, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Avvo and more.
As another old adage goes: Fish where the fish are.
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Phoenix Attorneys: Learn About Social Media at June 23 Legal Networking Group
Join us next Wednesday, June 23, when Stephen Fairley will address a meeting of the Phoenix Legal Networking Group about integrating social media into a law firm marketing program. Learn:.jpg)
- Practical tips for attorneys just getting started on social media
- Case studies from law firms currently using social media
- Why social media is a fundamental shift in our communication method
- What's working and what's not for law firms
- How to start tracking your results
- 8 steps to get started with LinkedIn
- How any attorney can use Avvo to get more business
- Ways to quickly boost your Avvo score
The event will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe. Cost is only $15 per person.
To register, click here. The Phoenix Legal Networking Group is sponsored by FindLaw, Attorney at Law Magazine and The Rainmaker Institute.
Law Firm Marketing: Dispelling the Most Common Myths About Referrals
Attorneys know when it comes to law firm marketing, referrals are the best way of finding new clients, but there are 4 common myths I would like to dispel about referrals: 
Myth 1. Clients are the best source of referrals. This surprises a lot of attorneys when I tell them this is a myth. Clients are simply the most obvious source of referrals, not often the best source.
There are simply too many variables you cannot control when trying to get more referrals from clients:
- Do clients know all the different services your law firm offers?
- Can they accurately explain who your ideal law firm clients are?
- Are they able to give a clear and compelling reason why someone should hire you?
- Will they remember you when they meet someone who needs your services?
- Did they just receive a large bill from you and don’t feel especially “good” about your law firm at this moment?
Myth 2. Most legal referrals come from other attorneys. Actually, studies show that only about 25% of an established legal professional's practice comes from referrals from other attorneys, so logically about 75% of your law firm clients will come from other sources (this may vary greatly by practice area).
A simple marketing tip is to set up an easy tracking system as part of your client intake file and then review on a quarterly basis to identify where those leads came from. There are also some legal software products that can be customized to track that information automatically.
Myth 3. Online legal directories can produce a lot of referrals fast. There is some indication that consumers are starting to use online legal directories as a screening mechanism and they may even view attorneys who are listed in the directory as “more qualified” than attorneys who are not, but this is far from conclusive.
Generally speaking, local and state bar directories are more effective, but most non-bar-affiliated online directories have become the equivalent of online yellow pages and do not offer any more benefits than advertising in a telephone book.
Myth 4. Formal networking is a great way to get more referrals. Over the years of helping thousands of attorneys build million+ dollar practices, we have found that formal networking events (like trade shows and chamber of commerce, etc.) work exceptionally well for a select group of attorneys— and not at all for most legal professionals. Here are a few reasons why:
(1) Attending the wrong kind of group—one filled with peers, not prospects. Unless your target market is another attorney, I can't recommend spending much of your valuable marketing time hanging around other lawyers. Go where your prospects are, especially the decision makers, not the gatekeepers.
(2) Going to a networking event to find new clients is like going to a bar looking for your soul mate. While it may happen, the odds are stacked against you. The best way to look at a formal networking event is to go there for two reasons: first, to build relationships with potential referral sources (people you have identified that have a direct connection with your target market) and second, to find out how you can be a referral source to other professional service providers.
(3) Lack of a follow-up plan. When you find a potential referral source, you have about 48 hours to follow up with them or they will likely forget about you. Have a plan for calling them, emailing them, or both the day after the event for the purpose of determining if they are interested in getting together face to face.
So what is the best source of referrals? Strategic Referral Partners (SRPs) are the best source of new referrals. SRPs are people who already have a relationship with or already do business with the people you want to reach.
How to cultivate those SRPs is something we teach at every Rainmaker Retreat. Not just theories, but actionable strategies so you can start building your SRP network the minute you get home.
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Looking for more Rainmaker Institute wisdom?
Then sign up for a complimentary Law Firm Marketing Strategy CD. It contains information that will enable you to Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice. The CD is free, so sign up now!
Law Firm Marketing Boot Camp: San Francisco Rainmaker Retreat This Weekend
The weather forecast for San Francisco this weekend is “abundant sunshine”. 
And the forecast for this weekend’s San Francisco Rainmaker Retreat is “abundant legal marketing strategies you can implement next week”!
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 check out the Rainmaker Retreat where you will learn:
- More than 22 proven legal marketing strategies to attract more and better clients
- How to create powerful relationships with over 30 new Referral Sources in the next 90 days
- 5 Ways to automate your legal marketing using technology and the Internet
- 7 ways to find more clients fast and how to select the best ones for you
- 2 ways to promote your firm to 100,000 people for only $100
- 6 secrets top Rainmakers use to dominate their competition
Did you read Phoenix bankruptcy attorney Joe McDaniel’s blog about our last Rainmaker Retreat? If not, click here. He tells it like it is. A week later, he added another post that rightly detailed his already substantial marketing savvy and what he did on his own to earn a Martindale Visibility Index ranking of #4 out of 5,813 Phoenix lawyers. He also added this:
“...with the knowledge that they lavished on my class at the Rainmaker Retreat, I fully anticipate that I will be able to double my practice, with a substantial increase in levels of client satisfaction among the clients who retain my firm.”
The Rainmaker Retreat is filled with sessions (with built-in Action Steps and Action Groups) to guide you in putting these law firm marketing strategies into practice immediately. You will leave San Francisco with a specific plan – uniquely suited to you and your firm – that will help you to create a successful and highly satisfying legal practice!
Register today to reserve your place at the next Rainmaker Retreat in San Francisco on June 18-19.
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Preview Call for San Francisco Rainmaker Retreat Tomorrow – Hop On!
If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 6,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then register now for a one-hour complimentary teleseminar on Wed., June 16.
Hosted by Rainmaker Institute CEO Stephen Fairley, this teleseminar will give you a preview of the valuable material that will be taught at our 2-day Rainmaker Retreat in San Francisco this Friday and Saturday – June 18 & 19 – at The State Bar of California, 180 Howard Street.
Sign up now for this one-hour teleseminar tomorrow:
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
11am-12pm Pacific | 12-1pm Mountain | 1-2pm Central | 2-3pm Eastern
Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
Email Lists: Build Them and They Will Come
Email marketing is a great way to keep current clients informed about your practice as well as a great way to introduce your legal services to prospects. 
The first step in a successful email marketing campaign is to build a good list. Here are some tips on building an email list for marketing your practice:
Home Page Sign-up
Have an area on the home page of your website dedicated solely to enticing people to sign up for something. Having a regular newsletter to send is always a good idea, but you can also ask people to sign up for information on legal developments or offer a monthly free consultation. Whatever it is, it needs to be of value to your customers, not just to you.
Ask to Add
When you attend networking events, meetings or trade shows – wherever you are likely to meet potential new clients or are gathering business cards – ask those you meet if you can add them to your mailing list, to send them a newsletter or special offers.
Association Lists
If you are a member of any trade or community organizations, ask if you can have access to their membership list. Many offer membership lists to members for free; some are available for a fee.
Reciprocal plugs
Find other newsletters that you think your customers would enjoy and ask if they’ll promote your newsletter if you do the same for them.
Buy a List
There are quite a few online resources that offer lists for sale sorted by zip code, demographics, income, lifestyle interests, buying behavior, etc. You can purchase a really targeted list based on your ideal client profile and use it to test a variety of promotions or special offers.
Building an email list that will help you drive traffic to your website is an integral part of a well-rounded online law firm marketing program, and one of the many helpful tools you’ll learn about at any of our Rainmaker Retreats.
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Want more actionable legal marketing strategies? .jpg)
We took all of our legal marketing expertise and boxed it up, just for you! The Rainmaker in a Box five DVD set includes:
- The 5 Immutable Secrets to Building a 7 Figure Law Practice
- Secrets of Building a Referral-based Law Practice for Busy Practitioners
- The Top 6 Most Powerful Online Marketing Strategies for Attorneys
- Action, Accountability and Next Steps
Get yourself an early Father's Day gift that will keep giving for years to come! Order this information-packed set here.
Law Firm Marketing: How to Triple Your Referrals in 90 Days
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Strategic Referral Partners (SRPs) are the best source of new referrals. SRPs are people who already have a relationship with or already do business with the people you want to reach. These could include accountants, bankers, financial planners, insurance brokers, etc.
By building a network of people who already have relationships with your ideal target market, you can reap the benefits of more referrals.
Here are 8 tips for tripling your referrals in 90 days:
1. Identify the best 2-3 professions or industries where you can find SRPs. You don’t need to focus on every profession, only the 2 or 3 which have the best connection with your ideal client.
2. Create a database of at least 200-300 people in these fields who work in your local area. This should include every person who has ever referred someone to you as well as every professional service provider your current & former clients have worked with. If you still need more names you can either purchase a list of names or go to http://www.superpages.com and search for the industry or profession, like “accountant” or “financial planner” and then enter in your zip code. This is a great little tool to quickly build a database.
3. Write a letter of introduction to serve as a template. This letter introduces who you are, briefly describes your ideal target market, what's different about your law firm, and requests that they contact you if they are interested in getting together to determine if the possibility exists for cross-referrals.
4. Call several people in these fields to identify their challenges. Before you meet with a prospective SRP, be sure to contact some people you already know in these fields to discover common industry trends and challenges so you can talk intelligently about the field when you meet with the potential SRP.
5. Send out 10-20 letters per week. Do not send a bunch of letters at once, pace yourself. For each letter you send out, plan on having your assistant make 6-8 calls to try and reach the person you sent the letter to. So 10-20 letters can represent 60 to 100 calls over a month—that’s a lot of dialing. The purpose of your call is two-fold: to see if they are interested in getting together or not (about 30-50% will be based on our experience) and second, to set an appointment if they are.
6. Create a spreadsheet to track your efforts. Include information like: when you sent the letter out, date of first call, date of 2nd call, date when you actually spoke to them, whether they agreed to meet with you in person, when the meeting took place, if they agreed to be a referral source for you, date of first referral, etc.
7. Follow up on your letters with a call within 3-4 days to set up a face-to-face meeting. The goal is to set up 1 to 2 in-person meetings per week. The in-person meeting is critical because it allows you to start the process of building a relationship with the person and educating them about what kind of referrals you are looking for. During this meeting you should only talk about 25% of the time and listen/ask powerful questions 75% of the time. Be clear about your goal and ask them if they would be willing to be a referral partner for you. Be clear about what you can and cannot offer them in return.
8. Immediately follow up each meeting with a thank you letter or email. This will set you apart as someone who is professional and follows up. Create a plan to stay in touch with each person at least every 6-8 weeks via email, telephone, letter, or newsletter. In your follow-up, remind them of the exact kind of referral you are looking for and how you can help them in their business as well. For this system to work you must approach it as a ‘win-win’.
Skeptical? Of course you are, but we have taught this easy step-by-step system to hundreds of attorneys and they have used this exact process to quickly build networks of 50-60 new referral sources in 90 days.
For more information on the Rainmaker Referral Development program, go here.
Phoenix Legal Networking Group Meeting on June 23 to Learn About Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media
On Wednesday, June 23, I will address a meeting of the Phoenix Legal Networking Group, an assembly of solo and small firm attorneys looking to effectively market their law firms and grow their business.
My topic will be Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media: Using LinkedIn and Avvo to Generate New Clients (Part 1). Social media is all the rage right now, but many attorneys are understandably skeptical. And most don’t even know how to get started.
Join us on June 23 and discover:
- Practical tips for attorneys just getting started on social media
- Case studies from law firms currently using social media
- Why social media is a fundamental shift in our communication method
- What's working and what's not for law firms
- How to start tracking your results
- 8 steps to get started with LinkedIn
- How any attorney can use Avvo to get more business
- Ways to quickly boost your Avvo score
The event will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe. Cost is only $15 per person.
You won’t find this kind of information and opportunity at this price anywhere. Make an investment in your firm’s future and join your fellow legal marketers for this invaluable presentation. The information shared and the networking opportunity can open doors that will allow you take your firm to the next level.
To register for this seminar, co-hosted by FindLaw, Attorney at Law Magazine and The Rainmaker Institute, click here.
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Are you looking for specific marketing strategies you can use in your law firm?.jpg)
Then order the Rainmaker in a Box 5-DVD set!
Some of the information and strategies you will learn include:
- The 5 Immutable Secrets to Building a 7 Figure Law Practice
- Secrets of Building a Referral-based Law Practice for Busy Practitioners
- The Top 6 Most Powerful Online Marketing Strategies for Attorneys
- Action, Accountability and Next Steps
This program also includes a data DVD which includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print these and take notes on them as you watch the 4 intense DVDs.
To order this information-packed set click here.
Family Law Marketing: Are You Reaching Your Market?
Extracting data from the 2004 U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), the Pew Research Center released a report last Friday that said the risk for divorce is highest among married 25-year-olds.
Other findings:
- For first marriages, men divorce at the median age of 31.8 and women at the median age of 29.4;
- The majority of divorces occur among younger people and divorces that have lasted fewer years;
- 65% of marriages are intact at their 15th anniversary for couples who married between 1970-1984;
- 50% of married 25-year-olds will divorce
- 45% of 50-year-old men will divorce
- 46% of 50-year-old women will divorce
So, family law practitioners.... are you marketing to the 30-and-under demographic? Because that is your market.
And they are not reading a newspaper or watching much TV.
They are on the Internet engaging in social media. Facebook. YouTube. Twitter. LinkedIn. Blogs. A recent Harris Interactive survey showed that 64% of online adults use social media. This figure is 78% among 18-to-34-year-olds and 71% among 35-to-44-year-olds.
Want to learn more about getting engaged with your future clients online? Take two days and attend a Rainmaker Retreat. Here are the upcoming dates:
- June 18-19, 2010 San Francisco, CA
- July 30-31, 2010 Los Angeles, CA
- August 6-7, 2010 Las Vegas, NV
- October 8-9, 2010 New Brunswick, NJ
You can register online for any of these -- sign up for the San Francisco Rainmaker Retreat by this Friday, June 11, and get a 15% Early Bird Discount.
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. You can download them now free! Go here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!
Law Firm Marketing: San Francisco Rainmaker Retreat is June 18-19,2010
If you’re a small law firm with big growth plans, then you need to attend our upcoming Rainmaker Retreat at The State Bar of California in San Francisco, a two-day law firm marketing boot camp where you will learn:
- More than 22 proven legal marketing strategies to attract more and better clients
- How to create powerful relationships with over 30 new Referral Sources in the next 90 days
- 5 Ways to automate your legal marketing using technology and the Internet
- 7 ways to find more clients fast and how to select the best ones for you
- 2 ways to promote your firm to 100,000 people for only $100
- 6 secrets top Rainmakers use to dominate the competition
More than 6,500 attorneys nationwide have discovered the secrets to building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing that is providing them with significantly greater income and the time to enjoy it all.
But don’t just take our word for it:
Each day is filled with sessions to guide you in putting proven law firm marketing strategies into practice immediately. You will leave San Francisco with a specific plan – uniquely suited to you and your firm – that will help you to create a successful and highly satisfying legal practice!
Register today to reserve your place at the next Rainmaker Retreat in San Francisco on June 18-19, 2010. Sign up by Friday, June 11 and receive our 15% Early Bird Discount!
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More Summer Rainmaker Retreat Dates
If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then come to one of our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:
- June 18-19, 2010 San Francisco, CA
- July 30-31, 2010 Los Angeles, CA
- August 6-7, 2010 Las Vegas, NV
- October 8-9, 2010 New Brunswick, NJ
We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat. Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.
5 Proven Ways to Renew, Restore and Revive Your Practice in Today's Economy-4 of 5
There’s a huge myth out there that press releases are really only for big law firms and that’s just not true. In fact, this is probably one area where the little guys can beat out the big guys because just having more money doesn’t mean a hill of beans when it comes to press releases. .jpg)
I had a solo practitioner client who wrote about identity theft for his very first press release, and had over 100,000 people click on his release. (The website that we use actually tracks how many people click on your link to read your press release.)
He got an opportunity to speak to a Fortune 500 company that had him come in and talk to all their employees about how to protect themselves against identity theft and he got a lot of clients off that. That was his very first press release. Now that doesn’t happen every time. That’s certainly an anomaly, but it does happen.
Who reads press releases? Journalists are big consumers of press releases. Remember, they’re looking for 6-8 stories and they’re looking for leads. They’re looking for ideas. They’re looking for experts ands there is an art to writing a press release, which we talk extensively about at the Rainmaker Retreat.
Google also loves press releases. For those of you who have spent any time or money trying to get your website to the top of the search engines, this is a phenomenal way to get your website out there.
I have literally issued a press release at 9 a.m. and by 5 p.m., I am on the first page of Google for my specific keyword. Search engines love press releases, and on that press release is of course a link back to my website which drives more traffic and prospects.
A great distribution resource is PRweb.com -- you can create an account for free and they have good teaching tools about how to write and format your release. You can choose from four price options, from $80 to $360, depending on your distribution druthers.
ATTENTION ARIZONA BAR MEMBERS: The Rainmaker Institute will be exhibiting at the Arizona State Bar Annual Convention this week at the Renaissance Hotel & Spa. Please stop by our booth to learn more about our proven system for finding more and better clients, including strategies that Rainmakers are using in this recession to land higher paying clients.
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Exclusive Rainmaker Retreat Preview Call – Learn Before You Go!
If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 6,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then register now for our one-hour complimentary teleseminar.
Sign up now for one of these upcoming one-hour teleseminars:
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
3-4pm Pacific | 4-5pm Mountain | 5-6pm Central | 6-7pm Eastern
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
11am-12pm Pacific | 12-1pm Mountain | 1-2pm Central | 2-3pm Eastern
The call will give you a preview of the valuable material that is taught at our 2-day Rainmaker Retreat. Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
Law Firm Marketing: Using Video to See (Results) & Be Seen
If you believe the latest Internet statistics regarding online video viewership, you might think that most Americans are spending a very big portion of their day watching videos on their computers.
And you may be right.
According to comScore Video Metrix data, 178 million U.S. Internet users watched 30.3 Billion online videos in April.
You read that right. Over 30 Billion video views in one month.
For 178 million viewers, that averages out to 171 videos per viewer in April. Or an average of almost six per day.
So are you using video on your website or in your blog? If not, why not?
Video is hot, hot, hot! People are watching more videos online than ever before (see above). It’s easy to get started with a Flip video camera, or by hiring a local high school or community college film student to shoot and edit your video.
It’s more about content than quality these days when it comes to online video. Use education-based marketing to draw prospects in and entice them to connect with you.
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Looking for more proven tactics from The Rainmaker Institute?
Then subscribe to our FREE monthly e-newsletter. One click of your mouse will take you to our site where you can see the current issue and subscribe to our complimentary monthly e-newsletter that will be delivered to your inbox. Each issue is chock-full of legal marketing information you can put to use right away. I think you will find the information in every newsletter something you will want to share with your staff to maximize the effectiveness of your legal marketing plan.
Law Firm Marketing: Are You Anti-Social?
In general, attorneys are a gregarious, likeable bunch. It’s just their personality. So you’d think that 
the legal profession would be all over the social media phenomenon. We’ve been preaching social media for years and have shown time and again what it can do to help lawyers become major rainmakers.
So what’s holding you back? According to a recent post at Mashable.com, the world’s largest social media blog, a legal affairs reporter for the ABA Journal was quoted thusly:
“Varied and outdated ethics rules in regards to online communication, as well as numerous examples of cases put in real jeopardy because of prosecutors and judges posting on Facebook or jurors twittering mid-trial, only fuel a general tendency in the legal profession to distrust new technologies.”
The article went on to say:
While many in the field proceed with trepidation, the unprecedented reach of social networks, Twitter and blogs in particular, has been a career game-changer for many attorneys.
I encourage you to read the entire post by clicking here.
It is full of good stuff – and I’m not just saying that because it reads like a Rainmaker Retreat playbook.
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Check Out Your Peers As They Share Their Rainmaker Retreat Experiences
We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat. Yes, we know you are skeptical. So instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your business, we will let our clients do the telling.
Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.
Law Firm Marketing: Rainmaker Retreat Review
Good litigators know that sometimes you just have to let the evidence speak for itself. .jpg)
I can tell you that our May Scottsdale Rainmaker Retreat was a great success, but I am going to let the evidence – in the form of a blog post by attendee Joseph C. McDaniel, a seasoned bankruptcy attorney from Phoenix – speak for itself:
The Rainmaker Retreat: Worth the Price, and Then Some!
I've been to a fair number of seminars concerning the art of rainmaking. I've read a lot of books on the topic. I've lectured to lawyers on how to make the sky cloud up, in years gone by.
So it ain't my first rodeo.
Then there's my particular situation.
I'm a board-certified, AV rated, AVVO 10 bankruptcy attorney and former Chair of the Arizona State Bar Bankruptcy Section, and former Chair of the ABA Bankruptcy Committee of the General Practice Section, all in the state that has seen the biggest increases in bankruptcy filings in the United States.
So there's a pretty constant downpour at my little office. Soggy there, you know? But don't stop referring me cases!
But I figured I'd go to The Rainmaker Retreat (taught by Stephen Fairley and a cast of rainmaking geniuses) because I love what I do, and I want to help as many folks as I can, and that requires that they pick up the phone and call me.
At this point in my life, I've seen and heard a lot, and I figure that if I get one single good idea out of a seminar, it was time and money well spent.
At the Rainmaker Retreat, I finally lot track of the great ideas I picked up after about twenty. And the hits kept coming.
Now, ideas are a dime a dozen, and you can certainly read and study and learn about rainmaking for fun and profit without every attending a seminar with the Rainmaker Institute.
But why would you?
Your time has value. Of course, you may just like to do things the hard way. That's okay with me, of course.
But the unique value of the Rainmaker Retreat Seminar I attended is this, and in this it's different from all the books and seminars I have absorbed in the last thirty years of my practice: it teaches a systematic approach to making water fall from the sky.
That's a systematic approach to old-school rainmaking and online rainmaking. Both. Not one. Both.
In that sense, it's really two seminars in one.
So lemme summarize: ideas are a dime a dozen. You will get a hundred great ideas and a system to make it rain without end at your law office if you attend The Rainmaker Institute Rainmaker Retreat.
And if you apply those ideas in your practice, you will have, in my humble opinion, a massive competitive advantage over your classmates in causing the sky to give up it's precipitation.
I recommend the Rainmaker Retreat Seminar without reservation.
And I was lucky enough to wind up with several dvds after the seminar, and I can't wait to watch them. The reviews of those dvds will follow.
Bookmark Joseph’s Just for Attorneys blog – it’s full of all kinds of wit and wisdom from more than three decades of law practice.
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Tell ‘Em Joseph Sent You: Summer Rainmaker Retreat Dates
If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then register for one of our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:
- June 18-19, 2010 San Francisco, CA
- July 30-31, 2010 Los Angeles, CA
- August 6-7, 2010 Las Vegas, NV
- October 8-9, 2010 New Brunswick, NJ
Want to learn more about what you’ll learn at a Rainmaker Retreat? Then sign up now for a one-hour complimentary teleseminar for a preview of the valuable material that is taught at our 2-day Rainmaker Retreat.
Memorial Day A Time of Remembrance and Renewal
I don’t know how most of you spent your Memorial Day. Hopefully with your families enjoying what has become the traditional start of summer. And hopefully also pausing for a few moments to remember those who have served our country as members of the military.
Each Memorial Day, I like to read and reflect upon Lincoln’s great Gettysburg Address – less than 300 words written by probably one of the most erudite attorneys of any age. If you have not visited it in awhile, I invite you to do so as I reprint his words here that continue to echo down through the years:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met here on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled, here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they have, thus far, so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Only 272 words that say, well, everything there is to say about what we Americans owe our service members. Our duty is to remember and honor their sacrifice by protecting and enjoying all our freedoms every day.
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Get the Lifestyle Law Practice You’ve Always Wanted
If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then come to one of our Rainmaker Retreats. We have four of them coming up:
- June 18-19, 2010 San Francisco, CA
- July 30-31, 2010 Los Angeles, CA
- August 6-7, 2010 Las Vegas, NV
- October 8-9, 2010 New Brunswick, NJ
Want to learn more about what you’ll learn at a Rainmaker Retreat? Then sign up now for a one-hour complimentary teleseminar for a preview of the valuable material that is taught at our 2-day Rainmaker Retreat.
