Have Our 2-Day Legal Marketing Boot Camp Delivered to Your Door
Today I’m in Los Angeles at our Rainmaker Retreat – one of two back-to-back legal marketing boot camps that I’ll be conducting this weekend in L.A. and next weekend in Las Vegas. Then I’ll be relaxing the rest of August after hosting four very successful retreats over the past two months!
If you want to get in on our final legal marketing boot camp of the summer at the Mirage in Las Vegas next weekend (Aug. 6-7), there is still time, and you can register online.
If you are unable to join us in Las Vegas, there is no reason to miss out on the invaluable legal marketing information we will be sharing with attorneys from around the country. Such information will consist of valuable legal marketing tips to expand on your law firm marketing campaign. If you can’t come to us and learn all there is to know about legal marketing, then we will bring the Rainmaker Retreat to you.
You can own “Rainmaker Retreat Live” when you purchase the 6 audio compact disk set, which is accompanied by a downloadable PDF 70-page Legal Marketing Manual. Experience the Rainmaker Retreat on your schedule, at your own pace. You will be inspired, motivated and provided information on legal marketing with the guidance to make your practice all that you know it can be.
This live recording of our highly successful two-day legal marketing seminar features:
- 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
Many of the most successful attorneys we know pop a CD into their CD-drive and listen to “Rainmaker Retreat Live” during their daily commute. Discover how you can build a successful law firm practice using the legal marketing strategies that you will learn on your drive!
******************************************************************************
Free CD: Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices
Get your free CD on Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices by #1 Best-Selling Author And Nationally Recognized Law Firm Marketing Expert Stephen Fairley, and listen as he reveals A Proven System To Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice! Discover:
- How 1 piece of simple technology in your practice will drastically increase your communication with prospects, clients and referral sources – resulting in a major revenue boost
- 5 ways to market and position yourself as a recognized expert
- How 2 Attorneys promoted their law firms to over 100,000 people for less than $100 in 2 hours
- The 1 item you must absolutely have to create a Million Dollar Law Practice (hint: Not having this will almost guarantee your failure!)
- The 6 BIGGEST secrets to generating more and better referrals
- How to create a proven network of 30 new Strategic Referral Partners in the next 90 days
To obtain your free CD, click here now.
Phoenix Legal Marketing Network Group July Event: Socializing & Social Media
.jpg)
Phoenix area attorneys from small and solo practices met last week for our monthly Phoenix Legal Marketing Network Group and left full of good food, good drink and a much better understanding of the role social media plays in legal marketing these days.
This group meets on a monthly basis and is co-sponsored by The Rainmaker Institute, Alex Morris of FindLaw, and Ken Minniti of Target Market Media and the Publisher of Attorney At Law Magazine—Phoenix Edition.
We met for 2 hours in Tempe, and the first hour was all about networking with fellow professionals. During the second hour, I gave a seminar on “Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media,” designed to help attorneys understand the social media phenomenon that is Facebook and Twitter and how they can use these platforms to supercharge their new business efforts.
Here’s some of the actionable items I shared with the group:
Marketing Your Law Firm on Facebook Using Fan Pages and PPC
- Fan Pages are specifically for promoting your business/law firm.
- You can only have 1 profile on Facebook, but as many Fan Pages as you want!
- Key word load the Fan Page names (Arizona Personal Injury Attorney )
- Have a Fan Page with your Law Firm’s name.
- Have a Fan Page with your name and law firm’s as well.
- Invite all your Facebook friends to join your Fan Page.
- You can send mass emails to all the fans on your page to promote your services or firm.
- Update the content on your Fan Page at least 3x per week (more is better).
- Facebook now has Pay Per Click (PPC) It is significantly cheaper as compared to Google PPC. However, reports are that Facebook PPC does not convert as well as Google PPC, but at 5-10% of the cost you can afford to experiment and test the results
How to Use Twitter
- Learn the lingo at http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/learning
- Download Tweetdeck. It's probably the easiest way to get a handle on Twitter. It's a free desktop software program. They also have apps for mobile phones.
- Realize People Don’t Care “what you are doing”—They Care About What You Are Thinking, Reading or How You Can Help Them!
- Promote Your Blog & Website. Put links in your tweets to drive traffic to your blog & website.
- Retweet (RT) Other People and links you find interesting. This is Twitter’s way of allowing you to start a virtual conversion.
- Build Your Platform on Twitter by following prospects, other attorneys, potential referral partners, and people you find interesting. Approximately 40-50% of people you follow will follow you back.
We invite all local Arizona attorneys to join us each month. The next session is on Wednesday, August 18 from 5-7 p.m. at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe. The cost is $20 per person, and includes drinks, food, networking event and workshop. The topic in August will be Finding Your Perfect Client: How to find more clients who need, want and can afford your services.
To register for the August 18 event, click here.
*****************************************************************
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.
7 Legal Marketing Tools You Can Use to Find New Clients
.jpg)
When it comes to finding new clients, there are really only 7 legal marketing tools you should use to find them. Most successful attorneys don’t use all of them -- they experiment and find the ones that consistently produce the most results. Then they focus all of their time, energy, and resources on those proven strategies.
Which strategies will work for you depends on your target market and what’s allowable where you practice. Some of the strategies and techniques covered in this section will not work or may only work if you are targeting a particular population.
Before I get to the 7 tools that will help you find new clients, I must add this caveat:
Every state has different rules and regulations regarding marketing, advertising, and what is and is not allowed. Depending upon your practice area and state code of professional ethics, some of the strategies discussed in this post may not be allowed in your area. You are personally responsible for seeking specific legal advice regarding your local and state regulations and ethics codes.
Here are the 7 legal marketing tools for finding new clients :
- Referrals: from strategic partners, existing and former clients, friends, family members, other lawyers, legal referral sources, and business association.
- Speaking and Seminars: formal presentations, workshops, seminars, speaking for associations and organizations.
- Formal/Informal Networking: connecting with centers of influence, professional associations, chambers of commerce, clubs, trade association meetings, or formal lead groups.
- An Online Presence: websites, article marketing, blogs, pay-per-click, ezines, auto responders, newsletters, and opt-in lists.
- Press Releases & Media Placement: online press releases, writing articles or columns for local newspapers, trade magazines, professional journals, offering an advice column, being a content expert for the media, television, radio, trade association magazines, or newspaper interviews.
- Promotional Events: participating in trade shows, sponsoring a public event like a marathon, participating in a charity event, sending out partnership announcements, or having an “open house” to publicize your new offices.
- Advertising: in the Yellow Pages, newspapers, magazines, or trade journals, email campaigns, ads in business directories, or on radio or TV, and Internet–based ads.
After you’ve considered your state’s regulations and ethics code, consider how you can use some of these legal marketing tools to find new clients.
*********************************************************************************
.jpg)
FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book
In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.
Get your complimentary copy online here.
Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.
We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.
Law Firm Marketing: How to Manage Your IOLTA Account
I want to give you something extremely valuable today.
I want to give you something that will help you run your law firm without mistakes. Did you know that law firm management mistakes are the root cause of more than 54% of Bar grievances filed?
It's something my friend Rjon Robins has never released before to anyone but his exclusive law firm training graduates.
It's something you will start using all the time and it's all yours right now, completely complimentary.
How to Manage Your IOLTA Account:
https://education.infusionsoft.com/go/IOLTA/RAINMAKER
In the video, he'll be showing you everything you need to do in order to make sure your firm is set up right.
Here’s a direct message from Rjon:
When the goal of a law firm is to Bill More Hours as opposed to generate more profit, all kinds of things get screwed up. Beginning with the values of the lawyers who work for the firm.
In the old days, the "profit" of a law firm was a function of value being delivered to clients.
It wasn't measured by the number of hours.
Because how long something takes to do, is usually in inverse proportion to the resulting value to the client. Do you want your dinner to arrive in 5 minutes or in an hour? Which has more value to you?
Unless you're a defendant trying to stall the system, typically, the longer something takes, the LESS it should cost. At least from the client's perspective.
And since clients are the ones paying the bill they DO get a vote on this.
Loss of Love & Profit From The Practice Of Law
What happens is that when a law firm is focused on billable hours, and then holds partnership out as a carrot to motivate the production of more hours, the end result is a loss of love for the practice of law.
And the only lawyers who THINK they want that, are the lawyers who don't understand the business-side of the law firm well enough to fully appreciate what they're getting themselves into when they accept this equation.
Sadly, MOST lawyers don't really understand the business-side of the legal industry very well. And it's not their fault!
Because after all, what did they teach any of us in law school about the business-side of "owning" a law firm? Nothing! Actually it's worse than nothing.
Most lawyers actually get very BAD advice in law school about the business side of a law firm.
The bad advice most of us received may have ranged from the merely misguided: "just do your work and someone else will take care of that" all the way to the downright DESTRUCTIVE "this is a noble profession and so you shouldn't concern yourself with making a profit at it."
Shouldn't concern yourself with making a profit at it? But profit is a function of value!
So if a lawyer isn't waking up every day with his or her mind on how to generate a profit for the law firm it's our clients who are suffering isn't it?
Because they don't care about "buying" hours. They want solutions! And all things being equal, our clients want their solutions delivered to them sooner rather than later.
And here's where it gets REALLY UGLY...
When you're NOT thinking about making a profit, you're typically not thinking about the things that lead to making a profit either.
And one of those things that has a direct connection to how profitable our law firms are is how our IOLTA client property trust accounts are set-up and managed.
Of course, if no one ever told you that your law firm should be profitable, and the more the better because profit is a function of value to clients;
That is to say if all you ever heard about was billing hours...
Then chances are no one likely ever taught you how and why your law firm's IOLTA client property trust account can and SHOULD be used as a PROFITABLE law firm management tool.
And that far from being something that intimidates you, your IOLTA Client Property Trust Accounts should be tools of empowerment that contribute to your being the best lawyer you can be. And having the most fun at the practice of law and delivering the most VALUE to your clients and yes, all of that is very profitable too.
Again, here’s the link to Rjon Robins’ complimentary video series on How to Manage Your IOLTA Account: https://education.infusionsoft.com/go/IOLTA/RAINMAKER
**********************************************************
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.
To order this information-packed set click here.
Learn the Secrets to Building a Lifestyle Law Practice at a Rainmaker Retreat
If you have not registered yet for our two upcoming attorney marketing boot camps, there is still time to do so. Join law firm marketing experts and your fellow attorneys for our Rainmaker Retreat – in Los Angeles on July 30-31 or at The Mirage in Las Vegas the following weekend, Aug. 6-7, 2010.
This is what attendees of the Rainmaker Retreat have had to say about our attorney marketing boot camp:
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 with a specific plan – uniquely suited to you and your firm – that will help you to create a successful and highly-satisfying legal practice!
You can still qualify for the Early Bird Discount for our Las Vegas Rainmaker Retreat – to register, go here.
*******************************************************************
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 one of these upcoming one-hour teleseminars:
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 4-5pm EasternWednesday, Aug. 4, 2010
11am-12pm Pacific | 12-1pm Mountain | 1-2pm Central | 2-3pm EasternWednesday, Aug. 11, 2010
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 4-5pm Eastern
Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
How to Avoid Legal Marketing Mistakes Many Attorneys Make
.jpg)
Did you know…
- There are more than 1.2 million attorneys in the United States.
- 30,000 new ones graduate every year.
- 85% of all attorneys end up in a small law firm with fewer than 50 attorneys.
- The size of the U.S. legal industry is estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually.
Yet the majority of attorneys continue to struggle to create a financially successful practice. Why?
We have found the common denominator of attorneys who struggle with practice building is that they believe the best use of their time is to practice law. You are not in the business of practicing law. You are in the business of building relationships (also known as marketing) so that you can practice law.
A lot of my clients say, “But Stephen, I don’t have time to market my practice.” My reply is always the same, “Either take time now on a consistent basis or you will have plenty of time later when your client base dries up.”
Building a successful practice isn’t magic or rocket science, but it is work and it does take a lot of time, energy and money. Every attorney who starts a new practice fully intends to succeed; yet according to research, more than 50% of them still fail.
We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In a newly updated, complimentary e-book, you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.
Discover:
- How to avoid 2 common practice-killing pitfalls
- How to position yourself as a specialist
- Why most advertising is a waste of your money
- Ways to avoid common practice-killing pitfalls
The e-book is free; see below for details.
**********************************************************************
FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book
In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.
Get your complimentary copy online here.
Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.
We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.
Law Firm Marketing: 8 Steps to Increase Your Online Visibility
These days, no one puts up a website and expects potential clients to come flocking to it. Most savvy law firm marketers know you have to do things that drive traffic to the site.
Just like litigation, online law firm marketing is all about strategy and execution.
There are a number of things you can do to increase your online visibility, thereby improving your chances of having potential clients find you.
Here are some steps to improve your online presence using a variety of different online marketing channels, including articles, ezines, press releases and blogs.
Step #1: Define a topic area relevant to your practice and your target market.
Step #2: Write a 400- 750 word article about that topic.
Step #3: Submit that article online.
Step #4: Create a press release from that article, discussing that topic.
Step #5: Submit that press release online.
Step #6: Use a part of that article in your ezine and link to it online. (100 to 300 words)
Step #7: Then take that article and develop a blog post from it. (100 to 300 words)
Step #8: Submit a second press release announcing the article you just published based on the original topic in Step #1.
This law firm marketing tip – and many others – is a small sampling of what you will learn at The Rainmaker Retreat. See below for details on the next one.
******************************************************************************************
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
Register today to reserve your space and begin to chart the course to an incredibly successful future.
These two-day, power-packed events have 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.
Register now and take advantage of the Early Bird special pricing -- a $200 discount!
Law Firm Marketing: How to Build a Solid, Responsive Mailing List
.jpg)
I have posted previously about the need to build trust with potential clients by first building a relationship with them.
There are several marketing channels you can use to build those relationships.
Some, like Twitter, are designed to create a two-way dialog so you can engage your potential client base in online conversations that help you understand their needs better. Others, like legal blogs, help position you as an expert (in the marketing, not the legal, sense).
Each plays a role in your law firm marketing strategy.
But when it comes to reaching out to potential clients on a consistent basis, few law firm marketing tools can match the success rate of newsletters.
However, before you can engage prospective clients through law firm marketing newsletters, you first have to find them. Which brings us to one of the foundational tools of law firm marketing: list building.
There are list services where you can purchase names, e-mail addresses and home addresses that match your target demographic. But I don’t recommend them for law firm marketing for one important reason: the client’s choice in legal counsel rests so much on trust, my opinion is that contacting clients without their permission is suspect.
However, there are many proven ways to build law firm marketing lists without purchasing names from a service. Below are some of the best:
- Insert a newsletter sign-up form on the most highly trafficked pages of your web site, including a brief summary of the benefits of receiving no-cost, ongoing legal information they can use.
- When you have a speaking engagement, provide a sign-up sheet for your “complimentary” newsletter. This technique has a very high response rate because the audience is already interested in your area of the law. They also see you as an expert, whose legal counsel they could benefit by.
- Partner with other professionals who serve a client base similar to yours. For example, if your area of practice is estate planning, financial planners or brokerage houses might have a target client similar to yours. Once you locate these “list partners”, you can insert your offer for a free trial newsletter into their outgoing communications to that client base (and they can do the same with yours). In that way, you are getting permission from the recipient prior to sending your law firm marketing newsletter – which is much more effective than purchasing a list.
In addition to using these proven ways to build your law firm marketing list, be sure to make it visible and easy for recipients of your newsletter to unsubscribe. It does you no good to contact someone regularly that does not want your information -- and making it clear they may cancel at any time sends the message that you care about them and they can trust you.
Adding these list-building tactics to your law firm marketing strategy will help you build a solid, highly responsive list of prospects that have real potential to turn into paying clients.
****************************************************
.jpg)
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!
4 Tips to Generate Clients and Referrals Through Speaking and Seminars
.jpg)
A very powerful law firm marketing strategy to generate more clients is to hold educational seminars or speak at events. Here are some tips to help ensure that the time you commit to this endeavor pays off for you in terms of new clients and/or referrals.
Tip #1: Always Speak to Decision Makers
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 percentage 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?
Tip #2: Educate Your Audience
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.
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.
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.
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 #1 would be sent within 24 hours post-seminar. It would be a thank you email with an offer for a free consultation, special report or audio CD. Phone Call #1 would be made by your staff and would be made within 24 hours post-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-up 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 contacted by at least three phone calls before you stop trying to reach them. Every attendee should receive at least 5-7 emails and 1-2 letters from your law firm.
If you follow this script, you will attract both new clients and referrals from an audience that has been impressed by your knowledge, how you articulate it and the thoroughness of your follow-through. You’ll be the attorney they want to do business with, I promise.
************************************************************************
Phoenix Attorneys: Learn About Social Media at July 21 Legal Networking Group
Join us on Wednesday, July 21, when Stephen will address a meeting of the Phoenix Legal Networking Group on Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media for Lawyers: Facebook and Twitter.
You will learn:
- Why Facebook is the 800 pound gorilla on the Internet
- Who is using Facebook (this will surprise you)
- What kind of practice areas are getting clients from Facebook
- How to get started fast
- Why Twitter is growing so fast
- How to leverage Twitter to drive traffic to your blog or website
- Top tips for using social media in your legal marketing strategy
The event will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 21 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe. Cost is only $20 per person.
To register for this seminar, co-hosted by FindLaw, Attorney at Law Magazine and The Rainmaker Institute, click here.
The 5 Biggest Advertising Mistakes Lawyers Make
Advertising is important to the marketing of your law firm, but not all advertising is equally effective. In these competitive times, you cannot afford to waste your resources making any advertising mistakes, so I’m going to share with you “The 5 Biggest Advertising Mistakes Lawyers Make” so you can avoid them – and prosper.
1. Most ads are not meaningful. In just one day, your prospective client sees more than 5,000 ads, so your ad must be unique enough to catch attention.
2. Mass advertising is expensive. When you advertise, you need to obey the Law of 7 Touches. It takes exposing your ad to your prospective client 7 times before he or she is willing to do business with you. So you have a tremendous up-front cost. Added to that, you should expect to receive, in revenue, a minimum of 5 times of what you spend.
3. Ads are not effective in encouraging people to “take action.” And that’s what counts: the action your prospect takes to do business with you. Without that, your money and time is wasted.
4. Most law firms lack follow-up systems. You may have designed a great ad, it’s precisely targeted and people respond. But then, nothing happens. Nothing happens because you lack a system to follow up with the leads that come from your ad campaign. And the money is in the follow-up.
5. No tracking of real results. This is just as bad as not having a follow-up system. Without tracking real results, you have no idea what works and what doesn’t. And that means you’re likely burning through cash without much to show for it.
Don't want to make any more mistakes with your law firm marketing? Then you need to attend my 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, The Rainmaker Retreat.
Time is running out to take advantage of our Early Bird special for the Los Angeles Rainmaker Retreat on July 30-31. Register by July 23 and save $200!
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
********************************************************************
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 one of these upcoming one-hour teleseminars:
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
11am-12pm Pacific | 12-1pm Mountain | 1-2pm Central | 2-3pm EasternTuesday, July 27, 2010
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 4-5pm Eastern
Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
Breaking Legal Marketing News: LinkedIn Partners with JD Supra to Launch New Legal App
.jpg)
Woke up this morning to some great news from my friends at JD Supra – great for them, great for those of us who believe in the power of social media when it comes to legal marketing.
Last night LinkedIn launched its Legal Updates application powered by JD Supra content, calling it the “World's Largest Legal Content Distribution Network.”
The Legal Updates application distributes a feed of expert commentary and guidance as well as legal news tailored to the professional interests of LinkedIn members. Currently, Legal Updates is the only application for distribution of professional legal content and information available on LinkedIn. .jpg)
It is free to LinkedIn members (which currently number 70 million) and is available now at http://bit.ly/c8JRjh.
As you may know, LinkedIn is the dominant social networking site for professionals, and has been extremely selective in making outside applications available on its network. For instance, the iPhone has more than 200,000 apps available, while LinkedIn has only 16 that come from trusted names like Google, Amazon and Twitter.
JD Supra's Legal Updates application is widely seen as a game-changer for how lawyers will use LinkedIn to market their expertise (the current installation rate for the application is about one every minute since it went live overnight).
JD Supra's Legal Updates application gives legal professionals a compelling platform to communicate their expertise not only to their own list of LinkedIn contacts but beyond to LinkedIn's entire network of 70 million professionals across a range of fields, including Insurance, Banking, Tech, Real Estate, HR, and more.
LinkedIn's 70 million members can receive custom-tailored, fully editable content feeds based on their industry and areas of interest. Real estate professionals get updates on real estate law; HR professionals get updates on HR law, etc.
To read more about this exciting legal marketing opportunity, click here for the announcement press release.
You can also learn more by signing up for an online demo of the new app on Wednesday, July 22 at 1 p.m. ET. To register, visit http://bit.ly/9NOeuL.
Can’t wait? To watch an instructional how-to video, visit http://bit.ly/bDvX2x. That’s where I’ll be with my morning coffee.
******************************************************
Learn All About the Latest Legal Marketing Trends & Tools at 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 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.
Legal Marketing: How to Create An Effective Positioning Statement
.jpg)
Not to be confused with a unique selling proposition (USP), a positioning statement is specific to a particular area of practice, such as estate planning, product defect or personal injury law.
The goal of an effective positioning statement in your law firm marketing strategy is to clearly define what perception you want to instill in your clients’ minds when they think of how your law firm practices a particular area of law.
In the end, your law firm marketing positioning statement must be:
Unique – it must clearly differentiate you from your competitors and your other areas of practice
Positive – it must create a positive image in the clients mind.
Memorable – While your clients certainly do not have to know or recall the specific words you use to describe your unique position, the key ideas should come through loud and clear.
Use these 5 steps to create your law firm marketing positioning statement:
Step 1: Know and Understand Your Competition
- Names of law firms
- Names of their partners
- Which services they do and do not provide
- How much they charge (per hour, any retainer size)
- Who they target with their legal marketing efforts
- Approximate annual revenues
- Which law firm marketing techniques they use to find clients
- Growth strategies
Step 2: Know How the Top 3 Position Themselves
- Elite?
- Inexpensive?
- The biggest firm in the region, in the field?
- Highly-specialized?
- Bi-lingual?
Step 3: Know Their Strengths and Weaknesses
- Do they have a reputation for settling out of court or do they litigate more often than your firm does?
- What is their win-loss record?
- What do they do better than you do?
- What do they not do well?
- Where are they vulnerable?
Step 4: Identify What is Unique About Your Area of Practice Relative to the Competition
Once you know your competition very, very well, the next step is to use that information to clarify how you are:
- Different
- Better
- Faster
- More responsive
- More experienced
- Smarter
Step 5: Articulate Your Position in Two Sentences or Less
When you are able to clarify your law firm marketing position in a concise manner, it is easier for you, your associates to remember it, articulate it, emulate it and use it to guide your law firm marketing messages.
That is where the greatest value comes. The result is a consistent, clear voice that guides your interaction with clients and your law firm marketing efforts.
********************************************************************
Free Ebook: Top 10 Marketing Mistakes Attorneys Make & How to Avoid Them
In working with thousands of attorneys over the years, Stephen has found there are 10 common mistakes they make that can kill their business. In this practical ebook, you will find an overview of each practice-killing pitfall along with specific recommendations for how you can avoid falling prey to these mistakes.
You will discover:
- How targeting the wrong market is the biggest mistake you can make and why it will destroy your business
- The 3 problems with depending on passive marketing strategies and how to ‘activate’ your marketing
- The #1 myth that’s killing your small business
- 3 easy ways you continually test all your major marketing efforts
- Why networking works well for some people and not at all for most others
- Why outsourcing can be the best thing for your business
This ebook-- a $47 value -- is available for instant download by clicking here.
Legal Marketing: Florida Bar's Proposed Online Ad Rules Bar Free Speech
That rumble you hear in Florida is not a typical summer thunderstorm, but a storm of protest from Florida attorneys regarding the Florida Bar’s proposed new online ad rules.
If you’re not aware: the new rules would ban online testimonials, summaries of case results and what the Bar terms “deceptive, misleading, manipulative or confusing” audio or visual content. In addition, consumers visiting a Florida attorney’s website would have to click through a series of disclaimers to even get to the site.
Many Florida attorneys think that these latest rules proposed by the Florida Bar are a violation of their First Amendment right to free speech. Florida-based First Amendment attorneys are organizing a loose coalition of some of the state’s largest firms, who received a recent extension from the Florida Supreme Court in which to submit commentary on the proposed ad rules.
First, let me say that I have an axe to grind and I recognize I'm not entirely neutral in this area because it directly impacts my business, which is teaching attorneys effective ways to market their law firms and in many cases actually providing outsourced marketing services to small law firms. These services often include lead generation and conversion from referrals and Internet marketing efforts.
Now that we have my biases out of the way, here's my take on these proposed Florida law firm marketing rules:
1. These rules are overly restrictive on lawyers and may run afoul of First Amendment rights.
While I'm not an attorney nor am I an ethics expert, on the face of it these rules seem to go beyond the point of being ridiculous! I thought it was rather sad to see the ACLU completely back off once they were granted an exemption. Aren't they supposed to be the champions of free speech for everyone—even to the point of protecting hate speech?
While I have disagreed with various stands the ACLU has taken in the past, I would wholeheartedly get behind them to force the Florida Bar to back down.
As a side note, I could be mistaken on this point, but if I understand it correctly, the Florida Bar does not actually set new advertising rules for attorneys. Instead it is the Florida State Supreme Court. If you know differently, please let me know.
2. They completely ignore the realities of Internet marketing and using websites and blogs to generate more business and new leads.
At one point, the Florida Bar required a law firm to have every change to their website reviewed and approved by the bar. These changes had to be submitted in writing along with a $50 fee per change. Then to go even further, they came out and said a blog is essentially a website. Imagine having to pay your bar association $50 and wait 2-4 weeks before you can post to your blog. Seriously, what were they thinking?!? They finally backed off that one.
It's going to be a little dicey if all Florida lawyers are suddenly “required” to use a 3-point disclaimer on every post they place on Twitter or Facebook.
3. These rules do not take into account the hyper-competitive nature of the legal industry due to the concentration of lawyers.
I came across an article recently that estimated Florida will soon overtake New York as home to the 2nd largest number of attorneys of any state in the U.S., second only to California, which has about 213, 000 attorneys. Yes, I realize that hyper-competition is not a great reason to be lax on ethical rules and regulations, but commonsense should tell you that with the down economy, the job loss in the legal industry, and the increase in competition will drive some lawyers to cross the line by taking cases they are not competent to handle or overcharging clients trying to make ends meet. I not making excuses for this kind of behavior, but someone with a clear mind must realize there are always unintended consequences of actions like this.
4. These rules do absolutely nothing to “protect the consumer” or the general public.
Is there a growing body of people in Florida we don’t know about who are complaining that “all these legal websites are confusing and misleading”? If so, I'd like to know who they are. Perhaps they are the same ones in Broward County who couldn’t figure out how to punch the ballot hard enough to remove the chad?
All these rules seem to do is make it harder for small law firms to aggressively compete on the Internet. Let's face it; most large law firms do not really even try to generate new leads from their websites. The majority of them are simply “brochure” sites. They look pretty, but are completely ineffective for doing anything other than credibility building.
This is absolutely not the case for small firms! Many of them are completely dependant on their websites for lead generation, especially in the area of consumer law (personal injury, bankruptcy, family law, criminal law, and estate planning to some extent).
5. Florida already has the most restrictive legal marketing rules and regulations of any state and yet they want to make them even more limiting?
It's almost taking law firm marketing back to the Stone Age—or at least pre Bates v State Bar of Arizona (1977). State bars have long shown a tendency to over regulate law firm marketing. The line should be clear—do not put anything out there using any marketing format that is misleading, false or makes promises you cannot keep.
6. Why do they selectively focus on the Internet rather than the more pervasive abuses that take place everyday on attorney television ads?
I have a client in a major Florida city who emphatically states that virtually every single ad one of the major personal injury law firms puts on television violates long-standing ethics rules, yet nothing is done to that law firm. You may relegate this to professional jealousy, but I can assure you I have seen many of those ads and they absolutely run afoul of the current Florida rules.
Certainly, the Bar should be more concerned about TV ads, where people who aren't even looking for an attorney or legal representation are forced to watch them (unless they have a DVR). The only way a person surfing the Internet will come across a lawyer’s website is if they clicked on a link from Google or a legal directory or a paid ad that led them there. It's not as if they were reading an article on CNN.com or Sports Illustrated and BAM—there's a law firm marketing ad! Come on, people!
7. If these Stone Age rules actually take place, it may greatly increase the importance of fully utilizing social media and attorney rating sites like Avvo.com and Yelp.com.
Many attorneys don’t realize that since Avvo.com, Yelp.com and Yellowpages.com (along with other review sites) are 3rd party sites not owned or controlled by a Florida law firm that they are exempt from the Florida bar rules. Therefore, attorneys can and should actively seek to encourage clients to write and submit testimonials on Avvo.com, Yelp.com and other online legal directories.
Even the Federal Trade Commission doesn't agree with the Bar’s proposed restrictions on not allowing any kind of client testimonials. In their response to the Bar, the FCC stated client testimonials “can convey valuable information to consumers and help spur consumers.”
My hope is that law firms will line up to file suit to get these rules thrown out! Easier said than done, but kudos to the first law firm that does so. Please let me know who it is so I can profile them on this blog.
What are your thoughts on these proposed rules? Any Florida attorneys out there?
************************************************************
Phoenix Attorneys: Learn About Social Media at July 21 Legal Networking Group
Join us on Wednesday, July 21, when Stephen will address a meeting of the Phoenix Legal Networking Group on Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media for Lawyers: Facebook and Twitter.
You will learn:
- Why Facebook is the 800 pound gorilla on the Internet
- Who is using Facebook (this will surprise you)
- What kind of practice areas are getting clients from Facebook
- How to get started fast
- Why Twitter is growing so fast
- How to leverage Twitter to drive traffic to your blog or website
- Top tips for using social media in your legal marketing strategy
The event will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 21 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe. Cost is only $20 per person.
To register for this seminar, co-hosted by FindLaw, Attorney at Law Magazine and The Rainmaker Institute, click here.
Law Firm Internet Marketing: How to Stand Out from the Competition
.jpg)
According to the newly released Altman Weil Flash Survey, Law Firms in Transition 2010, over 75% of the large law firms surveyed indicate that they think more price competition, more non-hourly billing and the use of project management to improve efficiency of service delivery will be permanent changes in the legal landscape.
Conducted in April and May of 2010, the survey polled managing partners at 787 American law firms with 50 or more lawyers. The full survey is available online to download here.
We’re pretty sure that what is affecting the larger firms is also affecting smaller and solo practices – more pressures on price and, overall, more competition as consumers become more savvy about “shopping” for their legal services on sites like Avvo.
So how do you distinguish yourself from your competition and stand out in the vast legal landscape? It will take you two days to find out: attend a Rainmaker Retreat.
These attorneys just attended our last Rainmaker Retreat in San Francisco in late June:
“If you are not doing this stuff, thanks! Because I am scooping your client prospects!”- Peter Brewer, Esq. (CA)
“This course should be part of the law school curriculum for every school in the nation!”- Andrew Cho, Esq. (CA)
“I flew across country to get here. I would have walked. This is an utterly fabulous program.”- Tom Hartmann, Esq. (NJ)
In fact, 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 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 for our Los Angeles Rainmaker Retreat on July 30-31 or our Las Vegas Rainmaker Retreat on August 6-7 and take advantage of the Early Bird special pricing -- a $200 discount!
********************************************
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.
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:
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 5-6pm EasternWednesday, July 21, 2010
11am-12pm Pacific | 12-1pm Mountain | 1-2pm Central | 2-3pm EasternTuesday, July 27, 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!
Law Firm Internet Marketing: Creating the Right Marketing Mix
With all the law firm Internet marketing options available to you today, it can be difficult to determine which ones to implement.
It can be equally difficult to decide what mixture of different advertising and marketing media will give you the best response rate.
There are different roles that various law firm Internet marketing mediums play. There are several, such as newsletters and blogs, that are typically very good investments no matter what your area of practice or your target clientele.
There several others, such as social media, Google Adwords and even offline advertising that may give you an even greater return.
How do you decide which law firm Internet marketing mediums to invest in, and which to leave for your competition?
Here are three key things to consider when deciding which law firm Internet marketing tactics to use:
The habits of your target clientele – If your target client is aged 18 to 35, it is likely they rely heavily on social media to communicate and to get their information. Your advertising and outreach marketing efforts should leverage those habits.
Your area of practice – Much the way the habits of your clientele influence your marketing mediums, your area of practice should influence your choices and the way you deliver your message.
Your competition – If your competitors are all using Google Adwords and targeting the same keywords, you may want to refocus your law firm Internet marketing in an area less crowded. At the very least, find a way to differentiate yourself among all the others.
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.
*********************
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.
To order this information-packed set click here.
Law Firm Marketing: 6 Ways to Increase Client Referrals
.jpg)
You already know that your reputation and your skill as an attorney are highly important to the success of your practice.
However, to build a thriving practice impervious to the ebbs in the economy, client referrals are of the utmost importance. They should play a key role in your law firm marketing approach.
Interestingly, many attorneys fall short when it comes to cultivating clients and other contacts as referral sources as part of their law firm marketing efforts.
Below are six proven steps you can take in your law firm marketing and referral strategy to build a large referral base and to catalyze multiple, repeat referrals from each contact.
All are designed to keep your name and your reputation top of mind with your contacts and to reward and recognize them appropriately to encourage referrals as part of your overall law firm marketing strategy.
- Get Contacts Thinking Referral: Don’t assume your contacts are thinking about referrals for you. Let them know your practice relies on referrals and how much you would appreciate them passing your name along.
- Immediate Appreciation: When a contact does refer you, call or send a thank you note the very same day.
- Reward: Within the next 48 hours, send your referral source a small gift of appreciation such as a business card holder, a gift card to a popular coffee shop or bookstore.
- Recognition: Once you’ve successfully scheduled a meeting with the referred potential client, e-mail your referral source to let them know you have scheduled that meeting and that you will update them again.
- Reward and Recognition 2: When the referral becomes a new client, send a “level 2 gift” to your referral source. A level 2 gift should be substantial and meaningful. Something your referral source will really value. However, be aware of dollar-amount gift limits your referrals are able to accept. Also, be sure to include a personal note that tells your referral source the positive outcome of their recommendation.
- Stay Top of Mind: Even when your referral sources haven’t referred, stay top of mind. Send a note 1-2 times per year to your entire contact list thanking them for past and future referrals.
Implement these six simple steps, and you will see a sharp increase in referrals while adding to the positive reputation you strive for in your law firm marketing efforts.
For more ideas on building your referral business, click here to learn all about our Rainmaker Referral Development Program.
***************************************************
.jpg)
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!
Phoenix Legal Marketing Network Group: July 21 Event to Focus on Social Media
.jpg)
The July 21 meeting of the Phoenix Legal Networking Group, an assembly of solo and small firm attorneys and staff looking to effectively market their law firms and grow their business, will focus on a topic of great interest to the legal profession these days: Social Media.
My topic will be Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media for Lawyers: Facebook and Twitter. In addition to some great information, there will be some great food, good fun, and a chance for you to reconnect with other attorneys who could turn out to be great additions to your referral network in the Phoenix area.
Join us on July 21 and discover:
- Why Facebook is the 800 pound gorilla on the Internet
- Who is using Facebook (this will surprise you)
- What kind of practice areas are getting clients from Facebook
- How to get started fast
- Why Twitter is growing so fast
- How to leverage Twitter to drive traffic to your blog or website
- Top tips for using social media in your legal marketing strategy
The event will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 21 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe. Cost is only $20 per person.
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.
***********************************************************
Can’t Make It to a Rainmaker Retreat? Then Have One Delivered to You!
.jpg){kind=logo}
Over 7,000 attorneys from hundreds of law firms across the country have discovered how to generate more referrals and find new clients by simply applying our Rainmaker Marketing System.
Here's just a sample of what you will discover in our Rainmaker Retreat Live! 6 CD set audio program:
- Over 22 proven strategies for attracting more and better clients
- How to create powerful relationships with over 30 new Referral Sources in the next 90 days
- 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
- 5 ways to automate your marketing using technology and the Internet
- 6 secrets top Rainmakers use to dominate their competition
- 8 steps to creating a 6-month comprehensive marketing plan for your firm
- Much, much more!
This live recording of our highly successful 2 day law firm marketing boot camp will inspire you with practical examples, motivate you with sample case studies, walk you through best marketing strategies used by top Rainmakers, and provide a guide for you to quickly implement proven tactics in the next 30 days. You will also get the same 70-page marketing manual used at all our Rainmaker Retreats.
Click here to order your copy of Rainmaker Retreat Live!
Law Firm Marketing: Revisiting the Law of 7 on 7-7
.jpg)
The Law of 7 Touches is based on research that found it takes an average of 7 to 10 meaningful touches EVERY YEAR to move someone through the cycle from not knowing anything about you to being ready to buy from you.
This is just the average, not a guarantee, because in hyper-competitive markets, like legal services, it often takes many more touches than that -- and to drive customer buying habits, it takes consistency.
Consider the following statistics regarding the legal profession’s 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.
If you want your law firm marketing to be successful, you must obey “The Law of 7.”
You’re probably thinking, “I know I should connect frequently and consistently with my prospective clients, but I just don’t have the time.”
True. Which is why you should leverage the power of technology to build relationships with your prospects.
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.
********************************************************
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!
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.
Learn the Secrets to Building a Lifestyle Law Practice at the L.A. Rainmaker Retreat July 30-31
Summer is half over. Many of us have already taken our vacations; many more are still anticipating theirs.
And there are still a third of us who will take no vacation at all.
A lot of us will haul the computer and the Blackberry wherever it is we are going, and stay stuck to them during most of our vacation.
Is this you? Are you too busy just running in place trying to break even to even enjoy your life?
Then you owe it to yourself to check out the upcoming Rainmaker Retreat in Los Angeles, California on July 30-31, 2010.
Over 7,000 attorneys have benefited from implementing the proven Rainmaker Legal Marketing System, because each Rainmaker Retreat has 5 unique distinctions:
- It is specifically designed for Attorneys at Small Law Firms and Solo Practitioners. While associates and partners at large firms (50+ attorneys) will receive benefit, the Rainmaker Retreat is designed to meet the needs, challenges, and financial budgets of solo practitioners and small law firms.
- This is a Working Retreat. You not only come to listen, learn and discover, but also to practice and apply.
- This is NOT an introductory course. The Rainmaker Retreat focuses on in-depth discussions of cutting-edge strategies and revealing secrets of highly successful attorneys used by only an elite group of lawyers.
- Focus on Return on Investment (ROI). Everything about this workshop is focused on one goal—helping you achieve the best results by finding more and better clients in the least amount of time using the least amount of money possible.
- 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied at the end of the first day, just let us know, turn your materials in and we will refund your money.
Don’t let time – and your vacation – pass you by.
You can register right now, right here.
Take the first step in getting the lifestyle law practice you always wanted by attending the Los Angeles Rainmaker Retreat on July 30-31 2010 at The State Bar of California.
Can't make it to L.A.? We have a Rainmaker Retreat scheduled at The Mirage in Las Vegas for August 6-7, 2010.
Register now for one of these Rainmaker Retreat events and take advantage of our $200 discount for early birds!
******************************************************************
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 and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
Law Firm Marketing: 5 Steps to Help Keep You Focused
The 4th of July celebration marks the halfway point in our summers and even though many of us are quite a few years from school, summer always feels like the time we should be kicking back and enjoying ourselves. Vacations are planned, anticipated, taken and then over. And it may be hard to kick-start ourselves into focusing on business, especially in light of the still shaky economy.
So today, I’m going to give you 5 tips that will help keep you focused and moving forward. Here they are:
- Focus on the positive. I recommend making a list of all the good things that happen to you each day and keep it posted near your computer as a constant reminder that even in this difficult economy, not everything is bad.
- Focus on what you can control, instead of what you cannot control. You cannot control the global markets, the investment banks or the economy. You can only control your actions, so create an action plan of what steps you are going to take to keep moving forward. Have a heart-to-heart talk with every attorney in your firm and require them to submit 3 specific steps they will take in the next 90 days to generate more business for your firm.
- Focus on improving client satisfaction and retention. Send out a client satisfaction survey; call up your top 10 clients and take them to lunch; stay connected with your current and former clients—ask them what challenges they are facing and how you can assist them. Perhaps you can introduce them to a banking colleague for a much needed business line of credit or a real estate broker who can help them sublease some office space.
- Focus on implementing your marketing plan. When this economic crisis is over, you will find some firms have just barely managed to survive, while others have grown significantly. The difference is when everyone else was pulling back, some firms saw this as the perfect opportunity to expand their marketing and increase their efforts. Which path will you follow?
- Focus on connecting with referral sources. Go through your Rolodex and reconnect with every single person who sent you a referral in the last 24 months and start meeting with them in person.
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.
**************************************************************************
Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD Set
.jpg)
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
- 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.
Law Firm Marketing: 4 Ways to Find Your Niche
These days in the legal profession, it’s especially true you can’t be all things to all people. Not only do you have incredible competition, but you’re also facing very savvy legal consumers.
So what’s a small law practice or solo practitioner to do?
Niche your practice. And here are 4 ways to do it:
- Service Niche: labor/employment, complex litigation, immigration, healthcare, IP, etc.
- Industry Niche: transportation, construction, energy, real estate development.
- Geographic Niche: LA-based, Southern California, Chicagoland, the DFW Metroplex.
- Specialty-Market Niche: privately held companies, Fortune 500, physicians, white collar executives, blue collar construction workers, Spanish-speaking only, developers, commercial lenders.
As you enjoy your Independence Day holiday, I encourage you to take some time to seriously consider how you can niche your practice. It’s the way to true independence -- helping you to stand above the competition, attract more of your ideal client, make your practice more lucrative and your life more enjoyable.
This law firm marketing tip – and many others – are what you'll learn at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp called “The Rainmaker Retreat.” To attend my next one, see below.
*****************************************************************
Put a Rainmaker Retreat on Your Calendar
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.
Law Firm Marketing: 9 Keys to 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. 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. I suggest that you 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 types 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?
Spend some time thinking about these questions and answering them as carefully, as specifically, as you can. When you finish, you’ll have laid a strong foundation for all your legal marketing strategies.
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.
***********************************************************
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!
