Law Firm Marketing: How to Go From Supplier to Strategic Partner
Not only is there a process you use to move your prospects through the pipeline, but there is also a process YOU want to move through as you develop a relationship with your client. Many service providers fail to move themselves through this process so they become "stuck" at the bottom level, relegated to being perceived by their client as a supplier or vendor.
The key is to use your knowledge, influence, connections, commitment, results and perceived value to the organization to move up from Vendor status to a Consistent Problem Solver, and eventually to the level where clients perceive you as a Critical Strategic Partner.
There are several reasons why moving from vendor status to a critical strategic partner is necessary:
- It is critical to building a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with the client.
- It will increase your profit margins. As a vendor, you must be very price conscious. When you become critical to their success, they value you and your services more, which allows you to significantly increase your profit margins.
- It will assist you in retaining clients and building loyal clients who won't terminate your contract at the first sign of trouble.
- It will increase your repeat business. The largest sale you receive from a company is usually not the first one. Often it is not until the 3'd or 4th sale that the client learns to really trust you and give you the big sale with the larger profits.
- It enhances your credibility to have long-term, satisfied clients who are willing to provide references and referrals to their colleagues.
- It is less stressful, because ultimately vendors are compared and replaced based on price. Critical Strategic Resources are not compared or replaced.
Learning to move from a vendor to a Critical Strategic Resource is just one of the things attorneys learn when they attend a Rainmaker Retreat. For more information on our two-day law firm marketing boot camp, visit www.rainmakerretreat.com.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FREE Rainmaker Retreat Preview DVD – 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 click here to receive 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, you can listen to your peers describe their experiences in their own words.
Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.
Social Media for Attorneys: How to Use LinkedIn to Build Your Network
.jpg)
With over 100 million professional members, LinkedIn is a great way to stay on top of what is happening with the people in your networks, as well as a great source of professionals to grow your networks.
Chances are, many of the professional you already know are using LinkedIn.
Here’s how to use LinkedIn to build and expand your professional network:
1. Decide why you are using LinkedIn. Do you just want to connect with people you know? Are you building a referral network? Do you want to drive people to your website or blog?
2. Build out your profile. Take your purpose and craft your profile to reflect that purpose. The key is to compel the people you know and the people who are looking for someone like you to reach out and connect.
3. Connect with the people you know. Use LinkedIn’s built-in tool to import your connections.
4. Get testimonials. Take advantage of LinkedIn’s built-in Recommendations feature to give and receive testimonials. Third party endorsements carry much more weight than your marketing message alone.
5. Learn the system inside and out. Pay special attention to the search engine under the People tab. This feature allows you to search your extended network for all the resources you need to be successful. Also, learn about the Groups feature. There are thousands of special interest groups inside LinkedIn where you can connect with thought leaders, experts, prospective clients and prospective referral sources.
6. Build your network out strategically. Each connection you make with someone you know grows your overall reach exponentially.
7. Leverage your networks. LinkedIn is a social network and a search engine. Connected individuals can see and search for the people in each other’s networks. You can use those connections for business development and for finding your ideal social target market.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Can’t Make It to a Rainmaker Retreat? Then Have One Delivered to You!
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!
Free Webinar Tomorrow on Lead Generation Strategies for Attorneys
Lead generation should be at the top of the “To Do” list for every small law firm owner and solo practitioner. And it is probably one of the most frustrating things for attorneys to undertake in their daily business.
If you have problems finding quality leads and converting your prospects into paying clients, then you’ll benefit from Nolo’s free webinar, "Lead Generation Strategies for Attorneys" taking place tomorrow, Wednesday, March 30 at 11 a.m. PT.
In this fast-paced, one-hour presentation, I will be introducing you to top tactics used by first-rate lawyers across the country who consistently generate more quality leads than their competitors.
Register for "Lead Generation Strategies for Attorneys" and learn how to:
- Attract more qualified prospects immediately.
- Implement cutting edge legal marketing strategies to build your practice.
- Reduce your Cost Per Client Acquisition (CPCA).
- Increase referrals from current and former clients.
In addition, you’ll learn the secrets of Direct Response Marketing and hear about the case study of a small law firm that doubled their leads in 90 days!
This webinar is ideal for:
- Solo practitioners and principal attorneys at small law firms.
- Marketing professionals at small law firms.
Webinar Details
When: Wednesday, March 30, 2011, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time)
Where: Via computer and/or phone
Cost: Free!
There will be a 10-minute question and answer opportunity at the end of the webinar.
Please note that CLE credit is not available for this webinar.
To register, go to www.rainmakerretreat.com/nolo/.
If you have any questions, please call 1-877-NOLO-LAW (665-6529).
Law Firm Marketing: The Tools of Trust-Building
.jpg)
Oh, the irony.
The day after I blogged last week about a real-life example of someone finding an attorney via that lawyer’s blog posts, the ABA puts out a story saying that people don’t really use blogs that much to find attorneys.
According to a recent ABA survey, 46 percent of the folks surveyed say they go to a trusted source like a family member or friend to find an attorney. That certainly comes as news to no one. Referrals continue to play a huge part in new business for attorneys because they are based on trust.
Asking the question, “If you needed a lawyer for a personal legal matter, how likely would you be to use the following resources to find one?”, the survey found that 20 percent were very or somewhat likely to turn to Facebook and 15 percent to blogs. Another 9 percent would look at Twitter.
Frankly, I think the survey methodology made it tough to suss out exactly how people use the Internet to search for attorneys. People were not asked to identify a main source, just how likely they were to use one or more from a whole list of sources. When you just say “blog”, what exactly does that mean? Would I look for a blog about attorneys or by attorneys?
Plus, the survey was conducted only over landline phones.... which might bias it right then and there, since those who still actually have landline phones could be less likely to be tech-savvy when it comes to social media.
I think that section of the survey missed the whole point of what blogging and social media is about, which is reputation and trust building.
Just like building good referral sources, social media and blogs are tools of trust-building that eventually result in bringing in new clients. We see it every day, and in my book, experience trumps conjecture every time.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(9).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!
Internet Marketing for Lawyers: LinkedIn Reaches 100 Million Members
.jpg)
Earlier this week, LinkedIn announced that it has reached the 100 million-member mark, and that it is growing at a rate of one million members a week.
A few stats:
- 44 million U.S. members
- 100% of Fortune 500 companies have executives on LinkedIn
- 17.8 million members in groups
- Fastest growth in Brazil, Mexico, India and France
- Largest membership sector: Professional Services
- Unique monthly visitors: 71.5 million in February, 2011 – up 55% over the same month last year
And earlier this month, LinkedIn introduced LinkedIn Today, a news aggregator that delivers headlines to you based on what your connections and others in your industry are reading and sharing.
For lawyers, it’s hard to beat LinkedIn as a vital social media tool for building referral sources. 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. 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 for yourself and your firm
- Start by connecting 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.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Free Nolo Webinar on Lead Generation Strategies for Attorneys March 30
Do you have problems finding quality leads? Does it seem equally hard to convert your prospects into paid clients? Then you’ll benefit from Nolo’s free webinar, "Lead Generation Strategies for Attorneys" on Wednesday, March 30 at 11 a.m. PT.
In this fast-paced, one-hour presentation, Stephen Fairley will be presenting the top tactics used by first-rate lawyers across the country who consistently generate more quality leads than their competitors.
Register for "Lead Generation Strategies for Attorneys" and learn how to:
- Attract more qualified prospects immediately.
- Implement cutting edge legal marketing strategies to build your practice.
- Reduce your Cost Per Client Acquisition (CPCA).
- Increase referrals from current and former clients.
In addition, you’ll learn the secrets of Direct Response Marketing and hear about the case study of a small law firm that doubled their leads in 90 days!
Webinar Details
When: Wednesday, March 30, 2011, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time)
Where: Via computer and/or phone
Cost: Free!
There will be a 10-minute question and answer opportunity at the end of the webinar.
Please note that CLE credit is not available for this webinar.
To register, click here. If you have any questions, please call 1-877-NOLO-LAW (665-6529).
Law Firm Marketing: San Diego Rainmaker Retreat is April 8-9
.jpg)
April showers bring...Rainmakers!
The April 8-9 Rainmaker Retreat in San Diego will feature rainmaking on the inside and abundant sunshine on the outside, and is a perfect getaway for attorneys with a touch of spring fever and a yearning for ways to create that lifestyle law practice you’ve always wanted.
In addition, those attending the San Diego Rainmaker Retreat will receive 3.5 hours of general MCLE credit. This event is being co-hosted by the San Diego County Bar Association and Consumer Attorneys of San Diego.
Here are some comments from attendees of prior Rainmaker Retreats:
"I was skeptical of the cost vs. value. Once I attended the Rainmaker Retreat, I was amazed at the value! I unreservedly recommend to anyone wanting to grow their practice." - Jim Underhill, Partner, Consumer Law, Greenwood Village, CO
"The program opened my eyes to strategies and concepts that I had never thought of in building my practice. It was a great experience.” - Jack Lavine, Solo, Personal Injury, Phoenix, AZ
"I am extremely thankful I met Stephen Fairley and that I attended his Rainmaker Retreat. I more than doubled my firm's annual revenue in the year since attending the Rainmaker Retreat and implementing Stephen's marketing program. If you are willing to do the work, Stephen definitely has a proven method of driving new business into your firm. I endorse his program, it clearly worked for me." - Gordon R. Levinson, Esq., Levinson Law Group, Carlsbad, CA
"I have over a dozen law firm marketing practices that I intend to implement within the first 90 days... none of which I was doing prior or had even considered." - Wilson Soto, Family/Divorce Law, Yonkers, NY
Here is just a small sample of the actionable methods you will learn at the Rainmaker Retreat:
- Specific strategies highly successful attorneys are using right now on the Internet and with social media to attract hundreds of people to their websites and blogs every month, convert them to paying clients, and keep them coming back and sending a steady stream of referrals!
- Dozens of ways to drastically reduce the cost of your marketing campaigns and still get more clients than you might believe possible.
- How to implement low cost marketing tools and systems that let you control your practice - instead of your practice controlling you!
To register for the San Diego Rainmaker Retreat on April 8-9 at the San Diego County Bar Association, go to www.rainmakerretreat.com or call 888-588-5891.
But hurry, since our Early Bird discount pricing ($200 off!) ends today!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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 one of our one-hour complimentary teleseminars:
Thursday, March 31, 2011
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 4-5pm Eastern
Friday, April 8, 2011
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!
Law Firm Marketing: How to Turn Lead Flow From a Trickle to a Torrent
Is your lead flow system delivering a trickle or a torrent? If your law firm marketing system is working well, it should be producing a large number of lead opportunities for you. And what you do with those opportunities is almost as important as generating them.
You need to have specific strategies for increasing the number of leads and tracking them. Legal marketing can do some of the heavy lifting for you on identifying lead prospects. But going from a possible lead to a genuine lead and prospect requires a well-designed system that includes follow through.
You also need a system for tracking all incoming leads and where the leads are in the sales pipeline. Once a lead comes in, someone has to keep track of the lead status so leads do not fall through the cracks. Lost leads are lost opportunities, and are akin to leaving money on the table. They also hurt your reputation with your referral sources if they supplied the referral and you didn’t follow through.
Here are some questions to ask as you think about your lead system:
- Who sorts the leads to rank them by priority?
- How do we prioritize leads?
- Who is responsible for assigning leads to members of the firm for follow up?
- Who maintains the follow-up system and holds the firm members accountable?
Generating referrals from your legal marketing strategy is the first step in building your business. Converting those leads into clients, and ultimately referral sources, is how you grow your firm into what you envisioned when you began.
Without a good lead flow system, the likelihood of you maximizing the possibilities of your marketing program is slim. To learn more about lead generation strategies for law firms, sign up for the unique opportunity below.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Free Nolo Webinar on Lead Generation Strategies for Attorneys March 30
Do you have problems finding quality leads? Does it seem equally hard to convert your prospects into paid clients? Then you’ll benefit from Nolo’s free webinar, "Lead Generation Strategies for Attorneys" on Wednesday, March 30 at 11 a.m. PT.
In this fast-paced, one-hour presentation, Stephen Fairley will be presenting the top tactics used by first-rate lawyers across the country who consistently generate more quality leads than their competitors.
Register for "Lead Generation Strategies for Attorneys" and learn how to:
- Attract more qualified prospects immediately.
- Implement cutting edge legal marketing strategies to build your practice.
- Reduce your Cost Per Client Acquisition (CPCA).
- Increase referrals from current and former clients.
In addition, you’ll learn the secrets of Direct Response Marketing and hear about the case study of a small law firm that doubled their leads in 90 days!
Webinar Details
- When: Wednesday, March 30, 2011, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time)
- Where: Via computer and/or phone
- Cost: Free!
There will be a 10-minute question and answer opportunity at the end of the webinar.
Please note that CLE credit is not available for this webinar.
To register, click here. If you have any questions, please call 1-877-NOLO-LAW (665-6529).
Internet Marketing for Lawyers: The $2,000 Blog Post
Interesting story just related to me by one of the women who works for The Rainmaker Institute. Her husband runs a factoring business and was having problems finding a debt collection attorney. He had looked on a few legal directories and gotten some names –even chose one with a good rating off Avvo, but that guy didn’t work out.
He really wanted a debt collection attorney who understood the factoring business. So he did a Google search that eventually turned up an attorney in the area who had blogged about how factoring companies can cut down on bad debt by doing a better job of pre-qualifying clients. He found another blog by the same guy on another factoring topic.
He got on the phone, talked with the lawyer, felt like he did indeed really know what he had blogged about, and sent him a $2,000 retainer for the first case.
And that, in a nutshell, is how this blogging thing works for attorneys. True story.
Blogging and engaging in social media helps attorneys establish their authority and also helps establish trust – the trust that leads to paying clients.
Want to get started with social media and blogging, but need some help?
Click here to find out how you can begin to establish a trust-building reputation on the Internet in the next 30 days.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Phoenix Legal Networking Group Networking Event on March 23
For a growing number of attorneys, the Internet -- and specifically Google -- is fast becoming one of their best sources of new clients. Most consumers and business owners are very skeptical of law firms that do not have a website.
However, far too many attorneys have experienced paying a lot of money to a website developer only to get a nice looking website that doesn't generate new leads or is almost impossible to “find” on Google for their key terms.
Come join us for a powerful evening of networking with your local peers as Stephen Fairley presents What Google Loves! How to Give Google What It Really Wants and Reap the Rewards on Wednesday, March 23 at 5:30 p.m. Discover:
- The 2 things that Google LOVES!
- How to “feed” Google what it really wants most
- Two little known SEO strategies that can catapult your website to the front page of Google
The networking event and marketing seminar will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe.
Cost is $30 if you register by today and $35 on the day of the event. This covers drinks, hors d’oeurves, the networking event and the workshop.
To register for our March 23 networking and legal marketing event, co-hosted by FindLaw, Attorney at Law Magazine, Coash & Coash Court Reporting and The Rainmaker Institute, visit www.therainmakerretreat.com/network or call 888-816-8935.
Spring Clean Your Law Firm Marketing Program at a Rainmaker Retreat
Spring is officially here...could your law firm marketing program use a little spring cleaning? Then you should consider attending a Rainmaker Retreat.
Let me tell you why:
I hope you can tell how excited I am about the Rainmaker Retreat, my 2 day marketing boot camp where we take ordinary attorneys and show them how to re-invent their law firms and easily double their sales and profit.
The fact that the Internet has revolutionized the way you can get new clients isn't news, but there is a tested and proven system that will deliver more new clients per month than maybe you got all last year.
I want to share this with you, so that you can develop the law firm of your dreams; one that is professionally satisfying and provides you with an exceptional income so that you can lead a self directed life.
Skeptical? I can't blame you.
These are bold claims to be sure. I invite you to investigate the Rainmaker Retreat website and see what your colleagues - attorneys just like you - are saying about it, and get the details of the locations, dates, and how to reserve your seat.
www.RainmakerRetreat.com
I assure you that you will agree that this was your best business decision you made so far this year.
Spaces fill up quickly, and I intentionally limit the size of the retreat so that everyone gets individual attention in a more intimate setting. You will leave the retreat and see your law firm with new eyes and have a clear vision on how to begin making the practice of your dreams.
Hope to see you there!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Can’t Make It to a Rainmaker Retreat? Then Have One Delivered to You!
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!
NY Times Touts Online Video as Low-Cost Marketing
A feature article earlier this week in the New York Times touted the virtues of online video as a low-cost marketing tool for companies of all sizes. As the Times reported:
Online video is becoming a first stop for many customers. It is akin to what the Web page was a decade ago — something that can give early adopters an edge over competitors. It gives them a channel to talk directly to customers in ways previously accessible only to large companies that could afford TV advertisements.
Online video is a highly underused form of law firm Internet marketing that promises a big return. Whether you place your video on the homepage of your web site, or upload it to YouTube, the benefits are undeniable.
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.
If you are looking for a way to connect with clients and prospects, make online video a part of your law firm Internet marketing strategy.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Want to Learn More Internet Marketing Techniques for Attorneys? Attend 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:
- April 8-9, 2011 – San Diego, CA
- May 13-14, 2011 – Scottsdale, AZ
- July 15-16, 2011 – San Francisco, CA
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 click here to receive a complementary DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2 day law firm marketing boot camp.
Free Law Firm Marketing Webinar: Lead Generation Strategies for Attorneys
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Do you need the luck of the Irish to find quality leads? Does it seem equally hard to convert your prospects into paid clients? Then you’ll benefit from Nolo’s free webinar, "Lead Generation Strategies for Attorneys" on Wednesday, March 30 at 11 a.m. PT.
In this fast-paced, one-hour presentation, I will be introducing audience members to top tactics used by first-rate lawyers across the country who consistently generate more quality leads than their competitors.
Register for "Lead Generation Strategies for Attorneys" and learn how to:
- Attract more qualified prospects immediately.
- Implement cutting edge legal marketing strategies to build your practice.
- Reduce your Cost Per Client Acquisition (CPCA).
- Increase referrals from current and former clients.
In addition, you’ll learn the secrets of Direct Response Marketing and hear about the case study of a small law firm that doubled their leads in 90 days!
This webinar is ideal for:
- Solo practitioners and principal attorneys at small law firms.
- Marketing professionals at small law firms.
Webinar Details
When: Wednesday, March 30, 2011, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time)
Where: Via computer and/or phone
Cost: Free!
There will be a 10-minute question and answer opportunity at the end of the webinar.
Please note that CLE credit is not available for this webinar.
To register, click here. If you have any questions, please call 1-877-NOLO-LAW (665-6529).
Internet Marketing for Lawyers: Social Media & Privacy Expectations
.jpg)
You may have heard that, in connection with the WikiLeaks release of classified government documents, the courts are allowing the government to collect personal account information from Twitter, Facebook and other social media websites.
The courts reason that since social media account holders willingly give up information by posting it online, their posts or tweets are not protected by the First Amendment or privacy rights.
Another reminder that when it comes to social media, one cannot have a realistic expectation of privacy – and, as divorce attorneys have learned, what is posted can be used against you.
In other words, if you have “put it out there” on the Internet, it is out there.... and it’s not private or protected.
Which is exactly why attorneys should be using social media and blogging – to get yourself out there!
Of course, there are rules – ethics rules, for one, and rules to follow when engaging in social media that will enhance your reputation, not detract from it.
A growing number of attorneys are outsourcing their blogging efforts and social media campaigns to organizations like ours (full disclosure: we have a program for attorneys to manage their blog and social media). When you outsource, you can focus on end results, not the process and hopefully you will be working with professionals who do this for a living. It’s not just another item on their to-do list, it is the very service you are paying them to provide for your firm.
When you interview an outsourced legal marketing company, be sure they meet these 5 criteria:
- They can point to other attorneys they work with;
- They have a written blueprint for how they intend to generate leads for your law firm;
- They clearly integrate blogs and social media and see one as an extension of the other;
- They charge a flat fee that’s reasonable based on results;
- They have clearly identified strategies to track and measure actual results from your blog and social media. Having a written guarantee of results is even better.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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: Are You Being Facebooked?
A couple of weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal ran an article about attorneys who “Facebook” jurors. Using their computers or iPads, a growing number of litigators are scouring the Facebook pages of potential jurors to learn more about them in an effort to decide who will – or who won’t – be a good juror for them.
My first thought was, if Facebook is becoming a verb now, it is more ubiquitous than even I may have given it credit for.
My second thought was, how many attorneys realize they are likely being Facebooked by prospective clients?
My guess is, not many.
Last month, Facebook rolled out a big upgrade to their Pages that now allows you to professionalize your Facebook page better than ever before. Besides giving your page a business-like facelift, you can also deliver content from your blogs and your website.
Like LinkedIn, Facebook also provides attorneys with a way to expound on all things legal via Facebook Groups. Start your own, or comment on others to build an authoritative voice on the world’s leading social networking site.
Studies show that engagement, interest and constant connection keep fans coming back on Facebook, which is the fastest way to build your platform (how many people know who you are, who you help and how you are different).
The key to social media is to build your platform and then entice them to visit your blog or website to opt-in to your mailing list using a free special report or free CD or DVD or newsletter.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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!)
- 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.
Law Firm Marketing: Social Media and Blogs Deliver Leads for Less
Internet marketing company HubSpot has just published their 2011 State of Inbound Marketing report based on a January 2011 survey of 644 marketing professionals.
The key finding was that organizations that use inbound marketing (blogs, social media, SEO) experienced a 62 percent lower cost per lead than organizations that relied primarily on outbound marketing (direct mail, telemarketing, trade shows).
Although the legal profession was not singled out, there was a category for Professional Services/Consulting, which showed that the most effective customer acquisition channels for professional services were LinkedIn and blogs:
Other key takeaways from the report:
Spending on inbound marketing continues to rise: In 2009, inbound marketing had a 9% greater shareof the lead generation budget; in 2011 its share was 17% greater.
Blogs and social media are generating bona fide customers: 57% of companies using blogs reported that they have acquired customers from leads generated directly from their blog.
More businesses are blogging: Businesses are now in the minority if they do not blog. From 2009 to 2011, the percentage of businesses with a blog grew from 48% to 65%.
Want to get started with social media and blogging, but need some help?
Click here to find out how you can get a jumpstart on your competition in the next 30 days.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Can’t Make It to a Rainmaker Retreat? Then Have One Delivered to You!
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!
Internet Marketing for Attorneys: Giving Google What It Loves, Part 2 of 2
.png)
Here is the second installment on how link building works and some of the major variables that effect link building strategies, as well as how links directly impact your search engine rankings for specific key terms:
Google can “lose” an inbound link. Not everyone knows that even Google forgets sometimes! Link building experts have found that just because Google “finds” a particular inbound link this month does not guarantee they will “find it” next month. This seems to happen much less frequently if the inbound link comes from a major website, like CNN.com, huffingtonpost.com, a major newspaper in your local area, an educational or governmental website, or one of the top 500 websites on the net, but those links are extremely difficult to obtain and even harder to sustain! With small sites, like a link from a blog by an attorney in Topeka, Kansas or an article you wrote in an article directory like ezinearticles.com, Google may recognize and count the link this month, but seem to “forget” it exists the next month.
“Do Follow” and “No Follow” Links. Webmasters have the ability in their website coding to turn all their outbound web links to either “do follow” or “no follow.” They can also have a combination of both, which is what most websites do. A “no follow” link is embedded in the code and tells Google “do not follow this link,” which has the result of stopping Google’s search engine spider cold in its tracks. Essentially, you are telling Google “I like this website enough to link to it, but not enough to give it some of my good ‘Google juice’.”
A “do follow” link encourages Google to follow and count the inbound link. The average reader cannot tell the difference, but Google sure can! If you click on a “no follow” link you can still go to that website or page it's linking to, but if Google’s search spider comes across a “no follow” link it stops and usually does not count that as an inbound link.
It takes a special tool for SEO experts to identify “no follow” links. So what does this have to do with link building strategies? Because websites can change. Let's say you have spent dedicated time and effort in building inbound links to your website, perhaps even buying a few back links (be careful because most of the time Google considers buying links to be a “black hat” technique that can get you banned) and you confirm all of them are “do follow” links. Yet the very next month the webmaster may easily change all their outbound links to be “no follow” links or they can make all the links on certain pages (like their recommended resources page) to be “no follow” links or any variation thereof. Clearly, the only person who has control over this is the individual webmaster and there is no incentive for them to tell you what they are doing. It's up to you to manually check.
What other websites are linking to. Here's where it starts to get really tricky. For the last few years, Google has been taking a bigger snapshot of the internet so it's no longer just a matter of who you are linking to and who is linking to you, but who is linking to the website who is linking to you. Did you follow that?
For example, let's say website 1 has good Google ranking and they have been linking to your law firm website and Google is rewarding you with higher search results because of this. But this month, website 1 has decided to link to website 2, which for some reason Google does not like. Perhaps website 2 is an MLM company with a bad online reputation, but is offering website 1 a big affiliate commission if any of their products are sold on website 1. When Google finds this out, it can not only hurt the ranking of website 1, because by linking to website 2 they are no longer a ‘pristine’ or reputable website in Google’s eyes. Its credibility has taken a hit simply because of linking to website 2. In turn, this can negatively affect your rankings because your website is now linked to “less than reputable” website 1.
Think about when you are buying a house. It's not just the condition of the house that you are concerned about. It's also who the neighbors are and even the reputation of the surrounding community or even the town. Google analyzes website linking the same way you take all these factors into consideration when purchasing a home—your home (your website), your neighbors (who links to you), the surrounding community (who is linking to the websites who link to you), and the town the house is in (the larger context of connections and linking patterns).
For most attorneys learning the nuances of power link building is not the best use of their time. You need to know the fundamentals so you don’t get taken advantage of, but if you are serious about generating more leads from the Internet then you need to be on the home page of Google for the key terms your prospects search for online.
The best way to do that is by working with a top-notch link-building expert who knows the legal industry and has proven results. Here's the good news, you don’t have to do this alone! If you're tired of seeing your competitors’ websites at the top of every search term and you're ready to hire a top link building expert, call me at 480-659-9700 or send me an email at Stephen@TheRainmakerInstitute.com and I'll be glad to make a couple of recommendations.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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.
Internet Marketing for Attorneys: How to Give Google What It Loves, Part 1 of 2
Google loves inbound links!
An inbound link is where one website links to another website. You see this all the time on news websites where they link to a video, a blog post, a resource, or a story on another website. Google measures and weighs inbound links as a sign of your website's relevance and credibility. In general, the more inbound links your website has, and the better they are, the more your website will rank above your competitors.
Today and tomorrow, I'm going to explain how link building works and some of the major variables that affect link building strategies and how links directly impact your search engine rankings for specific key terms.
Major adjustments in Google’s algorithm. Several times each year Google comes out with major updates to it's algorithm that can significantly change your ranking for better or worse. If you read a few of the SEO experts they will blog about this each time, but behind the scenes they are often scrambling to figure out precisely how Google changed their algorithm and how they can “rig the system” in their client’s favor. This is an ongoing game of cat and mouse best left to the professionals.
Minor tweaks in Google’s search engine. In addition to the major changes that SEO experts track, Google makes dozens of little tweaks each month. For example, they just made a modification that Matt Cutts, one of Google’s major SEO engineers, recently talked about on his blog that affects less than 2% of websites out there (www.mattcutts.com/blog).
How long it takes for Google to actually find an inbound link. Believe it or not, it is accepted knowledge in the SEO community that Google regularly “lies” to us about the actual number of inbound links it has found to your website. If you go to Google and search for <link:yourwebsite.com> (without the <>, for example <link:therainmakerblog.com>) you will see how many inbound links Google officially tells you it has found for your website. However, they will not tell you the true number. You will never know exactly how many inbound links they have really found because if they told you and your competitors the exact number, it would simply become a ‘race to the top’ to artificially inflate the number, which Google doesn't want.
When you get an inbound link from a smaller website like your law school buddy who runs a solo practice in Boise, Idaho, Google sometimes takes weeks or even months to officially recognize that inbound link even exists. A little over five months ago, five of my clients and I started working with a top-notch link building expert. The practice areas represented in the group are bankruptcy, family law, criminal defense, personal injury and DUI—all of which are highly competitive. Because we selected the right professional (he's also an attorney) who only uses acceptable practices, we are all experiencing some massive positive results! All of our websites are now on the first page of Google for between 3 and 12 of our most coveted key terms!
One of my clients just decided to add his other website which focuses on immigration law because as he told me, “Stephen, I've been paying several hundred dollars per month for over 3 years to a supposed SEO expert who was supposed to be getting my immigration website to the top of Google. In five months this guy has achieved more results faster in a more competitive practice area than my SEO guy has in the last 3 years!” It's not cheap, but well worth it if you want to generate more leads from the Internet.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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:
Thursday, March 17, 2011
12-1pm Pacific | 1-2pm Mountain | 2-3pm Central | 3-4pm Eastern
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
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!
Law Firm Marketing: Get These 6 Social Media Tips from a Smart Lawyer
.jpg)
A good post appears today on the American Express Open Forum site profiling LexBlog founder Kevin O’Keefe, who was a practicing trial lawyer in Wisconsin before he caught the Internet bug with his first start-up, Prairielaw.com.
Kevin founded LexBlog in 2003, and it is now the world’s largest blog network for lawyers and all things law – like this blog.
Quoting from the post, here are Kevin’s six tips for social media success:
1. Chiefs over Indians. O’Keefe advised companies to avoid assigning junior people to be the company online voice. “The top management needs to be involved. How else do you build relationships? How else do you demonstrate thought leadership?” he asks.
2. Blog strategically. Don’t just shovel up content. Provide information and ideas that will engage clients and prospects. Respond or anticipate to their questions or concerns. Also pay close attention to influencers, top clients, media and, top bloggers. Find ways to engage them with your social media activity.
3. Be yourself. O’Keefe warns lawyers, “ don’t hide behind your law firm brand.” People are looking for authenticity. “You'll shine like a star when people see you acting like an everyday person.”
4. Listen first. O’Keefe—as do most experts—see far greater power in listening to relevant voices on social media than broadcasting messages. “You wouldn't shout out content through a bullhorn at a cocktail event. Don't do it online, either.”
5. Be curious. Lawyers are trained not to ask questions in court that they don’t know the answers to. This doesn’t work online where it is smartest to ask questions and enjoy a forgiving environment for making a few mistakes now and then.
6. Ask for the work. Lawyers online sometimes seem shy when asking people for the business they hope to get. O’Keefe advises professionals to “ask for the type of work they want to do from the type of clients they want to work with.”
Good stuff from a very smart lawyer.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Becoming a Rainmaker: Business Building Strategies for Lawyers
Based on Stephen’s highly successful seminar series by the same name, this 3-audio CD program covers dozens of practical recommendations and step-by-step sales and marketing techniques for solo practitioners and small law firms.
More than 7,000 attorneys from law firms all over the country have experienced powerful results from attending the Becoming A Rainmaker seminar. It has been sponsored by more than 22 of the largest state and local bar associations.
In this information-packed audio program, you will discover:
- How to generate more leads by using education-based marketing
- The relationship between credibility, visibility, tangibility, and consistency
- How to position your small firm as an industry leader
- The importance of being perceived as a specialist
- Why most advertising is a waste of your money
- What to expect from a Yellow Pages ad
- The 3 marketing strategies that will produce 80% of your results
- How to influence the Know, Like and Trust factors
- Common marketing mistakes lawyers make and how to avoid them
- How to answer the question, "Why should I buy from you?"
- Specific ways you can set yourself apart from low-cost lawyers
- What to do with the 15% of the population that always buys on price
- Ways to attract your Ideal Target Market
- The 6 stage sales process you must follow for maximum success
To order yours now, click here.
Law Firm Marketing: How to Attract Organic Search Traffic
.jpg)
Ranking high in organic search – where someone types in a search term or phrase and your site pops up on the first page – is the holy grail of search engine marketing. So how do you attract organic search traffic?
A study by Internet marketing company Hubspot last year showed that businesses with an active blog on their site draw almost seven times more organic search traffic than those that don’t have a blog.
The survey of almost 2,200 Hubspot customers showed the businesses that posted at least five blogs per week drew 6.9 times more organic search traffic and 1.12 times more referral traffic than companies that didn’t blog at all.
Hubspot also announced in its State of Inbound Marketing report yesterday that business blogging is growing. From 2009 to 2011, the percentage of respondents with a company blog grew from 48% to 65%. So, if you have a business (and if you’re practicing law, you have a business) and you are not blogging, you are now in the minority.
Want to get started started blogging, but need some help?
Click here to find out how you can get a jumpstart on your competition in the next 30 days.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Phoenix Legal Networking Group Networking Event on March 23
For a growing number of attorneys, the Internet -- and specifically Google -- is fast becoming one of their best sources of new clients. Most consumers and business owners are very skeptical of law firms that do not have a website.
However, far too many attorneys have experienced paying a lot of money to a website developer only to get a nice looking website that doesn't generate new leads or is almost impossible to “find” on Google for their key terms.
Come join us for a powerful evening of networking with your local peers as Stephen Fairley presents What Google Loves! How to Give Google What It Really Wants and Reap the Rewards on Wednesday, March 23 at 5:30 p.m. Discover:
- The 2 things that Google LOVES!
- How to “feed” Google what it really wants most
- Two little known SEO strategies that can catapult your website to the front page of Google
The networking event and marketing seminar will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe.
Cost is $20 per person if you register by March 21, $30 if you register by March 22 and $35 on the day of the event. This covers drinks, hors d’oeurves, the networking event and the workshop.
To register for our March 23 networking and legal marketing event, co-hosted by FindLaw, Attorney at Law Magazine, Coash & Coash Court Reporting and The Rainmaker Institute, visit www.therainmakerretreat.com/network or call 888-816-8935.
Internet Marketing for Law Firms: Are You Tracking the Competition?
.jpg)
If you have a lot of competitors who are SEO savvy or see the value in hiring an SEO expert, they may be working just as hard as you are to increase their rankings -- and only 10 of you can be on Google’s first page!
Savvy SEO people are constantly analyzing their competitors to find out what they are doing and what can be done to “beat” them in the rankings, especially for highly competitive practice areas in major metro areas like Phoenix.
SEO, like most marketing strategies, is always a function of time or money. To win at SEO, you must invest in one or the other. Either you need to learn how to do SEO for yourself (invest a lot of your time) or hire someone to do it for you (invest your money).
If you chose to do it yourself, be prepared for a steep learning curve. I have personally invested tens of thousands of dollars hiring top SEO experts and going to industry conferences to learn what I know, but it is still a never ending struggle to stay with the pack, much less ahead of the curve! When you are looking to hire a link building expert, be sure they know the legal industry. It’s entirely different building links for a law firm versus a retail store or a hardware store or even an information product company selling books online.
Remember: you get what you pay for. Be very wary of anything that sounds too good to be true. Just today I came across a link building company that was offering 13,000 inbound links for $150 and they would do it all in 7 days! Two words: run away!
In SEO, you should always be skeptical if the price is too low. Top people who get results can and do charge a premium for their specialized skills, just like a top flight litigation attorney would command a fee near the top of the market. What's the worst that could happen? It is very likely that a company charging such low prices are using several techniques Google considers to be “black hat” (or illegal) and in all likelihood your website will be blacklisted by Google and perhaps even banned from the search engine!
Google has teams of PhD experts who look for unnatural linking patterns, like when a website suddenly gets thousands of inbound links over a brief period of time. Link building is best done slowly over time from a wide variety of websites.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Get Rainmaking Marketing Strategies for Solos and Small Law Firms
Order the Rainmaker in a Box 5-DVD set and you will learn:
The 5 Immutable Secrets to Building a 7 Figure Law Practice:
How to create an automated marketing system to transform your law firm from a practice into a business. Stephen has studied best practices in law firm marketing and shares with you the 5 unchanging secrets they use to build a multi-million dollar law firm.
Secrets of Building a Referral-based Law Practice for Busy Practitioners:
Every lawyer wants more referrals, yet for many the steps to get there remain an elusive secret. Listen in and watch as Stephen lays out his 8 step proven system to triple your referral sources in 90 days or less!
The Top 6 Most Powerful Online Marketing Strategies for Attorneys:
Internet marketing is one of today's fastest growing and most powerful marketing tools for lawyers. Yet much of how to generate more business and attract more clients online is still a mystery. Watch as Stephen pulls back the veil and walks you through the core concepts and key principles every attorney must understand in order to dominate their competition online and build a powerful Internet presence on a shoe string budget.
Action, Accountability and Next Steps:
Knowledge is power. The most difficult part for most attorneys is putting that knowledge into action. In this DVD you will discover an 8 step system for creating your law firm marketing plan and how to take action immediately.
This program includes a data DVD which includes the PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations.
To order this information-packed set click here.
Internet Marketing for Attorneys: Keep Your Content Off the Farm
Last week Google announced a major change to its search engine algorithm to punish websites known as “content farms” -- a common term for sites that have a lot of low quality or copied content in an attempt to attract search engines.
Google said that about 12 percent of its queries would be impacted, and a lot of site rankings will be affected as Google seeks to reduce the rankings for low quality sites.
Conversely, Google’s changes will elevate the page rank of sites with high quality content – research, reports, analysis, etc. PageRank (PR) is Google’s ranking system that indicates how authoritative and credible your website is.
Named after Google co-founder Larry Page, here’s how Google explains PageRank:
When Google was founded, one key innovation was PageRank, a technology that determined the “importance” of a webpage by looking at what other pages link to it, as well as other data. Today we use more than 200 signals, including PageRank, to order websites, and we update these algorithms on a weekly basis.
Every single website is ranked on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. You can check your website’s PR at www.prchecker.info.
However, it's important to note PR is like the Richter scale. Each step up is a multiple of 10. So a PR of 4 is 10 times more powerful in Google’s eyes than a PR of 3. Very few websites in the legal industry ever rise above a 3 or 4.
At The Rainmaker Institute our primary website (www.TheRainmakerInstitute.com) is a PR of 4. Our blog (www.TheRainmakerBlog.com), because we update more frequently, is a PR of 5! There's only a handful of legally related websites in the U.S. that have a PR of 7 or more (Nolo and FindLaw are two of them).
The bottom line is, if you reward your site visitors with fresh, credible and relevant content, then Google will reward you with a higher search engine ranking.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(8).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. Click here to download free, and start using these proven strategies today!
SEO Strategies for Attorneys: The Importance of Inbound Links
Ever wonder why your competitor’s website consistently ranks on the front page of Google for specific searches and yours does not? Are you frustrated that you can't seem to find your website online unless you either (1) type the domain name directly into Google, or (2) search for your personal name, or (3) search for your law firm’s name (and even then your competition often shows up)?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art and science of artificially boosting your website or blog to the organic results (versus paid advertising) for specific search terms. Google considers over 60 different variables when determining who gets on the first page. One of the most important ones is the number and quality of inbound links your website has. As many of you have personally experienced, when it comes to SEO, it doesn't get any more competitive than the legal industry! When you search for a major key term like “Phoenix bankruptcy lawyer” or “Phoenix divorce attorney” I can guarantee you the people you see in the first 10 results did not get there by accident! They have worked hard at it and most likely they have hired some high-powered SEO experts to help them.
One of the reasons why blogging has become so popular in the legal industry is because of how powerful it is in Google’s eyes. One of the ways that Google determines if your website is an authority is by how often you post new, relevant, unique content on your blog. For example, Joseph McDaniel is a Phoenix bankruptcy attorney who blogs multiple times every day at www.ArizonaBankruptcyBlog.info. As he puts more and more content on his blog, Google rewards him by improving his rankings. We will discuss specifics about blogging in future posts, but there's another strategy that most attorneys overlook when it comes to improving their rankings and that’s building inbound links.
Google loves inbound links!
An inbound link is where one website links to another website. You see this all the time on news websites where they link to a video, a blog post, a resource, or a story on another website. Google measures and weighs inbound links as a sign of your website’s relevance and credibility. In general, the more inbound links your website has -- and the better they are -- the more your website will rank above your competitors.
Good ways to harvest inbound links for your website include social media, writing and posting articles online, sending out press releases online, hiring a professional link building service and joining and participating on online legal directories like HG.org.
Founded in 1995, HG.org was one of the very first online law sites, and developed the first self-listing directories for attorneys and law firms. Today, search engine results show the HG Law Firm Directory at the top for most states or countries when someone is searching for a law firm. HG.org is one of the most trafficked legal sites, with more than 850,000 unique visitors coming to its sites – HG.org sites and HGExperts.com -- each month.
For most attorneys, learning the nuances of power link building is not the best use of their time. You need to know the fundamentals so you don’t get taken advantage of, but if you are serious about generating more leads from the Internet, then you need to be on the home page of Google for the key terms your prospects search for online. The best way to do that is by working with a top-notch link building expert who knows the legal industry and has proven results.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Becoming a Rainmaker Seminar in New Jersey on March 9
The Rainmaker Institute in coordination with the New Jersey State Bar Association and the Hunterdon County Bar Association present Becoming a Rainmaker: Practice Development Strategies for Small and Solo Law Firms on Wednesday, March 9 from 4-6 p.m. at the Historic Court House in Flemington, NJ.
More than 7,000 attorneys from law firms all over the country have experienced powerful results from attending the Becoming A Rainmaker seminar, which has been sponsored by more than 24 of the largest state and local bar associations.
The Becoming a Rainmaker seminar teaches simple techniques attorneys can take back to their offices and implement immediately. Some of the tools and techniques that I will cover during this highly informative two-hour session include:
- The 7 Ways to Find More Clients and How to Pick the Best Ones for Your Firm
- How to Build a Network of over 30 new Referral Sources in the next 6 months
- Change Your Website from just an Online Brochure to a Money-making Machine
- Passive Versus Active Marketing and why you need both
- Creating Client-generating Surveys: When to Use them and How to Leverage them
- Automating Your Marketing System
- How to Ethically Position Yourself as a Specialist in Your Area
- How to Promote Your Firm to 150,000 people for $140
- Avoid the Most Deadly Marketing Mistakes Attorneys make
- Why Advertising Doesn't Work and what to do instead
- Where to Find and How to Create Positive Media Coverage for your firm and your clients
- The #1 Reason why Attorneys Don’t Receive More Referrals and how to overcome it
- Using Visibility Events to Attract Highly Qualified Prospects to Your Firm
The cost for the two-hour Becoming a Rainmaker law firm marketing seminar is minimal: $77 for NJSBA or HCBA members and $97 for non-members.
Please call 888-816-8935 or click here for registration information.
Law Firm Marketing: What Associates REALLY Didn't Learn In Law School
Earlier this week, I ran across an article at Law.com entitled, Everything Associates Didn’t Learn in Law School.
Written by a partner in a big D.C. law firm, it was a partner’s words of wisdom to upcoming associates on how to make partner – dress well, socialize, know your current events, make your work flawless – all the stuff that makes partners in big law firms happy with associates.
I have my own list for associates who may some day wish to open their own firms and manage their own destinies. I call it,
What Associates REALLY Didn’t Learn In Law School:
It's all about marketing stupid.
- I wish it was as easy as ‘be a good attorney and the clients will flock to you’ -- but it's not. We can all point to terrible, unethical attorneys who are making a ton of money. We also all know highly intelligent, exceptional attorneys who are broke!
- It's the attorneys who get that it's the marketing that matters most when it comes to building a financially successful law firm.
The statistics are against you.
- There are 1.2 million attorneys in the U.S. today.
- Over 43,600 new law school graduates every year.
- Competition is fierce.
- Before the recession, the average attorney made about $85,000 per year. Since the recession that figure has fallen to the low $60s!
If you don’t know how to build relationships, you will always be at the mercy of someone else who can.
- Relationships with clients.
- Relationships with referral sources.
- Relationships with other non-competing attorneys.
Either learn how to find new clients or someone else will.
Rankings don’t matter.
- Clients could care less about where you went to law school! The only person who cares is the person footing the tuition—which is usually you!
- The old joke: what do the call the guy who graduated last in law school? A lawyer!
You can't discharge school loans in bankruptcy.
Highly successful lawyers understand they are running a business, not practicing law.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A Risk-Free Way to Preview the Rainmaker Retreat 2-Day Law Firm Marketing Boot Camp
There are thousands of law firm marketing programs, plans, seminars, workshops and other activities out there clamoring for your time, your attention, and your money. We know that, which is why we offer you a free preview of our Rainmaker Retreat for those who are unsure about committing their time and money to our 2-day legal marketing boot camp.
During the one-hour teleseminar, you will learn:
- 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
Attorneys who attend our teleseminars quickly learn that the information presented at the Rainmaker Retreat is something that they have not been taught in law school, and can change their lives.
I encourage you to take an hour out of your life and attend our complimentary teleseminars that are scheduled for the following dates and times:
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 4-5pm Eastern
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 4-5pm Eastern
Just click here to register for this complimentary teleseminar. You'll be glad you did.
Law Firm Marketing: Top 10 Social Media Trends for 2011, Part 2 of 2
A senior analyst with the digital intelligence firm eMarketer gave a presentation recently on the Top 10 Trends in Social Media for 2011. Here are the second five:
Trend #6: Consumer Usage of Social Media Still Rising
More people than ever across all generations are using social networks, and usage frequency is on the rise as well. 85% of U.S. Internet users ages 45-54 are engaged in social media; 79% of the 55+ group use social media.
Trend #7: The “Like” Button Only Starts the Conversation
“Liking” something is easy and popular – currently, Facebook serves over two billion “like” buttons every day and over two million websites have incorporated the “like” button into their sites. But firms need to have strategies for taking consumers from “like” to love.
Trend #8: ROI Measurements Will Get More Targeted
Traditional metrics like website traffic, fans and leads are still the most common things to measure; however, 47% of marketers still do no measuring at all. However you choose to measure social media, it is imperative that you have a success metric in mind before you begin. Without some sort of benchmark, determining your ROI is impossible.
Trend #9: Growth of Mobile Social Network Usage
Mobile social network usage will more than double by 2015, and marketer spending around location and local search is starting to ramp up.
Trend #10: U.S. Social Network Ad Spending Expected to Rise 55% in 2011
Social network ad spending is expected to be up 55% in 2011, and will total 11% of total U.S. online spending. Facebook alone will control 68% of worldwide social network ad spending in 2011.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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.
