The Rainmaker Blog : Law Firm Marketing and Business Development : The Rainmaker Institute : Stephen Fairley : Professional Legal Marketing

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!

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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.
 

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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

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Are you looking for specific marketing strategies you can use in your law firm?

Then order the Rainmaker in a Box 5-DVD set!

Some of the information and strategies you will learn include:

• 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.

 

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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.

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More Rainmaker Retreat Dates

If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then come to one of our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:

• July 30-31, 2010        Los Angeles, CA
• August 6-7, 2010       Las Vegas, NV
• October 8-9, 2010     New Brunswick, NJ

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!

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I was recently coaching a law firm partner at a small east coast law firm who was lamenting how slow new business has become in the past few months. As we talked, I asked him, “What have you done in the past 3 months to build relationships with potential referral partners?”

He mentioned going to lunch a few times and speaking with a couple of people over the phone when they made a referral to him. I asked him to open up his Outlook contact database; there were more than 200 non-client contacts in it including: accountants, financial planners, angel investors, business brokers, and private investment bankers.

Here's the 3 steps I shared with him to develop the relationships in his “golden Rolodex.”

Step 1: Take an Active, not Passive, Role

There is an old saying “A man who has friends must show himself to be friendly.”

Don’t wait for someone to take the initiative and contact you— be the first to reach out. In the last few years we have coached & trained more than 7,000 attorneys and found the top Rainmakers are the lawyers who make at least 3-4 contacts with potential referral sources every week.

Action Step: Take 2 minutes and scan your contact database. Select 12-15 names of potential or current referral sources and send them an email or better yet, pick up the phone and call them with an invitation for lunch or coffee. Set up 3 face-to-face meetings per week for the next month.

Here's a sample script: “It’s been a while since we’ve connected. I was wondering what your schedule looks like for the next week or so. I'd like to get together with you for lunch or coffee, just to catch up—my treat. Let me know what dates would work best for you.”

Step 2: Increase Frequency of Contact

Try as we might, it’s difficult with our hectic schedules to meet with every potential referral source on a regular basis. Here's one strategy I teach my coaching clients: Set up a Google Alert for a specific phrase that would be of interest to your referral sources.

Collect articles and websites that might be of interest to your referral sources. Keep them in a separate folder (Referral Articles). Once a month pull one out and forward it with a brief note (“I thought you might enjoy this article.”). Email a copy of the article to all of your referral sources.

One of my clients built his network of strategic referral sources from less than 5 to more than 300 in 2 years using just this simple technique to stay in front of his referral sources on a frequent basis. He now has a multi-million dollar practice.

Step 3: Focus on Serving Not Selling

When you meet with potential referral sources, don’t make the mistake of dominating the conversation. You are there to listen and learn about them, not hear yourself talk! Any attempt to “sell” them on your services will be a complete waste.

Look for ways you can serve them and their clients by connecting them with other resources or pointing them in the right direction regarding a legal issue. Ask a lot of questions about their business. For example:

• How did you first get started in your line of work?
• What are some of the major trends in your industry?
• What kinds of challenges do you face?
• What do you like best/worst about your job?
• And here's the most important question: How will I know if I'm talking to someone who's a good referral for you?

Educate them about your Ideal Target Market and how you can benefit their clients only after you have carefully listened to them.

Rainmakers don’t wait for the door to knock or the phone to ring or the referral to come in. They take the initiative, stay in touch, and focus on serving their referral sources, not selling them a service.

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More Rainmaker Retreat Dates

If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then come to one of our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:

July 30-31, 2010        Los Angeles, CA

August 6-7, 2010       Las Vegas, NV

October 8-9, 2010     New Brunswick, NJ

We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat.

Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.

 

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MARKETING MISTAKE 3:
USING PASSIVE MARKETING VERSUS ACTIVE MARKETING

One of the mistakes I talk about in my book, Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers, is using passive versus active marketing strategies in Law Firm Marketing.

Passive marketing is when you wait for your prospective clients to come to you—like placing an advertisement in the newspaper or waiting for a referral to walk in the door.

Active marketing is when you go out and find those prospective clients—like giving a presentation or formal networking.

PASSIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES may include: Sending out direct mail letters, postcards, or flyers announcing my company, new services, or law firm websites.  Researching area associations I can speak to.  Refining my Unique Competitive Advantage. (UCA).  Waiting for referrals to come in.  Writing or reworking the firm’s brochure.

ACTIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES may include: Making a follow-up call to everyone I sent the direct mail pieces to until I reach them and ask them to attend or sign up.   Calling a list of ten organizations a month and inquiring about speaking opportunities. Sharing my UCA with potential referral sources in a 1-1, face-to-face setting.   Conducting a phone survey of leading experts in my target markets industry and interviewing them on a specific topic. Handing the brochure out to hot prospects I meet at a networking event and following up with them via phone & email within 24 hours.

What's wrong with using Passive Marketing Strategies in your law firm marketing plan?

There is nothing wrong with using Passive Marketing Strategies. Passive Strategies are not necessarily better than Active Strategies; however, as a law firm marketing consultant here are two common problems I frequently encounter with the attorneys I coach and offer legal marketing services to:

1.  First, attorneys have a much greater tendency to use passive rather than active strategies. As I said, one is not better than the other. The key to success is using a powerful combination of both.

Take a look at your 12-month law firm marketing plans and ask yourself, does it contain a balance between the passive and active strategies or am I favoring one or the other?

2. Passive strategies tend to take a lot longer to produce results—which is fine if you have lots of time to make money and generate revenues, but if you're hurting for cash flow right now or want to quickly ramp up your revenues, you really need to use Active Marketing Strategies more frequently.

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Why every single law firm should have a blog...   Spend 60 minutes with us on August 5^th and learn how blogging will really make a difference in your practice.  Click here to learn How to attend this Session and Receive Your Digital Audio Clip...

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