Law Firm Marketing Playbook: Take Time Out to Reassess and Recommit
I love the Super Bowl. Not just for the game, but for the commercials. The marketer in me is always anxious to see what kind of talent the big advertisers and their agency teams will put on the field during the biggest showcase in advertising.
I loved Chrysler’s Imported From Detroit spot last year and they followed it up with a doozy this year, Halftime in America:
Here are the words that resonate when it comes to law firm marketing:
We find a way through tough times, and if we can't find a way, then we'll make one. All that matters now is what's ahead.
So what is ahead for your law practice in 2012? Will you still be reeling from the punches that this economy has delivered over the past few years? Or will you take the time to reassess your legal marketing game plan and make the necessary adjustments to win?
One secret of highly successful attorneys is that they make time to plan for the future. We recommend meeting at least once per quarter with your senior partners (even if you are the entire partnership) to evaluate achievements, set new goals and work on your law firm marketing plan.
Here are some of the areas for you to think about:
Financial goals for your business --Don’t just focus on the money; focus on how you will get there. If your average client spends $5,000 with you, how many new clients do you need to break $500,000 this year? (Answer: 100). That works out to about 2 new clients per week. Unless you want a high volume law practice, you will need to develop a way to up-sell new clients into higher-end services.
Practice Area Specific Goals -- How many new estate plans do you want to do in the next 6 months? How many new trials are you willing to take on this year?
Marketing Goals --All the top law firms in the country recognize the importance of marketing and business development. You need to set measurable marketing goals. “I will meet with 4 new referral sources every month.” How are you going to meet them? Who is going to set those meetings up? Who will do the follow up?
Strategic Business Goals-- This is where you start to think big about your practice. Challenge yourself; how can you come up with another $100,000 this year? How can you go from your current 5 referral sources to 30 in the next 6 months?
Personal Goals --Perhaps you need to schedule a vacation for yourself every quarter. Maybe you have an idea for a new business venture. What place does your family, friends and significant other hold in your life?
Above all, make sure your goals are S.M.A.R.T. -- Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-oriented, and Timed. A good goal needs to incorporate all of these criteria.
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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book
In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.
Get your complimentary copy online here.
Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.
We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.
Law Firm Marketing: If You Simplify, Your Clients Will Multiply
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I blogged here and here a couple of months ago about strategies attorneys can use to build a better law firm. Here are a few more:
Speed to Market Wins Almost Every Time. Is it more important to have a solid strategy or to execute an imperfect plan? My response may surprise you. Attorneys are notorious for over-planning everything. This becomes a fatal mistake when it comes to marketing. Your marketing plan should only be focused on what actions you are going to take in the next 90 days. You should be able to easily write it down on one page. Keep it simple and focus on consistently taking action!
Be a Contrarian. Many of our best Rainmaker marketing strategies are based on contrarian thinking. I often tell my clients to look at what their competitors are doing and do the opposite! Not because their competitors are dumb or intentionally doing it "wrong," but because following the herd is the single most common action taken by attorneys in their marketing, especially on the internet. Don't follow the crowd with your marketing; instead, do the opposite.
Eliminate Every Obstacle to Marketing Your Law Firm. What is blocking you from achieving the financial success you deserve? A bad partnership? A partner or associate or key team member who is distracted and depressed? No passion for your clientele? Lack of automated systems to run your marketing? No system for following up with leads and prospects?
Now is the time to get rid of the dead weight! It's easy to overlook faults when times are good, but they can kill you when times are tough. When you identify a weak link, remove it!
While you're at it, make every attorney and staff member commit to returning every single phone call and email within 24 hours. I'm convinced benign neglect of prospects, clients and referral sources is a major reason why many attorneys are struggling in their business.
Keep Your Team Lean and Mean. I was recently speaking with a bankruptcy attorney in the New York area. His business is about the same as last year, but he isn't willing to do any marketing right now. Why? Because he just fired an associate who wasn't performing well and he doesn't want to take on any more work because he's not sure he can handle it alone.
Even when I pointed out, rather obviously, there are a lot of out of work attorneys right now who would love the chance to work and even more people who would entertain an Of Counsel relationship or work part-time, he wasn't interested. Seriously?
Now is not the time to add several new and costly staff hoping for massive success. Now is the time to keep your team "lean and mean" while putting everything you can into effective marketing!
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Free Report: 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys From Building A Referral-Based Practice
Referrals are the lifeblood of many law practices, and building a good referral program takes a proven process. Stephen Fairly unveils the 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys from Building a Referral-Based Practice in his new free report. Read and discover:
- How to determine the best source for your referrals
- How to explain your ideal target market to a referral source
- How to get referrals from other attorneys
- Whether online directories are a good referral source
- How to network effectively
- And much, much more!
Click here to get your free report today.
How to Boost Your Law Firm Marketing SEO With Twitter
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Social media is increasingly being integrated into search engine results, and even though Google and Twitter are not playing nice right now, user preference will eventually win out and Twitter should be back in the Google game before long.
That said, tweets are included in the first page of Bing and other search engine results, and need to be part of your law firm marketing SEO strategy. Here are some tips on how to boost your law firm marketing SEO with Twitter:
Select SEO-friendly names. When you set up your Twitter account, you choose two names – a real name, which is yours or the name of your firm, plus your user name. Think of what your prospects would use to search for you, and use the most relevant term(s).
Keep it professional. When you’re using any social network to further your business goals, be sure you keep it professional and relevant. Tweet about things that are top-of-mind to your prospects, using relevant keywords and #hashtags.
Link. Put links to your websites and blogs in your Twitter profile. Include links to topical blog posts and promote on Twitter – even though Twitter adds a “nofollow” attribute to links in tweets (which basically tells a search engine to ignore it), if you drive more traffic to your website and/or blog, that will help your SEO.
Promote. Add the Twitter button to your websites and blogs and ask people to follow you. Be sure to link your Twitter account from all your other social network profiles.
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FREE REPORT: 8 Reasons Small Firms & Solos Should Publish an E-newsletter + 3 Steps to Get Started
In less than a few hours a month, you can produce an effective electronic newsletter, also known as an “E-newsletter.”
An E-newsletter is a customized electronic newsletter that is commonly used in business, but rarely in the field of law. If you are truly interested in the long-term success and sustainability of your practice, you need to learn how to leverage technology and the Internet to build it.
Here’s what you’ll discover when you read this report:
- The cost benefits of an e-newsletter
- How to incorporate your e-newsletter with your social networking
- How an e-newsletter supports your marketing efforts
- How to get started right away with your e-newsletter
- And much, much more!
To get your free report now, click here.
Law Firm Marketing: Follow These Steps to Turn Prospects into Clients
Successful law firm marketing includes not only determining which people and businesses are truly interested in your services, but those that are not. Wasting time chasing bad prospects is a business-killer, one you can ill afford in these recessionary times.
These 5 simple steps will help you turn more prospects into clients. Incorporate these into your law firm marketing strategy and watch your conversion rate grow:
1. Identify those with genuine interest. This requires some work on your part, to separate the real prospects from those who are merely responding to you out of politeness or shopping around. To make the separation, create a list of qualifying questions to determine those who need, want and can afford your services. If they meet those three criteria, they are good prospects for converting into paying clients.
2. Interview good prospects in person. Be sure you are speaking to the real decision-maker, who can pull the trigger and hire you, not just a gatekeeper.
3. Make your best case. Are you a persuasive presenter? If not, take a presentation skills seminar. Focus on benefits and results, not services and features. Identify your prospect’s problems and let them know how you can help. Develop good listening habits, and become more fluent in speaking your prospect’s language.
4. Ask for the sale. A common mistake too many attorneys make is not asking for the sale. Make sure to ask your prospect for their business, and ask in a way that makes it clear to them you want it.
5. Follow up. You should be following up with prospects within 24 hours of an interview, thanking them for their time and reiterating your interest in their business.
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Free Report: 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys From Building A Referral-Based Practice
Referrals are the lifeblood of many law practices, and building a good referral program takes a proven process. Stephen Fairly unveils the 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys from Building a Referral-Based Practice in his new free report. Read and discover:
- How to determine the best source for your referrals
- How to explain your ideal target market to a referral source
- How to get referrals from other attorneys
- Whether online directories are a good referral source
- How to network effectively
- And much, much more!
Click here to get your free report today.
Jan. 18 Webinar: Create & Implement Your 90-Day Law Firm Marketing Game Plan
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Every good legal case outcome began with solid strategy and a plan – so why would you leave the future of your firm to happenstance?
The truth is that growing your firm and profitability does not just happen, it comes as the result of a solid plan. No matter how big you dream or how much effort you put into your practice, you will constantly lose your way on the path to success unless you create and follow a well-defined plan.
On Wednesday, Jan. 18, I will lead you through the 5 critical steps of developing a 90-day game plan for marketing your law firm and give you viable options to help you implement your plan.
The webinar begins at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT and goes for one hour.
You will learn:
- The 5 critical components of a Marketing Action Plan (MAP)
- How to select the right marketing tools that will work for your practice and personality
- View examples of Marketing Action Plans for various practice areas
- How to create a roadmap to make 2012 your Best Year Ever!
All attendees will also receive a FREE 40 page marketing plan workbook at the end of the webinar.
If you would like to view this webinar at your convenience, then go ahead and register to receive a recording of this impactful one-hour session that will help you plan your work, and then work your plan!
Make Content Marketing a Key Legal Marketing Tactic in 2012
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If there’s one area where attorneys can excel, it’s creating content. Your knowledge and experience are useful not only in the court room, but can also be turned into a highly successful legal marketing tactic that can reap big rewards in terms of new client prospects.
So how do you do content marketing right? Here are some tips:
1. Plan ahead. Brainstorm a list of topics that would appeal to your target audience. Review your website analytics to see what pages of your site are getting the most visits, which can help stimulate ideas. Dig up speeches and presentations you’ve made over the last few years and repurpose those for articles, press releases and blog posts. Subscribe to blogs and news feeds that cover your practice area for ideas.
2. Make it interesting. Nielsen research shows that most people spend about a minute on any given web page, so strive to make your content easily digestible in that timeframe. Use short paragraphs and subheads to keep readers’ attention. Punch it up with references to current events or pop culture to make your content timely. Include client success stories (not using real names, of course).
3. Optimize your content. Be sure to optimize your content for search by including your keywords and keyword phrases in your title, subheads and image file names.
4. Create backlinks. Sprinkle your content with links back to your website, blog, social media profiles or previous posts to create backlinks, which help boost your search engine ranking. Comment on other articles, blogs or forums with links back to a relevant post you’ve written, but be sure your comment adds value or it may be viewed as spam.
5. Go social. Promote your videos, posts, articles, press releases and other content on all your social network channels – not only on your own Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter page, but also through submissions to the discussion pages of groups you’ve joined.
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FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal
One of the secret tools of Internet marketing for attorneys is the power of having a targeted blog. In a new report on the influence of blogs, eMarketer.com found that in 2010, 51% of Internet users in the U.S. (that’s over 91 million people) read blogs, and they project that usage will go to 60% (150 million) in the next four years!
Still think blogs are a fad?
Here’s what you’ll discover when you read this report:
- Why you must have a blog in order to stay relevant
- 3 keys to successful blogging
- 7 Guidelines for achieving ROI
- Your 3 choices for managing your blog and social media efforts
- And much more!
Click here to order your free report now!
Your 2012 Law Firm Marketing Plan: Creating Your Unique Competitive Advantage
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A Unique Competitive Advantage (UCA) answers the question, “Why should I hire you?” With so many competitors and choices today, your law firm marketing strategy must clearly set you and your law firm apart from the competition.
How should you position yourself and your services? Answer these questions to get a good start on developing your UCA:
- In light of what I know about my competitors and my target market(s), what are the top five to ten reasons why someone should buy from me versus any other company?
- How can I take advantage of my competitor’s weaknesses?
- Why am I the best attorney for this person/company?
- What skills, abilities, and experiences do I offer clients that they can't receive elsewhere?
- How can I emphasize the value I bring to the table?
- What are my competitors known for?
- How can I find, retain, and motivate the best people possible that can help me succeed?
There are many ways to create a Unique Competitive Advantage for your law firm marketing plan; here are 10 of them:
Focus on the Benefits: What are the benefits of working with this firm as compared to others? What do you do that other firms refuse to do to better serve your clients?
Focus on Value: Compare your costs versus how much money you save clients. How have you helped other clients take better advantage of opportunities or avoid liability?
Focus on Results: What are some specific results you have obtained for clients in the past? What is your win/loss record? What do you do to achieve better results than your competitors?
Focus on Solutions: Give an example of a creative solution you found to a client’s problem. How did you come up with it? What happened because of your creative solution?
Focus on the Individual Partners: Remember, people don’t buy legal services from law firms; they buy legal services from attorneys. People don’t say, “Go talk to my law firm,” they say, “Go talk to my attorney.” What is different about your partners than in other firms?
Focus on Service: (not the list of services your firm provides, but how you serve your clients). How do your clients describe the way you treat them?
Focus on a Niche: Position your partners as leading experts in a specific industry, not as generalists. To be a generalist for most attorneys is the “kiss of death.” Go deeper, not broader.
Focus on Client’s Feedback: What do your best clients say about you? What would they tell someone else about your services and how it has helped them? Do your clients refer other clients to you on a regular basis?
Focus on Credibility: What is your firm known for in the industry? Talk about how your partners are profiled in the media or are industry experts. What are 3 reasons why your prospects should perceive you as a credible expert?
Focus on Visibility: How visible are your partners within an industry? Do they regularly speak at top industry events? Are they a nationally recognized expert? A published author? What happens when prospects type their name into Google?
By developing a strong UCA, your legal marketing plan will be well ahead of your peers and it will give you the tools you need to implement a strong law firm marketing strategy that tells a prospect why they should hire you.
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Jan. 18 Webinar: Developing Your Law Firm Marketing Roadmap
There’s no better way to start 2012 off right than to create a Marketing Action Plan (MAP).
On Wednesday, Jan. 18, Stephen Fairley will lead you through the 5 critical steps of developing a 90-day game plan for marketing your law firm and give you viable options to help you implement the MAP.
The webinar begins at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT and goes for one hour.
You will learn:
- The 5 critical components of a Marketing Action Plan (MAP)
- How to select the right marketing tools that will work for your practice and personality
- View examples of Marketing Action Plans for various practice areas
- How to create a roadmap to make 2012 your Best Year Ever!
All attendees will also receive a FREE 40 page marketing plan workbook at the end of the webinar.
If you would like to view this webinar at your convenience, then go ahead and register to receive a recording of this impactful one-hour session that will help you plan your work, and then work your plan!
Law Firm Marketing: Make Getting More Referrals Your New Year's Resolution
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When it comes to the different kind of leads that attorneys can generate for new business, referrals are the gold standard. They come to you pre-qualified and ready to “buy” from a source they trust – and with a trust transference to you that is built-in.
If you do nothing else with your law firm marketing this year, make a resolution to cultivate more referrals. Cultivating referrals is low-cost and high-reward, and should be at the top of your list when it comes to new business development for your law firm.
Consider the following as you build your base of referrals this year:
Categorize – there are two categories of referrals for attorneys: current clients and strategic partners. Comb through your client list and identify those clients who already refer, those most likely to refer (happy with your services) and those that will need some special attention to become a good referral source. To develop a list of potential strategic partners, examine that client list again and see if you can find some commonality among other professional service providers that your clients also utilize – other attorneys, accountants, CPAs, business coaches, etc.
Educate – your referral sources will likely need to be educated about the kind of referrals you are seeking. Teach them about who your ideal client is so they won’t waste their time and yours referring potential clients that are not a good fit for you.
Motivate – look for ways to incentivize and reward your referral sources for sending you potential clients. Maybe it’s a free consultation or a gift card to a favored store. Be creative about it.
Follow Through – one of the worst things you can do is not follow through with potential clients who are referred to you. This will dry up your referral pipeline faster than anything. Let your referral sources know how you plan to follow up with the people they are referring, then do it. Keep your sources up to date periodically on the new relationship and be sure to thank them again.
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Free Report: 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys From Building A Referral-Based Practice
Referrals are the lifeblood of many law practices, and building a good referral program takes a proven process. Stephen Fairly unveils the 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys from Building a Referral-Based Practice in his new free report. Read and discover:
How to determine the best source for your referrals
How to explain your ideal target market to a referral source
How to get referrals from other attorneys
Whether online directories are a good referral source
How to network effectively
And much, much more!
Click here to get your free report today.
Insight on Building a Multi-Million Dollar Law Practice From One Who Did It
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Mark Herrman, who is VP and Chief Counsel-Litigation at Aon and writes the Inside Straight blog at AbovetheLaw.com, wrote a tremendously insightful post yesterday about building a law practice from scratch.
I recommend you read the entire piece here.
Herrman’s post resonates as a candid glimpse into the reality of what it takes to build a solid, profitable practice – namely, lots of hard work and plenty of persistence! For Herrman, who built an eight-figure pharmaceutical product liability practice from nothing at his former law firm, there are no magic bullets for picking off the big clients he was finally able to attract...just years of nose-to-the-grindstone effort in marketing and business development.
Herrman boils success down to two actions: get famous and make contacts. Getting famous means establishing your authority in a niche practice area, so you can carve out a true competitive advantage and really focus.
Hermann “got famous” by authoring articles, co-authoring books, giving talks, meeting people in his field of practice and blogging. One great piece of advice for article marketing: “Don’t do it alone. Contact in-house lawyers, and explain that you’d like to co-author articles with them. That gives you a chance to impress an in-house person with the quality of your mind and written work, and it lets the two of you work together. That’s a good way to convince a potential client that you’re competent.”
In fact, the client that launched Herrman’s pharmaceutical product liability practice came as a direct result of his business development efforts – his firm was invited to participate in an RFP from someone he had co-authored articles with and spoken with on panels.
But that first client came only after seven years of work by Herrman to “get famous and make contacts”! My takeaway from Herrman’s career case study:
- Marketing and business development are hard work, not magic.
- Persistence pays off.
- It’s the niches that lead to riches – go deep, not broad.
- Article marketing works (this free report gives more details on how to do it).
- Blogging works, but is a long-term investment (Herrman started in 2006), not a get-rich-quick scheme! You must do it consistently. If you’re not ready to do that, then give us a call, because we can help.
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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!)
- 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: The Rise of Inbound Marketing
Those of us immersed daily in the world of law firm marketing sometimes tend to forget that attorneys speak a language all their own...the language of law, not marketing.
There are times when I am making a presentation at a Rainmaker Retreat or Bar Association meeting that I see confusion creep across the faces of the lawyers in attendance when I sprinkle that presentation liberally with law firm marketing terminology.
The Internet was the catalyst for the rise of inbound marketing via social media, blogging, search engine optimization, online video, etc. The Internet has also led to the ongoing demise of traditional outbound marketing techniques – TV ads, telemarketing, snail direct mail, and so on – which are intrusive forms of marketing we no longer tolerate.
Here is a succinct visualization of Inbound Marketing by upstate New York web marketing firm Volinsky Consulting:
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FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal
One of the secret tools of Internet marketing for attorneys is the power of having a targeted blog. In a new report on the influence of blogs, eMarketer.com found that in 2010, 51% of Internet users in the U.S. (that’s over 91 million people) read blogs, and they project that usage will go to 60% (150 million) in the next four years!
Still think blogs are a fad?
Here’s what you’ll discover when you read this report:
- Why you must have a blog in order to stay relevant
- 3 keys to successful blogging
- 7 Guidelines for achieving ROI
- Your 3 choices for managing your blog and social media efforts
- And much more!
Click here to order your free report now!
Law Firm Marketing: The Top 10 B2B Content Marketing Tactics
We all know that “cash is king” when it comes to successfully managing your own business, but when it comes to B2B marketing, content is king.
A new study by MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute, which surveyed almost 1,100 B2B marketers in August 2011, has found that 90 percent of B2B marketers use content marketing to grow their businesses – and 80 percent of those use at least eight content marketing tactics to achieve their marketing goals.
The top 10 B2B content marketing tactics include:
The study found that the three content marketing tactics that have grown the most since last year are blogs (65% in 2011 vs. 51% in 2010), videos (52% in 2011 vs. 41% in 2010) and white papers (51% in 2011 vs. 43% in 2010).
Social media networks grew substantially over the past year as vehicles for distributing content:
The biggest challenge facing B2B content marketers today is, not surprisingly, producing the kind of content that engages prospective customers. To produce this content, more marketers are turning to outsourcing – 62% of those surveyed said they use a combination of in-house and outsourced content, up from 55% one year ago.
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Looking for more proven tactics from The Rainmaker Institute?
Then subscribe to our FREE monthly e-newsletter. One click of your mouse will take you to our site where you can see the current issue and subscribe to our complimentary monthly e-newsletter that will be delivered to your inbox.
Each issue is chock-full of legal marketing information you can put to use right away. I think you will find the information in every newsletter something you will want to share with your staff to maximize the effectiveness of your legal marketing plan.
Law Firm Marketing: Knowing the Numbers That Run Your Practice
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the numbers that make your law firm run. Here are some common numbers you should know:
How much money do you need each and every month to make payroll and keep your doors open?
How many new clients do you need to bring in every month to break even?
What is your average profit margin per client?
Which types of cases produce the highest profit margin?
What percentage of people who visit your website end up calling your office?
What percentage of prospects that call your office come in for a free consultation?
What percentage of prospects that come in for a free consultation become clients?
What is your average new client worth?
If you don’t know these and other important numbers, how on-target are the decisions you are making about marketing and running your law firm on a daily basis likely to be?
Learn all about it by joining me next Thursday, Dec. 15 for a one-hour webinar on Key Performance Indicators: Knowing The Numbers That Run Your Law Firm at 3 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT.
In this fast paced webinar, sponsored by the Legal Marketing Association, I will give you the specifics that will allow you to view KPIs from the Partner’s perspective, how to determine which analytics you need to measure, and how to communicate the relevant data to Partners so you are viewed as a valued member of the decision-making leadership team.
Discounts are available for LMA members. For more information and to register online, click here.
Law Firm Marketing: Blogs Growing in Influence With Consumers
Distrust of traditional media sources is growing, and so is the influence of blogs on consumers’ purchase decisions, according to the 2011 State of the Blogosphere Report recently released by blog directory website Technorati.
The report shows that more than one-third of the consumers surveyed believe they will be getting their news and entertainment from blogs rather than traditional media over the next five years, and more than half said they trust traditional media less than they did five years ago:
More than half also said they visit blogs to get news or information:
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And almost one-third said that a blog is likely to influence a purchase decision:
There is no denying the value of blogging when it comes to law firm marketing.
When used properly, it becomes a clear, consistent voice for your practice. It entices prospects, referral sources, colleagues, clients and thought leaders to engage you in dialogue.
It keeps you top of mind. It builds visibility among your target clients. Ultimately, it earns you more of the kind of client you most desire.
Blogging is your forum to connect with the community at large and to make it clear that you are an expert in your field. But to make it the highly effective medium you need it to be, your law firm marketing and promotion strategy should include:
- A topic list designed to engage your target audience;
- A list of social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) to promote it;
- A list and schedule for article marketing services to add visibility and to feed it to reporters and thought leaders;
- An up-to-date blog that you write articles for at least 2 to 4 times per week;
- A search engine optimization formula to increase your page rank.
When you have all these things in place, you will be well on your way to creating a blog that will enhance your overall law firm marketing efforts.
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Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD Set
The Practice Made Perfect CD set and manual applies Stephen Fairley’s unique High Impact Marketing System to the practice-building challenges faced by solo practitioners and partners at small law firms.
It includes dozens of specific marketing and sales recommendations that can be easily and quickly applied to your firm, including:
- The only 7 sure-fire ways to get clients in your door NOW
- Why advertising doesn’t work for most small law firms
- The 7 reasons why people don’t buy from you
- How to market and sell with USP’s (Unique Selling Proposition)
- Using audio logos to attract immediate attention for your business
- Using low-cost, high impact marketing strategies
- Strategies for achieving maximum results from all of your marketing efforts
- How to discover your Ideal Target Market
- 3 critical factors to remember when looking for new clients
- The NEW sales cycle for professional services
- How to retain your best clients
Click here to order your Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD set and manual now.
Law Firm Marketing Insights From Larry Bodine & Stephen Fairley
My good friend Larry Bodine, Editor-in-Chief of Lawyers.com, and I got together recently to interview each other about law firm marketing. Here’s a short video from that conversation:
If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then register now for the last Rainmaker Retreat of this year:
December 2-3, 2011 – Los Angeles, CA
If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 8,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then register now for one of our one-hour complimentary teleseminars:
Wednesday, November 30
11am PT | 12pm MT | 1pm CT | 2pm ET
Thursday, December 8
12pm PT | 1pm MT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET
Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
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FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal
One of the secret tools of Internet marketing for attorneys is the power of having a targeted blog. In a new report on the influence of blogs, eMarketer.com found that in 2010, 51% of Internet users in the U.S. (that’s over 91 million people) read blogs, and they project that usage will go to 60% (150 million) in the next four years!
Still think blogs are a fad?
Here’s what you’ll discover when you read this report:
- Why you must have a blog in order to stay relevant
- 3 keys to successful blogging
- 7 Guidelines for achieving ROI
- Your 3 choices for managing your blog and social media efforts
- And much more!
Click here to order your free report now!
Law Firm Marketing: More Attorneys Choosing Entrepreneurship
A New York Times article last week noted a growing trend among attorneys in their mid-20s to early 40s: opening up their own shops in lieu of pursuing the partner track in larger law firms.
According to the article, a growing number of young attorneys want more control over their time and many are choosing to go it alone or with a like-minded colleague rather than be at the mercy of large law firm layoffs or what has become a slower slog to partnership.
The article profiled five new law firm start-ups and revealed some of the lessons learned from hanging out one’s own shingle:
- To reach profitability more quickly, run a lean operation
- Network at every possible opportunity
- The best clients are the people you would want to socialize with, not just anyone who walks through the door
- Challenge the status quo when it comes to billing practices – one firm charges a flat rate and bills upfront for third party services
- Create a realistic budget
- Effective time management is critical
- Learn to handle uncertainty – your monthly income is likely to be cyclical until you are well established
Want to learn more about building a successful law practice? See our free CD offer below.
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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!)
- 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 Strategies for This Never-Ending Recession
Listening to NPR the other day, I heard a report about how economic experts think that 2012 will be much the same as 2011 – very little if any growth, and no movement on the unemployment numbers.
Ugh.
If you are like many attorneys I know, this economy has really taken a toll on you. I’m not going to tell you to put on rose-colored glasses and pretend things are suddenly all better, but the reality is that we all have businesses to run and “waiting things out” is simply not an option.
What I am suggesting is that you turn this recession on its head and into an opportunity to grow by doing what may seem counter intuitive. For example:
Don’t cut back on your level of customer service—increase it. Think of this as your unique competitive advantage.
Continue to invest in marketing. Done properly, marketing is not an expense; it’s an investment. And since your competitors are holding back, then this is the perfect time to continue your marketing to help you pull past those competitors.
Call all your best clients every month. Check in with them to see how things are going and how you can help. They’ll appreciate being able to talk business owner to business owner.
Don’t make major decisions based upon your emotion. During this stressful time, it’s easy to do so. Therefore, talk to a trusted adviser or mentor and ask for their advice before you make that final decision on major issues.
Take care of yourself. Last, but not least, make sure you’re taking care of yourself—get plenty of rest and balanced nutrition and take time out just for yourself, to recharge your own batteries. Start tomorrow by enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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Get All the Law Firm Marketing Strategies You Need to Create A 7-figure Law Practice with Rainmaker In A Box: Volumes 1 and 2!
Want to discover Proven Marketing Strategies that Top Law Firms are using right now to generate more leads and referrals and convert them into paying clients?
Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 1 and Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2 contains highly valuable legal marketing information you absolutely need to know!
Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 1 includes:
- The 5 Immutable Secrets to Building a 7 Figure Law Practice
- Secrets of Building a Referral-based Law Practice for Busy Practitioners:
- The Top 6 Most Powerful Online Marketing Strategies for Attorneys:
- Action, Accountability and Next Steps
- Data DVD: Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you watch the 4 intense DVDs.
Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 2 includes:
- 8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals
- 7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm
- 6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media
- 5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs
- Data DVD: Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you experience these information-packed DVDs!
Purchase both sets on our website and get 25% OFF!
Click herenow to order!
Law Firm Marketing: Doing More With Less & Achieving Success
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Everyone is cash-conscious these days. If you’re like most attorneys in small and solo law firms, you’re working harder than ever before just to get the same amount of business. Here are some specific strategies to help you bootstrap your way to marketing success:
Done is Better Than Perfect. When it comes to marketing your law firm, almost is almost always good enough! Get your website or blog to the point where it’s good enough and then launch it! You can always tinker with the photos at a later time.
I have encountered far too many attorneys who micromanage the marketing process to the point where nothing is done. Which means, of course, nothing is accomplished.
Niche Your Practice to Get on the Fast Path to Riches . I know you have heard me say this before, and I know you continue to resist it. However, the more you can target a specific niche, the easier you can dominate your target and the faster you can gain recognition as an expert.
Here's an example of a poorly defined niche: small business owners in Phoenix who need an estate plan. Here’s how to locate a better target: physicians in Phoenix who own a medical practice, gross at least $500,000 annually, and need asset protection strategies to grow and preserve their wealth.
Including highly specific categories in your niche will keep you on track, plus it’s easier to identify who these people or businesses are, so be sure you specify a profession or industry, geographical location, annual revenues, and core challenges.
Look at What the Crowd is Doing and Do the Opposite . Many of my best marketing strategies are based on contrarian thinking. I often tell my clients to look at what their competitors are doing and do the opposite.
Right now, I have heard some attorneys say they are doubling their advertising spend, believing that since they can negotiate a good deal they should buy more of it. That’s good news for you. Not only is advertising generally ineffective in growing a law firm, but they are wasting their precious cash flow while you are investing it wisely on strategies that actually work.
Emphasize Price at Your Own Peril. This is not the time to reduce your rates just to pull a few more clients in the door. It’s often the price shoppers who are the most demanding, take up more of your time, complain more frequently, and are slow payers.
By emphasizing your price and targeting the lower end of the marketplace, you kill your profit margins and destroy your chances at long-term wealth. Emphasize price at your own peril.
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. Click here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!
Law Firm Marketing: 7 Ways to Find Referrals Through Formal Networking
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One law firm marketing tactic that consistently helps most law firms get new clients is referrals. There are several different ways to get those referrals: initiating a strategic referral development program, informal networking and formal networking.
“Formal networking” involves attending an organized group event such as industry trade shows, bar meetings, rotary clubs, special interest groups, political groups, etc.
Here are 7 ways to find new clients through formal networking:
Join the right groups: Not legal groups or groups where a lot of attorneys gather (unless you get a lot of your business from other attorneys). You need to go where the decision makers meet, not the gatekeepers.
Join elite groups: Groups that cost several hundred dollars a year are better than cheap groups; groups that require a member to sponsor you are even better.
Use an “audio logo”: An audio logo is an idea or statement that clearly and succinctly tells who your intended audience is and what you can do for them.
Most people want to talk about what interests them. They don’t want to talk to someone who’s only interested in how to get their business. So you can use an audio logo to attract attention. Be prepared to give case examples of how you have helped others.
Here is an example of an audio logo: “I help (who your clients are) to (what your solution is or how you solve their problems.)”
Remember your primary purpose: Remember your primary purpose in going to networking events is NOT to get new clients. Your primary purpose is to BUILD A RELATIONSHIP with potential referral sources and to offer yourself as a referral source to them. If you’re going to networking events to get new clients you are not only wasting your time, but you are also coming across as either pushy or desperate to the people you’re meeting.
When you understand the real reason for going to networking events, it takes all the pressure to perform off and keeps you focused on a more productive purpose—building relationships with people you could help and who may also be of help to you.
Ask open-ended questions: Use the 80/20 Rainmaker Rule when you meet them. Ask open ended questions like:
- What do you like best about the work you do?
- What are the biggest challenges your industry/company/profession is facing?
- Where do you find most of your clients?
- Who is your target market?
- If one of your prospects asks what makes you different from your competitors, what do you say?
- How would I know if the person I’m talking to would be a good referral for you?
Be intentional in your follow-up: It does absolutely no good to go to a bunch of networking events, talk to people, collect business cards, and not follow-up. You must have a plan and reasons for following up with people you meet. Your primary reason is to learn more about their business and see if you would be a good referral source for them.
Track your efforts:
- Contact’s name and full information.
- Follow-up method used—phone, email letter.
- Date of 1st follow-up.
- Dates of each additional follow-up.
- Date of first face-to-face meeting.
- Follow-up efforts.
- Results of efforts.
- Notes.
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Network With The Rainmaker Institute Tonight!
The Rainmaker Institute is co-sponsoring the Building Your Connections 2011 event tonight – Thursday, Nov. 3 -- beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Tempe Center for the Arts in Tempe, Arizona. Join members of the Arizona Society of CPAs, the State Bar of Arizona and The Risk Management Association for this great networking opportunity.
Be sure to stop by our exhibit booth and pick our brain with your burning law firm marketing questions – plus, pick up a complimentary copy of our CD packed full of successful law firm marketing strategies!
For more information, click here.
Top Strategies to Build a Better Law Firm: Follow Up or Fail
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Everyone who has ever attended a Rainmaker Retreat knows this is one of my mantras, but it bears repeating:
"The Fortune is in The Follow-up!"
I was speaking with an estate planning attorney who mentioned he’d recently had a fantastic meeting with an interested, and very wealthy individual. The attorney made a proposal to the prospect for a comprehensive estate plan and quoted him a fee around $5,000. He was confident in his belief that the prospect would sign up.
However, after thinking about it for a few days, the prospect declined, citing the attorney's high fee as the reason. Now, this potential client's estate is worth well north of a million dollars. His parents are multi-millionaires, so it's not a matter of not being able to afford it.
When I inquired as to what my client was doing to follow up and re-sell the prospect, my client stated nothing because his partner told him, "We don't chase clients."
Now, I am all for attracting clients and not being perceived as an "ambulance chaser." However, I rather pointedly stated I thought his partner was dead wrong! Now is the time to increase your follow-up, not eliminate it.
I coached him to immediately call and email the prospect and ask for a meeting with him and his parents and in this meeting to emphasize the value of having a comprehensive, bullet proof estate plan versus one cranked out by a trust mill or a generic online form.
In the law firms who have hired The Rainmaker Institute to consult with them on improving their conversion rates, we have found if they fix their follow-up they will fix their cash flow! If you are struggling with negative cash flow you need to immediately look to your system of follow-up or the lack thereof.
Every lead, every prospect, every referral source and every client needs to have a follow-up in a timely and consistent fashion. Since you have a very limited amount of time to do so, you must learn how to automate the follow-up process. We recently helped one of our clients set up an autoresponder series to do just this.
An autoresponder is an automated process that sends out a pre-written series of emails to a qualified list to encourage them to take a desired course of action.
For example, if you meet with a prospective client who does not make a decision to retain you immediately, you can set them up (with their full permission of course) to receive information from your law firm via email.
This may consist of a series of five to ten emails that is sent every three to five days. The first email may consist of a simple "Thank you for coming in to see us. Here's a link to our website for more information." The second email may be "There are 10 questions you must ask any attorney before you hire them to take your case. Here's the first two questions..."
On average, people require at least seven to ten meaningful touches to move from being interested in you to being ready to buy from you. Most attorneys stop after two or three touches because they falsely believe they are "bothering" or "chasing" the person.
As long as you are professional and courteous in your email communications, most people perceive your persistence as caring about them and wanting their business, not bothersome.
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Want to Learn More 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:
- November 11-12, 2011 – Chicago, IL ***4.25 General MCLE credits***
- December 2-3, 2011 – Los Angeles, CA
- February 10-11, 2012 – Orlando, FL
If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 8,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then register now for one of our one-hour complimentary teleseminars:
Wednesday, November 2
1pm PT | 2pm MT | 3pm CT | 4pm ET
Thursday, November 10
12pm PT | 1pm MT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET
Wednesday, November 16
10am PT | 11am MT | 12pm CT | 1pm ET
Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
Law Firm Marketing: On Successfully Chasing Prospects Instead of Ambulances
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The new John Grisham novel The Litigators is out and the reviews are good. The author is turning up on all the morning talk shows to promote his new tome, which is about a small law firm of...well, there’s really no other way to say it...ambulance chasers.
CNN interviewed Grisham, who said the spark for his new book was “what seems to be a deluge of lawyers advertising on television. The airwaves are just flooded these days with what I find to be unseemly appeals for cases...I’ve been intrigued with that aspect of the practice of law and advertising in general, and one thing led to another.”
Most people find the kind of attorney advertising Grisham talks about to be distasteful, and are distrustful of lawyers who sell legal services in this fashion. Which is why we have always been an advocate of education-based marketing rather than mass media advertising.
Education-based marketing is one of the most powerful tools at the disposal of lawyers. There is a great amount of basic information you know that prospects want. And there are a number of tools available for you to disseminate this information to them, including:
Blogs – Blogs are a great, inexpensive way to disseminate your knowledge quickly – plus, search engines love blogs because they provide fresh content and are usually very search engine friendly.
Online Article Marketing -- Did you know there are hundreds of websites that will publish your articles for free? All you have to do is submit them and within a matter of weeks you will begin to see your online presence grow. These short, education-based articles are written specifically for your niche. If you can write 500 words on a topic, you can use this simple strategy.
Free Reports -- Think about some of the questions your clients have and put together a short report (three to six pages long), a PowerPoint presentation, or even an audio CD, and offer a free copy to website visitors who give you their contact information. (Remember, if you cannot get visitors to call you directly, the second-best alternative is to persuade them to give you their contact information with permission to contact them.)
This kind of free educational information is a great tool you can use to start building relationships with many people who need your help but aren’t ready to walk in your door. It is not enough simply to offer people a free consultation. Almost every lawyer does that. Take it one step further and give them some great information that will help them think through the issues and challenges they are facing.
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Get All the Law Firm Marketing Strategies You Need to Create A 7-figure Law Practice with Rainmaker In A Box: Volumes 1 and 2!
Want to discover Proven Marketing Strategies that Top Law Firms are using right now to generate more leads and referrals and convert them into paying clients?
Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 1 and Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2 contains highly valuable legal marketing information you absolutely need to know!
Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 1 includes:
- The 5 Immutable Secrets to Building a 7 Figure Law Practice
- Secrets of Building a Referral-based Law Practice for Busy Practitioners:
- The Top 6 Most Powerful Online Marketing Strategies for Attorneys:
- Action, Accountability and Next Steps
- Data DVD: Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you watch the 4 intense DVDs.
Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 2 includes:
- 8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals
- 7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm
- 6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media
- 5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs
- Data DVD: Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you experience these information-packed DVDs!
Purchase both sets on our website and get 25% OFF!
Click here now to order!
Law Firm Marketing Strategies: Speak the Right Language to Successfully Market Your Services
If your law firm is not growing (or worse yet, shrinking) and your revenue stream is down to a trickle, it's time to start being proactive with your marketing.
One of the most important aspects of successful law firm marketing is the ability to clearly define and demonstrate the services that you offer.
After years of helping more than 7,000 attorneys implement effective law firm marketing strategies, I have seen a common problem. Many attorneys communicate with prospective clients in a way clients do not understand.
One of the biggest mistakes a lawyer can make is to use "legal jargon" when speaking with prospects. No one wants to feel stupid and would rather save face than risk embarrassment by asking you to define what you believe is a "common legal term".
Effective marketing for attorneys rests on your ability to be understood; without a clear understanding of what you can do for them, most clients will head for the nearest exit.
As a lawyer, you must uncover the words and phrases your clients use to describe their goals, challenges and problems. You must cross their "language barrier" before you can begin to entice them to learn more about how you can help them.
For example, unless they have experienced it, most people don't know the difference between Chapter 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcies. Nor do they know the difference between a will, a living will, and an estate plan.
Here is a simple exercise that will help you accurately demonstrate your product and services:
1. Write down the terms and language you use to describe what you do to another professional in your field.
2. Now, write down the key words and phrases your clients use to describe your services to you. (If you can't complete this step, start asking your clients and listen to them as they describe their problems.) Your ability to succeed in law firm Marketing will rely, in part, on your willingness to write down the key words and phrases your clients are using and committing them to memory.
These two lists should be very different. If they overlap by 50% or more, you are probably not listening closely enough to prospects and clients. It is recommended that you go back to square one and ask more questions, listening more intently, if you expect your legal marketing efforts to be effective.
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Free Report: 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys From Building A Referral-Based Practice
Referrals are the lifeblood of many law practices, and building a good referral program takes a proven process. Stephen Fairly unveils the 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys from Building a Referral-Based Practice in his new free report. Read and discover:
- How to determine the best source for your referrals
- How to explain your ideal target market to a referral source
- How to get referrals from other attorneys
- Whether online directories are a good referral source
- How to network effectively
- And much, much more!
Click here to get your free report today.
Law Firm Marketing: Differentiation is the Key to Getting Hired
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Nobody wants to hire a lawyer, but there are certain events that cause consumers and business owners to seek out a lawyer:
- Purchasing real estate
- Getting a divorce
- Starting a company
- Creating a estate plan
The struggle comes when consumers are faced with an overwhelming number of choices. Regardless of practice area, most consumers and business owners do not know how to distinguish a great lawyer from a mediocre one.
With over a million attorneys in the nation, there are thousands of lawyers in every major city who provide the exact same services. Unless attorneys seriously reconsider how they differentiate themselves from other law firms they will continue to flounder.
In Practice Made Perfect, our business development CD set for attorneys, we cover 10 specific ways to differentiate your services. Here are just 3 of them:
1. Create a micro niche. If you develop a tumor on your brain you would go to neurologist, not a general practitioner. It's the same way with law firm marketing. You must position yourself as a specialist, not a generalist. One way to do this is by focusing on a very defined niche. For example, "I concentrate on helping inventors and owners of small software development companies in Los Angeles with less than $1 million in revenues protect their intellectual property and develop creative ways to generate multiple revenue streams from their invention."
2. Focus on the benefits, value and results. Too many attorneys try to sell their legal services. People never buy legal services. They buy solutions to their problems. When meeting with a prospective client emphasize the benefits you offer to clients and the value you bring through your specific experience with their kind of legal problem. Discuss the results you have achieved for other clients, but be careful not to overstep the ethical boundaries or promise results based on someone else's case.
3. Build an online presence. The Internet has changed everything when it comes to law firm marketing and how consumers select law firms. Today, most people will check attorneys out online before they ever hire them. Having a robust presence on leading social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube), an interesting blog and a website that reinforces why you are different is key.
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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:
November 11-12, 2011: Chicago, IL
December 2-3, 2011: Los Angeles, 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 register now for one of our one-hour complimentary teleseminars:
Thursday, October 27
1pm PT | 2pm MT | 3pm CT | 4pm ET
Wednesday, November 2
1pm PT | 2pm MT | 3pm CT | 4pm ET
Thursday, November 10
12pm PT | 1pm MT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET
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 Build a Referral System That Delivers Results
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While you may get an occasional referral from a former client or someone you know, if you want to take your legal marketing to the next level, you need a referral system. How do you build a referral system that will bring you the results you need?
You start by developing relationships with potential referral sources and generate consistent referrals from them. These sources may include accountants, investment advisors, business leaders, or anyone who has influence with your target market. Depending on your practice area, your referral sources will vary.
Developing a relationship is a two-way process. It can’t just be you asking them for referrals when you see them. It requires regular contact and you showing as much concern for their business as you are asking them to show for your practice. Ask them how you can assist them in achieving their goals.
Another key component of your law firm referral development plan is to create a system for connecting with prospects, clients and referral sources on a regular, consistent basis. This should include:
Monthly newsletters – keep them apprised of what your firm is doing, new employees, and content that is beneficial to them.
Annual Client Satisfaction Survey – find out what your clients think about the service they have received from your firm.
Keep In Touch letters – on a regular basis, every 2-3 months, send a letter to referrals, prospects and clients just to touch base. This top of mind awareness is crucial for generating referrals.
Referral Education System – your referral sources need to know what kind of prospects you are looking for. It does no good for them to refer prospects to you who are not looking for what your firm offers.
Keep your referral sources updated on your practice areas and any changes in your firm if you want to receive high-quality referrals.
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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.
Phoenix Legal Networking Group November 2: Creating a Unique Competitive Advantage
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One of the toughest questions attorneys get from a potential client is, “Why should I hire you?” The rest of that question is implied: “Why should I hire you versus any of your competitors?”
Even though most prospects never ask it out loud, every single one of them is silently asking it to themselves.
When faced with this question, most attorneys fall back on talking about the quality of their services, their experience and the size of their law firm. Prepare to have your eyes opened to the truth:
- The #1 reason why prospects “shop you on price”
- How most attorneys completely miss the point when talking about their experience
- The 4 biggest reasons to emphasize when talking with prospects
- Overcoming common objections attorneys encounter
The networking event and marketing seminar will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at Target Market Media Publications (Attorney at Law Magazines), 4647 N. 32nd St., Suite B-280 in Phoenix.
Cost is $20 if you register by Oct. 31, $30 if you register by Nov. 1 and $35 on the day of the event. This covers drinks, hors d’oeurves, the networking event and the workshop.
To register for our Nov. 2 networking and legal marketing event, co-hosted by Attorney at Law Magazine, Coash & Coash Court Reporting and The Rainmaker Institute, visit www.therainmakerretreat.com/network or call 888-816-8935.
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Can’t Make Our Nov. 2 Phoenix Legal Networking Group Meeting? You Can Still Get the Answers to “Why Should I Hire You?”
If you can’t make it to the November 2 meeting of the Phoenix Legal Networking Group but still want access to the information being given at the workshop, then get our one-hour How to Answer the Question, “Why Should I Hire You?”: Creating a Unique Competitive Advantage webinar online to watch at your convenience. Learn:
- Why quality does NOT matter! (Yes, you read that correctly, quality does not matter when it comes to closing a prospect)
- The #1 reason why prospects “shop you on price”
- How most attorneys completely miss the point when talking about their experience
- The 4 biggest reasons to emphasize when talking with prospects
- Overcoming common objections attorneys encounter
- Winning over skeptics by focusing on the numbers of your practice
- Case studies of how top attorneys respond when asked the ultimate question
- How to overcome price objections even before you meet with a prospect
- How to respond if someone says, “Your price is too high” or “That’s too much money!”
- How to get potential clients to stop making price an objection once and for all
- And 8 more effective ways to answer the question, “Why should I hire you?”
To access the webinar online, click here.
Law Firm Marketing: Discover the Importance of Positioning
Positioning is one of those little-known and less understood law firm marketing ingredients that can make a very big difference in the success of your law firm marketing approach. So what is positioning?
Positioning is the unique place your firm carves out for itself in your area of practice.
It is the perception your firm wants to instill in the client’s mind.
It defines how your services are different from and how they are like the competition.
It spells out what place you hold in the competitive landscape.
In essence, it defines how you practice your particular area of law and why clients should choose you (and you can have more than one positioning statement if your firm practices more than one area of law).
But positioning is only valuable to your law firm marketing strategy if it is done well.
All too often, positioning in law firm marketing is used to make your firm look, sound and act like every other law firm in your field of practice.
Like many business people, attorneys sometimes think there is only one “right” way to position themselves in the minds of clients.
The problem is, if you look, sound and act like every other firm, you give clients no reason to choose you. In fact, if all firms were exactly alike, there would be no reason to choose at all. One firm would be the same as the next.
The truth is that there are unique reasons why clients should choose your firm.
Perhaps it is because you specialize in a little-served niche that no one else serves.
Perhaps yours is a personal injury firm with long-standing connections to the automotive industry that enable you to settle sooner and for a higher amount.
Perhaps you serve as an elder care advocacy firm and you make a point of getting to know your clients on a personal level.
Your positioning says something unique about the firm that is meaningful to the end client. That is the point. And by successfully positioning yourself as a specialist, you will enjoy these benefits:
- Significantly higher rate of referrals.
- Ability to charge higher rates.
- More opportunities to offer clients more expensive services.
- Better client retention.
- Not perceived as a commodity.
- Value is based primarily on credibility and expertise.
- Better positioned to get positive media coverage.
- Easier to dominate your niche.
If you want to increase the return on your law firm marketing investment, spend some time clarifying your law firm marketing positioning.
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Watch-When-You-Want Webinar: How to Answer the Question, "Why Should I Hire You?"
One of the toughest questions attorneys get from a potential client is, “Why should I hire you?”
When faced with this question, most attorneys fall back on talking about the quality of their services, their experience and the size of their law firm.
Prepare to have your eyes opened to the truth by accessing our one-hour How to Answer the Question, “Why Should I Hire You?”: Creating a Unique Competitive Advantage webinar online to watch at your convenience. Learn:
- Why quality does NOT matter! (Yes, you read that correctly, quality does not matter when it comes to closing a prospect)
- The #1 reason why prospects “shop you on price”
- How most attorneys completely miss the point when talking about their experience
- The 4 biggest reasons to emphasize when talking with prospects
- Overcoming common objections attorneys encounter
- Winning over skeptics by focusing on the numbers of your practice
- Case studies of how top attorneys respond when asked the ultimate question
- How to overcome price objections even before you meet with a prospect
- How to respond if someone says, “Your price is too high” or “That’s too much money!”
- How to get potential clients to stop making price an objection once and for all
- And 8 more effective ways to answer the question, “Why should I hire you?”
To access the webinar online, click here.
Law Firm Marketing: How Social Media Accelerates the Referral Process
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Social media has become a fundamental shift in the way we communicate and find information -- or rather, the way information finds us.
When you consider the overwhelming number of people who are now using social media, the question you should be asking is not, are my prospects, clients, and referral sources using social media? The question you should be asking is, which network are they using most often?
A recent survey by the American Bar Association's Legal Technology Resource Center found that 56% of attorneys are already using a social network! This means for you skeptics out there, if you are not maintaining a presence on at least one social network you are already behind the curve. Of those networks, LinkedIn is the most popular at 83%, Facebook is second with 68% and Plaxo is third with 18%.
However, for attorneys who are looking to connect with consumers (versus business owners), like criminal defense, personal injury, bankruptcy, estate planning, and family law just to name a few, Facebook should be your primary focus because of the sheer number of people that can be found there (over 750 million registered users and growing).
Depending on the demographic of your clientele, you may have more success with one social media platform compared to another -- but it is important that you have a presence on them all. For example: Business oriented attorneys, like business litigation, securities, and intellectual property, should focus more of their efforts on LinkedIn. However, LinkedIn also has the highest number of attorneys who use the network so it's a little more difficult to stand out as compared to Facebook or Twitter.
What many people fail to understand is how people are starting to use social media. Social networks are more and more being used as personal search engines mainly because Google has become too generic and they often don't trust what they find there.
This trend is especially true in the under-30 age group. In fact, many social media experts are starting to point to Facebook as the new Google! Tens of thousands of searches are conducted every day on Facebook for resources and reviews of products, services, and service providers.
As Bob Burg points out in his excellent book, Endless Referrals, all things being equal, people buy from people they know, like and trust. By extension, people trust their personal networks to point them in the right direction more than a generic Google search.
When you think about it, this is common sense. When you are looking for a recommendation, who would you trust more-a Google search or one of your friends who personally vouches for a specific service provider?
This long-time phenomenon of asking your friends and colleagues for a referral has simply gone viral and online. Social networks are quickly multiplying the number of connections a person can ask when seeking a referral to a trusted advisor.
Smart law firms are starting to see the importance of "fishing where the fish are" instead of trying to drag them to their office or by using interruption-based marketing like television ads or billboards.
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FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal
One of the secret tools of Internet marketing for attorneys is the power of having a targeted blog. In a new report on the influence of blogs, eMarketer.com found that in 2010, 51% of Internet users in the U.S. (that’s over 91 million people) read blogs, and they project that usage will go to 60% (150 million) in the next four years!
Still think blogs are a fad?
Here’s what you’ll discover when you read this report:
- Why you must have a blog in order to stay relevant
- 3 keys to successful blogging
- 7 Guidelines for achieving ROI
- Your 3 choices for managing your blog and social media efforts
- And much more!
Click here to order your free report now!
Law Firm Marketing: How to Create A Call to Action That Creates Action!
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Millions of people purchase products every day because they were enticed to do so through a strong call to action – a Buy It Now, a Limited Time Offer, a Click Here, a Sign-Up Now – whatever the incentive, it moved them to a purchase decision.
Calls to action work for several reasons, chief among them is that it’s human nature to follow instruction. A great call to action is one that creates a sense of urgency in a prospect’s mind, offers a solution to a problem or stimulates a desire.
A great call to action works when it:
- Triggers an emotional reaction;
- Show exactly how to make a purchase;
- Creates a sense of urgency to make the purchase;
- Provides incentives or an offer that is too good to ignore.
There are many ways to integrate a great call to action into your law firm marketing efforts, including:
On your website. Even when you’re selling a service, you should create calls to action on every page of your website. Have a sign-up for a free report, a webinar or e-newsletter on every page.
In your newsletter. If you have a monthly newsletter, you should be featuring a new incentive every month to entice prospects to get in touch with you.
On your blog. Use your blog to connect on an emotional level with prospects. Tell a story about how your legal service has solved a problem. Include calls to action in your sidebars where they are easily visible.
On your social networking sites. Facebook and Twitter are great vehicles for reaching prospects in real-time and testing a variety of calls to action to see what works best for your legal service. These venues are an inexpensive and effective way to test what works best for your target market.
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Want to Learn More Effective 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:
October 7-8, 2011: San Francisco, CA
October 21-22, 2011: Livingston, NJ
November 11-12, 2011: Chicago, IL
December 2-3, 2011: Los Angeles, 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 register now for one of our one-hour complimentary teleseminars:
Thursday, September 29:
11am PT | 12pm MT | 1pm CT | 2pm ET
Wednesday, October 5:
1pm PT | 2pm MT | 3pm CT | 4pm ET
Thursday, October 13:
12pm PT | 1pm MT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET
Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
When It Comes to Law Firm Marketing, Bring the B-V-R (Benefits, Value, Results)
When it comes to doing business with an attorney, prospects only care about 3 things:
The Benefits they receive because of your services
The Value they perceive a relationship with you will bring
The Results they achieve from your service
If you're an estate planning attorney, don’t sell estate plans. If you're a family law attorney, don’t focus on the types of family law services your firm provides. If you're a defense attorney, don’t focus on how many different types of crimes you can represent.
These are all features of your service. People don’t buy features. They buy benefits.
They buy solutions not service, because they expect everyone to have great service.
They buy other people’s experiences of your service.
They buy your credibility as presented by your marketing image.
They buy based on their emotions, but they want logical reasons to justify their decision.
And they buy guarantees and promises, so don’t make them if you can't keep them.
Fundamentally, the reason why people or businesses seek out your law firm is because they have a problem and they are asking you, “Do you have a solution?”
In the past I’ve talked about the 15 percenters—the 15% of the population that always and only buys on price. Your job is to weed them out and focus on the other 85%. However, the other 85% will also buy on price—unless you give them a reason not to.
That’s why your law firm marketing plan must focus on more than just the features of your product or service. You must make sure all your law firm marketing efforts answer the questions that prospective clients are asking, not just giving them a laundry list of everything you can do.
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. Click here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!
Social Media Marketing for Attorneys: How to Promote Your Facebook Fan Page
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A recent post at SocialMediaExaminer.com provides some excellent guidance on ways to promote your Facebook Fan page:
Email signature – include a link to your Facebook Fan page – in fact, to all your social media pages – in your email signature.
Blog post – post the reasons why people will benefit from joining your fan page on your blog.
Tag other pages – find popular fan pages in your space and promote them in your updates.
Tweet – ask your Twitter followers to join your fan page.
Advertise – Facebook ads are inexpensive and allow you to target by demographic and region.
Follow button – add a Facebook Follow button to your website and blog to make it easy for people to join.
Customize – make your fan page memorable by customizing your fan page URL: https://www.facebook.com/LawFirmMarketing
Link pages – put a link on your personal Facebook page to your Fan page.
Teamwork – have everyone in the organization add a link to your fan page from their personal profiles. Don’t be afraid to ask fans to add one, too.
Cross-promote on other social media networks – add a fan page link to your YouTube videos, your Twitter, LinkedIn, Avvo and JD Supra profiles.
Use Fan Page tools – there’s a “Tell Your Fans” feature on Facebook that allows you to import a contact file so you can shoot a message to everyone you know asking them to join.
Promote in all your marketing materials – add a link to your e-newsletter template, PowerPoint slides, articles, press releases, etc.
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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:
October 7-8, 2011: San Francisco, CA
October 21-22, 2011: Livingston, NJ
November 11-12, 2011: Chicago, IL
December 2-3, 2011: Los Angeles, CA
If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 8,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then register now for one of our one-hour complimentary teleseminars:
Tuesday, September 20
1pm PT | 2pm MT | 3pm CT | 4pm ET
Thursday, September 29
11am PT | 12pm MT | 1pm CT | 2pm ET
Wednesday, October 5
1pm PT | 2pm MT | 3pm CT | 4pm ET
Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
Law Firm Marketing: Tips on Creating Content Readers Want to Share
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The New York Times has done a research study on the Psychology of Sharing to learn more about why people share content on the Web.
You can download the report for free here.
The research found that these were the top five reasons people share content via email or social networks:
1. To bring valuable and entertaining content to others
2. To define ourselves to others
3. To grow and nurture relationships
4. Self-fulfillment
5. To spread the word about causes or brands
So if you have posted content on your blog or created articles on JD Supra, Avvo or other legal info sites that isn’t seeing much action, you need to examine it to see if it is meeting any of these needs that people have for sharing.
Here are some tips for creating great content that people want to share:
Make it real. Don’t simply deal in hypotheticals – tell a story with a good outcome for a client (maintaining privacy, of course) that draws people in and makes them feel something.
Create a conversation. Commenting on the hot legal topics of the day with a unique viewpoint increases the chances your content will get shared. Ask others’ opinions on your blog and post comments.
Speak like a human being. Do not use legal jargon or write above your target market’s head. Use a conversational tone in your posts or articles in a voice people can understand.
Make a list. People love to read and share lists, so get a little creative and develop lists that will get noticed – for example, The Top 5 Divorce Disasters you’ve seen in your family law practice, and so on.
Understanding the psychology behind what makes people want to share content and then crafting your content to fulfill those needs will ensure your words get the reach you’re hoping for when creating content.
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Get All the Law Firm Marketing Strategies You Need to Create A 7-figure Law Practice with Rainmaker In A Box: Volumes 1 and 2!
Want to discover Proven Marketing Strategies that Top Law Firms are using right now to generate more leads and referrals and convert them into paying clients?
Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 1 and Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2 contains highly valuable legal marketing information you absolutely need to know!
Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 1 includes:
- The 5 Immutable Secrets to Building a 7 Figure Law Practice
- Secrets of Building a Referral-based Law Practice for Busy Practitioners:
- The Top 6 Most Powerful Online Marketing Strategies for Attorneys:
- Action, Accountability and Next Steps
- Data DVD: Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you watch the 4 intense DVDs.
Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 2 includes:
- 8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals
- 7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm
- 6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media
- 5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs
- Data DVD: Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you experience these information-packed DVDs!
Purchase both sets on our website and get 25% OFF!
Click herenow to order!
Law Firm Marketing: How to Optimize Your JD Supra Content
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Optimizing your content is something you should be doing everywhere you appear online, and your presence on JD Supra is no exception.
Last week, the law firm marketing minds at JD Supra provided a list of five ways you can optimize your content on their website. I’ll paraphrase:
1. Review your analytics regularly. By logging in to your JD Supra account and looking at how many people have viewed your profile or your articles, you will be able to see what is striking a chord with your target market – and, equally important – what is not.
2. Review the trend reports. Every month, JD Supra emails their Pro account holders a trend report for each practice area. Take note of what the hot topics are and generate content that will appeal to those readers.
3. Feed your social networks. Make sure that JD Supra is feeding your content to all your social networks – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. If not, contact them to set up the automatic feed. Also make sure all your social network links are on your profile.
4. Share all your content. Add all your content from publications and blogs to your JD Supra site monitoring and distribution plan.
5. Monitor feeds. JD Supra has subject-specific feeds on all the major social networking sites so you can choose the ones that matter most to you and follow them. This helps you keep track of your own content as well as follow what your competitors are doing.
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Looking for more legal marketing tactics from The Rainmaker Institute?
Then subscribe to our FREE monthly e-newsletter. One click of your mouse will take you to our site where you can see the current issue and subscribe to our complimentary monthly e-newsletter that will be delivered to your inbox. Each issue is chock-full of legal marketing information you can put to use right away. I think you will find the information in every newsletter something you will want to share with your staff to maximize the effectiveness of your legal marketing plan.
How to Build a Law Firm Marketing Mailing List That Performs
When it comes to reaching out to potential clients on a consistent basis, few law firm marketing tools can match the success rate of newsletters.
However, before you can engage prospective clients through law firm marketing newsletters, you first have to find them. Which brings us to one of the foundational tools of law firm marketing: list building.
There are list services where you can purchase names, e-mail addresses and home addresses that match your target demographic. But I don’t recommend them for law firm marketing for one important reason: the client’s choice in legal counsel rests so much on trust, my opinion is that contacting clients without their permission is suspect.
However, there are many proven ways to build law firm marketing lists without purchasing names from a service. Below are some of the best:
Insert a newsletter sign-up form on each page of your website and on your blog, including a brief summary of the benefits of receiving no-cost, ongoing legal information they can use.
When you have a speaking engagement, provide a sign-up sheet for your “complimentary” newsletter. This technique has a very high response rate because the audience is already interested in your area of the law.
Partner with other professionals who serve a client base similar to yours. For example, if your area of practice is estate planning, financial planners or brokerage houses might have a target client similar to yours. Once you locate these “list partners”, you can insert your offer for a free trial newsletter into their outgoing communications to that client base (and they can do the same with yours). In that way, you are getting permission from the recipient prior to sending your law firm marketing newsletter – which is much more effective than purchasing a list.
In addition to using these proven ways to build your law firm marketing list, be sure to make it visible and easy for recipients of your newsletter to unsubscribe. It does you no good to contact someone regularly that does not want your information -- and making it clear they may cancel at any time sends the message that you care about them and they can trust you.
Adding these list-building tactics to your law firm marketing strategy will help you build a solid, highly responsive list of prospects that have real potential to turn into paying clients.
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Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan
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, and start using these proven strategies today!
News You Can Use: Consumer Reports Reviews Legal Software Products
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Consumer Reports doesn’t really like legal software products, and that can be good news you can use in your law firm marketing efforts.
Earlier this week, Consumer Reports issued a caution to consumers based on an analysis by the Consumer Reports Money Adviser of the three most popular products – LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer and Quicken WillMaker Plus – for creating wills. They created three different profiles: a father of a simple nuclear family, a widow with grown children and a live-in boyfriend, and a twice-married father of five.
Consumer Reports found that while these software programs were “better than nothing,” they had real problems, including:
Outdated information – two of the three used federal estate tax limits that were outdated for 2011.
Insufficient customization – little detail on state estate laws available.
Not enough flexibility – testers were unable to distribute property the way they wanted to.
Too much flexibility – contain features that could lead you to add clauses that may contradict other parts of your will.
Incomplete – no options for a special needs trust, only one provided information on registered domestic partnerships and pet trusts. None touched on digital assets.
No advice – no explanation for how to structure trusts to reduce estate tax liability.
Consumer Reports recommends that consumers only use these software products to “take a practice run” and prepare inventory lists and instructions for executors and beneficiaries. Then, they say, call an attorney.
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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!)
- 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: How to Manage Your Online Reputation
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For attorneys, reputation is everything. A good one gets you more clients through referrals; a bad one pretty much dooms your practice. So it’s no surprise that lawyers tend to pay close attention to cultivating a reputation as effective, ethical counselors.
But is all your hard work toward that goal reflected in your online reputation?
What do prospects see when they type your name into a search engine? If it’s not much, that can often be as harmful as something negative.
Here are some tips on managing your online reputation:
Create good, meaningful content. Wherever you are online – your law firm website, your blog, your social media networks – make sure you are creating and posting valuable and relevant content that your target prospects will find interesting and helpful.
Look and listen. Create a Google Alert for yourself and your firm so you can monitor what is being said. If you find something negative on a site that allows you to comment, do so professionally and unemotionally.
Build relationships with influencers. Find the influential online voices that your target market is listening to and join in the conversation. Offer to be a guest blogger or an interview source. Contribute good comments and give praise when it’s due. Don’t create advertisements for yourself; just be helpful and relevant.
Take a moment now and Google yourself. If you don’t like what you see, maybe you need to expend a little more effort managing your online reputation.
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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!)
- 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.
Don't Let These Law Firm Marketing Mistakes Kill Your Practice!
There are more than 1.2 million attorneys in the United States, and many continue to struggle to create a financially successful practice. Why?
Through our work with over 8,000 attorneys over the years, we have found one common denominator among attorneys who struggle with practice building: they believe the best use of their time is to practice law.
Which is why I tell them: You are not in the business of practicing law. You are in the business of building relationships (also known as marketing) so that you can practice law.
Building a successful practice isn’t rocket science; it’s work and it takes three important things: time, energy and money. Every attorney who starts a new practice fully intends to succeed; yet according to research, more than 50% of them still fail.
We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In our recently updated, complimentary e-book, you can discover specific principles and tools you can use right now to grow your practice:
- How to avoid the top 10 marketing mistakes before they destroy your practice
- 3 tools top Rainmakers use to automatically attract more and better clients
- Specific keys for building a powerful online presence
- How to market and position yourself as a recognized specialist
- The 1 thing you must never do when marketing your law firm
- The top 2 online resources for small and solo law firm marketing
- The advertising secrets they don’t want you to know
The e-book is free; see below for details.
Join Our Rainmaker Retreat Via Twitter: I’ll be in Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday at our next Rainmaker Retreat session. You can “listen” in and see the action happening in real time via your Twitter account. Just add #Rainmaker to the “Follow Your Interests” area found on the front page. I’ll post more details about this on Friday morning.
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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.
Count The Cost Of Creating Before You Start Building: Funding Your Marketing Plan
We know from extensive research that it takes at the very least 7-10 meaningful touches to move someone through the sales process to get them to the point where they are ready to buy from you.
If your marketing plan only has enough steam in it to produce five meaningful touches, it will be as if you had never touched them at all.
5 touches aren't enough to break through past all of the marketing efforts made by other attorneys vying for your potential client's time and money... including your biggest competitors.
Don't let those clients slip through your fingers by short changing your own marketing efforts. Which brings us to the question - How much is enough to invest in your marketing efforts? There are several questions to consider before you get your answer:
What practice area are you in? Some practice areas require significantly more time and money to market (litigation and personal injury to mention two).
What are your profit margins? The larger your margins, the more you can invest on marketing and new business development. Some practice areas have bigger profit margins (litigation) while others are notoriously lower (residential real estate).
What are your annual revenues? It is not unusual for successful law firms to spend between 15 percent and 40 percent of their annual revenues on marketing.
Are you targeting other businesses or individual consumers? Anytime you are marketing directly to consumers, your marketing budget must be bigger because of the intense competition for consumer's pocketbooks.
What is the size of your competitors? Obviously, trying to take market share from Wal-mart as opposed to a beauty salon would require a much bigger marketing budget. Analyze your competition; what marketing materials do they put out? How are they positioning their firm?
How sophisticated are your competitors when it comes to marketing? Typical companies in service-based industries and professional services (like law firms) are a lot less sophisticated than other industries.
How much time can you devote toward your marketing plan? The more time you can devote, the less money you have to spend. For example, if you use direct marketing, and are able to follow up with a phone call, you spend less on mailing costs.
Are you marketing directly to the end user or through a referral source? Marketing to the end user of your services is more difficult than working through an established marketing channel like a referral source.
How long is the typical marketing-cycle? How long does it take a prospective client to make a decision after they have all the information they need? The longer the cycle, the more money you spend staying in touch while they contemplate their decision.
What's the geographical size of your prospect base? For many professional service firms, like doctors, lawyers and accountants, it is usually limited from five to 25 square miles.
What is your average fee per client? $500? $5,000? $500,000? $5 million? Services less than $500 require different marketing strategies than $5,000 services. Typically, higher fees require you to provide additional evidence as to your credibility, and necessitates the need to educate your client as to the benefits of hiring your firm.
What's the lifetime value of your average client? How much does your average client spend with you over a given time frame?
- When you have that final number you know how much you can afford to spend on landing each client before it negatively affects your profit margins.
- Alternately, If your average client only uses your services once and never returns, then you will need to use lower cost marketing strategies to reach them.
- Consider factors to increase the value of each client. For example, developing simple, yet seemingly extraordinary customer service strategies will extend the "life" of a client and create referrals, thus increasing their value.
Once you have had a chance to review and analyze these variables for your firm, I invite you to immediately TAKE ACTION by using the information you gather to complete or revise your marketing plan in the next 30 days.
If you would like more direction in writing or implementing your marketing plan contact me for additional resources.
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Looking for more proven tactics from The Rainmaker Institute?
Then subscribe to our FREE monthly e-newsletter. One click of your mouse will take you to our site where you can see the current issue and subscribe to our complimentary monthly e-newsletter that will be delivered to your inbox. Each issue is chock-full of legal marketing information you can put to use right away. The information in every newsletter is something you will want to share with your staff to maximize the effectiveness of your legal marketing plan.
Law Firm Marketing: Use These 10 Tips to Own Your Turf
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Building a reputation in the legal niche you serve will serve you well when it comes to attracting new clients. But how do you differentiate yourself enough to claim ownership of that piece of legal turf when there are hundreds of other attorneys out there providing similar services?
It takes a focused approach to become a recognized authority, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Here is a 10-step program you can use to dominate your competition:
Focus on your area of expertise. Whether it’s a doctor or a lawyer, no one wants a generalist, we want a specialist. Find a targeted, focused legal niche where you can specialize.
Own your niche’s keywords. Choose several keywords that prospects use to look for you, and make it a goal to be at the top of the search list for these keywords.
Blog. Provide valuable content on a regular basis – 3-5 times per week – to help establish your authority.
Guest author. Target high-traffic blogs that appeal to your target marketing and offer to guest author posts.
E-book. With the rising popularity of e-book readers, you can self-publish your own works and not only extend your authority, but make a few bucks in the process.
Offer seminars. Nothing is more authoritative than public speaking, either live or online via webinars, which allows you to reach a limitless audience. You can charge a nominal fee for these, too, even if it’s only to cover the cost of your webinars.
Press releases. Create a media list of target publications that reach your market and feed them regular press releases.
Radio. Create your own radio show at BlogTalkRadio.com, where your content will be distributed based on your keywords.
Publish a survey. With so many online survey tools at your disposal, you can conduct a survey then publicize the results.
Create information products. Write and distribute articles, e-books, free reports and other information products that demonstrate your authority in your niche.
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Get All the Law Firm Marketing Strategies You Need to Create A 7-figure Law Practice with Rainmaker In A Box: Volumes 1 and 2!
Want to discover Proven Marketing Strategies that Top Law Firms are using right now to generate more leads and referrals and convert them into paying clients?
Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 1 and Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2 contains highly valuable legal marketing information you absolutely need to know!
Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 1 includes:
- The 5 Immutable Secrets to Building a 7 Figure Law Practice
- Secrets of Building a Referral-based Law Practice for Busy Practitioners:
- The Top 6 Most Powerful Online Marketing Strategies for Attorneys:
- Action, Accountability and Next Steps
- Data DVD: Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations
Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 2 includes:
- 8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals
- 7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm
- 6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media
- 5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs
- Data DVD: Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations
Click here now to order!
5 Law Firm Marketing Strategies to Retain Clients
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The hard truth is, landing new clients is only the beginning of a harder task: keeping them. Now the real work begins as you find a ways to keep those clients you have worked so hard to get.
Along with new clients comes the inherent need for more time to spend on their cases. Now the problem is not enough new clients but work flow and time management to handle them all. With such a limited schedule, how do you keep them happy so they don't run off and hire your competition?
It is a situation that many attorneys find themselves in, and the stress and frustration is overwhelming at times. The following five strategies are designed to help you maintain a good working relationship with your new client:
1. Begin work on the case immediately. As soon as the client signs on, spend time that day or the next working on the case. This is not only to protect your client's best legal interests, but also to show them their need for immediate legal help. It also shows them that you genuinely care about them.
2. Send the client some form of written communication within 48 hours of taking the case. It isn't enough to start working immediately on their case. You must show that you are working and making progress by e-mailing them a copy of everything you do. Consider time stamping your e-mails so that your client sees you have begun working on their case almost as soon as you landed it.
It is also wise to send a tangible copy of all of your communications with your client. Often, it is easier for people to pay for services they can actually visualize. When they can see some physical evidence of your work, it seems worth more to them.
Follow-up letters after phone calls or in-person meetings are another great way to clarify and avoid misunderstandings. They also serve to protect you from malpractice accusations because you have everything documented and dated.
3. Send out a brief survey directed at new clients. Within one week of landing the new client, send out a one-page survey. This can be a great way to collect data on vital questions for use in future law firm marketing strategies; this is also a good time to ask them for their birthdays and anniversaries so you can send a card, which is a great marketing strategy.
- Why did they select your firm?
- Who else were they interviewing?
- What do they like best/worst about working with you?
- How can you improve?
- How fast was your response time to their initial request?
- How did they find you?
- Do they know of anyone else who could use your services?
- Additional contact information, etc.?
4. Send out a client satisfaction survey after you have completed the case. This is another great way to maintain good communication with clients. It also shows them that you really care about their opinions and feelings. They will see that their cases and how it all turns out are important to you.
5. Send the client a hand written thank you card. Nothing says you care like a greeting card. Send out the card the same day they select you as their attorney. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but you should do it because no one else does.
Clients must feel like you are there to serve in their best interests because you want to be there. Lawyers have the negative reputation of only being in it for the prestige and the money. While these are two important factors from your business view, they are of little concern to your client. You must show you care through your law firm marketing efforts and your communication with your clients. If you don't care about them, they won't care about you.
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Looking for more proven tactics from The Rainmaker Institute?
Then subscribe to our FREE monthly e-newsletter. One click of your mouse will take you to our site where you can see the current issue and subscribe to our complimentary monthly e-newsletter that will be delivered to your inbox. Each issue is chock-full of legal marketing information you can put to use right away. I think you will find the information in every newsletter something you will want to share with your staff to maximize the effectiveness of your legal marketing plan.
Not Attracting Enough New Business? Make Sure You're Not Making These Law Firm Marketing Mistakes!
It’s no revelation that business is down for many law firms, but if your law firm marketing plan is not working for you, you need to examine the reasons why....fast!
Here are several common law firm marketing mistakes you may be making and what you can do to fix them:
You have failed to convince them of the value your service gives to them specifically. Solution: Go back and do more research on your target market's "points of pain." Use more of these in all of your conversations with prospects.
They don't trust you. Solution: Develop a list of specific things you can do to build your credibility. Examine your personal image: your clothes, your mannerisms, your listening skills. Analyze your business image: your office location, your office furniture, the quality of your stationary, your business cards, etc.
They perceive your cost outweighs your value. Solution: Either temporarily reduce your price or immediately find ways to significantly increase your perceived value.
They don't believe your benefits or values because you haven't demonstrated them. Solution: Find a way to give them a FREE sample of your services.
Their risk seems too great. Solution: Find creative ways to reduce or eliminate the risk of working with you.
They don't feel like you listen to them. Solution: Stop talking so much during your presentation. Ask more questions. Develop a list of questions to ask prospects. Work on reading their body language. Use active listening skills and reflective feedback. Use the 25/75 Rule. A good attorney talks less than 25% of the time during the initial interview. They ask good questions and then listen 75% of the time. The interesting thing is that prospects will feel you are more competent the less you talk, the more you listen and the better your questions are.
Prospects will not hire you when they don't want you, don't believe they need you or can't afford you. Solution: Cut your losses and move on. They are currently NOT in your target market.
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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.
How to Create Happy Clients Through Effective Listening
Here’s what many small business owners (yes, that’s you) don’t get: when it comes to communicating with customers, listening is often more important than talking. It is by listening that you learn what clients want, and then you can give it to them. Which makes for more referrals and better client retention.
Here are some important methods you can use to actively listen to clients:
Open feedback. Always offer clients a way to provide feedback, through your website, an online survey and in your e-newsletter campaign. Simply asking for their thoughts is often enough to garner some important insights.
Transactional feedback. If you’re a regular Starbucks customer, you have undoubtedly received a free survey at some point with your receipt. You provide them with some feedback online and you get a free drink for your efforts. What attorneys can learn from this is the importance of asking clients for their thoughts about their experience with your firm after the case is over or at important points along the way. Keep your finger on the pulse of how satisfied they are with how your firm is treating them, and you’ll have a satisfied client.
Social media interaction. Monitor your social media channels to see what people are saying about you. You can search for your firm name on Twitter and Facebook , and you should be regularly monitoring Avvo, FindLaw, Yelp and Google for other comments about your firm.
Client satisfaction surveys. Using formal client satisfaction surveys is another good way to gauge client experiences with your firm. Send one out after each engagement is closed and respond immediately and personally to any negative feedback.
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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.
How To Make More Money by Giving Something Valuable for Free
Are you aware you can make more money by giving something away for FREE?
What you have to give away is something that you don't have to create, you don't have to buy, and something you already have. It's your expert knowledge. And you can use this expert knowledge to attract people and turn them into paying clients.
Expert knowledge is one of the most cost-effective tools you can use to promote your practice and make more money. One of the best ways to do this is to give away your special knowledge for free.
Yes, that's what I said-for FREE.
Many attorneys are afraid if they give away something for nothing it will be perceived as valueless or ignored. They are often anxious about losing business by revealing too much to a prospective client.
However, by giving away your expert knowledge you are actually adding value. Prospects perceive you as someone who wants more than their money, you want a relationship. You are perceived as the honest expert. Your practice is seen as one who wants informed clients.
Attorneys often have to work harder than other small business owners to develop customers. It is more difficult to sell something you cannot see, feel, or touch. However, your clients still want to know similar things about your service: what are the features, the options, the benefits, whether they can trust you, and how your services will either cut costs or make them more money.
Here are some ways you can make more money by giving your knowledge away for free:
- Offer a complimentary consultation session
- Do a periodic survey of existing clients to see how everything is going, if they have any questions, to gauge their level of satisfaction, and to see if there is any other way you can be of assistance
- Write some online white papers that provide more detailed information
- Write an article for your local newspaper or a valued website
- Host a free "How to" seminar for your prospective clients
- Find out what trade publications your customers read and offer to write an article for them
- Do a call-in radio program
- Have a Q&A section on your website
Be creative about ways to give away your expert knowledge, but as you do so remember these principles:
One of the most cost-effective ways to make more money is to give away your special knowledge for free. I don't mean sell the whole farm, but provide enough information so your potential clients feel educated about the process of purchasing your product or service.
Timing is everything. A person may not have a need for your services or product today, but might next month. Develop ways to keep in touch with your potential customers, not just your existing ones.
Listen carefully to your potential clients. Look for their "pain"-- why they need your help. Listen to their needs. Do not try to sell them something they do not need.
Listen even more carefully to your existing customers. Reinforce the benefits of your service. Find out what you can do better. Listen for their future needs and how you can meet them.
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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book
In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.
Get your complimentary copy online here.
Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.
We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.
Law Firm Marketing: The Top 10 Reasons You Don't Get Referrals
If you have more referral business than you can handle, you are obviously doing something right. But if you want and need more referrals and they aren’t coming to you, maybe you are doing something wrong.
Here are the Top 10 Reasons You Don’t Get Referrals:
No goal. Have you set a specific goal for a specific number of referrals as part of your law firm marketing plan? If not, you’re just going down the same old road with no map.
No gratitude. Have you thanked your referral sources and kept in touch, just to say “hi?” Do you thank people online who say nice things about you?
No response. Have you been tardy about responding to a referral? Or worse yet, not responded at all? If so, why would your referral sources continue sending people your way?
No engagement. Are you engaging potential referrals on your social networking sites, or do you just leave sales messages? Your goal is to engage, not to sell.
No reaction. If someone comments on your blog, do you respond? You should then follow-up with an email to further the discussion.
No participation. Don’t just join the social networks, participate. Comment on other people’s posts and encourage a conversation.
No request. If you don’t ask for a referral, chances are pretty good that you won’t get one. Encourage everyone you communicate with through email or e-newsletter or on your social sites to tell a friend about you and your services.
No staying power. Keep in touch with past and current clients, even if they are not currently shopping for an attorney. You never know when they may need you, so staying top of mind is important.
No reciprocity. When it comes to referrals, do you give as good as you get?
No personality. Let your true self shine through in everything you do. People do business with people they like and trust.
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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.
When It Comes to Your Ideal Target Market, Think Small
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Successful law firm marketing requires gaining an intimate knowledge and understanding of your Ideal Target Market (ITM). Some attorneys balk at the notion of spending the time required to identify their ITM. The amount of time spent getting to know your target audience will be more than worth the effort. In fact, not doing so can cause your firm to bypass valuable clients and to miss out on thousands of dollars in potential revenue.
One target market that is growing rapidly these days is one that may have been overlooked by many firms too busy chasing the marquis brand names: the small business owner. Specifically, the self-employed.
Today, self-employment counts for nearly one-third of the workforce, with a population of 40 million! The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that within the next 8 years, 40 percent of the American workforce will be self-employed.
Identifying and targeting the right market is absolutely critical to the success of your law firm marketing plan. If you don’t target the right market, nothing else you do will matter. To be successful as a legal marketer and attorney, you have to start with a clear picture of your ITM.
I have a list of 9 keys to help you determine your ideal client. I suggest that you answer these questions as specifically as you can:
- Who’s your ideal client? (Think in terms of age, profession, gender, education, interests, marital status, family size, hobbies, and lifestyle.)
- Who can afford your fees? How much can they afford? What’s your value to them?
- Who could be a good long-term, repeat client?
- What qualities, characteristics and values do they have?
- What are you helping them accomplish?
- What are their issues, challenges or pain?
- What is it like working with them?
- Who could be a good source of referrals for these ideal clients?
- Who is NOT your ideal client?
Spend some time thinking about these questions and answering them as carefully, as specifically, as you can. When you finish, you’ll have laid a strong foundation for all your legal marketing strategies.
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money!
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. Click here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!
7 Effective Law Firm Marketing Tips For Following Up with Leads
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When it comes to law firm marketing, the fortune is in the follow up! You need to have a system in place to connect with and stay connected to your leads, prospects, clients, and referral sources.
1. Don't do it all by yourself. Most of the follow-up should be done by your staff, not you. Don't have a staff? Then outsource it to a virtual assistant or someone who provides legal marketing services. You should remain focused on bringing in more business, meeting with prospects, signing new people up as clients, and billing your clients.
2. Create your written plan ahead of time. Do not wait until the last minute to create your follow up plan. As part of your law firm marketing you plan you should write down the exact steps your team will take to connect with prospects. Write down roles, responsibilities and time frames.
3. Have a plan for obtaining their full contact information and then have a back up plan. Do not rely on someone else giving you their contact information in a timely fashion. They may or may not. They may have better things to do or an emergency might arise or they may forget. Always, always have a back up plan. Make sure you get all their contact information including: full name, mailing address, phone number, and email. This will be of great value later on.
4. Use a database to keep track of your contacts. Do not rely on the stacks of business cards you have on your desk. Put them into a database as soon as possible.
5. Use multiple methods to connect. Some people read emails, some people read letters, and some people respond to phone calls. Any law firm marketing consultant will tell you to use at least two of these methods to connect. If possible, use all three. For example, have your assistant send out an email the very next day after your networking event. Have a letter sent out the day after that and three days later have them follow up with a phone call to set an appointment for you.
6. Remember the Rule of 48. The Rule of 48 refers to the amount of time you have to follow up with a qualified prospect after you meet them before they forget why you are contacting them. In most cases, you have 48 hours to make the first contact or you can forget about it.
7. Plan for the long-term. Even though you usually only have 48 hours to start the follow up process, your law firm marketing plan should include specific ways you can stay connected to your leads, prospects, clients, and referral sources over the long-term. Whether it's a monthly newsletter, a quarterly phone call, or a legal update you send out. Once a semi-qualified person is on your list, institute a process to stay connected with them at least seven to ten times per year.
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June 8 Webinar on Getting to the Top of Google: The Power of Link Building for Lawyers
Join me on Wednesday, June 8 at 3 p.m. ET for a one-hour webinar on Getting to the Top of Google:The Power of Link Building for Lawyers. I will share a little known secret of how hundreds of attorneys are rapidly increasing their website rankings in 90 to 120 days through building targeted links back to their websites.
In this 60-minute webinar, you will learn:
- One of the fastest ways to get your website blacklisted by Google (make this mistake at your own peril)
- Link building on the low down—building links on a shoestring budget
- What an “inbound link” is and why Google loves them
- The metric Google uses to determine if a link is good or worthless
- Why you should almost never pay for a link
- Selecting the right keywords to go after
- The benefits of being at the top of the rankings
- Which directories are worth paying for...and which ones are not
- The top 5 questions you must ask before you hire any link building company
To register for the one-hour webinar on Getting to the Top of Google: The Power of Link Building for Lawyers on Wednesday, June 8 at 3 pm ET, click here now.
This event will be presented live by phone with a web connection available for those wishing to view the presentation on their personal computers. Internet access is not required for phone-only participants. A copy of the presentation and downloadable materials will be provided after the event.
Law Firm Marketing: The Final Secret Top Rainmakers Use to Fill Their Practice
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During May, I posted two blogs about the secrets top Rainmakers use to fill their practice, gleaned from more than 10 years of working with small law firms and solo practitioners. Here’s the final one:
Strategy 4. Answer the Question, "Why Should I Hire You?"
With an estimated 600,000-800,000 attorneys in private practice across the nation, standing apart from your competitors is increasingly difficult. I have asked hundreds of attorneys, "Why should someone hire you versus your competition?" Virtually all of them respond with the same four answers: quality, service, years of experience, and price - none of which has any impact on prospective clients!
Quality is not a feature people will pay extra for. It simply means you meet the minimum level of expectations. For every service you provide there are a thousand other law firms who offer the exact same service. Regardless of how long you've been in practice, someone has been there longer. And do you really want to be known as the "Wal-Mart" of law firms-the low cost leader?
Every prospect that walks in your office has the same question: Why should I hire this attorney versus any other one out there. While they may not verbally ask it, they are all thinking it. To be effective, you need to answer the question for them. Here are three things to emphasize in your response:
Focus on the benefits, value, and results. When meeting with a prospective client, emphasize the benefits you offer to clients, the value you bring, and the results you achieve. Be careful not to run afoul of your state's ethics in advertising regulations.
Focus on your service, not the list of services your firm provides. Explain how you serve your clients better by going out of your way for them and by treating every person as a VIP. Ask yourself what kind of "client experience" you want each to have. Be very specific and write down your ideas. Put an action plan into place with your staff to ensure that every experience a prospect or client has with your firm is a positive one.
Focus on solutions. People don't buy legal services; they buy solutions to their legal problems. Prepare a case study of how you found a creative solution to another client's problem. Explain how you came up with it and the results.
Marketing your law firm is both art and science. There are no magic wands or silver bullets. It takes time, energy, money and advanced planning. It's important to realize that marketing is a process, not an event. Too many attorneys view marketing as an event you go to or an ad you place in the yellow pages. Top Rainmakers recognize marketing is a process, a systematic approach to building referral relationships, cultivating contacts, and staying connected to clients.
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June 8 Webinar on Getting to the Top of Google: The Power of Link Building for Lawyers
Join me on Wednesday, June 8 at 3 p.m. ET for a one-hour webinar on Getting to the Top of Google:The Power of Link Building for Lawyers. I will share a little known secret of how hundreds of attorneys are rapidly increasing their website rankings in 90 to 120 days through building targeted links back to their websites.
In this 60-minute webinar, you will learn:
- One of the fastest ways to get your website blacklisted by Google (make this mistake at your own peril)
- Link building on the low down—building links on a shoestring budget
- What an “inbound link” is and why Google loves them
- The metric Google uses to determine if a link is good or worthless
- Why you should almost never pay for a link
- Selecting the right keywords to go after
- The benefits of being at the top of the rankings
- Which directories are worth paying for...and which ones are not
- The top 5 questions you must ask before you hire any link building company
To register for the one-hour webinar on Getting to the Top of Google: The Power of Link Building for Lawyers on Wednesday, June 8 at 3 pm ET, click here now.
This event will be presented live by phone with a web connection available for those wishing to view the presentation on their personal computers. Internet access is not required for phone-only participants. A copy of the presentation and downloadable materials will be provided after the event.
Law Firm Marketing: Yet Another Secret Top Rainmakers Use to Fill Their Practice
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Earlier this month I blogged about the secrets top Rainmakers use to fill their practice, gleaned from more than 10 years of working with small law firms and solo practitioners. Here’s the next one:
Strategy 3. Keep In Touch With Clients
The best source of referrals is often a satisfied client, but only if the client remembers you when one of their friends or colleagues needs your help. If you're like most attorneys, you have helped hundreds of people over the years, so staying connected to them every 4-8 weeks can be an overwhelming task. Here are a few tips we recommend for keeping in touch with your clients:
Use a contact management system. Have your assistant enter their contact info into a database program like InfusionsoftforAttorneys.com, ACT!, Goldmine or Salesforce.com. Information is only as useful as it is accessible.
Collect their email addresses. Add a place for their email addresses on your intake form.
Send out a "Keep In Touch" letter to former clients thanking them for the opportunity to serve them.
Conduct an Annual Client Satisfaction Survey. Ask clients what they liked most and least about your firm as well as what upcoming challenges you could assist them with.
Offer them a special report or "Top 10 Tips" sheet and request they update their contact information.
Send them practical, educational information every 4-6 weeks. Electronic newsletters, called E-newsletters, are the best way to stay connected. Make them short. Focus on informing, educating and adding value to your clients (do not turn this into a sales pitch). We recommend www.ConstantContact.com to manage your e-newsletter.
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Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD Set
The Practice Made Perfect CD set and manual applies Stephen Fairley’s unique High Impact Marketing System to the practice-building challenges faced by solo practitioners and partners at small law firms.
It includes dozens of specific marketing and sales recommendations that can be easily and quickly applied to your firm, including:
- The only 7 sure-fire ways to get clients in your door NOW
- Why advertising doesn’t work for most small law firms
- The 7 reasons why people don’t buy from you
- How to market and sell with USP’s (Unique Selling Proposition)
- Using audio logos to attract immediate attention for your business
- Using low-cost, high impact marketing strategies
- Strategies for achieving maximum results from all of your marketing efforts
- How to discover your Ideal Target Market
- 3 critical factors to remember when looking for new clients
- The NEW sales cycle for professional services
- How to retain your best clients
Click here to order your Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD set and manual now.
Law Firm Marketing: How to Ask for Referrals Without Embarrassment
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A member of our marketing team was discussing with me a problem that I find a lot of our clients have: asking for referrals without feeling embarrassed. We know that many attorneys build a good portion of their practices on referrals – yet, why is it so many feel almost ashamed to ask for a referral?
I believe that these attorneys are not looking at referrals in the right way. They see them as asking for a favor, when in fact you should regard it as extending a favor. That’s right. You are not asking to get a favor, you are asking to bestow one.
The secret to getting lots of referrals is to make it about them, not about you. Think about what benefits you offer your referral sources and what problems you may help them solve. When you help someone help a friend, family member or colleague, you have done them a favor.
Think about how referring you can make your client’s life better, and you will never be embarrassed to ask for a referral again.
Attorneys who rely on referrals for new clients also have to have a referral mindset. Always look for those moments in your relationships with others to create referrals – when you have won a case for a client, when you have helped someone avoid litigation, when you have provided a referral – all opportunities for you to generate referrals.
You also need to make it as easy as possible for people to refer you. Provide them with a written document that outlines the characteristics of your ideal client. Create white papers or give seminars that solve problems their clients may be experiencing and co-brand them, so your referral source benefits.
The real secret to feeling comfortable about generating referrals is to think give, not take. And to implement a system that creates a referral mindset throughout your organization.
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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!)
- 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: Bing Brings More Facebook Search Results on Board
Bing is betting we’d all like a little more help from our friends when it comes to search, so it has added even more Facebook into its search results in an effort to steer more search traffic from giant rival Google.
Microsoft, the owner of Bing and a minority owner in Facebook, thinks that making this data available in search will prove to be a large competitive advantage since Google does not have access to this data, and is unlikely to anytime soon.
To integrate your friends’ likes into your search results, you’ll need to let Bing access your Facebook account. Then, every time you search, you’ll see which sites your friends have liked for that search term. If you want to ask one of your friends a question, you click on their profile picture to send them a Facebook message.
If you’re shopping on Bing and happen to be one of those people who likes input from others, you can post a photo of your choices to your Facebook wall and ask just one or all your friends what they think.
There’s also a new Bing toolbar with a “universal Like button” that allows users to more easily “Like” a web page. And if you’re looking for something in a particular city – say, Orlando hotels – images of your friends who live in the Orlando area will pop up, just in case you need to ask their opinion on your choices.
With social media becoming more integrated with search, it is even more important for attorneys to integrate social media into their law firm marketing programs. The fact is, many attorneys cannot devote the time necessary to become educated about it, nor devote the time it takes to do it effectively. This is why we developed the Rainmaker Automated Blogging and Social Media Program. You can get new leads for your law firm through blogging and social media done for you, for one simple and affordable monthly investment.
The Rainmaker Institute will develop, maintain, manage, track and measure your blogging and social media program across multiple platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, JDSupra, Avvo, YouTube and more.
To learn more about the Rainmaker Automated Blogging and Social Media Program, click here.
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Get All the Law Firm Marketing Strategies You Need to Create A 7-figure Law Practice with Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2!
Newly released! Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 2 includes:
8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals
Discover the proven step-by-step system used to double your referrals from current and former clients and how to build a network of strategic referral partners. Top attorneys have used this exact system to double their referrals in 6 months or less!
7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm
Watch and learn as I walk you through the specific strategies top lawyers are using to increase their revenues in this tough economy-and it doesn’t include reducing their fees!
6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media
Social media has emerged as the fastest way to build a massive platform of prospects! I pull back the curtain and let you in on little known secrets of how attorneys are generating dozens of leads every month from social media.
5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs
Stephen Fairley's interview with nationally recognized personal injury attorney John Bisnar on how his law firm uses search engine optimization and internet marketing to drive tens of thousands of unique visitors every month to his 30 websites and 10 blogs. Discover proven techniques for converting website visitors into paying clients.
Data DVD: Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you experience these information-packed DVDs!
***For Blog Readers, Facebook Friends, Twitter Followers and LinkedIn Connections – we are offering you a $50 discount for Volume 2 and a $100 discount for both Volume 1 and Volume 2 because of your social media presence with The Rainmaker Institute.
Click here now to order!
Will Avvo Help You Land More Clients? Here's How to Tell
Since it’s Friday, I’ll go ahead and put the punch line right up front: Avvo is probably the best advertising vehicle for attorneys out there. But you’ll never know if it works for your practice unless you try it!
While I am not a big fan of traditional advertising, I am a fan of targeted, localized advertising, especially on a site like Avvo that does a great job of SEO, driving over 2 million consumers to its site every month. And every one of those consumers is a potential client for some attorney!
There are two ways attorneys can use Avvo: as part of their overall online law firm marketing program, and as a targeted local advertising vehicle. I have blogged previously on how to do the first; savvy attorneys will at least try the second and there are a couple of ways to do that:
Avvo Pro – For $50 a month, you are not only able to “supercharge” your Avvo profile by spotlighting your peer endorsements and other profile staples, you can also add your blog posts and your live Twitter feed, and get detailed analytics that show you how many people have visited your profile, clicked through to your website and saw your listing in search results. You can also get information on the percentage of Avvo users who searched for an attorney by your practice area and location, and how many of those saw your profile page.
Avvo Ads – Avvo offers two advertising options: sponsored listings that show up at the top of search results, and display ads that appear on Avvo’s most highly trafficked pages. Your ad is targeted by practice area and location – so if a consumer is searching for a DUI attorney in Seattle and you are one, your ad will pop up. Avvo doesn’t make you commit to any long-term contracts (it’s month-to-month), and there are no set-up costs or annual fees for their ads or sponsored listings. You will receive a detailed report on how many potential clients have seen and clicked on your ads. You also have the option of buying out a practice and location category to block competitive ads.
Before you start an Avvo advertising program, I highly recommend polishing your profile so you can earn the highest possible rating. Visit my previous blog on How to Use Avvo.com to Market Your Law Practice for tips on how to do this.
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. Click here to download them now for free, and start using these proven strategies today!
Law Firm Marketing: How Caring Can Be a Competitive Advantage
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Referrals continue to play a huge part in new business for attorneys because they are based on trust, and trust is based on the customer experience.
People will forget what you tell them. They may even forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
One of my employees recently had an experience that illustrates this powerful marketing principle beautifully. She relates...
"I went to the dermatologist the other day for my annual skin scan, a necessary evil when you live in Arizona. As usual, I was handed several forms to update my medical records. The receptionist also handed me another piece of paper and asked me to read it as I waited for the doctor, telling me it was mine to keep.
"I didn’t keep the paper, but I can’t quite forget what was written on it. First, it was clear the doctor had written it himself. My doctor has quite a personality, and it shone through immediately. It was typed with no capitalization and haphazard grammar – clearly not a professional writing job – and it looked as if it had been Xeroxed a thousand times.
"The gist of his message was this: There are circumstances when I will have to take a piece of your skin for a biopsy. Your insurance company requires that we send it to their preferred lab, where results are read by machine. However, my preferred method is to send it to X Lab, where results are examined by medical technicians and shared with me. This gives me the opportunity to confer directly with the biopsy specialist about your diagnosis. I am ultimately the responsible medical party for your health, and this provides me with the comfort of knowing I have obtained the most accurate diagnosis. You should know that your insurance company may charge you a bit more for using X Lab since it is not their policy to use X Lab as a preferred vendor, but it is my policy to obtain the most accurate diagnosis.
"I was unbelievably impressed by this. I did not care one whit that any biopsy may have cost me a little more out-of-pocket. But I did care a lot that my doctor explained this to me in a way that clearly demonstrated his top priority was my health. If anyone I know ever needs a referral to a dermatologist, this guy is certainly at the top of my list!"
What does this have to do with law firm marketing? This story is a perfect illustration of how doing something simple to build trust and a relationship with clients can come back to you many times over in new client referrals and repeat business.
If your clients spend time waiting at your office, consider handing them something to read that will reinforce their trust in you and help you build that referral relationship. When’s the last time a magazine did that for you?
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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!)
- 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.
TV Advertising: The Gray Area of Law Firm Marketing
I received an email the other day from a writer doing a piece on law firm marketing, asking my opinion on TV advertising for attorneys. Does it work? Does it threaten credibility?
If you are a regular reader here, you know I am not a big fan of television ads for lawyers because most of them don’t produce the kind of ROI that I like to get my clients. Most ads fail because they are not meaningful, they don’t target a specific market, or they don’t have a specific call to action.
That being said, whether TV ads work or not depends on a number of variables including:
Practice area – generally, television is used as a medium for consumer law -- PI, bankruptcy, family law, and DUI/criminal – because logically, TV advertising has the greatest reach to the most consumers. There are many group advertising models out there that produce tens of millions of dollars in cases every year from TV ads. Some of my clients have participated in them, but they usually require a $10K to $100K initial buy-in. Usually they are for product liability like Phen-Phen, Vioxx, Prozac and other popular drugs or something like Meso.
Budget —TV ads are known as ‘interruption-based marketing’ -- in other words, they depend on interrupting the consumer who is trying to watch their favorite TV show and get their attention for 30 seconds. All interruption-based marketing is dependant on multiple viewings (repetition) by the consumer of the same ad before they actually take action. So, if you don’t have a big enough budget to repeat the ad multiple times, then it won't likely work very well. Plus, the popularity of DVRs also makes it more likely that consumers will zip right through your TV ad.
Competition -- if you have a lot of competition already using TV ads, then it may be a lost cause because TV is a learned expertise and he/she who has the most experience usually ‘wins’ in advertising. You have to test, test and retest to find out what works and when you figure out the winning combination then you repeat it and test some more. Most attorneys/law firms aren't willing to truly “test” their marketing efforts to verify if they really work.
Attorneys are always afraid of any marketing they perceive to threaten their credibility. Most of this is baloney. The 2 greatest threats to attorneys' credibility are:
The rotten apples. Every city has them—the bad apples in the bunch. If the bar associations were more aggressive in disbarring the truly egregious cases of attorneys who defraud their clients versus going after the small / solo practitioner who can't afford to hire high priced defense counsel, we would all be better off.
Ignorance about legal issues. The internet is clearly the leading source of information people get about lawyers...and many times the internet is WRONG—either because it's outdated or only tells part of the truth.
I can't honestly make a blanket statement that TV ads ‘never work’ because the truth is, if it never worked no one would do it and we can all attest to the number of attorney ads on TV. However, I continue to favor more targeted approaches that can be measured and that have a track record of producing a good return for my law firm marketing clients – developing referral sources through a Strategic Referral Partner program, Internet marketing and social media marketing through blogs and participation in sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
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Get All the Law Firm Marketing Strategies You Need to Create A 7-figure Law Practice with Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2!
Newly released! Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 2 includes:
8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals
Discover the proven step-by-step system used to double your referrals from current and former clients and how to build a network of strategic referral partners. Top attorneys have used this exact system to double their referrals in 6 months or less!
7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm
Watch and learn as I walk you through the specific strategies top lawyers are using to increase their revenues in this tough economy-and it doesn’t include reducing their fees!
6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media
Social media has emerged as the fastest way to build a massive platform of prospects! I pull back the curtain and let you in on little known secrets of how attorneys are generating dozens of leads every month from social media.
5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs
My interview with nationally recognized personal injury attorney John Bisnar on how his law firm uses search engine optimization and internet marketing to drive tens of thousands of unique visitors every month to his 30 websites and 10 blogs. Discover proven techniques for converting website visitors into paying clients.
Data DVD: Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you experience these information-packed DVDs!
***For Blog Readers, Facebook Friends, Twitter Followers and LinkedIn Connections – we are offering you a $50 discount for Volume 2 and a $100 discount for both Volume 1 and Volume 2 because of your social media presence with The Rainmaker Institute.
Click here now to order!
Law Firm Marketing: Try a New Twist to Attract More and Better Clients
It wasn’t too long ago that attorneys who merely had a website stood out for that reason alone. However, that is no longer the case as more and more law firms are waking up to the incredible power the Internet has to help them attract clients.
So what can you do to stand out online in a way that will bring you more and better clients? Here are some tips:
Create a website that zeroes in on your ideal clients. Don't make the common mistake of trying to be everything to every person. People don't want to work with a generalist. They want to trust specialists. When it comes to marketing your law firm online, focus is critical to your success.
Give website visitors a reason to visit you. Every law firm's website has a place for a free consultation. How boring! That's simply not enough to attract someone's attention. Instead, offer an incentive for paying you a visit – start with that free consultation, but then partner with another local business to offer something of value for every visit. What divorcing woman couldn’t use a spa treatment?
If you have multiple practice areas, develop a micro-site for each one. Again, focus is key here. For example, a personal injury lawyer may have a practice specific website for: SUV rollovers, construction accidents, dog bites, and automobile accidents.
Have your content speak your target’s language. Please remember, writing for the Internet is not the same as writing a legal brief. My recommendation is to hire a professional copywriter who has experience writing for law firms.
Work with an SEO firm. Search engine optimization is the technical process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to your law firm's website. Once you have developed your website into exactly the format you want, you can begin using online legal marketing strategies to market it.
Make sure they have experience in the highly competitive field of legal marketing.
Submit educational articles to online directories. There are hundreds of places online where you can submit articles for prospective clients for free. At the very least, post helpful guides on legal directory sites like Avvo and JD Supra, sites that spend much more than you are ever likely to invest to drive traffic to their sites -- use their marketing muscle to expose your expertise to potential clients.
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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!)
- 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: 3 Simple Strategies to Generate More Website Traffic
Build it: Write and publish highly targeted articles. Remember to:
- Clearly identify your target market
- Identify their most painful problem
- Provide your solution to their problem
- Include a call to action – i.e, go to your website to get a free report.
Borrow it: Find a Strategic Referral Partner who currently supports your target market, yet isn't your direct competitor. This could be another attorney, an accountant or CPA, a business coach, or any number of professionals, and is a true win/win relationship. As you share their services with your contacts, they will in turn share your services with the people they know, like, and trust.
Buy it: Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing is probably the most important development in advertising in the past decade. Never before has it been possible to spend so little to have new, precisely targeted customers coming to your website within minutes. However, if all your competitors are using the same keywords to target prospects, you don’t need to add your voice to that fray. Talk to your prospects and clients and find out what words and phrases they use to look for a lawyer in your practice area. Research those keywords and find out how many other people use them, then make a list of 20 to 30 words and phrases to use in your PPC campaign.
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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:
May 13-14, 2011 – Scottsdale, AZ
August 19-20, 2011 – Las Vegas, NV
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, May 12, 2011
12pm PT | 1pm MT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
1pm PT | 2pm MT | 3pm CT | 4pm ET
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
11am PT | 12 pm MT | 1pm CT | 2pm ET
Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
Law Firm Marketing: 3 Myths Attorneys Believe About Referrals
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One of the questions I am asked most frequently is: "How do I find more clients?" We all know that referrals are the best way of finding new clients, but there are 3 common myths I would like to dispel about referrals:
1. Clients are the best source of referrals. This surprises a lot of attorneys when I tell them this is a myth. Clients are simply the most obvious source of referrals, not the best source. There are simply too many variables you cannot control when trying to get more referrals from clients: Do they know all the different services you offer? Can they accurately explain who your ideal target market is? Will they remember you when they meet someone who needs your services? Did they just receive a large bill from you? Every firm should have a client education plan that positions your firm, explains what you offer and keeps your current clients informed as to what's going on in your firm (we will show you how to do this in a future issue), but most attorneys find referrals from current clients happens haphazardly, not consistently.
2. Most referrals come from other attorneys. According to industry research, 25% of an established attorneys practice comes from referrals from other attorneys, so logically about 75% of your clients will come from other sources (this may vary greatly by practice area). A good tip is to set up an easy tracking system as part of your client intake file and then review on a quarterly basis where those leads came from.
3. Formal networking is a great way to get more referrals. Over the years of helping attorneys, we have found that formal networking events (like trade shows and chamber of commerce, etc.) work exceptionally well for a select group of attorneys and not at all for most attorneys. There are a few reasons why: (1) they attend the wrong kind of group -- one filled with their peers not their prospects; (2) most people don’t know how to network properly and so it becomes a game to see how many business cards you can pass out in 2 hours; and (3) there is no plan for following up in a timely manner. You have 48 hours to follow up with a hot lead or they will likely forget about you. If you are a solo practitioner or just starting out we do recommend trying out a formal leads groups, depending on your practice area.
By now you're probably thinking, if all these are myths, then what's the best source of referrals? Strategic Referral Partners (SRPs) are the best source of new referrals. SRPs are people who already have a relationship with or already do business with the people you want to reach. By building a large network of people who already have relationships with your target market, you can reap the benefits of more referrals.
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Learn How to Generate More Referrals at May 11 Webinar
What would happen to your practice if you could have 20, 40, or even 60 new referral sources every single year who consistently send you new clients?
On Wednesday, May 11, I will walk you through the 8 steps of building a network of strategic referral partners during a one-hour webinar beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
You will learn practical skills for:
- Identifying who the best referral sources are for your practice area
- 3 ways to get introduced to them
- How to talk about cross referrals
- Setting, meeting and exceeding expectations
- 7 ways to keep in touch after the initial meeting
Here are the details for the May 11 Webinar on 8 Steps to Generating More Referrals from Attorneys, CPAs, Financial Advisors & Other Professionals:
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
11am-12pm PT | 12-1pm MT | 1-2pm CT | 2-3pm ET
Cost: $97
Click here to register now!
Law Firm Marketing: How to Use Social Media for Competitive Intelligence
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By nature, attorneys are a competitive bunch, but very few know how to turn that competitive nature into a legal marketing advantage. This is especially important for small law firms and solo practitioners, who rarely have the resources to out-market the big law firms.
So if you can’t out-market them, why not out-smart them by using social media tools to gain insight into what your competitors are doing and – more importantly – if what they are doing works or not.
Here are some tips on using social media tools for competitive intelligence:
Find their social media footprint. Go to each competitor’s website and look for links to their social media pages – usually it’s an icon that you can click on that will take you directly to their LinkedIn and Facebook pages, Twitter feed, etc. If it is not displayed on their website, you can search for them on each social media site.
Using LinkedIn for competitive intel. If your competitors have a company page on LinkedIn, you can see a list of their followers (kind of like an online client and prospects list!). You can also scour information on employees and the activities they are engaged in on LinkedIn, which will give you some insight into how they are marketing themselves on this business site.
Using Facebook. You may have to become a fan of your competitor’s page to see everything they are doing. It’s worth it to get inside their Facebook marketing strategy! You can find out how (or if) they are using Facebook to generate leads and how their fans are reacting to what they are doing.
Using Twitter. You can view your competitors’ tweets to learn what kind of strategy they are using and judge its success by the number of followers they have. You can also view all those followers and get information on them through their short bios. One Twitter tool – Tweepi – allows you to see follower details on one screen. Be sure to search on Twitter by username so you can see replies to your competitors’ tweets, which can provide some valuable information on the feedback they’re getting. You can also research what content on a website gets the most retweets – a good sign it’s something followers like that you may want to consider emulating – by using another Twitter search tool called Topsy.
Using social media for competitive intelligence gathering not only helps you learn about what your competitors’ law firm marketing strategies are and how they are working, but also lets you identify areas they may be missing – areas you can fill to fill your legal practice!
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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 AndNationally 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.
How Much Do You Need to Invest in Your Law Firm Marketing Efforts?
Implementing an under-funded marketing plan is just as bad as not using any marketing plan at all because of the Law of 7 Touches – which means it takes 7 to 10 meaningful touches to move someone through the sales process to get them to the point where they are ready to buy from you.
If your marketing plan only has enough steam in it to produce 3 meaningful touches, it will be almost as if you never touched prospects at all because it won't break through all the other marketing efforts made by other attorneys vying for that person’s time and money, including your biggest competitors.
So how much do you need to invest in your marketing efforts?
There are a lot of variables to take into consideration when answering that question. Here are a few you need to consider:
What practice area are you in? Some practice areas require significantly more time and money to market (litigation and personal injury to mention two).
What are your profit margins? The larger your margins, the more you can invest on marketing and new business development. Some practice areas have bigger profit margins (litigation) while others have notoriously low profits (insurance coverage and residential real estate).
What are your annual revenues? It is not unusual for successful law firms to spend between 15% and 40% of their annual revenues on marketing.
Are you targeting other businesses or individual consumers? Any time you are marketing directly to consumers, your marketing budget must be bigger because of the intense competition for consumer’s attention.
What is the size of your competition? Obviously companies trying to take market share from Wal-mart are going to need a lot bigger marketing budget than a beauty salon owner. Analyze your competition— what kind of marketing materials do they put out? How are they positioning their firm?
How sophisticated are your competitors when it comes to marketing? Typical companies in service-based industries and professional services (like law firms) are a lot less sophisticated than other industries.
How much time can you devote towards your marketing plan? In general, the more time you can devote towards implementing the plan, the less money you have to use. For example, if you use direct marketing as part of your plan, you can spend less money and send out fewer messages with less frequency if you're able to follow up with a phone call.
Are you marketing directly to the end user or through a referral source? Marketing to the end users of your service is more difficult than working through an established marketing channel like a referral source.
How long is the typical marketing cycle? How long does someone take to make a decision after they have gathered all the information they need? Is it measured in minutes, days, weeks, or months? The longer the marketing cycle, the more money you need to spend on marketing because after you have given them the information they need, you still need to stay in touch with them.
What's the geographical size of your prospect base? For many professional service firms, like doctors, lawyers and accountants, it is usually limited to up to 25 square miles.
What’s the size of the average sale? How much does your average client spend with you? $500? $5,000? $500K? $5 Million? Typically, the higher the price tag, the more you need to educate your customer as to the benefits of your services and provide more evidence of your credibility.
What's the lifetime value of your average client? How much does your average client spend with you over a given time frame? If they spend $1,000 a month with you year round and the average customer stays with you for 3 years, then the average customer is worth around $36,000 to you. If you know that, you know how much you can afford to spend on landing each customer before it starts to negatively impact your profit margins. If your average client only makes one “purchase” from you and never comes back, then you will need to use lower cost marketing strategies to reach them.
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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.
Can All The Law Firm Marketing Strategies To Create a 7-Figure Law Practice Get Stuffed Into One Box?
They CAN, if it’s the new Rainmaker Institute “Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2!”
If you know anything about online marketing and the Internet, you know that nothing stays the same for very long. Things that were effective last year now don’t work at all. Tricks that got your website on the first page of Google search results 6 months ago are old hat and ineffective.
Fortunately, we’re staying on top of the trends and cutting edge strategies for you. We have one aim in mind – to teach you how to use these little known strategies so you can get more and more qualified leads and dominate your marketplace; to help you create the law firm of your dreams.
Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2 includes:
8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals
Do you have a referral plan? An actual written plan where you can measure your success? Discover the proven step-by-step system used to double your referrals from current and former clients and how to build a network of strategic referral partners. Top attorneys have used this exact system to double their referrals in 6 months or less!
7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm
This recession has hit the legal industry incredibly hard! How is it possible that some attorneys are bucking the trends and having their best years ever? Watch and learn as I walk you through the specific strategies top lawyers are using to increase their revenues in this tough economy-and it doesn’t include reducing their fees! You can’t afford to miss these!
6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media
Do you want to learn how to leverage LinkedIn? Feed Facebook? Tweak Twitter and use YouTube to generate more leads for your law firm? Social media has emerged as the fastest way to build a massive platform of prospects! I pull back the curtain and let you in on little known secrets of how attorneys are generating dozens of leads every month from social media. We guarantee you have never seen any social media system like this one!
5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs
My interview with nationally recognized personal injury attorney John Bisnar on how his law firm uses search engine optimization and internet marketing to drive tens of thousands of unique visitors every month to his 30 websites and 10 blogs. Discover proven techniques for converting website visitors into paying clients.
Data DVD:
Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you experience these information-packed DVDs!
***For Blog Readers, Facebook Friends, Twitter Followers and LinkedIn Connections – we are offering you a $50 discount for Volume 2 and a $100 discount for both Volume 1 and Volume 2 because of your social media presence with The Rainmaker Institute.
Click here now to order!
Law Firm Marketing: Which Market Should You Target?
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As a general rule, a small law practice will have great difficulty successfully targeting more than two to three different markets at the same time. It is much better to focus 60-70% of your time on one market, 20-30% on your secondary market, and whatever time you have left that cannot be put to better use on the first two markets, spent targeting a third market.
When trying to identify the target market that’s a proper fit for your practice, look at three areas:
Level of Interest. Energy, enthusiasm and passion are contagious. You must be able to consistently display all three when talking to or about your target market. If you are not truly interested in a particular population, you will not be successful in convincing them to hire your legal services.
Personal and Professional Experience. You will find it much easier to attract clients and consumers with whom you have something in common—work experience in a specific industry, holding a certain position in a company, being in a particular life stage, or living a particular lifestyle. Think about all of the life experiences you have had and find ways to capitalize on them. People are attracted to others with whom they have things in common and to others who project the life they want to live. Do not believe the myth that you can be all things to all people. You will only succeed in confusing your true target market. You will build your law practice faster if you focus on the practice areas that pertain to your core legal expertise.
Geographic Location. The overwhelming majority of small law practices find most of their clients within 30 miles of their office because it takes multiple contacts with a person or company before they decide to hire you – plus, the greatest likelihood of having multiple contacts is to be in close physical proximity to them. While some business owners tout how effective their website or e-newsletter is in attracting new clients, there are two realities you must realize: first, it takes an extraordinary amount of time and money to truly attract enough potential clients through Internet marketing to make a sustainable business; second, unless you practice in a low population area, you are missing 80% of your possible business if you minimize or ignore the people directly around you.
The more these three areas overlap, the better chance you have of finding an ideal target market.
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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.
Law Firm Marketing: Take a Systematic Approach for Converting Leads into Clients
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Do you have the right system in place for converting leads into clients, and then from paying clients into staying clients?
If the answer is no, you’re not alone. Many law firms fail to take a systematic approach to lead conversion and client retention. But you most definitely should.
First, identify any software needed to assist in automating the process. The more you can automate, the lower your costs will be. Tracking software is readily available at a relatively low cost, compared to the expense of doing it manually. Good client-tracking software can be shared across multiple computers and can generate easily interpreted reports for the firm’s decision makers.
Second, try to automate the firm’s follow-up process. Develop follow-up sequences for:
- Direct mail – what do you send to prospects and clients? Postcards? Email? Letters? This can be a very labor-intensive process or it can be highly automated. It’s your choice.
- Autoresponder Email Series – Develop a series of email messages to be sent at regularly scheduled intervals that can convey your messaging in a timely manner to your prospects.
- Phone calls – Develop a schedule of calls so that they don’t fall through the cracks. Some of the tracking software can automatically place them into your calendar for you.
Third, develop rules of engagement for a sales driven law firm. Some things to identify from the outset are:
- What is being said? - Know your key messages about your firm, as well as information about your prospect’s business and needs
- Who is saying what? – Who are the principal contacts for prospects? Is the task shared or centralized?
- How often are prospects contacted? – Staying top-of-mind without being obnoxious is a delicate balance
As you ramp up your legal marketing efforts, these questions and systems will serve you well.
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Phoenix Legal Networking Group Networking Event is April 20
If you are like a lot of Phoenix attorneys you have spent a lot of time, energy and money building your website and trying to attract qualified prospects to your site. So the real question is, what happens when they get there? How many of them pick up the phone and call you? How many set up an appointment with your office or email you to request a free consultation?
Attorneys who really see the power of the Internet and want to learn how to leverage it to generate qualified leads understand that it's not only important to measure how many unique visitors are coming to your website each month, but also quantifying your “conversion rate” from website visitors into phone calls or emails. If you want to know how to convert more prospects into paying clients from your website then you absolutely need to attend this month’s event!
Come join us for a powerful evening of networking with your local peers as Stephen Fairley presents What Prospects Love! How to Compel Your Website Visitors into Picking Up the Phone & Calling You on Wednesday, April 20 at 5:30 p.m. Discover:
- How to track and measure leads from your website
- What metrics really count when measuring the success of your website
- How to easily add a free tracking tool to your website that will tell you everything you need to know
- What techniques do not work on your website
- 3 low cost tools that can dramatically and immediately increase conversions from your website
The networking event and marketing seminar will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe.
Cost is $25 if you register by April 18, $30 if you register by April 19 and $35 on the day of the event. This covers drinks, hors d’oeurves, the networking event and the workshop.
To register for our April 20 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.
How to Use Avvo.com to Market Your Law Practice
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I am fully aware that there are attorneys out there who are squeamish about sites like Avvo and I get it—one of the major reasons why a lot of attorneys don’t like social media sites like Avvo is because they cannot control it.
Ironically, this is the same reason so many consumers are flocking to sites like Avvo -- to find "unbiased" reviews of services and products to guide them in their own decision-making.
Just like anyone can go on Google or Yelp and write a positive or negative review of your business, so they can go to Avvo and do the same. At least Avvo has a clear mechanism whereby you can dispute a false or misleading review and they will even remove it if proven false (which most other sites don’t do). These types of consumer review sites are becoming more and more popular and influential with the search engines.
If you're thinking about ignoring your profile on Avvo, here's something to consider: Avvo is very good at search engine optimization. So in all likelihood, when you type your name into Google, your Avvo profile will often come up on the first page of results. I believe they are quickly becoming a major force in Internet marketing for attorneys.
Here's my advice: You don’t have to like Avvo to benefit from Avvo. They are here to stay and are becoming a force to be reckoned with so...learn how to use them to build and influence your law firm’s Internet presence and generate more business!
Here are the steps you should take for incorporating Avvo into your law firm marketing program:
Claim your profile. This process is free and allows you to update your contact information and add information about you and your law firm.
Put your full resume into Avvo. This can go a long way to improving your rating.
Add all the seminars you have given, awards you have received, and articles you have written. These items can also improve your rating.
Add your photo. I have heard reports that profiles with a photo are clicked on up to 10 times more than profiles without photos.
Add videos. If you have videos put them into your Avvo profile. While they won't improve your rating, it will give potential clients who are checking you out online an opportunity to see who you are, how you articulate your answers, and will position you as more of an “expert.” The production quality of your videos does not matter nearly as much as the information you include in them. It's all about education-based marketing—educating your prospects.
Answer user’s questions. Over 5,000 consumers every week ask legally related questions on Avvo. Please be sure to put a standard disclaimer on each response, i.e., that your reply does not constitute legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship, etc.
Create Avvo “Legal Guides” for your top 10 questions. If you're like most attorneys, you constantly get asked a common set of questions. Write down these FAQs and write a short (1-3 pages) response to each one. Make each question a legal guide. Keep the questions and answers highly focused on a specific topic. Be sure to add a disclaimer on each guide.
Ask all your attorney friends to endorse you. This can make a big difference in your rating. Just like a referral from another attorney in the real world makes a big impression on a prospect, so having a reference from another attorney or a judge on your Avvo profile can improve your rating.
Ask your clients to write a testimonial for you on Avvo. Client testimonials do NOT have a positive or negative impact on your rating. However, I assure you, potential clients read them!
Put your Avvo badge on your website or blog. Avvo allows you to create a “badge” with your profile score on it that links directly to your Avvo profile.
Consider signing up for Avvo Pro. There is a small monthly fee for this, but it provides you with all sorts of statistics like, how many people clicked on your profile, etc. You should also consider advertising on Avvo. If you read my blog frequently or have attended our law firm marketing boot camp, you know I'm not a big fan of advertising. However, I've heard anecdotally from two attorneys now who are finding some success with an Avvo ad campaign in their local area. In fact, one of my criminal defense clients signed up his first client within 6 hours of his Avvo ad going live. Please note, I'm not saying those results are typical because I'm sure they aren't. However, if you have the budget, I think it's worth testing it out.
You can either ignore Avvo and hope they will just go away (they won’t) or you can learn how to leverage them to your benefit.
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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:
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.
Law Firm Marketing: How to Turn Pain Into Gain
It can be argued that one of the primary reasons why a person or company hires an attorney is to alleviate their "pain." They may use the words "goal," "challenge" "problem" or "issue," but easing their pain is why they are asking for your assistance.
I encourage lawyers to start actively looking for a prospect’s principal "pain," because when their "pain" becomes too big for them to ignore or too excruciating to handle is the time they call out for help.
Unfortunately, when a person or company is in pain, there are some common problems:
- They may not be thinking too clearly and may make irrational decisions (like hiring the wrong lawyer).
- They don't use the right terms to describe their pain (they ask for mediation when they really want a divorce lawyer).
- They may not see what's really causing their pain (they may focus on the immediate or surface problem and not see the root cause, in which case their pain may resurface in the future).
- They may use things or people to conceal the true source of their pain (they may point to the wrong person or company as the source of their pain).
- You can use this knowledge to increase your effectiveness.
Key Points to Remember:
- You must know how your prospects typically define and describe their "pain."
- You must talk about the problem using their language.
- They will feel you listened to them if you ask them a lot of questions about their problem and their pain.
- Don't waste time describing the process you will use to resolve their pain, instead focus on helping them understand your solution and results.
- You must give them a sense of hope, that things can get better and you know how to help.
- You must project confidence in your ability to help.
- You must listen to them and make them feel understood before they will listen to you.
In order to be successful, you must clearly and consistently state how you and your services can resolve your prospect’s pain.
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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book
In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.
Get your complimentary copy online here.
Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.
We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.
Law Firm Marketing: 10 Ideas for Creating Press Releases
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One of the many effective law firm marketing techniques is creating press releases that have been deliberately written to be picked up by search engines, helping you drive more potential clients to your website.
However, I’ve often found that our clients struggle with coming up with topics, month after month. Here are 10 topic ideas for press releases:
- Comment on current news events.
- Introduce a special report that people can get for free at your website.
- Discuss a big case that just settled.
- Announce newly hired attorneys joining your firm.
- Announce an award, accomplishment or appointment.
- Announce an appearance you or someone in the firm is making.
- Announce pro-bono work you’re doing.
- Issue a protest about a specific topic.
- Discuss how a legislative change may affect your clients.
- Announce special events, like a firm’s anniversary.
There are a variety of free press release submission websites, but be aware that they will tag your release with advertising (that’s why it’s free to you). If you take the time to invest in a press release strategy, you should also invest in distributing it in a way that will get you the most coverage – we use PRWeb (www.prweb.com), where you can submit a release starting at $80 per release to reach online audiences.
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. You can download them now free! Click here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!
Law Firm Marketing: How to Gain A Competitive Edge
The Super Bowl last weekend reminded me that legal marketing is as competitive as any sport. A well-prepared coach will know the facts about his opponent. A well-prepared trial attorney will not only study their case, but also their opponent.
Marketing your law firm consists of quite a bit of information gathering; learning about top competitors is one of the first steps.
Below is a list of ideas you can use to become acquainted with your competitors to gain an important edge in law firm marketing:
- Review and analyze their website. You will be surprised what a law firm will reveal on their website. Studying their website will give you some important clues about their level of professionalism too.
- Enlist a friend's help to interview their associates as a potential client. Be prepared with a list of questions before they place the actual call. Choose questions that will reveal important data about the competition. A simple telephone call can produce a wealth of information about the competition’s law firm marketing techniques.
- Ask them to mail you some information about their law firm. The type of legal marketing material they send out will speak volumes about who they are and how they conduct business.
- Sign-up for their online newsletter or e-newsletter (using your personal email address, of course).
- Use Google to further bolster your law marketing strategic planning. Type in the keywords and phrases someone would use to find your practice area. For example, "LA PI lawyer" or "Real Estate Attorney Chicago" or "Estate Planning Lawyer in Manhattan". Study the top ten websites that come up. These are your most aggressive online competitors because they didn't get there by mistake.
- Talk to local recruiters to find out if they are hiring. Recruiters are a great resource; they often talk to clients daily and can give you the inside info.
- Review local newspapers and trade magazines to see how 'visible' they are. Create a Google Alert for each of your competitors so you can receive news feeds about them as they happen.
- Ask fellow attorneys what they know about the competition. If they have had business dealings with them, get as many details as possible.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions and to investigate as much as possible. Your successful competitors, no doubt, are learning about you too if they are using the best law firm marketing techniques.
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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book
In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.
Get your complimentary copy online here.
Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.
We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.
Law Firm Marketing: 10 Steps Toward Strategic Marketing
Here is a reprint of an article I authored that appeared in a recent issue of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Law Practice Management newsletter:
With so many ways to market your law firm and its services, which vehicles should you pursue? Take a closer look at 10 components of an effective marketing action plan.
Creating a law firm marketing action plan is a crucial step in your efforts to attract quality clients. This task can be very time-consuming, so many attorneys and professional colleagues in their firms (including principal administrators, who may be charged with the firm’s marketing-related endeavors) unwisely choose to skip it.
I cannot stress enough the impact a law firm marketing action plan can have on the success of your law firm. Although developing such a plan can take considerable time (from a few days to a few weeks, depending on your firm’s size, the number of people involved, and the plan’s scope), it is absolutely critical that you do so. Failing to create one can cost your firm valuable clients and long-term revenue growth. A reliable, effective law firm marketing action plan has 10 key components, described below.
1. Executive Summary and Company Overview
Although the executive summary appears first, it is actually the last part of the marketing plan you will write. This summary – which provides a simple, to-the-point overview of your firm, its people, and its services – allows readers to understand exactly what your law firm offers and how your firm can help them.
2. Your Firm’s Services
Here you need to describe your firm’s services in detail. Include why you have chosen to offer this particular service to a specific target market and indicate what benefits you will offer. Benefits are not the same as features. A feature is merely something your firm’s service does, but the benefit is the end result or value that your service gives to the client.
This is important because your prospects care only about what is in it for them. Your prospects want to know exactly why they should trust your firm with the solution to their problems. When creating this part of your legal marketing plan, you must appeal to the needs and pains of your clients – they have serious problems and are looking for solutions from a trusted adviser.
3. Your Ideal Target Market
Identifying your ideal target market is likely the most important part of your law firm marketing action plan. If you waste your legal marketing efforts on only a mass-market campaign – through the Yellow Pages, TV, or radio, for instance – you will be surprised at how fast you can get to nowhere. Targeting the wrong clients will not only be a waste of time and energy, but a very costly mistake.
4. Know Your Competition
Knowing your firm’s principal competitors will enable you to one-up them with better service packages or other offers to encourage prospects to contact your firm.
5. “SWOT” Analysis
SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. When completing this part of your legal marketing plan, you should recognize your firm’s strengths, be aware of its weaknesses, explore opportunities (e.g., expanding your firm’s services, offering a higher level of service to clients, etc.), and be aware of potential threats. Include all of these items in your law firm’s marketing plan.
6. Your Unique Competitive Advantage
Consider this critical question: If an ideal client for your firm asked, “Why should I hire you instead of your competitor?” what would you say? Your “unique competitive advantage answers this question. How is your firm different, better, or uniquely positioned to best serve this client, and how do you articulate that value proposition to the client? Every person in your law firm should know and be able to clearly explain to anyone the firm’s unique competitive advantage.
7. Marketing Strategies
Attorneys often find new clients through referrals, speaking engagements, networking, print and online advertising, promotional events (like trade shows), and through the media (publicity). Which of these are useful for your firm’s marketing plan? While advertising is popular, it is often the least effective marketing approach for lawyers. What will your firm do? How often? How will you make your firm’s marketing strategies practical, consistent, and different from those of other law firms?
8. Financial Plan
Being honest about your firm’s finances is essential. How much money does the firm need to make every month just to cover expenses (including personnel, rent, partner draws, etc.)? How many new clients must the firm sign up to generate that cash flow?
9. Contingency Planning
This is also known as “Plan B.” What will you do if the marketing plan for your firm doesn’t pan out? Consider what can go wrong. Once you identify the obstacles and how to overcome them, your plan will have a higher likelihood of success.
10. Firm Success Stories and Attorney Biographies
This section is all about your firm and its human assets. On your firm’s Web site and in any other marketing materials, discuss your firm’s success stories (especially those involving its ideal target market). Emphasize your attorneys’ collective professional experience and why they are qualified to assist potential clients.
Moving Forward
Follow these 10 steps and you will be well on your way to creating a comprehensive law firm marketing action plan. Set aside time to complete it and then to put it into action. Follow your plan closely for 90 days, and then to assess it for any changes or updates.
If marketing a law firm were easy, every lawyer in every firm would have a seven-figure practice. It’s not easy, but it is necessary. As the old saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail.
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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!)
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Law Firm Marketing: Is Your Law Firm The Victim of a Crime?
The biggest crime in law firms today goes unnoticed. It is not reported in the media. There are no police reports filed and firms don’t even mention it on their websites. People don't talk about it on the street and partners often overlook it. Even though this crime is rampant, its presence is so subtle that many attorneys fail to recognize when it is happening.
The biggest crime in law firms today is the crime of being forgotten.
SIGNS OF THE CRIME
Here are some signs that your firm has fallen victim to the crime of being forgotten:
- Decrease in year over year revenues
- Less than 5,000 people a month visiting your website
- Less than a dozen inquiries every month from prospective new clients
- Losing large or long-term client accounts
- High staff turnover
- Inability to attract and retain top people
- No mention of your firm in the media in the last 3 months
- Less repeat business from clients
- No word of mouth referrals coming in the door
STEPS TO SOLVE THE CRIME
There are many things you can do as an attorney to help people remember you, starting here:
1. Focus on the question that every client wants to know: What's in it for me?
At the end of the day, clients are only interested in what you can do for them. Your job is to tell them what your service can do for them personally and remember- they do not want to spend time looking for the answer. The answer to this question must be one of the first things your clients see on your website and in your firm-wide communications. If your clients are going to remember you, you must first answer the question "What's in it for them?"
2. What differentiates your service from everyone else?
For every service you provide there are hundreds if not thousands of other attorneys who can provide the same services that you can. So why should someone hire you versus your competitor across the street or down the suite?
In other words, what is your UCA-your "Unique Competitive Advantage"? What can a client get from you that they cannot get from anyone else? Perhaps it is your credibility or the creative way you bring solutions to your clients. You must determine what differentiates your firm from anyone else and market that point.
When creating your UCA, one of the keys is to not use either quality or service. The reason is that every attorney says they provide quality and service (even though we know they don't). Therefore quality and service have become meaningless when it comes to differentiating your service because every client expects quality and service and will not do business with any attorney that doesn't have both already. Your UCA must be creative, yet accurately reflect who you are, what you offer that no one else does, and most importantly directly addresses the challenges of your target market.
3. All of your communication must be emotionally impactful.
Anyone can quote statistics or develop an advertisement on a cognitive level, but the most effective way to ensure a lasting impact on your clients is to communicate with them on an emotional level. You must find their "pain." What is it about their business, life, family, time, or environment that is causing pain? Are they not working or working too much? Is their business growing too fast or too slow? Is their family falling apart? Do they have a hard time tracking their employees? Find their pain and communicate with them on an emotional level about how you can help heal their pain and make their business, life, family, time or environment pleasurable.
4. Distinguish your benefits from your features and communicate them clearly.
Features are what your service does. Benefits are why your client needs your service. For every feature you have, you must tell your client what the benefit is. Is your firm better, faster, guaranteed or more personal? Will your service create more clients, decrease turnover, or increase profit margins? These are all great features, but you must tell your clients how this benefits them specifically.
5. Reduce the risk of working with you.
Many of our clients work at small law firms that have services similar to those at larger, more established firms. Why should your potential client buy your service over the big firm’s service? Are they taking a risk with a firm that may not be around 5 or 10 years from now? Is it just because you offer a lower price?
While no one can predict the future of your firm, the savvy attorney recognizes the need to develop creative ways to reduce the risk of their clients in working with them. How could you lower the risk of your clients if they are concerned about working with a solo practitioner or a small law firm?
6. How effective is your cheapest form of marketing: your business card?
Your business card is the cheapest form of marketing. I buy 5,000 new business cards every year and make it my goal to pass out all of them. Most attorneys make the mistake of only using the front side of their business card and leave the biggest part (the back) completely untouched. Examine your business card as if you were one of your target clients. Does it tell them succinctly who you are, what you do and how you can help them? If not, perhaps it is time to redesign it. Use the back of your card to focus on the benefits, results, and value you bring your target market.
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. You can download them now free! Click here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!
Law Firm Marketing: Create a Cost-Efficient Process for Converting Leads to Clients
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Tracking the cost of converting your leads to clients is what takes you from spending money to making money, which it is the reason you are in business.
The first step is to work with staff to identify the stages of going from prospect to paying client. Some questions to be considered include:
- Who is involved in the process?
- How many steps are there?
- Who originates the process?
- Who keeps it moving?
- Who closes the process?
- Who tracks the process and prompts those involved?
- What does each step in the process cost?
Look closely at your process and look for opportunities to shorten the process wherever possible. Look for redundant actions and duplication of staff that can be eliminated. Your goal is to have a lean process that delivers the results you are looking for.
Secondly, identify Cost Per Lead (CPL) and strategies for reducing cost per lead. You cannot do this without the previous step. If you don’t have a handle on your process and its costs, you cannot reduce your cost per lead. Some questions for this process are:
- How many leads are produced?
- How much does it cost to obtain a new client?
- How much revenue does each client bring in?
Once you know your process and the incremental cost of each step, you can then begin to whittle down your costs as you take steps toward making your process more efficient. Legal marketing, like any other business process, needs to be as efficient as possible while still delivering the desired results. These questions will get you started on road to streamlining your process and improving your lead conversion ratio.
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Can’t Make It to a Rainmaker Retreat? 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!
Law Firm Marketing: The 5 Major Mistakes Lawyers Make on Their Websites
Marketing for lawyers is an essential part of a law firm business. If you do not market your law firm, few will know you exist. Your law firm relies on finding quality prospects – and there is no better tool for this than the Internet (remember that referrals will likely check out your website prior to calling you to see if you might be a good fit for their needs).
Here are five law firm marketing mistakes many lawyers make on their websites:
1. Using legal jargon - Although your website is for a law firm, you will want to stay away from the legal terminology. You must remember that your potential clients are average citizens who do not have a law degree. Reading legal terminology is way too difficult for someone who does not have experience in this field.
More than likely, if you do create a website that is too hard to read, people will quit without getting too far. You actually only have about thirty seconds before they decide to either keep reading or move onto the next website.
2. Not targeting your Ideal Target Market (ITM) - Many times lawyers will not take the time to evaluate their ITM. This mistake can very well cost you quality prospects. Once you clearly define your target market you need to clearly communicate it on your website. Otherwise, you end up wasting time and energy on low quality prospects.
3. Using a legal directory website - This is not a good idea for your first website. They will set you up with a sub domain on their website. You must have your own domain. You should not lease, rent or license your website domain from anyone. Don't leave the chances of your success online in some else's hands.
4. Not incorporating a blog into your website – Google loves fresh content, and the best way to keep adding fresh content to your website is by incorporating a blog. Attorneys who consistently rank high in search add content to their site 3-5 times a week through blogging.
5. Not using the right keywords - This can be a very serious website mistake. Your goal is to have qualified prospects visit your law firm's website. Those people will be searching by typing in familiar words or phrases for what they need information on. These words or phrases are known as keywords. You want to include these keywords in your content, so that your website will be one that pulls you up on the ranking page.
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Phoenix Legal Networking Group: Learn about Advanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategies for Law Firms at our February 10 Meeting
At the February 10 Phoenix Legal Networking Group meeting, Stephen Fairley will make a presentation on Advanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategies for Law Firms.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art and science of artificially boosting your website and blog to the top of the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing). Join us at the Phoenix Legal Networking Group and learn advanced SEO strategies to help you achieve first page rankings.
Whether you are working on a new website, launching your first site, or want to take your current website to the front page of Google, you absolutely need to hear about these strategies.
You will discover:
- 7 critical components of Google's search engine ranking algorithm
- How Google views your website
- Why “long tail” search is better and how to apply this secret strategy
- Does social media matter when it comes to search engine ranking
- Why Google loves blogs and how to leverage this powerful technology!
The networking event and marketing seminar will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 10 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe.
Cost is $20 per person if you register by February 8, $30 if you register by February 9 and $35 on the day of the event. This covers drinks, hors d’oeurves, the networking event and the workshop.
To register for our February 10 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.
Why SEO is Critical to Your Law Firm Marketing Success
If gaining new clients is important to your business, then making sure your site is optimized is vitally important. If your site doesn’t come up on top when people are searching for keywords related to your services, you are missing out on getting new clients – and your competitors are likely picking them up.
Here is some important information that explains why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is important to attorneys:
Validation: Potential clients may have already decided that they are likely to hire your firm or possibly a specific lawyer at your firm due to your existing reputation or based on a referral. However statistics and Internet studies show that now, more than ever, people are searching online to help establish trust and comfort before engaging someone’s services. They want to see pictures, read credentials and they also try to get a glimpse of your vibe and style from your website. They may search by an attorney’s name or the firm name, but they are also likely to search by keyword phrases like “family law attorney in Los Angeles”.
Searching is a habit: It has been noted that a lot of people (probably more than you think) use Google instead of typing in a URL. They often have Google set as their home page and find it easier to just search for a keyword phrase or your name or firm name, rather than type in a URL. Even though it is usually pretty easy to get ranked on your name or firm name, that isn’t always the case and they may not find you unless you have good search engine presence.
Hitting the net before the pavement: Before going to physical office locations, consumers are using search engines to find service providers and doing research before calling or going for a consultation.
Local Search and Geo-targeting: An increasingly popular vertical of the search industry is local search, especially with the advent of smart phones and mobile Internet access. People are more often searching for region-specific products and services. We see more and more searches like “Los Angeles criminal attorney” and with geo-targeting people no longer even need to type in the regional parameter. The engines can pinpoint your location to within 7 miles of where you are from your IP address (the exception to that is AOL, where it appears that everyone is in Virginia). So a search for “criminal attorney” by someone in Los Angeles would turn up different results than the same search done by someone in San Francisco. Making sure you are optimized is important so your site comes up on top – especially if someone is searching on their Blackberry and looking specifically for a local office.
Phone books are big, heavy and not as convenient as Google: A majority of consumers now use Google instead of the phone book if they want to find a service provider. A survey earlier this month by Harris Interactive showed that nearly 7 out of 10 American adults rarely or never use the white pages phone book for looking up phone numbers and addresses for people or businesses, 87 percent support opt-in initiatives where they would receive the phone book only if requested, and 60 percent of online adults find the contact information they need through online channels (online directories -- 29 percent, search engines -- 28 percent or social networks -- 3 percent).
Our January e-newsletter talks about SEO for Attorneys: What It Is and How to Leverage It. To access the newsletter, click here.
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Now is the time to create your Lifestyle Law Firm!
The Rainmaker Retreat is where we teach lawyers how they can have it all; increase the number of clients they have, double their income, and yet work less. Build and create a 'lifestyle' law firm that is professionally satisfying, but allows you the time to do what is important to you.
Here are the dates for upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:
- February 25-26, 2011 - Orlando, Florida
- March 11-12, 2011 - New Brunswick, New Jersey
- April 8-9, 2011 - San Diego, CA
If you take advantage of the Early Bird Special (only available when you register at least 2 weeks in advance of the event), you receive $300 worth of extra benefits!
Discount Pricing is available for multiple attendees from the same firm.
For more information please call: 888-588-5891 or visit www.RainmakerRetreat.com.
How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your Legal Marketing Strategies
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Perhaps you’ve heard of that old marketing adage: what gets measured gets done? Here are some tips on how to measure the effectiveness of your legal marketing strategies:
Develop reports for tracking effectiveness of marketing efforts. When you are starting out, take the time to determine what you want to know. What kind of information do you need to give effective feedback and measurement of your legal marketing strategies? When you are developing your reports, don’t just look at what data you think you will generate. Instead, design your system and your reports to generate the data you want.
Create metrics for quantifying ROI of all major marketing initiatives. This may sound complicated, but it really isn’t. What you want to do is create a system of measurement that allows you to track the Return on Investment on all of your major initiatives. If an initiative costs $10,000 per year, and yields $50,000 in new business, you have a 500% ROI. But you have to be able to track both the costs and the new business that flows from that initiative.
Take the time to train your staff. The best-laid plans are useless if they are not executed well. Training your staff allows two beneficial things to happen. First, you get the data you want. Second, it frees up your time so that you can focus on the tasks that have the highest value within your law firm. You don’t want the high-dollar billing staff doing things that should be handled by junior or clerical staff. That is an inefficient use of your human resources.
There are a number of ways to measure your data, but you first have to decide what you want to know. Once you have that answered, you can design a measurement system that will give you the data on your law firm marketing activities that you desire.
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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!)
- 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.
How to Increase the Effectiveness of Your Law Firm Marketing Plan
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As you review the systems your law firm must have to be successful, pay particular attention to your law firm marketing plan and the systems that support it. A well-designed plan is practically useless if you do not have strong systems to support the legal marketing strategies in your plan.
Here are some tips on how you can develop systems that will make your law firm marketing efforts more effective:
- Create a written 12-month marketing plan for the law firm. Put down in writing all of the goals and steps necessary to achieve those goals.
- Develop processes and procedures to capture major marketing metrics and data. You have to know the “lay of the land” if you are to be effective.
- Identify major lead sources and create tracking mechanisms to measure results. Know where your referrals and leads come from and chart the volume of those leads and referrals.
- Develop reports for tracking the effectiveness of your law firm marketing efforts. You have to know what is working and what is not. Don’t waste time and money on techniques that are not effective for you.
- Create metrics for quantifying ROI of all major marketing initiatives. If technique A has a ROI of 10 and Technique B has a ROI of 5, which one should receive the bulk of your attention?
- Develop an online marketing system to generate leads and prospects from the Internet. Use your website, blogs, news releases and YouTube videos to help generate leads for your firm.
- Build a system to develop relationships with potential referral sources and generate consistent referrals from them. Take people to lunch. Meet face-to-face and ask how you can help them with their business.
- Create a system for connecting with prospects, clients and referral sources on a regular, consistent basis. This include monthly newsletters, annual client satisfaction surveys, keep-in-touch letters, referral education system, etc.
- Train your staff on how to use the systems you have put in place. The best plans in the world are useless if they are not implemented.
Following these guidelines will help you design a legal marketing system that will generate leads and referrals, allow you to convert those leads into clients, who will then generate more leads and referrals. But remember: it does take time, and some money, to make it work.
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money!
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. You can download them now free! Go here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!
Law Firm Marketing: How to Successfully Brand Your Law Practice
Usually when most attorneys think of their legal practice, the word “brand” doesn’t readily come to mind. But it should. And here’s why.
Developing your unique brand is essential for effective law firm marketing because prospective clients:
- Have many, many attorneys in your practice area and geographic area to choose from.
- Believe all attorneys are equal.
- Want to know why they should select you for their attorney.
Developed correctly, your brand can help differentiate your practice from the competition. It should:
- Deliver your message clearly
- Confirm your credibility
- Connect with your target prospects emotionally
- Motivate your prospects to become clients
- Create client loyalty
To help you begin branding your legal practice, here are 8 questions for you to answer: (If you find these difficult to answer, ask them of the people you trust. Often they’ll see aspects you’ll take for granted, because these aspects come so naturally to you.)
- Who are you? (Think in terms of roles, values, personal qualities and who you are in relation to others.)
- What are your natural gifts and strengths?
- What have you experienced in your life and career?
- What specialized training have you received?
- In what areas are you already well connected?
- In what areas do you feel uniquely qualified to serve your clients?
- Where are you perceived as an expert?
- How do you bring out the best in others?
Although these questions may seem rather simple on the surface, they are designed to help you dig deeply into what makes you and your practice unique. Once you have a clearer idea of what makes you and your practice unique, then the next step -- identifying clients – will come even easier.
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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 Find Referrals Through Formal Networking
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One law firm marketing tactic that consistently helps most law firms get new clients is referrals. There are several different ways to get those referrals: initiating a strategic referral development program, informal networking and formal networking.
“Formal networking” involves attending an organized group event such as industry trade shows, bar meetings, rotary clubs, special interest groups, political groups, etc.
Here are 7 tips for finding new clients through formal networking:
Join the right groups: Not legal groups or groups where a lot of attorneys gather (unless you get a lot of your business from other attorneys). You need to go where the decision makers meet, not the gatekeepers.
Join elite groups: Groups that cost several hundred dollars a year are better than cheap groups; groups that require a member to sponsor you are even better.
Use an “audio logo”: An audio logo is an idea or statement that clearly and succinctly tells who your intended audience is and what you can do for them.
Most people want to talk about what interests them. They don’t want to talk to someone who’s only interested in how to get their business. So you can use an audio logo to attract attention. Be prepared to give case examples of how you have helped others.
Here is an example of an audio logo: “I help (who your clients are) to (what your solution is or how you solve their problems.)”
Remember your primary purpose: Remember your primary purpose in going to networking events is NOT to get new clients. Your primary purpose is to BUILD A RELATIONSHIP with potential referral sources and to offer yourself as a referral source to them. If you’re going to networking events to get new clients you are not only wasting your time, but you are also coming across as either pushy or desperate to the people you’re meeting.
When you understand the real reason for going to networking events, it takes all the pressure to perform off and keeps you focused on a more productive purpose—building relationships with people you could help and who may also be of help to you.
Ask open-ended questions: Use the 80/20 Rainmaker Rule when you meet them. Ask open ended questions like:
- What do you like best about the work you do?
- What are the biggest challenges your industry/company/profession is facing?
- Where do you find most of your clients?
- Who is your target market?
- If one of your prospects asks what makes you different from your competitors, what do you say?
- How would I know if the person I’m talking to would be a good referral for you?
Be intentional in your follow-up: It does absolutely no good to go to a bunch of networking events, talk to people, collect business cards, and not follow-up. You must have a plan and reasons for following up with people you meet. Your primary reason is to learn more about their business and see if you would be a good referral source for them.
Track your efforts:
- Contact’s name and full information.
- Follow-up method used—phone, email letter.
- Date of 1st follow-up.
- Dates of each additional follow-up.
- Date of first face-to-face meeting.
- Follow-up efforts.
- Results of efforts.
- Notes.
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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!)
- 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.
Facebook Now Third Most Important Marketing Tactic for Small Businesses
According to a new survey by email marketing firm Constant Contact, Facebook is now the third most important marketing tactic – behind websites and email marketing – for U.S. small businesses.
More than 1,400 small business marketers were surveyed, with 93 percent reporting that websites were the most important marketing tool for finding new customers. Email marketing ranked second, with 92 percent, and Facebook was third with 63 percent (up from 50 percent six months ago).
Two charts accompanied the article on this survey at emarketer.com:
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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. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you watch the 4 intense DVDs.
To order this information-packed set click here.
Legal Marketing Masterminds: Where Top Attorneys Learn How to Position & Leverage Their Firms for Maximum Growth
I am in Newport Beach, CA today with the Bisnar Rainmaker Mastermind Group, an exclusive group of non-competing attorneys and law firm marketing experts who meet three times a year for an intense, all-day strategy session.
Membership in our group is by invitation only; prospective members fill out an application and are interviewed by me and nationally recognized personal injury and auto defect liability attorney John Bisnar, founder and managing partner of Bisnar | Chase in Orange County, CA. The group is geographically and practice-specific as well as non-competitive.
Here, attorneys have the opportunity to learn in the company of other top attorneys where to find the necessary resources, tap into creative ideas and apply the skills they need to transform their current practice.
We accomplish this by following three proven principles:
Practical and Powerful Coaching.
Every month you will receive individual 1-on-1 coaching each month from the leaders and group coaching on the conference calls. We will provide you with honest feedback and proven ideas based on real-world experience.
We have coached and trained over 7,000 attorneys in virtually every practice area and almost every state. It is highly unlikely that you will encounter a situation where we cannot help you make it through successfully.
Accountability Leads to Goal Achievement.
The Internet has accelerated the pace at which law firms must change in order to stay competitive and grow.
In many ways, masterminding is about facilitating that change at a rapid pace. Changing your mindset, your business model, your marketing efforts, and the way you build your team has never been more important to your success.
Your mastermind group will give you fresh ideas from real, practicing attorneys that will shave time and money off business implementation and dramatically improve your law firm marketing tactics.
You will set goals every 120 days when we meet face to face and you will be held accountable for producing results. Anyone can set goals, but having someone to hold you accountable for accomplishing those goals is a different matter. This is where real change and success happens!
Exclusivity Enhances Creativity.
Up to this point, your competitive nature has been necessary for your survival.
Competition in the legal industry is drilled into you from taking the LSAT being ranked in law school to competitive internships and selling your soul to Big Law in hopes you will be looked at as partner material.
Once you become a partner (often by starting your own law firm) you are now afraid to share openly and honestly with other attorneys because they may view you as weak, unworthy, or worse, unsuccessful.
In this group you will be the only attorney in your practice area that works in your geographical area. This is a geographically exclusive group, which means 2 attorneys from the same city can be members, but only if they don't compete. Or 2 members in the same practice area can participate, but only if they are in very different markets.
There are a variety of practice areas in the group ranging from: personal injury, to estate planning, to business law, to criminal defense, to litigation. The diversity of the group helps create an environment where creative ideas can come out. Most of our members gross between $500,000 and $5M per year and most of them have goals of doubling their revenues this year.
Members have unrestricted access to both of us, as well as all the group members for brainstorming, high-level networking, business development techniques, goal setting, and refocusing on creating a lifestyle law firm.
If you are interested in being considered for membership in the Bisnar Rainmaker Mastermind Group, email me: Stephen@therainmakerinstitute.com.
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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book
In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.
Get your complimentary copy online here.
Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.
We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.
Law Firm Marketing & the Digital Real Estate Business
My friend – attorney and social media marketer Adrian Dayton – wrote a very interesting article at Law.com entitled, “Which law firm owns the most digital real estate?”
And it’s full of good news for small firms and solo practitioners.
His premise – which he backs up with stats – is that smaller firms are staking a bigger piece of online real estate while the big firms are falling behind.
Adrian did Google searches for a number of legal topics and consistently found that the top 50 law firms rarely show up in the top Google rankings. What does show up are the small and mid-sized firms and the #1 reason why they show up? Blogs.
According to Adrian’s research, the big firms are not blogging. He looked at the top 10 firms in the AmLaw 100 – a total of 23,000 attorneys, each no doubt quite capable of blogging – and asked us to guess how many blogs they turn out. What’s your guess? 5,000? 2,500? 100? Try 2. Two blogs.
How about for the entire AmLaw 100 and its 84,000 attorneys? 130 blogs in total. And half of those are from six firms.
Search engines love fresh content, which is what a blog provides. Feed that search engine with a daily blog and your firm is likely to land in the top search results for the areas of practice that people are searching for.
Which leads to Adrian’s second point, which was why law firms should care about being ranked highly by search engines: Because research shows that 56% of people who search on Google click on the first result, 13% click on the second result, and so on down from there. If you are not on the first page, you don’t exist.
To read Adrian’s entire article, go here. Registration is free. But the information is priceless.
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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: Don't Do It All On your Own
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To be successful with Internet marketing and social media, you must recognize and play to your strengths and weaknesses.
The goal in life is not to eliminate your weaknesses. In fact, many people make the mistake of focusing too much on trying to overcome their weaknesses when their time and mental energy would be much better spent in trying to maximize their strengths.
There are two major reasons why you should spend time identifying your marketing and business development strengths and weaknesses. It helps you surround yourself with the right people and it gives you a clear picture of what areas you need to spend your time on versus outsourcing.
If writing a blog post 5 times a week or posting updates on a Facebook account multiple times a week for your firm is not your thing, you need to find a reliable resource who can take charge of these and similar tasks, because developing and implementing a powerful marketing strategy is critical to the success of your business.
Many attorneys waste far too much of their precious time, energy, and potential profits by trying to do everything for themselves as a way of "saving a little money" or not wanting to give up "control."
Remember, control is an illusion. Don't let your need for control or your need to be right every time get in the way of becoming a successful entrepreneur.
When it comes to taking on another project or heading up a new initiative, consider the real cost to your business in terms of lost time, wasted efforts, poor productivity, and decreased revenues. You are the most important person at your firm and your time is valuable.
It used to be said that 'time is money,' but that's not true in our modern society. Time is worth more than money because you can always make more money but you can never make more time.
Here are a few common examples of what many attorneys try to do single-handedly when they would be better off delegating or outsourcing:
- Creating, maintaining and writing for a monthly E-zine (e-newsletter) to send to current and prospective clients
- Setting up and writing for a weekly blog
- Setting up an maintaining Twitter and Facebook Accounts for your firm
- Writing and distributing press releases
- Creating and launching a direct mail campaign
- Developing their own law firm websites or learning how to build one from scratch
- Search Engine Optimization to increase traffic to your Internet Marketing efforts
- Designing a comprehensive law firm marketing plan or strategy
- Implementing systems and processes to better manage their client and prospect relationships
I'm not saying you should outsource your entire firm or use a law firm marketing company for everything, but unless you have a lot of extra time or specific experience in certain areas, you will not be able to represent yourself and your firm in the best possible light without the help of other experienced professionals. Remember, asking for help is a sign of strength and wisdom, not weakness and senility.
There are many ways that you can alleviate the pressure of developing and effectively using all of these exciting and effective marketing strategies on your own:
- Use existing staff in house who have talents and abilities in certain areas that you may not have been previously aware of and assign them specific tasks such as writing a blog 5 times a week or compiling a contact list with updated email addresses for past or prospective clients.
- Outsource just the initial set up of specific marketing tools or hire an outside firm to set up, write and maintain the entire initiatives from start to finish.
- Work with a law firm marketing professional to create a Marketing Action Plan (MAP) to focus your efforts and avoid common pitfalls.
If you need help creating a MAP for your law firm or want some help in jumpstarting your business development efforts give us a call at 480-659-9700 or contact me and let us help you get moving in the right direction.
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Exclusive Rainmaker Retreat Preview Call – Learn Before You Go!
If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 7,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then register now for our one-hour complimentary teleseminar.
Hosted by Rainmaker Institute CEO Stephen Fairley, this teleseminar will give you a preview of the valuable material that is taught at our 2-day Rainmaker Retreat.
Sign up now for one of these upcoming one-hour teleseminars:
Thursday, December 2, 2010
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 4-5pm Eastern
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
11am-12pm Pacific | 12-1pm Mountain | 1-2pm Central | 2-3pm Eastern
Thursday, December 16, 2010
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 4-5pm Eastern
Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
Case Study: Benefits of Showing Your Personality in Your Law Firm Marketing
I'm not sure how I originally found my way onto Internet Attorney Mike Young’s list, but if I had to guess I would bet that he offered me a free special report like his free “Website Legal Checklist” or white paper (we call these “freemiums”—free premiums) filled with useful information that I was interested in and in order to receive his report I gave him my contact information.
Since then, he has consistently followed up with me via email almost every week. As a legal marketer, I'm very impressed! Most attorneys simply don’t “get” the importance of long-term follow-up.
If a prospect connects with you or downloads your free special report online, they have a reason for doing so...and it's probably NOT because they were sitting bored at their computer late one night. It's likely because they have a legal problem and they are hoping you can help them solve it.
However, most of them are not ready to sign on the dotted line...at least not yet. You must be persistent in your follow-up with them! Mike Young has been sending me follow-up emails about once a week or so for at least a year! He doesn't stop!
How is that possible you ask—well, quite simply it's because he has a “follow-up system” in place that does most of the work for him. No, I did not set it up for him. Mike is not one of our clients, but it's a follow-up system that anyone can be proud of.
Do his constant emails ever bother me? Nope. Do I read them all? Nope. But they have enough good information that I want to stay on his list otherwise I might miss something useful. So don’t worry about upsetting people by following up with them too frequently. Please! As the saying goes, if you try to please everyone, you will end up pleasing no one. You're an attorney—grow some thick skin. There's always a nice little button at the bottom of each email Mike sends that I can use to easily opt-out at any time I want.
While I have never met Internet Attorney Mike Young in person, I feel like I kind of know him....which is precisely the reason why you should keep in touch with prospects on a consistent basis. When you consistently communicate with prospects and give them practical, relevant information, you build the “know, like and trust” factors that can lead to business for you down the road when they are ready to buy.
The other day he sent me an email with one of the best legal disclaimers I've ever seen. His target markets are small business owners who use the Internet to generate leads and new clients (like The Rainmaker Institute) and Internet marketers, people who have products or services they are selling online. I asked Mike’s permission to reprint this.
You have to read this! it's a great way he shows a little personality in his communications:
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Please read this not-your-typical disclaimer and disclosure...
Guess what? This email does not contain legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship between sender and recipient.
If you have legal issues, talk with your lawyer.
If you have mental health issues, see a psychologist or psychiatrist.
If you have spiritual issues, a priest, a minister, and a rabbi walk into a bar...find that bar.
If you need help building your online business, check out the Resources page on our website.
If we refer to a product or service in this email, you should assume that we own it or are promoting it as an affiliate or because of another material connection.
This means, like everyone else on the planet, we're biased. Do your own research before investing in chinchilla farms or anything else for that matter.
Don't eat lead paint chips.
No animals were injured in the creation of this disclaimer. However, one of our dogs did chew up a printed copy and risked a paper cut in the process.
Yada...yada...yada...etc., and so forth.
Michael E. Young, J.D., LL.M.
Attorney & Counselor at Law
Law Office of Michael E. Young PLLC
http://USInternetLawFirm.com
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I love it!! That’s a great way to show a little personality in his emails.
Many attorneys make the mistake of being “faceless” to their prospects and clients. Most small business owners don’t want to work with, and will never fully trust, a stuffed shirt hiding behind a fancy suit.
Don’t be afraid to show prospects a little bit of your personality. It can be a great attraction to the kinds of clients you want to work with and a tool for repulsing the kind of prospects you don’t enjoy working with.
And never stop following up with prospects! As attorneys who attend our 2-day law firm marketing seminar know, you follow up with until they DIE, BUY or UNSUBSCRIBE!
Law Firm Marketing: 3 Ways to Reap the Rewards of Relationships
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What have you done in the past 3 months to build relationships with potential referral partners? Here are the 3 ways to help you develop strong referral relationships:
1. When It Comes To Referral Relationships Take An Active Role
There is an old saying that “to have a friend you must first be a friend.” Don’t wait for someone to take the initiative and contact you – be the first to reach out. In the last few years we have coached and trained thousands of attorneys and the ones who are the best rainmakers are the ones who make at least 3-4 contacts with potential referral sources every week.
Take a few minutes and scan your contact list. Select 15 to 20 names of potential or current referral sources and send them an email or better yet, pick up the phone and call them with an invitation to lunch or coffee. Set a goal of having three face-to-face meetings per week for the next month.
2. Increase the Frequency of Your Contact
Try as we might, it’s difficult with our hectic schedules to meet with every potential referral source on a regular basis. Here’s one strategy I teach lawyers: Set up a Google Alert for a specific phrase that would be of interest to your referral sources. Collect interesting articles and keep them in a separate folder (Referral Articles).
Once a month pull one out, print off a bunch of copies and attach a brief handwritten note on each copy (“I thought you might enjoy this article”). Enclose your business card and mail a copy of the article to all of your referral sources.
Several of my clients have doubled and tripled their referrals in 6 months using this simple technique to stay in front of their referral sources on a frequent basis. You can set up a Google Alert at www.google.com/alerts
3. Focus on Serving, Not Selling
When you meet with referral sources, don’t make the mistake of dominating the conversation. You are there to listen. Any attempt to “sell” them on your services will be a complete waste of your time and theirs. 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.
Educate them about your Ideal Target Market and how you can benefit their clients only after you have carefully listened to them.
Attorneys who want to become top Rainmakers don’t wait for someone to knock on the door 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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Here’s hoping you enjoy a wonderful serving of family and friends during this Thanksgiving holiday – we all have many things to be thankful for if we only take a few moments to truly appreciate what we’ve been given, and what we have gained through hard work. Everyone at The Rainmaker Institute joins me in sending Happy Thanksgiving wishes your way!
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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!)
- 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: How to Make Referrals Happen
Referrals don’t just happen. They must be cultivated. While you may get an occasional referral from a former client or someone you know, if you want to take your legal marketing to the next level, you need a referral system. How do you do build a referral system that will bring you the results you need?
You start by developing relationships with potential referral sources and generate consistent referrals from them. These sources may include accountants, investment advisors, business leaders, or anyone who has influence with your target market. Depending on your practice area, your referral sources will vary.
Developing a relationship is a two-way process. It can’t just be you asking them for referrals when you see them. It requires regular contact and you showing as much concern for their business as you are asking them to show for your practice. Ask them how you can assist them in achieving their goals.
Another key component of your law firm referral development plan is to create a system for connecting with prospects, clients and referral sources on a regular, consistent basis. This should include:
- Monthly newsletters – keep them apprised of what your firm is doing, new employees, and content that is beneficial to them.
- Annual Client Satisfaction Survey – find out what your clients think about the service they have received from your firm.
- Keep In Touch letters – on a regular basis, every 2-3 months, send a letter to referrals, prospects and clients just to touch base. This top of mind awareness is crucial for generating referrals.
- Referral Education System – your referral sources need to know what kind of prospects you are looking for. It does no good for them to refer prospects to you who are not looking for what your firm offers.
Keep your referral sources updated on your practice areas and any changes in your firm if you want to receive high-quality referrals.
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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book
In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.
Get your complimentary copy online here.
Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.
We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.
Law Firm Marketing: Use Referrals to Build Your Legal Practice Quickly
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This week seems like an appropriate time to concentrate on relationships – and for attorneys who want to grow their practices, how to leverage relationships to lead to referrals.
Referrals are the holy grail of business—everyone wants them. The problem is that most attorneys don’t have a solid plan to find and nurture them. The easiest way to build a business is by referrals. Identify who you want to target and develop a plan to talk with them on a consistent basis. This is usually a long-term strategy (3-6 months).
However, at The Rainmaker Institute, we have developed a powerful system called the Referral Development Program that is obtaining fantastic results, even in a tough economy.
Based on our experience, legal referrals generally come from 5 major categories:
- Current and Former Clients
- Family, Friends, Coworkers, and Colleagues
- Bar Associations and Online Legal Referral Services
- Other Attorneys in Different Practice Areas
- Strategic Referral Partners (non-attorney professionals)
The Rainmaker Referral Development Program is specifically designed to help time-starved lawyers in small law firms and in solo practice meet with qualified referral sources on a regular basis, thus significantly increasing their chances of obtaining a regular stream of qualified referrals.
Our clients are doubling and tripling their number of referral partners in a matter of weeks, not years.
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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!
Bootstrapping Your Way to Law Firm Marketing Success
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Everyone is cash-conscious these days. If you’re like most attorneys in small and solo law firms, you’re working harder than ever before just to get the same amount of business. Here are some specific strategies to help you bootstrap your way to marketing success:
Done is Better Than Perfect. When it comes to marketing your law firm, almost is almost always good enough! Get your website or blog to the point where it’s good enough and then launch it! You can always tinker with the photos at a later time.
I have encountered far too many attorneys who micromanage the marketing process to the point where nothing is done. Which means, of course, nothing is accomplished.
Niche Your Practice to Get on the Fast Path to Riches . I know you have heard me say this before, and I know you continue to resist it. However, the more you can target a specific niche, the easier you can dominate your target and the faster you can gain recognition as an expert.
Here's an example of a poorly defined niche: small business owners in Phoenix who need an estate plan. Here’s how to locate a better target: physicians in Phoenix who own a medical practice, gross at least $500,000 annually, and need asset protection strategies to grow and preserve their wealth.
Including highly specific categories in your niche will keep you on track, plus it’s easier to identify who these people or businesses are, so be sure you specify a profession or industry, geographical location, annual revenues, and core challenges.
Look at What the Crowd is Doing and Do the Opposite . Many of my best marketing strategies are based on contrarian thinking. I often tell my clients to look at what their competitors are doing and do the opposite.
Right now, I have heard some attorneys say they are doubling their advertising spend, believing that since they can negotiate a good deal they should buy more of it. That’s good news for you. Not only is advertising generally ineffective in growing a law firm, but they are wasting their precious cash flow while you are investing it wisely on strategies that actually work.
Emphasize Price at Your Own Peril. This is not the time to reduce your rates just to pull a few more clients in the door. It’s often the price shoppers who are the most demanding, take up more of your time, complain more frequently, and are slow payers.
In these tough times, who is more price sensitive – blue-collar workers or affluent white-collar executives? By emphasizing your price and targeting the lower end of the marketplace, you kill your profit margins and destroy your chances at long-term wealth. Emphasize price at your own peril.
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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!)
- 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.
Client Retention Begins With Two Simple Words: Thank You
Client retention is a much sought after discipline at law firms today, especially considering how the economy has forced staff reductions and budget cuts that undermine client outreach efforts.
Law firm marketing should not stop once the client signs on the dotted line. In order to retain clients, you need to first establish a good working relationship with them to set the stage for keeping them in the fold. Here’s how:
Send the client a hand-written “Thank You” card. Send the card out the same day the client selects you and be certain you write the note and sign it yourself.
Begin working on the case immediately; spend time the same day they sign-up, or at the latest the following day. This is critical to your law firm marketing efforts.
Within 48-hours of taking the case, send the client some form of time–stamped, written communication on all work being performed.
At the completion of a case, send out a client satisfaction survey. This is a great law firm marketing strategy that will help you maintain contact and get valuable feedback.
Your law firm marketing efforts will pay off and make you stand out from your competitors. You must show through your law firm marketing efforts that you care; the best way you can do this is to communicate, communicate and then communicate some more.
A Special Thank-You to our Veterans: Take a moment to thank a veteran today for their service, or thank a fallen soldier’s family member for their loved one’s last full measure of devotion. To further quote from that great American president Abraham Lincoln: The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. Remember to say we will never forget.
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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. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you watch the 4 intense DVDs.
To order this information-packed set click here.
Law Firm Marketing: All the Alternative Billing News That's Fit to Print
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While it’s not unusual to find foreclosure news on the front page of the Sunday New York Times, it is a bit unusual to find a feature there on how attorneys are finding alternative ways to bill foreclosure clients.
Yesterday’s Times article focused on how foreclosure defense attorneys in Florida have turned to second mortgages as a solution for desperate clients who need help but cannot afford to pay.
While some defense attorneys are calling the practice “crass”, others are finding it a rather neat solution to being fairly compensated for their time, thus allowing them to help the clients who need it most but are also most unable to pay.
You can read the article here: http://nyti.ms/bgvG1x.
When desperate times call for desperate measures, some attorneys are finding new ways to skin the compensation cat. Peter Ticktin of the Ticktin Law Group in Deerfield Beach, FL noted, “It’s a new model, a new paradigm.”
I’m interested in hearing from other attorneys out there who have explored this new paradigm in their billing procedures. How have you innovated your billing procedures to find a new way to be compensated so you can help clients who may not be able to afford your services?
Email me your thoughts at Stephen@therainmakerinstitute.com or leave a comment here. I’ll share the best ideas – and the credit -- in a future post.
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Exclusive Rainmaker Retreat Preview Call – Learn Before You Go!
The final Rainmaker Retreat of 2010 was held this past weekend in San Francisco, with attorneys from five different states in attendance. We are busy planning the first Rainmaker Retreat of 2011 for Jan. 28 & 29 in Las Vegas, so mark your calendars now to jumpstart your law firm marketing program for 2011 by attending a Rainmaker Retreat.
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.
Sign up now for one of these upcoming one-hour teleseminars:
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 4-5pm Eastern
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
11am-12pm Pacific | 12-1pm Mountain | 1-2pm Central | 2-3pm Eastern
Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss!
Law Firm Marketing: How to Find Your Ideal Clients
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How often have you wished that you could clone your ideal client? It’s not biological science that will get you there, but marketing intelligence that can show you the way to attract and retain more of your ideal client.
First, you need to know exactly who your ideal client is. Ask your accounting person to create a spreadsheet listing each client and their historical profitability.
Second, examine that list carefully to see which of your current or past clients made it a practice to refer business to you.
Third, take that group of profitable, referring clients and see what common characteristics they share. More than just demographics – age, income, zip code – look for commonalities in industry, causes they support, interests they have, shared legal issues, etc.
Now you have what you need to create an ideal client profile.
Once your ideal client profile is created, you can focus on strengthening the areas of your practice that will attract these ideal clients, and targeting your law firm marketing efforts at drawing them in.
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Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD Set
The Practice Made Perfect CD set and manual applies Stephen Fairley’s unique High Impact Marketing System to the practice-building challenges faced by solo practitioners and partners at small law firms.
It includes dozens of specific marketing and sales recommendations that can be easily and quickly applied to your firm, including:
- The only 7 sure-fire ways to get clients in your door NOW
- Why advertising doesn’t work for most small law firms
- The 7 reasons why people don’t buy from you
- How to market and sell with USP’s (Unique Selling Proposition)
- Using audio logos to attract immediate attention for your business
- Using low-cost, high impact marketing strategies
- Strategies for achieving maximum results from all of your marketing efforts
- How to discover your Ideal Target Market
- 3 critical factors to remember when looking for new clients
- The NEW sales cycle for professional services
- How to retain your best clients
Click here to order your Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD set and manual now.
Law Firm Internet Marketing: How to Recession-Proof Your Practice
We’ve been told that the Great Recession ended last June, but I’ve had many conversations with clients all across the country and I know many of you are hurting.
Now, I’m not going to tell you to put on rose-colored glasses and pretend things are suddenly all better, but the reality is that we all have businesses to run and “waiting things out” is simply not an option.
What I am suggesting is that you turn this recession on its head and into an opportunity to grow by doing what may seem counter intuitive. For example:
Don’t cut back on your level of customer service—increase it. Think of this as your unique competitive advantage.
Continue to invest in marketing. Done properly, marketing is not an expense; it’s an investment. And since your competitors are holding back, then this is the perfect time to continue your marketing to help you pull past those competitors.
Call all your best clients every month. Check in with them to see how things are going and how you can help. They’ll appreciate being able to talk business owner to business owner.
Don’t make major decisions based upon your emotion. During this stressful time, it’s easy to do so. Therefore, talk to a trusted adviser or mentor and ask for their advice before you make that final decision on major issues.
Take care of yourself. Last, but not least, make sure you’re taking care of yourself—get plenty of rest and balanced nutrition and take time out just for yourself, to recharge your own batteries.
I’m in Scottsdale today leading a session of our Rainmaker Retreat two-day marketing boot camp, which is full of hearty souls who have decided with me to sit this recession out. You can join us today and tomorrow via a live Tweet Chat; here’s how you can participate:
Go to http://tweetchat.com/ and sign in with your Twitter account in the upper right corner. Add lawmarketing into the hashtag area on the top of the webpage.
OR, if you don't want to go to TweetChat, all you have to do is use your Twitter account as you normally do and after you ask a question or make a comment, you will need to add #lawmarketing at the end of your question/comment.
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Check Out Your Peers As They Share Their Rainmaker Retreat Experiences
We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat. Yes, we know you are skeptical. So instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your business, we will let our clients do the telling.
Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.
The last Rainmaker Retreat for 2010 is in San Francisco on Nov. 5-6. Register online at www.RainmakerRetreat.com to reserve your place or call 888-588-5891 for more information.
Law Firm Internet Marketing: Give It Away So You Can Sell It
Many attorneys I’ve worked with have heard that free reports are an important component of a law firm Internet marketing plan.
But most are not sure how or why they are important.
The real value of a free report in law firm Internet marketing is in its role as a quid pro quo. Potential clients give you some information about themselves in exchange for some valuable legal information on a topic of interest to them.
The information you’re asking for is their contact information. And that is a key first step in beginning a trust-building relationship with them.
But first, you need to make sure your report is worth the valuable information the prospective client has just given you.
Remember the movie “A Christmas Story” where young Ralphie waits for weeks in great anticipation for his secret decoder pin from the Little Orphan Annie radio show? It finally arrives. He runs upstairs, locks himself in the bathroom, and starts decoding the secret message from Little Orphan Annie.
The highly anticipated secret message? “Drink your Ovaltine.” Or, as Ralphie describes with bitter disappointment, “a crappy commercial!”
Here are four proven elements of a well-crafted free report:
Addresses issues that people really care about – Remember, clients may not care about legal precedents, but they are very likely to care about how to save money during a divorce.
Uses laymen’s language – If they are being completely honest, most people would tell you they prefer reading USA TODAY to the New York Times. While the NYT is a serious paper for serious people, USA today is interesting at the individual level, and it’s written in an easy-to-read format.
Builds credibility for your law firm – Don’t miss this opportunity to share client quotes or real life results you’ve gained for your clients.
Includes a call to action – By the end of the report, the prospective client should be interested enough to take the next step, whether that is going to your website for more information, or signing up for your newsletter.
The free report can be an indispensible law firm Internet marketing tool. Its real value to your law firm Internet marketing program is as the first step in connecting with new clients. If used correctly, it earns you both contact information and credibility.
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Live Tweet Chat from Scottsdale Rainmaker Retreat This Weekend
If you are not able to attend the Rainmaker Retreat in Scottsdale this coming weekend, we will be tweeting live on Tweet Chat http://tweetchat.com/ October 22-23. If you have any questions that you would like to ask Stephen, please add #lawmarketing at the end of your question on Twitter.
If you'd like to attend the Rainmaker Retreat in person, register online at www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call us at 888-588-5891.
Law Firm Internet Marketing: Are Getting Referrals Through Search Engines the Future?
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This week Facebook and Microsoft’s search engine Bing announced a new partnership that could mean big things for online legal marketing, especially when it comes to search engine marketing and referrals.
Facebook and Bing are now making search social by featuring a Facebook “Like” icon that tells you what your friends have liked as the result of that search. In addition, Bing will improve its people search function by prioritizing the names that come up by the number of your friends who know them.
And that’s just the start. The next step they say is surfacing people who are experts in specific subjects. Like divorce law. Or real estate law. Or personal injury law. You get the opportunity, right?
More and more, people are turning to online recommendations from people they know and even those they don’t know. Obviously, if your friend “likes” a particular law firm or attorney, you would be more inclined to choose them for yourself.
Stay tuned. This could be big.
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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!
Law Firm Marketing: 3 Steps to Finding the Right Keywords
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A couple of days ago I blogged about online marketing opportunities for lawyers and how imperative having the right keywords are to your search engine marketing program. So how do you find the right keywords to drive the right prospects to your website?
Here are 3 steps to finding the right keywords for your law practice:
Step 1: Make a list of 5-6 words and/or phrases that best describe your practice.
Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes and think about what words they would use to find you. Hint: it is not the name of your firm. Choose words or phrases that describe exactly what you do, in laymen’s terms: i.e., Phoenix divorce lawyer, car accident attorney, etc.
Step 2: Choose your keywords or key phrases based on relevance and difficulty.
As you saw in my Tuesday blog, competition for the word “lawyer” is about as fierce as it gets, which means it would be very difficult for your site to rank high in search results for that word alone. The smaller you are, the more specific you want to get, choosing keywords that have less competition. Use Google’s Keyword Tool to see what the search volume is for your keywords and key phrases. Look for similar words that have less competition, but are still relevant to your business. Then strike a good balance between relevance and difficulty.
Step 3: Use your keywords and key phrases throughout your website.
Choose the best 3-5 individual keywords and your top 10 key phrases and use them in the content of your website as well as in the page titles and metadata. If you can secure a URL for these keywords, use that as well. Be sure not to “stuff” your content with too many keywords – your site should still be written for a human being, not a search engine.
This is just one of many topics I’m covering today in San Francisco at the BALIF Seminar on Proven Marketing Strategies for Today’s Rainmaker. If you would like to learn more about online marketing for law firms, sign up to attend one of our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats – we’ve got one coming up next weekend in Scottsdale (Oct. 22-23) and one next month in San Francisco (Nov. 5-6).
For more information, visit www.rainmakerretreat.com or call 888-588-5891.
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. You can download them now free! Go here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!
Law Firm Marketing: Online Marketing Opportunities for Lawyers
A recent online marketing study by Hubspot.com of 33 different industries and associated keywords included the legal profession, utilizing the keyword “lawyer”. Here are the findings:
How to interpret the data:
Absolute Activity means how many actions take place in a given channel for the keyword “lawyer”.
Competition is how much competition exists for the keyword “lawyer” in each channel. A score of 50 is an average level of competition; higher numbers mean more competition and lower numbers mean less.
To be effective, your law firm marketing plan should include a marketing strategy for each channel. Using keywords that have lots of traffic – like using “lawyer” in your search engine marketing – is usually a losing strategy for all but the biggest firms. Small and medium-sized firms can score a bigger win by developing a group of keywords that strike the right balance between having reasonable levels of both competition and traffic.
Learning how to create online marketing strategies is a key focus of the Rainmaker Retreat, our two-day legal marketing boot camp. There are two more Fall sessions of this popular program:
- October 22-23, 2010 Scottsdale, AZ
- November 5-6, 2010 San Francisco, CA
Early-bird registration for the Rainmaker Retreat is still available for a limited time. A special VIP registration is also available for attorneys looking for more personalized attention. We also offer special discounts for two or more people attending from the same firm.
Registration information is available by visiting the Rainmaker Retreat website, www.RainmakerRetreat.com or by calling 888-588-5891.
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Learn Before You Go: Rainmaker Retreat Preview Call
If you are still unsure about attending a Rainmaker Retreat, I encourage you to join our FREE Preview Call on:
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
1-2pm Pacific | 2-3pm Mountain | 3-4pm Central | 4-5pm Eastern
The call will give you a preview of the valuable material that is taught at our 2-day Rainmaker Retreat.
Click here to register for a Preview Call.
Legal Marketing: Discover Success Through Specialization
Columbus Day is a particularly good day to think about new discoveries. An article in yesterday’s New York Times got me thinking about how many attorneys have discovered new success from specialization.
The Times piece focused on lawyers who specialize in arguing before the Supreme Court. It’s a good read and you can find it here.
The article is essentially about attorneys who have carved out a niche (and nice) practice out of arguing cases before the Supreme Court. Not for the fees – these cases are usually what are called loss leaders – but for the clients it helps bring in and retain.
I know that when the economy is in the dumper, it’s tempting to take on anyone who walks through the door. But now is exactly the time NOT to do this...to build an area of specialization where you outshine your competitors and are able to build a stable base of clients for now and the future.
Here are the benefits to positioning yourself as a specialist:
- Significantly higher rate of referrals.
- Can charge higher rates.
- More opportunities to offer clients more expensive services.
- Better client retention.
- Not perceived as a commodity.
- Value is based primarily on credibility and expertise.
- Better positioned to get positive media coverage.
- Easier to dominate your niche.
Of course, the niche you choose needs to align with your expertise and there should be a need in the marketplace for those services. What draws prospective clients to you and your services? Keep track of your inquiries and see if they don’t begin to naturally fall into one or more groups. If they do, you already have a base from which you can start building your niche practice.
Becoming aware of these commonalities is a way to let your niche discover you, which In turn helps you develop your law firm marketing strategy around promoting your area of expertise and specialization.
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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.
Legal Marketing: Best Practices for Generating Leads
Earlier this year, inbound marketing software company HubSpot released a study of lead generation best practices from an analysis of 1,400 small and mid-sized businesses. The findings are equally applicable to law firm marketing.
Basically, the study found that there are four major factors that have a significant impact on lead generation:
Indexed Pages in Google. The growth in leads accelerates substantially – 236 percent – once a website has more than 300 pages indexed in Google. Also, the size of your firm is not a critical factor in achieving a significant number of Google indexed pages. You can build page volume very quickly with a blog.
Rank in Google’s Top 100 Results for Many Keywords. Sites that ranked in Google’s Top 100 for 26-51 keywords generated twice as many leads as those that ranked for less than 13 keywords. The takeaway: unique, interesting content with as many distinct keywords as possible helps you generate leads.
Blogs. Firms with blogs generated 67 percent more leads. Those that had blogs of more than 52 articles generated 77 percent more leads. Enough said. Blog and do it often.
Twitter for B2C. B2C Twitter users generate twice as many leads as those without a Twitter account. The biggest jump in leads take place once a company has over 100 followers.
If you are wondering how to generate more leads for your legal services, then you should consider integrating these four strategies into your law firm Internet marketing program.
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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.
Transform Your Law Firm's Website into a Client Generating Machine
Marketing for lawyers on the Internet can be a very effective tool for generating highly qualified prospects, if you do it right.
Here's the first tip: Don't wait any longer to start marketing your law firm online.
Every week you wait, it just gets more competitive. Don't give other law firms sole access to all of the potential clients to be found online. Develop a client generating website for your law firm.
Here are some online law firm marketing secrets you can start using to attract more and better clients:
Create a website that targets your ideal clients. Don't make the common mistake of trying to be everything to everyone. People don't want to work with a generalist. They want to trust specialists. When it comes to marketing your law firm online, focus is critical to your success.
Give website visitors a reason to contact you. Every law firm's website has a place for a free consultation. How boring! That's simply not enough to attract someone's attention. Offer them a free special report or white paper or a tip sheet; something that educates them about a problem they have and then positions you as the best possible solution.
For lawyers who have multiple practice areas, develop a practice specific micro site for each one. Again, focus is key here. For example, a personal injury lawyer may have a practice specific website for: SUV rollovers, construction accidents, dog bites, and automobile accidents.
Write compelling content for your law firm website. Please remember, writing for the Internet is not the same as writing a legal brief. My recommendation is to hire a professional copywriter who has experience writing for law firms. Don't know any? Email me and I'll send you a list of recommended writers. The cost is well worth it.
Work with an SEO firm. Search engine optimization is the technical process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to your law firm's website. Once you have developed your website into exactly the format you want, you can begin using online legal marketing strategies to market it. You can expect to invest several hundred to several thousand dollars per month on a top notch SEO firm. Make sure they have experience in the highly competitive field of legal marketing. Send me an email if you want a referral to who I think is the best one out there.
Submit educational articles to online directories. There are hundreds of places online where you can submit articles for prospective clients for free.
Transform your website into a client generating machine and watch your profits increase from the many different prospects you will reach by marketing your law firm on the Internet.
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BALIF Rainmaker Institute Event on October 14 in San Francisco
On Thursday, Oct. 14, Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF) will present a 1-day workshop designed for busy attorneys, partners, associates, and their staff who want to discover how to apply proven marketing strategies and top tips used by some of today’s biggest Rainmakers to create a 7-figure lifestyle law firm.
Rainmaker Institute CEO Stephen Fairley will be speaking on Proven Strategies for Today’s Rainmaker: Increasing Revenues and Referrals Using Networking, Internet Marketing and Social Media In the New Age. This one-day seminar includes 1 hour of MCLE Ethics Credit for California attorneys.
This one-day seminar also includes 1 hour of MCLE Ethics Credit for California attorneys.
The October 14 seminar is open to all BALIF and Minority Bar Coalition members as well as interested non-members.
For more information and to register online, go to www.rainmakerretreat.com/balif/ or call 888-588-5891 to register by phone.
Why Articles Should be an Integral Part of Your Law Firm Marketing Plan
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One of the most common questions we receive from attorneys is “How do I build my reputation online?"
One essential strategy is writing and submitting articles online. By submitting articles online, you and your law firm benefit in many ways:
- Your articles will be syndicated across the Internet and published on numerous websites within a short time.
- You increase the visibility and credibility of you and your law firm.
- You drive prospects to your website.
There are literally hundreds of websites that will publish your articles online for free, including EzineArticles.com, GoArticles.com, ArticleDashboard.com, ArticlesBase.com, Buzzle.com and more.
You can also sign up for a service to do it for you for a small monthly fee – DistributeYourArticles.com and ContentCrooner.com are two sites that distribute your content to their networks.
When writing your articles you want to be sure you:
- Ensure the article is a good fit for the site you’re submitting it to;
- Write for a specific audience – don’t make it generic and don’t write for other attorneys!
- Keep it short and concise but with some good information;
- Add a short bio and call to action at the end of the article – the call to action can be something like, “For a free consultation or to receive our free special report, email us or give us a call.”
Once you start submitting your articles, you’ll soon see them published all over the place. One website will publish your article, and then 10 other websites will come along and take that same content and publish it on their website.
Earlier this week, we got a call from a well-known consumer website that wanted to use one of our clients as their expert legal resource – and their content is not only all over the Web, it is also syndicated to over 1,000 newspapers. They found our client because of the articles he publishes online through a free service.
This was not a happy accident – it’s part of a solid legal marketing strategy that has been well executed. Good things come to he/she who writes!
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. You can download them now free! Go here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!
Know Thy Client: Use Surveys to Improve Your Law Firm Marketing
Client satisfaction surveys are information gold mines, helping you to understand what your client thinks about how you delivered your service, what you could have improved upon, what they actually gained from your service and what they really need from you.
Although this insight is vital, the benefits to client satisfaction surveys don’t stop there. You can use these insights to improve your law firm marketing. For example, by better understanding how your clients find services such as yours, you know more specifically how to promote your services to reach similar clients.
Format. Most people are accustomed to taking online satisfaction surveys, which is an expeditious and inexpensive way to conduct customer satisfaction research. It also doesn’t intrude on your client’s time too much. Most of the email marketing services have this functionality, so if you are already using Constant Contact or iContact, it is simple to design a survey and send it out to your contact list. You can also use a surveying resource like SurveyMonkey.com that essentially does the same thing.
No matter what format you use, here are some good questions to ask in your survey:
- What was your first impression of the firm? Of your attorney?
- How were you initially treated during your first in-person meeting?
- What do you believe is our biggest strength?
- What do you believe is the area where we need the most improvement?
- Out of the following 5 areas, which ones do you anticipate needing in the next year?
- Were invoices sent out on a regular basis to you?
- Were you ever surprised by the amount on an invoice?
- What are some ways we could better serve you?
- Would you recommend us to your friends or colleagues?
- Are there any other comments, suggestions, complaints, or concerns you would like to voice?
You can also use a survey with current and former clients as a “keep in touch” technique. For example, if you have had an e-newsletter program in place for awhile, create a survey asking your list if they are satisfied with the content, frequency and format, if they have suggestions for future content or other improvements. You may learn a lot through this short query that will help you improve your marketing efforts by learning what your clients value most.
Note: If you enjoy this blog, please vote for us at the ABA Journal Top 100 Blogs site: http://www.abajournal.com/blawgs/blawg100_submit/. Voting ends this Friday, October 1. Thank you!
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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 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
This live recording of our highly successful 2-day law firm marketing boot camp will inspire you with practical examples, motivate you with sample case studies, walk you through best marketing strategies used by top Rainmakers, and provide a guide for you to quickly implement proven tactics in the next 30 days. You will also get the same 70-page marketing manual used at all our Rainmaker Retreats.
Click here to order your copy of Rainmaker Retreat Live!
Law Firm Marketing: LinkedIn Upgrades Company Profiles
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LinkedIn, the most popular business social networking site used by attorneys, just announced that it has added new customization features to its Company Follow feature. You can read all the details from the LinkedIn Blog, but here are the highlights you should care about and act on:
Company profiles are now more social. You can now integrate your blog posts, Twitter feeds, company news and new job openings. You can post more in-depth profiles of everyone in your firm, and incorporate quotes from them that talk about why your firm is so great.
Company profiles are gold mines of insider information. If you are using LinkedIn to follow companies, you can see from their profile page how many of your connections also have connections to the company. You can also see the constitution of the company’s employee base, including statistics about job functions, educational degrees, years of experience and university attended (might be useful to know if any target clients attended your alma mater). And you can see how many of X Company’s LinkedIn users are also at Facebook or Twitter.
Company profiles are recruiting tools. You can create a “Careers” page that gives visitors and potential employees insight into your firm, hear employees talk about their work experience and connect job seekers to recruiting managers directly.
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.
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Upcoming Rainmaker Events in New Jersey
The information-packed Becoming a Rainmaker seminar is coming to New Jersey, October 5, 6 & 7, 2010 in a series of presentations sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Association, the Bergen County Bar Association, Burlington County Bar Association, and the Morris County Bar Association.
These 2-hour seminars show small and solo practice attorneys how they can take charge of their practice and begin to build the business they have always wanted.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010, 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
Burlington County Bar Association
Burlington County Court House, 49 Rancocas Rd., Mount Holly, NJ
Click here to register.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Morris County Bar Association
Old Court House, Washington and Court Streets, Morristown, NJ
Click here to register.
Thursday, October 7, 2010, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Bergen County Bar Association
George W. Newman Law Building, 15 Bergen St., Hackensack, NJ
Click here to register.
Admission to each presentation is $77 for Bar Association members and $97 for nonmembers.
For more information, call 888-816-8935 or email info@therainmakerinstitute.com.
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The Rainmaker Retreat – our most popular two-day legal marketing boot camp – will be held October 8-9 in New Brunswick, NJ at the New Jersey Law Center.
Over two days, you will learn in detail about:
- Achieving Expert Status as an Attorney
- Building a Strategic Referral Network
- Creating Credibility in Your Practice Area
- Secrets of Highly Successful Attorneys
- Social Media for Small Law Firms
- Leveraging Technology: Beating the Big Firms on the Internet
- Generating More Clients Using the Power of Speaking
- Advanced Technology Tactics for Small Law Firms and Solo Practitioners
Registration information is available by visiting the Rainmaker Retreat website, www.RainmakerRetreat.com or by calling 888-588-5891.
Law Firm Marketing: What the Dancing Merengue Dog Can Teach Lawyers About Online Video
Last week I pulled up the Yahoo! home page and one of their promotional boxes was urging me to click on a video of a dancing dog. For some reason, it just caught my eye and so I clicked and – I have to admit – it was a pretty amazing performance. (You can catch it here.)
Monday night I turned on Letterman and noted his guests were Bill Clinton and...the Dancing Merengue Dog, from that same video. I just checked it again and it has over 5.5 million views on YouTube and a movement is afoot to get the dog a spot on Dancing With The Stars!
So how does a dancing dog fit into your law firm marketing plan? Look at the video. It was shot in a parking lot. Production value is pretty poor, but that didn't matter -- the video has turned that dog into a worldwide sensation.
Whenever I talk to lawyers about adding video to their websites or blogs, the first thing I usually hear is, “I don’t want to spend money on a film crew and make it a big production.” The lesson from the Dancing Merengue Dog is you don’t have to. All you need is a $200 video camera (they're all pretty high quality these days) and something interesting to say (to your potential clients, not other lawyers!).
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.
Video adds value to your law firm Internet marketing approach in three ways:
- It engages the viewer immediately and convinces them to stay awhile and listen to your message;
- It provides the viewer (aka potential client) with a chance to hear the authority in your voice, to see the sincerity in your face, and ultimately to get to know you, trust you and choose you;
- It enables you to tell the client precisely what makes you the better choice in legal support over your competitors.
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.
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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.
Law Firm Marketing: Are You Communicating Your Unique Competitive Advantage?
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A couple of days ago I posted a blog about how differentiation is the key to increasing market share.
Differentiation begins with creating your Unique Competitive Advantage (UCA) – the answer to your target client’s question, “Why should I hire you?”
With so many choices today, your law firm marketing strategy must clearly differentiate you and your law firm.
To create a Unique Competitive Advantage (UCA) for your law firm marketing plan, there are a number of different areas you can choose to focus on:
- Benefits: What are the benefits of working with your firm as compared to others? What do you do that other firms refuse to do to better serve your clients?
- Value: Compare your costs versus how much money you save clients. How have you helped other clients take better advantage of opportunities or avoid liability?
- Results: What are some specific results you have obtained for clients in the past? What is your win/loss record? What do you do to achieve better results than your competitors?
- Solutions: Give an example of a creative solution you found to a client’s problem. How did you come up with it? What happened because of your creative solution?
- Individual Partners: Remember, people don’t buy legal services from law firms; they buy legal services from attorneys. People don’t say, “Go talk to my law firm,” they say, “Go talk to my lawyer.” What is different about your partners than those in other firms?
- Service: (not the list of services your firm provides, but how you serve your clients). How do your clients describe the way you treat them?
- Industry Specific Specialty: Position your partners as leading experts in a specific industry, not as generalists. To be a generalist for most attorneys is the “kiss of death.” Go deeper, not broader. Have industry specific marketing materials and collateral.
- Client Feedback: What do your best clients say about you? What would they tell someone else about your services and how it has helped them? Do your clients refer other clients to you on a regular basis?
- Credibility: What is your firm known for in the industry? Talk about how your partners are profiled in the media or are industry experts. What are 3 reasons why your prospects should perceive you as a credible expert?
- Visibility: How visible are your partners within an industry? Do they regularly speak at top industry events? Are they a nationally recognized expert? A published author? What happens when prospects type their name into Google?
By developing a strong UCA, your legal marketing plan will give you the tools you need to stand out from the competition.
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Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD Set
The Practice Made Perfect CD set and manual applies Stephen Fairley’s unique High Impact Marketing System to the practice-building challenges faced by solo practitioners and partners at small law firms.
It includes dozens of specific marketing and sales recommendations that can be easily and quickly applied to your firm, including:
- The only 7 sure-fire ways to get clients in your door NOW
- Why advertising doesn’t work for most small law firms
- The 7 reasons why people don’t buy from you
- How to market and sell with USPs (Unique Selling Proposition)
- Using audio logos to attract immediate attention for your business
- Using low-cost, high impact marketing strategies
- Strategies for achieving maximum results from all of your marketing efforts
- How to discover your Ideal Target Market
- 3 critical factors to remember when looking for new clients
- The NEW sales cycle for professional services
- How to retain your best clients
Click here to order your Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD set and manual now.
Law Firm Marketing: Citi Survey Says Differentiation Key to Increasing Market Share
The 2010 Midyear Law Firm Financial Trends Report by Citi Private Bank, which provides financial services to U.S. and UK law firms, is out and the bottom line appears to be that expenses have been cut about as much as they can, so law firms now need to turn their focus to increasing top-line revenue.
First, some of the key findings as reported by 187 U.S. law firms (87 AmLaw 100 firms, 50 Second 100 firms and 50 other firms) for the first six months of 2010:
- Revenue was flat
- Demand was down domestically, but up slightly (2 percent) for global firms
- Expenses were down, primarily because of head count reductions
- Productivity was up about 4 percent
- Contribution per lawyer was up almost 20 percent
- Billing rates were up about 4 percent
Parsing the data at The American Lawyer, Citi analysts wrote (emphasis is mine):
Unfortunately, demand for legal services remains soft, and that is unlikely to change any time soon. So the only way firms can grow their revenue is at someone else’s expense. Firms have to be more strategic about how to increase their share of a smaller pie--specifically, by differentiating themselves from competitors.
And they conclude with this:
Some argue that the market really hasn't changed at all and once demand picks up again, firms will simply revert to their traditional business model. Indeed, that’s what happened after the recession in the early 1990s. But thanks to technology and globalization, the legal services market in 2010 doesn't resemble the market in 1991 in any way, shape, or form. Even if overall demand picks up, the entry of new, lower-cost service providers and the willingness of clients to diversify their service-provider portfolio have caused an unprecedented shift in the market. The nimbleness with which firms address this shift will separate the winners from the losers.
In Practice Made Perfect, our 90-day business development program for attorneys, we cover 10 specific ways to differentiate your services. Here are 3 of them:
- Create a micro niche. In these days of hyper-specialization, it’s NOT about “mass marketing.” It’s about “micro marketing”—creating a micro niche that best positions you as a specialist.
- Focus on solutions and results. Too many attorneys try to sell their legal services. Attendees at my Rainmaker Retreat 2 day law firm marketing boot camp program are surprised when I tell them that people don’t buy legal services! People buy solutions to their problems. They buy results, not your services.
- Build an online presence. The Internet has changed everything when it comes to law firm marketing and how consumers select law firms. Many attorneys either don’t realize or aren’t willing to admit that most savvy individuals will check them out online before they ever finalizing their decision. An online presence today means not only a website, but also immersion in Social Media – blogs, video, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Avvo and more.
If you enjoy this blog, please vote for us at the ABA Journal Top 100 Blogs site: http://www.abajournal.com/blawgs/blawg100_submit/. Voting ends October 1. Thank you!
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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 to promote your law firm to over 100,000 people for less than $100
- 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: Key to Influencing In-House Counsel Hiring Decisions
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A tip of the hat to Kevin at LexBlog’s Real Lawyers Have Blogs for bringing this new study to our attention: the Corporate Counsel New Media Engagement Survey conducted by American Lawyer Media, Greentarget and The Zeughauser Group.
This insightful survey polled a group of corporate counsel across the U.S. on their use of and reliance on social media.
Of particular interest is how In-house counsel ranked the following activities “most important” for helping them to vet and research outside counsel for potential hire:
- Recommendations from sources you trust: 73 percent
- Articles and speeches the lawyer has authored: 38 percent
- Bios on the firm’s Web site: 30 percent
- Blogs published by lawyers: 27 percent
- Rankings and directories: 25 percent
- Twitter feeds from lawyers: 22 percent
- Endorsements and connections on LinkedIn: 18 percent
- Quotes by lawyers in relevant media outlets: 15 percent
If this all sounds strangely familiar, it’s because ALL of these activities are what we cover step-by-step at every Rainmaker Retreat! For example, here are some of the subjects covered during our two-day law firm marketing boot camp and how they correlate to the above ranked activities:
- A Step-by-Step Approach to Create Dozens of Strategic Referral Partners in less than 6 months (#1)
- Submitting Articles Online to Increase Your Website Rank (#2)
- 4 Ways to use Speaking to Attract More Clients (#2)
- How to Change Your Website from just an Online Brochure to a Marketing Machine (#3)
- Using Blogs to Increase Your Website Rankings and Find More Clients (#4)
- Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media for Lawyers (#5, #6 and #7)
- Where to Find and How to Create Positive Media Coverage (#8)
We have three Rainmaker Retreat events on the calendar for the rest of this year:
October 8-9, 2010 New Brunswick, NJ
October 22-23, 2010 Scottsdale, AZ
November 5-6, 2010 San Francisco, CA
Don’t let another year go by without learning the strategies that will get you hired!
Click here to register or call 888-588-5891 to learn even more about our two-day law firm marketing boot camp.
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Register Now for NJSBA Becoming a Rainmaker Series Oct. 5-7
The information-packed Becoming a Rainmaker seminar is coming to New Jersey, October 5, 6 & 7, 2010 in a series of presentations sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Association, the Bergen County Bar Association, Burlington County Bar Association, and the Morris County Bar Association.
These 2-hour seminars show small and solo practice attorneys how they can take charge of their practice and begin to build the business they have always wanted. The Becoming a Rainmaker seminar has been sponsored by 22 of the largest state and local bar associations in the country, and teaches the proven Rainmaker Marketing System, which has helped more than 7,000 attorneys find more and better clients and establish a law firm marketing system for generating more referrals.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010, 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
Burlington County Bar Association
Burlington County Court House, 49 Rancocas Rd., Mount Holly, NJ
Click here to register.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Morris County Bar Association
Old Court House, Washington and Court Streets, Morristown, NJ
Click here to register.
Thursday, October 7, 2010, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Bergen County Bar Association
George W. Newman Law Building, 15 Bergen St., Hackensack, NJ
Click here to register.
Admission to each presentation is $77 for Bar Association members and $97 for nonmembers.
For more information, call 888-816-8935 or email info@therainmakerinstitute.com.
Law Firm Marketing: Social Networking Use Doubles for Older Adults
The latest boom in social networking use is happening among baby boomers and seniors, according to the latest research by Pew Internet and American Life Project. Here are the latest stats from the research:
- Social networking use among Internet users age 50+ nearly doubled—from 22% in April 2009 to 42% in May 2010.
- Between April 2009 and May 2010, social networking use among Internet users ages 50-64 grew by 88%--from 25% to 47%.
- During the same period, use among those ages 65+ grew 100%--from 13% to 26%.
Researchers said that the reasons more older Americans are flocking to social networks like Facebook and Twitter is to reconnect with people from their past, form support networks for new career ventures or other life changes and to communicate better with children and grandchildren.
If you target people over the age of 50 with your legal marketing, this research should give you added impetus to ensure that social media marketing is part of your law firm marketing program.
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Phoenix Legal Networking Group: Learn How to Double Your Referrals in 6 Months or Less at our September 16 Meeting
At the September 16 Phoenix Legal Networking Group meeting, Stephen Fairley will make a presentation on How to Double Your Referrals in 6 Months or Less. Join us this Thursday and discover:
- The proven 8-step system used by hundreds of top attorneys to generate more and better referrals fast
- How to identify who the best referral sources are for you (and they usually aren't other attorneys)
- The #1 reason why you're not getting more referrals
- The best ways to meet potential referral sources
- 5 effective ways to follow up with referral sources
The event will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, September 16 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe.
Cost is $20 per person if you register by September 14, $30 if you register by September 15 or $35 on the day of the event. This covers drinks, hors d’oeurves, the networking event and the workshop.
To register for the September 16 networking and legal marketing event, co-hosted by FindLaw, Attorney at Law Magazine and The Rainmaker Institute, visit http://www.therainmakerretreat.com/network/ or call 888-816-8935.
Law Firm Marketing: Why Facebook Makes Sense for Lawyers
If you frequent this blog, then you know that I am a huge Facebook fan. The latest statistic I’ve quoted to encourage attorneys to get on board is that this social media juggernaut has 500 million users. And for most of us, that’s a number we have a problem wrapping our heads around.
So let me break it down for you. Here are the top 5 Facebook user states and the penetration level – in other words, the percentage of the entire state’s population that is on Facebook:
- California: 16.6 million users; 45% penetration
- Texas: 10.7 million users; 43% penetration
- New York: 8.5 million users; 44% penetration
- Florida: 7.8 million users; 42% penetration
- Illinois: 7.1 million users; 55% penetration
You can get the user numbers and penetration rates for the rest of the states here.
According to the ABA, the five states with the greatest population of attorneys are: well, just see above. That’s right. California. Texas. New York. Florida. Illinois.
As an angling enthusiast, I know one thing: you gotta fish where the fish are. For a helluva lot of attorneys, your fish are on Facebook. All you need to do is bait the hook.
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Social Media Marketing for Attorneys: Live Webinar
Attorneys have lots of questions about social media and in this 2-part webinar series I will give you all the answers. Get what you need to know while avoiding common pitfalls and time wasters. By the end of this series you will know if social media is right for your law firm and if so, precisely how to use it to market your law firm, build your online platform, connect with prospects, clients and potential referral sources.
Part 1: Wednesday, September 15th at 3:00 pm ET
Part 2: Tuesday, September 21st at 3:00 pm ET
Each session runs one hour. I really encourage you to register for both sessions, but if you can attend only one, rest assured that each one-hour session is a great standalone presentation on social media strategies for law firms.
Here’s the online registration information:
Register online here for Both Sessions on Wed., Sept. 15 and Tues., Sept. 21, 2010.
Register online here for Part One on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010.
Register online here for Part Two on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010.
Law Firm Marketing: Are You Hitting Your Ideal Target Market?
This venn diagram at Matt Homann’s the [non]billable hour blog got me thinking again about perception and reality when it comes to law firm marketing:
If you ask most attorneys whom they are marketing to with their websites, they’ll tell you potential clients. That’s their perception. But the sad reality is, most attorneys are marketing to other attorneys and, yes, themselves.
How profitable is that?
Maybe it’s time to take a good long look at that Ideal Target Market and be sure your website – and all your marketing efforts – are speaking directly to them.
Your Ideal Target Market (ITM) is the person or company who is most likely to retain you initially, repeatedly, and at the highest profit margin. There are 3 key parts here:
Initially—your ITM will retain your services faster than others and present fewer obstacles for you to overcome.
Repeatedly—the most expensive thing a law firm can have is a 1-time client. On average, it will cost your firm 10 times as much to obtain a new client as it does to service an existing one.
At the highest profit margin—your ITM is not the price-conscious consumer. Research tells us that 15% of any market, regardless of what product or service you are selling, will always and only buy on price. Your responsibility as a law firm marketing professional is to quickly identify those “15 percenters” and move them out of your pipeline so you can focus on selling to the other 85%.
Identifying and targeting the right market is absolutely critical to the success of your law firm marketing plan. If you don’t target the right market, nothing else you do will matter. To be successful as a legal marketer and attorney, you have to start with a clear picture of your ITM.
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BALIF Rainmaker Institute Event on October 14 in San Francisco
Founded in 1980, Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF) is the nation’s oldest and largest bar association of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered persons in the field of law.
On Thursday, Oct. 14, BALIF will present a 1-day workshop designed for busy Attorneys, Partners, Associates, and their Staff who want to discover how to apply proven marketing strategies and top tips used by some of today’s biggest Rainmakers to create a 7-figure lifestyle law firm.
Rainmaker Institute CEO Stephen Fairley will be speaking on Proven Strategies for Today’s Rainmaker: Increasing Revenues and Referrals Using Networking, Internet Marketing and Social Media In the New Age. This one-day seminar includes 1 hour of MCLE Ethics Credit for California attorneys.
For more information and to register online, click here.
How To Measure Your Law Firm's Success With Social Media: What Are You Measuring?
Last Friday, I blogged about a social media marketing study just out from KingFish Media, HubSpot and Junta42 that showed 75% of B2B and B2C marketers surveyed have a social media marketing program in place.
I want to revisit that survey again to discuss how marketers measure social media ROI using both quantitative and qualitative metrics. Both measurements are important because social media is really about two things: engagement and influence.
Quantitative measurements are those counted in quantity – it’s the “show me the numbers” part of research that can determine how your social media program is performing on the engagement level. There are a number of different quantitative measurements for social media, as shown here:
Qualitative measurements are those relating to or concerning quality and measures how your social media program is performing on the influence level. Here are some of the ways leading marketers are using qualitative measurements for social media:
For both quantitative and qualitative social media measurement, check out this Wiki of social media monitoring tools: http://wiki.kenburbary.com/.
As you develop your social media marketing plan, take the time to determine what you want to know. Your plan should be able to identify all of your target audiences, the key influencers to those audiences, and your effectiveness in reaching them. You should be able to track the conversion rate of prospects to clients, the response percentage to your marketing messages, and who is responding to your messaging.
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.
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. You can download them now free! Go here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!
Social Media Marketing for Law Firms: LinkedIn #1 for B2B & B2C Marketers
LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook dominate the social media marketing landscape for both B2B and B2C marketers, according to a new study just out from KingFish Media, HubSpot and Junta42:
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The online survey of corporate managers and marketing/sales managers conducted two months ago found that nearly 75 percent of all companies surveyed have a social media marketing strategy in place, and will be increasing their spend on social media over the next year.
The most prevalent ways these companies are using social media include:
- Generating leads
- Enhancing customer relationships
- Increasing sales
- Increasing customer retention
- Brand promotion
- Customer feedback
- New product introduction
- Entering new markets
To get a pdf of the full report, go here.
And if you need help getting your social media marketing program off the ground, go here.
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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: Internet Marketing for Rainmakers, Part 3 of 3
Here is the final in a series of three posts this week outlining the best practices for becoming a rainmaker on the Internet.
To read the first two, go here and here. I’ll list the first six strategies from the past two days and then continue with the final strategies for driving targeted traffic to your website through good SEO practices:
1. Know the keywords people use to search for your services.
2. Use keywords in your domain name.
3. Create compelling copy.
4. Add fresh content regularly.
5. Use video to keep visitors’ attention.
6. Develop educational tools and promote them on your website.
7. Submit your articles online. Submitting short educational articles on the Internet is one of the easiest, fastest, and cheapest ways to increase your visibility and the traffic to your website. There are literally thousands of directories on the Internet that will republish your article on their websites at no cost. Simply Google “article directories” for a list.
Key Action Steps:
- Keep your articles short—between 400 and 700 words. Remember, people don’t read online, they scan. Use plenty of bullet points, clearly differentiate sections, and keep your paragraphs short.
- Write for a specific audience. Keep in mind your ideal clients, and write the article for them—not for other lawyers. Tell a case study. Use an example. Make it practical, interesting, and personal, as if you were speaking directly to the reader. Never use legal jargon unless you explain it.
- Grab their attention with the title. Make sure your title is less than ten words, has a number in it when possible, and tells them how to solve a problem. The title must grab the reader’s attention from the start. For example: “5 Mistakes,” “7 Pitfalls,” “3 Steps,” etc.
- Tell, don’t sell. Focus your article on informing and educating your reader about a specific topic. Don’t focus on “selling” your services. The goal is to get readers to visit your website.
- Don’t be generic. Give your opinion or state your perspective. People are looking for answers, not just questions.
- Determine if your article is a good fit for the site. Some sites target business professionals, others target individual consumers. Some have sections for each group. If they give you the choice, make sure you select the category that is most appropriate for your article and that best represents your target market.
- Only submit to websites that allow you to include your contact information with a live link back to your website. If they are not willing to give you a live link back to your website, go somewhere else.
- Give people a reason to contact you. Offer them a special report at your website or something else that will give them an incentive to contact you.
- Create a Google Alert at www.google.com/alerts to help you track where your articles are posted to and when they come out (set either your name or the title of your article as the Alert).
- Manage your expectations. Writing and submitting articles to various websites will rarely result in a new client.
There are three major reasons why you should use this technique:
- It will increase your visibility on the Internet. The search engines love free information (which is what your article is).
- It will increase the number of visitors to your website through the direct links at the bottom of each article and by increasing the position of your website on the search engines.
- It will increase your credibility. When an important prospect searches for your name on the Internet and comes up blank, that doesn’t look good. Having several websites with your articles posted on them immediately increases your credibility to prospects investigating which lawyer they want to hire.
8. Take action fast. One of the hallmarks of a top rainmaker is the ability to take action fast. It’s easy to put things off. It’s easier still to stay a cynic. The real challenge is acting on what you have learned. Here’s my challenge to you: Write down three to five specific strategies you will start implementing in the next 30 days. Give yourself realistic time frames and find someone to hold you accountable. Then go out and take action.
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Announcing New Fall Rainmaker Retreat Dates!
If you're struggling to build your legal practice or want to learn a proven law firm marketing system for that has helped attorneys discover how to generate more referrals and find new clients fast then you owe it to yourself to check out a Rainmaker Retreat.
Here are the new Fall dates for our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:
- October 8-9, 2010 New Brunswick, NJ
- October 22-23, 2010 Scottsdale, AZ
- November 5-6, 2010 San Francisco, CA
We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat. Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.
Law Firm Marketing: Internet Marketing for Rainmakers, Part 2 of 3
Here is the second in a series of three posts this week outlining the best practices in becoming a rainmaker on the Internet.
To read the first in the series, go here. I’ll list the first three from yesterday to refresh memories and then continue with the next three strategies for driving targeted traffic to your website through good SEO practices:
1. Know the keywords people use to search for your services.
2. Use keywords in your domain name.
3. Create compelling copy.
4. Add fresh content regularly. Perhaps the top strategy used by high-ranking lawyers today is to add new, relevant content to their websites on a consistent basis. This is one of the major reasons for the explosion in blogs in recent years. Although some law firms are selecting blogs instead of websites, I believe there is a place for each in online legal marketing. If, for economic reasons, you are forced to select between one or the other, I recommend starting out with a blog. Why? Because they are very low cost (or free) as compared to websites and, if done properly, will help you rank faster than a traditional website.
Anyone can start a blog at no cost using sites such as www.wordpress.com and www.blogger.com. For any serious traffic, you need to be updating three to five times per week. Lawyers who want to be at the top of the search engines update their blog three to five times per day. The more relevant content your blog gives Google, the more it will love your blog by ranking it higher.
Key Action Steps:
- The more fresh, relevant content you post on your website or blog, the higher you will rank on the search engines.
- Blogs are a great place to get started, but in order to be effective they must be updated frequently. Update your blog at least three to five times per week.
5. Use video to keep visitors’ attention. Now here’s a truly depressing statistic: On average, 85 percent of your website’s visitors will stay for less than 30 seconds and will never return. Seriously? Yes. If you don’t believe me, check for yourself. Look at your website’s statistics log and see how many unique visitors you have and how long they stay on average. (Virtually every website has at least a basic statistics package; just ask your website tech or hosting company how to access it. If you are not already using Google Analytics, have your tech install it. It’s much better than most. And it’s free.)
The bottom line is that you literally have less than 30 seconds to impress your website visitors. I believe all of us would agree that the longer visitors stay on your website, the more likely they are to connect with you.
One of the best ways to increase the length of time a visitor stays is by using videos. Anecdotally, our clients have seen a four- to fivefold increase in length of stay after implementing videos on their websites. These videos should be one to three minutes long and focus on educating prospects and website visitors about who you are, who you help, and why you are different. These videos do not need to be professionally produced, but you may want to have someone add a short introduction including your website and phone number. Once you have your video ready, upload it to your website—and to www.youtube.com for additional exposure. Visitors are more concerned with content than production quality. If allowed in your jurisdiction, use video testimonials from your clients as well.
Key Action Steps:
- The longer someone stays on your website, the greater likelihood they will connect with you. Use videos to quickly capture their attention.
- Your videos should educate prospects about who you are, who you help, and why you are different.
6. Develop educational tools and promote them on your website. Education-based marketing is one of the most powerful tools at the disposal of lawyers. There is a great amount of basic information you know about your practice area that prospects want and need to know. Think about some of the questions your clients have about child custody and divorce or how to avoid getting sued by employees or ways to protect their intellectual property. Identify their frequently asked questions or biggest challenges and put together a short report (three to six pages long), a PowerPoint presentation, or even an audio CD, and offer a free copy to website visitors who give you their contact information.
Remember, if you cannot get visitors to call you directly, the second-best alternative is to persuade them to give you their contact information with permission to contact them. Give your education material a creative title such as “7 Questions You Must Ask before You Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer,” or “The 10 Deadly Mistakes People Make with Their Estate Plan,” or even “5 Strategies Inventors Can Use to Protect and Monetize Their Inventions.”
This kind of free educational information is a great tool to start building relationships with many people who need your help but aren’t ready to walk in your door. It is not enough simply to offer people a free consultation. Almost every lawyer does that. Take it one step further and give them some great information that will help them think through the issues and challenges they are facing. Once you have created these educational tools, find every way you can to give them away to as many people as possible.
Key Action Steps:
- Use an educational report, white paper, or audio CD to inform prospects, clients, and referral sources.
- Every prospect has questions and challenges. Identify them and give them some information that indicates you can resolve their challenges and answer their questions.
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You Should Not Miss This Law Firm Marketing Webinar Tomorrow!
Live Webinar: 8 Proven Tools to Double Your Referrals in 6 Months... Or Less.
Hosted by #1 best-selling author and nationally recognized law firm marketing expert Stephen Fairley
Wednesday, August 18 at 2:00pm ET (1:00pm CT, 12:00pm MT, 11:00am PT)
Duration: 60 minutes
This event will be presented live via phone with an Internet connection available for those who want to view the presentation on their computers as well. Internet access is not required for phone-only participants. A copy of the presentation and downloadable materials will be provided after the event.
Register online: http://www.avantresources.com/store/events/8-proven-tools-to-double-your-law-firm-referrals-in-6-monthsor-less
Law Firm Marketing: Internet Marketing for Rainmakers, Part 1 of 3
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Last month there were more than 31 million Internet searches for the words “lawyer” or “attorney” in the U.S.
So I hope there are no longer any attorneys out there interested in marketing their practices that still believe people don’t use the Internet to find lawyers! My first three posts this week will detail several of the best practices in becoming a rainmaker on the Internet.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the ongoing process of optimizing your website to be found on the search engines -- Google, Yahoo! and Bing -- for the keywords and phrases that people will use to find you.
The goal of SEO is to drive qualified traffic to your website. It does not include pay-per-click (PPC) or paid search. There are more than 30 different components commonly used by SEO experts to help your website rank well. Below are the first three strategies to get you started.
1. Know the keywords people use to search for your services. There are many tools you can use to find out exactly which keywords and phrases people use. I recommend you start with www.wordtracker.com and Google’s Keyword Tool, which can be found at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal. In most searches, there are three parts used: geographical location, practice area, and the word “lawyer” or “attorney.”
For example, someone looking for a personal injury lawyer in southern California may use “Los Angeles personal injury lawyer,” whereas someone in Chicago looking to file for bankruptcy may search for “Chicago bankruptcy attorney.” However, people are starting to use more and more words to describe what they are looking for: “I was injured in a car accident in Miami and need an attorney.” This is known as long tail search.
Key Action Steps:
- Talk to your prospects and clients and find out what words and phrases they use to look for a lawyer in your practice area.
- Research those keywords and find out how many other people use them.
- Make a list of 20 to 30 words and phrases to use in your website.
2. Use keywords in your domain name. When possible, use the actual words with which you want prospects to find you. Many law firms are still using the traditional method of naming their website the same as their law firm name, which can make it difficult to spell, harder to find, and does not assist their SEO efforts. However, be sure to check your state’s ethical requirements before settling on a new website name; some states do not allow lawyers to use any other domain name than their law firm’s name.
Key Action Steps:
- Use multiple domain names.
- Register your own name first, then register domain names with your keywords in it.
- Use www.godaddy.com to register multiple variations. Even if you are not going to use them now, you may want them later.
3. Create compelling copy. I strongly recommend you consider hiring a professional copywriter to write the copy on your website. Yes, I know, every lawyer out there writes for a living. However, the gulf between writing a great legal brief and creating compelling copy can be vast. The number-one purpose of your website is to compel visitors to pick up the phone and call you. A great copywriter can create credible copy that will get your phone ringing.
Another purpose of your website copy is to help you rank well in the search engines. One way to do this is by using the exact same words and phrases you researched in step one in the copy of your website. Each page should focus on four to six phrases. For example, one page may focus on four phrases such as “Orange County California personal injury lawyers,” “Orange County California personal injury attorneys,” “Los Angeles California personal injury lawyers,” and “Los Angeles County California personal injury attorneys.”
Key Action Steps:
- Consider hiring a professional copywriter to write your website copy.
- Be sure to include on each page the keywords for which you want to rank high.
- Include a call to action on every page. Tell people what you want them to do: call you, register, sign up, etc.
Check back for more rainmaking Internet strategies tomorrow.
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Phoenix Attorneys: Learn About Finding Your Perfect Client at August 18 Legal Networking Group
Join us on Wednesday, August 18, when Stephen will address a meeting of the Phoenix Legal Networking Group on Finding Your Perfect Client: How To Find More Clients Who Need, Want And Can Afford Your Services. You will learn:
- How to identify your ideal target market
- The most expensive thing in your law firm (and it's not your staff)
- The 4 reasons why people really hire an attorney
- How to create a profile of your perfect client
- The top 4 factors in determining your ideal client
The event will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, August 18 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe. Cost is only $20 per person.
To register for this seminar, co-hosted by FindLaw, Attorney at Law Magazine and The Rainmaker Institute, click here.
Law Firm Marketing & Social Media: Should Attorneys Tweet?
Social media is trending upwards faster than ever. Facebook just announced they now have 500 million registered users! By way of comparison, the estimated population of the USA is 309 million. And Twitter usage has more than doubled in the past year, from 44 million to 92 million worldwide.
Attorneys and law firms should consider using social media, but keep it in its place. In other words, be sure you are focusing on the major parts of your marketing first like generating referrals from current and former clients, seeking referrals from other professionals (attorneys and non-legal professionals), networking, getting your website up, blogging, THEN using social media.
Social media is the #1 fastest way to build your platform (how many people know who you are, who you help and how you are different).
The Rainmaker Institute has close to 60,000 people following us on Twitter and several thousand ‘fans’ and friends on Facebook (also www.Facebook.com/LawFirmMarketing).
Are all of them attorneys? No, but since we usually only post topics that attorneys or other small business owners would care about (most of our clients are also small business owners), the people who are not interested in these topics will generally self-select and stop following us after a while.
Social media can be the most cost effective way to build your list! 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 list using a free special report or free CD or DVD or newsletter.
The golden rule here is: he/she who has the biggest list wins! Yes, I know it's about the quality of your list as well, but when it comes to building your law firm database of interested prospects, size does matter!
Get started by focusing on the big 6 social media sites for attorneys:
Let us know if you want some help in figuring out how to get started or how to leverage social media to build your list and generate leads for your law firm.
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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 Webinar: How to Double Your Law Firm Referrals in 6 Months or Less
Discover the secret of how to increase your referral base and grow your law firm by signing up for my live webinar next Wednesday, Aug. 18 at 2 p.m. ET.
To build a thriving practice impervious to the fluctuations in the economy, client referrals are critical. They should play a key role in your law firm marketing strategy.
In this comprehensive 60-minute webinar, I will share the 8 Proven Tools to Double Your Referrals in 6 Months... Or Less.
We'll break down the essential components of referral generation and which tools will open the door to new clients.
You will discover:
- Problems with Relying on Random Referrals
- Top 5 Sources for Referrals
- The Number One Reason why attorneys do not receive more referrals from clients
- 5 Tools for educating your current and new clients about your ideal referral
- How to get more referrals from other professionals
- 8 methods of staying connected with your professional referral sources
- How to Use Social Media to build your referral base
This event will be presented live via phone with an Internet connection available for those who want to view the presentation on their computers as well. Internet access is not required for phone-only participants. A copy of the presentation and downloadable materials will be provided after the event.
The details again:
Live Webinar: 8 Proven Tools to Double Your Referrals in 6 Months... Or Less.
Hosted by #1 best-selling author and nationally recognized law firm marketing expert Stephen Fairley
Wednesday, August 18 at 2:00pm ET
(1:00pm CT, 12:00pm MT, 11:00am PT)
Duration: 60 minutes
Register online: http://www.avantresources.com/store/events/8-proven-tools-to-double-your-law-firm-referrals-in-6-monthsor-less
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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.
Legal Marketing: 3 Reasons Why Lawyers Fail to Grow Their Practices
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Law firm marketing is a complex and competitive business. And there are many reasons why some law firms fail to grow or even fail to survive.
However, in my work with more than 7,000 attorneys over the years, I’ve come to find out that there are essentially 3 main reasons why lawyers fail to grow their practices:
Lack of Time
This is the single biggest complaint we hear. You’re stressed for time. You barely have time to serve your clients, much less market your practice. Not to mention spend time with your family.
Lack of Systems
There are several simple systems attorneys can use to create a “lifestyle practice”—a practice that supports the lifestyle you want to lead, rather than one that dominates your life.
Lack of Strategy
From a marketing perspective, a comprehensive strategy to grow your law firm is essential to your long-term success. Otherwise, you and your team lack direction.
These “lacks” can be overcome so that you can create that lifestyle law practice you desire.
Many of our clients are proof of that. When you use a proven legal marketing strategy that consistently produces results, you can then set up legal marketing systems that, in turn, frees up your time, increases your client roster and boosts your revenue.
And where might you find proven legal marketing strategies? Check out the free offer below.
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Free CD: Law Firm Marketing Strategies
Get your free CD on Law Firm Marketing Strategies 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: The Fortune is in the Follow-Up
If you are like many attorneys, you have tried many things to market your law firm. Marketing for lawyers often includes giving seminars and presentations, going to networking events, writing articles, talking to old law school buddies, meeting with potential referral sources, building law firm websites, and sending out holiday cards to remind clients of who you are.
When marketing your law firm, there are four different groups of people you come into contact with, and which group they fall into will usually tell you how you should follow up with them. It is important to understand the differences between each group:
Leads are people or companies who are unqualified and may or may not need your services or even be able to afford your services. Leads come from a presentation you make to a local trade group, by visiting your law firm website, or perhaps sending you a question in an email.
Prospects are people who have some level of qualification. They have either expressed a need for your services or they fall into a category that you believe has a high likelihood of needing your services. The major differences between leads and prospects are two-fold: you know who they are and you have a good reason to believe they need your services.
Clients are the third group you need to follow up with. A client is someone who has paid you money. Do not confuse prospects with clients. If someone hasn’t signed an agreement and paid you money yet, they are not your client.
Referrals are the last group you need to follow up with as part of your law firm marketing plan. They may be current referral sources, former referral sources (they haven't sent you any new leads or prospects in the last 12 months), or prospective referral sources.
I have coached and trained over 7,000 lawyers in virtually every practice area. The difference between financially successful attorneys and struggling attorneys is often found in their follow-up.
Top attorneys clearly understand “the fortune is in the follow up”. They plan ahead and lay out a clear game plan for following up with every person they connect with.
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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.
Legal Marketing Strategy: Specialize to Capitalize
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In these challenging times, it’s very tempting to want to serve everyone, never turning down any client, and trying to build your client base with whoever comes through your door.
But that is counterproductive. To make more, you must do less.
When you’re trying to be everything to everyone, you end up being nothing to no one. And in your prospective clients’ minds, you become one of the many, many lawyers out there, a big legal blur. And if that’s the case, how are you going to attract any attention, much less attract clients you can serve?
The answer: specialize. Now I’m talking more than focusing on an area of law, more than earning a specialist certification through your bar association, although both of these are important.
What I’m talking about serving a specific niche (man’s divorce attorney) or even a niche within a niche (man’s divorce attorney emphasizing child custody).
The 8 Benefits to Positioning Yourself as a Specialist:
- Significantly higher rate of referrals.
- Can charge higher rates.
- More opportunities to offer them more expensive services.
- Better client retention.
- Not perceived as a commodity.
- Value is based primarily on credibility and expertise.
- Better positioned to get positive media coverage.
- Easier to dominate your niche.
With all of these benefits, it pays to spend time carefully defining what “specialization” means to you. Certainly, it must make sense from your experience, training and if there’s a need out there. When you get inquiries from prospective clients, what’s drawing them to you and your services? Keep track of your clients and see if they don’t begin to naturally fall into one or more groups. You may find that you attract clients you can learn from or who can learn from you. Their situations may mirror your current or recent challenges.
Becoming aware of these commonalities is a way to let your niche find you, which In turn helps you develop your law firm marketing strategy.
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. You can download them now free!
How to Avoid Legal Marketing Mistakes Many Attorneys Make
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Did you know…
- There are more than 1.2 million attorneys in the United States.
- 30,000 new ones graduate every year.
- 85% of all attorneys end up in a small law firm with fewer than 50 attorneys.
- The size of the U.S. legal industry is estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually.
Yet the majority of attorneys continue to struggle to create a financially successful practice. Why?
We have found the common denominator of attorneys who struggle with practice building is that they believe the best use of their time is to practice law. You are not in the business of practicing law. You are in the business of building relationships (also known as marketing) so that you can practice law.
A lot of my clients say, “But Stephen, I don’t have time to market my practice.” My reply is always the same, “Either take time now on a consistent basis or you will have plenty of time later when your client base dries up.”
Building a successful practice isn’t magic or rocket science, but it is work and it does take a lot of time, energy and money. Every attorney who starts a new practice fully intends to succeed; yet according to research, more than 50% of them still fail.
We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In a newly updated, complimentary e-book, you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.
Discover:
- How to avoid 2 common practice-killing pitfalls
- How to position yourself as a specialist
- Why most advertising is a waste of your money
- Ways to avoid common practice-killing pitfalls
The e-book is free; see below for details.
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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book
In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.
Get your complimentary copy online here.
Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.
We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.
Law Firm Marketing: 8 Steps to Increase Your Online Visibility
These days, no one puts up a website and expects potential clients to come flocking to it. Most savvy law firm marketers know you have to do things that drive traffic to the site.
Just like litigation, online law firm marketing is all about strategy and execution.
There are a number of things you can do to increase your online visibility, thereby improving your chances of having potential clients find you.
Here are some steps to improve your online presence using a variety of different online marketing channels, including articles, ezines, press releases and blogs.
Step #1: Define a topic area relevant to your practice and your target market.
Step #2: Write a 400- 750 word article about that topic.
Step #3: Submit that article online.
Step #4: Create a press release from that article, discussing that topic.
Step #5: Submit that press release online.
Step #6: Use a part of that article in your ezine and link to it online. (100 to 300 words)
Step #7: Then take that article and develop a blog post from it. (100 to 300 words)
Step #8: Submit a second press release announcing the article you just published based on the original topic in Step #1.
This law firm marketing tip – and many others – is a small sampling of what you will learn at The Rainmaker Retreat. See below for details on the next one.
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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!
Law Firm Marketing: How to Build a Solid, Responsive Mailing List
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I have posted previously about the need to build trust with potential clients by first building a relationship with them.
There are several marketing channels you can use to build those relationships.
Some, like Twitter, are designed to create a two-way dialog so you can engage your potential client base in online conversations that help you understand their needs better. Others, like legal blogs, help position you as an expert (in the marketing, not the legal, sense).
Each plays a role in your law firm marketing strategy.
But when it comes to reaching out to potential clients on a consistent basis, few law firm marketing tools can match the success rate of newsletters.
However, before you can engage prospective clients through law firm marketing newsletters, you first have to find them. Which brings us to one of the foundational tools of law firm marketing: list building.
There are list services where you can purchase names, e-mail addresses and home addresses that match your target demographic. But I don’t recommend them for law firm marketing for one important reason: the client’s choice in legal counsel rests so much on trust, my opinion is that contacting clients without their permission is suspect.
However, there are many proven ways to build law firm marketing lists without purchasing names from a service. Below are some of the best:
- Insert a newsletter sign-up form on the most highly trafficked pages of your web site, including a brief summary of the benefits of receiving no-cost, ongoing legal information they can use.
- When you have a speaking engagement, provide a sign-up sheet for your “complimentary” newsletter. This technique has a very high response rate because the audience is already interested in your area of the law. They also see you as an expert, whose legal counsel they could benefit by.
- Partner with other professionals who serve a client base similar to yours. For example, if your area of practice is estate planning, financial planners or brokerage houses might have a target client similar to yours. Once you locate these “list partners”, you can insert your offer for a free trial newsletter into their outgoing communications to that client base (and they can do the same with yours). In that way, you are getting permission from the recipient prior to sending your law firm marketing newsletter – which is much more effective than purchasing a list.
In addition to using these proven ways to build your law firm marketing list, be sure to make it visible and easy for recipients of your newsletter to unsubscribe. It does you no good to contact someone regularly that does not want your information -- and making it clear they may cancel at any time sends the message that you care about them and they can trust you.
Adding these list-building tactics to your law firm marketing strategy will help you build a solid, highly responsive list of prospects that have real potential to turn into paying clients.
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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money
Feel like you don’t have time for marketing? Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.
Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan.
After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.
There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm. You can download them now free! Go here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!
4 Tips to Generate Clients and Referrals Through Speaking and Seminars
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A very powerful law firm marketing strategy to generate more clients is to hold educational seminars or speak at events. Here are some tips to help ensure that the time you commit to this endeavor pays off for you in terms of new clients and/or referrals.
Tip #1: Always Speak to Decision Makers
Make sure you get in front of the right group (people who either can refer you clients or who are highly likely to need, want and be able to afford your services) by asking about:
- What is the average attendance?
- What is your average attendee like? Their job title? Description? Age? Decision maker?
- What percentage of your usual attendees are decision makers?
- What kinds of topics have had the best turnout?
- Who has recently spoken to your group and what did they speak about?
Tip #2: Educate Your Audience
Make your talk educational. Don’t stand up there and spout legal jargon and legal theory or sections and codes because that’s not what people want. They want practical, useful information.
You may say, “Well, I don’t want to give away the store. I don’t want to give them so much information that they can do it themselves.” Please understand, if you could give them enough information where they could do it themselves, the people who actually would do it for themselves are not your clients.
You want to target the people who have the money to hire an attorney and don’t want to do it for themselves. You don’t want to hire tire kickers or “do it yourselfers” because all they’re going to do is try to get your lowest price. I actually follow the opposite principle. I purposefully try to overwhelm my audience with practical, useful information when I give a seminar on law firm marketing. Why? Because I want them to walk out of the room with so many great ideas that they don’t know where to start so they will turn to me and hire my company to implement the law firm marketing plan for them.
You must recognize that not everyone in the audience is in your target market and you need to qualify them as much as they qualify you. You need to ensure that they need you, they want you and they can afford you. If you don’t want to attract “Yellow Page Clients” then don’t charge Yellow Page prices.
Tip # 3: Get Attendees' Contact Information
Have a plan for obtaining the attendees’ contact information both before and after your presentation. You want to get it before so that you can get ready to follow-up with them, but also after your presentation just in case somebody shows up at the door. If you can’t get the contact information from the conference organizer, do a giveaway for a prize and have them pass their business cards to the front or have them email you their contact information to get a free copy of the handout or PowerPoint slides.
Tip # 4: The Fortune is in the Follow-up
The number one reason why lawyers don’t get results is because they don’t have a written follow-up system. You must develop a follow up strategy before the talk.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say your follow-up strategy is a series of emails, phone calls and maybe a letter or postcard. Your follow-up system would include 4 emails, 3 phone calls and 1 letter.
Email #1 would be sent within 24 hours post-seminar. It would be a thank you email with an offer for a free consultation, special report or audio CD. Phone Call #1 would be made by your staff and would be made within 24 hours post-seminar. The call would be to thank them for attending and make the same free offer that’s made in the email. Your letter would be sent out the next day (they should receive it within 3 days if they are local.) and the letter would repeat what you have written in the email. All of this would happen in the first 24 hours after the seminar.
Some of you will question if that’s too aggressive. It’s not. It demonstrates a high level of professionalism and commitment to your attendees. We give dozens of law firm marketing seminars every year and this works.
Email #2 is sent 3 to 5 days after the event. Remind them about the seminar they attended and invite them to sign-up for a consultation for your newsletter. Email #3 might offer a brief tip about the topic you spoke about: top 10 tips or recommended resources, etc. Every person should be contacted by at least three phone calls before you stop trying to reach them. Every attendee should receive at least 5-7 emails and 1-2 letters from your law firm.
If you follow this script, you will attract both new clients and referrals from an audience that has been impressed by your knowledge, how you articulate it and the thoroughness of your follow-through. You’ll be the attorney they want to do business with, I promise.
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Phoenix Attorneys: Learn About Social Media at July 21 Legal Networking Group
Join us on Wednesday, July 21, when Stephen will address a meeting of the Phoenix Legal Networking Group on Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media for Lawyers: Facebook and Twitter.
You will learn:
- Why Facebook is the 800 pound gorilla on the Internet
- Who is using Facebook (this will surprise you)
- What kind of practice areas are getting clients from Facebook
- How to get started fast
- Why Twitter is growing so fast
- How to leverage Twitter to drive traffic to your blog or website
- Top tips for using social media in your legal marketing strategy
The event will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 21 at Monti’s, 100 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe. Cost is only $20 per person.
To register for this seminar, co-hosted by FindLaw, Attorney at Law Magazine and The Rainmaker Institute, click here.
Law Firm Marketing: Revisiting the Law of 7 on 7-7
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The Law of 7 Touches is based on research that found it takes an average of 7 to 10 meaningful touches EVERY YEAR to move someone through the cycle from not knowing anything about you to being ready to buy from you.
This is just the average, not a guarantee, because in hyper-competitive markets, like legal services, it often takes many more touches than that -- and to drive customer buying habits, it takes consistency.
Consider the following statistics regarding the legal profession’s contact with prospective clients:
- 48% of lawyers give up after the first contact.
- 25% give up after the second contact.
- 12% give up after the third contact.
- 5% give up after the fourth contact.
In other words, 9 out of 10 prospective clients are never followed-up with more than 4 times.
If you want your law firm marketing to be successful, you must obey “The Law of 7.”
You’re probably thinking, “I know I should connect frequently and consistently with my prospective clients, but I just don’t have the time.”
True. Which is why you should leverage the power of technology to build relationships with your prospects.
What you need is a strategy and a process that leverages the most recent advancements in technology (autoresponders, social media, blogs, for example) to simplify and automate your marketing efforts, building rock solid, long-term relationships and helping you earn more, work less and spend time doing what you love to do.
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Looking for more Rainmaker Institute Wisdom?
Then sign up for a complimentary Law Firm Marketing Strategy CD. It contains information that will enable you to Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice. The CD is free, so sign up now!
Take our Twitter Poll: If you’re an attorney, we want your feedback! Click here (or go to http://twitter.polldaddy.com/done/3364850) to let us know what business development topics you’re most interested in right now.
3 Steps to Building Rewarding Referrals
I was recently coaching a law firm partner at a small east coast law firm who was lamenting how slow new business has become in the past few months. As we talked, I asked him, “What have you done in the past 3 months to build relationships with potential referral partners?” 
He mentioned going to lunch a few times and speaking with a couple of people over the phone when they made a referral to him. I asked him to open up his Outlook contact database; there were more than 200 non-client contacts in it including: accountants, financial planners, angel investors, business brokers, and private investment bankers.
Here's the 3 steps I shared with him to develop the relationships in his “golden Rolodex.”
Step 1: Take an Active, not Passive, Role
There is an old saying “A man who has friends must show himself to be friendly.”
Don’t wait for someone to take the initiative and contact you— be the first to reach out. In the last few years we have coached & trained more than 7,000 attorneys and found the top Rainmakers are the lawyers who make at least 3-4 contacts with potential referral sources every week.
Action Step: Take 2 minutes and scan your contact database. Select 12-15 names of potential or current referral sources and send them an email or better yet, pick up the phone and call them with an invitation for lunch or coffee. Set up 3 face-to-face meetings per week for the next month.
Here's a sample script: “It’s been a while since we’ve connected. I was wondering what your schedule looks like for the next week or so. I'd like to get together with you for lunch or coffee, just to catch up—my treat. Let me know what dates would work best for you.”
Step 2: Increase Frequency of Contact
Try as we might, it’s difficult with our hectic schedules to meet with every potential referral source on a regular basis. Here's one strategy I teach my coaching clients: Set up a Google Alert for a specific phrase that would be of interest to your referral sources.
Collect articles and websites that might be of interest to your referral sources. Keep them in a separate folder (Referral Articles). Once a month pull one out and forward it with a brief note (“I thought you might enjoy this article.”). Email a copy of the article to all of your referral sources.
One of my clients built his network of strategic referral sources from less than 5 to more than 300 in 2 years using just this simple technique to stay in front of his referral sources on a frequent basis. He now has a multi-million dollar practice.
Step 3: Focus on Serving Not Selling
When you meet with potential referral sources, don’t make the mistake of dominating the conversation. You are there to listen and learn about them, not hear yourself talk! Any attempt to “sell” them on your services will be a complete waste.
Look for ways you can serve them and their clients by connecting them with other resources or pointing them in the right direction regarding a legal issue. Ask a lot of questions about their business. For example:
- How did you first get started in your line of work?
- What are some of the major trends in your industry?
- What kinds of challenges do you face?
- What do you like best/worst about your job?
- And here's the most important question: How will I know if I'm talking to someone who's a good referral for you?
Educate them about your Ideal Target Market and how you can benefit their clients only after you have carefully listened to them.
Rainmakers don’t wait for the door to knock or the phone to ring or the referral to come in. They take the initiative, stay in touch, and focus on serving their referral sources, not selling them a service.
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More Rainmaker Retreat Dates
If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then come to one of our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:
July 30-31, 2010 Los Angeles, CA
August 6-7, 2010 Las Vegas, NV
October 8-9, 2010 New Brunswick, NJ
We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat.
Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.
Law Firm Marketing: Are You Anti-Social?
In general, attorneys are a gregarious, likeable bunch. It’s just their personality. So you’d think that 
the legal profession would be all over the social media phenomenon. We’ve been preaching social media for years and have shown time and again what it can do to help lawyers become major rainmakers.
So what’s holding you back? According to a recent post at Mashable.com, the world’s largest social media blog, a legal affairs reporter for the ABA Journal was quoted thusly:
“Varied and outdated ethics rules in regards to online communication, as well as numerous examples of cases put in real jeopardy because of prosecutors and judges posting on Facebook or jurors twittering mid-trial, only fuel a general tendency in the legal profession to distrust new technologies.”
The article went on to say:
While many in the field proceed with trepidation, the unprecedented reach of social networks, Twitter and blogs in particular, has been a career game-changer for many attorneys.
I encourage you to read the entire post by clicking here.
It is full of good stuff – and I’m not just saying that because it reads like a Rainmaker Retreat playbook.
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Check Out Your Peers As They Share Their Rainmaker Retreat Experiences
We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat. Yes, we know you are skeptical. So instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your business, we will let our clients do the telling.
Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.
5 Proven Ways to Renew, Restore and Revive Your Practice in Today's Economy-2 of 5
Using the power of the media to gain visibility in your local marketplace is huge to your success.
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Now, I’ve had some clients say, “You know, Stephen, I talked to those journalists and you know what? They took up my time, they wasted it, and I didn’t get anything out of the results.” Well, I would say a couple of things. Number one, you win some, you lose some. It doesn’t always happen. And secondly, it’s not getting in the media that gets you the clients. It’s how you use the media that you get, that lands you the clients.
Using the media helps you differentiate yourself, particularly if you’re, say, a litigation firm and you do general business litigation. It’s pretty hard to target and solicit new clients, so in order to get your firm to be at the top of their minds, you’ve got to be visible.
It adds a huge amount of credibility when you are in the media because it’s one thing for you to say “I’m a great attorney. I can handle your case. I know what I’m doing.” It’s another thing entirely to have that third party endorsement. And depending on where you practice, if your State Bar says you can’t use any testimonials for marketing, then you are able to have that third party endorsement. Take that article and post a link on your site, get permission to reprint and send to your clients or hand out at speaking engagements, and put it in your press kit.
There are two different resources I want to point you to: PR Leads and Help a Reporter Out (HARO). PR Leads, www.PRleads.com, is a paid newsfeed service where you pay ($99/month) to get listed as a source for journalists. Realize that journalists are usually working on multiple stories at a time, and they work on very short time frames. So what they do is put out a query to a newsfeed to get experts to comment for their stories.
PR Leads allows you to have certain categories like legal expert or legal industry. And any time a journalist puts out a query to this newsfeed, you will get an email in your inbox from PR Leads that says here’s what they’re looking for. If you fit that description, you can email the journalist directly to see if they want to interview you. I have used this source to get in dozens of major magazines and trade associations and newspapers. It works.
The other one is www.helpareporter.com. It’s free and you receive leads every day via email. It has a few categories like Business and Finance and High Tech, but no legal category yet. However, there are usually good leads where you can find an angle for yourself – a couple from my Inbox this week: “Looking for an expert on family-owned business” for a major financial magazine that I know a savvy estate planning attorney could grab, or one from a reporter at a major metropolitan daily newspaper looking for an expert to quote on “Forming an LLC to sell shares of a vacation home.”
HARO also lets you pitch stories to journalists, so if you have something newsworthy – a big case you won or got a major settlement, or a unique viewpoint on a major issue – you can go to the website, submit your pitch and see if anyone bites.
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Looking for more proven tactics from The Rainmaker Institute?
Then subscribe to our FREE monthly e-newsletter. One click of your mouse will take you to our site where you can see the current issue and subscribe to our complimentary monthly e-newsletter that will be delivered to your inbox.
Each issue is chock-full of legal marketing information you can put to use right away. I think you will find the information in every newsletter something you will want to share with your staff to maximize the effectiveness of your legal marketing plan.
5 Proven Ways to Renew, Restore and Revive Your Practice in Today's Economy-1 of 5
Many of you have probably tried the traditional ways that attorneys use to get more clients. You belong to the Chamber of Commerce. You advertise in the Yellow Pages. You tried radio and it probably flopped pretty seriously. And you hope for the random referral. 
We’ve studied over 2,500 rainmakers to find out what works and what doesn’t when it comes to building a financially successful law practice. What we’ve discovered is that successful rainmakers do not rely on random referrals to build their practice. Instead, they use a systematic approach. They find what works for them and they do it over and over again.
There are specific steps you can take to reduce the amount of randomness to practice development.
#1 – The Ezine
One way you can renew, restore, and revive your practice is actually very simple. You can do it in less than an hour a month, but in order for it to be effective you have to do it consistently. It’s what we call an Ezine, or electronic newsletter.
Electronic newsletters have been around the Internet industry for several years now but they’re still relatively new in the legal industry. There are probably less than 5% of all attorneys who send out any kind of an electronic newsletter. And one of the really powerful things about this is how quickly and easily you can set up and maintain an Ezine program.
The key to winning online is to connect with your prospective target market or best prospects over and over and over again. We call it the frequency and the consistency model. Statistics show that it takes a minimum of seven touches before most of your best prospects are going to look up long enough to say, “Who are you and what can you do for me?” because we’re all being bombarded with so much information now.
Ezines are great for law firm marketing because they:
- Are inexpensive and easy to produce
- Support targeted messaging to different target audiences
- Have tracking capability so you can see how many people opened your email and clicked through to your website
- Are easy to forward or print, so the recipient can actually widen your prospect base for you
- Allow your clients and prospects to communicate directly with you by replying to your Ezine
Ezines are designed to be short, informational and actionable. The fact that they are also inexpensive to produce and distribute makes them one of the cornerstones of an effective and systematic law firm marketing program.
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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
To order this information-packed set click here.
How to Get Publicity for Your Law Firm
At The Rainmaker Institute, we mainly serve solo practitioners and small law firms that don’t have a lot of money to invest in marketing, so we are always mindful of using law firm marketing strategies that help get the word out about your firm without breaking the bank.
You’ll notice that I did not title this post, “How to Get FREE Publicity for Your Law Firm,” because publicity is really not free – it does take an investment in time for you and your staff. But it is free in terms of no cash outlay.
So if you can commit the time, generating publicity for your firm is one of the best things you can do to create awareness and attract new clients. Here’s how:
Be an expert. Not in the legal sense, but in the marketing sense. The media flock to experts. They put them on the covers of magazines; you see the experts quoted day and night on network news programs. Experts have columns in the newspaper. They are sought after for their commentary and background and the media wants to go to experts as soon as there’s a breaking news story.
Create a targeted media list. Target specific media outlets very narrowly. Don’t go after all of them out there because if you’re pitching your message to 5 or 700 media outlets, you’re going to have to go out there with a one-size-fits-all message and that’s not the way to do it. Media people don’t want the same story that everyone else has. Start by narrowly creating a list of targeted media outlets --your top 25 media hit list. For those of you who only do business in your own community or in a particular region, you might only have a media hit list with 10 media outlets on it. That just makes your job easier, because it’s all about creating relationships, and if you only have 10 media outlets on your list, that’s very doable. You can form relationships with 10 or 15 people. You can’t form them with 300. So target very narrowly.
Target trade publications. If most of your clients are in a particular industry – or you want to build a client base in a particular industry -- you want to get into the trade publications in that particular industry. Many of you have business journals or business magazines in your own community and they frequently quote attorneys and do stories on legal issues, so add those to the list as well.
Find the reporters. Sign up for a Google Alert to get emailed articles, websites, columns and blogs who are writing on your area of expertise or focus. This is a great way to find out who is out there writing about your topics. If you do a Google Alert, Google will do all the heavy lifting for you. If you’re trying to get into magazines, pay particular attention to the column in front of the magazine. It’s usually written by the editor. That will tip you off to all kinds of issues that they think are important.
Let’s say you’re trying to get on a National Public Radio program. Go to the NPR website and use the search box at the top to plug in your topic and it will bring up a list of programs that NPR has featured on that topic. Many of those programs are archived right at the website.
The smarter you are about the publication you’re pitching, the better you’re going to pitch and the more publicity you’re going to get. Your job is to help make a journalist’s job easy. Once you’re familiar with their publication or program, you can offer story ideas that are a perfect fit.
Identify emerging trends. A great way to make a journalist’s job easy is to tip them off to emerging trends. The media relies on really good sources to tip them off to emerging trends that they can write about. So if you’re starting to see emerging trends in a certain industry and you think it would make a great story and we haven’t seen a lot written about it, tip off a reporter on your media hit list to that trend.
Offer background information. Newspapers don’t want only one person quoted in the whole story, so if you can hand contact information and names to a reporter who’s interested in your story idea, you’ve just positioned yourself as a golden source.
Write letters to the editor. There are two types of letters that editors love to print. The first one is a letter that comments directly on a story they just ran in their publication. The second kind of letter they love to publish are letters that come down very hard on one side of a controversial topic. The media loves controversy, and if you have a strong opinion on a controversial law that they might be passing in your community or a controversial topic in your industry, write a letter to the editor about it.
Conduct a survey. The media loves surveys and the great thing about surveys is that they don’t have to be scientific. Now if you’re trying to get into the Harvard Business Review, they will ask if your survey is scientific. But if you’re trying to get into your local daily paper, they probably don’t care if it’s scientific. For those of you who speak to audiences, slip a simple five or six question survey into the handout and have the audience fill out the survey before or as they’re leaving. Or post a poll on Facebook or your website on a current topic of interest and publish those results.
Build reciprocal links. If you find an influential blogger who you want to get in front of, and Google Alert has told you that they’ve written about your topic of expertise, you can jump over to their blog and post a comment. That comment will give you a link back to your own website and it will position you as an expert.
Publicity isn’t free. It takes an investment of time to build those relationships. But the payoff for your firm can be invaluable.
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Upcoming Law Firm Marketing Boot Camps: Get In On the Action This Summer!
If you are interested in building a lifestyle law practice through effective law firm marketing, then come to one of our Rainmaker Retreats:
- June 18-19, 2010 San Francisco, CA
- July 30-31, 2010 Los Angeles, CA
- August 6-7, 2010 Las Vegas, NV
- October 8-9, 2010 New Brunswick, NJ
Want to learn more about what you’ll learn at a Rainmaker Retreat? Then sign up now for a one-hour complimentary teleseminar for a preview of the valuable material that is taught at our 2-day Rainmaker Retreat.
Law Firm Marketing In Action: BISNAR | CHASE Illustrates The Sixth Key to Becoming a Recognized Expert
Sometimes the planets align perfectly to illustrate a point. 
My 6th and final strategy for Becoming a Recognized Expert is Position Yourself as a Specialist, Not a Generalist. And last night as I was preparing this, the perfect example fell into my lap.
BISNAR | CHASE is one of the nation’s top ranked personal injury law firms based in Newport Beach, California. We’ve been proud to call them a Rainmaker client for over three years. John Bisnar has attended our Rainmaker Retreats and has been kind enough to provide his testimonial as to what his firm has gained from practicing our law firm marketing principles.
Last night, Brian Chase was featured on a Los Angeles Fox News special report on defective car seats. The segment highlighted the ever growing problem of automobiles equipped with defective seats as well as two lawsuits handled by BISNAR | CHASE. They’ve posted a clip on their website – you can see it here.
BISNAR | CHASE has done a masterful job of positioning themselves as specialists in complex and economically significant personal injury and car accident cases. And again, I’m talking about specialists in a marketing sense here. Landing a feature as a legal expert regarding automobile defects on a major market news telecast is a huge win, and I am sure they are going to be promoting it like crazy to take full advantage of the big spotlight that just got shown on their firm.
Being a generalist is one of the most deadly mistakes that attorneys make for a number of reasons. First, it’s much more difficult to get referrals. If you say you do anything from IP to PI, they’re not going to send you any referrals because they figure there’s no way someone can be that good in every single area. You want to specialize because it gives you more credibility. You generate more referrals and you get more money for your services because you can charge higher fees when you’re perceived as a specialist versus a generalist.
There are several different ways that you can specialize:
- By client industry
- By client revenue size
- By geography
- By specific services
The most powerful way to specialize is when you do a combination of all four, when you’re specialized by industry, size of revenue, geography, and by the specific services that you offer.
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Check Out Your Peers As They Share Their Rainmaker Retreat Experiences
We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat. Yes, we know you are skeptical -- so instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your business, we will let our clients do the telling.
Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.
Legal Marketing: Six Keys to Becoming a Recognized Expert-Fifth in a Series
Disclaimer: When I use the word “expert” or “specialist” in this series, I’m not talking in the legal or ethical sense, but in the marketing sense where the goal is to get media and/or prospects to perceive you as an expert or specialist. 
The fifth legal marketing strategy for building credibility and becoming a recognized expert is Building Relationships with Strategic Referral Sources
Strategic referral sources are people who already have a relationship with the people you want as clients. For example, if you target small business owners, you would look for those who already have a relationship with small business owners. These could be accountants, financial planners, chamber of commerce, community leaders, local bankers, CPA’s, commercial real estate agents, payroll processing companies, the list goes on and on with people who have relationships with small business owners. So how do you build a referral network with them?
One of our clients sends out a letter to 75-80 targeted professionals that basically says:
“Hello, I’m Attorney Jack Smith with XYZ Law Firm. We know that competition for professional service advisors is getting more and more intense with more people entering the field. We are building a cross referral network with other trusted advisors who are experts in their field. Over the last 15 years we’ve been practicing law, we have really focused our practice on working with small business owners and high net worth individuals on estate planning, wills and trusts and asset protection. Through a series of breakfast meetings and private meetings at our office, we’re going to build a cross referral network with a limited number of other professionals who are committed to growing their practice and sending cross referrals. We’re not looking for any kind of a fee for facilitating this network, but we would like to officially invite you to check it out and see if this is something you’d like to support. For more information, give us a call at this number or visit our website to learn more about our practice.”
From this mailing, our client got a group of about 25 going. They get together about once a month and send cross referrals to each other.
Existing clients are also a good source for you and your referral partners. If you partner with a CPA or financial planner, each of you would send a letter out to your respective client databases offering a free consultation on behalf of the other as an added benefit of being a valued client.
Co-sponsoring an event or a seminar series is another excellent way to build relationships with strategic referral partners. Technology makes it easy and inexpensive for an attorney and another professional to host a webinar or teleseminar on topics of interest to small business owners.
Your local bank branch is another source waiting to be tapped. Banks generally have a generous local marketing budget, and frequently don’t know what to do with it. Offer your services as an expert speaker for a small business seminar that the bank could host – they do all the work in setting it up and getting an audience. You now have a room full of prospective clients and all you had to spend was some time preparing your remarks.
Professionals are always looking for good strategic referral partners. You can ensure that you’re a good partner by educating them about who you are, what you do, the kind of clients you target and the great service you provide. Reciprocity is the key: to get referrals, you have to give them, too.
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Becoming a Rainmaker: Business Building Strategies for Lawyers CD
Don't miss out on the 50% savings this week on our 3-audio CD program that covers dozens of practical recommendations and step-by-step sales and marketing techniques for solo practitioners and small law firms.
Click here to order yours now – if you order by Friday, May 21, you save 50%!
Legal Marketing: Six Keys to Becoming a Recognized Expert
Part 1 of 6 
Disclaimer: When I use the word “expert” or “specialist” in this series, I’m not talking in the legal or ethical sense, but in the marketing sense where the goal is to get media and/or prospects to perceive you as an expert or specialist.
How many times have you read a news item quoting a competitor and thought, “I know more than that guy! Why are they interviewing him?”
I’m going to tell you why by sharing with you some of the strategies that top Rainmakers use all across the country to position themselves as leading experts in their market area.
The first key to becoming a recognized expert is the strategic use of Press Releases.
There are a number of fallacies or myths about press releases. One is that press releases just don’t work for small law firms. We beg to differ.
We recently had a small law firm that sent out their very first press release on the hot topic of identity theft. A major newspaper picked it up and they got interviewed for the article.
Because of that article, they landed dozens of new clients over a 30-day period and the newspaper even called them one of the leading Southern California lawyers on identity theft. Those are things you just can’t buy – and it happened from a press release.
There is another reason to use press releases and this is one that is incredibly powerful: to boost your online presence.
Google loves press releases and we’ve been able to use that to get fantastic results. I’ve literally issued a press release at 9 a.m., and by 5 p.m. the press release has already been indexed by Google and shown up within the top 10-20 positions.
Now you may be thinking, what do I write it about? It could be about a number of different things:
- Commentary on current news events
- Legal decisions that potentially affect your community
- Results of a poll or a survey you conduct among clients
- Firm news such as new associates, awards, community involvement, etc.
You want to make sure that there is an angle to it and that there’s something that’s different. In fact, some of the best coverage we’ve gotten from press releases has been when we’ve taken a contrarian view.
For attorneys we coach in our Practice Made Perfect program, we recommend at least one press release per month. If you’re a growing practice, then we recommend that you distribute two, three, even four a month to really jumpstart your online marketing efforts.
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Attend Phoenix Legal Networking Group Meeting on May 6 to Learn 7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm!
On Thursday, May 6, Stephen Fairley will address the inaugural meeting of the Phoenix Legal Networking Group, a group of solo and small firm attorneys looking to effectively market their law firm and grow their business.
Stephen will be presenting the 7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm. This presentation will explain why some attorneys are having their best year ever when others are struggling to even survive. He will tell you:
- The secrets top Rainmakers are using in this economy
- What’s working now and what's not
- The #1 thing you need to do right now that will fix your cash flow problems
- Why you need to market differently
- How to easily track all your marketing efforts
The event will be held from 4-6 p.m. this Thursday at the Country Inn and Suites on Scottsdale Road, approximately 15 minutes from downtown and the airport. Cost is only $15 per person.
To register for this seminar, co-hosted by FindLaw, Attorney at Law Magazine and The Rainmaker Institute, click here.
Legal marketing lessons from the NFL draft
The NFL draft has gone from a nondescript covered by a handful of beat writers to a four-day media extravaganza, thanks in part to some great marketing from the NFL and ESPN. Here are some tips that you law firm marketing plan can include from the NFL draft.
First, communicate early and often. As soon as the season ended, draft talk was all over the airwaves. Fans were clamoring to know the direction of the team, and the teams have been feeding them enough information to keep them coming back. The NFL scouting combine has become must-watch television due to the constant chatter by fans, ESPN and league sources.
Second, know your audience and their needs. The NFL and ESPN correctly surmised that that time between the Super Bowl and opening day of baseball season is largely a dead time in sports. Football is the American pastime, so they created the scounting combine during that “dead” time so that the buzz about the NFL would continue. The audience demanded more football info, and they delivered it.
Third, remember that it is about delivering on the promises made. First round draft picks, rightly or wrongly, are judged harshly. The first round picks that became busts live in infamy. Those who go on to greatness are heralded forever. It’s not enough to have promise, you also have to deliver on the field.
When you are putting your legal marketing plan together, keep these thoughts in mind. Communicate early and often to your audience. Tell them what they need to know, and deliver on your promises. It will take you from having potential to a becoming a superstar.
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Looking for more proven tactics from The Rainmaker Institute?
Then subscribe to our FREE monthly e-newsletter. One click of your mouse will take you to our site where you can see the current issue and subscribe to our complimentary monthly e-newsletter that will be delivered to your inbox. Each issue is chock-full of legal marketing information you can put to use right away. I think you will find the information in every newsletter something you will want to share with your staff to maximize the effectiveness of your legal marketing plan.
Don't be afraid to work Green into your law firm marketing
Today is Earth Day, when we as Americans place more of an emphasis on protecting the natural environment with which we have been entrusted. Earth Day was created by President Nixon back in the early 1970s and has grown into a significant day in the United States. It is also a good time to stress the “green” aspects of your law firm in your legal marketing messages.
Being green doesn’t have to be an expensive proposition. Actually, many of the green practices will save you money over time. Reducing the volume of paper generated in your office saves you on paper and toner costs, as well as shredding costs. It also reduces the risk of papers inadvertently not being properly destroyed and being read at a later date.
Simple little steps, such as putting a tag on your email that says something to the effect of “Please join us in protecting the environment by not printing this email unless absolutely necessary” shows your commitment to the environment, and saves you and your clients money.
Another green step many firms have gone to is telecommuting. The security and speed of online document transfer networks has progressed to the point that work can be completed from home and delivered seamlessly to clients or to the office for mailing. Your clients will never know when they call, since most telephone systems can route calls to any phone you may be using.
If you are in a green building, use that in your marketing. Show some of the steps that you have taken to make the world a better place. If your firm participates in environmental cleanup events, highlight that on your website. It shows your human side and your concern for the community. It is low cost legal marketing that will broaden your appeal.
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Have you heard about the 2-Day Marketing Boot Camp for Small Law Firms?
If you're struggling to build your legal practice or want to learn a proven law firm marketing system for that has helped attorneys discover how to generate more referrals and find new clients fast then you owe it to yourself to check out a Rainmaker Retreat.
We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2 day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat. Yes, we know you are skeptical (we wouldn't have it any other way). So instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your business, we will let our clients do the telling.
Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.
Your law firm marketing plan is key to your firm's success
As you review the systems your law firm must have to be successful, pay particular attention to your law firm marketing plan and the systems that support it. A well-designed plan is practically useless if you do not have strong systems to support the legal marketing strategies in your plan.
Here are some tips from Richard Strauch, COO of The Rainmaker Institute, on how you can develop systems that will make your law firm marketing efforts more effective.
First, create a written 12 month marketing plan for your law firm. Take the time to systematically look at all of your plans for the next year and review them in sequence. Does the order of events make sense? Do the strategies build on each other? Does your plan have an inherent coherence that is easily discernable? Is your plan comprehensive, or are there gaps in your plan in the audiences being targeted and the techniques being used.
Second, develop processes and procedures to capture major marketing metrics and data. Your plan should be able to identify all of your target audiences, the key influencers to those audiences, and your effectiveness in reaching them. You should be able to track the conversion rate of prospects to clients, the response percentage to your marketing messages, and who is responding to your messaging.
Third, identify major lead sources and create tracking mechanisms to measure results. Who is sending you business? If you can’t answer that question, you do not have a handle on your lead and referral sources. Tracking the frequency of your referral source meetings and the number of referrals generated is a very basic measure that you should have access to. There are many other measures of your lead and referral sources that you can include in your law firm marketing plan.
A well-designed legal marketing plan can take your firm from the level where you are to the level where you want to be. It takes planning and follow-through, but it is achievable once you have a strong plan and measurement system.
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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. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you watch the 4 intense DVDs.
To order this information-packed set click here.
Bust the Bracket with a Killer Legal Marketing Strategy
March Madness is upon us. Office productivity has taken its seasonal dip as employees call in sick and spend work time scanning the internet to keep up with the progress of their NCAA basketball tournament brackets. This is a good time to assess whether your legal marketing strategy is more sound than your game-picking strategy.
Some people are casual fans and spend little time and effort filling out their brackets. Others spend long hours watching games, watching the “bracketology” experts on television, and researching injury reports before they fill out their brackets.
Their thorough preparation gives them an advantage over those who just pick schools based on rankings or their reputation from previous years. Last year’s national champion didn’t even make the tournament, which is ample evidence that situations can change quickly in a year.
When you are putting your law firm marketing strategy together, take the time to research like a NCAA tournament coach, not a bracket picker. Research the opposition. Know the situations. Try to anticipate the ebb and flow and prepare your team for several different contingencies. Be quick on your feet with a strong game plan. Then you will be prepared for the marathon that is the tournament.
Legal marketing isn’t a guessing game. It is a disciplined effort that has a goal in mind from the outset. Design your law firm marketing plan with that goal in mind. Execute your plan to perfection. Then you can taste the sweetness of success.
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Looking for more Rainmaker Institute Wisdom?
Then sign up for a complimentary Law Firm Marketing Strategy CD. It contains information that will enable you to Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice. The CD is free, so sign up now!
New Jersey Rainmaker Retreat is a great opportunity for Mid-Atlantic legal marketers
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March 26-27 is a great opportunity for attorneys and law firm marketing specialists throughout the Mid-Atlantic region to gain an enormous amount of legal marketing knowledge in two information-packed days. The Rainmaker Retreat coming to Roseland, New Jersey, is your ticket to law firm marketing expertise that will revolutionize your practice.
I will be sharing our Rainmaker System, which has helped more than 6,000 attorneys across the country find more and better clients and establish a law firm marketing system for generating more referrals. The agenda is pretty heavy with information tips, techniques and marketing strategies that include:
- Achieving Expert Status as an Attorney
- Building a Strategic Referral Network
- Creating Credibility in Your Practice Area
- Secrets of Highly Successful Attorneys
- Social Media for Small Law Firms
- Leveraging Technology: Beating the Big Firms on the Internet
- Generating More Clients Using the Power of Speaking
- Advanced Technology Tactics for Small Law Firms and Solo Practitioners
There is still time to sign up for the New Jersey Rainmaker Retreat March 26-27. Click here to register. It is two days that will provide you with a return on your investment for years to come.
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2010 Rainmaker Retreat Dates are set!
Are you looking for a way to fulfill your New Year’s resolution to become more effective in how you spend your legal marketing budget? Do you need guidance and motivation to compose a comprehensive law firm marketing plan? I have a suggestion for you. Come to one of the upcoming Rainmaker Retreats.
The Rainmaker Retreat is a 2-day marketing boot camp for attorneys. Attendees at previous Rainmaker Retreats have come away with many new ideas and actionable legal marketing strategies that they can take home and implement right away.
This spring, we have a number of Rainmaker Retreats scheduled, and more in the planning stages. The current schedule of Rainmaker Retreats is:
- Roseland, NJ March 26-27
- Las Vegas, NV April 9-10
- Los Angeles, CA April 16-17
Click on one of the locations to register for the Rainmaker Retreat.
If you are unsure about attending a Rainmaker Retreat, join one of our complimentary teleseminars to get a preview of a Rainmaker Retreat. It will give you a thumbnail sketch of what you can expect during a Rainmaker Retreat.
