The Personal Approach to Attorney Marketing
Writing is a key component to any attorney’s marketing plan. We often discuss blogging, newsletters, email marketing and video as key components in your marketing arsenal. One important thing to remember is that all of these elements must be interesting to the reader. This is the reason I advocate taking a personal tone in your legal marketing.
A personal tone means demonstrating to the reader (viewer on video) how the topic relates to them. This can be done in three different ways:
Third Party Stories
Telling a story about a third party is an effective way to get your point across to your audience. Think of the story as an educational opportunity. Gram the audience and pull them into the story but wrap up with an educational message. The third party story blends an emotional appeal with the appearance of a logical fact pattern.
Case Studies
Case studies are a more academic version of the third party story. They contain actual facts, case information and often will contain citations. Many people use case studies when they want to make a logical appeal to their audience. Some people find this methodology to be more sterile and academic.
Personal Experience
This is the most effective form of writing. When you tell a story about yourself it allows the audience member to paint a mental picture of the entire situation. The receiver of your message will suspend disbelief and “get into” the story. They will feel the emotions you felt. They will relate to you.
These three methods of emotionally engaging the audience of your message are all highly effective. The only decision you need to make is which method makes the most sense for you. Experiment with each writing style in your attorney marketing.
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EmailLegal Marketing Is Necessary
Legal marketing is necessary. If you want to be successful as a lawyer you need clients. There is no debating that fact. There is no other way to get clients other than through legal marketing. Yet lawyers debate the necessity of legal marketing constantly. Let’s get something straight, if you are a lawyer and you ask someone to work with you, that is legal marketing. If you ask someone to refer you business, that is legal marketing. If you win a case and you tell someone about it, that is legal marketing.
For those of you who are sticklers, here is a definition of marketing from Webster’s Dictionary: Marketing is “the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service.” You are promoting, selling and distributing your service if you hand out a business card. Every lawyer is involved in legal marketing in some way. Period. End of debate.
The law is a profession and a business and as such legal marketing is highly regulated. This is a good thing. As a society we want people to have the best representation available. Legal marketing helps them make an educated choice. In fact, legal marketing is necessary for clients to make the best choice. If lawyers weren’t listed somewhere (yes, even a listing on your local bar association’s web site is marketing) people would not have every opportunity to make a good decision.
My grandfather always said that anything worth doing was worth doing well. Until law schools start teaching you how to attract clients, you have to learn somewhere. You can try to figure it out on your own, but that’s precisely the reason most attorneys have a limited income. Legal marketing is both an art and a science. It involves psychology, math, ethics, statics, and advanced writing skills. You can’t pick it up on the street and hope to be as effective as someone who has studied it for a lifetime.
You spent $100,000 on law school. Why won’t you spend 25% of that learning how to attract the clients that can help you recoup your investment? Isn’t it time you stopped limiting your earning potential?
How Do Clients Find Attorneys?
These days there are more ways than ever to find an attorney. The most common way a client finds an attorney will vary by practice area. Below is my (highly unscientific) list of top five ways clients find attorneys.
Internet Search: This is one of the top two ways clients find attorneys these days. If you are in a law practice area that focuses on consumers, there is a good chance that your clients will look for a lawyer on line.
As an attorney you need to have a website and update the content regularly. You may also want to learn a little about the many different elements that go into search engine optimization. Since most consumers (and many businesses) do not do thorough research on a lawyer before hiring him, you may be out-positioned by many of your (inferior) competitors. This does not mean you give up on improving your website ranking. It just means that you will need to put more effort into this area if it is competitive.
Referral: This is the best way for a client to find a lawyer and it is one of the top two ways for lawyers to be found. A referral from a client is like gold and a referral from another attorney is almost always money in the bank.
The way to strengthen the quality of the referrals you receive is to give great referrals to others and follow up like crazy. If you are constantly in touch with your client base and your base of referral sources, you will always be “top of mind”.
Speaking Engagements: Giving a speech at a conference is a great way to develop relationships with potential clients and potential referral sources. It conveys a sense of authority and credibility. If you work the crowd correctly, you can add hundreds of names to your mailing list while strengthening your personal brand.
Articles: Writing articles is a terrific way for potential clients to find an attorney. Getting your article published in a trade magazine or in an industry journal will enhance your credibility and generate leads.
Expert Commentary in the Media: Being an expert commentator in the local media can be helpful in being found by potential clients. If you are the “go to person” for any news outlet you will have enhanced credibility and you can leverage that through your newsletter and on your blog.
In addition to these five ways, there are dozens of other ways clients find lawyers. The key to being found is to add as many people as possible to you database and keep educating them through your newsletter and other regular forms of contact.
A Tale of Two Lawyers
On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same law school. They were very much alike, these two young men. Both had been better than average students, both loved the law and both clerked for prominent judges while in law school. Both of these young men were filled with hope for the bright future that lie ahead of them in their career as lawyers.
Recently, these men attended their law school’s 25th reunion.
They were still very much alike. Both were happily married. Both had three children. And both, it turned out, had gone into private practice in the suburbs of a big city.
But there was a difference. One of the men was billing a low hourly rate, doing tedious, repetitive work and barely making enough to pay his bills. The other was the Managing Partner of his own boutique law firm, earning great money and taking only the clients and cases that intrigued him.
What Made The Difference?
Have you ever wondered, as I have, what makes this kind of difference in people’s lives? It isn’t a native intelligence or talent or dedication. It isn’t that one person wants success and the other doesn’t. It is one little thing that clearly separates those who live an average life from those who live lives of freedom and independence.
That one little thing is confidence.
It’s confidence in the ability to attract new clients. It’s confidence in the ability to handle he work effectively and efficiently. It’s confidence in commanding a fee premium because you have significant expertise that client’s want, need and will pay for.
Most people don’t have this confidence. But they should.
The reason they don’t have this confidence is because of human nature. If twenty people say you’re great and one person says you stink, which person do we remember? We remember the one person who provided the negative feedback. Always. It’s the way we are all wired.
How do successful people get past this?
The successful attorney has developed a system for getting past this negative feedback. The attorney who controls his own destiny has developed a way to block out the negative feedback and focus solely on the positive so his confidence will soar.
The successful attorney has learned that negative feedback (I am talking about unconstructive, personal attacks) is more about the person GIVING the feedback than about you, the intended target. That’s right, it’s about them.
With a little practice and a little self training you can break through the confidence barrier that is preventing you from experiencing the success you deserve. I have recorded a five minute video that demonstrates three techniques to help you break through this mental barrier. These are the same techniques world class athletes use to enhance their performance.
These are also the same techniques I use to help my clients quote higher fees, take on only quality clients and ignore the negative people who are out there trying to bring them down.
Here’s the video:
Enjoy the video and enjoy the success that comes from being confident in your tremendous ability!
In Legal Marketing You Can’t Fake Class
This past weekend I was driving along a major highway in Miami and I saw a billboard with the big fat face of a local attorney holding a traffic ticket in his hand. This was definitely a candidate for the legal marketing hall of shame. The headline on the billboard read:
“Don’t Pay That Ticket!”
This is the same guy who sends out ridiculous flyers in the mail to people who get traffic tickets. He looks like a total goofball.
I am wondering if this is what this guy had in mind when he went to law school. Did he say to himself:
“When I graduate with all of this knowledge I want to go out and make myself look like an ass to get some people in to my law firm?”
This is the kind of legal marketing that makes lawyers look bad and makes people think I am the Dean of Clown College.
When it comes to legal marketing you need to ask yourself one question:
“If my mother sees this ad/article/direct mail piece/speech would she be proud to admit I was her son (daughter)?”
If you hesitate at all when you answer, you should not use that legal marketing vehicle.
Law Firm Marketing Universal Truths
Since most people agree that law firm marketing is now a necessity, I am often asked if I will share some tips on how successful law firms market their services. I usually do not give out much information when people ask this question. After all, why should I give away what others have paid for and earned?
What I am comfortable doing is revealing five universal truths that make a big difference when you are implementing a law firm marketing plan. These facts are true regardless of your marketing tactics.
Law Firm Marketing Truth 1: Do Something Every Day
Since the success of law firm marketing lies in the consistency of implementation, doing something every day makes good sense. Dedicate a specific amount of time to law firm marketing each day. Even an hour will work. During this time, focus all of your energy on law firm marketing. Don’t read email. Don’t answer the phone. Don’t clean the office. Just focus on one specific law firm marketing activity.
Appling a focused, daily effort to law firm marketing will make it seem like less work over the long term and the effort will multiply your success.
Law Firm Marketing Truth 2: Develop Systems
You cannot implement a successful law firm marketing plan alone. Everything you do must be driven by a system. For example: You can write the articles for your newsletter but formatting it, printing it and mailing it out to your list is something that should be automatically done once the newsletter is written. You should be able to turn this entire process over to someone else and have it handled. There should be a system in place for newsletter production. In fact, there should be a system in place for everything in your law firm marketing plan.
Law Firm Marketing Truth 3: Measurement Matters
You must be able to measure the results of every law firm marketing activity. If you can’t measure it, don’t do it. You need to be able to continuously improve your law firm marketing. If you cannot measure a specific tactic, you cannot improve it.
Law Firm Marketing Truth 4: Test Everything
Do not spend a huge amount of money on anything unless you test it first. This is just common sense. You must test your message, your target market and the media. You must be able to determine what the results will be before you deploy any law firm marketing tactic. You should never take a shot in the dark.
Law Firm Marketing Truth 5: Be Patient
Success with law firm marketing comes over time. You must be patient. If you consistently make an effort to grow your law firm, you should see begin to see results in six months. Law firm marketing is a marathon not a sprint. You must be invested (emotionally) for the long haul.
These are the five universal truths to law firm marketing. If you follow them you will reduce your frustration as you grow your law firm.
My Big Email Experiment
Can you just shut down your email? If you do, will the world end?
Earlier this year I made a resolution only to check my email once a week. Well, that turned out to be a disaster. By the time I got to my inbox I had over 2,500 messages waiting for me. My clients began calling and asking if I had passed away and my Blackberry became so overloaded it stopped counting the number of unopened messages in the mailbox.
This has to stop.
Most of the email messages I receive are not from clients. They are from people who want something. Usually they want something for nothing. And they always want to waste my time.
Here’s what I am going to do about this:
I have set up an auto responder that will go out to everyone EXCEPT my clients. It says that I do not check email any longer and it offers a website with my alternative contact information.
This will go into effect on the first of next month.
Some people may get angry but ultimately, my clients will receive better service.
I will let you know what happens.
