How to Set Up a Law Firm E-Newsletter
An easy, low cost way for law firm’s to stay in touch with clients and to grow their business is to send out a regular e-newsletter. Law firm e-newsletters are basically newsletters that you send to clients and referral sources through email. See “The Value of a Law Firm E-newsletter” to learn why your law firm should be sending them out and not using a service to do it for you. It is not difficult. Any attorney who knows how to send an email can send an e-newsletter. Here are the basics of how to set one up for your law firm.
How Law Firm E-Newsletters Work
A quick Google search for e-newsletters will bring up several sites that offer e-newsletter templates that are just waiting for you to add the content. E-newsletter sites like http://www.constantcontact.com and http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com use web content management systems to build their newsletters. The beauty of a web content management system is that users don’t have to know HTML or web programming in order to make updates. In other words, attorneys can pick templates that they like, add content and then send them out.
Any attorney who has ever posted a blog or a comment for an online news story has used a content management system. Basically, you go to a web page, log in, and start typing in the field that is designated for text. Hit “enter” or “post” and your content appears on the Internet with all the formatting that was designed by the web developer.
Each of the companies that offers e-newsletter services has a slightly different set up, but the basic details are 1) set up an account, 2) select a design or make your own, 3) upload or enter your contacts, 4) start writing. For attorneys who have a technical slant and want to add more to their newsletter, you can upload graphics, video, and more. Also, if you want your e-newsletter to match the formatting and colors of your law firm’s website, ask your web developer to do this for you. This should take them less than an hour and it’s worth it. Continuity of design is an essential piece of effective marketing.
In addition to making it incredibly simple for anyone to send e-newsletters, these companies also offer basic analytics about how your firm’s e-newsletter is doing. You can see if and when your contacts are opening the newsletter, if they are forwarding it, and if they select any links you may have included. This is a great way to find out what topics are most interesting to your individual contacts.
Some e-newsletters are sent out daily, weekly, or monthly. But, no one wants to get an e-newsletter from their lawyer everyday! A once a month e-newsletter is perfect for connecting to legal clients, prospects and referral sources. There are some e-newsletter services that allow you to buy articles from them for as little as $15 per month. While doing this allows you to connect with your contacts, it doesn’t give you a chance to let them hear your unique voice. Writing and sending out your own e-newsletters can take very little time once you get the hang of it.
Important Things to Remember
Don’t let your e-newsletter become spam. Include quality content that will make people want to read it. Don’t buy an email list or simply start sending the newsletter to every email address you have. Most email programs now allow people to flag spam. The e-newsletter service gets a report every time your firm’s newsletter gets flagged. If your emails are routinely being flagged as spam, they can and will freeze your account and refuse to do business with you. They will literally blacklist your company and you will have to use a different service all together.
As you can see, it’s better to build the list organically. Simply ask people if you can include them in your monthly newsletter. Have your web developer include a link to the newsletter on your website with an option for people to subscribe. Include a link in your email signature so that anyone interested can join your newsletter mailing list. Faster than you realize, your list will grow and you so will your practice.
Any e-newsletter template you purchase should provide an option for you to include an opt-out link. Sometimes, even when you ask people if they want to be on your e-newsletter list, or even if they check the box on your company survey indicating that they want to receive the e-newsletter, they may still change their mind about receiving it. In this situation, they are much more likely to use the opt-out button than to flag your newsletter as spam, since they gave you permission to send it to them.
Always include a disclaimer about legal advice. While your e-newsletter should not include anything that could be construed as legal advice, someone could always perceive your articles to be just that. Make sure that it is clear to anyone reading your e-newsletter knows that for advice and direction on a particular legal issue, they will need to contact your firm directly.
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EmailThe Value of a Law Firm E-Newsletter
Does your law firm marketing plan include an e-newsletter?
One of the easiest, low cost ways for law firms to keep in touch with clients, prospects, and referral sources is an e-newsletter. E-newsletters are newsletters sent via email. Many attorneys buy into a legal e-newsletter service that specializes in sending out e-newsletters on behalf of law firms. Someone else writes the content, does the layout, and sends it out to their clients with some generic contact information about the law firm. Like everything else in technology, e-newsletters have evolved. Now any attorney, at any size firm can send out their own, customized e-newsletter.
The problem with using an e-newsletter service is that the information has to be fairly general in order to appeal to the numerous contact lists of hundreds of different law firms. When attorneys write the content themselves, they can tailor it so that it appeals to the unique individuals on their contact list.
Sending out an e-newsletter has become as easy as online bill pay or sending an email. It does not have to be labor intensive or time consuming. Many law firms who send out monthly e-newsletters are doing it in less than three hours a month. With a very minimal time investment, you can connect with all of your important clients, prospects, and referral sources. You can position your firm and yourself as experts by providing information and knowledge about your field of law. You can also keep your contacts up to date about any changes that may be happening within your firm.
Build an E-Newsletter to Build Your Brand
One of the wonderful benefits of an e-newsletter is how it builds your law firm’s brand. It provides a wonderful opportunity to let clients get to know you. With so many lawyer jokes circulating the globe, it’s easy to forget that most people are naturally intimidated by attorneys. As an attorney, you have a breadth of knowledge in a complicated subject area. Use your firm’s e-newsletter to remind people that, behind all of your expertise and experience, you are still human.
If you’re just starting out or are still trying to let people know about your niche, then an e-newsletter is a great way to get the word out. Each week you can write a short 300 - 500 word article about recent changes or little known facts in your field of law. While this might sound intimidating at first, don’t be daunted. Spend a few hours brainstorming a variety of topics that you can write about. Plan to write one featured article and then add at least one more section. Depending on your field of law, the additional section can be a link to an article that you found interesting or it can be about upcoming community events.
Link Back to Increase Activity
One of the best ways to use an e-newsletter is to include several links in the e-newsletter to your blog or to your website. The more visitors you have coming to your website, the more likely it is that Google will give your website a high ranking. High rankings mean a higher listing in search results.
If you have a blog on your website, encourage clients to visit the blog by mentioning some of the blog titles in your e-newsletter. If you are having a contest, are running a special, or if your firm is participating in a local community event, include the generic information in the e-newsletter but have the specifics listed on your website. This will drive interested readers to your website and will increase your traffic.
Still not convinced to make this a part of your law firm marketing plan?
E-Newsletters as a PR Tool
Think outside the box when deciding who to send your e-newsletter to. Of course you need to include past and current clients, potential clients, and referral sources. However, if you are truly trying to establish a niche, think about including journalists in your monthly mailing. Just like attorneys, most journalists have an area in which they specialize. They might specialize in whistle blower stories, medical writing, web technology, etc. Do some basic research to find out which journalists consistently write stories that relate to your field of law. Contact them and ask if you can send them your e-newsletter. This is a win for the both of you. Your content may help them to generate story ideas, and if they need a quote or legal research, they are very likely to reach out to you for help. Getting quoted in newspapers and magazines will definitely help to grow your practice and your brand.
It used to be that firms sent out e-newsletters to stay in touch. Today however, e-newsletters are a powerful, diverse, and inexpensive way to market your firm, educate current clients, and reach potential clients.
Your law firm marketing plan must include an e-newsletter if you want it to be successful. Add it today. You will be glad you did.
How to Convince People to Take Your Advice
Do people regularly ask for your opinion and then do their own thing?
Are you amazed when people pay you for your advice and then immediately disregard it?
Have you ever wondered why this happens?
One of the questions I frequently receive from attorneys is: “Why don’t my clients take my advice? I have their best interests in mind but they don’t want to listen to me.”
The answer lies not in what you say but in how you say it.
There are three specific steps that will help get people to put your good advice into practice. They are:
1. Make an emotional appeal
2. Give them specific action steps to follow
3. Associate negative consequences with NOT following your advice
Here’s some additional detail on the steps listed above:
The Emotional Appeal – Ninety percent of all decisions that are made by humans in life are emotional decisions. It is human nature to make decisions based upon our emotional reaction to a given situation and the JUSTIFY our decision with rational reasoning.
This is even true in a business-to-business setting. Once I was proposing a complex (and expensive) organizational effectiveness solution to a large multi-national company. There was an involved bidding process that had my firm up against two large competitors. My company nailed all of the presentations we gave to the decision-making board involved in this process. Our solution was competitively priced. We believed we were “a lock” to get the business. When the decision was made, we found out that the deal was awarded to the highest priced competitor. I asked for a meeting with the committee to debrief (mainly to find out why we were not selected so we could improve). The head of the procurement committee responded with a statement that I will never forget.
She said: “Dave, your firm was a perfect fit in every way. When we presented the proposals to the president of the company he told us that we needed to go with your competitor. He said that his son played youth soccer with the president of the competing firm and he had a deep personal relationship with this man. He believed that this relationship would help us receive better service and save us money in the long run.”
In the case highlighted above, the president’s emotional decision – justified by logic, trumped even the most compelling logical argument I could make.
When you make an appeal to someone to take your advice, focus on emotions such as trust, integrity and fear (more on that in a few paragraphs). Emotions resonate with people. That’s what they remember.
Provide Specific Steps – We must make it easy for people to take the advice we provide. There can be no ambiguity when we offer up our expertise.
When you are taking a trip to a new place do you ever go on-line and print out a map and turn-by-turn directions? Which portion of the printed guidance do you find easier to follow? Most people respond that the turn-by-turn directions – the specific words - are easier to follow. This is because our brain finds it easier to grasp the directions in small segments. The map requires a specific visualization of the route and we all know that the map often does not accurately reflect the territory.
Giving people specific action steps to follow is a way to help them grasp one step at a time in a specific process. It is far more likely that folks will listen to, and take advantage of, our guidance if we break it down into manageable chunks.
Clearly Articulate the Negative Consequences of NOT Following your Advice – This is where fear comes in. People are far more likely to take action to move AWAY from fear than they are to take action TOWARD pleasure. This is just how we are wired.
One of my neighbors is a personal trainer. He was having problems retaining clients after they went through the initial orientation session with him. He made one seemingly minor change in his approach and he doubled his client base almost overnight.
At the outset of the orientation training session he wrote down the participant’s weight, height and he calibrated their body fat. He then proceeded to take them through the exercises in the gym that he recommended for them. At the conclusion of the session he gave the participant an insurance actuarial chart that determined their life expectancy based upon their weight and their body fat.
He then circled the amount of years they were taking OFF of their life by being overweight. The fear – in this case the fear of an early death – was enough to motivate over 80% of his clients to sign up with him for a 90–day training program.
Fear is healthy. It keeps us from doing all kinds of stupid things that could harm us. We can all learn how to use fear for our benefit in our personal lives as well as in our interactions with our clients.
Remember, these tactics are powerful. If you use them to manipulate your client, you may get them to take action in the short run but ultimately they will feel betrayed if they find out that you used them to make a quick buck.
Engage Me and I will Respond
Your future clients (prospects) are screaming this at you.
A couple of days ago I met someone who I am certain that I will never forget. This was not a famous person. This was not someone who was a business leader. This was not a polished speaker or influential pillar of the community.
This person is one of the best marketers that I have met in a long time. The minute she opened her mouth I was captivated. As I watched her presentation, I re-learned how to approach someone in a non-threatening manner and capture their interest.
Who was this marketing genius? Was it someone who had years of experience? Was it someone who had years of expensive marketing education?
No
This marketing superstar is a 12 year old girl in Miami, Florida.
What was the key component to her presentation that had such a profound effect on me?
This little marketing prodigy adhered to the primary rule of marketing - one that most of today’s conventional marketers have forgotten….engage the audience.
So here’s how Julie (the little marketer) won my business.
Her approach was skillful. She walked up to me as I entered the supermarket and she said:
-
“Excuse me sir, can I ask you something? You look like a successful person. What is the best way to raise money for a really good cause?”
This approach was brilliant because it immediately engaged me. It made me think. I responded that it depended on the cause and I asked her if she had a one in mind. She then said:
- “I am trying to start up a new Girl Scout troop here in town and I need some help. This troop is for kids who don’t get to be in after- school groups because they don’t have a lot of money. Most Girl Scout troops meet at a different person’s home each week and the moms make food and stuff. These kids can’t do that because their moms work. Also the kids won’t be able to afford the uniforms and the activities. I thought that if I raised enough money, we could ask these kids to join and they won’t need to feel bad because their parents couldn’t pay. Do you have any ideas that could help me do this?”
I said that I did but it would take more time than I could spend right now.
She replied with:
- “If you don’t mind, please give me your name, email and phone number and my mom will call you. “
I readily agreed.
Finally she said:
- “Thank you. And if you’d like to help right now, I’ll be happy to accept any donations. You don’t have any money you could spare that could start us off, do you?”
I gladly gave her $5 and I felt great about doing it. And sure enough, that night her mom called me and asked if I would volunteer to help them.
Maybe I’m just a softie. But this kid used a couple of good marketing tactics that can work to your benefit as an attorney looking for new business. She asked me a question – right off the bat. This immediately forced me to think of an answer.
Every question that people ask us gets answered – either out loud or in our minds. As a marketing tool, this interrupts the usual thought pattern of “Look out. Somebody is trying to sell us something…”
This approach was the key to Julie’s success and you can make it the key to your success too. The next time you are waiting in line somewhere, ask a question to start a conversation. See what reaction you get. As you practice your approach you will become better and better at engaging people. This is the first step in building a relationship – and relationships are the key to success in professional services.
Speak Like a Human and Get More Business
The conversation began just like the dialogue I’ve had many times with attorneys in just about every area of specialization. The attorney sitting across the desk from me began:
- “I’m really smart. Graduated top of my class. I clerked for Judge Smith. I interned at Smarty, Smarter and Billem and I was in Super Lawyers for my specialization in my state. In my current role, I help NGOs mitigate risk, terminate unproductive agreements and negotiate adequate consideration in transactions where we relinquish certain protected rights.”
As I scratch my head, he continues:
- “I just don’t understand why I have such a hard time finding clients.”
This conversation takes place a few times each month. Sometimes it happens on the phone and sometimes it happens in person. Sometimes the attorney is a “high potential” in a big firm who just can’t originate new business and sometimes he is an attorney in a solo practice who wants to make more money.
The problem is that these smart attorneys don’t know what the real problem is.
Here is the reality: Our friend in the example is smart. He is probably a good lawyer. But he forgot how to communicate like a normal person.
People want to work with folks they know, like and trust. They don’t want to work with an all-knowing computer. Communicating with a client is an interaction between two human beings. People have to like you before they will decide to work with you. It is the way of the world.
I know that you’ve heard that people want to work with the best. And you may have heard that they don’t care if the person is likable. You’ve heard that they want a pit bull for a lawyer. This may be true for an isolated case or in a specific incident. But for the long term, if you are going for the big prize of Client Lifetime Value, you need to be likeable and that starts with good communication.
Here are a couple of things to think about when you are meeting with a potential client for the first time:
Imagine that the client is your mom, dad, sister or brother. How would you treat them? What would be the level of respect you would show them? How intently would you listen before you spoke? What questions would you ask them? How would you ask those questions?
If you begin to THINK like this you will find yourself ACTING differently. Even your body language will be different.
Remember that although this may by your 1000th Real Estate closing or your 156th divorce, it may be your client’s first. They are confused, afraid and concerned about moving forward with the rest of their life after this transaction.
You have to keep those kinds of things in mind as you communicate with your clients. It is your job, but it is their life. Don’t ever forget that. Even in a corporate setting, someone may be betting their career on you.
Yes, they want to know that you’ve done this before. Yes, they want to hear about how you have helped other folks in similar situations. But they want to hear it within the context of their situation. That’s what is important.
Finally, if you have to use words that your 14 year old nice or nephew would need to look up in a dictionary, you will not be successful. Your primary responsibility is to give your client good advice. If they don’t understand you, you can’t advise them effectively.
This is particularly true for CEOs and their country club buddies. The only difference between them and mom and pop is that mom and pop will admit when they don’t understand something. Most CEOs will smile, nod and go along with you in the meeting room – and then have you removed from the case as soon as you walk out of the office.
You must be liked before you can be trusted. The process of winning someone over begins with good communication.
So mitigate the big words and cease and desist with the legal jargon and you’ll make more money.
