For more great articles and FREE attorney resources visit us: www.RainmakerLawyer.com
Everyone around town would surely agree that Ron McKay is a character. He’s a personal injury attorney who has had his own thriving practice for the past five years. Some would say that Ron is a master at promoting himself. Sure, he’s got radio and TV commercials running all the time but Ron’s a master of free publicity as well. He never seems to miss out on an opportunity to get his name in front of the people. I had occasion to use Ron for a minor legal matter and got to be buddies of sorts. I asked him how he built up his practice from scratch in such a short time. Not only did he tell me what he’d been doing, he gave me a detailed list of the marketing techniques he’s used to build up a solid client base.
First Ron told me that to get noticed you’ve got to be a joiner – join every club and association you can find. He’s a member of the local chamber of commerce, the Lions club, Rotary, Kiwanis, the United Way, three church groups as well as a scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts. And Ron’s wife is a member of every woman’s organization available. Ron explained that there are two ways to go as a member of such groups. You can behave as most would expect and simply try to suck up all the available business around. Or, you can offer value and good service and allow your actions to serve as an example to illustrate how you might treat your actual clients should you pick any up. Ron tries to do the latter while admitting that sometimes it’s tough.
Ron also likes to work on community projects. He’s a member of a committee studying the feasibility of building an annex to the old county hospital. He’s also the leader of a group trying to get historical status for several old houses in town.
Ron explains that the more exposure one receives the more people will think of you when the time comes when they need your services. But he also says that people can smell a phony so one needs to be sincere as a joiner and a community activist. Ron has an outgoing and engaging style and only he knows his true motivation for all of his public activities, but it would certainly seem that he enjoys what he’s doing and that he’s sincere about it. He also shared a lot of marketing techniques outside of public activity with me.
The following items are a few of the techniques he’s using presently.
Two for One Document Review
This one is simple. He offers to review two legal documents (contracts) for the price of a single document. He claims this to be one of his best client builders.
Waive consultation fee. From time to time Ron will run a radio ad offering a free consultation. Sometimes it’s a free phone consultation with a junior attorney at his firm and sometimes it’s a face to face consult with the man himself. This is another popular offer. Ron also says that he’s got to space these offers out over a period of several months or they aren’t as effective.
Special Reports
Ron has devoted a lot of time writing special reports pertaining to both personal injury and family law matters. He offers these to potential clients in his TV commercials as well as on his Website and radio spots. Two of his most popular free reports are titled: Know Your Rights After A Work Accident and Know Your Rights After An Automobile Accident.
Teach A Class or Seminar
Ron teaches a class every three months on Wills and Probate. He rents a meeting room at the hotel and holds the same seminar four times over the course of a weekend. When people learn what an endless nightmare probate can be he always has new clients seeking more information on trusts and other vehicles designed to circumvent probate.
Host Your Own Radio Show
Ron hasn’t managed to get his own show just yet. But he is a regular caller on two of the most popular radio shows in town. Both of the talk show hosts know him and welcome his calls along with the generous way he imparts useful information about family and personal injury law.
Write A Book
Being an author affords you almost instant credibility. Ron told me he’s just a few chapters away from completing his first book. Apparently he’s using the special reports he offers as the chapters for his book. He’s hired a professional editor to review the material and make it as free-flowing as possible. He looks forward to all of the activity that comes with being a successful author.
Sponsor A Contest
Ron runs an essay contest every February. The topic is Lawyers in History. The essay needs to be no more than 1000 words and no less than 750. The topic is: Lawyers In History Who Have Made a Difference. The prize is $500 toward any legal work or $250 donated to the charity of your choice. This competition generates a lot of interest and adds dozens of names and addresses to Ron’s mailing database every year. Many eventually convert to paying clients.
Additionally, Ron does mass mailings and keeps himself in the minds of potential clients with an almost omnipresent existence on radio and TV. Sometimes his commercials are goofy and other times they’re serious and solemn. You never know what you’re going to get with Ron – unless you actually hire him. Then you’re going to get fast and efficient service. I should know. I just paid him a bundle!