The Lawyer’s Guide To Marketing No Guarantee of Results: The suggestions, comments, tactics and strategies contained herein are meant only to provide examples about running a successful business. They are not intended as a guarantee that the same or similar results can be obtained in every matter undertaken by you or your company; and you should not assume that a similar result can be obtained in any circumstance, no matter how similar to the example. The outcome of a particular strategy or tactic, or any combination thereof can depend on a variety of factors and, often, unexpected developments and circumstances beyond the control of any person, business owner or industry play a role in the resultant outcome. Professional Liability Insurance Group (PLIG) is not responsible for any action or inaction on your part as a result of reading this material. It is only to be used as a general guide. PLIG does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this writing.
Transcript
The Lawyer’s Guide
To Marketing
No Guarantee of Results: The suggestions, comments, tactics and strategies contained herein are meant only to provide examples about running a successful business. They are not intended as a guarantee that the same or similar results can be obtained in every matter undertaken by you or your company; and you should not assume that a similar result can be obtained in any circumstance, no matter how similar to the example. The outcome of a particular strategy or tactic, or any combination thereof can depend on a variety of factors and, often, unexpected developments and circumstances beyond the control of any person, business owner or industry play a role in the resultant outcome. Professional Liability Insurance Group (PLIG) is not responsible for any action or inaction on your part as a result of reading this material. It is only to be used as a general guide. PLIG does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this writing.
I. INTRODUCTION:
Passing the bar exam, sifting through witness testimonies, crafting a compelling closing argument: these are the tasks you must address as you litigate your way to a successful career in legal counseling. But, there’s another side to this coin—the marketing side. You surely won’t be able to excel in the legal landscape if you have no one to represent. This is why I’ve created this handy guide for you, so you never have to worry about your fancy monogrammed doors staying closed during office hours.
Follow the advice in this guide and please do not hesitate to contact us if any of these tips help to send you on your way to a more prominent and effective legal practice. Our main goal at The Professional Liability Insurance Group is to not only protect our clients, but to educate them as well. Your success is our success and we want nothing but the best for your practice this year!
Sincerely,
Shayne Bevilacqua, MBAPrincipalThe Professional Liability Insurance Group
II. Make A Mark In Your Community
Everyone, at one time in their life, is likely going to need a lawyer. As you venture to get the word out about your firm and practice, it would behoove you to start right where you live: in your community. By catering to your community you can show that you care about the citizens around you, essentially creating a ripple effect that will spread to the surrounding areas and beyond. When the people in your area begin to notice your commitment, many opportunities—workshops, events, seminars—will begin to present themselves. The end result will be a greater presence, positive visibility and a mountain of business. Here are a few ways you can do this.
Non-Profit Organizations
When you’re trying to construct your practice’s core values and beliefs, there’s no better way to display your principals than by attaching yourself to a worthwhile non-profit organization (NPO). Not only will this bolster your mission statement, but also by lending your time to a NPO, you will meet like-minded people while laying the foundation for a great community presence. There are plenty of ways to go about this. Get involved with a green movement by holding tree-planting events, support recycling programs or anything else that helps conserve the environment. Getting behind social programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters is also a great idea. Get involved with local establishments like the community library, a senior citizens center or your closest fire department. This will not only bring
you satisfaction on a personal level, but you can also use these events as team-building exercises for your staff.
TIP: Go to www.volunteermatch.org and search your surrounding area for a NPO that fits the values and beliefs of your practice.
Charity Events
Let’s face it. The portrayed image of the lawyer, in media, is not necessarily a positive one. In film, television and the news, the briefcase-wielding conduit of the law has been raked over the coals many of times. It is your job to deconstruct that stereotypical myth, and there is no better way to do that than devoting some of your time to a charity event every so often. These events not only raise awareness for a cause you care about, but they can raise your profile as well. Hold a “consultation day” where all the proceeds go to a charity. Set up clothes, food or toy drives for underprivileged citizens. Conduct fundraisers for people inside your community who have fallen on hard times. Then, make sure to promote these events through your website, newsletter and social media hubs so you can get as many people involved as possible.
TIP: Check out www.donationto.com and create an event for a good cause in your area. Or, you can choose from one of the
thousands of charities already set-up to donate to. There really isn’t a wrong way to go about this.
Places of Worship
Religious centers—churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and more—are great places to meet members of your community. Leaders of these faith-based organizations are always looking for volunteers to help conduct and participate in community events, and that’s where you come in. If you already belong to a religious sect, talk to the leader of that organization to find out about any upcoming events. You’ll find that by doing this, members of your religious community will feel much more comfortable coming to you for legal consultation.
TIP: Visit or contact the office manager of your local religious center to find out about their upcoming events. Then, participate.
Small Businesses
Helping and mentoring small businesses in your community is one of the most productive ways to raise your profile in your area. Hold a workshop or seminar explaining to small business owners (SBO) the legal implications involved with their particular sector. Conduct a “Local Business Day” where you give free 10-minute consultations to any local business that cares to participate. You’ll get to meet the entrepreneurs in your community, while raising awareness about your practice and the services you offer. The business community—which is a
community that will likely need your help more than others—will appreciate this time you donated and you’ll be the first firm they call when they need help.
TIP: Check out www.score.org for more information on how you can help out a local business.
III. 7 Facebook Tips For Lawyers
Facebook my not be the “go-to” social media page for professionals practicing in the legal field, as LinkedIn seems more apropos for connecting with the business community, and that’s true. Yet, the fact remains that over 1 billion people are connected through Facebook, and with the proper techniques and use, this social media hub can become a tremendous tool for reaching out to clients and potential clients. Let’s take a look at 7 ways you can optimize your Facebook page to ensure that you are reaching the right people at the right time.
1. Familiarize Yourself With Facebook’s Ethical Rules This should be your first step when approaching Facebook, and as a lawyer, it’s probably the most obvious tip. People embarrass themselves on Facebook all of the time, so be sure to not only create a code of conduct for Facebook use for yourself, but for your whole firm. Get familiar with the rules on solicitation, advertising and confidentiality. Visit your privacy and account settings every few weeks as these are constantly changing and may require some tweaking. And, always remember: if you
shouldn’t do it in the real world, then you probably shouldn’t do it on Facebook.
2. Keep Personal and Professional SeparateWhile it’s fine to have your own personal Facebook page, in the case of your practice, set-up a Facebook business page. Just like a regular Facebook page, the business page can include pictures of you and your staff, a bio about the history of your practice, and even your hours of operation. Think of it as a mini-website and pack it full of information that will allow people to get familiar with your practice. The business page even has real-time reporting, so you can see how your page is performing and what content is really catching the attention of your community. While your website may have all of these things, the added benefit that Facebook brings is the ability to converse with visitors to your page.
3. Post Links That Are Relevant To Your Firm’s ValuesYour Facebook posts should reflect your firm’s interests and core beliefs. Post links to articles concerning the kind of law you practice. Link to a recent blog or article you wrote. Basically, you want to be an “internet filter”, scouring the web for useful information that will entice readers to contact you. Creating involving posts will also help increase your web presence, as you can become the preeminent voice in the legal community. Just make sure to not post too often as oversaturation is one of the deadly sins of Facebook, and it can lead people to “unfriend” you.
4. Get Involved In Facebook GroupsJust like LinkedIn, you can create or join a “group” which shares a common interest. This is a great tool to use because you will know exactly who your audience is, and can cater the right message to those people. If something of interest happens in your legal field, start a group to begin a discussion about the nuances of that issue. Connect with other like-minded legal professionals to share advice and referrals. You might not have enough time away from the office to attend a conference, but you can easily get a pertinent discussion going with Facebook groups.
5. Make Your Online Relationships Offline RelationshipsFirst, recognize the people in your friends group with whom you’d like to meet or take to a seminar or with whom you can exchange referrals. Keep an eye on their statuses and congratulate them on a new job position or birthday. Then, use these conversation starters to create relationships. Once you have a dialogue going, invite that person out to breakfast or lunch. Do not think of Facebook as a way to replace the real world, rather think of it as a way to supplement the real world.
6. Always Review the Backgrounds of Potential “Friends”It’s inevitable that you are going to receive friend requests from people you do not know. Before you press that accept button, take a few moments to read their profile, a few of their updates and skim through their list of friends. You don’t want to be friends with someone who is posting racist anecdotes or improper and politically incorrect statuses. The idiom goes that
people judge people based on who their friends are. The same applies to Facebook.
7. Try Not to Over Self-PromoteThe last thing you want to do on Facebook is to constantly talk up yourself or your law firm. That’s the quickest way to the “unfriend zone”. Instead, educate your readers on a useful tip, or provide them with a breaking news story that’s will cause them to stay on your page for a while. Facebook already has an advertising function you can use to get your banner in front of anyone searching for a topic related to your practice. Also, don’t use Facebook to gloat about your most recent trial victory. Be humble and informative, and in no time, your friend’s list will be as robust as anyone’s.
IV. Internet Marketing Tips for Lawyers
It pays to be Internet savvy these days, as most people hit the ‘net to find the services in their area that they require. Referrals and word-of-mouth marketing go a long way because people will trust their friends and family before they trust the Internet, but having a good web presence is always going to be crucial to presenting your business to potential clients. These days, it’s not good enough to just have a website with a few pictures and your contact info. So, set aside a little time each week to focus on your Internet marketing skills and you’ll see just how thick your rolodex can get with a few simple Internet marketing strategies.
Get Online Reviews
A great way to increase your web presence is to bolster your online reviews. Not only do these reviews signal to potential clients the quality of service that you present, but Google—the main search engine for most of the world—takes into account the ratings you receive on sites like Google+ and Yelp when determining whether your site should be trusted or not. It’s a simple formula: the more good ratings you get, the closer you get to the coveted first page of Google. So how can you do this? First, make sure you have Google+ and Yelp profiles set-up. You’ll have to create these first if they have not been generated yet. Make sure to input all of the details of your firm/practice and even add logos and a few pictures. Now you want to direct satisfied clients to your review profiles. Whenever you sit down with a client, mention to them that you’d appreciate it if they could visit your Yelp page and leave a review. Try sending 10-15 e-mails a week explaining how reviews help your practice and include the links to the sites. Create business cards with links that you can give to clients or send them in a mailing. One thing to be careful of is having the reviews come from the same computer/IP address. Yelp and Google will recognize these as “spammy” and will designate the reviews as such.
Create Strong Calls to ActionA call to action, a.k.a. CTA, is essentially the instructions you want the potential clients to follow after they view your webpage. Perhaps you want to talk to them on the phone. Maybe you can have a lead generation form they can fill out with their
contact information. Whatever it is that you want the visitors of your site to do, make sure that CTA stands out and is enticing enough to capture the attention of your visitors.
Get Yourself Some Quality BacklinksA backlink is a term that means that websites, other than yours, contains a link that points back to your main site. The more of these you can create, the more Google will rank your page higher in their algorithm. You also want to make sure the website that contains your link is a “quality” site, meaning that the site is trusted by Google, not just some blog that your neighbor created. One of the best ways to do this is to start submitting your site to legal/law directories. Here are a few sites that you should submit your site to right away:
Go MobilePhones are more and more becoming just as Internet compatible as the standard desktop. In fact, experts predict that in 2014 mobile web searches will overtake desktop web searches in
terms of frequency. This is a huge area of opportunity for you as not everyone is optimized for mobile web browsing. Contact your web developer right away and tell him/her that you want to create a mobile friendly site. When people click on the link for your site, your mobile-friendly site will pop-up automatically and people will have a much easier time navigating all the content you have created.
Boost Your Google Rankings With An Awesome FAQ PageIf you were to speak legalese to most of your clients, they would have no clue what you are talking about. The legal process and all the jargon associated with it can make someone unfamiliar with the practice very confused. If you don’t have one already, do yourself a favor and create an FAQ page that explains legal terminology as well as answering questions potential clients might be curious about. This works well on two levels: your visitors will get some insight into your practice, and the FAQ page will be loaded with rich keywords that will help you rank higher on Google. Just make sure to speak in common terms when creating the content on this page, because casual web surfers will not search for many of the legal terms you are familiar with.
I hope you were able to glean a thing or two from the advice and suggestions in this Lawyer’s Guide to Marketing. If you found any of this helpful, or if you would like to offer some suggestions yourself, please feel free to drop us a line at info@
PLIGofSJ.com. Also, if you would like to share your success story then give us a shout, as we love to hear from legal professionals like you. Good luck!
