Legal Marketing | Attorney Marketing | Marketing For Lawyers

How do you feel when you meet with a new client? Do you look forward to sitting down with them and discussing their matter? Do you feel as though you can improve the condition of every client you sign? Most of your success is determined by the valuable real estate between your ears. This video describes how confidence can influence legal marketing.

Being confident is important in all aspects of life. This is particularly true of legal marketing. Being confident in your ability will help you walk away from bad clients. It will help you command higher fees and it will help you aggressively focus on legal marketing.

Here are three quick exercises you can do to help improve your confidence in advance of a client meeting:

Imagine a successful outcome. Play a mental movie in your head of how the client meeting will go. Watch yourself quoting the fee and see the client shake your hand and sign on the dotted line. Imagine a big smile on the client's face as he writes you the check. He is smiling because you have provided him with great piece of mind and he trusts you implicitly.

This sounds a little hokey but it works. Your mind cannot discern between imagination and reality. This mental movie is training your mind for success. Once this training seeps into your subconscious, you be less likely to sabotage your next potential big fee matter. You will also feel good when you receive the fee.

Focus on the value you are providing to the client. If you are closing a deal for a client worth ten million dollars and you are charging just twenty thousand to make the deal happen, isn't that a bargain? If you are helping a client get rid of her cheating spouse, isn't that priceless? If you are keeping a foreign national with his family in the United States, isn't that worth a huge sum of money?

What other people charge is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the value you are providing to the client. If this client walks away because of the fee, they were not the right client for you.

Believe that you have earned the right to be here. You do not need to pay your dues any longer. You have earned the right to high fees and great clients. Feel comfortable in that and you will have all the confidence in the world.

The most powerful aspect of any legal marketing plan is the confidence the attorney has in his ability. If you are confident, you are unstoppable.

Every lawyer and law firm needs legal marketing systems in order to be successful over the long term. Systems protect you from being overwhelmed by the day-to-day kayos of running a law firm. Marketing systems help drive clients to your door even while you are buried in your current legal work. This video details three kinds of systems every attorney should include in his legal marketing.

Lead Generation System

I know this term sounds like a sales term. That's because it is a sales term. Legal marketing can often be about selling a prospective client on solving his problem NOW. This is what a lead generation system does. If can be as simple as a box on your website where a prospective client can request a free report or it can be a paid educational seminar you host once each month.

Every attorney needs to have a systematic way to develop interest in the problems he can solve. This is a significant part of legal marketing.

Follow-Up System

Whenever you meet someone you should log their information into your database and follow up with them. This follow-up can be as simple as sending a hand written note or as intricate as sending them a monthly greeting card. Follow-up is critical and your legal marketing plan should include a system to help you manage it.

Content Management System

As a legal marketing expert you will produce a significant amount of educational content. This information will be used multiple times in multiple vehicles. You need a way to manage this content. You need to be able to determine which articles are appropriate for which audience. Your content management system helps you do this. It is essential for your success.

These are just three of the many systems that can help keep you organized and help keep the legal marketing going while you are busy with multiple matters. Develop these systems now so that you can keep the work coming while you are managing your legal work load.

Law firm marketing needs to become a habit if you want to be successful. Successful attorneys focus on accomplishing a little each day in order to make a big difference over time. There are lots of reason this strategy works. This video covers three of them.

Daily action eventually becomes a long term habit. Research indicates that habits are formed by repetitive action over 21 days. Focusing on law firm marketing each day will help create habits that will drive clients to you. You don't need to spend an enormous amount of time on law firm marketing in order for it to pay off. Just an hour a day can make all the difference.

Small improvements create big results. It is always easier to change things gradually. When it comes to law firm marketing, the change is usually gradual because of the amount of time required. If you invest a little time each day toward build your practice, you will find that over the course of a month you have made gigantic strides. Days turn into weeks and weeks into months. Since the time is going to pass anyway, why not make it productive?

Focusing a little each day on law firm marketing will help build momentum. In this way, law firm marketing is like going to a gym to work out. If you get into the habit of doing it daily you will notice improvement in a few months. Once you begin to see the improvement you will be hooked on the effort required.

The most difficult hurdle is just getting started. Doing something today is great. Doing something consistently this week is fantastic. Doing something for 21 days this month means it will be ingrained into your routine. Once it is a part of your routine, you will be amazed at how quickly you make progress.

Start making law firm marketing a daily habit today and in a few months you will wonder why you waited this long.

Law firm marketing is often used to exclude some potential clients who are not a fit for your services. Have you ever had the feeling the client sitting in front of you was not telling you the truth? It can often be awkward having that conversation with a potential client (someone who has not yet retained you). This video shows you how to use third party stories to bring up things that make you uncomfortable.

Once the client has retained you as their lawyer, you can ask direct questions and you should expect direct answers. During the initial interview you may want to avoid offending the prospective client. Since technically you are still involved in the law firm marketing process you should use this opportunity to exclude anyone you do not feel comfortable representing.

You should always follow your gut instinct especially when it comes to law firm marketing.

The message you are trying to deliver to your target audience is critical in law firm marketing. There are many different ways to communicate your message. In this video, we discuss four effective ways to communicate with your clients and prospective clients.

A conversational style is effective for building a relationship with your reader/viewer. If your goal is to develop a long term bond with the members of your audience I highly recommend this informal approach. My clients who use this approach often tell stories about people walking into their office and hugging them as if they have known them all of their lives. Of course, they have just met but the client has been reading the lawyer's newsletter for a couple of years and feels a connection to him. Good law firm marketing can create that kind of a relationship with the conversational style.

Using a list as a communications tool is a highly effective stylistic choice. It is educational and informative and easy to mentally digest. A good list can often be the most popular article on a blog. I have been known to post a list of two right here on this website. Using lists is an effective law firm marketing communications tool for getting your point across in a nonthreatening way.

The Op Ed style is also effective but more formal. This style gets its name from the Op Ed page in the newspaper. An Op Ed page is the page opposite the editorial page and it often contains professional, well researched, fact-based articles. This is used when righting a more scholarly article or white paper. An op ed style article appears impressive but it will often lack the personal connection of the conversational style.

When you want someone to do something you should use the promotional style. This is a benefit rich, sales pitch for your idea. In this particular style of communication you always finish with a call to action. This means you create urgency and give people several reasons and ways to contact you.

All four of these styles are highly effective. You will undoubtedly have a need to employ all of them at some point. Make yourself familiar with all of the styles and be certain you match the style to the audience. This choice is critical to the success of your law firm marketing.

If you want to give back to the community or give to a worthy cause, your legal marketing plan should incorporate some kind of charitable outreach. This video on legal marketing and charity explains.

There are some guidelines you should follow if you are considering adding work with a charitable organization to your legal marketing plan. They are:

1). Make certain you believe in giving back. Although this seems obvious, you need to be 100% committed to giving to the organization you choose. Business and legal marketing should be secondary concerns when it comes to charity and networking. Make sure you are prepared to give and get nothing in return.

2). You must be passionate about the cause. When you get involved with a group that gives back, you don't just invest money. You also invest time, effort and your emotions. You need to make sure you are passionate about giving all of these things to this particular cause.

3). Make sure you select a group or organization that makes it tough to get in and tough to ascend up through the ranks. You don't want to be involved with a group that has weak leadership. A charity should be as tough, if not tougher, in their leadership selection. If they are not, you should reconsider your involvement with them.

4). Be prepared to lead. Most often, making a difference means being a leader. If you are a strong, determined individual and you are passionate about the cause, taking on a leadership role will not only increase your profile within the community it will also help the organization grow.

Working with a charitable organization is a great way to reinforce your personal brand in the community. Follow these guidelines and put the charity first and the legal marketing will fall into place.

There are three different kinds of lawyers in the world today. They are differentiated by their personality. Each of them can be successful but some are better at legal marketing than others. This video explains.

The Counselor

This is the lawyer who spends 80%-90% of his time working on the matter at hand. He loves the detail. He loves to dig into the issues. Time goes by rapidly for him when he is focused on writing a brief or putting together a contract.

The Counselor is best at handing complex legal work. Spending time writing marketing copy or going to networking events does not interest him. He will do it because he feels he has to do it.

The Counselor needs to partner with someone who likes to develop business. He needs to work with an Expert or a Rainmaker if he is going to own a law firm.

The Expert

This person spends 50% of his time working in the law. He also spends 50% of his time developing business. He has developed a market niche so he can command a fee premium when he does legal work.

The Expert must hire people to work for him. He needs an associate or a paralegal to do some of the "non-expert" work. He needs to be a good manager as he has significant responsibilities. He must be excellent at delegation.

The Rainmaker

The Rainmaker spends 80%-90% of his time developing relationships. He does not do much legal work. He is a visionary. He MUST partner with a Counselor or an Expert or he will be sunk. The Rainmaker often cannot manage and he doesn't want to do the legal work.

The ideal law firm has all three of these people as partners. But you don't need to have all three to be successful. You just need to recognize which personality you have, leverage your ability, and then hire others to compensate for areas where you need assistance.

There is a technique that my clients use to help them get more referrals. It works like a charm because it is designed to help your clients and prospects think of people they know who may be your ideal client. This video describes how it works and how to use it.

Whenever you sit down with someone you get into the conversation by bringing up their business. This is easily done by asking them how they get most of their clients. Once they answer say something like:

"That's really interesting. I get most of my clients by word of mouth. You know, a past client tells a friend or colleague about me. It's funny but I have found that the most difficult thing about getting these referrals is getting people into the right mindset."

Then ask the person you are with to think of a time when they met someone famous. Have them recall the event in detail. After they tell you about that event, ask them if they know someone who has the qualities you are looking for. For example:

Real estate attorneys would ask something like:
"Do you know someone who is looking for a new house?" or "Do you by any chance know someone who is a Real Estate agent?"

Business transactional attorneys would ask something like:
"Do you know a business owner who is really successful?"

Probate attorneys would ask something like: "Do you know a good accountant?"

The story you have the person tell in the beginning of this process helps their brain get into the mode of remembering people from their past. Once they are in that mental state they are more likely to remember other people when you prompt them.

In order to get referrals, you need to ask. Sometimes when you ask you will get a blank stare. If you ask using this technique, you are more likely to better quality referrals in the future.

There are five factors that must be taken into account in law firm marketing. These five factors are critical to the success of your law firm. Marketing works when it is done correctly. Focusing on these factors will ensure that your message resonates with your audience.

Law Firm Marketing Factor One: Relationship

You goal should be to develop a relationship with your client or prospective client. This means you have to have an extended conversation with them (or a perceived conversation). The prospective client needs to feel that you are sharing something with them. That something can be an experience, it can be news or it can even be trivia. Think of your marketing as what you would say if you were sitting down to speak with the client in person.

Law Firm Marketing Factor Two: Educational Value

Clients want information about their situation before they make a decision. They want to know what their options are. They don't want to go to law school. They want to know, in regular language, how bad things can get and what a lawyer can do to help them. They want to know how to select a lawyer for their specific issue. They want to know the value of hiring a lawyer. In short, they want to be educated.

Law Firm Marketing Factor Three: Consistency

Your law firm marketing must consistently reach the target audience. It must be at regular intervals over and over and over. If you send out a newsletter, send it on the same day each week/month. If you host a networking meeting, host it on the same day at the same time each month. If you update your blog, do it on the same day of the week at the same time.

Law Firm Marketing Factor Four: Relevance

People must want to hear what you have to say. This means your law firm marketing message must be relevant to them. If your practice is focused on immigration law, you shouldn't talk about personal injury cases. If you focus on trust and estates work, you shouldn't talk about criminal defense in your marketing. You marketing must be relevant to your audience.

Law Firm Marketing Factor Five: Visibility

The right audience has to see your marketing. Your website can be great but if nobody visits it, it is worthless. Your article in the trade magazine can be compelling but if nobody reads it, it does you no good. You must pick media that is visible to your audience.

If you want to get the most from your investment in law firm marketing you must keep these five factors in mind.

There is a feeling within the legal community that an attorney needs to be available to his clients 24 hours per day seven days per week. The common thinking is that this availability will help the attorney land more clients. Many attorneys structure their legal marketing in line with this belief. This is not true as this video explains.

The people who want you to be available to them 24/7 are usually not going to be the best clients. They are hiring an employee and not a trusted advisor. Of course, if you want to be an employee, you can sleep with your mobile phone under your pillow. Otherwise you should focus on limiting your availability to people who are clients. You should only allow perspective clients to have access to you at a time of your choosing.

Here's why:

People want what they can't have. In any relationship people will find someone more attractive if their availability is limited. This is human nature. Think about a dating relationship where you were really attracted to the other person or in going on your college interview process. In both cases you probably thought the other party didn't want you or need you...and it drove you toward them.

Scarcity stimulates curiosity. People begin to wonder why you don't want to see them immediately. This curiosity drives them to find out more about you and your law firm. It will make some people obsessed with retaining you no matter what.

They immediately assign a higher value to your time. People think: "This guy must be good if he is this busy." This thinking will help you when the prospect becomes a client because they will not only pay a premium for your services they will also be focused and direct when they do have time with you. Can you think of two better qualities for a client?

Allow your competitors to offer 24/7 access. They are desperate. Your legal marketing will position you to be the choice of a more discerning clientele. It will also signal that you are too busy to deal with people who will waste your time.

Getting your message across is a critical element of attorney marketing. The construction of your message is important but the timing of that message is also vital to the success of your law firm. This video describes WHEN you should deliver your message to your audience of prospective clients.

Keep in mind that as prepare to deliver your message (either in writing, in person or via electronic media) you should focus on only making one point at a time. This is the meaning of the phrase: Stay on message. You want to keep the focus on one message and one message only at any given time.

Here is how you can time your message so it is given every opportunity to reach its desired audience and have the desired result:

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

You want to repeat your message at least seven times to ensure that it is heard, absorbed and understood. Most people do not listen well. Repetition does more than just make sure people hear you. Repetition helps the subconscious mind of the listener become familiar with your message. Familiarity helps increase trust and believability. Repeat your message a minimum of seven times to your audience. You will be glad you did.

Be First

You want to get your message out early. Make sure you are the first person to introduce any information to your potential clients. People will often believe the first thing they hear. They will also often remember the first thing they hear and forget everything else. So you need to get out there and be first.

Be Recent

People will often remember the last thing they here before they make a decision. If you can get your message in front of someone immediately before they make a decision you have a strong chance of persuading them.

To sum up: Repeat your message at least seven times. Get your message out first. Be the last person your potential client hears before a decision is made. The timing of your message is critical to your success in attorney marketing.

If you need more reasons why you should make law firm marketing a priority this video should help you. Speed is everything in executing your law firm marketing plan.

Here are five reasons why speed is a competitive advantage in law firm marketing:

The faster you execute the tactics in your law firm marketing plan the more difficult it is for your competition to keep up. If you get signed to speak at every major convention in your market niche your competitors will be preempted. If you write an article for a trade journal first, they won't need an article from another attorney. If you answer the call of the television producer first, they won't call anyone else. Speed kills...your competition.

The second reason speed is a competitive advantage for your law firm marketing is because it gives your clients a sense of reliability. If you say you are going to do something and you do it immediately, your prospective clients begin to believe you even if they do not know you well. Believability is the foundation of trust.

The third reason speed is a competitive advantage in law firm marketing is because making decisions quickly gives you the opportunity to correct them if they are imperfect. Let's face it, not every decision is a winner. If you make decisions quickly and they are not optimal, you can correct them quickly.

The fourth reason speed is a competitive advantage in law firm marketing is because it will help you make money faster. If you have a great law firm marketing idea, and you execute it quickly, and it works, you will have more money in your pocket.

The final reason speed is a competitive advantage in law firm marketing is because it will help you do more in less time. This means the sheer quantity of your marketing will be greater and you will be able to realize more cases in less time.

Overall, speed is a huge advantage in law firm marketing. An attorney who executes law firm marketing tactics quickly will always have a waiting room full of clients.

One of the most frequent complaints I receive from attorneys is that they don't have time for legal marketing. The feel overwhelmed, pressured and stressed out by managing the deliverables they must produce and the deadlines they are faced with. Making an action item list or a "To Do" list is one of the best ways to maintain your focus under the pressure of mounting deadlines.

Just about every successful attorney has some form of action item list. It helps keep them focused and organized. Here are four important reasons to use a "To Do" list in the day-to-day operation of your law firm.

Maintaining a focused list of action items will help you make certain nothing slips through the cracks. Busy people can easily overlook an important task. Having a list that you refer to regularly will help make sure this doesn't happen.

Your action item list will help you hold yourself accountable for your own progress. One of the major frustrations I hear from attorneys is that they don't make any progress on their legal marketing because they don't have any time. In reality, we make time for things we feel are important. If you put something on your action item list it will become a priority. You will want to get it done. You will make time for it because it is staring you in the face.

Using an action item list will give you a sense of accomplishment. Crossing items off of your "To Do" list will make you feel good. Believe it or not, it will boost your confidence. You will feel productive.

Using an action item list will help you achieve your goals. This is probably one of the most important reasons to have a "To Do" list. On your list you should put action items that will help you get closer to achieving your annual goals. Small accomplishments add up.

Legal marketing is a process. It doesn't have an end. Keeping a "To Do" list will help you make time to execute your legal marketing plan. It is not a luxury, it is a necessity.

Every piece of law firm marketing should always have an offer. This means that in every ad, in every direct mail letter, on every website and in every law firm marketing email, you must have a call to action. This video explains.

A call to action is simply a phrase or a paragraph that tells the reader or viewer what to do, when to do it and why they should do it.
We always advise our clients to use a free report as their call to action. Here are some examples:

An immigration attorney who is looking to attract Human Resources executives from major corporations can offer a free report on the three reasons to file an "H" visa now.

A probate attorney can offer a free report to affluent investors on the five ways to protect your wealth in the new economy.

A criminal defense attorney can offer a free report on the three ways to respond to a traffic ticket.

There are hundreds of different topics to use as a reason for people to get in touch with you. Creating a free report and including a call to action is part of the basics of law firm marketing.

Lawyers who command high fees are never perceived as lawyers. You read that correctly. Their clients view them as Trusted Advisors. Being a Trusted Advisor means that a client never makes a move without consulting you. Those consultations have value. People pay for things that have value. How do you get to that point? Legal marketing helps you get there. Specifically a part of your legal marketing plan called POSITIONING. What is positioning? This video scratches the surface.

Everything you do that a client or a prospective client will see has an impact on your positioning. Positioning is the place you hold in the mind of your client. It is how your client perceives you.

Attorneys with good positioning command higher fees. They have their pick of the prospective clients who come calling. They work the amount of hours they feel like working.

What position do you hold in the mind of your ideal client? How can your legal marketing plan help you improve that position?

Your law firm marketing can contain testimonials and references if the client asks to see them. In most states, the law firm regulating bodies prohibit the use of testimonials in law firm advertising. But clients should always choose a lawyer based on thorough research. References and testimonial letters are part of that research process. This video explains:

Once a client asks you for references or requests information on your services, in most jurisdictions, you may provide him with reference letters. Here are four ways to use these reference letters to help your client make a good decision when selecting a lawyer:

Encourage the Client to Check References on All Lawyers

It is a good practice for a client to request references from all the lawyers they are speaking with before they make a hiring decision. When the client comes to see you, you should point out that the hiring of a lawyer is an important decision and the client should request references from attorneys. When they request your references, you should present them with the letters past clients have written you. This is law firm marketing and good advice.

Framed Reference Letters Make Great Artwork

In your office you should have framed testimonial letters all over the walls. This will provide your clients with great reading material and it will also help them make a good decision when selecting a lawyer. This is law firm marketing and art.

Scrap Books with Letters are Excellent Reading Material

Placing a scrap book in your waiting area with your press clippings in it is a good idea. You should also include copies of any letters written by clients. If people are waiting to see you, the least you can do is provide them with something to read. This is law firm marketing and common courtesy.

Educational Event Presentations

If you are giving an educational presentation at an event, you should always invite a client to the event to give a presentation. The client can present their own legal "best practice" without ever offering an endorsement of you, solicited by you. The audience knows that you are their lawyer. Make sure the presentation doesn't sell you. It does not need to look like law firm marketing.

Testimonials are the most compelling form of law firm marketing you will ever receive. If you follow the guidelines of your local regulatory body, there is no reason you should not employ them in your law firm marketing.

Note and disclaimer: Most state regulatory bodies prohibit the use of unsolicited testimonials in law firm marketing.

Always check with your state and local regulatory body before implementing any law firm marketing campaign. This is particularly true of testimonials and client references.
Ethics in law firm marketing is the responsibility of the attorney. This video and article is not intended to imply that this practice is in compliance with the rules of conduct in any or all states and municipalities.

The reason most attorneys in small law firms don't bill seven figures or more each year is right between their ears. They have mentally conditioned themselves to believe that they are not a million dollar lawyer. This video explains.

If you want to explore your full potential as a lawyer you must adopt a mindset that will allow you to grow beyond your expectations. Here are some of the mental changes you need to make:

Being a good lawyer is the minimum standard. Many attorneys think that being a good lawyer is a legal marketing strategy. It is not. It is a minimum standard necessary to attract and retain good clients.

Accept the fact that you can't do all the work yourself. This is difficult for many people to do. You went to law school to learn how to practice law. You didn't go to law school to learn how to run a business. Yet the law is a business and a profession. If you want to grow beyond your own personal capacity to complete work, you must hire other people to work on legal matters. You can still handle some cases but others will handle the bulk of the legal work.

Delegate all the administrative work that bogs you down. The only administrative tasks you should retain are signing the checks and taking the deposit to the bank. Everything else should be delegated to others.

Spend 50% of your time (or more) on client acquisition strategy and marketing. This is something many attorneys who grow beyond their wildest imagination have done. They spend at least half of their time positioning themselves and their law firm.

I realize this is a departure from conventional thinking. But conventional thinking is what most people do. If you want the results that most people get, then follow the crowd. If you want exceptional results you have to think like and exceptional person and take exceptional action.

One of the best ways to get a credibility boost is to be quoted in the media as an expert. This is an excellent legal marketing strategy. It is difficult to gain that expert status but once you do, you become a "go to" person for reporters, editors and producers doing stories in your area of focus.

Here are some steps you can today toward gaining expert status with the media:

First: Have mastery of a topic of interest to the media.

This is critical. The media must need an expert in your field. A local criminal defense attorney commenting on a big national case is a good example. An intellectual property attorney commenting on the legality of a hot new product is great for national cable exposure. A business transactional attorney discussing company structure in a challenging economy is might be a valuable expert to a business reporter.

Next: Write a couple of articles on the topics of interest you have identified. Make the articles concise and compelling (no more than 500 words). Include quotes from relevant sources and make sure you put your own byline on it. (A byline is your name and a sentence about you).

Third: Find reporters, editors or producers who cover your area of focus. Often you can look on the inside cover of a magazine or newspaper (called the masthead) and find which reporters are assigned to specific topic areas.

Send these reporters copies of your articles. It's probably a good idea to add them to your newsletter list (print newsletter only no unsolicited email).

Finally: Follow up with a phone call to the reporter. Make sure you can demonstrate the value of this story in 2 minutes or less. If the reporter declines to discuss it, ask them to keep your information on file for similar matters in the future.

Double Secret Tip: Research the reporter on LinkedIn. See you can find a common connection to introduce you. This may not help get your idea worked into a story but it will help you get the reporter's attention in the future.

Getting quoted in the media is a great strategy that should definitely be part of your legal marketing plan.

A well positioned law firm does not need to negotiate fees. Marketing helps you develop that position in the market. This is the reason why law firm marketing and fee negotiation go hand-in-hand. This video describes how you can make fee negotiation irrelevant for your law firm.

Ways to avoid fee negotiation include:

Package Your Services

Including other services in with the service the client requests is a great way to add value to your offering. For example: A client asks for a will and you include a durable power of attorney, a living will and a trust. The fee is higher but the value is greater. If other attorneys quote just the one document you can help the client see the value in (and the need for) completing all four.

Compare Your Fee to the Hourly Model

Hourly fees lend themselves to the commoditization of legal services. This is not good for the attorney or the client. When you quote your flat fee, you can compare it to what other hourly attorneys would charge.

If the matter would take you 10 hours and you would normally charge $350 per hour, your client would have paid $3,500. If you quote anything less than that, the client is getting a bargain.

Offer Unlimited Questions for a Brief Period of Time

Offer your client the opportunity to call you with questions on an unlimited basis for a fixed time period after the matter is completed. You can put a maximum on the total duration of the interaction but the client will perceive significant value in having access to you - even for a brief period of time.

Include an Annual Review

This is a great way to add value to your offering and develop a relationship with the client. Include an annual review in with you work. Each year you will review the work you did for the client and update it if necessary. You can also "throw in" a review of other documents or matters to determine if they need to be updated. If they do, you have some additional work you can do (and bill) for that client.

There are several ways to position your services in your law firm marketing. These will all help you avoid negotiating fees under any circumstances.

Many attorneys advertise where all of their competitors advertise. The use the telephone book, television, billboards, etc. They do this because they don't know any better. Selecting media for your attorney advertising is critical. If done right it can be a competitive advantage. This video explains why.

Here are some guidelines for selecting media for attorney advertising:

EVERYBODY is not your ideal client. Select a target market and find out what they read. What they listen to. What they watch on television. What websites they visit on the internet. Selecting a target market will make your media selection easier.

Go where your clients go. You want to select a form a media that your clients use. For example: If you target dentists as clients for your transactional practice, you should advertise in dental trade magazines.

Take a direct response approach. Make an offer in your advertising. Give away a free report or a free audio CD. Force people to identify themselves as prospects.

Never run an ineffective ad a second time. If something doesn't work, doing more of it will not get you better results. Never do something that doesn't work the same way a second time.

Attorney advertising can work if it is done the right way. Focus on your ideal client and this will help you determine which media to select.

Being a sole practitioner or the managing partner of a small law firm can be a lonely role. One of the ways to combat the loneliness is also a great way to commit yourself to lifetime learning for attorneys. This can be done by forming a small group of likeminded people dedicated to individual improvement. This is called a mastermind group. This video explains.

Mastermind groups have some specific advantages. They include:

Advanced Problem Solving (and Problem Prevention)

When you are part of a mastermind group you will be able to tap into the knowledge of each of the group members. Their experience is invaluable in helping you solve whatever issues may arise in your law firm.

New Ideas

Members of the group will share best practices with you. This means that they will provide you with information on what is working. If you know what works (and what doesn't) you can invest your time, energy and money the right way.

Support

Loneliness often comes with the job when you are a solo or small law firm attorney. This kind of group is a great way to interact with people who face similar challenges. Just knowing that you are not alone can be incredibly valuable.

Referrals and Competitive Intelligence

Although most mastermind groups are not referral clubs, business relationships sometimes develop. Often these relationships will be powerful because there is a high level of trust among the participants in the group.

Ultimately, a commitment to learning and development is essential to the success of any attorney. Get some people you trust together and form a mastermind group as soon as you can. It will be a valuable experience that pays big dividends, not just in money but in piece of mind.

One of the most powerful attorney marketing techniques in existence today has been around for a long time. Believe it or not, the hand written note can have as powerful an impact as your website, advertising or almost any other form of marketing. Many attorneys have a hard time finding a reason to send a hand written note to someone. This video helps you solve that problem.

The 10 reasons to send a hand written note include:

Thank you. Saying thank you for anything is always a great reason to write someone a note and drop it in the mail. People love to be thanked and you can never go wrong doing it.

Congratulations. Promotions. Engagements. Marriage. Doing a good job. Appearing in the media. There are dozens of reasons to congratulate someone. Find one and send a note.

Nice Seeing You. Bumping into someone at an event (or even on the street) is a great reason to send them a note.

Thinking of you. If you happened to remember something that happened a few years ago and you think of it fondly, let the people involved in that event know you are thinking of them.

Miss you. If a client stopped using your services, sending them a note saying you miss them is a powerful way to try to reestablish that relationship.

Let's Have Lunch. A note with an invitation to lunch is always well received. It is a great way to reach a hard-to-reach prospective client.

Let's Catch Up. Want someone to speak to someone? Write them a note telling them you'd love to catch up with them. This gives them a reason to call you.

Introduction. If you want to introduce yourself to someone, a hand written not is a great way to break the ice.

Announcement of something new. If you have a new office, new partner, new anything, send a hand written note to someone you have not spoken with in a while, inviting them to come over and see what's new.

No reason at all. Write a note to someone for no reason at all. Send them a handwritten note with a joke or an article you read. You will make their day and they will remember you.

There are probably dozens of additional reasons to spend five minutes writing a not to someone. It should be an important part of your attorney marketing efforts. If you do write just one note each day, you will deepen over 300 relationships each year. Those could be with clients, potential clients or referral sources. Pick up a pen and get started.

Most lawyers include networking as part of their legal marketing plan. This is a good idea but to do it effectively you need to have a strategy. This video touches on how to approach networking and make the most out of it.

Here are three ways to make networking pay off as part of your legal marketing plan:

Know Who Your Want to Meet

Don't just sign up for an event without knowing who is scheduled to attend. At a minimum, look at the people who are putting on the event or who are sponsoring the event and see if they are people you would like to meet.

The best case is to get a list of possible attendees from the host in advance. This way you can determine who you would like to meet. Once you know who you would like to meet, you should find a way to have a mutual friend (like the host or event sponsor) introduce you.

Be a Connector

Once you meet someone at a networking event, you should follow up with them by introducing them to someone who would be valuable to their business. Sending them a referral is an ideal way to immediately deepen the relationship. Absent the ability to refer business to your new business acquaintance, an introduction to a valuable referral source is the next best thing.

Keep in mind that it is always better to give something to someone before you ask them to do you a favor. Always try to pass something along of value first and then ask for a referral.

Follow up, Follow up, Follow up

Always add new people you meet at networking events to your newsletter list. (Ask permission first.) This is critically important. They cannot refer business to you if they don't remember you.

Networking is like any other legal marketing activity. It requires discipline and consistency but if it is done correctly it can deliver excellent results.

The toughest challenge for most law firms and attorneys is finding time for marketing. One of the best kept secrets is that time management is all about knowing when to say "NO". This video lists five things you should ALWAYS say "NO" to when you need to make more time for law firm marketing.

Always say no to:

Vendors

Meeting with a vendor is almost always a waste of time. If you need to purchase something for you law firm, have the vendor email you the proposal along with a listing of the features and benefits of the product. Ask your assistant to review at least three of these proposals. Then have your assistant ask the vendor for his/her best and final offer. Review everything with your assistant and make a decision.

Giving Free Advice

Never give legal advice for free to someone who can pay for it. Yes, you should do pro bono work for the indigent. But never, ever give away what you should charge for.

If you need a reality check go to the supermarket. Get a gallon of milk. Tell the cashier that you really need the milk for your kids and ask her if you can have it for free.

Social Appointments on Work Time

Save your social appointments for a day when you can enjoy them - your day off. Don't meet people socially during your work hours. Take an extra day off each week if you need to. But while you are at work, work.

All Administrative Tasks

You didn't go to law school to spend an hour changing the toner on the copier. You didn't go to law school to transcribe the tape of the deposition. Hire a great administrative assistant and delegate all administrative tasks to him/her.

Note: Do not delegate the signing of checks or the balancing of the checking account (operating and escrow). You must do these things. Delegate everything else.

Answering Phone Calls and Seeing Drop-ins

Never, ever see someone who drops in without an appointment. It positions you as a desperate attorney and it could be a huge waste of time.

You should also never answer an inbound phone call. It could be a waste of time (someone shopping around) and at best, if it is a client, you will not be prepared to discuss the case.

Some of these things may seem like a bit of a stretch to say "NO" to. Well that's probably part of the problem. Say "NO" to these time wasters and you can double your time for law firm marketing within the next 60 days.

Every legal marketing plan should contain some kind of community outreach activity. Giving back to your local community is not only good for business; it is the right thing to do. Here are the three ways you can give back.

You can give:

Time

Volunteering to take on a leadership role in a local community organization is a substantial time commitment. Every organization needs strong people to help it flourish. If you have time set aside for legal marketing, perhaps some of that time can be spent in a leadership role with a charitable organization.

Talent

Every nonprofit is happy to have the involvement of a volunteer attorney to review documents and contracts. Your education and talent is valuable and can be a terrific asset to a local community-based charitable organization.

Treasure

Everyone likes money. Charities are no different. If you find a cause that you are passionate about supporting, consider making a donation. You will feel good and it has been my experience that you are rewarded (either tangible or intangibility) at least ten times beyond what you have given.

You should never expect a quid pro quo exchange of contribution for business when donating to a charitable organization. Simply pick a cause that inspires you and give what you can. While not a direct legal marketing tactic, this act will definitely help your client attraction efforts.

One of the most important aspects of a law firm marketing plan is a newsletter. Some law firms send out a physical print newsletter while others send out and electronic newsletter. This video discusses the three key components of a law firm newsletter.

The three key components of your law firm newsletter are: Topic, Tone and Timing

Topic

Deciding what to write about is critical. Your topics really depend upon your audience. If you are writing for other lawyers (as referral sources) you can site precedent, judicial decisions etc. If you are writing for consumers, you should reveal a little about yourself and your firm and cover topics that will interest "everyman". If you are writing for business owners, you should include discussion of the potential business implications of the topic being discussed as well as economic issues. The key is to select topics based on your audience.

One factor to keep in mind is that people are nosey. They always want to know what is going on in the lives of other people. (This is the reason why gossip magazines are a huge business around the world.) The more you can share about yourself in your newsletter, the more interesting people will find it.

The most important thing about selecting topics is to NOT BE BORING. People will read your newsletter if they find it interesting. If you are boring, your newsletter will be thrown away.

Tone

Everybody hates when lawyers talk like lawyers. It sounds pompous and few people will admit when they don't understand you. Speak like a human being. Break things down into everyday language.

Beyond this general guidance, the tone of your newsletter should reflect your personality. Keep in mind the purpose of a newsletter is to develop a relationship with the client/potential client. You want him/her to feel as though they have had a conversation with you. For better or for worse, your personality is YOURS. Let your newsletter reflect the way you are in real life.

Timing

Most attorneys hate it when we discuss frequency of newsletter distribution. Simply put, the more frequently you communicate with your clients/prospective clients, the deeper your relationship with them will be. The minimum standard for communicating with your clients is a monthly newsletter. It is preferable if the monthly newsletter is sent in print via the postal service (mail it).

The best results I have seen come from attorneys who send out weekly electronic newsletters followed by a monthly printed newsletter. If the content is interesting, it will be read.

Your newsletter is the most valuable tool you have to develop your relationship with your clients. Make the best use of it by focusing on the proper topic, tone and timing.

This short and simple video highlights the need for consistency in law firm marketing. Consistency leads to predictability and reliability.

Clients want a sense of security in dealing with an attorney. They want to feel the attorney is good at his job. This sense of competence starts with the way you present yourself and your services. If you provide a newsletter every month, consistently, clients will feel that your law firm is stable. If you consistently arrive early for meetings, clients will consistently have the feeling you value your time and their time. If you consistently follow up your meetings with email recaps of the conversation, clients will think you are diligent.

If you do any of the above things inconsistently, you will destroy the goodwill you have developed with your clients.

Doing something is better than doing nothing. Doing something right is better than just doing something. Doing something right consistently is the key to success.

Clients want the sense of security and stability that comes with consistency. Your law firm marketing must be consistent with your image. This consistency builds loyalty.

Everyone wants more referrals. Very few attorneys incorporate a referral system into their legal marketing plan. There are five simple steps that will help you turn your former clients into sales people who promote your law firm.

The five steps that will help you get more referrals are:

Do great work. Your clients must have a terrific experience when they work with you. You must be a good lawyer and you must provide a great experience for your clients. If your clients always receive a return phone call and they are always treated with respect, you meet the standard of good client service. If you go above and beyond and really provide outstanding service, they will talk about it. That's when the great referrals happen.

Give referrals to others. People who give selflessly always receive more in return. This is Ralph Waldo Emerson's law of compensation. People who give referrals to others always receive more back. Sometimes it takes a while but it always happens.

Get your referral sources into the right mindset. Tell them a story that illustrates the qualities of a great client. Help them spot the issues your typical client possesses when he comes to you for help.

Ask for the referral. Make sure people know that your law practice is accepting new clients and you value referrals. In fact, make sure you say that referrals receive the highest priority.

Keep in touch. This is probably the most important of the referral rules. If you keep in touch with your clients and referral sources, they will naturally think of you when the need arises.

Implementing a referral system within your law firm marketing plan is not something that comes naturally. It requires work. Once your system is implemented, it will deliver referrals to you over and over again.

Law firm marketing is not just about finding new clients. A big focus of successful attorneys is on deepening relationships with existing clients. This is a critical component of any law firm marketing plan that must not be overlooked.

If you think about some of the rewarding relationships you have developed over the years, I'm sure you'll find they all have a few things in common. I have outlined five of those qualities and highlighted them in this video.

The five qualities of great client relationships are:

Understanding

You listen for what is behind the words. Find out what the true problems are and get to the root cause. Help the client fix the problem and not just the symptoms of the problem.

Inner Circle

You don't want to be "just another lawyer". You want to be a trusted advisor. To achieve this status you have to be bold when giving advice. Don't just state the obvious. Occasionally, you'll need to do more than you and the client originally expected.

Note: Very few people who charge by the hour ever achieve this status. The client just doesn't see them at that level. People who bill by the hour are usually viewed as employees, not as advisors.

Expertise

You must be different than everyone else. People must know you for something. A market niche is helpful in this differentiation process. The client must perceive you as an expert.

Sustained Relationship

You need to be around after the original work is done. Many attorneys focus on completing the initial assignment and then they move on. Your goal in getting the initial assignment is to develop the relationship.

This is true even in the consumer practices. Someone who has just been through a divorce will eventually need help with other legal matters. If you are that person's first call, you will be able to refer them to a colleague - who may just have a reciprocal referral for you some day.

External Orientation

It's not about you. In the client's eyes it never was. It was about solving the client's problem or improving the client's condition. Always put the client first.

Relationship development is law firm marketing. Some of the best work you can do from a marketing perspective is with people who already know you, like you and trust you.

Most advertising is terrible. Attorney advertising is notoriously bad. It is so bad, in fact, that every state has a regulatory body that oversees its implementation. This video provides us with a couple of examples of advertising that makes attorneys look bad and is probably not very effective.

As an alternative to this kind of ridiculous, ethically questionable advertising, I recommend attorneys take a proactive approach toward marketing. Here are a few ideas, specifically related to traffic infractions (as described in the video):

Volunteer in the Community

You can benefit greatly from becoming well known in the community. Volunteer for as many community organizations as possible. If you are known as someone who cares about the people in the area, you will be the first call for just about any traffic infraction. People trust others when they see them frequently. They distrust people who appear opportunistic.

Establish Relationships with Influential People

Attorneys who work with the public should volunteer to speak to small, local groups. Venues like Rotary Clubs, houses of worship and social organizations are excellent educational opportunities. They will help you find the influential people within the community. (They are also great ways to grow your mailing list.) Mailing your newsletter to people in the local community (particularly community leaders) is a great way to increase your referrals.

Market to Other Attorneys

Other attorneys love to have referral options when they are presented with a matter that is not in their practice area. This allows them to service the person who called and it establishes a referral relationship with another attorney. The marketing dollars the traffic attorneys in the video are spending can be better spent by marketing directly to attorneys who don't handle traffic tickets.

The approach highlighted in the video is unflattering to the legal profession. It is also expensive and its effectiveness is open to debate. Before you spend your money on this type of advertising, think of ways to reach the same audience with an ethical, cost effective approach.

The number one complaint from attorneys about law firm marketing is finding the time to get things done. Legal work is time consuming. If you already have a significant number of clients, fitting law firm marketing into your schedule can be difficult. One of the ways to take action on your law firm marketing plan is to use simultaneous execution. This video explains:

It is natural for us to want to break activities down into sequential steps. The trouble with thinking and acting in sequential order is that it takes three times longer than necessary to get things done. Here are a few examples:

E-News Letter Example

Let's say your law firm marketing plan calls for sending out a weekly email news update. You can write a long educational news article (1,500 words) and break it into three parts. You then take the three parts and divide them each up into weekly emails that go out to your readers over the three week period.

Event Example

Your law firm marketing plan calls for holding an educational event for your clients. Good event planning requires an invitation sequence (you send out multiple invitations over time), planning the content and a structured follow-up sequence after the event is over.

Most people would plan each of these independently and in sequential order - planning the invitation sequence first, the content second and the follow-up after the event last. You should plan each of these simultaneously - perhaps assigning each portion of the event to a different person. This allows you to get the marketing event planned three times as quick.

Blogging Example

Your law firm marketing plan requires you to post five new articles on your blog each week. Each blog post should be about 250 to 300 words long. You pick a topic for each day in a particular month and you write 900 words about that topic. You spread those blog posts over three weeks. In this particular month, Monday's post each week is about a specific topic, Tuesday's is about a different specific topic, etc.

Simultaneous execution is a great way to get things in your law firm marketing plan doen, especially if you don't have extra time.