Category: Legal Marketing

How a Lawyer can Start a Successful LinkedIn Group (Part 1 of 3)

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Enter LinkedIn Groups.

I recently worked with an attorney who had identified a missing opportunity in his market. He was a member of real estate-related LinkedIn Groups, and he actively participated in these groups, but the groups weren’t focused on his local market. Knowing that his hometown had a thriving real estate community and its own specific issues (it’s a well-known tourist destination), he started planning his own group for local real estate professionals. With careful planning and maintenance, he saw his group grow to over 150 professionals in just 30 days, and he even picked up a new matter from a group member during this time. Cha-ching – SUCCESS!

So what did this attorney do to lay the foundation for a thriving group?

1. Research

This attorney researched the current LinkedIn groups for real estate as well as professionals of all industries within his local market. He made sure that his group would fill a void in the market, and he also reviewed the membership of other groups to confirm that his target audience was participating in these other LinkedIn groups – hoping to eventually lure them to his by providing a valuable network.

2. Planning

He understood that he would need to invite his own contacts to get the group up and running. Months before launching the group, he began building and categorizing his LinkedIn contacts by region and industry. He set aside time to do this every day for several months so he would have the quantity of contacts needed to start the group as well as having earmarked the appropriate contacts to invite. Put simply, he identified his target audience.

3. Participation

You know the saying, you need to walk before you can run? It’s true for starting a LinkedIn Group, too. Our attorney set aside an hour each Friday to post articles to groups he had already joined, as well as to his entire network. He also participated in discussions within these groups. This helped him to get used to the ongoing commitment required of managing a LinkedIn group, and it also educated him as to what works best in terms of providing quality content that spurs group conversations.

4. Enthusiasm

As I worked with the attorney on these initial steps, he reminded me of something that we all need to remember. Active, ongoing participation in anything – whether for business or pleasure – requires that you enjoy it. If you dread logging in to LinkedIn, then starting a group isn’t for you. But if you think this may start to “get a little bit fun,” as he did, then you know you are on the right path.

Article by:

Aileen M. Hinsch

Of:

Knapp Marketing

February 17, 19, 27 – Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum: A Catalyst for Stepping into Your Power

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum hosted by KLA Marketing Associates.

1.24.14

When

For your convenience, 3 dates and times:

February 17 – Late Afternoon

Feburary 19 – Morning

Februrary 27 – Late afternoon

Where

Philadelphia / New Jersey / Virtual

Join us – a safe, intimate forum where Women in the Law “lean in” and access much-needed resources to develop a prosperous and rewarding practice. Make 2014 the year to take control of your career. 
Join for our popular Forum to:
  • Learn critical rainmaking techniques
  • Brainstorm opportunities
  • Dig deep into your business challenges
  • Tap skills/experience of others  

Four 2-hour sessions to change the

way you do business – and win business!

Special Pricing: $499* for all 4 sessions – – and more. Register now to claim your seat that will change the way you do business!

About the Trainer/Coach
Kimberly Alford Rice, Principal and Chief Strategist of KLA Marketing Associates, has successfully trained hundreds of lawyers to build and grow a prosperous book of business over the course of her 20+ year legal services advisory practice. She deeply understands how to engage the organizational and human factors that drive successful implementation and change through her work. To learn more, check out KLA Marketing Associates website.

Only one week until the first session! Register today for Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum hosted by KLA Marketing Associates.

1.24.14

When

For your convenience, 3 dates and times:

February 17 – Late Afternoon

Feburary 19 – Morning

Februrary 27 – Late afternoon

Where

Philadelphia / New Jersey / Virtual

Join us – a safe, intimate forum where Women in the Law “lean in” and access much-needed resources to develop a prosperous and rewarding practice. Make 2014 the year to take control of your career. 
Join for our popular Forum to:
  • Learn critical rainmaking techniques
  • Brainstorm opportunities
  • Dig deep into your business challenges
  • Tap skills/experience of others  

Four 2-hour sessions to change the

way you do business – and win business!

Special Pricing: $499* for all 4 sessions – – and more. Register now to claim your seat that will change the way you do business!

About the Trainer/Coach
Kimberly Alford Rice, Principal and Chief Strategist of KLA Marketing Associates, has successfully trained hundreds of lawyers to build and grow a prosperous book of business over the course of her 20+ year legal services advisory practice. She deeply understands how to engage the organizational and human factors that drive successful implementation and change through her work. To learn more, check out KLA Marketing Associates website.

Google Sticks a Fork in Guest Blogging for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

The Rainmaker Institute mini logo (1)

Last month, Google’s Matt Cutts, who heads up the search engine giant’s webspam team, wrote this on the Google Webmaster blog:

So stick a fork in it: guest blogging is done; it’s just gotten too spammy. In general I wouldn’t recommend accepting a guest blog post unless you are willing to vouch for someone personally or know them well. Likewise, I wouldn’t recommend relying on guest posting, guest blogging sites, or guest blogging SEO as a link building strategy.

So should you halt your guest blogging efforts?  Well, in a word, no.  Because SEO is not the only reason you guest blog – either on other blogs, or hosting guests on your own blog.  Which is why Cutts later updated his original post to say this:

Google SEO Search Engine Optimization

It seems like most people are getting the spirit of what I was trying to say, but I’ll add a bit more context. I’m not trying to throw the baby out with the bath water. There are still many good reasons to do some guest blogging (exposure, branding, increased reach, community, etc.). Those reasons existed way before Google and they’ll continue into the future.

Guest blogging used to be ONE way to develop quality links back to your own website or blog. Unfortunately, those trying to game the system with low quality content have made it – as Cutts says – a spammy practice.  Those that use guest blogging as their sole source of link building will now be out of luck and may even be penalized.

But I would still recommend guest blogging as a way for attorneys to spread their authority to other audiences that may not have otherwise been engaged by your own blog or website.  It can also still be a great way for you to improve the visibility of your firm and, when shared on social media, can help your SEO efforts from that standpoint.

As this blog post and other recent developments at Google demonstrate, you can’t go wrong when it comes to SEO if you pay attention to these 3 things:

1.  Designing a website that provides users with a superb experience – from the way they navigate the site to the information they find there.

2.  Developing high quality, relevant content for your area of practice that people want to read to help them solve the problems they would hire you for, populated with relevant keywords.

3.  Being an active participant on social media networks that your prospects and clients frequent, sharing all that great content you’ve developed for your website and your blog and engaging online with your target market.

Article by:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

February 17, 19, 27 – Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum: A Catalyst for Stepping into Your Power

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum hosted by KLA Marketing Associates.

1.24.14

When

For your convenience, 3 dates and times:

February 17 – Late Afternoon

Feburary 19 – Morning

Februrary 27 – Late afternoon

Where

Philadelphia / New Jersey / Virtual

Join us – a safe, intimate forum where Women in the Law “lean in” and access much-needed resources to develop a prosperous and rewarding practice. Make 2014 the year to take control of your career. 
Join for our popular Forum to:
  • Learn critical rainmaking techniques
  • Brainstorm opportunities
  • Dig deep into your business challenges
  • Tap skills/experience of others  

Four 2-hour sessions to change the

way you do business – and win business!

Special Pricing: $499* for all 4 sessions – – and more. Register now to claim your seat that will change the way you do business!

About the Trainer/Coach
Kimberly Alford Rice, Principal and Chief Strategist of KLA Marketing Associates, has successfully trained hundreds of lawyers to build and grow a prosperous book of business over the course of her 20+ year legal services advisory practice. She deeply understands how to engage the organizational and human factors that drive successful implementation and change through her work. To learn more, check out KLA Marketing Associates website.

February 17, 19, 27 – Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum: A Catalyst for Stepping into Your Power

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum hosted by KLA Marketing Associates.

1.24.14

 

When

For your convenience, 3 dates and times:

February 17 – Late Afternoon

Feburary 19 – Morning

Februrary 27 – Late afternoon

Where

Philadelphia / New Jersey / Virtual

Join us – a safe, intimate forum where Women in the Law “lean in” and access much-needed resources to develop a prosperous and rewarding practice. Make 2014 the year to take control of your career. 
Join for our popular Forum to:
  • Learn critical rainmaking techniques
  • Brainstorm opportunities
  • Dig deep into your business challenges
  • Tap skills/experience of others  

Four 2-hour sessions to change the

way you do business – and win business!

Special Pricing: $499* for all 4 sessions – – and more. Register now to claim your seat that will change the way you do business!

About the Trainer/Coach
Kimberly Alford Rice, Principal and Chief Strategist of KLA Marketing Associates, has successfully trained hundreds of lawyers to build and grow a prosperous book of business over the course of her 20+ year legal services advisory practice. She deeply understands how to engage the organizational and human factors that drive successful implementation and change through her work. To learn more, check out KLA Marketing Associates website.

 

To Win at Legal Marketing, Know Who Is On The Other Side of the Ball

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Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday!  You know, I believe that legal marketing is as competitive as any sport.  A well-prepared coach will know the facts about his opponent.  A well-prepared trial attorney will not only study their case, but also their opponent.

Marketing your law firm consists of quite a bit of information gathering; learning about top competitors is one of the first steps.

Below is a list of ideas you can use to become acquainted with your competitors to gain an important edge in your legal marketing efforts:

  • Review and analyze their website and social media profiles. You will be surprised what a law firm will reveal on their website and social networks.  Be sure to look up their individual attorneys on LinkedIn and other social networks.
  • Enlist a friend’s help to interview their associates as a potential client. Be prepared with a list of questions before they place the actual call. Choose questions that will reveal important data about the competition. A simple telephone call can produce a wealth of information about the competition’s law firm marketing techniques.
  • Ask them to mail you some information about their law firm. The type of legal marketing material they send out will speak volumes about who they are and how they conduct business.
  • Sign-up for their e-newsletter (using your personal email address, of course). 
  • Use Google to further bolster your law marketing strategic planning. Type in the keywords and phrases someone would use to find your practice area. For example, “LA personal injury lawyer” or “Real Estate Attorney Chicago” or “Estate Planning Lawyer in Manhattan”.  Study the top 10 websites that come up. These are your most aggressive online competitors because they didn’t get there by mistake.
  • Search to see how ‘visible’ they are.  Create a Google Alert for each of your competitors so you can receive news feeds about them as they happen.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and to investigate as much as possible. Your successful competitors are no doubt learning about you too if they are using the best legal marketing techniques.

Article by:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

Marketing For Attorneys; The Right Way To Do It

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When it comes to marketing, if an attorney does it at all, they’re usually doing it wrong. Most attorneys focus on getting the clients who are ready to sign a contract. Of course, it’s a logical practice. Why would you want to talk to people who don’t currently need a lawyer? It sounds like a waste of time, but it’s actually one of the best uses of your time.

Let me explain; When someone already knows they want a lawyer, they’re already sorting through all of the lawyers in the area. You’re just another face in the crowd and it’s easy to get lost in a sea of promises.

“We want to help you.”
“Money for your pain.”
“You don’t pay us until they pay you.”

Even if you’re more qualified for the job, you know and I know that doesn’t ever guarantee that you will get the case. What you need to do is make an effort to stand out. How do you stand out? By doing something different.

Marketing to the people who are in phase one of the process (someone who has just gotten into an accident or someone who is simply considering filing for bankruptcy) will give you an advantage.

As an example, think of when you’re awake late at night and you’re not really hungry but then a commercial for a local restaurant comes on and suddenly, you’re craving their special.

If you talk to people before they even know they need a lawyer, you’re at the front of their minds when they come to the decision that they do need one.

There are many simple ways to make sure those people know your name before anyone elses and one of those ways is to produce videos.
A lot of attorneys won’t put forth the effort that it takes to make this kind of marketing strategy work. If you really think about it, that’s a great thing.

If you are willing to put in the effort, you are one of the very few who has this specific marketing technique and – when done correctly – it can bring in high volumes of potential cases.

Article by:

Ben Glass

Of:

Great Legal Marketing, Inc.

Build Better Relationships in 2014

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While social media, mobile advertising, content creation and blogs are important in your new year’s marketing efforts, building strong relationships with clients and potential clients is still your most important marketing tactic. Don’t neglect this foundation of your marketing efforts. Make relationship building an integral part of your 2014 marketing plan.

build better relationships in 2014

How do you go about building better relationships with clients and potential clients? The key is to communicate and communicate often! But all forms of communication are not equal. Let’s break down the ideal process for building a communication strategy that will lead to stronger relationships with clients and potential clients.

Understand Your Ideal Client:

First and foremost – know who you are targeting. Spend some time looking at your client list. Are there common attributes? What types of cases are you looking for? What types of information are important to potential clients? Or is there a practice area you are looking to expand or start? Now think about what types of information you provide or what types of information would be valuable for each type of client. Today’s consumers are driven by information. Providing highly personalized content directly to the right audience will give your firm the opportunity for direct engagement with potential clients.

How Will You Communicate?

Technological advances mean you have multiple ways to communicate to your audience? Ideally you should leverage more than one to get your message heard. Social media, blogging, and email marketing form a trifecta that attorneys can use to distribute content without having to develop individual messaging for each. This trifecta will allow you to reach not only new prospects (through social media and blogging) but current clients and contacts that are also an important marketing opportunity that shouldn’t be overlooked. Clients may have need or may have contacts within their sphere of influence that have need for legal representation.

If you haven’t already, develop an email marketing list of all your contacts, clients, former clients and referral sources. This will be the basis of the marketing list you will use for email communications. Simultaneously, create a blog (wordpress is fairly easy) and sign up for Twitter and LinkedIn.

Develop An Editorial Calendar:

Now that you understand what your potential clients are looking for and how you will communicate, develop a content list of what you want to write and a schedule (at least 3 months out, but a full 12 months would be even better) for when you will send each article. Once you have your topics laid out you will have a schedule that will be easier for you to maintain moving forward.

Note that more content does not necessarily mean its better! Some attorneys we work with have avoided developing a content strategy primarily because of time constraints – assuming that every article needs to be a treatise on the law. This isn’t the case. You can create compelling content in 1500 words or less that is easily digestible for the average reader. Ideally your content should be informative and conversational, engaging readers and provoking them to want to find out more information or share what they have read with others. Attorneys – this means skip the legalese as much as possible and write content that is easy to understand for the lay person.

Once you have written the article it can be emailed to your contacts, posted to your blog and shared on Twitter and LinkedIn. This allows you to get maximum exposure for every article you write.

Staying in regular contact with your clients and potential clients by providing them with valuable information builds trust, stronger relationships and loyalty.

When settling into 2014 and preparing your marketing strategy, it is important to understand what your potential client’s needs are. Building relationships and providing informative, engaging content is the key to continued success.

Article by:

Anush Alexander

Of:

RW Lynch Company, Inc.

Online Legal Marketing Guidelines for 2014

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Lawyers who are exceptionally good at the business of law understand that it is their reputation that is the engine of business development. This is not a novel concept. Provide exceptional representation and client service, people speak highly of you and more people hire you.

In 2014, while this general formula remains largely unchanged, the means by which lawyers can impress clients and the ways in which people communicate the value of a lawyer’s service has evolved significantly. And much of this evolution can be attributed to the internet and related online technologies.

Unfortunately, in adopting online legal marketing strategies and techniques, many lawyers have lost sight of the value of a strong professional reputation built on relationships. Ironically, as social networks and search technologies mature, it will be reputations and relationships that matter most online. Here are some guidelines to help you shape your online legal marketing campaigns.

Set Goals

If you take anything with you from this article, take this: Set specific, tangible and achievable goals for your online legal marketing activities. But not just any goals, goals that have meaning to the business of your law practice. Some examples might be:

  • Increase the number of clients you can source to organic search traffic.
  • Increase the percentage of visitors to your website or blog that complete an objective that will help you earn more meaningful attention.
  • Increase the instances of professional, or where permissible, client endorsements of your services online.

Make these goals specific and realistic. Use real numbers. Create systems to measure and analyze your progress. If you’re working with vendors or consultants, hold them to meeting these goals. Do more of what’s working for you and less of what’s not.

Update Your Online Assets

People expect to be able to find information about you online. And what they find is likely to have more of an impact upon their impression of your than you probably think.

While your website might not get you hired or fired on its own (based on what I’ve seen in the wild, this is becoming more probable), it is sure to contribute to the visitor’s perception of you and your practice.

Web technologies are rapidly evolving. Much of what was state-of-the-art online only a few years ago, is obsolete today. Outdated online assets can be a significant liability to business development. Do you walk into new client meetings with apparel, accessories and technologies from 1950 (perhaps a bad choice of year for some of you)? What message would that send to your potential client? The same is true for your online assets. In 2014, your web assets must:

  • Be built on technologically sound search engine-friendly architectures.
  • Load very quickly (in around a second)
  • Have designs that contribute to the user’s experience and are easy to read, use and interact with on a variety of devices (desktops, tablets and smartphones, responsive design).
  • Resonate with the problems, challenges and issues of your target audience.
  • Demonstrate why you are uniquely positioned to help them solve these problems.
  • Motivate online engagement in the form of comments, subscribers, links, social endorsements and shares.

You probably won’t know when your online assets cost you a new client. It’s unlikely that prospective clients will call or email you to tell you that your site is a joke (although they might if you provide them an avenue for feedback). But if you are getting visitors who don’t engage your pages, bounce off of them, or quickly exit, you might ask yourself whether it has anything to do with the quality of your online assets.

From Self-Promotional to Useful

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot of noise online. Most of it is made by people and businesses talking about how great they are. And the legal profession is no exception. Visit any ten law firm websites, blogs or Facebook pages and you’ll be exhausted by all the “look at me” marketing.

Now put yourself in the position of someone who is looking for information about a legal issue or looking for more information about a specific lawyer. Do you really think they’re persuaded by that pop-up video of a lawyer talking about how much experience they have and how hard they fight? They’re not impressed. And they’re certainly not going to share that cheesy marketing with their friends (unless, of course, it’s in jest).

Instead of building a web presence that feels like a television commercial, focus your efforts on the “stuff” that enhances your professional reputation and helps to create, nurture and solidify relationships. Ask yourself:

  • Who is my target audience online? What makes these people tick?
  • What are they looking for online and what do they like to do?
  • What are they passionate about? What are they afraid of?
  • How can I supply their demand for information in a way that demonstrates my knowledge, skill and experience in addressing their issues?

The internet doesn’t need another article about what to do after a car accident. What it does need is real leadership from people who know what they’re talking about and can be trusted. And it is this approach to online legal marketing that impresses clients, earns meaningful attention, motivates action and earns new clients. Just like it did before there was an internet.

Article by:

Gyi Tsakalakis

Of:

AttorneySync