Great Legal Marketing

Thursday 20 May 2010

HIP, HIP Hooray?

In case you didn't know. Home Information Packs are no more.

CLG Secretary of State Eric Pickles said: “HIPs are history. This action will encourage sellers back into the market and help the market as a whole, and the economy recover."

That's Government PR.

Time for some PR in your local media?

I'm sure your local paper/radio station wants a solicitor's comment...

Can you provide it? Of course you can...

And what about the legal consequences for your Estate Agent
partners? Let them know the score...

After all, with a HIPs revolution, they may be looking to change
other aspects of their business...

Like where they send their conveyancing...;-)

Wednesday 19 May 2010

Do You Continually Test Your Prices For Your Legal Services?

Monday 17 May 2010

Mend Your Law Firm Marketing Bridges

Whenever I talk to a solicitor, listen in on calls or visit a law firm I find small inconsistencies or glaring problems which, if corrected, would lead to a lot more business.

In most cases, the owners or Partners simply leave the selling up to individuals.

They give them far too little coaching.

Your business has opportunities to do better.

When was the last time you tried to identify them and make changes to capitalise on them?

Let’s take phone calls. A lot of initial prospects phone a law firm.

They want to get a feel for the person they might consult with.

They might be asking for prices.

They might be comparing firms.

But I know 90% of owners don’t review how this phone call pans out.

How the solicitor puts the prospect into a liking-trusting-buying frame of mind.

Or not.

If you don’t have a systematic way of improving the way in which your prospects are converted on the phone then you have broken bridges to be built.

Try recording your calls and listening in. (I can arrange this for you)

Identify things that are said that work. And things that don’t.

The script you develop over time will be hugely valuable and powerful in getting you more business.

Go from converting 30% of leads to 80% at a higher rate?

Maybe.

And what would that mean for your business?

I've got a simple script that I have used in the past.

I use this to make sure I get what I want from a call...

If you want it let me know...

PS I write for The Negotiator Magazine and here's a page

you might want to look at - it has a list of questions you should know

the answer to http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/sitedata/Misc/neg-3.jpg

To make it bigger you should be able to click it.

Wednesday 12 May 2010

See how Family-Law Dominate Google

Here's that marketing video I promised you.

Andrew Woolley probably wants to keep it secret.

http://screenr.com/ADC (shh...don't tell him).

What's Your Answer To "Why Should I Use You?"

I've prepared a little video about

how you can find your....

_______________

Uniqueness
_______________

And answer the propect's question

"Why Should I Buy From You?"

You probably have Tim Bishop
of bishopslaw.com to thank for this.

You see he tried to watch the original
video I did and told me it sucked! He was right!

So I redid it without the awful music.

Click this link for the new video

I learnt three things from his email...

It's ok to try something and for it not to work.

and...I'm building a community where people
can tell me I'm wrong.

And...I noticed Tim's emails contain
a PS with a cross-selling line...something
I am passionate about.

Because I get lots of "out of office" bounces from
members of GLM. And not one has had
a cross-selling PS.

And here endeth today's lesson ;-)

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Satisfied or Loyal Legal Clients - Whaddya Got?

One of my clients has 100% satisfaction as his

objective.

I've told him it's not good enough.

Why?

Because satisfaction is a given. But it's loyalty that counts.

What's the difference?

Well...my wife may be satisfied...but I prefer her to be loyal...
(Geddit?)

So what's the sign that your clients are loyal?
A referral is the signal that your client is loyal.

If the client is paying you, great.

But it is not full loyalty until they begin referring clients to you.

The test for loyalty is;

Will the client do business with you again, and will the client refer others to you?

If loyalty = getting referrals

doesn’t it make sense to encourage them?
PS you can also swipe and deploy this - click on it

http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/di/247916

Thursday 6 May 2010

Elder Law or Legal Services for Young Seniors?

I call them Young Seniors – baby boomers now in their 60’s.

They aren’t ready for classic “retirement”.

They aren’t expecting to live on reduced income.

They aren’t waiting to die.

In fact many of them are looking at remaining active through their hobbies, starting a new business (not tied to a desk or commute), and looking to live between two or three locations.

You won’t get far by calling your services “Services for the Elderly”.

Because they don’t consider themselves elderly.

Young Seniors is a better term.

So perhaps look at your services and give them a make-over.

You provide the legal advice on Equity Release schemes.

And a financial adviser provides the products. But you retain the client as your client. After all, they are more likely to trust a solicitor than a financial adviser.

And why not go to all the financial advisers you trust and ask them to let you market Wills and Trusts to their clients and you market their Financial Services to your clients?

Maybe you could do a short talk with them at the golf club, tennis club, sailing club and all the other places that wealthy “Young Seniors” hang out.

PS When I joined Reading Football Club (I’m the portkabin to Premier League kid) the first thing I did was start up the Young Royals. Note that I didn’t call it Junior Royals. Kids want to be older. Seniors want to be younger.

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Killer Articles Are Just a Checklist Away.

I'm going to take a look at what

Great Legal Marketing members

do well over a few newsletters.

Because as far as I know you are

well ahead of the curve on legal marketing.

First up is a new member, Data Protection And IP Lawyer Pritchetts Law.

I like the way she writes this article with a good biography,

good sub-headings (for people like

me that scan the page) and

a good top ten list.

Here's the article link.

http://www.legalrss.co.uk/pritchettslaw/threat-of-500k-data-protection-fines-from-6-april-2010-stephanie-pritchett-releases-top-10-data-protection-compliance-tips

Pritchetts Law is run by Stephanie

Pritchett.

Too often I see boring articles, written

in leaglease that you can't send out

to a client base or as a press release.

Remember it's about leveraging all your

marketing to get the maximum return.

Here's my expert guide to article writing - click here

Which means anything you write or record

should be able to go out to at least 5 different

channels...e.g. local paper/radio/client base/

chamber of commerce/partners.

Next up...

Andrew Woolley's http://www.family-lawfirm.co.uk

and how they get business nationwide...

And if you see any great examples out there

please let me know.

PS

If you don't have a Data Protection

and Privacy lawyer but your clients

want this service...get in touch with Stephanie.

(hint...a way for you to make more money without

doing the work).

Friday 30 April 2010

Can You Disrupt Legal Marketing Like Direct Line Insurance?

Time with your family and for yourself is important.

And it got me thinking this Bank Holiday week end.

One of your goals has to be to “make money whilst you sleep.”

Because everyone must look at ways of leveraging their expertise.

And not get paid just for "time".

And that's when you start dreaming of the ideal future.

Imagine if you could spend 4 days out of the office every week doing what you want to do.

Imagine knowing that your website is attracting thousands of visitors who then buy 100's online legal services from you every week.

Imagine the documents are filled in by the customers and get reviewed by your team of freelance solicitors who all work from home.

Oh, and all that compliance business is taken care of.

And you just come in to the office once a week to do manage it all.

Isn’t this how you’d like to set up your business if you could start from scratch?

I’ve been looking at the service from Direct Law and think this type of direct selling to customers could have the same disruptive effect that Direct Line had in the insurance industry.

Before Direct Line, you went to a local broker, who performed a service in finding you a good deal. Or so you thought. But along came Direct Line and did it...well...direct. And others followed.

There’s probably a lot to gain by local solicitors being the first to offer direct services in their geographic market. Because getting a Will from a local solicitor still means something.

And having a downsell i.e. lower cost Will service is a great offering to those who like a lower price and convenience and to those that just can’t afford a higher price.

Having a Will sold on line and then reviewed by a solicitor will also mean that you can increase the price of the pure “face to face” Will service. You can probably increase it enough to pay for the software to run the online Will services.

It’s early days.

But direct sales of online legal services has the potential to disrupt the legal market as much as Direct Line did.

And when you figure in back-end services (because you have a trust relationship with the customer, you may find these your most profitable clients.

You owe it to yourself to check these things out.

Check out this Illinois Divorce Lawyer in the US

It may take a couple of years to work all this to a level where you are working only one day a week. But it’s a great goal to have.

Solicitors Stop Competing on Price

“You can’t compare apples and oranges.”

I’m sure you’ve heard that expression, maybe from your grandma or your mother.

I’m going to tell you that in business it doesn’t pay to take her advice.

I hear from many salespeople that the product they are selling can’t compete on price with their competition.

That they can’t sell the product any cheaper because they’ll go out of business.

The reason that selling purely on price isn’t a long-term strategy is because you will always be beaten.

There’s always someone that will do a better deal to get in the door, will discount more heavily or offer a product of lower quality that your customers and prospects will accept.

Sure, people love superior quality, they just don’t always like to pay for it.

So your challenge is not to compete on the same terms as everyone else.

If you’re not winning the game, change the strategy.

Make it impossible for buyers to compare your product on price alone.

What action can you take?

Look at your product or service with fresh eyes.

Can you add value, bundle products together, extend warranties, offer guarantees, delivery and completion speed?

What can you offer as a free premium?

Hotels offer free breakfasts

online companies offer Fedex next day delivery

website designers offer unlimited re-design

storage firms offer free pick up of items from your home

newspapers offer guaranteed response adverts

Can you offer a checklist of things your product does that your competition doesn’t?

Invent an unfair advantage for your product.

Make it impossible for your competitors to keep up with you.

Use apples to oranges comparisons and eliminate price resistance.

Tuesday 27 April 2010

Who Wants To Know How Prospects Find Your Legal Website?

Volcanos and Employee Rights

Yes there's still a chance you can write that

article about "Should Employees be docked pay

if they didn't turn up to work during the Volcano

week".

Because employers still don't know what to do.

Take a look at these comments on the

Teacher's website

http://community.tes.co.uk/forums/t/402451.aspx?s_cid=16

So if you haven't sent out an email alert to your clients

with the basics (and cross selling) then why not do it

today? You can even do a search on Twitter to get ideas

for real time problems you can answer on your email.

Check this out

http://twitter.com/#search?q=employers%20volcano

Monday 26 April 2010

How Wright Hassall Won Thousands Of Pounds Of Business

Watch the video below

Friday 23 April 2010

Schedule Your Tweets While You Watch QI

If you are like me, Stephen Fry on QI may be your cup of tea.

I admit I don't watch every second. Because I'm Tweeting.

What I do is I set up scheduled Tweets on Twitter so I can

set and forget. And this is the video of the tool I use to

do this - click here for the solicitors Twitter scheduling tool video

It's free for law firms.

Remember what you can do with Twitter - solicitors Twitter idea

Wednesday 21 April 2010

The Death Of The Billable Hour For Solicitors

I've been searching the globe for law firms that don't do billable hours.

Why?

Because you can only work 40 hours a week.

Which means you are limited in terms of productivity.

Plus, you are limited because you are not leveraging true value.

I.e what value you are delivering to the client which may be much

more than the billable hour.

Subscriptions will flourish. Because knowing what you are paying out

each month makes it easy to budget. And knowing what you

are getting in each month makes it easy to manage.

Virtual law firms, where previously unhappy, experienced lawyers work

on a retainer/commission structure will bloom. Lower overheads

for the controlling company and more flexibility both sides.

Technology is what prospects/clients want to get in touch.

Why traipse into expensive real estate offices of a law firm

when you can just as well skype from home/office.

Law firms will continue to discover niche areas and work faster and flexibly

on smaller scales. These individuals or firms will not be restricted by

geography, but more their expert status and how well known they are.

Solicitors that survive and thrive will be those who learn how to become

Great Legal Marketing firms because technical quality is expected yet Legal

Service Quality is what is most in demand.

Here's the list of legal marketing greats;

http://www.family-lawfirm.co.uk/About-Us/default.aspx Woolley and Co - Based in Warwickshire.

Axiom Legal. In a nutshell they’ve used the professional consultant business model (and corresponding cost structure) and employee former big firm lawyers and experienced in-house counsel that charge half the rate.

www.strozfriedberg.com competent technology focused attorneys who would traditionally work for a large law firm but choose to utilize their skills by consulting

(www.rimonlaw.com). They are a virtual law firm based in San Francisco that use top-tier American expat lawyers.

Outside Counsel Solutions at http://outsidecounsel.net/about.aspx. Their US attorneys provide top-quality legal counsel to clients all over the USA, from offices in New York and Jerusalem, at highly discounted rates.

Tuesday 20 April 2010

Volcanos and Employment Law for Solicitor Marketing

Volcanos are in the news.

Thousands of employers want to know if they

can dock the pay of their staff that don't turn

up because of ash.

And thousands more probably want to know

if they can dock pay if staff don't turn up

because of accidents, trains and automobiles.

If you are an expert on employment law or

employee rights...

Have you written your USEFUL and VALUABLE
article for your website
and sent it out to your list of business clients via email?

And your local media? So you can do interviews?
Just like Berwins do on radio http://twitter.com/#search?q=volcano%20ash%20employment

Here's a story you can use for inspiration.

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/04/19/55280/volcano-update-employers-not-obliged-to-pay-stranded-staff-say.html

Write that article tonight instead of watching
TV.

Always use what's going on in the mind

of prospects to get yourself noticed and do your solicitor

"expert marketing".

It's called "Theatre of the Mind" and you can use a Twitter search
to find out in real time just as I did.

Just type in to Twitter search function the

subject you want to eavesdrop on.

Monday 19 April 2010

Continuity Revenue For Solicitors

Did you know there are only three ways to make more without slashing costs.

· More customers.

· Bigger orders. (Either price or volume).

· More frequent purchases.

I describe this system as Finding, Getting, Keeping and Growing customers.

You see marketing is not just about finding new clients.

It’s the whole system you put in place.

So I got to thinking about how you can get clients to purchase more frequently.

Because at the moment, most law firms only sell the one transaction.

And then, maybe, try and cross-sell. Often not successfully.

But what if you swiped Sky TV or BBC Magazines or Golf Club ideas and created a membership?

Perhaps a service where you are guaranteed an income from each client every year.

In return for a fabulous and wanted service?

100 clients paying £500 a year? Guaranteed? (£50k)

There’s plenty of expertise that you can draw on in your own law firm and outside it.

You can offer a service for personal clients. A “Roadmap for Tomorrow”.

This could be updated annually in conjunction with a financial adviser and accountant. (With you as lead).

And of course, serviced regularly.

It certainly beats billing by the hour.

And most of this type of work can be outsourced too.

I’ve got some ideas on this myself.

And will be working on it with at least one law firm.

But for now, if you’ve got any ideas of how you can get continuity revenue feel free to share them.

And if you are doing it already - that's great legal marketing.

Wednesday 14 April 2010

Solicitors Help Out Estate Agents For Referrals

Fancy doing Estate Agents a favour? And getting refferals

in return, (through reciprocation)?

More than half of Estate agents do not have any lone worker policies in place,

with no safety procedures in place for staff who carry out viewings

or valuations on their own. See the story here

If you advise on employment law then you can help agents.

You can develop this opportunity for your law firm.

Send out a Resource Report titled,

"Everything You Must Do By Law To Protect Estate Agency Staff

When Doing Lone Viewings."

Make an offer in the report to offer a bespoke service. Offer it at a high price.
Then also make an offer for a discounted price i.e. take off £100 for every
conveyancing job you receive in return.

Remember as solicitors you must identify the problem, agitate it and then solve it.

You know what the problem is, (I've told you), you use the report to agitate, you
offer a bespoke service to solve it and an offer to make it easy.

And you can do a solicitors video report like this instead!

Wednesday 7 April 2010

Law Gazette Gold - Solicitor Marketing Bites

Here are the contributions I've made to the Law Gazette

over the past few months.

You'll find it here

(I like the bit about receptionists

because it actually happened to me).

Don't forget to download it here

Friday 2 April 2010

Daily Inspiration Quotes From Twitter For Law Firms

Need a daily dose of inspiration

to get things done? It's on my Twitter account

http://twitter.com/boydbutler

(all set up using Social Oomph remember the video)

PS - have you checked your

Google Local categories?

Are you listed under all five

categories you should be?

And what are they you ask?

Solicitor, Services - Solicitors,

Solicitors, Legal Service Provider,

Conveyancing,

If any of the newsletters have been useful click here to find some

things I would really like for Easter ;-)

Thanks for stopping by. (There’s plenty to keep you going here!)

Thursday 25 March 2010

Do You Build Rapport Personally And For Your Law Firm?

Newsletters members got this first. (Hint hint).

Find today's newsletter article on Rapport for solicitors here

And maybe refresh with Do People Like You? That's here.

Monday 22 March 2010

You Can't Rely On Word Of Mouth Anymore.

Why You Must Be First Choice On The Internet If You Want To Grow Your Solicitor Business.

As if you didn’t know. People are going to find you online and buy your services.

If they can find your law firm, like you and trust you.

And it’s not just me that says it.

A YouGov poll of 2,266 people commissioned by online solicitor directory legallybetter.com revealed that personal recommendation remains by far the most favoured method of choosing a solicitor.

But the internet is playing an increasingly important role in assisting consumers to choose a law firm.

21% of those polled said they would use internet search

20% said they would use websites with independent consumer ratings of law firms’ quality of services.

10% said they would use specialist web directories of solicitors

4% said they would ask their contacts on social networking sites such as Facebook

The survey found that men were slightly more likely than women to use the internet to find a solicitor.

Personal recommendation still results in people checking you out online. So it’s a must to get a

Winning Internet Strategy! ‘Nuff said – time for action.

Sunday 21 March 2010

Be a Nosey Neighbour and Spy on your Law Firm Competitors.

It's a good idea to spy on your competitors.

They may have a good idea you can swipe. Or maybe they are doing

something that you can draw attention to and compare

your own services to, (favourably using compare and contrast).

Imagine having the spying automated for you.

And fast news coming back from the trenches of law firm marketing.

.

The quicker you know what other law firms are up to the

quicker you can react.

(And profit).

Here's a great weapon that helps

spy on your competition.

This service is www.ChangeDetection.com

It's not complicated.

Type in the web page address you want to monitor

and the email address to send alerts to.

For example a rival solicitors news page or

www.GreatLegalMarketing.co.uk

You can customise what changes you want reported

on the page versus only major changes etc.

You can review the changes that

were made because it highlights them.

I use this tool (along with Google Alerts) to help keep an

eye out for relevant changes online. (Including whether

my clients do their homework!)

Who do you want to spy on...?

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Be an Expert and Grab Celebrity Status For Your Law Firm

How are you getting on becoming the expert in your niche?

Are you writing, speaking, delivering expertise to an audience

that is turning you into a brand online and offline?

Here's a piece I wrote in Navigator Magazine.

This gets me in front of 200 law firms. If they like

what they read, they might visit this website.

And join in so that I can build a relationship with them.

Do you have a list of publications and groups

that you are systematically targetting so you can become

known as the expert in your field?

Remember it's about who knows you, not who you know.

How you can do it is in the article - get it here

Tuesday 16 March 2010

Sole Practioner Builds Business On Google

One of my clients has steadily been building his business

for conveyancing and HIPS via Google searches.

Read about what he recommends other sole practitioners

do in the latest "SOLO" Sole Practitioners magazine.

Here's a copy. (PS his article is on page 9).

Monday 15 March 2010

The "Little And Often" Referrals System

The "Little and Often" System.

Referrals are the best ways to grow any law firm.

You know this already.

So how do you boost

your referrals?

The answer is...

Create a system to make

consistent deposits into clients'

"emotional bank account."

The Emotional "Bank Account"

Stephen Covey, author of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,

created the concept of the

emotional bank account.

Everyone has an emotional bank account.

You have an emotional bank account.

I have an emotional bank account.

An emotional bank account is how somebody

feels about YOU.

It's similar to a real bank account.

you can you can make deposits or

withdrawals from it.

If I create a POSITIVE interaction with

you I am making a deposit to your

emotional bank account.

If I create NEGATIVE interactions with

you I am making a withdrawal from your

emotional bank account.

So Here's the BIG SECRET.

Create as many positive interactions

with your clients as you

can, as frequently as you can!

When you do this, people will be ready,

willing and happy to help whenever

you ask for it.

So here's what you need to do...

CREATE A SYSTEM that consistently makes

deposits into your clients

emotional bank account.

The Key Element of the Formula

When you're making consistent

deposits you need to do one more thing.

You need to REMIND people how important

referrals are to you and your business.

Reminding is a softer form of asking for

referrals.

When remind people about

about how important referrals are to

your business, they'll start sending

them to you...in a BIG way!

So here's the formula...

DEPOSIT -> DEPOSIT -> DEPOSIT -> REMIND

Make at least 3 deposits and then make 1

reminder withdrawal.

Geddit?

To remind yourself of how to ask for

a referral to get more clients for your law firm

go here

and to make deposits check out this.

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Get A Google Listing Right Or Suffer The Consequences

If a law firm doesn't monitor it's Google Local information

then there could be a problem. One of invisibility. Make

it a weekly task to check your Google Local listing.

Watch this video so your law firm doesn't disappear.

Here's the video.

Tuesday 9 March 2010

How Solicitors Can Siphon Off Traffic From You Tube

Friday 5 March 2010

Tesco have Estate Agents Panicking - Lawyers Next?

I am not an Estate agent but I do help some of them with marketing.

So the launch of ISold from Tesco is of interest.

And if affects your Estate Agent partners so you should keep up.

My question of any agent or Tesco is...

Why should I sell my property through you?

If you can answer this question and prove your answer

is the solution to my problem you get my business.

I think that Tesco will say.

"Tesco is the only Estate Agent

company that can market your property to 10 million

of our own customers, in store, online and in the

local newspapers for less than the price of your

household insurance and you only pay a success

fee that is 1/4 that of the average estate agent,

saving you enough to fund your holiday".

My Estate Agent answer may be;

"Butler's is the only agency where ready and willing buyers

PAY to receive information on properties exactly like yours

BEFORE they are advertised."

Buyers who have paid to get details fast will bid the price

up on my house and I will get a better price for my property and

it will sell fast - saving me two months of my life.

And that is invaluable.

it goes to the heart of how you are unique and express your difference.

Wednesday 3 March 2010

How Fast Or Free Is A Great Guarantee

I was with Estate Agents and solicitors yesterday.

After some really great brainstorming a promotion 20 years

old was dusted down and spruced up for 2010.

"Sell Your House in 10 Weeks Or Less

With Us Or You'll Pay Nothing When We Do".

It's a sellers market. So this is not going to cause too many problems

for the Estate Agent.

But offering a guarantee makes it much easier for a client

to make a decision about which agent to go to.

Because people are scared of making mistakes. Especially with

important and big things. Like selling a house.

Dominos make it with pizza, (delivered in 30

minutes or your money back).

What guarantees can you give that reverse the

risk for the buyer and make it easy to decide

to pick you?

Here's more on guarantees.

Friday 26 February 2010

I Watched Television About Solicitors Last Night.

I don't really watch much television.

(It doesn't teach me much)

But last night on Channel 4 I watched

Scams, Claims and Compensation Games.

It was about personal injury lawyers and their battles

with councils, razor manufactures and others.

One thing I picked up on was a law firm that

sponsored the appointment cards at the local
accident and emergency. A great legal marketing
idea.

This TV show was watch by millions.

It's will bring awareness

of personal injury claim possibilities

to many people.

So if you handle personal

injury claims, revamp an article ,

send it out to local/regional media owners and offer

yourself up as an expert.

And think about using tabloid style headlines

in your articles like Scams, Claims and Compensation

Games - because more people read tabloids.

Remember I mentioned getting partnerships

with car accident repair firms? Same idea as the

hospitals....(scroll down, you'll find it).

And when you are looking at converting prospects

to clients for personal injury claims think visual.

People want to know how much they might get.

Here's two ways you can show them.

Personal injury marketing pic one

Personal injury marketing pic two

Thursday 25 February 2010

Can You Make It Easy To Buy From You?

Andrews Estate Agents have gone and bundled their commission

HIP and Conveyancing partners into one easy payment.

It means that for 2% commission with the agent you get the whole package.

It makes it easy for the house seller to deal with one company. And

with a little bit of a twist, such as a "no fee if we don't sell" it could

be a winner for Andrews in a market where there is little differentiation.

Check out the all in one package.

Can you do this with your products and partners?

Tuesday 23 February 2010

Do You Have Loyal Clients Or Satisfied Clients?

A quick quiz question. Choose one right answer.

You know you are building loyalty with a client when:

A. Your client wants to know more about your service.

B. Your client refers other clients to you.

C. Your client places orders with you only.

D. Your client will always take your call.

The correct answer is right here

Tuesday 16 February 2010

Check Out My "How To Use Twitter For Lawyers Report

Get it right here. And a recap; What's your answer to the question,

"Why Should I Choose Your Law Firm?." Need help? Check this out.

Check Out My "How To Use Twitter For Lawyers Report

Get it right here. And a recap; What's your answer to the question,

"Why Should I Choose Your Law Firm?." Need help? Check this out.

Monday 15 February 2010

You Can Do The Same Videos For Free

Friday 12 February 2010

Solicitors Get Google Traffic Fast From Twitter

Thursday 11 February 2010

Google Buzz - Is It For Law Firms?

Google have launched another product called Buzz.

And you want to know about it. Why?

Because social media is not just about staying

in touch with friends.

It's a great way to share information. Which shows

your expertise. Which gets you prospects. More on this here.

Especially when Google offers recommended

Buzz's to people you may like to have as clients.

And Social media affects Search Engine Optimisation

(how you are found online).

I can't predict where Google Buzz will end up

or how you can use it - you'll find your own way.

But if you don't have a company gmail account

then you should probably get one so that you can

use Buzz when you want to/figured out how.

Buzz works through GMail - Google's email service.

A Gmail account for a law firm is something like; cluttoncox@gmail.com

(If you haven't got a personal gmail account you should

also get one in your name, along with Twitter, Skype and Facebook

in your name.)

You can see a video about Buzz right here

Feb 10th - Let Others Say It For You

Social Bookmarking

Tuesday 9 February 2010

How To Position Yourself As A Legal Expert.

Let me ask you,

“Has your doctor ever called you at lunchtime asking if you are ok and recommending treatment for flu?”

No, because Doctors don’t prospect.

They don’t waste their time trying to second

guess that you may need treatment on a

particular day and that what they have is the cure.

You go to the doctor when you are sick.

You go to the doctor because he’s the expert,

you trust him and you know where to find him

when you need him most.

“A flower does not chase the bee.”

Which is why you must download and read my

report on How to Position Yourself As a Legal Expert.

You can get it right here.

Tuesday 2 February 2010

Why Don't You Change Your Marketing?

How to prevent change...

We know that in times of crisis people cling to the most familiar.

But doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is said to be akin to madness.

So what’s stopping you making changes to the way your law firm does its marketing?

Limited Vision?

Many people are limiting their vision because they see the condition of themarket, the economy and legal reform as insurmountable. In other words, “I can’t change the system.”

Always Adapting?

There’s plenty of advice telling you what to do and how to be successful.

But what you find is that most of it says you have to do it within the structures and rules that already exist.

This just serves to retain the status quo.

Thinking about Yourself?

The more that you think about yourself the more you become pre-occupied.

No matter how much you change yourself you can’t change anything without the structure changing with you.

Being realistic?

Phrases such as “that’s just the way it is” perpetuate the structure you have.

You may be called naive or unrealistic.

These are phrases to dismiss what you want to do.

Too Rational?

It’s easy for those who profit to defend the past. And it’s easy to say that you can only work and make changes if you do so from “within the system.”

Rationalising your actions like this means that only limited changes will be “allowed” to happen.

Whether employed deliberately or not, these mechanisms are designed to prevent change.

And if change is what you want to grow your law firm, dismantling these mechanisms is important.

You must also avoid replacing them with similar barriers to change.

Maybe you'd like my thoughts on a similar subject? Co-operation not Competion?

Monday 1 February 2010

Shoosmiths Website You Can Swipe

Shoosmiths new website Access Legal is one to take a look at.

You should probably swipe and deploy most of the stuff they have done.

Although you may slim down the content for a smaller firm.

And don't forget you can put it in other formats like audio and video

or even diagrams.

(Here are my comments on video)

It'll be interesting to see how they promote this site.

Will it get to page one of the search engines for Conveyancing, Wills etc?

The great thing is that much of conveyancing/Wills is local based search.

And there is nothing stopping you from being number one locally.

So when you look at this site don't despair. Take the good ideas,

put them to use on your site and do everything you can to be

number one locally. Get the Google local for lawyers report here.

More marketing videos are here..

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Get Testimonials Agreed Before You Start Work

Sometimes it is difficult for lawyers to talk money in testimonials

but testimonials can demonstrate the solution to problems.

What is the result that has been achieved?

“I got my dream home because Sarah kicked ass!”

That’s a result testimonial because getting your dream

home is as important as a corporate client completing a

7 million pound deal.

You can get a testimonial agreed before you start working with someone.

Simply state,

”We’ve got a testimonial scheme in place where our legal clients give us a testimonial when we have completed the job. 90% of people are happy to give us a testimonial.

When we do your work successfully will that be ok with you to give us a testimonial for our law firm?"

90% of people say yes. And that's important.

Because Testimonials are Social Proof you are great.

USE THEM IN YOUR LEGAL MARKETING!

Wednesday 20 January 2010

The Power of Scarcity Can Sell Legal Services

People buy for emotional reasons.

And justify it by logic.

Psychology plays an important role in emotions.

The fear of missing out is a major factor in decision-making.

Check out this video to see how Ryanair and Russell Brunson use it.

You can get more on psychology and selling with my

Resource Report on Psychology for Selling right here

20th January - Legal Services Video Marketing

I send an email to newsletter subscribers and you want more!

Here's the 10 Tips For Great Video Marketing You ASKED FOR!

Tuesday 19 January 2010

How Video Gets You To Top On Google

Check out the Google search results for Solicitors in Reading.

Field Seymour Parkes are second in the organic listings (FREE)
and also on the Google Local search results. (Get my Google Resource Report For Legal Marketing Services here)

They have put videos on their site and this has helped them
increase website visits by 1000% Why?

Because one year ago they were not on page one of Google.
So they may as well not have existed for 70% of internet
searchers..

Billions of videos are being watched online. People find it easier
to watch and listen than to read. (Shame but true).

Are you getting yourself top Google rankings and more enquiries
from video marketing?

If not, you are leaving money out there
that others are taking from you.

TGI Friday

Here's an inspiring video as lawyers head into the week end..

Wednesday 13 January 2010

Law Firm Marketing Demands Guarantees

Todd Davis, the CEO of Lifelock,
plastered his social security number on the
top of his web site (it's 457-55-5462).

Journalists asked CEO's of other
"identity theft protection" firms to
give their social security numbers and they all said "no".

Lifelock gives you a $1 million insurance policy
against identity theft.

If your identity is ever stolen they'll spend
up to $1 million to correct it.

What guarantees can you give that makes it
a "no brainer" to buy your legal services?

Because in a cynical world, guarantees give people
the crutch they need "in case they make a mistake".

And a guarantee is another unique buying point for your law firm.

Monday 11 January 2010

Law Firms Waste Money On Adverts

What are the greatest adverts you’ve ever seen?

The best adverts I’ve see are those for
“old people” in the Sunday papers.

For slippers, trousers and hearing aids.
With a picture, lots of detail and a coupon.

You may hate them. Or maybe not notice them.

But you should study them.

Why?

Because the fact they appear week after
week means that they are successful.

Because they are direct response
ads that make money.

“I cannot judge good advertising; it judges me.”

If the ad works—brings in orders, donations or
inquiries at the budgeted return on investment...
it's a good ad. If not, it’s bad..

I hate ads whose return on investment
can’t be measured.

Lots of solicitor firms are wasting their money.

If your law firms doesn't want to waste money use my

“Write an advert for your law firm that kicks butt guide”.

And remember when you do get an ad that works,
make sure that your phone lines are
ready for the calls!

Friday 1 January 2010

Financial Facts Tell The Story

Lots of solicitors are being made redundant.

And many law firms are closing.

And it comes as a surprise to many people
that work in these firms.

But it should not be a surprise.

Because all staff should know exactly
how their law firm is performing. And if
they don't they must find out.

As you live with the consequences
of decisions it’s essential that you
help make them.

And if you work for a law firm you must know
the basic financial facts if you are to have
any influence on the business.

Management that informs staff, educates
them and allows them to influence their
own futures is good management.

If you are the Parnter in charge, provide your staff
with the answers to questions.

As staff, ask these questions. (Cut and paste).

Do we have an annual business plan?
Can we have a copy?
How many clients do we have this year?
How does it compare to the last 3 years?
How much income from fees are we forecasting this year?
How does this compare to last year?
How much income in total is forecast for this year?
Is there a monthly accounts document that can be shared with a snapshot of how we are doing each month?
What will our profit before tax be for the year?
How are any profits this year going to be used?
How have we been affected by the recession?
What areas are expected to expand and contract over the next two years?
What plans are in place to allow this to happen effectively?
Who is responsible for cost control?
What areas have been identified where we can save money?
How are salary increases worked out?
What are our forecasted income, costs and pre-tax profit for the 2010/11?
What is our average income per client in each department that comes to our law firm? (number of years x £ per year)
What are the main threats to our profitability?
What are the main opportunities for growing our profitability?

This is the start of open-management.

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