Integrity Marketing

Social Media for Solo's and Small Law Firms

 

Why use social media in your estate planning or elder law marketing?

Surprisingly, I still run across attorneys who balk at the concept of using social media -- including blogs -- in their practice development plans. Here are some of the most common excuses that I hear:

1. It is unprofessional. ("it" as the generic reference for any type of social media, whether Facebook, Twitter or a law firm blog)
2. I don't want to spend any money on social media.
3. I don't want to spend my time blogging or Tweeting.
4. My clients aren't on Facebook, don't read blogs, etc.
5. I can't figure out how to use all that stuff.
6. And etcetera.

I think all of these excuses boil down to one reasonable premise -- if you do not see the value in something, you simply are not going to buy it or use it.

So -- just how valuable is social media, including your law firm blog, to your practice development?

Don't take my word for it. You know what I think.

Take a look at the findings of the recently-released 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, by Michael Stelzner, founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com.  Stelzner surveyed more than 3,300 marketers, nearly half of whom were either self-employed or small business owners. 

The top benefits of social media marketing:
-- The number-one advantage of social media marketing is generating more business exposure, as indicated by 88% of marketers.
-- Increased traffic (72%) and
-- Improved search rankings (62%).

As a solo practitioner or small firm in the estate planning or elder law market, you need every competitive advantage you can get. If you want more exposure for your firm (aka more "buzz"), more traffic to your website, and better rank with the search engines -- social media is your friend.

The Complex (and Frustrating) Game of Website SEO

We pride ourselves on getting our clients’ websites ranked on Google’s page one or two for most of their key search terms. But sometimes we run into an obstacle course that keeps us scrambling for days or even weeks at a time.

I’m sure it’s difficult for our attorney clients to understand – or even believe – that Google is a fickle ally in our website marketing efforts. Really, she changes her mind on a dime, lets no one know she has changed her mind, and then imposes her changes without mercy, taking no prisoners. A website that ranked on Page One last week can drop to oblivion this week.

When that happens, I suspect some of our clients think we have fallen asleep at the wheel. When they ask us what happened, and we say we honestly don’t know … well, I suppose they are less than re-assured. But it’s the truth. We don’t know what happened.

Here’s what we do know:

1.       Constant monitoring of our Essentials’ clients web rankings gives us an advantage; and

2.       Though we may never know exactly “what happened,” we WILL work to fix it!

Whenever one of our client’s websites drops in the Google ranking, I used to question my own skill. Being somewhat of a perfectionist myself, I would get frustrated at my own ineptitude. But, as my experience with Google grows, I realize it’s all just part of the process.

I spoke on Tuesday with one of the country’s leading SEO consultants, one of a select handful of professionals who actually gets an audience with the folks who pull the strings at Google. I gladly paid nearly a week’s salary for a few moments of his time. I had an SEO problem that I really needed to fix, and he seemed like the only person left on the planet with whom I had not yet consulted. I hoped he would have pearls of wisdom for the lowly likes of me.

He did not.

Talking to him sounded a lot like talking to myself.  He used phrases like, “Well, we could try this and see what happens.” Or, “Google’s documentation says this, but that is not what happens in real life.” Or, “I know this works now, and we can try it, but I honestly can’t say it will still work in two or three weeks, they are changing this stuff every day.”

Don’t get me wrong, the guru gave me some great ideas. But they were just that, ideas. We will try them and we won’t know for several weeks whether they work. And we will only know then if we keep monitoring for results.

When we talk about the ongoing cost of search engine optimization, some prospective clients start shaking their heads. They think we are running a scam-game to rip them off. I suppose they think that search engine optimization is some magic trick, and all we really have to do is twitch our noses like Samantha on Bewitched  and – Poof! – their website ranks at the top of Google’s Page One, where it will remain forever. And should it fall a few places in the rankings, they think we must have twitched our noses improperly.

Thankfully, not everyone thinks this. I was speaking last week with one of our Essentials clients whose website just took a nose dive. Bracing myself for the worst, I was a bit taken aback by his attitude.

“Jennifer, I am not upset,” he said. “I know I have a great website, and I know I have a great team. I also know that Google pulls these shenanigans all the time, which is why I’m just relieved to know I’ve got you on my team!”

Buoyed by his confidence, our team is still working to retrieve his website from Google’s State of Oblivion. Sometimes it’s a long road back.  On the other hand, sometimes it’s a very short road back and with just a few changes, the site reappears on Page One or Two.

Either way, we are in this together. And we WILL get back.

Avoid These Top Five Business Blogging Mistakes

Blogging can be dangerous to your (business) health!

Why? Because you don't have an editor.

My husband, David, grew up professionally in the newspaper business. He was a managing editor and publisher for one of New England's largest and most frequently honored publishing companies. Three of his bosses were Pulitzer Prize winners.

He relates that editorial writing was not one of his favorite responsibilities. The pressure of writing a daily or weekly column can wear on a person....not unlike the pressure of writing frequently for your business blog. (I suppose it's fair to note that with circulation numbers in the mid six figures, and three Pulitzer Prize winners critiquing his work, David's pressure might have been a bit more intense!)

According to David, the biggest risk of editorial writing is that your words will "go public" without the benefit of an editor. "Even if you have an editor," he says, "if you are the publisher, no one has the nerve to criticize you. And, without an editor, it is entirely possible to publish a column about your hemorrhoid surgery." David chuckles when he tells this story which, fortunately is not something he did, but rather something he read in a competitor's newspaper. He always adds his commentary, "And NOBODY wants to read that!"

When you are blogging for your estate planning or elder law firm, remember, there are some things that NOBODY WANTS TO READ ... and other things that just don't fit into the context of a business discussion. Here is my short-list of the top five topics you should avoid in your business blog (this list also applies to in-person networking events where you hope to initiate new business relationships).

1. How Terrible Business is Right Now (unless you are talking about business in general, and able to offer up some great ideas / solutions). Your business blog is not the place to complain about your empty appointment book!
2. Don't Discuss Clients (or Cases) By Name (without permission). Some attorneys have gotten into real trouble complaining about judges by name, or in an identifiable manner. Story telling can be a great marketing tool, but use it carefully.
3. Don't Treat Your Blog Like a Press Center. Your blog is not the place to post press releases, or "puff" pieces. Think of your business blog as a professional conversation you might have at a very important, exclusive social mixer ... and you don't want to be the guy in the loud plaid jacket trying to sell vinyl siding to everyone he meets.
4. Don't Make the Reader Uncomfortable With Too Much Personal Information. This relates to the hemorrhoid surgery story ... and other personal details that the business world just does not want to know. Your toddler's first words could be inspiration for a blog post, but not her first poo-poo on the potty!
5. Don't Talk Politics or Religion. Okay, your mother told you this, right? If not, I'm telling you now. Your business blog is not a soap box. Please do not preach from it, predict the impending Apocalypse, or promote your liberal, conservative, or libertarian political views. The Tea Party has their own PR department, they do not need your business blog. Remember that about half of the population is Democrat and the other half Republican, with minority shares of "other" thrown in. Regardless what stand you take, you are going to alienate at least half of your audience. And this does NOT promote your business!

Remember, it is not true that any publicity is good publicity. The same applies to blogging. Just because you are writing something in your business blog on a regular basis, this does NOT mean you are building your practice. If you're not careful, you could just be embarrassing yourself.

 

Using E-Newsletters Effectively

E-newsletters are one of the most effective strategies we have seen for driving traffic to, and keeping visitors on your website. When I review our Essentials clients' website statistics, I notice a few things specific to their e-newsletter distribution:

1. A spike in total visits to the website on the day the e-newsletter goes out;
2. That spike usually lasts for about three more days, showing a nice bump in website visits for about a week, directly from the enewsletter distribution;
3. The animated newsletter on the website is consistently one of the most popular pages in the website, in terms of visits; and
4. Past issues of the animated newsletter, indexed and archived on the website, are also among the most popular pages -- both for website entry and for total visits.

Overall -- if I had to choose one strategy to the exclusion of all others to drive traffic to your website, I would have to choose a properly deployed e-newsletter. Properly executed, the e-newsletter is even more important than blogging. Why? Because both your website and your blog are passive marketing channels -- which means they reside on the web and must wait for visitors to find them. Your e-newsletter, on the other hand, is an active marketing channel. You actively send it out to your target audience, and if it is designed properly, it will bring those people back to your website (and your blog) ... not just once, but over and over.

So -- what do I mean by a "properly deployed" e-newsletter? Here are the key components that will make an e-newsletter a vital aspect of your practice development plan. Without them, you risk wasting your time at best, and irritating your best clients, prospects and referral sources at worst. By all means, you do not want your e-newsletter to be perceived as annoying spam!

1. A carefully developed e-mail distribution list, large enough to make an impact.
   Include professional advisors, clients, networking contacts, prospects from your other marketing efforts (such as workshop attendees), and those who have opted-in from visiting your website.
   
   
2. An Integrated Three-Part Package
   Your e-newsletter should not be a stand-alone tool. It should be seamlessly integrated into your marketing, an adjunct to your website, a promotion for your workshops, and a feeder to your blog. The three parts of your integrated e-newsletter should be:
   
   - The email -
   A well-designed email that is consistently rendered across email clients. Don't get too fancy, and forego the graphics. Keep it simple, but include valuable, relevant content; "teasers" of your articles with links to read the entire newsletter on your website (not just online, but on your website); links to contact you directly; navigation links to your website; and unsubscribe information.
   
   Your email distribution also should go through a dedicated server that is maintained for this purpose and NOT through your law firm's email. By using a dedicated server, you tap into the professional expertise that keeps your enewsletter (and your law firm's email) from being black-listed.
   
   - The Website Version
   Do not email your entire newsletter. Your email should be short, enticing people to click-through to read the rest of the story on your website. Thus, the newsletter should reside ON YOUR WEBSITE.
   
   The website version should include social media share links so viewers can easily share your articles on social media, or forward them by email to a friend. There should be a print-friendly version for your viewers who like to print things out (yes, some people still do this!). Also, by publishing your newsletter directly to your website -- not as pdf -- you are adding valuable, relevant, keyword-rich content to your website every month. A new site map submission will get your website re-indexed, and boost your SEO.
   
   - The Index and Archive
   Your newsletters should be archived and indexed right on your website -- and NOT as pdf files! By adding engaging, relevant content to your website every month, you are increasing the number of indexed pages for your website -- and boosting your site's SEO. You also are providing more engaging content for your website visitors, keeping them on your site longer. When website visitors click around through your website, you have a better chance of converting them into clients.
   
   Also, Google "knows" when visitors "bounce off" your website. When visitors do not linger, Google says your website is not valuable, and they punish you in their rankings.
   
   Finally -- it is much easier to gain new subscribers if visitors can read back issues, and see the value you are providing.

Our Essentials clients use a unique e-newsletter system that includes an animated newsletter on their website. This animated document really adds punch to the website, consistently ranks as among the most popular of their entire website, and includes powerful social media sharing features. Additionally, every Essential e-newsletter is distributed through our dedicated server, keeping our clients CAN-SPAM compliant and providing a robust statistical tracking system for their marketing efforts.

You can see a sample on Kyle's website. Visit his enewsletter archive, then click on any of the links to review the animated newsletter. Also, Kyle has recorded a short video for website visitors, explaining more about his e-newsletter. Be sure to click the play button and watch that video, too. (Or you could watch just the video here.)

Building Website Traffic

Your website should be the "hub" of your practice development and marketing efforts. Properly designed, your website should be the single most powerful marketing strategy you can employ, next to a face-to-face meeting. In fact, visitng your website should be as close to meeting you face-to-face as possible.

However, the analogy does not stop there. Attorneys often comment that their "closing ratio" is nearly 100 percent, once they get someone into their office ... the job of marketing is to get more people into the office. So it is with a good website. Regardless how powerful your website may be, it does nothing unless or until people visit it.

So, once your website is published and optimized, the next marketing task is to drive traffic ... in other words, we have to get more people onto the site.

How?

There are lots of strategies to build website traffic, but we have found two of the most consistently effective are blogging and e-newsletters -- when done properly.

In fact, these two indicators are so consistently linked with increased website traffic that I can quite easily tell when an attorney's e-newsletter was distributed, and how frequently he is blogging, simply by reviewing his website statistics.

This morning I was doing some quick stats checks for our Essentials clients. I saw a slight, but steady decline in average daily visits for one of our clients. From a high in January, website visits declined slightly in February, slightly more in March, and are down somewhat more in April (to date).

I knew from experience what was going on. A quick check of his blog shows his last post is dated February 24. My client may not realize it, but it has been almost two months since he last posted to his blog.

What happens next? Because the attorney in question is an Essentials client, with a marketing team working for him, he will be getting a call today. We provide a robust, daily content service, so we know that content is not the issue. Perhaps there has a staff change and the new person needs training? If so, we will schedule that person for a training session with Sheri, our social media guru, right away.

The main thing is, don't overestimate the power of a powerful website. It does not work in vacuum. Just as you need to see prospects in your office before you can turn them into clients, your website needs  traffic before it can generate leads. No matter how powerful the website, it needs support. And search engine optimization is not enough -- especially in your niche market where targeted search volume is fairly low. In other words, now many people do you suppose go to Google every day searching for an estate planning attorney? If you captured every single one of those searches, your website traffic would still be pretty low!

Tomorrow we will look at how strategically deployed e-newsletters work, and how just a few mistakes could make your e-newsletter efforts little more than an expensive waste of time, money and reputation.

 

 

Troubleshooting 101

As a marketing consultant, business owner, and CEO, I wear a lot of different hats throughout a normal workweek. This week, my most frequently-worn hat was that of Troubleshooter.

Troubleshooting 101.

The first thing you do as a Troubleshooter is listen. Sometimes you listen for a long time before the real Trouble surfaces. People have to share their pain. But their pain is not the Trouble, and simply relieving the pain with a quick-fix, like an aspirin, does not resolve the Trouble.

Prospective clients are often in pain. Their practice simply is not working for them. They may present with a variety of symptoms -- sluggish growth, declining revenue, difficult clients, low profitability, long hours, etc. What they seek is relief -- even if only temporary.

But as a marketing consultant, I don't have a quick-fix for economic pain relief. And even if I did, I wouldn't know where to apply it until I could determine the Trouble.

For example, attorney presents with anxiety. His phone is not ringing, his appointment book is empty. What's wrong?

A quick check of his website's Google rank shows everything looks good. He's ranking on Google's page one or two for key searches.

If you were troubleshooting for this attorney, where would you look next?

I'll tell you where I look, in priority order --

1. Let's take another look at the website. Is there a sales funnel, or a conversion strategy, to turn visits into relationships and relationships into clients?
2. What about social media? Is the attorney connecting with the right people in his market area? Is he following (or followed by) financial advisers, CPAs, business owners and leaders, members of the financial media, his own top clients?
3. Besides search engine optimization, does this attorney employ other marketing means to drive traffic to his website? Direct mail, online press releases, a targeted e-newsletter, personal networking, workshops?
4. Let's take a look at the referral relationships. What is the attorney doing to establish new professional contacts and build those into referral relationships?
5. How about client relations? Does the attorney have an active client relations program to generate referrals and more business from his current clients?

Yesterday the Trouble was an e-newsletter being sent to so few people that it was practically non-existent. Certainly it was not generating any significant traffic to the website.

The day before it was contacts with allied professionals that never turned into referrals for lack of a follow-up system. Lots of meetings, no results.

Today it's a blog with only one six-month-old post that still reads, "Welcome to our blog. Stay tuned for important updates." Nothing important has happened for the past six months?

Marketing your estate planning or elder law practice is not easy. In fact, it has become increasingly complex over the past few years. The Trouble is, a few simple mistakes can have a big impact on your bottom line.

Our Essentials clients are not immune from Trouble. Sometimes they call us to talk about their Troubles. The key difference for them? They have someone to call. Someone on their team who will put on the Troubleshooter hat, roll up their sleeves and get to work.

The Highest Recommendation

A prospective client called us yesterday with news that just made my day. He had been visiting with Jerry, one of our current clients, about his experience working with Integrity Marketing.

He asked, "What is the conversion rate of your website? How many conversions do you make from your website leads?"

Jerry replied, "I have no idea. All I know is that I am constantly busy, and that I couldn't survive without Integrity Marketing."

Hooray!

We have had the privilege of handling Jerry's marketing for more than a decade. Together, we have successfully navigated the rise and fall of the estate tax, economic downturns, the near-demise of the auto industry (and with it the economy of his home state!), and moved from primarily print-based marketing to the robust system that is The Essential Solution®.

Despite all of that, Jerry's focus has remained on ... practicing law!

He does not micro-manage his marketing. He is not weighed down with reports, he does not spend his evenings tinkering with his website or his blog, writing articles for his newsletter, or haggling over printing costs. If you ask him, he does not even know the conversion rate of his website.

Why not?

Because he outsourced those responsibilities to Integrity Marketing Solutions.

He decided long before he ever met us that he wanted to be a lawyer ... and not a marketing professional.

If you would rather practice law than design a website, if you would like to be "constantly busy" and yet confident that your marketing is working hard without your constant attention ... then The Essential Solution® may be right for you.

You can learn more about The Essential Solution® by watching this short video:

 

So I Just Turned and Walked Away ...

Last summer I was asked to speak to a large group of estate planning professionals. In discussing possible topics, they said they were most interested in building professional referral relationships. I knew my job would require some diplomacy, as this was a mixed group of both financial and legal professionals ... and these two types of professionals see referral relationships from very different perspectives.

Generating professional referrals is no doubt one of the most challenging -- and one of the most important -- aspects of your practice development as an estate planning or elder law attorney. In fact, a recent survey released by Trusts & Estates magazine asked the question, "What are the biggest challenges in your practice today?" Three of the top five responses all related to generating referrals, with "Referrals from other professionals" the number one response.

In speaking to the group, I focused my remarks on moving beyond simply seeking referrals, to building collaborative alliances. I believe this perspective truly represents a paradigm shift -- away from a "gimme gimme" attitude and toward a more professional, client-centered team-building approach based on mutual respect.

I talked to the group about the differing marketing challenges of lawyers and financial professionals. I pointed out that the estate planning attorney likely will not be able to return referrals on a tit-for-tat basis due to the nature of his practice and his ethics constrictions. I saw a lot of nodding heads in the audience ... and realized most of them belonged to the attorneys in the group.

At the end of my presentation, as I visited with some of their members, one particularly vocal financial adviser confronted me quite loudly. I could see this was a fellow who wanted to be heard. He boasted to me of his lucrative financial planning practice serving California's wealthiest residents ... and of the fact that he would never work with any attorney who would not return referrals to him. In fact, if he sent one referral, he expected to receive two in return. When an attorney fails to meet this standard, he throws them over and finds another one. I wondered to myself whether his wealthy clients were aware that he was referring their legal needs based on this standard ... it seemed to me as though he treated his clients like commodities to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

I waited quite a while, but eventually this fellow did stop talking. And when he paused to come up for air, I got the distinct impression that he wanted me to make some reply.

Which I did.

Whilst turning on my heel away from him, I said, "And that is why many attorneys do not want to work with you."

The fellow attempted to follow me, but my body-building son James blocked his path and we made a clean getaway.

I hope you are doing the same ... turning on your heel and walking away from these dead-end, borderline abusive relationships.

There are many factors that determine whether any relationship -- personal or professional -- will work out. The more quickly you identify those factors and learn to recognize them, the more effective your practice development efforts will become.

You can learn more about developing professional referrals in the free webinar: Building Profitable Referral Relationships, now available on our website.

How Important is Your Blog?

I recently conducted a little market research on my own blog. We advise our Essentials clients on how to best use social media in their practice development efforts, and we provide them with with a robust blog content and support service. But a few weeks ago, during our Spring Practice Development Workshop, clients heard me confess that I have been remiss about posting to my own blog. 

I tried to explain (rationalize, excuse) this lapse by pointing out the hours (and hours) that I spend each week researching, writing and distributing quality legal blog content for them! But, even as the words left my mouth, I realized I was just making excuses. I believe in the power of social media, and I believe blogging is an Essential aspect of practice development. I have seen the numbers -- not only the nationally-researched numbers, but the numbers of our own clients who do -- and some who do not -- blog.

Firms that blog get more clients directly from their blog, generate more qualified leads each month, and have more website traffic. And, the more you blog, the more new clients, leads and website traffic your blog generates.

So I made a commitment to follow my own advice and blog daily. Every week day. (Now, this is admittedly harder for me because I have to write and research my own content, I do not have access to a robust content service like you do!) I have been posting to the Integrity Marketing Solutions blog since June of 2005. But I have never committed myself to posting daily...until now.

Today marks the two-week milestone. I have posted to my blog every week day for two weeks.

What did I discover?

• Visits to our IMS website increase by an average of 300% on days that I post to my blog.
• Visits to my IMS blog increase by an average of 66% on days that I post to my blog.
• Qualified inquiries (leads) are up substantially.
• New inquiries are mentioning they read my blog.
• We have two new clients who say a blog post influenced their final decision.

Your mileage may vary.

If social media, blogging, and law firm marketing are all starting to seem a bit overwhelming to you, I encourage you to give James a call (1-877-352-2021, ext. 0) and learn more about The Essential Solution® for estate planning and elder law attorneys.

The Juggler

Karen was a successful attorney, with a thriving practice in estate planning and elder law. So, when she called our office asking for help, at first we were a bit surprised. Her website was beautiful, she was posting to her blog regularly, and she even had good-quality videos on a YouTube channel. From all appearances, she had the marketing game going on!

Soon, though we learned Karen's real story.

Yes, she had the marketing game going on ... but it was running her ragged. Working hard at her marketing had helped build her practice, but her do-it-yourself approach had taken its toll. She had no time left for a personal life AND she was riding that old Revenue Rollercoaster. Her marketing could drive business, but when she took her eye off the marketing ball to "catch up" with the work, her appointment and check books both ran dry.

Karen was not a lawyer anymore -- she was a juggler!

She needed help. She needed The Essential Solution®.

So we took over her marketing. We were able to design an even better website for Karen, incorporating the best features of her old site with modern coding, search engine optimization, and conversion strategies to actually turn visitors into new clients. We added outbound marketing. We edited and organized her videos. Then came the real timesaver. We took over managing her social media. We made sure that every blog post was appropriately re-distributed across vital social media networks. We integrated her profiles and pages, turning her social media into a smoothly running machine. Finally, we provided five blog posts -- one every day of the week -- thoroughly researched, professionally written, and strategically deployed to drive traffic on to her website. Clients like Karen average a 75 percent increase in website traffic when they implement The Essential Solution®.

We gave her an efficient, effective practice development SYSTEM. We helped Karen get off the Revenue Roller Coaster. We helped her stop being a juggler and get back to being a lawyer, wife, mother, friend, daughter and weekend tennis player.