Integrity Marketing

Connecting Through Your Law Firm's Print Newsletter

Are you using your print newsletter to connect with your current and/or potential clients? Updating page four with a custom message is a wonderful way to develop your client relationship and provide your readers an inside look at what's going on at your firm.

Page four of your business and estate planning newsletter has been designed to ride on the outside when used as a self-mailer and even utilizes your color photograph to draw the reader's attention to your featured article. Use this space to announce new additions to your office, to introduce a new attorney, or to congratulate a team member for a recent special event or accomplishment. A personal connection can improve your newsletter retention and word of mouth referral from existing clients.

May Print Newsletter Deadline

The deadline for making edits to your May issue estate planning newsletter is April 5, and the default articles we have scheduled for you are: Blended Family Basics and Estate Equalization.

To see the additional articles available for custom issue creation, download a preview of the newsletter article library.

If you would like assistance customizing your SELECT Print Newsletter, please feel free to contact April at 877-352-2021 x82 for a quick walk through. Be sure to have your message prepared and saved to your computer or network for easy access (around 150 to 220 words).

Five “Acceptable” Ways to Build Inbound Links to Your Website

When it comes to SEO, Integrity Marketing has got your back; however, there is only so much we can do when it comes to managing your website’s “inbound linking.” I’m sure you have heard the term before …it’s a BIG word in SEO and can really improve your website ranking when used properly.

Inbound links are links on other websites or blogs that point to your website or blog. Yellow Page listings, Google Listings, local online directories, other websites, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are all examples of websites that can provide “inbound linking” perks.

Building great inbound links is hard work, but not that hard. A lot of “black hat” techniques and spamming has come about in the pursuit of gaining inbound links. Follow this guide, and you’ll gain reputable links from high quality websites in no time.

1.  Partner with companies in your industry.

You should have some sort of “resources” page on your website. If you have a business acquaintance, friend, or family member in a local business in their city, contact them and ask if you can “swap" links. They will link to your website, and you will link to their website via your resources page.

2. Maintain a steady blog.

Offering helpful and useful content will allow others to link to your content as a reference. ALSO, if you find a great estate planning blog, don’t be afraid to use it as a reference for your own blog. Leave a comment on their blog letting them know you have linked to them. They might one day return the favor. 

3. Leverage Social Media.

Every blog going to your Twitter profile counts as an inbound link. So does each blog post on Facebook and LinkedIn. Take the next step and share pages from your website weekly on all your social media platforms.

4. Ask for Feedback!

Don’t be afraid to verbally ask clients to mention you on Facebook or Twitter. If they just post your website link to their Social Media page and write a short mention, this will be FANTASTIC.

5.  Require “Check-in’s” for workshops and events.

Ok, they don’t need to be required – but when you are at a speaking engagement, make sure you have your attendees “check-in” to your business. You can even create Check-in Deals and offer incentives for checking in, such as coffee, snacks, 30 min consultations, etc.

Here are more tips on inbound linking!

Integrate Your Email Marketing with Your Social Media - A Systematic Approach

Each week I compile and send out our IMS email newsletter.  If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the latest issue online, or better yet sign up to receive your own copy. I love sharing marketing tips from our talented staff with our clients, colleagues and professional connections!

After I send the email blast out to our contacts, I take it one step further and share the email newsletter on all of our Social Media accounts.  I make sure to integrate our email marketing efforts with our Social Media marketing efforts. The results have been amazing with an average of 50+ views on Social Media accounts, and an extra 10 shares resulting from those views.  What a great way to get the word out!

Each month, we help our Essential Clients™ compile and send out their own law firm email newsletters. We include a Social Media share bar right at the top of each email, so sharing the information online is a piece of cake! I encourage each of you to do the same – share your e-News on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and any other platforms you are using. 

Here are some great tips on why integration of email and social marketing is so important:

• Your reach is extended – Sharing means more views, opens, clicks and conversions of viewers to actual readers.
• Your subscriber list will grow – Sharing alerts followers of your e-News and will entice them to sign up.  You should also share the link to your sign-up page on Social Media regularly so that followers know where they can get your e-News.
• People like choices – Sharing gives viewers another option to read your e-News.  Maybe they can’t access emails as easily as they can check their Social Media accounts, so having another option or a reminder is a great way to convert those viewers into readers.
• “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” – Email marketing is effective, yes. Social Media is effective, yes.  But when used alone, each of those parts are limited. Integrating your email marketing into your Social Media, print, and online efforts is going to take your marketing to the next level in a powerful way!

If you need assistance on sharing your email newsletter to your Social Media accounts, please contact Personal Account Manager Dana Alley ([email protected]) for a brush-up session.

35 New Rules for Estate Planning Attorneys

Rules can be vexing things for creative people. Take Pablo Picasso, who said, “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”

Last week, during our Fast Track Workshop for Essential Attorneys™, we explored the inner-artist dwelling within us all ... that Anarchist inside you held hostage by your Attorney-Self. You know the one ... we called him your Inner Mac. Our goal was to get your Outer PC (aka your Attorney Self) to talk to your Inner Mac (aka the Anarachist). We wanted to bring the two of you together to get the Elixir of Marketing that is just the right blend of strategy, analysis and unbridled creativity.

Now, Inner Mac can be really tough to find in a room full of estate attorneys! So we did some conjuring exercises, incantations if you will. Among them, the challenge of writing Ten Rules for Your Estate Planning Practice -- each beginning with the word Don't. That's right. Not the Top Ten Rules of what you SHOULD do as an estate planning attorney, but rather ten things you should NEVER do ...

Here is a compilation of our favorites, in no particular order:

1. Don't give away too much time.
2. Don't discount fees.
3. Don't let clients leave without an engagement letter.
4. Don't waste money on ineffective marketing.
5. Don't over-complicate things.
6. Don't make clients wait.
7. Don't ignore clients.
8. Don't try to impress your values onto your clients.
9. Don't quote fees until you know what work needs to be done.
10. Don't interrupt your clients while they are talking.
11. Don't ignore the Silent Spouse.
12. Don't over-promise.
13. Don't rush the consultation.
14. Don't be late.
15. Don't take every client.
16. Don't talk about yourself, unless it's truly relevant.
17. Don't be arrogant.
18. Don't gesture wildly with your hands and spill water all over the table.
19. Don't express political views.
20. Don't bore clients with too many details.
21. Don't make fun of kids' names.
22. Don't assume the client knows what they want for planning.
23. Don't dwell on the oldest child's birth date, especially if it is before the wedding date!
24. Don't look shocked at family revelations.
25. Don't lose a client file.
26. Don't forget your clients' names.
27. Don't talk too much.
28. Don't fight the silence.
29. Don't forget to thank your clients ... and ask for referrals.
30. Don't use "legalese."
31. Don't be too serious.
32. Don't ignore your clients' emotional experience.
33. Don't assume your clients' estate planning priorities are the same as yours.
34. Don't hire (the overly expensive, competitive marketing firm).
35. Don't try to do your marketing by yourself.

Feel free to print and post these somewhere that only you -- and your Inner Mac -- can see them!

Related articles

Strategic Planning for Estate Planning Attorneys

Effective Email Marketing – How to Get More Clicks & Stay Out of the Trash

Attorneys love email marketing because it’s quick, cheap, and has the ability to reach multiple recipients all in one press of the “send” button. That explains why your inbox can get bogged down so easily, as there are many marketers out there trying to get your attention.

So if you are among those “marketers” for your own law firm, how do you get the recipient to actually open and click your email?

If you think about it, you never really know how these recipients are viewing your email. Is it from their work desktop or at home? Is it on their phone or other mobile device? Just as you prioritize which emails you are going to open/keep/delete, your recipients are doing the same as it relates to your email message.

Here are a few suggestions on how to create effective email messages:

1. Personalize the “From” section:  People are more apt to open an email from a person or law firm that they know, as opposed to an unrecognizable address. Using your personal firm email address or main firm email address establishes their trust.
2. Grab their attention with the Subject Line:  Let the reader know what you have in store for them.  If you leave them guessing about what’s inside, they may decide the email is not important enough for their consideration. Think of the Subject Line as a headline for your firm’s news – “ABC Firm Hires New Attorney” or “ABC Firm’s Latest eNews for March 2013.”
3. Get to the point …Now:  If have something important to announce, a service to offer, or an event coming up, let the reader know about it right away.  The message does not have to be extensive; short and sweet goes over very well in our busy society.
4. Watch your words:  You don’t want to be flagged as a spammer, so keep it professional and informative.  Too many ALL CAPS WORDS are spam triggers, as well as words like “FREE” or “CLICK HERE.”
5. Link back to your website or blog:  Once you get a recipient to convert into a reader, don’t stop there! Give the reader a place to go for more information. Make sure all of your messages point the reader back to you and your firm so they know how to get in touch with you.

What you have to remember about email marketing is that, although we live in an online world, people tend to get impatient with email.  They get lots and lots of messages on a daily basis, so keep your message from being sent to the Trash by using the tips above!

Workshop Review: Shares, Likes & Comments

I covered a LOT of topics at the Integrity Marketing 2013 Spring Workshop. What I’d like to highlight today are a few tips to spruce up your social media (Facebook & LinkedIn) status updates and GAIN social interaction.

First off, you should be posting to Facebook & LinkedIn once a day, 5-6 times a week. Social media interaction can increase your websites Google ranking, and bring more people in the door. However, if you aren’t able to get your friends and follows to interact with your status updates, you are only skimming the seas of social media power.

Make your content likeable, sharable, and commendable. Why? Because Google watches social likes, shares, and comments and uses what it learns to rank your website.

LIKES:

Likes are by far the easiest form of interaction to achieve. I know many people who just like, like, like – all the way down the timeline.

Tips to get Likes:

1. Make your status well written, interesting, and real.
2. If you share a page on your website – update the Title and Description are in the info box to look appealing.
3. If you share an article, put your “two cents” in – as long as it’s not controversial, or inappropriate.

SHARES:

Shares can be a little trickier to get. When someone shares something, it goes to their own wall, or a friend’s wall. It’s a bit more personal.

Tips to achieve Shares:

1. ASK for shares – if you ask, you may get it. Write “Take a moment and think of a loved one to share this with.”  Or “I urge you to please share this with someone you think may benefit.” ASK!
2. Make sure you are sharing QUALITY sharable content. Likes dates to a workshop, an important legal update, new updates to your website, a new article on your website, a really great blog you posted, or a new services listed on your website.
   
   

COMMENTS:

Some people comment on EVERYTHING and they can get annoying… It should be pretty easy to get comments if you approach it the right way. Your attorney friends will likely comment on legal issues.

Tips to inspire Comments:

1. To get good quality comments, ask good quality questions. Usually, someone will respond.
2. Even writing “Take a gander at this latest blog post and leave your comments below” might be enough to spark someone to leave a comment.
3. Or write “I just shared this blog post about planning for minor children. Are there any other topics you would be interested in reading?”

All in all, getting likes, shares, and comments only take one thing – effort! Apply the above tips, and watch your social media strategy blast off!

 

Your Law Firm's Direct Mail: Should You Use An Endorsement?

Direct mail is still an important aspect of your law firm marketing. From print newsletters to postcards to annual review letters, print marketing packs a punch that email and other online efforts just can't match. But, when it comes to direct-mail, the technical details can be overwhelming. For example, have you wondered what ancillary mailing endorsements are? Here is an overview according to the USPS Web site:

Ancillary service endorsements are used by mailers to request an addressee’s new address and to provide the USPS with instructions on how to handle undeliverable-as-addressed pieces. The endorsements consist of one keyword: “Electronic,” “Address,” “Return,” “Change,” or “Forwarding,” followed by the two words “Service Requested.” The endorsements are the same for all classes of mail, but the treatment and cost differ by class of mail. Use of an ancillary service endorsement on a mailpiece obligates the mailer to pay any applicable charges for forwarding, return, and separate address notification charges.

So, should you be using an endorsement on your law firm's mailing? Well, it depends.

Why use an endorsement?

In short, to keep your mailing list updated.

What endorsement should I be using?

That depends on what your goal is and what class of mail you are sending. If you are sending first-class mail with no endorsement then the postal service is following the guidelines for "Forwarding Service Requested." It's important to realize that while your letter is being forwarded automatically (months 1-12) your law firm is not being notified of the new address. Only after month 12 is the mailpiece returned to your office with the new address attached … at which time you may update your database. Simply by placing the endorsement of "Return Service Requested" on your first-class mailpiece you can utilize your mailing to ensure notice of available address updates because the postal service will return all non-deliverable pieces with the new address or reason for non-delivery attached. For time sensitive mailings, you may want to consider the "Address Service Requested" endorsement. This service combines the two previously mentioned services by forwarding the mailpiece and providing the address correction (along with the appropriate address correction fee).

What About Turnkey Mail?

If you are maintaining your mailing list by doing at least two first-class mailings yearly with a mailing endorsement, then it is most likely not necessary to add an endorsement to your turnkey mail. However, it would be one extra insurance for maintain your list, just be aware of the fee associated with the service.

But what if you are not doing first-class mailings? Adding an endorsement could be a useful tool for cleaning up your list. Be prepared to receive a larger return on the initial mailing and to then follow up by getting that mailing list updated! If you are a monthly turnkey mailer, please only do the endorsement for one month. This is due to scheduling/timing. You will need the time to get your list updated before the service should be used again.

Here is an Ancillary Service Endorsements Quick Service Guide with the appropriate services in the middle column "Standard Mail" as they would apply to your IMS Turnkey Mail.

Facebook’s Facelift – What Does This Mean for Your Law Firm's Page?

Social Media would not be the wave of the future if it weren’t constantly changing. And in true techy fashion, Facebook decided they needed a whole new facelift in the form of their News Feed.  The announcement was made March 7^th, and it is the first major update the News Feed has seen since being launched almost 7 years ago.

Initial reactions from the masses were that the new Facebook News Feed looks like a spitting image of Google+ -- Google’s own social network. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, so maybe the people over at Google+ won’t get too worked up. Facebook responded by saying they are following the trends in Social Media design, which involves large photos and clean navigation.

So, what do you really need to know about the latest change on Facebook? Here the main highlights:

• Multiple News Feeds – This will give users an easier way to navigate through all the posts on their feeds and dig deep into content. News Feed Additions: “All Friends,” “Photos,” “Groups,” “Music,” “Games,” and “Most Recent” to name a few.  Other options involve location, alumni, followers from your workplace, and (thankfully) a chronological option to view posts.
• Bigger Images – Aren’t we all obsessed with Social Media photos? They draw us in right from the get-go and tend to be the first posts we really hone in on within the News Feed now.  Facebook wants to give photos more real estate on their News Feed, so park this little tip for future use – photos are a must for online visibility!
• Mobile Consistency – The redesigned news feed was largely inspired by the mobile platform, including side navigation and increased white space. As more and more users are accessing Facebook from mobile devices, the company wanted to streamline the design to be more consistent overall.

Now let’s bring this all back to your law firm marketing.  Here are the take-a-ways:

• Post photos on your firm page to increase your visibility!
• Go mobile with your website!  Take a hint from Facebook and make sure the links to your site can be accessed easily from a mobile device. If you don’t already a have a mobile site, please contact us about how you can get one.
• Post to your page daily, or as consistent as possible! With multiple feeds for followers to choose from, your messages may get lost in the mix.  It’s important to keep an active presence online and stay connected.

If you are anxious to get the new Facebook News Feed, you can actually join the waiting list here. The rollout was supposed to begin right after the announcement last week, so sooner or later you will see the changes on your own page.  Let us know what you think!

Strategic Planning for Estate Planning Attorneys

There are so many marketing tools available to build your law practice – from websites to workshops, billboards to blogs. But a marketing tool is not a marketing plan.

This week, our top clients from around the country are joining us here in Kansas City for a client workshop. They are taking this time to build a better future -- for themselves, their families, their practices and their clients. For three days they will focus on the best ways to market and manage an estate planning law firm. Part of that time will be spent in private consultation with me, working on marketing plans.

In preparation for these meetings, I have pulled all of their marketing performance statistics for the past six months. This will help us make better decisions that are not based on "guesstimates." Each firm also has taken time to share with me key information about their practice and their market. Together, we will tackle their greatest challenges and craft a plan built on their greatest strengths.

Why is it so important to take this type of systematic approach to law firm marketing? You have limited resources to tap into almost unlimited opportunity. A well-executed marketing plan deploys your resources most efficiently to maximize your opportunities.

Your law firm marketing must:

• Generate a steady stream of qualified prospective clients,
• Minimize your client acquisition costs, and
• Help build a sustainable and profitable practice

Each of our clients has a huge head start in the marketing race -- they have The Essential Solution® marketing system in place. So, we will not waste our precious strategic planning time talking about the need for an optimized website, or how to get ranked on Google's Page One. They already have these fundamentals in place. They already have active, popular blogs; they are engaged in social media; they utilize email and direct mail.

With these systems in place, we now have the freedom to think -- and act -- strategically.

If you're not here this week, all I can say is Watch Out for these rising stars!

Engaging Social Media Followers by Updating Your Facebook Cover Photo

Have you ever noticed "Your Friend updated his/her cover photo." in your Facebook newsfeed? Are you compelled to follow the link and view, comment or like the new photo? I certainly am! So why not update your cover photo to encourage interaction with your law firm? This can be as simple as an update to your profile cover photo or even to your law firm's fanpage cover photo. BONUS, this quick and easy update adds a personal touch to your social media.

So start today by logging into your Facebook account, going to your own profile by clicking on your name toward the upper right of your screen – or by switching to your fanpage, hover your mouse over your cover photo and you will see a button to "Change Cover" popup in the lower right corner of the image. Click to Change Cover then select to "Choose from photos …" or "Upload photos …" browse and select your photo, adjust the position and save!

But what if you want to go a step further and design your own custom cover photo? Here is a great tutorial to Make a Great Facebook Timeline Cover Photo for 10 Bucks. Beware, Facebook does have guidelines for cover photos, such as not displaying information intended for your About section or calls to action, to name a few. Of course, you can always leave the custom graphic design to your team of professionals at Integrity Marketing Solutions! Contact James at 877-352-2021x80 and request a quote for a series of professionally designed Facebook cover photos created especially for you and your estate planning law firm.