Integrity Marketing

St. Patrick’s Day and Other Heritage Holidays: What Do You Do?

If your family celebrates St. Patrick’s Day, it is likely you decorate your office with shamrocks and wear a bright green tie. If you are an active member of the local Ancient Order of Hibernians, you also march in your town’s parade and attend a few parties in celebration of a special day of ethnic pride. We love the inclusive nature of “Everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.”

Is your heritage part of your networking?

There are many proud members of the Columbian Lawyers Association. They enjoy the benefits of networking among other professionals who share their heritage. There are many other legal, business and community organizations centered on shared ethnic backgrounds.

Is it a good thing? Or is it exclusionary?

Any activities that bring you in touch with others who share your values and commitment to a high level of service are good for you and, by extension, for your law practice.

The only pitfall is falling into the habit of limiting yourself to any one community. Just as a chair is strengthened by having more than three legs, your law practice will benefit by a broader approach to organizations. Some estate planning attorneys are active with their local Alzheimer’s Association chapter, others with serving at-risk youths, while others are committed to historic preservation.

The important thing is that you are actively involved with more than just the daily grind in your office. Getting out of the office, whether for St. Patrick’s Day or Earth Day, and connecting with your community, should be part of your practice development.

If you don’t have time to spare for community outreach, then you need to consider how your office could be running more smoothly. IMS can help – give James a call at 877.352.2021 ext.80 to learn how!

Are You an Expert?

Legal professionals are not supposed to call themselves experts, and we lean far away from ever using the term. But if you have a focus in estate planning, you have developed an expertise and can discuss any number of topics with local reporters. For some of you, national reporters are a worthwhile effort, as appearing online in a national media outlet is a great boost to your social media program.

Just don’t call yourself an expert.

First, how are your credentials? Are you a member of the local or state bar association? Best candidates for media coverage have leadership positions with their peers. Journalists are more comfortable when they know that you have these positions, as they set you apart from your colleagues. If you have been considering getting more involved with the bar or any related organization, we suggest jumping in. With both feet. It will also help your professional development and your practice.

Next, what topics are you most qualified to discuss? If you have never met a trust you didn’t like, that’s your bailiwick. If you work with high net worth clients who own real estate and a good chunk of your practice concerns helping transfer real property from generation to generation, you have a different topic to cover. For attorneys who work with business owners where the family business is a farm business, you have insights and experience to share with farm media also. A more traditional personal finance columnist might not be that keen on your topics. In other words, know thyself and know the media.

Have you reached out to local media in the last year or so? Depending on whether you are, in a major media market or a mid-sized city, you might have even gotten a call from a reporter asking questions about a story they are working on. Do yourself a favor: make a note of the reporter’s name, email address and phone number. If they are not a personal finance reporter, they will be able to tell you who is. Start adding a media list to your E2 CRM.

Did you ever send out one press release and then complain that it didn’t do anything for you? Does Coke run one ad a year? One of the keys to media relations success is being in the right time, at the right place. That means sending out press releases or story ideas or lists of facts on a regular basis. If you are sending out a steady stream of useful, substantive information, reporters will come to know that you are a “working” source that is trying to get their attention.

This is just a taste of what you need to know about building a successful public relations program. IMS will present a webinar on public relations scheduled for April 5 – stay tuned for details!

Tax Season and Your Estate Planning Practice

Yes, all of your CPA friends are moving into the “dark zone” when the press of preparing returns and last minute appointments by tardy taxpayers are making them more than a little stressed.

But one person’s busy season is another person’s referral opportunity.

Consider the CPAs who refer clients to you. Or, depending on your networking, consider the CPAs who do not refer clients to you. What can you do to build a connection or strengthen a relationship?

The usual tactic that many professionals take with CPAs at this time is to leave them alone.

But we always say, let’s “zig” when others “zag.”

Have you ever considered making a lunchtime delivery to your CPA colleagues? Talk with your contact in the firm first to find out if the office has a favorite lunch place, or if there are any particular issues you need to be aware of. If the managing partner absolutely hates the smell of Chinese food and you send over a massive buffet, it won’t do much for the relationship.

Success is in the details.

If they are stocked up for lunch, consider a late afternoon snack that arrives in the office at 3:00 PM – fresh baked goods and fresh fruit, along with hot coffee in a box with all the accompaniments would be a welcome treat.

Don’t forget weekends – CPAs are working six, and often seven, days a week. Maybe Saturday would be your best delivery date.

Check your client list to find out what CPA firms your clients use – having a client in common is an acceptable reason to reach out and establish a new relationship.

This is a lightening quick connection during their busiest season, so don’t expect a call back or an extended conversation.

And one last thing: don’t just send someone to make the delivery. Meet the delivery truck there or if appropriate, bring lunch or the afternoon snack over with one of your team members. Make sure to bring everything – cups, napkins, etc.  The point is to make their day a little brighter and as easy as possible.

Do your follow up in May, when they have fully recovered!

Killing the Spring Break Boredom Bug

By Anneliese Krull

I distinctly remember the first “Four-Letter Word,” I learned—and my mother’s response to it. I was sprawled upside down over the edge of our couch one summer, looking like one of my (too) many Beanie Babies lying around the house. That is when it happened.

A word let slip from my mouth, something I had heard from a friend at school. Something that made my mother livid.

“I’m bored.”

Now, I know that “bored” is, technically-speaking, neither four letters long, nor is it the typical “Four-Letter Word.” In our household, however, I might as well have dropped the F-bomb. You know, the one.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, my mother materialized with her own “perspective” on the subject and a lengthy list of chores. In short, she stopped my ill-timed, ill-stated minor mutiny before it had a chance to grow into a full-fledged revolt.

My mom succeeded.

What’s the point?

If you have a teenager or college-aged child who has been bit by the “boredom bug” during their Spring Break vacation, consider giving them some work—especially if you may be short-staffed in your own practice as staff leaves to enjoy vacations with their own families.

Here are a few points to ponder:

Post and Schedule your blogs. Because this involves primarily copying and pasting, there is really no way your child can mess this up, especially with our handy training video and detailed instructions available on our Wiki page.

Post to your social media. By posting a firm update or social media article to your Facebook or Google Plus business pages two to three times per week, your child will learn how these social media tools can be used to add value to others’ lives rather than merely bringing attention to one’s own highlight reel. Also, consider having them post the link to each day’s blog onto your firm’s Google Plus page. Why? Presently, there’s no automatic way for this to happen on the Google Plus social platform.

Add email addresses to your MailChimp account. Chances are you have some new emails to add to your ENews subscriber list, either from workshops or initial consultations. By having your “bored” kiddo update your list, you will be putting those new emails to good use. Your new “marketer” can find easy-to-follow instructions on our website.

These simple tasks can give your progeny a sense of accomplishment and chase away Spring Break boredom. Not only will they come away with a greater appreciation of work generally and your work specifically, but they will see firsthand what it takes for you to serve others through your law practice.

At the very least, you will not hear them say that “Four-Letter Word” over Spring Break.

Spring Clean Your Marketing

By Kelly Myers

All of us at IMS are done with the cold weather and ready for a little sunshine!!

The month of March promises the first day of spring and warmer days to come, blooming flowers and fresh starts – which means it’s the perfect time to do a little spring cleaning.

Here are few ways to clean up your marketing for the spring:

Polish your eNews list. Whether you have the E2 CRM or Mailchimp, take a look at your subscriber list. Clean out any email addresses from people you absolutely don’t know by unsubscribing them. Updating clients who changed their email is also a good idea – simply unsubscribe the old address and add the new address. Quality over quantity is key.

Re-align your SEO goals. SEO is an ongoing marketing strategy that needs to be looked at often, especially if you’re considering moving your firm or changing your practice areas. Take a few minutes to think about your SEO strategy. Consider what services you offer and which of those you enjoy doing and are most profitable. Also consider geographical location and which areas surrounding you align with the income that you currently provide for and would like to serve in the future. After you have a good idea of your SEO goals, notify an IMS Account Manager so we can work together in moving forward. Don’t forget to keep your terms and locations minimal. If you try to optimize too many terms, your SEO might not be as effective.

Clean up your marketing materials. Just as you would match everything in your bedroom at home, the sheets to the pillow cases and the rug to the curtains, you’ll want to match all your marketing resources too. Take out any brochures, pamphlets, flyers or business cards you have for your firm. Do they match each other? Do they match your current branding? If not, let us know! We’ll work with you to get all your marketing materials where they need to be.

Managing the One Thing You Can’t Buy, Borrow or Steal

Your may think your greatest asset is your knowledge of the law and your experience. You’d be wrong.

Your single greatest asset is TIME.

People like to think they are “stealing” time when they work extra hard, start early or stay late. The only person they are stealing from is themselves.

Time is a fixed quantity, albeit an unknown one. How much time do you have? That’s the great mystery.

But how you use the time that you have is what defines the quality of your work, your family, your relationships and, in the final analysis, your life.

So what can you do to make the most out of your time?

Pay attention to your own internal rhythms. The long-awaited return of Daylight Savings Time to those of you who will be moving your time pieces this weekend is a good time to start being aware. Does your best legal work take place in the early hours, before you go to court, or before your paralegal arrives? Or are you a night owl, getting better as the evening goes on? Discover what your personal time zones are, and try to make the most of them, whatever they may be.

What are your out-of-office responsibilities? If you are waking up throughout the night with a new baby, then you have a different set of time constraints than an older practitioner who can come and go as they please. Yes, you are expected to be a professional and have a personal life. That’s called a well-rounded life and it is, or should be, the ultimate goal of any person.

Is your office as automated as possible? If you are making the most out of the tools available to today’s estate planning and elder lawyers to ensure efficiency and quality representation, you are head and shoulders above most of your peers. Yes, IMS can help you with this part. No, we can’t help with the newborn, sorry!

What are your goals for your practice and for your life? No one we know will admit that they are interested only in working as much as possible and not having a personal life. Well, there is one person we know, but he’s not an estate planning attorney. You should have a clear vision of where your practice is today in terms of income, type of clients represented and number of clients represented, to name a few benchmarks, and where you want your practice to go. This vision should be integrated into your personal goals. What matters to you: family, faith, community?

If you value your time, use it wisely and well.

Ten New Clients in Two Weeks – Would That Work For You?

I just got off the phone with a client and the call put a huge grin on my face. Here’s what he said:

"I would not have believed it if you'd told me this back in December. I just would not have believed you.”

He’s a believer now. In two weeks since we implemented the client intake process through the E2 CRM, he has been retained by TEN clients.

It started with a private client strategic planning retreat in December that dug deep into his practice, leading to the creation of several strategic lawyer videos and an overhaul of his website.

Then, the finishing touch – the E2 CRM.

By implementing the E2 CRM into his client intake process, we have connected the dots that are missing in most estate planning law firms.

Consider a funnel, commonly used to explain the sales process. We’re very good at getting prospective clients into the funnel, with powerful lawyer videos, engaging websites, great blog content and regular newsletters.

But once they are in the funnel, what happens? At most law firms, nothing. And that’s where prospects disappear, surfing the web to find another firm or, as is often the case, letting inertia take over and avoiding doing any estate planning at all.

The E2 CRM grabs them in the middle of the funnel and moves them to the end, which puts them into your office, ready for a consultation.

We are now moving prospects through the funnel for this client. When they arrive in his office, their intake is already well underway.

Do you want your client conversion levels to take a leap forward?

We have to say it again: "I would not have believed it if you'd told me this back in December. I just would not have believed you."

"I know," I said. "No one believes me. But it's true. You're living proof of it."

Want to make this happen for your law firm? Call James at 877.352.2021 ext.80.

Two Kinds of Professionals

A conversation with a client recently left me thinking about professionals in general, and estate planning attorneys in particular.

Some are deeply committed to advancing not just their own personal practice, but the profession itself.

They are actively involved in the local or the state bar association, serving on committees if they are fairly new lawyers or taking leadership positions if they are a little more senior. They are busy with crafting legislation that will benefit seniors, teaching CLEs or writing articles to educate their colleagues.

These busy people are usually the same people who carve out time to be active in one or more not-for-profit organizations in their community.

Because they are elder lawyers or estate planning attorneys, they tend to gravitate to the organizations that serve seniors, but they are also involved with other kinds of groups.

In short, they are busy people who are as busy working in their practice as they are in their many different communities.

If you are one of these busy professionals, you know who you are.  And chances are you can do all of this because you have systems in place that make your practice hum. Or, if you don’t have these systems in place, you work an 18-hour day.

If you are not yet one of these dedicated professionals only because you cannot imagine how you might possibly have time to participate in professional or community groups, then we have great news for you.

Our partnerships with leading companies in legal document management, our E2 CRM (which continues to amaze even our own team members) and our integrated marketing systems make it possible for you to have the time you need to be the involved and active attorney you always hoped to be, at the same time that you can give your clients the quality of representation and support that is central to your practice.

Want to do more in 2016? Call James at 877-352-2021 ext. 80 and learn how!

Spring Forward – Yes, It’s That Time Again!

By Anneliese Krull

First, consider this a friendly (and early) reminder to turn your clocks forward one hour on Sunday, March 13^th.

If you reside in a location that practices Daylight Savings Time (DST), then your timepiece must “spring forward” on March 13. Chances are you have two responses to this event.

1. You feel like losing that hour to sleep or rest or work is not worth it. Period.
2. Alternatively, you become excited about having more daylight to enjoy the evenings after the darkness of winter.

Just as springing forward into DST brings changes to your circadian rhythm, committing to a new marketing program can bring changes to your familiar routine.

On one hand, you are tired of the results you are getting (or not getting) from directionless marketing efforts.

On the other hand, change isn’t comfortable. Consequently, this can make settling for what you have almost seem acceptable. Don’t take the bait.

For those who live in a Daylight Savings time zone, you have no choice but to adapt and move forward, otherwise you will be hopelessly behind. Similarly, we live in a digital age and businesses must adapt to responsive design, social media engagement and publishing regular blog content.

Here at IMS, we know what successful digital marketing requires, which is why we developed our Essential Solution marketing system for Estate Planning and Elder Law attorneys. We want you to be able to wake up and smile at the future, knowing our proven marketing system will help you have a more profitable and enjoyable practice.

To learn more about how this marketing program can work for your practice, call James at 877-352-2021 ext 80.

Updating Your MailChimp eNews Subscriber List

Join your team at IMS on March 9, 2016 at Noon central for a webinar designed exclusively for the Essential Attorney™ and staff!

Get ready to be hands on with your MailChimp account. Join us for this free 20-minute webinar* to review how you can manage your Mailchimp subscriber list, properly build your list, remain CAN-SPAM Act compliant, import and export subscribers and learn about list grouping and segmenting.

This webinar is particularly valuable to new Essential Solution® clients or new staff members. You may register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5048251880949691907

Be watching your email for a special invitation with details for this month's public webinars, to include Optimize Your Marketing Budget: Get More Bang! For Your Bucks and Streamline Your Client Intake Process. If you're ready to reserve your seat, go ahead and register for either event by visiting http://www.integritymarketingsolutions.com/Events-Calendar.php. Simply follow the link for each event and register. Even if you are not able to attend the live event, registration will ensure you have access to the recording!

See you there!

Anneliese, April and Kelly

*This webinar is for Essential Clients only and all registrations must be approved in advance.