Integrity Marketing

What Your In-House Law Firm Marketing Team Needs To Know

No matter the size of your estate planning and elder law firm, you have an in-house marketing team that needs easy access to a fair amount of information. Certain things are basic, like your website URL (you’d be surprised by the number of staff members who are not familiar with their own firm’s website URL or don’t even know that their firm has a resourceful website!). Others take a little more thought and effort. All are important.

What’s Your URL? Here’s what happens: you think of a great website name, or the perfect term for your practice. It’s usually variations on the phrase “Your State Elder Law” or “Your Town Estate Planning,” and as many as your creative mind can come up with. You visit GoDaddy and buy them. All 30 of them. One of them becomes your website, but you’re in love with some of those terms, so you have us point them to your regular site. At some point, you’ll want to know what your other URLs are, or even what your real URL is. But you can’t find the list of the URLs, you don’t remember your GoDaddy log in, etc…. Not to worry, IMS has your real URL address. But it is a good idea for someone in your office to have that list and log in information to avoid unnecessary confusion.

What’s on Your Website? We know how busy our clients are, and often that means that their websites take a back seat to many other marketing activities. However, over extended periods of time, your website may need refreshing. That includes content, images and overall look and feel. Even though they don’t come with expiration dates, websites do become out of date.

What Are You Sending? Whether your marketing communications are all digital, all print or a combination of the two (our preference), make sure that you and everyone on your team is on the email distribution list. Also, be sure to add your firm’s postal address to any hard-copy distribution lists. That way, you will see the same things, at the same time that your clients and prospects are receiving.

Where Is Your Log In Information Stored? We’ve all been there: when you really, truly have to log in and the one person who knows where everything is located is out of the office. Your log in information needs to be secure, but it also needs to be known by more than one person. By implementing protocols that require cross-training and ensuring that log ins are accessible by more than one team member, you can be sure to have access to your important accounts.

What’s Your Brand, Message and Mission? Once you’ve covered the more practical aspects, don’t forget to make sure your team is all on the same page when it comes to branding, messaging and mission. We know that it’s hard to see the forest when you are busy bushwhacking your way through the undergrowth of daily work. Your team may need a gentle reminder every now and then. If you have a weekly staff meeting, make sure to build in some time when your brand, message and mission is discussed.

Will Your Estate Planning and Elder Law Firm Survive the Holidays?

If you are groaning as you read this, we already know the answer. Balancing a busy season of end-of-year deadlines with what swiftly becomes a full calendar of holiday parties, including your own (we hope) can become overwhelming for estate planning and elder law firms. It happens every single year, and even though every year you (or your office manager) swears you’ll do better the next year, somehow that doesn’t happen.

Remember, this is a good problem to have.

A full schedule of appointments and a steady stream of gifts from colleagues, clients and vendors that takes over the table in your break room kitchen and overflows onto someone’s desk are both indicators that you are running a good practice and are well-regarded in your community.

A few tips to help you manage during the coming holiday season:

Are your law firm’s holiday cards and gifts already ordered? If not, sit down with your office manager and get that taken care of before Thanksgiving. Yes, you still have time. If you’ve stopped sending paper cards, or are concerned that you don’t have time, maybe this is the year that you move to digital cards which are gaining in use.

Remember that how you celebrate the holidays needs to be a part of your law firm branding. If your firm has a Western theme, for instance, a holiday card with a city skyline may be confusing, unless there’s a horse and cowboy silhouette in the foreground. If the firm color scheme is navy blue, your holiday cards, digital or print, should incorporate that color.

Does your practice make end-of-year donations to local charities? Some firms incorporate the names of the not-for-profits that they support in their holiday cards, others make donations in their clients’ names.

If you give gifts to clients, referral sources and colleagues, do they reflect the look/feel of the firm? Take a really objective look at what gifts you are thinking about giving. How would you feel if you were on the receiving end? Everyone loves to get a gift, but not every gift is right for everyone.

Take an accountant’s eye view of your gift giving strategy. If you have a colleague who sends a steady stream of clients all year long, be equally generous in your gifting.

Time management becomes a point of stress during holiday season. Would getting a slightly earlier start to your day help you manage the work/party balance?

When things get a little too hectic, take a break and if you can, get outside for twenty minutes. Depending on where you are, the trees may still be wearing their glorious fall colors. Your mother was right about this: sometimes a short walk in the fresh air can help clear your head and relieve stress.

How Did Your Law Firm Branding Do in 2016?

Your brand is more than your logo, website or the sign on your office building. It’s your graphic identity and your estate planning or elder law firm’s look and feel, its gestalt. Think of your brand in the same way you think about your own personal style. Are you wearing a distinctive bow tie to the office? That shows you’ve got flair and aren’t afraid to push style boundaries. Or are you wearing a “repp” tie–a classic, no matter how bold the colors. Your estate planning and elder law firm has a style identity as well. We call it your brand.

Do you know what your brand is? Even if you can’t articulate it, you should at the very least have a sense of what your brand is intended to convey. For a law firm, credibility, purpose and authority are important elements. For an estate planning or elder law firm, so is caring. Consider the needs of seniors, who will appreciate brand elements that are easy for aging eyes to read and recognize. Good design is a part of branding also: a union of aesthetics and function.

Did you make any changes to your brand in 2016? The other half of that question is, when was the last time you reviewed your branding? If it’s been a while, we suggest a review to make sure that your brand elements still reflect your firm. If your firm has undergone any significant changes, your brand should reflect those changes. For instance, a solo practitioner who has grown the firm into a larger firm may have started out with a simple, single-name logo. If you’ve moved from “The Law Office of...” to “…& Associates,” you’re definitely ready for a change.

Were you consistent in 2016? We have a friend who loves the person they buy promotional items from. The source is great, finding interesting and new items, from pens to mugs to folders. But the source is not as focused on the branding of the firm as he should be. So one month, clients may receive a great little notebook in a color that doesn’t have anything to do with the firm’s logo or brand. The next month, a coffee cup will appear that is a great mug, but has little relationship with any design element used by the firm. Worse yet, pens with phone numbers that are so small as to be barely readable even by younger clients. Consistency matters in branding.

Quality counts in branding. Even if yours is a high volume practice, you still have to consider quality when it comes to your materials. If the sign outside your office looks flimsy or if your reception area is a little down at the heels, it will be noticed. Your chairs don’t have to have the exact same color scheme as your website (although we would like that, if possible), but if they show any wear and tear, it reflects poorly on your practice. The same goes for folders, any promotional items and content on your website.

Questions about branding in 2016 and what’s coming in 2017? Click here for a support ticket.

Ready for Your Close-Up?

We’ve heard many different reasons for lawyers not to have a video on their website. The excuses range from “I’m waiting until I lose these last ten pounds” to “I need a new suit” and everything in between. For some people, the very idea of making a video creates anxiety. They are worried that they may not look good on camera, or they may say the wrong thing or that the experience will be a negative one.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Let’s walk you through the experience of making a professionally produced video with our team at IMS.

You’re not going to be improvising. There’s nothing casual about the lawyer videos we produce. Before we even start filming, we have devoted a good deal of time to clarifying key messages and scripting your dialogue.

You’re not alone in the studio. You’ve got an entire team working with you, so while you are the only one in the video, there are people guiding you through every step of the process. They may be asking questions off screen, to be edited out during final production, or holding up cue cards in front of you. They’ll make sure you look your best on camera.

Planning your video may bring some surprising insights your way. Before you step into our studio, we’ll ask you a lot of questions about you and your law firm. We’ll talk about your answers and dig deeper before we start to craft messages that align with your overall marketing strategy. Clients often comment that they have never quite been able to articulate their law firm identity before. It’s what we do.

You’re going to like the way you look. With a well-outfitted studio and professional equipment that includes great lighting systems and high-quality video cameras, we create high-production-value videos. That means you will look good. We’ll make sure of it!

Editing makes everyone look better. Did you ever notice how movie stars always seem a little awkward on awards shows, when they are not working from a script? Everyone looks great with a script and editing. It will still be you, but better.

Making videos is painless. Promise. Let’s be clear about this: producing effective lawyer videos is hard work. Honing your message, determining what videos are needed to address your target audience, creating an engaging script that feels natural; all of these details take effort, time and expertise. But it’s a labor of love for our team. When the shoot is done, post-production is completed and you see the final product you’ll understand what we mean. It’s immensely gratifying for us and you.

Ready for your close up? Call James at 877-352-2021 ext. 80 to learn more.

When Is It Time to Update Your Law Firm Logo?

Law firm logos have a longer life-span than law firm websites, but they do have a life span. If it has been several years since you even thought about your logo, it may be time to take a fresh look. Styles change over time, and the same logo that may have been commanding and authoritative in the 1990s by now may make your firm look out-of-date and even old fashioned.

Unlike a consumer products brand, which may have its changes challenged with a lot of social media protests, a law firm brand change is usually a quiet event. But don’t mistake the lack of noise for a lack of impact.

Here are a few reasons to consider updating your law firm logo:

Logo typefaces and colors change. Today’s modern law firm logo tends to incorporate a range of grays, light blues and the occasional pale green. Many law firms are still hanging on to that hunter green or navy blue that used to be a law firm standard color. Times have changed. Your logo should too.

In a crowded field, you need a strong visual identity. We know a law firm (not an estate planning firm) where the website is bright red and white. It’s not to everyone’s taste, but everyone who visits the site remembers it. If your logo looks the same as everyone else’s, how will prospects remember you?

Has your firm had changes? If you have added a name (or two) to your firm name and haven’t updated the logo, this is a perfect time to do so. The addition of new names usually marks significant growth for a firm. What better time to give a fresh start to your branding?

Gavel, court building columns, an eagle? Overused symbols don’t stand out, and they may not even align with your brand. If you are relying on classic symbols, make sure they are in place for a reason and not just placeholders.

If you would like to explore a new logo, call James at 877-352-2021 ext. 80 or fill out a support ticket. We have a talented graphic design department with a lot of big ideas!

Competing for Clients with a Mission Statement

If we had a dime for every lawyer who told us that they had no competition, we’d have a lot of dimes. While no one is quite like you, and no one might even have your exact skill set, the general public may not be as discerning. The prospect who visits your website, or your office, does not necessarily have the ability to see just how different you are from the other law firms in your community.

To distinguish your practice, you’ll need to have a clear understanding of what it is that makes you different. In many businesses, this is done when you create a mission statement. We ask many of these questions during the course of a strategic planning retreat. This is not an exercise in creating a clever phrase, by the way. A mission statement for a law firm serves the same function as it does for a business. It describes the practice’s identity, purpose, goals and philosophy and is used to guide the growth of the firm and communicate its identity to prospects, clients and referral sources.

How does a mission statement help you compete? By defining who you are, it defines how you are different than other estate planning practices.

Here are some general questions to consider:

Are you a mid-sized firm or a small boutique firm?

Do your attorneys (or you) spend a lot of time on client education? (Is that a value to your firm?)

Do you focus your marketing efforts on client’s level of assets?

Do you focus on a particular type of legal service within the estate planning or elder law space?

See where we are going here? You may know that you are not the same as the other firms in your geographic area, but your prospects and even your clients may not. A good mission statement will clarify this for those outside and inside the firm.

To learn more about a strategic planning retreat, visit our website or call James at 877-352-2021 ext. 80.

Printed Pieces Still Have Power

I love snail mail. And I’m not the only one.

Growing up, I would ride my bike down the street with a plastic bag strung over the handlebars to bring home whatever envelopes filled our box that day. Checking the mailbox is still the first thing I do when I return home from work.

After working at a summer camp for five years, I came to covet notes from outside its gates. The most popular man around camp was always the postman—our own local celebrity.

Even in this digital world, people still love getting mail. It can be a great supplement to your digital marketing—especially with print newsletters.

What are the benefits of Print Newsletters?

Expand your reach. Although digital marketing is vital to any business’s success, you still have clients or prospects who are either late adopters or relatively inept when it comes to technology. A print mailing will help your firm to leave no client behind.

Provide more education. You can have overlap between your print and email mailing list contacts. Not only does this reinforce your message and the importance for planning, it’s also easy for recipients to pass along a tangible newsletter to a loved one who may be in need of a consultation.

 Reduce stress. When you use our print newsletters, most of the work is done for you—articles are written and edited, the design is laid out, the infographics are created and the communication with the printer on proofs are all taken care of by our team at IMS. This leaves you with the simple tasks of uploading a mailing list and updating an optional short message on the back cover.

Remember, print materials do not replace digital marketing, but they can be a worthwhile enhancement to your Essential Solution®. To incorporate print newsletters into your firm’s marketing strategy, call James at 877-352-2021 ext. 80.

*Print newsletters are exclusively available to Essential Attorney^TM members as Essential Enhancements to existing Essential Solution® subscribers.

Have You Achieved Brand Alignment?

We’re not talking enlightenment here, although that could be a nice byproduct.

Brand alignment is when everything–and we mean everything—in your brand aligns. The sign on your door has the same look and feel as the font on your firm letterhead, and both of these items match the informational brochures offered in your waiting room.

Wait, did we say brochures?

Yes, we did. And here’s why. Although printed materials are used less frequently, we also know that some of your offices do use brochures from other sources. These suppliers may be good sources. In fact, they are often well-regarded professional associations that create and print brochures that print ‘one size fits all’ brochures for estate planning and elder law offices in any state. But do these brochures bear any resemblance to your firm’s identity?

You may not consider this a problem, but as your marketing team, we would be remiss not to point out the visual inconsistency and off-kilter sense that this creates. It’s as if you were wearing a great suit, but your scarf or tie fit more with your hiking gear. The detail is small, but sticks out like a sore thumb.

We don’t mean to single out your brochures. The same rule holds true for signage. We know of one office with a metallic sign on the wall next to the office door that looks like it is from the 1990s—that is because, well, it is from the 1990s. To make matters worse, it is also in dire need of a good cleaning. Once you open the office door, the rest of the office is polished, professional and up-to-date. Don’t be like this office; make your first impression a great one!

Look for brand alignment in your office, marketing materials and anything that your clients will see or experience.

Your Firm Logo: Do You Believe In It?

You know the big ones, and chances are good you also know their narratives. The Nike “swoosh” that was created by a student at Portland State in 1971. Apple’s ubiquitous apple with a bite that started out as an illustration of Isaac Newton sitting underneath an apple tree.

Logos can be powerful.

They can also be boring, convey the wrong message, and do absolutely nothing for your law firm.

If you look at most big law firm logos, they are very simple, usually incorporating a graphic design and tend to be blue or grey. Large firms have many practice areas, so they are more concerned with conveying strength, stability and authority.

This is very different from the needs of an estate planning and elder law firm. Yes, your logo needs to convey stability, authority and strength. But it also needs to convey warmth, as yours is a very personal law firm. It needs to convey who you are, how you treat your clients and what values guide your firm.

Can a logo do all that? A good one can.

Here are some of the elements that may be part of your next logo:

• Intertwining letters in the same color scheme as other branding materials.
• A graphic of your state.
• An illustration or icon depicting a local landmark.
• Designs that echo the initials of you and your partner’s names.
• A graphic that illustrates caring for others.
• Your tagline.
• Abstract designs that echo your other branding elements.
• A graphic that illustrates inclusion or protection.

If your logo is not working for you, it might be working against you. Give James a call at 877-352-2021 ext. 80 or click here to send a support ticket to our extremely talented graphic designers.

Your Professional Headshot: The Bigger Picture

By Kelly Myers

You are a key part of your firm’s brand. Your headshot is the perfect way to show how you fit into your firm’s brand. Using the right headshot can reinforce who you are and what you do. Potential clients often will make a quick decision about working with you based on a single photo.

Here are a few do’s and don’ts to ensure your photo will convey you as someone who others will want to go to for their Estate Planning and Elder Law needs:

Do not include anyone else in your headshot. As much as you want to show off your spouse, children or family pets, your headshot should not include anyone else. And please don’t crop everyone but yourself out of the family photo from last year’s beach vacation. Photo edits are almost always noticeable, unless they are done by highly skilled professional. This is not a good place to skimp. It’s too important.

Do have a professional take your photo. Many people feel uncomfortable taking photos one-on-one with a photographer, but don’t let this deter you. Professional photographers have all the right equipment to make you look your best. Furthermore, taking headshots don’t take a long time and if they’re done well enough, you won’t need them done for a while. And this means no selfies!

Do try to relax, even have a little fun. Don’t let a photo shoot stress you out. Be confident knowing the photographer won’t let you walk away with a bad picture. Take a few deep breaths, ask the photographer to play music, make yourself comfortable. Try to think of this as fun!

Dress appropriately. In order to keep a headshot professional, it’s best to look the part. Think about what’ generally accepted for an attorney to wear and keep your audience in mind. What would you wear for your initial meeting with a client?

A picture is worth a thousand words, so be sure your attorney headshot says all the right things. Remember the tips above to ace your headshot. Most importantly, don’t forget to smile!