New Year Resolutions for Solicitors - Marketing Plans broken already?

I haven't sent an email to my list this month because did you know that by Jan 31st, 95% of the people who have made a New Year’s Resolution have broken it already? Most people don't even make resolutions because they get disappointed year after year that they don't follow through. That's because resolutions are just “wish lists”. In the New Year, people want a fresh start. They want to make things better and be happier. But they lack the motivation to do something about it. Or don't know how to find the time. If this is you then maybe you'll like the handout that I have attached. It's helped me to act. You might also like this from me - it's a mixed bag but there might just be a nugget in there that's worth its weight in gold; http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/sitedata/files/The%20Best%20of%20the%20Best.pdf

Read more...

Personal Injury Marketing News of the World Style for Solicitors

I revisited one of
my old contacts who has a couple
of lead generation websites this week.

And boy are they different to most solicitors
websites that market.

Read more...

Employment Solicitors Use Facebook Stories To Get New Business

Here's another story to repurpose
if you are an employment solicitor.

http://goo.gl/BMSUJ

Remember you can swipe news stories
and repurpose them in many ways...

Your website/press release/email to clients
newspaper/ radio/direct mail/audio/video

Read more...

Marketing Ideas - Joint Venture For Easy Profitsmarketing

Joint Ventures with marketing partners are
a goldmine waiting to be discovered.

Thompsons solicitors do it with the teachers' union
NASWT. And they are on to a good thing.

You see someone else has paid for
the marketing to get clients for Thompson (the NASWT)

They've developed a trusting relationship. (NASWT news)

They are ready to endorse you.(NASWT mailing)

So all Thompsons do is make it easy, make it profitable
and guarantee a benefit.

Check this out and swipe it for yourself.

http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/solicitor_joint_ventures

You may not be ready to take on a 200,000 strong union
but you might be able to work local/regional partners
without batting an eyelid. And a warning...don't have one partner
and expect 100 new clients a month.

Get 50 partners and expect 2 new clients a month from each.

It's realistic, it means not all eggs are in one basket and
for most firms it'll mean gradual growth which is more
manageable.

Who has clients like your best clients? Talk to them
and maybe make it reciprocal...it's F-ree marketing.

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Do People Like You Enough To Buy From Your Law Firm?

When you asked your significant other half out on a first date
what was the most important thing?

Was it whether they liked you?

Or whether they trusted you?

And how about your prospective clients?

To read more and maybe review the way you sell?

http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/sitedata/Misc/Do-People-Like-You.pdf

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Yellow Pages Mistakes

Lots of firms are re-examining Yellow Pages budgets.

I’m sure you’ve read this page on my website about Yellow Pages adverts.

http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/yellow_pages_mistakes_lawyers_make

And you've read this page

http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/lawyer_advertising__getting_results

Leet me ask you.

Have you done a Yellow Pages advert in the past?

What response do you get?

What cost per lead is it giving you?

If it’s good then safe to stick with the advert if all is well.

But if you don't track your response - PLEASE start doing it with all leads you get.

But if you're looking at your first YP advert or you aren’t happy with your existing advert here are some quick thoughts.

You probably need a better headline than the one you have and ideally a unique one.

For example, I recenlty looked a a firm's website and advert and could only find one unique point.

It was hidden away.

And it was to do with evening appointments and the offer of convenience.

So you could do a main headline..

Who Else Wants A Solicitor That Visits Your Office Or Home?

That Let’s You Try Before You Buy.

With a sub headline....

And Guarantees You Can Meet Up When You Want To,

(not squeezed in to your lunch hour!)

Which could then have some body copy...

At XXX Law we know that our clients want fast results. But they don’t want to be rushed.

We’re not your usual nine to five solicitors that are difficult to get hold of on the phone (and then charge you for every minute we help solve your problems.) We know you come to us because you have to. Which is why we will arrange to see you at home, at your office or in the evening . Basically when it’s convenient for you.

__________________________________________________________________

You probably need better images in your ad.

Their images didn't really do anything. They were typical handshake, keys, house artwork.

I suggested they'd be better off using any logos such as APIL, SRA, Law Society etc. Or use a picture that relates to time and convenience.

Or publicise a confidential 24 Hour Divorce Information Line.

(Here's an information line number for a newspaper I did

Call 0843 218 3542 to listen)

_____________________________________________________________________


They had no guarantee in the ad. You ideally need a guarantee – although No Win – No Fee could be used better and bigger and made into something.

______________________________________________________________________

They had simple spelling mistakes.

You probably need someone to check the spelling (or read it backwords to do this yourself)

__________________________________________________________

They needed at least one testimonial that was relevant and “XXX Law saved me £17,000” variety rather than the good guy variety. Read this page on testimonials...

http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/testimonials_where_to_use_them

_______________________________________________________________

They needed to have a call to action highlighted which could be...

30 minute consultation worth £147 free when you mention this advertisement.

I hope they get a better advert designed. And track the response.

PS if you want a trackable phone number let me know. It's vital to monitor
the success of otherwise of your marketing channels.

The company I use are http://www.admeter3.co.uk/
Once again..if you give them my name you'll get special rates
because they want to have a few solicitors on board as
testimonials.

Read more...

Solicitors Can Market Even When Not At Work

I'm deliberately sending this out on Wednesday at 11.50am

It's the best time to get emails opened.

When I send out on Friday I get mainly out of office emails..

Out of office emails. Don't you just love 'em?

A they a great marketing legal marketing tool?

Not if this is anything to go by.

* I am out of the office today the 13th September. If the matter is urgent please contact...

This says to me, "I couldn't be bothered to stamp my personality
on my emails or at best, I hadn't thought about it."

But then I got this reply from Richard Davies and thought
ah...there's someone that's taken a bit of time and effort...

_______________________________________________________________

Thank you for your e-mail. Please note I will be out of the office until 6th September.

I will be checking e-mails periodically during this period but in the event of any urgent matters please e-mail one of the following:

For general and conveyancing enquiries e-mail Irene Campbell - irene at rbmdavies.com

For divorce and family law matters e-mail Jane Young - jane at rbmdavies.com

For probate, wills and Court of Protection matters e-mail Andrew McLoughlin - andrew at rbmdavies.com

or telephone the office on 0151 336 6611.

Richard B M Davies
RBM Davies & Partners LLP
__________________________________________________________

And here's something from Fishers, it's a mini
events guide on their out of office emails...

WHAT'S ON:

Sunday 19th September 2010

The Melbourne Festival - Fishers Solicitors continue their partnership with the Melbourne Festival. Running from the 11th to the 25th of September, the festival brings together performances of music, drama, poetry and comedy with the best local art and architecture. Fishers will be hosting a stand on Sunday 19th during the Art and Architecture Trail, come along and say hello and join us for a glass of wine.

Thursday 30th September 2010

Leicester Business Event 2010 - Fishers will be exhibiting at LBE10 at the Walkers Stadium. Visitors get free entry so why not take the opportunity to come along and chat to some of our lawyers.

Thursday 30th September 2010

Ashby Trade Fair - Fishers will exhibiting at the Ashby Trade Fair. This is a great opportunity to meet other local businesses in the Ashby de la Zouch area. If your business is based in Ashby come along to Hood Park Leisure Centre between 12pm and 7pm and meet some of the team.



Can you try something friendly...

_________________________________________________________________

Thanks for emailing me. I'm with clients
all day helping them with their divorce cases.

If you want an update on yours feel free to call me
between 4pm and 5pm Monday to Friday on 0844 502 1631

If it's really urgent and can't wait
then please text me a short message with
what's urgent on 0795 1284875.

If you want to know anything about the divorce process
and how I can help you please download my free guide here

Remember to change your Will when you get divorced.

For other legal solutions please get in touch with...etc.

______________________________________________________________

If you have 10 out of office emails a week that's 500 ways
to cross sell other services a year. Multiplied by how many members
of staff you have. And it's gratis.

I would be gobsmacked if you don't pick up at least ONE
NEW CLIENT.

PS, please do this...it is so easy. And change it from
time to time so you sound human!

PPS is it Yellow Pages renewing time? Are you going to need
a trackable phone number (you must). Get one from me - just ask!

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Direct Law founder talks about online legal services

Remember the days when you used to call
a local insurance broker?

And they'd call around looking for some good car insurance
or house insurance for you?

Or when you used to call the airline
and ask about flights by phone?

Seems a long time ago. But it isn't.
Probably less than 10 years.

(check out today's interview here)

Imagine then that someone calls you
and you don't offer the prospect the option
of completing their Will online?

You've had a chat on the phone
and you know they just need a simple
Will...and all they have to do is fill in the blanks.

Are you still going to send them a paper survey, or spend
time on the phone going over the details?

When you can fix the price for them, capture their email,
send them a link where they can log into your secure
website, fill in the blanks, and pay their money.

In about 3 minutes.

And still charge what the client is prepared to pay.

I've had a chat with Grahame Cohen, CEO of Direct Law.

I've put it on the website. Right here on
Solicitors Marketing Ideas Might be worth taking a look.

Because you don't want to miss this opportunity
for someone in your firm to become an expert
in delivering legal services in the way that
a large portion of your prospects want them delivered.

Read more...

3D accident showreels for personal injury cases

Video is massive and you need to use it
as much as you can.

Take this great service from
http://www.3daccidentreconstruction.com/3d-accident-reel/

What they do is reconstruct car/motorbike
accidents in 3D.

The outcome is a dramatic representation
of what was alleged to have happened.

How useful is this service?

Justin Adams of LA Media says that insurers
often settle before the case comes to court.

I'm not surprised. Ranging between £3.5 - £2k
these videos are powerful influencers
(already being used by top QC's).

It's a young company, but one which is going to be
big.

Check them out here

To email Justin use justinadams@LAmedia.co.uk.
They're based in Scotland.

PS remember that before and after video
in personal accident cases is also very powerful.

Read more...

Google Places - You Must Have The Right Categories Listed

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Solicitor Marketing Ideas By Spying On Other Firms.

Here are a few really practical
tools which can be useful on a day to day basis.

For spying on other law firms websites
so you can see their keywords and adverts
they are using on Google you can use Keyword Spy

Just as I did in this video http://screenr.com/cin

This is another cool tool

http://www.web2pdfconvert.com/

You can plug in any website URL
address and it transforms the website
into a PDF.

How cool is that? You can email your
website to clients!

Great for times when you want a hard
copy of a website to read on a train,
in bed (sadly) or on a plane. (Remember
you need to prepare to sell).

http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/LawyersThatPrepareWin

Another great tool is http://screenr.com/
as it allows you to produce screen casts
easily and for free. It's great for producing
You Tube videos which you can then embed
on your website.

Video is a great way for people
to understand what it is you solve.

Check out www.fsp-law.com
who use video to get them to the top
of the search engines and to help clients
see and hear what they do.

An alternative way of creating screencasts is
http://www.jingproject.com

I'd focus on the video stuff myself.

Here's how and why

http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/sitedata/Misc/10-Tips-for-Making-the-Mos.pdf

It'll work to get you new clients.

Hope it helps. More useful tools coming up in a few days.

Let me know how you get on.

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Google Instant Gives Solicitors Marketing Ideas

Google has rolled out an instant search mode that will display the top 10 search results as you type.

This is probably going to cause some changes in the way people use Google.

I played around with a "live" just to see what it does

check it out here http://screenr.com/Lin

Here's Google's reason for doing it and their video

http://www.google.com/instant/

If you see changes in your website traffic in the coming months, this could be the main reason.

As you can see the results when you type in the words, instead of scanning through the search engine result page (SERP) after each search, you are more likely to look at the top 3-4 results and then refine the search until they find what they want.

Might be worth optimising your website for some of the instant search phrases.

Here's my vid http://screenr.com/Lin

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Solicitor Marketing - There's Riches in Niches

It's always great to see a law firm
targeting a niche and understanding
that the more you give the more you get when it
comes to legal marketing.

Take a look at this lawyer in the US.
http://www.bedsorefaq.com/bed-sore-resource-center/

He focuses on care home negligence.

One of the specialities he has is
bed sore claims.

This web site is a fantastically detailed resource
for anyone that wants to know about bedsores.

Who are you going to use to make your
claim if you have a relative that has suffered
from bedsores?

Someone that knows their stuff or an amateur?

If I were a civil litigation solicitor or personal
injury solicitor I'd be tempted to register
pressuresore.org and do the same with a UK
website...

And I'd be looking at niches you can exploit because
if you have two clients of any one kind, i.e. charities,
schools, Supremely affluents etc then you
can create your own legitimate niche.

As Shaw Taylor (Police 5) said..

"Keep 'em peeled"

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Professional Indemnity Insurance Solicitors And Life Changes

I know that indemnity insurance costs have risen...in case you
didn't see it there's a new insurer on the market and the Law
Society have produced a guide to the subject...

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/newsandevents/news/majorcampaigns/view=newsarticle.law?CAMPAIGNSID=419346

One member of this newsletter has used Connect2Law
http://www.connect2law.co.uk/
to successfully get P I Insurance. Might be another route for you?

Obviously insurance is a major issue for you. But what are major
issues for your clients?

Because major life changes can help you to market..

Things like;marriage, divorce, kids, buying a house,
retirement, selling a business etc.

Most people are going through these at any one time.

And they don't know that there are legal consequences.

So there's the opportunity to enter their "theatre of the mind".

This means that you enter the conversation that is
already going on in their heads.

It's much easier than butting in where you are not welcome.

Just make sure it's a laser targeted headline or
selling phrase you use when you engage them
by email, on the phone or by letter.

It still amazes me that solicitors don't make an offer for a new Will
with conveyancing EVERY TIME. Perhaps you might wait a few weeks/months
to sell the Will because a new house takes up most of
someone's brain for a while.

But plant the seed and then nurture it with a marketing sequence
over a few months and I bet
you'll get their Will sorted.

And if you find this difficult to systemise
why not automate the whole process?

A friendly letter/email and sms text twice a year
highlighting legal solutions to major life changes
would cost pennies but it's a nice reminder
and your clients will thank you for it.

If a garage can send an sms about an MOT
and a dentist can send a reminder about a check-up
couldn't you do the same twice a year about a
legal check up?

The more you help your clients the more they will
trust and like you. And the more they will buy.

And the principle applies to commercial clients
as well as private clients. The more you know about
their business the more you can provide solutions.

But if you don't ask regularly you will never know.

PS remember people buy when they want to buy, not when
you want to sell. That's why you have to be in constant
contact efficiently, in a valuable way, and systematically.
Ask me how if you want to! Visit Solicitor Marketing

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Online Legal Services - Is The Time Now?

I've been looking at how firms can offer something to sell to visitors to their websites.

After all, why not make money 24/7 right?

One thing that you can do is offer "backsourced" products such as Wills, where the client fills in the details and you check it over. It's how most of the car insurance industry now works.

(For an example of who does use it in the legal world visit www.Nelsonsonline.co.uk

Personally, online legal services are right for me as a consumer and I think there is a big market for them.

And I asked Tim Bishop, (who runs the Salisbury Solicitors firm Bonallack and Bishop) his views on the matter. (Tim's website is worth checking out - he know's where he's headed).

These are Tim's thoughts on online legal services

What do you think about online legal services Tim?

"I suspect it's likely that this method of delivering some legal services will become increasingly popular. However it's early days. I'm a great believer in not adopting a radical new method first I prefer to wait and see and let others go through the expense, the pain and the learning curve -- and if it looks like a winner then I'll happily come on board at the forefront of the second wave, learning from others' mistakes."

Do you see it happening soon?

"If this method of delivering legal services does take off -- I suspect it won't be tomorrow but the day after tomorrow. Law firms are a conservative market."

What mistakes do you envisage people making?

"I've spoken to at least one firm who just started taking this route -- I'm not sure that they have even the basic pricing right however. If I recall correctly they were doing wills the traditional way for about £95 pounds and online wills, with very little input from lawyers, for about £85 ."


" I don't see many clients choosing to go down the technological route, at their own risk when for another £10 they could get a lawyer to take the risk and do all the hard work. In my view to make this offer attractive, there clearly has to be a much bigger differential. But the problem for this particular firm I think is that they are significantly undercharging for wills in the first place."

What are the important things to consider?

"If the market is not ready for mass adoption of these sorts of services -- all we are doing in the short-term is cannibalizing our own market. I appreciate the risk is that non-lawyers to come into the market.

Here however I think is the crux of the matter. It is not so much delivery of service but control of the source of work. If solicitors can control the source work than they can, to a certain extent, control the rate of change in service delivery. Equally if the likes of, say Which, take control over the source of work for wills, that will allow them to start controlling the means of delivery.

How are you preparing for the future at Bonallack and Bishop?

"The central plank of my personal role [I no longer run legal cases] is finding ways of controlling the sources of work -- We will continue to deliver wills for the time being locally and in the traditional manner -- in fact we're coming up with various initiatives to significantly increase the number of wills we are doing and therefore getting people onto our private client database -- a critical move."

"The other issue is that I'm personally concerned about commoditized services -- where profit margins will be driven down and down again and the only way eventually of delivering them will be on a massive scale -- simply beyond most small and medium firms of solicitors -- more suited to the likes of Which or large insurance companies. My target is therefore the niche areas of law which are more specialized and labour-intensive where we are, as solicitors, much more likely to be safer from the likes of Which etc, and where we are likely to be able to continue charging a premium in at least the medium term."

Thank you to Tim for sharing his thoughts.

Tim's words about getting local people on to their client database is very
interesting. This is where online "backsourced" wills and working with
joint venture partners, such as schools, charities and media owners locally can be combined.

Are you looking at online legal services as a way
to capitalise on your website?

Let me know what plans you have or why you won't be doing it any time soon...

Read more...

Turn Negatives Into Your Positives For Solicitor Marketing

I was away for five weeks and
I only managed to get stung by a jellyfish once.

Now I have a free souvenir of my time in France.

I like to turn negatives into positives. It works well
away from the beach too.

Here's your new scenario....

It uses the law of Compare and Contrast.

It goes like this...a prospect has picked you out
of Google Local (he's searched conveyancing in Bristol)

"Hello just checking on Conveyancing Mr Smith, I've been
recommended to use Countrywide Lawyers by my Estate Agent
but I wanted another option. Could you tell me what you do.?"

"Sure, but first let me send you this link to the Countrywide reviews...http://www.ciao.co.uk/Reviews/Countrywide_Property_Lawyers__5658256

And here's a link to our videos.....

And by the way....we're independent of the estate agent
which means we work Exclusively FOR you."

Now let me tell you 3 things about us which make us unique...."

Do your staff answer the phone like this?

Remember....

To get someone to buy your conveyancing team you only have
to do the following;

Get someone to like you.
Be positive. Be friendly. Be Enthusiastic.

Get them to trust you.
Give them overwhelming proof, video, audio, written testimonials.

Help them understand what they'll get.
Explain clearly, give them guides and videos. Make
your service understandable.

Ensure they know it's a fair price.
Tell them everything you do for them, don't leave
anything out, even if everyone else does it, you've
got to tell 'em because they don't know.

Remember these are the reasons that people buy.

I like the seller

I understand what I am buying

I perceive a difference with this company

I believe the seller

I have confidence in him

I trust him

I feel comfortable

The price seems fair

I perceive this product will work for me.

I believe this sales person wants to help me so he can build his business.

Work your script around making someone feel great
about these things and you'll convert 50% more leads.

Read more...

Solicitors - Have You Protected Your Relationship with Agents?

Some people are worried about
Tesco Law and the Co-op stealing
business away.

But there's probably a different threat.

Complacency.

You see a company is signing up estate agents in your area
and getting their conveyancing leads. They might
only be at 2.5% of the English market but I expect
that to rise.

What are you doing to protect your leads from Estate
Agents and mortgage brokers. Are you complacent?
Do you know enough about what
your agents want? Are you proactive?

Could you outsource your conveyancing to this growing firm?

Find out what commercial director of myhomemove.com said
when I interviewed him earlier this week.

Here's the interview

http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/sitedata/Misc/myhomemove_interview.pdf

Read more...

Niches for Solicitors - Can you exploit yours?

It's always great to see a law firm
targeting a niche and understanding
that the more you give the more you get.

Take a look at this lawyer in the US.
http://www.bedsorefaq.com/bed-sore-resource-center/

He focuses on care home negligence.

One of the specialities he has is
bed sore claims.

This web site is a fantastically detailed resource
for anyone that wants to know about bedsores.

Who are you going to use to make your
claim if you have a relative that has suffered
from bedsores?

Someone that knows their stuff or an amateur?

If I were a civil litigation solicitor or personal
injury solicitor I'd be tempted to register
pressuresore.org and do the same with a UK
website...

And I'd be looking at niches you can exploit because
if you have two clients of any one kind, i.e. charities,
schools, Supremely affluents etc then you
can create your own legitimate niche.

As Shaw Taylor (Police 5) said..

"Keep 'em peeled".

Read more...

Solicitors market to the theatre of the mind...

I love it when someone ACTS.

Not as in the thespian way, but in the
genius way.

Remember I talked about I-Sold (Tesco)
using handwritten postcards to target
house sellers?

(It's here)

One of the Great Legal Members
didn't do what I suggested (try the same
for conveyancing) but did do an alternative.

He's selling Wills by recognising that the
house seller is having a major life-change
and it's a good time to get a new/updated will.

Do you systematically market to people undergoing
major life changes?
Things like;marriage, divorce, kids, buying a house,
retirement, selling a business etc.

Most people are going through these at any one time.

So there's the opportunity to enter their "theatre of the mind".

This means that you enter the conversation that is
already going on in their heads.

It's much easier than butting in where you are not welcome.
Just make sure it's a laser targeted headline or
selling phrase you use when you engage them
by email on the phone.

It still amazes me that solicitors don't bundle a Will
with conveyancing EVERY TIME.

But maybe you do?

Read more...

Useful Tools for Solicitors to Market and Sell With

Here are a couple of really practical
tools which can be useful on a day to day basis.

http://www.web2pdfconvert.com/

You can plug in any website URL
address and it transforms the website
into a PDF.

How cool is that?

Great for times when you want a hard
copy of a website to read on a train,
in bed (sadly) or on a plane. (Remember
you need to prepare to sell).

http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/LawyersThatPrepareWin

Some people even download all my website
and read it offline to find out how to do things or
come up with new ideas.

Another great tool is http://screenr.com/
as it allows you to produce screen casts
esily and for free. It's great for producing
You Tube videos which you can then embed
on your website.

Video is a great way for people
to understand what it is you solve.

Check out www.fsp-law.com
who use video to get them to the top
of the search engines and to help clients
see and hear what they do.

An alternative way of creating screencasts is
http://www.jingproject.com

If you want to work with things
which make your life easier here's a
good resource where you can find information.

http://www.c4lpt.co.uk

There's a list of the top 100 tools.

I'd focus on the video stuff myself.

Here's how and why

http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/sitedata/Misc/10-Tips-for-Making-the-Mos.pdf

It'll work to get you new clients.

Hope it helps.

Read more...