So you’ve got a legal blog and are cruising along at warp speed. You’re spitting out content regularly, and your web stats show that you’re starting to get some hits.
Cool.
But here’s the dirty little secret most legal bloggers won’t fess up to. They can’t figure out how to specifically bring in clients as a direct result of their blogging efforts.
Sure, they’re getting the word out and rising in the search engines. They’re hearing more people come to the office talking about the blog. So it’s clear that something is working. But the effect of blogging is ephemeral, not concrete. The real measure of success is dollars in pocket. And when it comes to that, not many legal blogs are cutting it.
So how the heck do you generate clients from your legal blog?
Here are three ways:
1. Get readers to subscribe to your blog by email using Feedblitz – not Feedburner. Feedblitz is a free tool that lets you drop a signup box on your blog (just like the yellow box on the sidebar to your left), and people who sign up get updates from your blog automatically when you put up a new post.
That’s only half the battle, though. When you use Feedblitz you can go into their web system and create a custom email to be sent out to subscribers – over and above the blog updates. Jackpot email marketing for free, baby!
Every week or so, visit your Feedblitz account and send out an email to your subscribers letting them know your availability for the next week or two. Tell them how to set up an appointment with you, and what they’ll need to do to secure an appointment. Specifically ask them to take the time to make that appointment.
2. Create a page on your blog titled “Make Me Your Lawyer.” On that page, ask the reader to set up an appointment to meet with you. Tell them how to do it, and be clear. Give your contact information.
If you don’t ask for the action, readers won’t take the action. Period. Scout’s honor.
3. Offer something of value to your readers who make an appointment and hire you. It could be a free credit report (which you probably usually pay for if you’re a bankruptcy lawyer), foot the bill for their credit counseling certification (spending $25 in marketing dollars to snag a bankruptcy client who will pay you far more than that? Sounds worth it to me), or give an additional service at no cost (post-discharge credit report reviews come to mind).
The bottom line is that legal blogs – all blogs in fact – are seen by the public largely as information-gathering resources. To start making money directly attributable to your legal blog, you’ve got to take action and get creative. These aren’t the only three ways to get clients from your legal blog, but they’re fast and easy to implement.
What do you use to get clients directly from your legal blog? Add a comment below!
Photo courtesy of websuccessdiva.
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