Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet – I’m Hunting Wabbits

I live by that statement each day and use it when marketing my bankruptcy practice.  And you should, too.

Though Fudd didn’t win all the time, he WAS a millionaire.  He owned a mansion and a yacht, so he must have been onto something.

But seriously, let’s think about this for just a minute.  If you shut up and stop trying to move so fast, you will be able to observe how well your legal marketing efforts are going.  You’ll see your clients and how well they react to you.  You’ll notice which marketing sources are working best for you, and which are tanking.  If you watch closely enough, you’ll almost see the legal marketing dollars walking into, and out of, your office.

We spend so much time working on our practices that we stop paying attention to how we’re spending our money.  We write checks, swipe our plastic cards and pay the bills without asking ourselves whether the benefit justifies the cost.

Over time, our wallets get lighter and our long-term commitments to marketing firms and advertising venues get heavier.  We’ve got no idea what’s working and what isn’t – we just keep on keepin’ on.

But we’ve got to be mindful of those costs, don’t we?  Without paying attention to the bottom line we’re going to end up spending far more than we should for even the most basic of services.

Case in point: some years ago I was chatting with a fellow bankruptcy attorney on the listserv for the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.  This lawyer had a video on his site way before it was common, and I was impressed.  This guy was on the cutting edge, marketing his law firm online with the newest technology.

During our conversation he stunned me by letting me know that he was paying hundreds of dollars each month to host his spartan website.  He’d stopped paying attention to the costs associated with marketing his law firm online, and they had gotten away from him.  Blissfully ignorant of the cost overruns, he went on his merry way.

Yes, I talked him out of that cost and into a far more attractive hosting plan.  We’ve been good friends ever since.

It just goes to show you that it’s important to be vigilant at all times about how you spend your marketing dollars.  Whether it’s marketing your law firm online or any other type of legal marketing – heck, even if it’s the cost of pens and paper in the office – be mindful always.

Once you listen to your law firm and see the truth, you’ll be better able to define the problems that exist.  Then it becomes an issue of finding the solutions.  But you need to know those problems first, or you’ll never know which questions need to be answered.

Fudd makes sense to me.  How about you?

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You put up a blog or a website for your law firm, full of hope that this will solve your online legal marketing woes.  But how do you get people to show up and read what you’re writing?

Once upon a time, I fancied myself a writer.  A fan of short form fantasy and science fiction since I was a teenager, all I wanted was to be the next Harlan Ellison – master of short speculative fiction, turner of words and thinker of interesting thoughts.  So much so that I took nearly as many creative writing classes in college as Economics, my chosen major.

As with most writers, I have a stack of manuscripts sitting around.  I began writing too young to have much in the way of skills, and stopped before I got good enough to make a living out of it.  Of course, this was before the Internet took hold or I probably would have started blogging as a teenager.

Yet here I am again, essentially writing for a living.  I’m a lawyer, and our stock in trade is language to a large extent.  I’m also a blogger, writing anywhere from 300-1,000 words or more each day.  Harry Chapin said, “all my life’s a circle,” and I suppose that’s true.  Began as an aspiring writer, now a working writer in various forms.

There is, however, one critical difference between my original goal and the current state of affairs.  As a writer of books and short stories, the publisher often handles promotion and distribution.  Not so with the blogger or website publisher.  My world involves worrying not only about my words, but also how to get those words in front of people who care about them.

I’m guessing that’s a concern of yours too, isn’t it?  What happens after you publish that blog post or launch that website?  The Internet is a big playing field, and getting found is no easy task.

Write For Your Ideal Reader

Most lawyers who blog or have websites tend to write in stilted language rather than how they speak.  It’s a product of three years of law school, countless hours of drafting pleadings to be read by judges and other lawyers, and fear of being too loose with language and causing a potential malpractice problem.  Luckily, my years of reading and writing short stories have honed my ability to get the message out in a way that makes sense for people who come to my site.

But I’m not perfect, nor will I ever be – perfection’s an unattainable goal, isn’t it?  One resource I’ve found pretty helpful is The Copywriting Scorecard For Bloggers, a handy little resource written by Darren Rowse of Problogger and copywriter Glenn Murray.  As compared to some of Glenn’s longer works, The Copywriting Scorecard For Bloggers is short and to-the-point about creating content that’s going to actually get read.

What I love about this resource is that it’s essentially a checklist – yup, there’s actually a scorecard – that you go through in order to make sure that what you’ve written is worth a darn.  Oh, one more thing – this isn’t just for bloggers.  In fact, I’ve been using it to score the pages on my website before I put them online.

Hone So The Search Engines Can Find Your Content Effectively

Readers are the ones who count most, but if they don’t find your content then it’s a wasted effort.  You definitely want to know the basics of search engine optimization – keyword choices, titles and the like.  I used to think that search engine optimization was some voodoo techie thing, but then I realized it’s all a matter of using language in a certain way.  You don’t need to be a major geek to write content that gets found by the search engines – you just need to understand the nuances of language that the search algorithms understand.  If you’re so inclined, you can check out my guide, Search Engine Optimization For Lawyers, for a good roadmap.

My work doesn’t end here.  I’ve been creating content for a number of years, but that doesn’t mean I’m immune to bouts of search engine optimization stupidity.  Things like using the same word too often, poor linking strategies and the like keep me from being at the top of my game.  That’s why I use Scribe SEO, a fantastic tool that allows me to find problems with my content and make tweaks that make it sing to the search engines.

Scribe SEO functions from within WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and all of those nifty blogging and content management tools.  But if you’re just looking to create a webpage, press release or article for submission to the article directories, the service offers a web-based interface.

Scribe SEO is a service that analyzes the content of web pages, blog posts, online press releases, or any other web content … all at the click of a button.  Then it reports back to you and gives you pointers on tweaking your content to get better search engine rankings and more traffic.  It also suggests alternate keywords you may have missed, and search volume for each of those terms.  And it does all this while enabling me to maintain the reader-focused copy I develop in the first place.

Publish And Promote

Nothing you write is going to get any traffic at all unless you publish it.  For the most part I publish on my blogs and websites, but I also create content for other sites as guest posts and article submissions.  These let me get myself in front of people who may never have heard of me, and allows them to get a sense of what I’m all about.

No matter where you publish, you need to always remember to promote your work by letting people know it exists.  It’s like a movie – if nobody knows about it, chances are pretty good that nobody’s going to see it.  You need posters, commercials and the like to inform the world and invite everyone to come take a look at your film.

I’ll typically send out a link to my content via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Sometimes I’ll submit it to one of the sharing sites like Digg, or bookmark it on Delicious.  I also mark it as shared in my Google Reader so that people who follow me there will find out about it.  If it’s particularly good, I’ll send out a message to my email list to give them a heads-up.  And of course, those who subscribe to my blog by email get each of my posts automatically (which is awesome because it saves them a trip to the site).

This promotion isn’t sleazy, it’s a way of giving people who care about what I’ve got to say a way of getting informed.  It also gives them a chance to pass it along, expanding my reach.  Not everything appeals to everyone, but this lets you get to pick and choose.

Anything Else?

I’m the first to admit that there’s no such thing as knowing absolutely everything about everything.  That’s what makes the learning process fun no matter how long you’ve been doing something.  If there’s something I’ve left out, drop it in the comments section.

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Lawyers, especially those in historically direct response fields such as bankruptcy, personal injury and criminal defense, typically get the client when there’s an immediate need.  I get rear-ended and wind up in the emergency room, so I start looking for an attorney to represent me.  But as I’ve said in the past, it would be so much better if I, the client, met my lawyer before I needed any help.  In that way I wouldn’t have to scramble at the last minute – my choice would already be made in my head.

For the lawyer, it makes sense as well.  When you’re marketing your law firm, your goal is to be the first attorney someone thinks about when they think about a lawyer.  There’s always a steady stream of people who are interested in learning a bit about the attorney’s services.  It’s called lead generation, and it’s what makes the business world go around.

Those leads go into a database of names and contact information, always kept updated and close at hand.  Whenever the lawyer’s got something to share – news, information, what have you – the database is leveraged so that not only are as many people notified as possible, but also the right people.  People who care.

Lots of my colleagues in the bankruptcy bar look at me cross-eyed when I talk about lead generation as the supreme means of marketing your law firm.  They think about their clients as “one off” sources of business, people who leap into the waiting arms of a bankruptcy lawyer when absolutely necessary and then never again.  But it ignores the reality of a person’s life – the act of leaping is usually made after the decision to leap.

So why is lead generation the most effective way of marketing your law firm?

Dip A Toe Into The Water Without Getting Soaked

There’s someone who, as I write this, is neck-deep in debt.  They’ve got the credit card companies at the door, foreclosure looms, the car’s going to get towed away.  They’re looking at options, but aren’t ready to make a final decision on what they’re going to do.  In this information gathering phase of the process, people want to get as much data as possible without making a firm commitment to anything.  They need some time to digest it all, make the right choice for their own situation, and do so in a time and a place that is most convenient for them.

Using a simple lead generation strategy you can reach out to those people and provide them with information that they can review on their own time, without any pressure or time commitment.  It also lets you keep your calendar free from those who are looking to bend your ear but not really go anywhere in terms of legal representation.  Everyone wins.

Cut Out The Crap

If you’re doing TV, radio or paid online advertising then your message is being seen by thousands of people each day.  The problem is that they’re seeing your message once and only once.  If they see the message and decide not to take the drastic action of hiring your law firm, the only way for you to get in front of them again when they’re ready is to spend more money.

When you’re using lead generation as part of your law firm marketing strategy you’re identifying those people who are interested in learning more about your services.  No longer do you need the barrage of paid ads to get in front of them a second time – you’ve got their email address, snail mail address, or whatever you’re collecting.  Couple that initial piece of information with a regular newsletter or content update and you’re sure to be in front of them when they need your help.

Know-It-All Beats The Show-Off

If I’m looking to buy a car, who am I going to buy from – the sales person with the nicest suit, or the one who knows the most about cars?  If I’m looking to get the best automobile for my money, I’m going with the one who knows a thing or two about cars.  The show-off may look great, but in this exercise I’m not looking to buy a suit.

So, too, in the world of legal marketing.  There are lots of really slick looking websites, blogs, TV ads and the like out there for attorneys.  Some are cutesy, some are classic, and others are just over-designed to the teeth.  But if you strip away the fancy graphics and professional spokespeople, there’s only so much you can say in a 30-second spot or on a single page of text.

Sure, there’s blogging and other content marketing strategies.  But they all depend on getting someone to visit your site again and again.  Unless you’re spending money to lure the repeat traffic, you need to have a reliable way of getting the prospective client back.

A compelling lead generation effort solves these problems handily by providing reliable information, thereby establishing you as the lawyer who is the premier authority in your field.  Your prospective client, this stranger, is suddenly enamored of the depth of your knowledge and understanding of the issues surrounding their problem.  Nothing else matters anymore.  No other lawyer can hold a candle to your expertise.

Practicing What I Preach

Lead generation has been a cornerstone to my own law firm marketing for quite some time.  From consumer bankruptcy to debt collection abuse and foreclosure defense, I’ve put into place various strategies that continue to feed my law firm with a steady stream of new clients each day.  Clients who come to me pre-sold, more concerned with how quickly they can get in to see me than with my fees.  Tire-kickers are a thing of the past.

So, what’s your take on lead generation?

Photo credit: Steve Crane (flickr)

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With all this talk about virtual law firms, we need to examine the message we’re giving to our clients when we engage in lingo.  To do so may enable us to positively effect a change in buying attitudes.

This post is a long time coming. It’s been marinating like a steak waiting for the grill to get hot, but this grill has been heating up for awhile.

There’s been a lot of talk about the virtual law firm going on lately.  It’s the topic du jour, likely in part because so many lawyers are looking for a way to reduce overhead and leverage technology to maximize profits without sacrificing the quality of the services they deliver.  I’m fine with that, but I am definitely not fine with the virtual law firm.

This, by the way, from someone who’s use the terms virtual law firm and virtual law office many times over the years. But something woke up inside my head awhile back that just made me wonder what the hell I’ve been thinking when it comes to such phrases.

Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Let’s get something out of the way. I’m not opposed to the delivery of legal services via an online portal. I think that, provided there is competent counsel on the other side of the Interwebs and we’re not just talking about using your law license to justify spitting out forms, people can benefit from this means of getting advice from an attorney.

According to a post by Larry Bodine:

When asked whether they have a virtual law office/virtual law practice (i.e., do not typically meet with clients in person, and primarily interact with clients using Internet-based software and other electronic communications software), 14% percent of lawyers surveyed responded affirmatively, according to the new 2010 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report Update.

Terrific, lawyers are using technology.  You all know I’m a big proponent of doing that.  But this is NOT a virtual law office.  Period.  And to call it so is just plain wrong.

One more disclaimer, folks – I’m not knocking Larry Bodine for using the term.  Like me, Larry is just invoking the phrase we’ve been accustomed to using.  And I have nothing but respect for Stephanie Kimbro, the woman who pioneered the current concept of the virtual law office.

But as of right now, it’s got to stop.  It doesn’t accurately reflect how online delivery of legal services really works.

According to our friends as Wikipedia:

virtual (not comparable)

1. In effect or essence, if not in fact or reality; imitated, simulated, substantial.

   In fact a defeat on the battlefield, Tet was a virtual victory for the North, owing to its effect on public opinion.

   Virtual addressing allows applications to believe that there is much more physical memory than actually exists.

2. Nearly, almost. (A relatively recent corruption of meaning, attributed to misuse in advertising and media.)

   The angry peasants were a virtual army as they attacked the castle.

3. Of something that is simulated in a computer or on-line.

   The virtual world of his computer game allowed character interaction.

4. (computing) In object-oriented programming, capable of being overridden with a different implementation in a subclass.
5. Related to technology.

   virtual communication

Virtual does not mean “a law firm operated online.” It means, strictly speaking, “kind of , sort of a law firm.” And though the techno-geeks among us are happy to call it a “virtual law firm,” let’s think about what clients hear when those words are uttered.  They hear that their lawyer is operating something less than a real law firm.

Look, if you’re a lawyer then you are either self-employed, operate a law firm, or work in one. Your law firm is real, not ephemeral. Your expertise, knowledge, and techniques are very much the real deal. Your presence is confirmed on this planet.

Your means of delivery of services is online, but that does not mean it’s virtual. Does anyone think of Amazon as a virtual company? How about Google? Of course not – the companies are real in spite of the fact that they do business online. Their profits are tangible, their products physical.

Perhaps you use a service like Dropbox to sync your files via the cloud, or Skype for phone calls.  You’re using RocketMatter or Clio for case management.  Maybe you’ve even got a virtual assistant on your team.  Does this make you a virtual lawyer?  Does it somehow make you less of a professional?

Of course not.  You’re just as professional as the attorney with a server in her office or the lawyer with a stack of paper files on his desk.  To think otherwise is ludicrous.

I know that the public is becoming more interested in the notion of what is being called a virtual law firm, but I would think some of barriers to acceptance might be to understand the role that language has on perception.  Remember when banks came out with “debit cards?”  Well, the public didn’t exactly flock to the payment solution until they were rebranded as “check cards.”  Sure, we call them debit cards now, but the marketing changed our minds on the whole to help the idea gain traction and mass adoption.

So, too, with the whole “virtual law firm” moniker.  For that reason I encourage you to consider your firm as just that – a law firm.  Not some imitation of the real thing.  From now on, that’s the term I’ll be using.

What do you think?  Am I on the right track?

Image credit:  TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³ (flickr)

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