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Blogging is the biggest movement in online legal marketing since the first lawyer put up the first online storefront way back in the day. And we’ve all been sold on the notion that blogging is, in and of itself, a terrific marketing tool. Blog blog blog, the blogpunditry says (I just made up that word – maybe it will stick). But the lawyers who are out there, plugging away at it, often fail to see results from their efforts.
Why? Simple.
Blogging is terrific legal marketing – but it’s not so good at finishing the job.
Allow me to explain my point before you start throwing rotten fruit at me. Marketing is the way we inform our prospective clients about solutions to their problems. It includes persuading people that we’re the right people to solve those problems.
What marketing is not, however, is a means for getting them off their (ahem) to take the action we want them to take – pick up the phone, send an email, whatever. And that is exactly what blogging does not do – it doesn’t move people.
Wait wait, you say, that isn’t right at all. Blogging informs people that you can help. From there, they naturally call or click.
Wrong-o, my friend. There is no natural progression of any sort. In fact, here’s a cardinal rule of marketing (and you may not like this, but it’s true):
If you don’t tell someone what to do, they will do nothing whatsoever.
Don’t believe me? Go into a store or look online at any retailer. You see stuff for sale, and right next to the pretty picture is this nifty graphic that tells you to order the darn thing. If that button wasn’t there, people wouldn’t order. They’d look around, learn all about the items, and then move on.
This is not rocket science, but apparently it’s something the legal community fails to grasp. I think it goes back to the sense of entitlement that’s instilled into us when we pass the bar. It’s that belief of, I’m a lawyer. If I show people how much I know, they’ll gravitate to me. And though that might be true in the long-run, you’re leaving it all to chance unless you take the step of telling someone what you want them to do.
Here are some ideas to help get you started):
- Put a contact form on the upper-left hand corner of your blog, right below the header. Eye-tracking studies show that people look to that area as informational in nature rather than ad-related, which is why you should put it on the left side rather than the right side. Also, by putting it “above the fold,” you’re not forcing people to scroll on your site to figure out what to do.
- Put your contact information in the header itself – phone, address, email, etc. This makes it easy for people to find you.
- Add a page to your blog and title it something along the lines of, “Work With Me,” or, “Become My Client.” Giving the reader somewhere to look for those next steps is a great way to move them from Point A to Point B.
- At the end of each blog post, tell the reader what you’d like them to do next. Maybe you want more subscribers to your RSS feed, or people to sign up for your mailing list. Whatever it is, be clear.
These aren’t the only ideas, but you can (hopefully) see ways in which your law firm blog can become a more effective legal marketing tool.
Share your ideas in the comments section!
Photo courtesy of billolen.
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While I agree you need the “call to action” features on your blog. It is usually the position of those who have done studies and watched web site and blog readers those features should be in the top right hand corner.
Regarding RSS, have you tried the What Would Seth Godin Do plugin for WordPress? It automatically suggests to a first time reader to subscribe.
Grant, the studies I've seen indicate that users expect advertising to be on the right side of a blog. That's borne out by the eye-tracking studies here:
http://bit.ly/F1X4W
http://bit.ly/6Jsti
Users have an expectation of ads on the right side, and so are less likely to spend time on that side of the site. I'd love to see your sources, though; I've been wrong before, and am happy to believe my right/left is mixed up now as well.
I've seen WWSGD. I'm using Subscribe Remind, tailored with a custom message. The magic of WordPress is that so much of this stuff can be done without a whole lot of hassle.
Good Post! I agree with your advice. With regards to the comments already made, not all blogs have advertising and for lawyers, I am not sure it would be helpful for them to have it on their blogs unless it was promoting a particular service, event or report etc.
The big thing is to get lawyers to write blog posts that encourage action rahter than passivity!
interesting
Hi Jay,
Love your blog – I'm using the Headway theme as you recommend – do you have any suggestions regarding a good contact form plugin for the sidebar? Or do you use a paid service like aweber or icontact?
Hi Jim – I use AWeber and InfusionSoft for my email marketing. AWeber is excellent for most uses, and InfusionSoft is more of a heavy-lifting CRM solution along the lines of salesforce.com.
I read this like 3 times already and im still in to it, thanks for the wonderful post you have, attorney marketing, law firms or even law marketing can check what they're missing so that they wont fail the next time around.
I read this like 3 times already and im still in to it, thanks for the wonderful post you have, attorney marketing, law firms or even law marketing can check what they're missing so that they wont fail the next time around.
I'm new to reading this blog, but I'm already hooked. There is simple, straightforward, helpful information about legal marketing here.