Authentic Law Marketing Blog

Attracting Profitable Clients In A Post Recession Market

Elizabeth Ferris — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:58:40 -0600

The recession might be over but the recovery has been challenging for some law firms and lawyers. How do you move ahead of the competition and position yourself for continued success in a post recession market?

There are many approaches to building a successful law practice, however, for lawyers who want to leverage their core competency and attract profitable and desirable clients, it is essential to build a marketing plan that is based on clarifying who is your ideal client.

Knowing the answer to this question will help you to create:

Positive word of mouth marketing about your reputation. This comes from satisfied clients who trust you and believe that you understand and know how to solve their problems. Different clients require different solutions. For example, in divorce, the over 50 client who has been in a long term marriage will require different resources than the young professional who has been married for a few years. If your target client is the over 50 audience, how are you exceeding their expectations in the services you deliver and the resources you provide?

Content that attracts the right client. Clients will respond to articles, web sites and blog posts that are relevant to them and their situation. Different clients will resonate with different messages.For example, if you are a Family Lawyer whose target audience is professional woman, write about the problems and challenges professional woman face in divorce. Include your articles and published papers on your LinkedIn profile, write a press release demonstrating your expertise.Writing relevant content that emphasizes your expertise and placing it in front of targeted clients(Web site, LInkedIn profile, blog, etc.) is one the best ways for attracting the right clients and referral sources.

Consistent and relevant top of mind awareness. Many people are experiencing information overload, too much information and too many choices can distract prospective clients and referral sources from paying attention to your law practice. Clients and referral sources will respond to what is relevant and visible to them at the time they have a problem. Think about when most people start paying attention to which Universities their children will attend, usually it is when their children are in their 11th or 12th year of high school. The same is true with clients who have legal needs. For example, one of my clients is a criminal defense lawyer who experienced an increase in calls for theft cases after he posted a blog on the consequences for retail theft after black Friday. His message was visible and relevant to the clients he wanted to attract to his practice. Since you don’t know when your prospective clients or referral sources will have a problem you can solve, it is important to maintain consistent and targeted visibility.

You can create a successful marketing plan that attracts desirable and profitable clients by clarifying who your ideal client is and then building a plan that positions you as an expert at solving their most critical problems.

What is working for you? Are you attracting the "right" clients to your practice? If not, what is one thing you can do today to start building a thriving practice that attracts desirable and profitable clients?

Many times it is difficult to create a marketing plan on your own, contact me if you have questions or would like guidance on how to create your client-centered marketing plan.

The Value of a Law Firm Retreat- Don't let the "urgent" take over the "important"

Elizabeth Ferris — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:48:01 -0600

Last week, I received an email from a managing partner of a successful firm. He had just received an invitation from a legal education organization encouraging him to enroll in a CLE. Included in the invitation was the following list of what lawyers should worry about:

Things to worry about:

Worry about courage.
Worry about integrity.
Worry about efficiency.
Worry about whether you're a good enough listener.
Worry about whether you're honing your skills.

Things not to worry about:

Don't worry about popular opinion.
Don't worry about the past.
Don't worry about the future.
Don't worry about triumph.
Don't worry about failure unless it's your fault.
Don't worry about satisfactions.

Things to think about:

How thorough is my legal knowledge?
How good am I as an analytical thinker?
Do I really understand people, and do I get along with them?
Are my skills better this year than they were last year?

His question to me was:

"How can you not worry about the future – that is what we are trying to improve!"

I believe the answer to his question can be found in the following quote from management guru Peter Drucker:

" The best way to predict your future is to create it."

I think every great lawyer wants to deliver exceptional value to clients, be part of a successful and innovative law firm and have security about the future.

The key to achieving these goals is to have the discipline to not let the urgent get in the way of the important.

You can accomplish this by taking a strategic pause from the "urgent" day- to- day activities and focus on the "important" long-term strategic activities.

Give consideration to an annual law firm retreat. In the retreat, focus on thinking critically, anticipating, deciding, aligning, learning and following up on breakthrough strategies that will move your firm in the direction you want it to go.

We are experiencing change faster today than at any other time in our history. Instead of worrying about the future, create the future you want.

The following are a few questions to ask the leaders in your firm :

• Where is your firm today? ( Who are your clients? What is the culture of your firm? What are the firms critical issues and success factors? Assess and synthesize multiple sources of information)

• Where does your firm want to be in the next 3-5 years? ( Look beyond the periphery of your current business)

• What is your plan for achieving your goals? ( What needs to change? How are you prioritizing key strategies? What will you start doing more of/less of? )

What do you worry about? How do you take a "pause" from the urgent and focus on the "important"? What challenges do you face when trying to align your partners around a long-term vision?

Lawyer Marketing Strategies- How do lawyers meet financial and origination goals?

Elizabeth Ferris — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:15:00 -0600

The best strategy for meeting your financial and origination goals is to increase referrals for desirable clients. For most lawyers the top three sources for referrals include:

- Web site/internet
- Professionals
- Past clients

A successful business development plan incorporates strategies for all three categories. This post will focus on one of the most important sources for referrals, building your professional network.

Building your professional referral network begins with clarity on who is in your network and who you want in your network.

One of your best marketing tools is to have an organized and updated spreadsheet of existing and prospective referral sources. While creating and maintaining this list may seem like a logical and worthwhile marketing strategy, I have found that most lawyers find it difficult to find the time to develop and actively use this important list.

The following are three strategies for building your professional network to get you started:

1. Create your list of referral sources:

Review your cases for the last 12-24 months and include current professionals who have referred to you.
Include professionals who serve your target clientele, i.e. lawyers, mental health professionals, financial specialists and wealth managers, etc.
Organize your referral into “A”, “B’ and “C” categories. “A” referral sources are those who have referred multiple clients, referred desirable clients and/or who serve your target market.

2. Initiate contact with the professionals on your list. Aim for 1-3 contacts a week with “A” referral sources. The following is a list of ways you can stay top of mind with important referral sources:

* Post a company update on LinkedIn
* Send a hand written note
* Invite them for coffee or lunch
* Send a LinkedIn invitation
* Comment on their blog
* Comment on their LinkedIn post
* Include their name in your press release, article or blog post
* Retweet their tweet
* Send a referral
* Invite them to an event
* Set up a Google Alert for their name and company
* "Like" their post on Facebook or other social media resources
* Send an email acknowledging a promotion or award
* Send a Thank you note for a referral ( include a Starbucks card or other simple token of appreciation)
* Email a relevant article or blog post
* Put them in touch with someone who they would benefit meeting
* Offer an introduction to a colleague at your firm or someone in your professional network
* Send an unsolicited LinkedIn recommendation

3. Once you create your referral list, keep the list visible and review it once a week. Keep referral sources in the forefront of your mind so if you see something relevant to your referral sources you can make contact with them.

In summary, if you want to increase referrals from your professional network, schedule the time to review your list and do something each week that brings value or connects you to your network. To be effective, your actions must be authentic and consistent.

What is your plan?

Who are your best referral sources? Do you spend time cultivating your referral sources from all three categories? Are you scheduling the time in your weekly calendar for staying "top of mind" with key referral sources?

Reinvention Is The Key to Survival For Law Firms

Elizabeth Ferris — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:14:21 -0600

This morning CBS news featured a story on the demise of iconic American companies including Hostess and Kodak.

What are the factors contributing to this defeat and how do businesses and law firms protect themselves from becoming obsolete?

Factors that contribute to the downfall of business include, not staying in touch with rising costs, changing tastes or new technologies, not evolving and maintaining the status quo.

Kodak originated the technology for photography and in the 1970's held 90% of the photography market, yet has lost market share by not leveraging this technology in a digital world. Hostess, the creator of Twinkies, was slow to adapt to the changing tastes of a new market.

Scott Galloway, marketing professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, said reinvention is the key for the struggle of survival.

Businesses and law firms that find ways to reinvent themselves are the most successful. Apple is an example of a company who understands the power of reinvention.

What is your law firm doing to reinvent your law practice? The following are a few questions to consider;

* Do you use LinkedIn to build your network, make a contribution and stay connected or do you think LinkedIn is a waste of time?

* Does your web site provide updated content and value to your target client or do you have pages on your site that have been unchanged for 5-10 years?

* Do you stay informed on what is happening in your market by reading high value blogs, following thought leaders on social media sites including Twitter, and participating in targeted LinkedIn group discussions, or are you too busy?

* Is your bio updated and informative about the value you provide clients and what distinguishes you or is it chronological description of your educational background and dates of employment?

* Does your service to clients include collaboration with other professionals or are you going it solo?

* Does your search engine strategy include writing relevant blog posts, informative web site content, useful YouTube videos and on-line press releases or are you relying on “key word stuffing” and outsourced “link building” and content writing to increase your on-line visibility?

* Are you listening to your clients, conducting client evaluations, and providing remarkable service or are you doing what you have always done?

* Does your firm hold law firm retreats to review its strategic vision and target market annually to align marketing activities with your most important goals or are you winging it and hoping you will meet financial and billable hour targets?

The above questions are not inclusive and are meant to stimulate your thinking about how you are reinventing your law practice to maximize your success for prosperous and continued existence.

What additional questions would you include in the list above? What strategies have you implemented to reinvent your law practice?

How Lawyers, Mental Health Professionals and Financial Specialists Can Thrive in a Down Economy

Elizabeth Ferris — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:11:10 -0600

Last week I attended the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals forum in San Francisco and listened to an inspiring and well presented workshop on Collaborative Law. Today, I received a call from two colleagues who were going through divorce and wanted a recommendation for a lawyer, a divorce coach and a business valuation expert. The first names that came to mind were the professionals I heard speaking at the seminar.

Why did I recommend these professionals? There were two reasons:

1. They established credibility by speaking on a topic that conveyed their level of experience and competence.

2. I was reminded about who they were and the kinds of clients they helped by seeing them speak at the conference.

In a similar top of mind awareness situation, one of my clients told me they experience an increase in client calls every time they send the firm newsletter to their professional network. Another client has seen an increase in referrals from two law firms after setting up luncheon meetings. Last week, a lawyer told me his web site referrals have doubled since he has started his blog and updated his web site with client- focused articles.

Even though we are in a difficult economy, the demand for quality legal, financial and mental health professionals has not diminished. You can accelerate the growth of your practice and attract desirable clients by increasing your visibility and credibility with your target referral sources and the public.

The following are ten suggestions for staying top of mind with referral sources and prospective clients:

1. Learn and use LinkedIn to build your network and stay visible. Go to learn.linkedIn for in-depth tutorials on how to use LinkedIn

2. Read and comment on relevant blogs in your industry.

3. Commit to meeting with someone in your professional network at least once a week.

4. Start a firm newsletter and write about topics that are relevant to your target audience.

5. Write consistent press releases.

6. Speak on topics you are passionate about at conferences and events.

7. Start a blog and write about topics that reinforce your brand and are relevant to your ideal client.

8. Write one new article every month and update your web site. Recycle the article for a local magazine advertorial.

9. Join a committee, group or association and make a contribution.

10. Tweet about interesting, relevant and useful information for your target audience.

The above list is not inclusive and should be customized to your unique skills, interests and goals. The critical success factor is to select at least one strategy and implement it consistently.

Let me know what strategies you have found useful to stay top of mind with prospective clients and referral sources.

The Number 1 Challenge for Growing a Collaborative Practice

Elizabeth Ferris — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:59:08 -0600

Last month, I conducted a survey on how to grow your Collaborative Practice. 100 people responded to the survey.

The number one response to the question, “What is your greatest challenge for growing your Collaborative Practice?” was “Getting Clients.”

The top four challenges included:

1. Getting clients
2. Finding the time
3. Educating the public
4. Educating lawyers

Challenges about "getting clients" included:

Finding clients who want to engage in collaborative solutions to divorce
Finding clients with a mind set for collaborative divorce
Getting clients to choose collaborative divorce
Convincing clients the up- front costs are worth it.
Attracting clients who are willing and able to move forward with the collaborative process

How do you attract clients who want Collaborative Law to your practice?

It is far easier to build a collaborative practice by attracting clients who already have a world view consistent with the principles of Collaborative Practice than trying to “convince” someone who may not have an interest in a collaborative approach.

The first step to have a clear understanding of who your target client is and then develop a plan to consistently communicate a relevant and compelling message to your target audience.

The following are four strategies for attracting clients to your collaborative practice:

1. Define your target client. Clearly define the characteristics or your ideal client. What are their hopes, dreams, problems and fears? Think about your actual collaborative law clients. What were their goals? What was an important outcome for them in their divorce? Write down the characteristics of your ideal client.

2. Demonstrate your knowledge on how to solve your target clients problem, Leverage social media, including blogs, LinkedIn, facebook, and twitter to write about the problems and solutions for your target market. For example, if your target client is someone who has been in a long term marriage and wants to protect important relationships, write about the challenges of divorcing after 25 years of marriage and how to address those challenges.

3. Focus your web site content on the solutions for your target client. Does your web site immediately communicate who you help and how you solve problems for the clients you want to attract to your practice? Or does it convey an all things to all people message? The more focused your message, the more successful you will be in attracting desirable clients to your practice. If you want to attract clients who value a less destructive approach to divorce, communicate this in your web site content and headlines.

4. Educate your professional network on who is your "ideal client." Let your referral sources know the characteristics of your best clients. Inform your referral sources on the client problems you excel at in solving. For example, if you are a skilled negotiator and know how to help clients avoid destruction in divorce, tell your referral sources. Convey stories about the clients you helped and the outcome of those cases.

Once you clarify your target client and create a plan to effectively communicate the solutions you offer, you will begin to attract more clients who value what you do best.

What strategies are working for you to attract clients who value Collaborative Law?

View additional articles and information on building your Collaborative Practice.

Five Strategies for Building Your Collaborative Law Practice

Elizabeth Ferris — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 16:34:33 -0600

In the last post I discussed the three essential principles for creating a thriving practice that brings value to your clients and fulfillment to your work.

The following are five strategies for building your Law or Collaborative Practice.

1. Be remarkable at what you do: Excelling at handling client matters requires continuous personal and professional growth. What skills do you want to develop that will increase your value to the clients you want to serve? What additional knowledge and information do you want to acquire that will position you as the best in your field?

2. Stay connected: The foundation for building your practice is based on relationships. The number one way to build relationships and trust is to spend time making a contribution to your community and showing an interest in others.

Who are the most important people, organizations and groups in your professional life? What is your plan to develop higher quality relationships with them? Be selective about the organizations you chose to be involved in. It is better to spend more time on fewer organizations that are in alignment with your interests and target market verses less time on a larger number of generic organizations.

3. Invest in your professional network: People will do business with those they know, like and trust. Professional outreach requires building a successful network of referral sources and staying “top of mind” with key professionals in your network. It also requires making connections with targeted professionals who are not in your network. The outreach you do today will affect the quality of your referrals tomorrow.

Are there professional relationships that might need a little more investment from you? Can you make a contribution to their business or practice? Are there additional influencers you what to include in your professional network?

4. Create exceptional Client Value: Satisfied clients are your best source of referrals. Higher client satisfaction requires a focus on providing superior service, consistently communicating with clients and delivering exceptional value to clients. How can you create an exceptional client experience- one that inspires your clients to tell others about you?

5. Make it easy for your ideal clients to find you: Once you identify your target client, your next step is to be easily found by clients looking for your services. How can you increase your visibility among clients who need what you do best? How can you demonstrate your understanding of “your ideal clients” problem and your capability to solve their problem?

Give consideration to each of the above strategies. What is the one strategy that will make the biggest difference in your practice? In other words, what one thing can you begin doing today that will help you to change your practice and attract more collaborative law cases?

Tip: The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP) web site is an excellent resource for achieving all of the above strategies. Attending Bridging the Globe, the upcoming IACP 12th annual networking and educational forum in San Francisco, is an action step you can take today to “stay connected” and improve your collaborative practice skills.

Have you attended a previous IACP networking forum? If so, how did it help you to build your Collaborative Practice?

For additional resources on growing your collaborative practice visit Collaborative Law Resources at www.ferrisconsult.com

Building a Successful Collaborative Law Practice- Is it possible?

Elizabeth Ferris — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:44:29 -0600

This week I gave a Webinar on Growing Your Collaborative Practice. After the webinar, I received the following question from a lawyer:

"Thank you for the webinar on growing a collaborative practice. Sole practitioners, like myself, find it very difficult to slow down on the work we are doing to focus on something different or one aspect of our practice, we have to pay the bills.

I am very worried about the estimated amount of time it takes for this idea to work, I can’t afford to be in the hole because I switched my focus.

So the idea can work well for a person in a firm where their expenses are paid and they get a salary regardless of the amount billed, but how does that work for the sole practitioner?

How long does it take and what are the stats for success if implemented as you said? For those of us who have expenses and are on the proverbial treadmill to keep the bills paid on our own, how do we balance that with your marketing strategy and what is the average timeline involved?”

I am sharing this question with you because the challenge to grow a Collaborative Law Practice while maintaining a financially viable business is a familiar question among both sole practitioners and lawyers in a law firm. In my experience, there are few, if any, law firms that pay a lawyers salary regardless of the amount billed.

The answer to the above question is based on three principles:

1. You will get more of what you do. The more collaborative law cases you do, the more cases you will get and vice versa. This means if you continue to take cases for clients who do not value what you do best, you will spend more time and energy doing work that is not consistent with your strengths, and capabilities and passion.

2. "This journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"-Lao Tzu. No question, building the practice you want is a significant commitment and can be a long and complicated endeavor. However, by initiating your vision with something short and simple today, you will be moving in the right direction.

3. “Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is”. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Limited beliefs about your practice can limit your success in marketing and successful business development. Is it possible to reframe your belief about marketing? Instead of seeing marketing as time-consuming, distracting and costly, to view marketing as an opportunity to provide you with control for building a practice that is in alignment with your most important goals and values?

In my next blog post, I will provide five strategies for building your Collaborative Law Practice.
Let me know if you agree with these three principles. Do you have any additional suggestions on how to balance growing a collaborative law practice while maintaining a thriving business?

Simplify Your Legal Marketing Plan

Elizabeth Ferris — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:34:23 -0600

Legal marketing can seem overwhelming. In the last week, LinkedIn topics for legal marketing ranged from, “using Google to market your practice for free” to “mobile marketing to build your brand.”

A busy and successful lawyer whose primary focus is to provide quality legal services could experience information overload when it comes to legal marketing.

So what is the solution? In today’s competitive market, a successful legal practice requires attorneys to provide exceptional client service AND execute effective marketing strategies.

My recommendation is to keep your plan simple, over deliver to your best clients and maintain relationships with current and targeted referral sources.

In my practice, I work with lawyers whose primary target market are sophisticated clients who value expert legal service. Their number one referral source for top clients is through other professionals.

Maintaining relationships with current and prospective referrals sources can sound like “old news” in comparison to “mobile marketing” or “using Google to market your practice for Free.” However, in the last few months, I have seen lawyers increase revenue and attract desirable clients by consistently staying top of mind with current and targeted referral sources.

You can implement a simple referral marketing plan by doing three things today:

1. Develop your list of current and prospective referral sources

2. Put your list in a visible place on your desk and review the list once a week.

3. When you see something beneficial to your referral sources make contact with them

The following are few suggestions:

Put them in touch with someone who they would benefit meeting
Invite them to an event
Invite them to speak at a educational event for mutual referral sources and clients
Tell them about a valuable webinar
Refer a client
Add them to your LinkedIn network- recommend a group they would benefit from joining
Send a blog post you wrote or tell them about a useful blog
Ask them to be a guest blogger on your blog
Co-write an article
Subscribe to their blog- tweet one of their posts to your network
Write a LinkedIn recommendation describing their accomplishments
Use LinkedIn to stay connected to your network
Stay current on awards, promotions or activities they are involved in by creating a Google alert for their firm name. Send a short email congratulating their achievement or recognition.

An important component to building a successful legal marketing plan is knowing who your current and desired referral sources are, acknowledging their importance in your practice and staying top of mind by consistently communicating with them in a meaningful way.

Let me know if you have additional suggestions for nurturing and growing important relationships with your referral network.

Creating a Unified Law Firm Vision- Is it worth the effort?

Elizabeth Ferris — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:57:05 -0600

Last week I received a question from a mid size law firm with 65 partners that I felt may be a familiar question for executive directors, managing partners and law firm CEO’s. The question was:

“The partners have a common mission, but not much of a unified vision for the future or a clear sense of what we value. Do you have suggestions?”

Upon further investigation I learned about the firm’s situation and source for concern regarding the lack of a shared vision.

The firm was experiencing significant growth and acquiring smaller firms in the same area of law. Although the acquisitions were profitable, the lack of cohesion among the partners was causing internal conflict, delaying important decisions and limiting the firm’s growth opportunities.

Without a common goal for where the firm was headed, it was difficult to bridge the gap between differing opinions on where the firm should devote valuable and limited resources.

Creating a shared vision for law firm’s often falls on the back burner and is not viewed as a top priority, especially when resources and time are in limited supply. However, lack of alignment around a shared vision is at the root of reduced productivity, decreased profitability and diminishes the opportunity for attracting top talent.

The following are strategies for creating a shared vision:

Schedule a law firm retreat. Require all equity partners to attend.
Prepare in advance for the retreat. Clarify the retreat purpose and most important goals.
Assign homework prior to the retreat to identify the firms critical issues and commonalities.
Create a safe environment for unfiltered dialogue in the retreat.
Follow up on the goals and initiatives defined in the retreat.
Educate all employees on the firms shared vision and their role in achieving success.

My recommendation is to take a step back from the day to day demands of urgent/important activities and ask yourself the following questions:

When was the last time your partners came together to dialogue about your shared vision for the firm’s future?
How is your internal structure aligned to support your most important goals? What does success look like?
How are you leveraging your firm’s vision to attract top talent and to differentiate your law firm in a competitive legal market?

Let me know if spending the time creating a shared vision is considered a valuable use of time. If so, what are the challenges your firm is confronted with to create a shared law firm vision?

Law Firm Education Seminars- Are they worth the investment?

Elizabeth Ferris — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:30:03 -0600

One of the best ways to reinforce your brand is through consistent education programs to your targeted referral sources and professional network. By consistently educating your professional network on relevant topics that solve their client's most important problems, you are positioning yourself as a credible thought leader in your area of expertise.

Many law firms ask, what is the return on investment for educational seminars? Will the seminar result in new clients? Will the right professionals attend the seminar?

The answer to the “return on investment” question is based on the planning and preparation you do in advance of the seminar. What are your goals? What results will define success?

A prominent family law firm recently gave a high profile educational seminar to their local community on the topic of Domestic Violence in Upscale Communities. The seminar resulted in strengthening existing professional relationship and forming new relationships with community leaders. The key factors contributing to the successful outcome included:

Passion: The lawyers and judges who were on the panel were passionate on the topic of combating Domestic Violence.
Authenticity: The purpose of the seminar was to educate the community on an issue of high importance to the community.
Expertise: The firm has a high level of expertise on the topic. A senior partner in the firm worked with the legal and legislative communities for the past 25 years to shape the Illinois Domestic Violence Act.
Community Interest: Domestic violence in affluent families is a grave and epidemic issue and is one of the underlying factors for murder cases in the community.
Follow up: The firm created an educational press release and included a YouTube video on segments of the seminar.

Most importantly, the quality presentation, relevant topic and reputation of the prestigious panel positioned the firm as a thought leader in Family Law.

What strategies have you found useful for reinforcing your brand and positioning your firm as a thought leader? Do you think face to face education programs are still a valuable marketing strategy for law firms?

Family Law Marketing to the LGBT Community- Putting Strategies into Action

Elizabeth Ferris — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 05:00:00 -0600

In my last blog post, I wrote about maximizing your law firm marketing ROI, in this post I would like to share an example on how to put these strategies into action.

Yesterday a family law firm called me because they wanted an ad for a LGBT magazine featuring families in the upcoming fall publication. They were on a tight time-line and needed the ad by the end of the week. The original plan was to do a one-time ad in the special feature on Families for the publication.

Before moving forward with the one-time ad, I wanted to learn more about the firm’s bigger picture goals. One of the goals for the firm was to be recognized as a family law firm knowledgeable about the important family law issues facing the LGBT market. Instead of putting an expensive one-time ad in the publication, limiting the firms return on investment, we created an integrated and targeted campaign to position the firm as a thought leader on family law for LGBT families. The campaign included the following strategies:

Write and submit an informational press release to the editorial staff. Focus the release on a single topic relevant to the target audience and provide helpful, practical and valuable information. Note: Substantive and current information on gay marriage and divorce is a strong hook for the media given the recent change in gay marriage laws.
Develop a series of 3 advertisements targeted towards the interests of the magazine’s readers. Maintain a consistent ad for 6-12 months.
Include a call to action in each advertisement.
Create a relationship with the publication as an expert in family law issues related to the LGBT community.
Identify social media opportunities to leverage the campaign including re-purposing the press release for a blog post and putting the blog post on Face book, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Leverage LinkedIn groups to spread the word to the local LGBT community. Include a link on LinkedIn to the editorial article in the LGBT publication.
Update web site to include a section on LGBT partnership agreements.
Promote the firms focus on Collaborative Law as a beneficial option for gay marriage and divorce.

In summary, a one-time project with questionable “ROI” value was transformed into a targeted marketing strategy positioning the firm as a thought leader in the LGBT community. Your firm can increase your marketing ROI by executing the following key elements:

Align all marketing activities with the firm’s most important goals.
Implement an integrated marketing strategy to reinforce your message.
Avoid a generic “all thing to all people” approach and target your message to a specific audience.
Provide relevant content that makes a contribution to your intended audience.
Focus press releases, blog posts and articles on current, substantive, newsworthy topics verses self promotion, announcement-oriented content.

If you have questions on how to maximize your marketing investment, email me at eferris@ferrisconsult.com

Maximize Your Law Firm Marketing ROI

Elizabeth Ferris — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:14:53 -0600

Many lawyers are frustrated with law firm marketing activities. Often I hear lawyers complain about the time and cost of marketing and the uncertainty on the return on investment (ROI) for these activities. So where do you start AND what activities will afford you the highest return on the time and money you invest in law firm marketing?

The following are four strategies designed to give you direction when deciding “where to start” and how to maximize your marketing ROI.

1. Before embarking on any marketing activities, define your goal- what do you want to achieve? Clarify how the activity is in alignment with advancing your firm in the right direction (firm’s vision). This will require time, however, the effort you put into this step will be repaid later.

2. Whenever possible, never do a marketing activity in isolation, i.e. a onetime advertisement in a publication or magazine. Instead focus on an integrated plan that leverages your effort, i.e. article and repeat advertisements in a publication intended to target your ideal market.

3. Always maximize the effort you invest in marketing activities. Consistently repurpose your marketing activities, including the article you wrote or the speech you gave. Your article can be repurposed into a blog post or an article for your firm newsletter or local community magazine. Your speech or seminar can be given to multiple markets. Reinforce your brand by writing quality content describing your firm’s unique differentiator on your web site home page. Repeat this message on all your press releases, announcements and social media biographies.

4. Effectively utilize social media to create a viral buzz about your area of expertise. Listen to the conversation going on in your LinkedIn groups, twitter followers and industry blogs. Make a contribution to the conversation by commenting on a topic and adding a link to your blog post or article. Write about the solutions for the most relevant problems your social media groups talk about.

In summary, to maximize the effort you put towards marketing, always start with a plan that answers the question… what is our goal and how will this activity advance our firm in the direction we want to go?

Marketing with a purpose will help you to focus your marketing activities and maximize your marketing investment.

For more information on how to maximize your marketing efforts, email me at eferris@ferrisconsult.com

Effective Strategies for Writing Law Firm Web Site Content

Elizabeth Ferris — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:47:30 -0600

An effective web site starts with compelling, updated and meaningful content. Research demonstrates we have 10 seconds to grab a prospective client’s attention with web site content and 55 seconds to develop an understanding of what services we are offering.

The following are 10 strategies for writing effective web site content.

1. Write relevant content. Use the inverted pyramid concept. Put the most important information at the top. Start with your conclusion in the first paragraph.

2. Write in a conversational tone. Avoid industry jargon and use clear and simple language. Use examples to help the reader understand. Let your personality come through.

3. Chunk your ideas. People scan web pages instead of reading them. This means write one idea per paragraph. Create a sub heading for each paragraph to make it easier to read at a glance.

4. Know who you are talking to. Write your web site content with the client you want to attract in mind. What are their problems, interests and goals? What is most relevant to them?

5. Format your content with bullets, numbers or sub headers. Keep the bullets short

6. Provide tips and strategies people can remember. Offer a list of 5-10 tips for avoiding a problem or achieving a goal. Summarize your tips at the end of the article.

7. Use effective titles. Help your reader to know what your content is about (and why it matters to them) with a descriptive title. For example, “Ten Strategies for a Smart Divorce.”

8. Keep your sentences short. Use words that are most important for conveying your message.

9. Write approximately 500 words per page to optimize your site. Include key words in your content.

10. Check spelling and punctuation. Edit and proof read everything you write.

Your web site content is one of the most powerful marketing tools you have for growing your practice. You can attract desirable clients by conveying a message through your web site that is relevant, compelling and meaningful.

What are your greatest challenges in writing effective web site content?

Ten Questions to Inspire a Successful Law Practice

Elizabeth Ferris — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:30:39 -0600

Most lawyers and Collaborative Law professionals struggle with not having enough time to build a law practice that attracts desirable and profitable clients. You can take charge of your practice by assessing your practice development strengths and weaknesses.

Read the following questions and rate the response with a score of 1-5. (1 - Not at all true and 5 - very true.)

Purpose/Vision: Have you internalized “what” you want your practice to be and “why” this is important to you?
Competence: Do you schedule time for attending conferences, workshops and advanced education?
Best Clients: Do you know who your target client is and how to attract them to your practice?
Core Message: Is your message distinctive? Does it differentiate you? Is it relevant to your target client?
Consistent Brand: Does your brand communicate what you do, who you serve and the value you provide clients. Is it memorable?

Client Communication: Do your clients feel heard after they meet with you? Do you provide accessible and relevant education resources for your clients? How promptly do you return calls?
On-line visibility: Does your website clearly communicate what you do and who you do it for? Does it reinforce your brand with high value educational resources and an informative blog? Do you have an updated bio on your web site and other social media sites including LinkedIn, twitter and Facebook?
Building a referral network: Have you educated your referral sources on what distinguishes you and who your best clients are? Do you know the same information about your referral sources? How are you bringing value to your top referral sources?

Exceptional Client Experience: Do you send out client evaluations and debrief with colleagues about improving your client’s experience?
Measure your results: Do you consistently evaluate how you get cases and assess your targeted goals with actual goals on a monthly basis?

Review your answers and make a note of the responses that scored below a 3. What are your top three priority actions for the next 90 days?

You can take charge of your practice by focusing on what you want and having a realistic understanding of what you need to do to achieve your goals.

How to Spread The Word About Collaborative Law

Elizabeth Ferris — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:32:49 -0600

Last week I was in England and participated in the launch of Collaborative Law week, a week of educational events, articles and activities dedicated to raising the profile of Collaborative Law in the West of England. The week, organized by Collaborative Family Lawyers, began with a networking event in Bristol attracting over 100 professionals.

The networking event included brief presentations to educate referral sources on the value of Collaborative Law. I gave an introduction on how to attract clients to Collaborative Law, his Honour Judge Barclay gave an endorsement of Collaborative Law and told a compelling story on how children are negatively impacted by high conflict divorce and Collaborative Lawyer, Richard Sharp talked about the benefits of Collaborative Law from the client’s perspective citing quotes from satisfied clients.

The event was a huge success, because five things occurred.

1. The program included a “sticky message.” All presentations, videos and handouts focused on the value proposition of Collaborative Law. Everyone in attendance walked away knowing what Collaborative Law is, who it is was for and how it benefitted clients.

2. Attendees were influencers in the business community. Each POD member was asked to invite 10 top referral sources to the event. The referral sources were high level professionals who wanted to network with other high level professionals and learn about resources for better serving their clients.

3. The excitement about Collaborative Law was contagious and created a “power of context” environment that influenced professionals to want to learn about Collaborative Law and get involved. I personally met two financial advisors who wanted to learn how to become part of the Bristol POD.

4. Collaborative Family Lawyers leveraged social media to “spread the word.” The successful campaign included:

a. Collaborative Law You Tube video

b. Bath Lawyers promote Collaborative Law week You Tube video

c. Collaborative Divorce News Blog

d. Face book page

e. A Collaborative Law twitter profile

f. Revised web site to include relevant compelling content for divorcing and separating couples

5. Collaborative Professionals worked together to make the program a success. The Launch initiatives were led by Collaborative Lawyer Peter Berry who inspired members in the West of England PODs to make a contribution to the event. Julia Smart, a Collaborative Lawyer in Bristol said, “The event brought us together because we were all working on a project that was important to us and our practice.”

With over 30,000 trained Collaborative professionals in 24 countries, we have the opportunity to move Collaborative Law towards a tipping point. This will require Collaborative Professionals to work together to effectively spread the Collaborative Law message in a way that is relevant, meaningful and speaks to the goals and interests of clients and referral sources.

Has anyone else participated in a successful Collaborative Law event? If so tell me your story.

Four Strategies For An Effective Lawyer Bio

Elizabeth Ferris — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 10:15:01 -0600

A recent analysis of activity on my clients’ websites showed the most read section was attorney bios. Even more interesting, another client of mine recently revised her bio and retained a high-asset client for her firm because her client liked her bio. These examples are consistent with studies showing that lawyer bios are the most-viewed pages on a law firm’s web site.

A well written- client focused attorney bio is an effective marketing tool for attracting desirable and profitable clients.

What are the components to a successful bio?

The first is starting with the right focus. Many lawyer bios are focused on answering the question, “How can I impress you?” rather than “How can I help you solve your problems?”

My suggestion is to look at your bio like an inverted pyramid. The large end of the pyramid answers the question, “How can I help you?” The smaller end provides information about your experience and credentials. Too often, lawyer bios start with facts such as graduation dates, memberships, years in practice, awards received, etc. But raw facts don’t resonate with clients, nor do they effectively communicate who you are and why you are the best lawyer for solving their problems.

The fundamental goal of your bio is to convert on-line searches into telephone inquires about your practice that lead to new clients.

The following are four strategies for writing an effective bio for your law practice:

1. Communicate your personality: What is your approach to your work? What is your philosophy on how you work with clients? What are your strengths? What are you passionate about in your chosen practice area?

2. Differentiate yourself: Who is your ideal client? Define your target audience, then speak to their interests and goals. Describe what makes your practice unique. What client problems are you good at solving? Avoid trying to be all things to all people.

3. Create a dynamic bio: Update your bio, include recent articles and links to on line press releases, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media sites.

4. Make it easy for client’s to contact you: Include your email address and direct phone number as well as your mailing address and fax number.

The bio you provide on your website is one of your most important marketing tools. Invest the time to refine your bio and communicate the value you provide for your clients. The more that clients know who you are and what you can offer to solve their problems, the greater opportunity you have for converting on line searches into new clients.

What are your challenges in updating your bio? Send me questions or call me if you are finding it difficult to refine your bio.

What Are Your Reasons For Work?

Elizabeth Ferris — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:15:10 -0600

Like many business owners, one of my favorite blogs is Seth Godin’s blog. In today’s blog, Seth defined the Eight Reasons to work:

Reasons to Work:

For the money
To be challenged
For the pleasure/calling of doing the work
For the impact it makes on the world
For the reputation you build in the community
To solve interesting problems
To be part of a group and to experience the mission
To be appreciated

Review the above list and think about how you feel with each reason. What ignites your energy? Is it to be challenged, to be part of a group and to experience the mission or is it to solve interesting problems?

Once you identify the reasons for work that resonate with you. Begin to create a business plan that is in alignment with the work you want to do.

Resolve to do something every day that moves you toward your major goal. By focusing on the reasons behind your plan, you will be more focused and disciplined in achieving your goal.

I would like to hear from you. What are the barriers and challenges that keep you from doing work that is in alignment with your most important reasons for work?

How Collaborative Law Professionals Can Attract Clients- Four Strategies for Success

Elizabeth Ferris — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 17:19:44 -0600

At the 11^th annual International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP) Networking forum, Kevin Fuller and I gave a workshop on Influencing the Influencers. The workshop was about engaging thought leaders and high influencers to embrace the value of Collaborative Law and promote word of mouth marketing.

Who are the influencers?

· Clients

· The public at large

· Professionals ( Financial, legal, mental health, clergy, education, health care)

Of these influencers, clients are the number one influencer for word-of-mouth marketing.

If clients do not experience positive results from the Collaborative Law process, no amount of media hype, social media attention or advertising will move it towards a tipping point.

What does this mean for Collaborative Law practitioners?

For Collaborative Law to reach the masses, I believe practitioners need to reframe the question:

From: How do I get clients to want Collaborative Law?

To: What do Collaborative Law clients want?

This means shifting the focus from lawyers, the practice group, the team and the features of Collaborative Law to maximizing the client experience through positive results.

One of the opportunities for growing a Collaborative Law practice is through effective word-of-mouth marketing.

Satisfied clients and successful outcomes will produce powerful word-of-mouth marketing and change the way clients think about resolving conflict.

Four Strategies

The following are four strategies designed to focus on the "client experience."

1. Check your ego at the door. This is not about the lawyers, the practice group, the collaborative team or the features of Collaborative Law. It is about the client. By looking at the situation from the client’s point of view, clients will sense your authenticity in wanting to help them to solve their problem. For example, clients will not resonate with the value of the interdisciplinary team until they understand how the collaborative team will help them achieve their most important goals.

2. Focus on the results the clients want to achieve. For Collaborative Law to grow, clients need to see how the process will help them achieve the best results. Kevin Fuller of Koons Fuller and Jim Galvin of Schiller DuCanto & Fleck are sought-after family lawyers who get great results for their clients through Collaborative Law. Referrals sources and clients seek out Kevin and Jim because of their reputation for getting positive results for clients.

3. Communicate your your expertise in solving client’s high priority problems. Rather than focus on the description of Collaborative Law in your web site, talk about how you help clients minimize stress in divorce, avoid financial ruin or protect children from the pain of conflict.

4. Provide exceptional service and target the right influencers. In his book Purple Cow, Seth Godin brilliantly summarizes how the rules of marketing have changed. I believe these rules apply to marketing legal services.

The old rule was: Create safe ordinary products (services) and combine them with great marketing.

The new rule is: Create Remarkable products (services) that the right people seek out.

Everyone trained in Collaborative Law Practice can accelerate the growth of their practice. You can build a practice that makes a positive difference in the lives of your clients and their families while providing a fulfilling and profitable practice . Take a moment to think about the way you look at your practice. Ask what a Collaborative Law client wants and do everything possible to be sure that you are over-delivering on helping clients achieve their most important goals.

I would like to hear from you, let me know if you agree or disagree with my comments on accelerating the growth of Collaborative Law. What is working/not working for you and your Collaborative Law colleagues?

Note: To listen to a pod-cast on communicating the collaborative law message go to the IACP web site , Login as a member, click on Streaming Audio Library and go to February 24, 2010: “Educating Your Community about Collaborative Practice” Presented by Kevin Fuller and Elizabeth Ferris

Five Characteristics of Successful Collaborative Law Practitioners

Elizabeth Ferris — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:02:06 -0600

I just returned from speaking at the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals 11th annual networking forum in Washington D.C. The theme of the conference was Creating the Collaborative Connection - Commitment, Competence and Community.

The conference brought together lawyers, mental health professionals and financial advisers who want to help clients settle cases outside of court and minimize the financial and emotional destruction of divorce and civil disputes.

Throughout the conference, the importance of establishing a commitment, creating community and achieving excellence through competence was emphasized as the foundation for building a successful collaborative law practice . I would like to add two additional characteristics to the formula for accelerating the growth of collaborative law. These include communication and client value.

The following is a summary of the five characteristics that work for practitioners who have succeeded in building a collaborative law practice.

#1 Successful practitioners know what they want, believe in their vision and are committed to achieving their vision.

Another way to describe this characteristic is through commitment, which is defined as “The state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action.” The first step in building a strong practice is having a clear idea of what you want, internalizing the value for achieving this goal and committing to the “action” to realize your goal.

"Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans"     Peter F. Drucker

#2 Successful practitioners have a relentless pursuit for competence.

What every successful practitioner has in common is they consistently work towards mastering the underlying skills necessary for delivering exceptional client value. With increased skill comes confidence, allowing practitioners to internalize the value of their service and communicate this value to clients and referral sources.

“Without passion, all the skill in the world won’t lift you above craft. Without skill, all the passion in the world will leave you eager but floundering. Combining the two is the essence of the creative life.”                                                        -Twyla Tharp

#3 Successful practitioners contribute to building their community

Participation in your professional community is essential to growing a strong collaborative law practice. One of the critical requirements for consistent referrals is establishing a foundation of trust among professionals. The number one way to build trust is to spend time making a contribution to your community and showing an interest in others.

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give"
                                      -Sir Winston Churchill

#4 Successful practitioners effectively communicate what they do, who they do it for and the value of their service.

In the Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell describes a “sticky message” as one of the rules for creating a tipping point. Stickiness is a message that makes an impact, is easily understood and is repeatable. Successful practitioners consistently communicate a clear message about their practice so everyone knows what they do, the value they provide and who can benefit from their service.

#5 Successful practitioners have a “client- centric” practice.

Creating and maintaining a client-centered practice is essential for growing a successful practice. A client- centered approach requires the practitioner to deliver superior service and value to clients. This means knowing the needs, interests and goals of your clients and delivering exceptional results. The fastest way to grow a practice is through word of mouth marketing. This will happen if clients have a positive experience with your service.

“The only way to grow a business is through remarkable service.”
- Seth Godin, Purple Cow

In summary the five “C,s” for successfully growing a successful collaborative law practice include:

Commitment
Competence
Community
Communication
Client-centric focus

Review the above characteristics and conduct a self assessment of your strengths and weakness. What areas are you strong and which areas can you improve? Create a plan today for making these characteristics an integral part of your practice. By mastering these characteristics, you will be taking essential steps toward growing your collaborative law practice and creating “the practice” you want, a practice that brings value to your clients and fulfillment to your work.