The Rainmaker Blog

Rainmaker Retreats are just around the corner

Stephen Fairley — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:05:15 -0700

The next group of Rainmaker Retreats are just around the corner. These information-packed law firm marketing seminars are designed to give small firm and solo attorneys the information they need to go back and develop legal marketing strategies that will allow them to build the type of practice they have always wanted. The information presented ranges from legal marketing systems and techniques to internet marketing for attorneys.

The Rainmaker Retreat schedule includes the following dates and locations:
Scottsdale, AZ March 19-20
Roseland, NJ March 26-27
Las Vegas, NV April 9-10
Los Angeles, CA April 16-17

Past participants in Rainmaker Retreats have gone home with information that they could implement the very next business day. The Rainmaker Retreat is different from other marketing seminars in several ways:

First, it is specifically designed for Attorneys at small law firms and solo practitioners. While attorneys at larger firms can benefit from the information presented, it is presented with the Small law firm and solo attorney in mind.

Second, it is a working retreat. You will be creating many of your plans during the retreat.

Third, it is NOT an introductory course.We work very hard to make the material easy to understand and simple to apply, but please understand this is an advanced, in-depth, hard-hitting course.

Fourth, it is designed to maximize the your Return on Investment. Everything about this workshop is focused on one goal—helping you achieve the best results by finding more and better clients in the least amount of time using the least amount of money possible.

Fifth, it offers a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. We are so confident you will benefit from the Rainmaker Retreat that we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied at the end of the first day, just let us know, turn your materials in and we will refund your money.

If you are looking to revolutionize your law firm marketing system register now for one of the Rainmaker Retreats. Just click on the retreat location that interests you.
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Complimentary Rainmaker Retreat Preview DVD is Available
We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at the 2 day Rainmaker Retreat. Yes, we know you are skeptical (we wouldn't have it any other way). So instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your business, we will let our clients do the telling.

Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.

Baseball, social media and legal marketing - the perfect Saturday

Stephen Fairley — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:54:21 -0700

Over the weekend I had the great privilege of being a panelist at the State Bar of Arizona’s Grand Slam or Foul Ball . . . Social Networking for Lawyers - Co-sponsored with The State Bar of California. It was a glorious day in Arizona filled with good conversation, excellent panelists, magnificent food, and of course, baseball.

During the seminar portion of the day – I won’t tease you with the food and baseball – the participants were treated to some great discussion of social media and how it can benefit, and hurt an organization. One of the more interesting thoughts came from Peter Woodfork
Vice President & Assistant General Manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He spoke about the issues involved with athletes using social media and some of the guidance that Major League Baseball is providing to its member clubs. There are legitimate concerns with athletes posting to social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN etc. and many clubs discourage athletes from posting during the season.

This brings up an important business principle – make sure the individuals utilizing social media on behalf of your organization are the appropriate persons to be speaking for the organization. Once something is posted on Facebook, it can live forever on Google.

I shared with the attendees my analogy on where social media fits into a law firm marketing plan. Imagine you have a cylinder and you have to fit large rocks, small rocks, sand, and water into the cylinder. Which ones go first?

I recommend the large ones, which are your referrals and past clients. The small rocks are your grassroots networking activities and your website. The sand in the cylinder is your blog. The water is social media. It ties all of your legal marketing efforts together, but it is not your primary marketing tool.

It was a great seminar for those who attended, and I hope to participate in more in the future. Social media has a place in your law firm marketing plan. Putting that piece in the right place is the key.
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Looking for more Rainmaker Institute Wisdom?
Then sign up for a complimentary Law Firm Marketing Strategy CD. It contains information that will enable you to Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice. The CD is free, so sign up now!

Your vision and goals will drive your legal marketing strategy

Stephen Fairley — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:22:52 -0700

When you, as a business owner, are looking to maximize the return on your legal marketing dollars, you need to be aware of how your business vision and goals influence your law firm marketing strategy. To help you with that, here are some questions to help you with the vision and goal setting process.

How do you define success? – Does success for you equate with growing the firm to a certain number of employees? A particular dollar figure for your income? A firm of a certain size that allows you to take more time off?
What are your personal and professional goals? What kind of firm are you trying to build? A niche firm? A mid-size to large firm? Are you looking to retire early? Are you looking for a firm that affords you ample time off and a high income? All of these things need to be considered as you set your vision and goals.
Where do you want to be 1, 5 and 10 years from now? This goes back to the previous post about making your plans measurable and managed. You should set benchmarks in a variety of areas at the 1, 5 and 10 year marks to help you measure the progress of your plan.

Your vision and goals are yours as the business owner. They need to reflect what you hope to achieve. Don’t base them on others expectations or what you think you should do. Rather, base them on what you want to achieve. Once you have them nailed down, revisit them on a regular basis.

It is only after you have your vision and goals articulated that you can throw your energy into legal marketing strategies that you will be able to design and implement an effective law firm marketing plan.

More on vision and goals tomorrow.
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Unsure about attending a Rainmaker Retreat?
If you are still unsure about attending a Rainmaker Retreat, sign up for one of our complimentary teleseminars. These free one hour calls give you valuable law firm marketing and business tips that you can implement in your law practice right now. Don’t miss this opportunity to preview something that can revolutionize your law practice.

Bringing a systems approach to your law firm marketing and legal practice

Stephen Fairley — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:11:23 -0700

Allow me to introduce Rich Strauch to you. Rich is the Chief Operating Officer here at The Rainmaker Institute, and he brings a great deal of experience with small and medium-sized companies helping them recognize the systems that they need to implement or improve to help them achieve their business objectives.

Rich has identified several systems that every law firm should have in place to be the type of firm they want to be. Those same systems can take their legal marketing strategy from a hit-or-miss proposition to a referral and lead-generation machine. But before the systems are put in place, there are steps that need to be taken to ensure that there is a strong potential for success.

Here are four steps that need to be taken from the outset:

They must be written down. Systems must be written down in a step-by-step manner. – You can’t just say “track incoming prospect telephone calls.” You need a specific set of instructions that answers the 5 w’s – Who, What, When, Where, and Why – to design a set of instructions that can be followed regardless of who is in the position.
They must be measurable. To the extent possible, systems must be quantifiable. If you have a target number of referral source meetings, use the number to help hold yourself accountable. If your goal is a percentage increase, use the numbers in your plan.
They must be managed. Systems are ongoing and dynamic, not static and must be managed. Someone has to be responsible to see that they happen. The best plans are useless if they are not implemented and monitored.
They must be automated. Using software helps to automate the process. Technology can lower the number of man-hours you need to accomplish your goals. Set a goal of automating everything that is possible in your business to you can use your time for high-value work.

Each of these items applies to many facets of your legal practice, including your legal marketing strategy. Many firms have plans that are incomplete, not written down, poorly managed and still reliant on 1980s and 1990s technology – Rolodex anyone? To take your law firm marketing to the next level, start with the steps above. We will have more on this in future blog posts.
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Looking for more proven tactics from The Rainmaker Institute?

Then subscribe to our FREE monthly e-newsletter. One click of your mouse will take you to our site where you can see the current issue and subscribe to our complimentary monthly e-newsletter that will be delivered to your inbox. Each issue is chock-full of legal marketing information you can put to use right away. I think you will find the information in every newsletter something you will want to share with your staff to begin 2010 on the right note in your legal marketing plan.

Rainmaker Retreat bring law firm marketing expertise to New Jersey

Stephen Fairley — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:11:31 -0700

Last November I made a series of presentations of our extremely popular “Becoming A Rainmaker” seminar in conjunction with several bar associations in New Jersey. These seminars whetted the appetite of attorneys for proven law firm marketing advice that they can easily incorporate into their legal marketing strategy.

That thirst for law firm marketing information has grown, which is why we are bringing a Rainmaker Retreat to Roseland, New Jersey on March 26-27. The Rainmaker Retreat is a 2-day marketing boot camp for attorneys that shows them how to generate more referrals and turn more of those referrals into clients.

If you are unsure about attending a Rainmaker Retreat, listen to the words of one of the many attorneys who received practice-changing information during their two day seminar:

Rainmaker Retreat is a full day on Friday and runs from morning until mid-afternoon on Saturday.

Topics that will be covered in the retreat include:

Achieving Expert Status as an Attorney
Building a Strategic Referral Network
Creating Credibility in Your Practice Area
Secrets of Highly Successful Attorneys
Generating More Clients Using the Power of the Press
Leveraging Technology: Beating the Big Firms on the Net
Generating More Clients Using the Power of Speaking
Advanced Technology Tactics for Small Law Firms and Solo Practitioners
Creating Your Marketing System
Implementing Your Legal Marketing System.

Click here to register for the New Jersey Rainmaker Retreat. Our early-bird discount ends soon.

Hurry to reserve your place.

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Can't make the Retreat? Get the Rainmaker Retreat Live!
Over 6,000 attorneys from hundreds of law firms across the country have discovered how to generate more referrals and find new clients by simply applying our Rainmaker Marketing System.
Here's just a sample of what you will discover in this 6 CD set audio program:

Over 22 proven strategies for attracting more and better clients
How to create powerful relationships with over 30 new Referral Sources in the next 90 days
7 ways to find more clients fast and how to select the best ones for you
2 ways to promote your firm to 100,000 people for only $100
5 ways to automate your marketing using technology and the internet
6 secrets top Rainmakers use to dominate their competition
8 steps to creating a 6 month comprehensive marketing plan for your firm
Much, much more!

This live recording of our highly successful 2 day law firm marketing boot camp will inspire you with practical examples, motivate you with sample case studies, walk you through best marketing strategies used by top Rainmakers, and provide a guide for you to quickly implement proven tactics in the next 30 days. You can purchase the Rainmaker Retreat Live here

What can you learn from the large law firms about legal marketing in 2010?

Stephen Fairley — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:26:01 -0700

A recent law firm marketing article shows where the large law firms are planning to deploy their legal marketing resources in 2010. While you are not directly competing with them for clients, you can learn from the research that their staff’s have conducted on the state of legal marketing today.

I find it interesting that the top two items on their marketing agendas are items that we have been encouraging you to implement for some time now – investing in social media and investing in client loyalty interviews.

Social media – such as Twitter, LinkedIN, Facebook, blogs, Youtube etc – allows you to have contact with your clients, prospects and referral sources in the mediums that are most comfortable and familiar for them. Social media should be a part of your integrated Web presence to maximize the effectiveness of search engine optimization and deliver the largest presence possible for your marketing dollar.

Client loyalty interviews are another area where more than 9 out of 10 law firms are spending their marketing dollars this year. Researching what your clients are looking for is standard operating procedure in most companies, and law firms are no exception. I would encourage you to expand this process to include your referral sources. Conduct some anecdotal research with your referral sources and ask what their friends and clients are looking for. That will give you an additional window into the world of your prospective clients.

I encourage you to read the rest of the article to learn all that you can from the larger law firms. They have research and marketing staffs that have put together a wealth of information that you can glean from. In this economy, make use of every resource that is available to you. Especially ones that you don’t have to pay for.
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If you are still unsure about attending a Rainmaker Retreat, sign up for one of our complimentary teleseminars. These free, one-hour calls will give you a taste for the information that will be presented during a Rainmaker Retreat. Don’t miss this opportunity to preview something that can revolutionize your law practice.

Looking for a Rainmaker Retreat Preview? Check out our upcoming Teleseminars

Stephen Fairley — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:27:30 -0700

There are thousands of law firm marketing programs, plans, seminars, workshops and other activities out there clamoring for your time, your attention, and your money. We know that, which is why we offer you a free preview of our Rainmaker Retreat for those who are unsure about committing their time and money to our 2-day legal marketing seminar.

During the one-hour teleseminar, you will learn:

How to Avoid the Most Deadly Marketing Mistakes Attorneys make
3 powerful strategies you must put into action in your practice immediately
How to set yourself apart from your major competitors
Secrets top attorneys are using to generate more referrals right now…
How attorneys are winning even in this economy by implementing this proven 8 step system

I will be your host during the call, which should whet your appetite for the Rainmaker Retreat, which includes this information, and so much more law firm marketing information. The teleseminar is designed to help you make a decision that may revolutionize your legal marketing strategy.

Attorneys who attend our teleseminars quickly learn that the information presented at the Rainmaker Retreat is something that they have not been taught in law school, and can change their lives.

I encourage you to take an hour out of your life and attend our complimentary teleseminars that are scheduled for the following dates and times:

Just click here to register for this complimentary teleseminar. You will be glad you did.
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Looking for more Rainmaker Institute Wisdom?

Then sign up for a complimentary Law Firm Marketing Strategy CD. It contains information that will enable you to Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice. The CD is free, so sign up now!

The Top 10 Things overheard at a Rainmaker Retreat

Stephen Fairley — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:16:03 -0700

Law firm marketing may seem like a dry, tedious exercise. But it’s not! Taking ideas of how to grow a business into the entity that you dreamed it would be when you started out is exciting to people. That is why we have Rainmaker Retreats; to help people catch the excitement of making their dreams come true. We provide the information and actionable steps. You develop them into a coherent legal marketing strategy that takes your business to the level you want it to attain.

To help you understand a little better what goes on at a Rainmaker Retreat, we have listed here for you the Top Ten things said by presenters and attendees at Rainmaker Retreats.

10. “This really isn’t as complicated as I thought it was.”
9. (sound of head slapping) “Why didn’t I think of that?”
8. “Done is better than perfect.”
7. “If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail to you.”
6. “I learned more about legal marketing in 36 hours at a Rainmaker Retreat than I did in all my years of law school.”
5. “I can start implementing this as soon as I get home!”
4. “A good employee can either make the company money or save the company money. A superstar employee will do both.”
3. “Two days with Stephen Fairley is better than any deposition.”
2. “The information is so powerful that you are tempted to leave the retreat after a few hours to begin implementing what you have learned.”

And the number 1 thing overheard at a Rainmaker Retreat is…..

1. “The Fortune is in the Follow-up!”

I encourage you to sign up for one of our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats. There are early-bird discounts available, as well as VIP coaching. It is an investment that will pay dividends for years to come.

If you are unsure about attending a Rainmaker Retreat, join one of our complimentary teleseminars to get a preview of a Rainmaker Retreat.

We have teleseminars scheduled:

Click here to register for one of these information-packed Rainmaker Retreat previews.
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2010 Rainmaker Retreat Dates are set!

Are you looking for a way to fulfill your New Year’s resolution to become more effective in how you spend your legal marketing budget? Do you need guidance and motivation to compose a comprehensive law firm marketing plan? I have a suggestion for you. Come to one of the upcoming Rainmaker Retreats.

The Rainmaker Retreat is a 2-day marketing boot camp for attorneys. Attendees at previous Rainmaker Retreats have come away with many new ideas and actionable legal marketing strategies that they can take home and implement right away.

This spring, we have a number of Rainmaker Retreats scheduled, and more in the planning stages. The current schedule of Rainmaker Retreats is:

Scottsdale, AZ March 19-20
Roseland, NJ March 26-27
Las Vegas, NV April 9-10
Los Angeles, CA April 16-17

Click on one of the locations to register for the Rainmaker Retreat.

Swing for the fences - add some power to your Law Firm marketing plan

Stephen Fairley — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:13:45 -0700

Are you tired of being a singles hitter when other legal marketers are hitting doubles, triples and home runs? Then come to the State Bar of Arizona’s Grand Slam or Foul Ball… Social Networking for Lawyers seminar; which will be held in conjunction with the State Bar of California in Scottsdale, AZ on March 6.

Your legal marketing plan can use a power infusion that will allow you to clear the bases and score more quickly than you will by playing small-ball. Sure, your plan needs the solid singles that put baserunners in scoring position, but sometimes you need to clear the bases and go for the big score.

I will be a panelist during this informative seminar along with four nationally-recognized experts in the field of social media, specifically those with expertise in the use of social media as part of an integrated law firm marketing strategy. Together, we will show you how to use social media to put together a balanced lineup that will keep you moving around the bases and hit for power. You don’t want to be a home run or strikeout only player, but neither do you want to keep moving slowly, one base at a time.

Some of the topics that we will be covering include:

How to separate fact from fiction in social media
Secret strategies law firms are using right now to rapidly increase their platform
Specific tips for attorneys who want to build a referral netwrk on LinkedIn
Steps for attracting highly-qualified prospects on Facebook
Ways to leverage Twitter to build your online following
The power of educational videos on YouTube
Ethics and social media

As an added bonus for attendees at the seminar, baseball is on the agenda! Everyone who attends the seminar will also receive a ticket to the Arizona Diamondbacks vs San Francisco Giants spring training game. Your seminar cost brings you 3 CEU credits applicable to ethics, the seminar, and a seat in the exclusive Charros Lodge, including an all-you-can-eat-and-drink buffet featuring cuisine of Scottsdale restaurants and the standard baseball fare of hotdogs, sausage etc.

Register today to step up to the plate for this valuable internet legal marketing seminar and relaxing afternoon filled with baseball, camaraderie and sunshine.
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Looking for more proven tactics from The Rainmaker Institute?

Highly Successful Legal Marketers Think Strategically About How To Grow Their Business

Stephen Fairley — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:50:56 -0700

Most small and solo law firm marketers are caught up in the day to day activities of making sure everything remains running smoothly. They are very good at Tactical Behavior. However, what they don’t realize is that this same flurry of constant activity that they believe has led to their current success is the same thing that hinders them from reaching the next level of success.

To continue to achieve higher levels of success you must invest time thinking strategically about how to grow your business. Your law firm marketing plan must reflect both the tactical and strategic vision necessary to sustaining business growth.

A typical example is a labor and employment law attorney who attended one of our Rainmaker Retreats. He took the strategic ideas of building his web presence and went back to his practice and implemented them. When I saw him six months later, he told me he had achieved a 1600% return on his investment. You can hear him in his own words here.

This small business was able to achieve this kind of success because the owner moved from just focusing on the day-to-day tactical activities and started thinking strategically about how to grow his business and then executed brilliantly on the growth plan.

You need to do both, it’s not an either or. You need to both think strategically, because it gives you insight into where you are and where you need to go, while executing the plan tactically. Your law firm marketing plan needs to have both of those elements designed to work in harmony if you want to be as successful as possible.

Insight is not enough because insight without action leads to frustration and failure.
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Complimentary Rainmaker Retreat Preview DVD is Available
We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at the 2 day Rainmaker Retreat. Yes, we know you are skeptical (we wouldn't have it any other way). So instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your business, we will let our clients do the telling.

Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.

Time is running out to snap up the early bird discount for legal marketers

Stephen Fairley — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:55:48 -0700

Phoenix is beautiful in March. It’s warm, but not scorching, and it is always sunny, unlike many cities socked in by winter clouds. Spring training will be in full swing and baseball will be in the air. Phoenix is home to the spring training locations for the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, and San Francisco Giants.

It’s also a great location for our first Rainmaker Retreat of 2010, to be held March 19-20 in sunny Arizona. And the Rainmaker Retreat ends on Saturday in plenty of time for you to catch some of the action at the ballparks.This is a unique Rainmaker Retreat, because it is the first one designed for estate planning and business attorneys looking to improve their law firm marketing strategy featuring renowned attorney Jeffrey Matsen. But the early-bird registration discount expires in nine days.

The Rainmaker Institute has formed a joint venture with Jeff Matsen to bring his deep insight into estate planning and business law to attorneys who are trying to create legal marketing strategies that will allow them to grow their business and generate more referrals. Previous Rainmaker Retreat attendees have walked away with information they could take back and implement the next day in their respective offices.

Some of the topics covered in each Rainmaker Retreat include:

Achieving Expert Status as an Attorney
Building a Strategic Referral Network
Creating Credibility in Your Practice Area
Secrets of Highly Successful Attorneys
Social Media for Small Law Firms
Leveraging Technology: Beating the Big Firms on the Internet
Generating More Clients Using the Power of Speaking
Advanced Technology Tactics for Small Law Firms and Solo Practitioners

To register for the Phoenix Rainmaker Retreat, go to the website or call 888-588-5891.

I believe it will be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. It will also revolutionize your law firm marketing strategy and propel you into internet law firm marketing in ways you had not imagined

Using Speaking Events to Generate Publicity for Your Law Firm: A Case Study on How to use News Releases for Legal Marketing

Stephen Fairley — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:57:44 -0700

I don’t usually like to brag about myself, but something happened this week that is worth mentioning because it is instructive for those executing law firm marketing plans. I hope you can learn from this and use it to improve your legal marketing strategy.

As many of you know, back in January I was honored to be the featured keynote presenter for the 2nd Annual Small Firm Summit of the State Bar of California.

As part of the marketing of the Summit, we issued two news releases in advance of the event and one immediately following the event. Those news releases were sent out on a wire service that reaches journalists across the country.

Those news releases captured the attention of a Los Angeles Times reporter who then followed up with me for an interview after the event because of the 4 presentations I gave at the summit.

This resulted in a very solid quote in an article on law firm marketing in the Los Angeles Times based on the presentations I made at the State Bar of California Solo and Small Firm Summit. I also introduced her to one of my attorney clients who ended up being featured in the story.

Did you catch that? The reporter who wrote the story saw the news releases and either had a story idea in her head that we were able to supply experts for, or our news releases gave her the story idea. Regardless of which scenario it was, she contacted those who had made themselves known as experts in the field and wrote the story with them as the quoted sources.

I then just found out yesterday that the venerable Wall Street Journal law blog picked up the story and cited my quote.

I say this to show you how the seemingly simple step of publicizing the events you are participating in or speaking at can lead to media coverage that you may not have been expecting. Publicizing these events builds your internet presence and the additional media coverage is a welcome bonus for your hard work.

I didn’t do it expecting to generate quotes in the Los Angeles Times or the Wall Street Journal blog post—that was all a bonus! I did it to increase my presence on Google because I know Google loves press releases.

Law firm internet marketing requires effort, frequency and consistency to be successful. Media coverage based on your legal marketing is a welcome, and free, benefit that rewards those who have a strong legal marketing plan.

Want to find out more? I'll share all of my secrets to attendees at the upcomingRainmaker Retreat legal marketing boot camps !
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Looking for more proven tactics from The Rainmaker Institute?

Identifying Your Target Market Is Your First Secret To Becoming A Successful Business Owner

Stephen Fairley — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:51:30 -0700

I would like to start by asking a somewhat provocative question, “How would you run your business differently if you saw yourself as the leader of your company not just the service provider?

Over the last few years I have interviewed more than 300 entrepreneurs, small business owners and legal marketing professionals and discovered specific strategies and techniques they use to achieve rapid business growth that is sustained over the long term.

I want to share with you six secrets I uncovered that financially successful entrepreneurs use that unsuccessful ones don’t.

The first secret I discovered is that…

Highly Successful Legal Marketers Start by Identifying their Ideal Target Market

Your Ideal Target Market (ITM) is the person or company who is most likely to retain you initially, repeatedly, and at the highest profit margin. There are 3 key parts here:

Initially—your ITM will retain your services faster than others and present fewer obstacles for you to overcome.

Repeatedly—the most expensive thing a law firm can have is a 1 time client. On average, it will cost your firm 10 times as much to obtain a new client as it does to service an existing one.

At the highest profit margin—your ITM is not the price-conscious consumer. Research tells us that 15% of any market, regardless of what product or service you are selling will always and only buy on price. Your responsibility as a law firm marketing professional is to quickly identify those “15 percenters” and move them out of your pipeline so you can focus on selling to the other 85%.

Identifying and targeting the right market is absolutely critical to the success of your law firm marketing plan. If you don’t target the right market, nothing else you do will matter. To be successful as a legal marketer and attorney, you have to start with a clear picture of your ITM.
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Looking To Beef Up Your 2010 Marketing Plan? Sign up for our upcoming webinar.
Are you:
….Worried about the Recession?
….Concerned with the Lack of New Clients?
….Ready to Stop Worrying and Start Taking Action?

Then join Stephen Fairley for our upcoming webinar that will allow you to build a robust law firm marketing plan that will allow you to attain your 2010 business objectives.

Our upcoming schedule includes:
7 Proven Keys to Recession-Proof Your Law Practice
Thursday, February 18 at 2-3pm Pacific | 3-4pm Mountain | 4-5pm Central | 5-6pm Eastern. Click here to register.

Rainmaker Retreats on the horizon

Stephen Fairley — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:09:44 -0700

The first Rainmaker Retreat of 2010 is just around the corner on March 19. There is so much law firm marketing information shared during a Rainmaker Retreat that I cannot do it justice in a blog post. But I can share with you some of the testimonials received from attorneys who have attended previous Rainmaker Retreats. Their words convey some of what each attendee takes with them as they head back to their individual practice.

Rainmaker Retreat Schedule for Spring 2010 is:
Scottsdale, AZ March 19-20
Roseland, NJ March 26-27
Las Vegas, NV April 9-10
Los Angeles, CA April 16-17

You don’t want to miss this 2-day marketing boot camp for attorneys. Attendees at previous Rainmaker Retreats have come away with many new ideas and actionable legal marketing strategies that they can take home and implement right away.

Click on one of the above dates to reserve your spot at the Rainmaker Retreat. It may be the best legal marketing decision you make this decade.

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Complimentary Rainmaker Retreat Preview DVD is Available
We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at the 2 day Rainmaker Retreat. Yes, we know you are skeptical (we wouldn't have it any other way). So instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your business, we will let our clients do the telling. Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.

Grand Slam or Foul Ball? State Bar of Arizona Law Firm Marketing Event Will Improve Your Swing

Stephen Fairley — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:42:51 -0700

March 6 I will be a panelist during the State Bar of Arizona’s Grand Slam or Foul Ball… Social Networking for Lawyers seminar to be held in conjunction with the State Bar of California in Scottsdale, AZ. The seminar features five nationally-recognized experts in the field of social media, specifically those with expertise in the use of social media as part of an integrated law firm marketing strategy.

Some of the topics that we will be covering include:

How to separate fact from fiction in social media
Secret strategies law firms are using right now to rapidly increase their platform
Specific tips for attorneys who want to build a referral network on LinkedIn
Steps for attracting highly-qualified prospects on Facebook
Ways to leverage Twitter to build your online following
The power of educational videos on YouTube
Ethics and social media

As an added bonus, attendees at the seminar will receive 3 CEU credits applicable to ethics. And everyone in attendance will receive a ticket to the spring training game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants. Your seminar cost includes a seat in the exclusive Charros Lodge, including an all-you-can-eat-and-drink buffet featuring cuisine of Scottsdale restaurants and the standard baseball fare of hotdogs, sausage etc.

Register today to secure your seat at this valuable internet legal marketing seminar and relaxing afternoon filled with baseball, camaraderie and sunshine.
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2010 Rainmaker Retreat Dates are set!

This spring, we have a number of Rainmaker Retreats scheduled, and more in the planning stages. The current schedule of Rainmaker Retreats is:

Scottsdale, AZ March 19-20
Roseland, NJ March 26-27
Las Vegas, NV April 9-10
Los Angeles, CA April 16-17

Click on one of the locations to register for the Rainmaker Retreat.

Focus on the positive

Stephen Fairley — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:11:07 -0700

We have been through a rough time during the past year or two across the country. The economic downturn has many attorneys increasingly concerned with how the tough economy is affecting their practice and their ability to focus on their law firm marketing plans.

As a business owner you cannot afford to focus on the fear and scarcity mentality that is seen today and being promoted by the media. Let’s have a little perspective on this. Is this the best of times? No. Is this the worst we have ever seen it? Not by a long shot. Will we recover? Yes. When? No one knows. Your challenge is to stay focused on taking action, look for opportunity in the midst of crisis and find a way to leverage it!

Here are 5 tips to keeping your focus.

Focus on the positive. I recommend making a list of all of the good things that happen to you each day and keep it posted near your computer as a constant reminder that not everything is bad.

Focus on what you can control, instead of what you cannot control. You cannot control global markets, the investment banks, or the economy. You can only control your actions so create an action plan of what steps you are going to take to keep moving forward. Have a heart to heart talk with every attorney in your firm and require them to submit 3 specific steps they will take in the next 90 days to generate more business for your firm.

Focus on improving client satisfaction and retention. Send out a client satisfaction survey, call up your top 10 clients and take them to lunch, stay connected with your current and former clients – ask them what challenges they are facing and how you can assist them. Perhaps you can introduce them to a banking colleague for a much needed business line of credit or a real estate broker who can help them sublease some office space.

Focus on implementing your marketing plan. When this economic crisis is over you will find some firms have just barely managed to survive, while others have grown significantly. The difference is when everyone else was pulling back, some firms saw this as the perfect opportunity to expand their marketing and increase their efforts. Which path will you follow?

Focus on connecting with referral sources. Go through your rolodex and reconnect with every single person who sent you a referral in the last 24 months and start meeting with them in person.

As the African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, travel alone; but if you want to go far, travel together.” We are all in this journey together.

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Looking To Beef Up Your 2010 Marketing Plan? Sign up for one of our upcoming webinars.
Are you:
….Worried about the Recession?
….Concerned with the Lack of New Clients?
….Ready to Stop Worrying and Start Taking Action?

Then join Stephen Fairley for one of our upcoming webinars that will allow you to build a robust law firm marketing plan that will allow you to attain your 2010 business objectives.

Our upcoming schedule includes:

5 Easy Steps to Create Your 2010 Marketing Plan
Thursday, February 11 at 2-3pm Pacific | 3-4pm Mountain | 4-5pm Central | 5-6pm Eastern. Click here to register.

7 Proven Keys to Recession-Proof Your Law Practice
Thursday, February 18 at 2-3pm Pacific | 3-4pm Mountain | 4-5pm Central | 5-6pm Eastern. Click here to register.

A Strong Financial Plan is Vital For Your Law Firm Marketing Plan

Stephen Fairley — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:49:00 -0700

Previously, I discussed selecting the most effective legal marketing techniques to boost your law firm marketing plan. The techniques include referrals, speaking engagements, networking, online presence, public relations, promotional events and advertising. This post explores the benefits of a strong financial component in your law firm marketing strategy.

This is often the scariest part of writing a marketing plan. One of the biggest reasons for small business failure is lack of available funding to keep it going. This is certainly the case for many new firms and solo practitioners. The financial section of your law firm marketing plan should include:

Your currently available funds (cash in hand for expenses)
A list of your current monthly sales revenues for every category (individual clients, contingency cases, etc)
A breakdown of all fixed expenses including: payroll, office rent, equipment, insurance, taxes, etc.
A 12 month timetable in which you estimate how much revenue you will bring in per client per month (assuming you will not keep every client forever)
A forecast of new revenues—how many new clients do you anticipate per month and at what rate
A comprehensive list of all marketing activities and anticipated expense of each one
A simple profit and loss statement (P&L) in which you subtract your anticipated expenses from your anticipated revenues. It gives you a visual picture of how many new clients you need to run your firm, how much money will be spent in overhead and marketing costs and when you will make a profit. It also allows you to run different scenarios (best case, worst case, average case, minimum revenues, etc), which can help in determining your expenditures.

If you take the time to carefully lay out your financial plan, anticipated expenses, and current revenue generation, these numbers should give you a pretty good idea of how much money you need to have on hand in order to properly fund your marketing efforts.

Often the easiest ways to write up and keep track of these financial charts is by using Excel or another spreadsheet program, but the most important part is the actual process of “running the numbers” rather than the program you use to calculate the numbers.

Below is a sample marketing plan to give you an idea of how your plan might take shape.

MARCH MARKETING CALENDAR
March 8 Send out your monthly ezine to subscribers
March 11 Attend Networking Event 1
March 14, 15 Make all follow up calls to people you met at Networking Event 1
March 15 Send out Press Release about your participation in the upcoming trade show
March 17 Meet with potential Referral Source
March 22 Attend Networking Event 2
March 23, 24 Make all follow up calls to people you met at Networking Event 2
March 28 Meet with potential Referral Source
March 29 Prepare for upcoming trade show
March 31-Apr 1 Attend Trade Show that your prospects attend

A strong financial component is necessary to your law firm marketing plan, because we all know that without the money to implement them, plans aren’t worth much. Be as accurate as possible in estimating your costs before you implement your legal marketing strategies. It will make the process much smoother.
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Over 6,000 attorneys from hundreds of law firms across the country have discovered how to generate more referrals and find new clients by simply applying our Rainmaker Marketing System.
Here's just a sample of what you will discover in this 6 CD set audio program:
Over 22 proven strategies for attracting more and better clients
How to create powerful relationships with over 30 new Referral Sources in the next 90 days

7 ways to find more clients fast and how to select the best ones for you
2 ways to promote your firm to 100,000 people for only $100
5 ways to automate your marketing using technology and the internet
6 secrets top Rainmakers use to dominate their competition
8 steps to creating a 6 month comprehensive marketing plan for your firm
Much, much more!

Looking for Law Firm Marketing Guidance? Come to a Rainmaker Retreat

Stephen Fairley — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:33:33 -0700

This spring, we have a number of Rainmaker Retreats scheduled, and more in the planning stages. The current schedule of Rainmaker Retreats is:

Scottsdale, AZ   March 19-20
Roseland, NJ   March 26-27
Las Vegas, NV  April 9-10
Los Angeles, CA  April 16-17

These are just a few of the attorney marketing techniques you will learn:

5 Proven Attorney Marketing Strategies to Get More Attention, Command More Respect and Charge Higher Fees
How to Ethically Position Yourself as a Specialist in your Area
How to Avoid the Most Deadly Mistake Attorneys Make in Attorney Marketing
More than 22 proven legal marketing strategies to attract more and better clients
How to create powerful relationships with over 30 new Referral Sources in the next 90 days
5 Ways to automate your legal marketing using technology and the internet
7 ways to find more clients fast and how to select the best ones for you
2 ways to promote your firm to 100,000 people for only $100
6 secrets top Rainmakers use to dominate their competition

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to put your firm on the path to greater success; register today to reserve your place at the Rainmaker Retreat.

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We would like to send you a DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at the 2 day Rainmaker Retreat. Yes, we know you are skeptical (we wouldn't have it any other way). So instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your business, we will let our clients do the telling. Click here to order your complimentary DVD right now.

The Legal Marketing Lowdown on PR, Promotional Events and Advertising

Stephen Fairley — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:36:01 -0700

Previously, I discussed selecting the most effective legal marketing techniques to boost your law firm marketing plan. The techniques include referrals, speaking engagements, networking, online presence, public relations, promotional events and advertising. This post explores the benefits of public relations, promotional events and advertising in your law firm marketing strategy.

Public relations, promotional events and advertising are three similar, somewhat interrelated but distinct strategies in a sound law firm marketing plan This post provides a brief overview of each of them.

Public Relations
As a marketing strategy can take the form of writing articles or columns for local newspapers, trade magazines, professional journals, offering an advice column, being a content expert for the media; television, radio or newspaper interviews, writing a press release, or having stories published about your clients and how you helped them.

Public relations can be great for building credibility and brand awareness, but generally does not result in immediate clients. The major benefit of PR is that it positions you a recognized expert and creates awareness of your firm. This is a long-term strategy (6-12 months).

Promotional Events
Generally, this strategy revolves around participating in trade shows, sponsoring a local event, having an open house, or offering “Free” seminars or workshops. Promotional events can be useful in lifting your visibility among your prospects and for building your database, but sometimes cost you a lot more in terms of time and money than they are worth. Plus, it’s often hard to measure the success of the event.

Advertising
Usually advertising is described as mass market media like radio and TV ads, newspaper classifieds or magazine ads, yellow pages, flyers and websites. This is the area most people incorrectly identify synonymously as marketing, but is really just one of the forms marketing and is usually the least effective for attorneys. This strategy is not recommended unless you have a large marketing budget.

Here are the 5 Biggest Mistakes in Attorney Advertising

Most Ads are Not Meaningful.
There is a High Cost to Mass Advertising
Ads can help your firm build “brand awareness” but are not good when it comes to encouraging people to take action
Most Law Firms Lack Follow-up Systems
No Tracking of Real Results

If you are going to commit to the cost of an advertising component in your legal marketing plan, keep these mistakes in mind. Advertising is a significant financial commitment. Make sure that your law firm marketing budget is well-spent on a system with good follow-up and measurable results.

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Becoming a Rainmaker: Business Building Strategies for Lawyers

Based on my highly successful seminar series by the same name, this 3-audio CD program covers dozens of practical recommendations and step-by-step sales and marketing techniques for solo practitioners and small law firms.
I have given this seminar to hundreds of lawyers at state and local bar associations, where it has been very well-received.

To order this valuable seminar, visit our website.

California Solo and Small Firm Summit Recap

Stephen Fairley — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:38:07 -0700

Last week, 175 solo and small firm attorneys from a wide variety of practice areas gathered in Long Beach for the State Bar of California Solo and Small Firm Summit. I had the great privilege of being the keynote speaker during the opening and closing sessions, as well as presenting during two of the breakout sessions. Law firm marketing was not the only topic on the agenda, but it was prominently featured.

The attorneys in attendance were upbeat and positive, despite the recent economic doldrums that have befallen the nation. They were motivated and there for a reason: To learn how to better manage and market their law practice. And there was a wealth of information available to them during the Summit.

I presented “7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm” during the opening session on January 21. Later that day I, along with attorney John Bisnar, presented “5 Core Components of a Highly Successful Website and Blog” during the closing session. On Friday, I presented “8 Proven Steps to Double Your Referrals in 6 Months or Less” and closed out the 2nd Annual Solo and Small Firm Summit with “Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media: How to Leverage LinkedIn, Fix Facebook and Tweak Twitter for Your Law Firm” as the keynote speaker during the closing luncheon on Friday.

One quote from an attendee that caught my eye captured the essence of what the Summit was trying to provide for the attendees:

“Prior to today I was doing many of the things recommended by The Rainmaker Institute to build my practice. Now I have added tools that I can use to build a great practice.”

The Summit succeeded by adding tool to the toolboxes of the attendees, and, more importantly, showing them how and when to most effectively use those tools as part of their legal marketing strategy. It’s not enough to collect law firm marketing tools. Organizing them into an effective law firm marketing strategy is what brings success to those willing to put in the time and effort.

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Looking for more Rainmaker Institute wisdom?
Then try our monthly ezine. One click of your mouse will take you to our site where you can see the current issue and subscribe to our complimentary monthly ezine that will be delivered to your inbox. Each issue is chock-full of legal marketing information that you can put to use right away. I think you will find the information on the ezine something that you will want to share with your staff to begin 2010 on the right note in your legal marketing plan.