The Rainmaker Blog

5 Steps to Make Your Law Firm Unforgettable

Stephen Fairley — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:43:09 -0700

No one likes to be forgotten, but how many law firms can say they are top-of-mind when prospects need a lawyer? Here are 5 steps you can take to own that important piece of mindful real estate:

1. Focus on the question that every client wants to know: What's in it for me? At the end of the day, clients are only interested in what you can do for them. Your job is to tell them what your service can do for them personally and remember- they do not want to spend time looking for the answer. The answer to this question must be one of the first things your clients see on your website and in your firm-wide communications. If your clients are going to remember you, you must first answer the question "What's in it for them?"

2. What differentiates your service from everyone else? For every service you provide there are hundreds if not thousands of other attorneys who can provide the same services that you can. So why should someone hire you versus your competitor across the street or down the suite?

In other words, what is your UCA-your "Unique Competitive Advantage"? What can a client get from you that they cannot get from anyone else? Perhaps it is your credibility or the creative way you bring solutions to your clients. You must determine what differentiates your firm from anyone else and market that point.

When creating your UCA, one of the keys is to not use either quality or service. The reason is that every attorney says they provide quality and service (even though we know they don't). Therefore quality and service have become meaningless when it comes to differentiating your service because every client expects quality and service and will not do business with any attorney that doesn't have both already. Your UCA must be creative, yet accurately reflect who you are, what you offer that no one else does, and most importantly directly addresses the challenges of your target market.

3. All of your communication must be emotionally impactful.  Anyone can quote statistics or develop an advertisement on a cognitive level, but the most effective way to ensure a lasting impact on your clients is to communicate with them on an emotional level. You must find their "pain." What is it about their business, life, family, time, or environment that is causing pain? Are they not working or working too much? Is their business growing too fast or too slow? Is their family falling apart? Do they have a hard time tracking their employees? Find their pain and communicate with them on an emotional level about how you can help heal their pain and make their business, life, family, time or environment pleasurable.

4. Distinguish your benefits from your features and communicate them clearly.  Features are what your service does. Benefits are why your client needs your service. For every feature you have, you must tell your client what the benefit is. Is your firm better, faster, guaranteed or more personal? Will your service create more clients, decrease turnover, or increase profit margins? These are all great features, but you must tell your clients how this benefits them specifically.

5. Reduce the risk of working with you.  Many of our clients work at small law firms that have services similar to those at larger, more established firms. Why should your potential client buy your service over the big firm’s service? Are they taking a risk with a firm that may not be around 5 or 10 years from now? Is it just because you offer a lower price?

While no one can predict the future of your firm, the savvy attorney recognizes the need to develop creative ways to reduce the risk of their clients in working with them. How could you lower the risk of your clients if they are concerned about working with a solo practitioner or a small law firm?

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FREE REPORT: 8 Reasons Small Firms & Solos Should Publish an E-newsletter PLUS 3 Steps to Get Started

In less than a few hours a month, you can produce an effective electronic newsletter, also known as an “E-newsletter.”

An E-newsletter is a customized electronic newsletter that is commonly used in business, but rarely in the field of law. If you are truly interested in the long-term success and sustainability of your practice, you need to learn how to leverage technology and the Internet to build it.

Here’s what you’ll discover when you read this report:

The cost benefits of an e-newsletter
How to incorporate your e-newsletter with your social networking
How an e-newsletter supports your marketing efforts
How to get started right away with your e-newsletter
And much, much more!

To get your free report now, click here.

How Social Media Figures Into Consumer Search for a Lawyer [INFOGRAPHIC]

Stephen Fairley — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

The Rainmaker Institute recently commissioned a survey by The Research Intelligence Group to find out how consumers use social media in their search for an attorney. I blogged about the details of the survey on Friday at Survey Says Majority of Consumers Use Social Media When Looking for Lawyers.

This infographic was created using the results of that survey; feel free to pass it around:

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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book

In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.

To get your complimentary copy online, click here.

Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.

We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too.

How to Use Your Law Firm Website to Build Trust with Prospects

Stephen Fairley — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Getting prospects to hire you begins with establishing trust. Since recent research has shown that most people use online searches to look for an attorney, having a website that helps you build that trust is crucial.

Here are some tips on how to use your law firm website to build trust with prospects:

Third-party support. Use testimonials, articles and links to publications and news sites that mention your firm to build credibility.

Show your office. Add photos of your office or building and be sure to include your physical address on your home page.

Highlight personnel. Include photos and bios of your attorneys and support personnel to show prospects who they’ll be dealing with.

Easy to contact. Make it easy to contact you by including a contact form on each page of your website.

Professional design. With so many low-cost web hosting sites with professional design templates available today, there is no reason you cannot have a professional-looking website.

Easy to use. Make it easy to navigate your website rather than trying to impress with lots of flash design.

Update content. Keep your content fresh and relevant. This is especially important for your blog, which includes posting dates. An out-of-date blog says “We’re out of business.”

Avoid errors. Make sure all the content on your blog is error-free and that you don’t have any broken links.

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Secrets to Building a 7-Figure Lifestyle Law Firm: Proven Strategies from the Front Line

At The Rainmaker Institute, we define a “7 figure lifestyle law firm” as one that allows you to have the lifestyle that you want to live!

It’s more than just money or achieving a million dollars in revenue.

It’s about creating a lifestyle where you do what you love and building a business around your core values and interests.

In this recording of an interview between Stephen Fairley, CEO of The Rainmaker Institute, and nationally recognized attorney John Bisnar, Stephen asks John to share with us some of the secrets he has used to create a law firm that allows him to go into the office only one day a week and take, on average, 3 to 4 months of vacation every year - all the while managing a very successful, multi-million dollar law firm!

You will receive either a CD or MP3 recording, plus we will email you a pdf transcript of the interview.

This interview will help you discover:

The difference between a law practice and a business
How to identify superstar employees to help you run your business
The difference between an Office Manager and a Business Manager
The 7 essential systems your firm must have & how to implement them
How to micromanage the client experience
Critical keys to success
And much more!

Click this link now to order Secrets to Building a 7-Figure Lifestyle Law Firm: Proven Strategies from the Front Line.

Survey Says Majority of Consumers Use Social Media When Looking for Lawyers

Stephen Fairley — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:40:45 -0700

A new survey by The Research Intelligence Group has found that 56% of consumers who looked for an attorney in the past year used social media in some way to conduct that search.

The survey of 1,000 U.S. adults was conducted in March by the international market research firm on behalf of The Rainmaker Institute. It found that 25% of those surveyed said they had sought an attorney in the past year.

Among those who looked for an attorney, 56% said they used social media during their search. The use of social media was higher among males (71%) than females (38%) and highest among younger adults. In the search for a lawyer, social media was used by:

81% of 18-29 year olds
73% of 30-39 year olds
57% of 40-49 year olds
30% of 50-64 year olds
25% of those 65+

In addition, 72% of minorities who sought an attorney used social media.

How Social Media Is Used to Search for an Attorney

According to the survey, here is how consumers used social media during their search for an attorney:

21% of those searching for an attorney checked out the social media pages of lawyers or firms and 17% indicated that the information they found on the social media pages made a difference in their final selection

Nearly one-quarter used a social media channel such as Twitter or Facebook to ask their friends for recommendations of lawyers or firms they have used for similar matters

20% used social media to create a ‘short list’ of lawyers based on referrals and recommendations received through social media

Almost 20% vetted the names of lawyers they were considering with their social media contacts

Nearly one-quarter made a final selection of a lawyer based in part on what they learned through their social media contacts

Social Media Now a Part of Everyday Life

Judging from the verbatim commentary from the survey, researchers found that consumers use social media to search for an attorney because it is now a part of everyday life and a natural place to turn to for information gathering.

This is especially true for younger consumers, who have grown up using social media and trust it for helping them make decisions. As one survey respondent noted, lawyers that are visible on social media “show that they are informed about the world and they are willing to communicate with potential clients through new and varying ways.”

It is becoming increasingly clear that simply having a website is not enough to attract new clients in 2013; an attorney’s online presence must extend to social media and outreach efforts like blogging to remain relevant to prospects under the age of 50.

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Get All the Law Firm Marketing Strategies You Need to Create A 7-figure Law Practice with Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2!

Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 2 includes:

8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals 

Discover the proven step-by-step system used to double your referrals from current and former clients and how to build a network of strategic referral partners. Top attorneys have used this exact system to double their referrals in 6 months or less!

7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm 

Watch and learn as I walk you through the specific strategies top lawyers are using to increase their revenues in this tough economy-and it doesn’t include reducing their fees!

6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media 

Social media has emerged as the fastest way to build a massive platform of prospects! I pull back the curtain and let you in on little known secrets of how attorneys are generating dozens of leads every month from social media.

5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs  

My interview with nationally recognized personal injury attorney John Bisnar on how his law firm uses search engine optimization and internet marketing to drive tens of thousands of unique visitors every month to his 30 websites and 10 blogs. Discover proven techniques for converting website visitors into paying clients.

Data DVD:  Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you experience these information-packed DVDs!

***For Blog Readers, Facebook Friends, Twitter Followers and LinkedIn Connections – we are offering you a $50 discount for Volume 2 and a $100 discount for both Volume 1 and Volume 2 because of your social media presence with The Rainmaker Institute.

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The Best Time to Market Your Law Firm

Stephen Fairley — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:18:48 -0700

A post over on Lee Rosen’s Divorce Discourse blog the other day entitled The Risky Game of Needing a Client reminded me of my own mantra when it comes to legal marketing: the best time to market your law firm is when you don't “need” more clients!

The gist of Lee’s post is that one of the most dangerous times for a law practice is when you need a client. Those are the times when you tend to make decisions based solely on the money, which can wind up costing you big-time. We’ve all had the proverbial “client from hell” and if you think about it, they usually came to us when we were vulnerable financially.

Instead of blaming the unreasonable guy who became your client from hell, the blame really lies with you. Just like the fable of the ant and the grasshopper, you didn’t store up any business in the warm months to sustain you through a cold spell. You haven’t invested in creating a marketing plan for your law firm that will keep the phones ringing and the leads flowing. The fate of your firm will be decided by default rather than design.

So why be “that firm” when it’s so easy to get the information you need to market your law firm effectively? You can attend one of Lee’s seminars, or a Rainmaker Retreat, our two-day law firm marketing intensive where you will learn how to create your own lifestyle law firm through a variety of marketing strategies for lead generation, prospect conversion and client retention.

Here are upcoming dates for the Rainmaker Retreat:

May 31-June 1, 2013 – New York City
July 26-27, 2013 – San Diego, CA
August 16-17, 2013 – Las Vegas, NV
September 20-21, 2013 – San Francisco, CA

Go to www.rainmakerretreat.com or call 888-588-5891 to register now.

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Online Seminar TODAY: Rainmaker Secrets to Building a Referral-Based Law Firm for Litigators

Most litigation attorneys have a difficult time building a consistent book of business. They go from one extreme of having too much work to handle to the other extreme of waiting around for the next case.

On Thursday, May 16, at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET, I will share with you the secrets we have uncovered from working with thousands of top litigators on how they have transformed their business from the traditional “feast or famine” approach to having a consistent pipeline of clients by implementing a proven referral system.

You will discover:

The top 2 reasons why you aren’t getting more referrals right now and how to fix it
How litigation attorneys can easily keep in touch with all their former clients, prospects and referral sources in less than 1 hour a month
6 questions you must pro-actively answer to get more referrals
The top 4 referral sources for litigators and where to find them
How to use LinkedIn to connect with referral sources
The 5 best times to ask clients for a referral

Register here for today's online seminar and discover how attorneys just like you are using this information to build 7-figure law firms.

If the time doesn’t work for you, register anyway and we’ll send you the recording of the full online seminar to watch at your convenience.

VIDEO: 4 Steps to Building a Network of Referral Sources

Stephen Fairley — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:00:20 -0700

Last week, I was interviewed by Cindy Greenway, editor of LawMarketing.com, about how law firms can build a network of strategic referral sources.

Obviously, attorneys everywhere want to build a referral-based practice, but most don't how. In this video, I shared the nuts and bolts as well as steps that attorneys can take to implement these strategies into their legal marketing plan:

Here’s another bonus from LawMarketing.com: click on this link for a great free report on 15 Strategies for Attorneys to Increase Google Rank, Control Online Reputations and Maximize Content.

How to Prove to Prospects Your Law Firm is the Best Choice

Stephen Fairley — Tue, 14 May 2013 08:43:12 -0700

Go back to your childhood and think about how many times you (or someone in your gang of friends) made a bold statement that was met by an echoing challenge of “Prove it!”

We are naturally skeptical social beings, more so today than ever before. If you want someone to hire you, you are likely going to have to prove why your firm is the best choice. Here are some ways you can do that:

Testimonials. If it’s not barred by your state bar, then testimonials on your website are a good way to verify that people who have used your services are happy with the outcome. It is even better to have testimonials on your behalf on third-party websites like Avvo, Yelp! or Google.

Social proof. Being visible on social networks and having a good crop of followers lets those considering your services get more comfortable with the idea of hiring you – we have a strong herd mentality, and like to know we’re not alone.

Case studies. Posting relevant case studies to your website and your blog that are written for the average person (not another lawyer) can be very effective.

Videos. Populating your website and blog with videos that give prospects a feel for what it would be like to do business with you is another good way to showcase your skills.

Third-party endorsements. If you’ve been profiled in an article or interviewed in the media, show it off on your website.

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May 16 Online Seminar: Rainmaker Secrets to Building a Referral-Based Law Firm for Litigators

You will discover:

The top 2 reasons why you aren’t getting more referrals right now and how to fix it
How litigation attorneys can easily keep in touch with all their former clients, prospects and referral sources in less than 1 hour a month
6 questions you must pro-actively answer to get more referrals
The top 4 referral sources for litigators and where to find them
How to use LinkedIn to connect with referral sources
The 5 best times to ask clients for a referral

Register here for the May 16 online seminar and discover how attorneys just like you are using this information to build 7-figure law firms.

If the time doesn’t work for you, register anyway and we’ll send you the recording of the full online seminar to watch at your convenience.

How to Create Irresistible Calls-to-Action That Motivate Prospects

Stephen Fairley — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:12:32 -0700

Millions of people purchase products every day because they were enticed to do so through a strong call to action – a Buy It Now, a Limited Time Offer, a Click Here, a Sign-Up Now – whatever the incentive, it moved them to a purchase decision.

Calls to action work for several reasons, chief among them is that it’s human nature to follow instruction. A great call to action is one that creates a sense of urgency in a prospect’s mind, offers a solution to a problem or stimulates a desire.

A great call to action works when it:

Triggers an emotional reaction;
Shows exactly how to make a purchase;
Creates a sense of urgency to make the purchase;
Provides incentives or an offer that is too good to ignore.

There are many ways to integrate a great call to action into your law firm marketing efforts, including:

On your website. Even when you’re selling a service, you should create calls to action on every page of your website. Have a sign-up for a free report, a webinar or e-newsletter on every page.

In your newsletter. If you have a monthly newsletter, you should be featuring a new incentive every month to entice prospects to get in touch with you.

On your blog. Use your blog to connect on an emotional level with prospects. Tell a story about how your legal service has solved a problem. Include calls to action in your sidebars where they are easily visible.

On your social networking sites. Facebook and Twitter are great vehicles for reaching prospects in real-time and testing a variety of calls to action to see what works best for your legal service. These venues are an inexpensive and effective way to test what works best for your target market.

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Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD Set

The Practice Made Perfect CD set and manual applies Stephen Fairley’s unique High Impact Marketing System to the practice-building challenges faced by solo practitioners and partners at small law firms.

It includes dozens of specific marketing and sales recommendations that can be easily and quickly applied to your firm, including:

The only 7 sure-fire ways to get clients in your door NOW
Why advertising doesn’t work for most small law firms
The 7 reasons why people don’t buy from you
How to market and sell with USP’s (Unique Selling Proposition)
Using audio logos to attract immediate attention for your business
Using low-cost, high impact marketing strategies
Strategies for achieving maximum results from all of your marketing efforts
How to discover your Ideal Target Market
3 critical factors to remember when looking for new clients
The NEW sales cycle for professional services
How to retain your best clients

Click here to order your Practice Made Perfect for Lawyers CD set and manual now.

Shut Up! A Surefire Way to Increase Referrals and Client Retention Rates

Stephen Fairley — Sun, 12 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

When it comes to communicating with clients, listening is often more important than talking. It is by listening that you learn what clients want, and then you can give it to them. Which makes for more referrals and better client retention.

Here are some important methods you can use to actively listen to clients:

Open feedback. Always offer clients a way to provide feedback, through your website, an online survey and in your e-newsletter campaign. Simply asking for their thoughts is often enough to garner some important insights.

Transactional feedback. If you’re a regular Starbucks customer, you have undoubtedly received a free survey at some point with your receipt. You provide them with some feedback online and you get a free drink for your efforts. What attorneys can learn from this is the importance of asking clients for their thoughts about their experience with your firm after the case is over or at important points along the way. Keep your finger on the pulse of how satisfied they are with how your firm is treating them, and you’ll have a satisfied client.

Social media interaction. Monitor your social media channels to see what people are saying about you. You can search for your firm name on Twitter and Facebook , and you should be regularly monitoring Avvo, FindLaw, Yelp and Google for other comments about your firm.

Client satisfaction surveys. Using formal client satisfaction surveys is another good way to gauge client experiences with your firm. Send one out after each engagement is closed and respond immediately and personally to any negative feedback.

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Secrets to Building a 7-Figure Lifestyle Law Firm: Proven Strategies from the Front Line

At The Rainmaker Institute, we define a “7 figure lifestyle law firm” as one that allows you to have the lifestyle that you want to live!

It’s more than just money or achieving a million dollars in revenue.

It’s about creating a lifestyle where you do what you love and building a business around your core values and interests.

You will receive either a CD or MP3 recording, plus we will email you a pdf transcript of the interview.

This interview will help you discover:

The difference between a law practice and a business
How to identify superstar employees to help you run your business
The difference between an Office Manager and a Business Manager
The 7 essential systems your firm must have & how to implement them
How to micromanage the client experience
Critical keys to success
And much more!

Click this link now to order Secrets to Building a 7-Figure Lifestyle Law Firm: Proven Strategies from the Front Line.

How to Help Your Referral Sources Get You More - and Better -- Referrals

Stephen Fairley — Sat, 11 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

I'm convinced one of the biggest reasons that attorneys don't receive more referrals is because they don't take the time to inform and remind their clients of the various services they offer. Most clients immediately put their attorney in a box and believe the only service the lawyer offers is the one they used.

I remember a conversation I had with an attorney who practices business law. He was upset because a former client, whom he'd helped set up an LLC three months earlier, referred a competing law firm to a friend looking for representation in a multi-million dollar lawsuit.

When the lawyer explained that this was precisely his specialty, the client was shocked and said, "I'm sorry, but you really need to do a better job informing me of what you do and what kind of cases you want because I don't know."

How much business have you lost because your clients simply aren't aware of the various services your firm can provide?

Another way to increase client referrals is to make certain that your clients can accurately explain your ideal target market:

Your ideal target market is the person or company most likely to hire you initially, repeatedly and at the highest profit margin. With so many attorneys struggling to define their ideal client, it's no wonder if your clients don't know whom they should refer to you.

Remember that memory is elusive and just because you wowed them once and they sent you a referral - doesn't mean they will ALWAYS remember. So don't take referral relationships for granted. Finding a high-quality lawyer is easy and it takes more than quality to make an impression - it takes a relationship.

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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book

To get your complimentary copy online, click here.

Getting a Lifestyle Law Firm Begins at a Rainmaker Retreat

Stephen Fairley — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:42:36 -0700

I talk a lot about helping attorneys create what I call a “lifestyle law firm”. So what is a lifestyle law firm? A law firm that promotes and encapsulates the core values of who you are, the lifestyle you want to lead and the legacy you want to leave.

Watch my interview last year on The LexBlog Network about creating a lifestyle law firm:

By attending a Rainmaker Retreat, you will learn how to create your own lifestyle law firm through a variety of marketing strategies for lead generation, prospect conversion and client retention.

Here are upcoming dates for the Rainmaker Retreat:

May 31-June 1, 2013 – New York City
July 26-27, 2013 – San Diego, CA
August 16-17, 2013 – Las Vegas, NV
September 20-21, 2013 – San Francisco, CA

Go to www.rainmakerretreat.com or call 888-588-5891 to register now.

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FREE Seminar: How to Attract Clients in Today’s Marketing Jungle

When it comes to law firm marketing, it is truly a jungle out there! Mastering social media, SEO and Internet marketing strategies – and making sure your efforts align with legal marketing rules – can give even the most eager attorney pause.

In his new one-hour seminar, Stephen Fairley will lead you through the step-by-step actions you should take throughout the course of the next 12 months to substantially increase your revenues. You will learn:

How to target market to get your ideal client
Why your firm is not getting more referrals and how to change it
How to select the right marketing tools that will work for your practice and personality
Effective online and offline marketing strategies
How to create a financial plan to fund your marketing budget
The 5 critical components of a Marketing Action Plan (MAP)
4 ways to create a unique competitive advantage
What is critical to have in place today’s hyper-competitive online focused marketplace

This FREE seminar will also give you a preview of the 65 different marketing techniques and strategies taught at our 2-day legal marketing boot camp.

Click on this link to register now for the FREE How to Attract Clients in Today’s Marketing Jungleseminar.

A Guide to Mobile Marketing

Stephen Fairley — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:05:23 -0700

Those of us old enough to recall the Dick Tracy comic strip may wonder why, in 2013, we don’t have any mobile communication devices on our wrists. The fact is, we are already doing most of our communicating on a mobile device; it’s just tucked into a pocket or purse.

Two years ago, the purchase of smartphones surpassed that of PCs, and that gap has only been widening. In 2013, almost twice as many smartphones as PCs will be sold worldwide. The infographic below shows why optimizing your law firm website and blog is a must.

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FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal

One of the secret tools of Internet marketing for attorneys is the power of having a targeted blog. According to HubSpot, B2B marketers with a blog generate 67% more leads per month and B2C marketers generate 88% more leads per month than those without a blog.

Here’s what you’ll discover when you read this report:

Why you must have a blog in order to stay relevant
3 keys to successful blogging
7 Guidelines for achieving ROI
Your 3 choices for managing your blog and social media efforts
And much more!

Click now for your FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal.

May 16 Online Seminar: Rainmaker Secrets to Building a Referral-Based Law Firm for Litigators

Stephen Fairley — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:07:29 -0700

You will discover:

The top 2 reasons why you aren’t getting more referrals right now and how to fix it
How litigation attorneys can easily keep in touch with all their former clients, prospects and referral sources in less than 1 hour a month
6 questions you must pro-actively answer to get more referrals
The top 4 referral sources for litigators and where to find them
How to use LinkedIn to connect with referral sources
The 5 best times to ask clients for a referral

Register here for the May 16 online seminar and discover how attorneys just like you are using this information to build 7-figure law firms.

If the time doesn’t work for you, register anyway and we’ll send you the recording of the full online seminar to watch at your convenience.

How to Fix Your LinkedIn Profile

Stephen Fairley — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:24:04 -0700

I see a lot of attorney profiles on LinkedIn, since I connect with many of our clients and those who have attended our Rainmaker Retreat. And what I see mostly is room for improvement.

LinkedIn just turned 10 last week, and has become the de facto online Rolodex for keeping up with contacts and referral sources. So why wouldn’t you do your best to put your best foot forward at all times?

Here are 5 steps to fix your LinkedIn profile:

1. Assess your goals. Why are you on LinkedIn? If it’s to market your firm, then you need to be sure your profile page reflects everything your firm is about, and that starts with loading it with great keywords to attract the broadest possible audience.

2. Kill the clutter. If you have basically uploaded your resume and it reflects all the jobs you’ve held since college, kill the entries that have nothing to do with what you do now.

3. Be personable. Add some flair so people know you as a person. People hire people, not profiles.

4. Update your photo. If you don’t have a photo uploaded yet, do it. A photo acts as your logo; a bad one does nothing for you and a missing one tells people you don’t care. Your photo should reflect who you are as a professional, so skip the party photo from last Halloween.

5. Get recommendations. Testimonials are irresistible to read, and tell people visiting your page what it’s like to work with you.

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FREE Seminar: How to Attract Clients in Today’s Marketing Jungle

How to target market to get your ideal client
Why your firm is not getting more referrals and how to change it
How to select the right marketing tools that will work for your practice and personality
Effective online and offline marketing strategies
How to create a financial plan to fund your marketing budget
The 5 critical components of a Marketing Action Plan (MAP)
4 ways to create a unique competitive advantage
What is critical to have in place today’s hyper-competitive online focused marketplace

This FREE seminar will also give you a preview of the 65 different marketing techniques and strategies taught at our 2-day legal marketing boot camp.

Click on this link to register now for the FREE How to Attract Clients in Today’s Marketing Jungleseminar.

What Law Firms Have to Fear From Social Media

Stephen Fairley — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:29:47 -0700

A post last week at LawMarketing.com provides highlights from the LegalTechNY Conference in March, where Larry Bodine, editor in chief of Lawyers.com and martindale.com®, and I discussed the fear of social media and its impact on law firm marketing.

Larry said that one of the barriers that stands in the way of many lawyers taking the plunge into social media is their fear of what will happen if they offer an opinion about a legal matter in an online forum.

“One of the risks that attorneys see with participating in social media is that you will gain an unwanted client entanglement,” Larry noted. “But I can tell you from my research there is no ethics opinion, court ruling or judgment involving a legal question that was asked and answered online, and resulted in someone claiming the person who gave the advice was acting as their attorney.”

My belief is that one of the things attorneys have to fear from social media is that their competitors are engaged in it when they are not. And there is definitely a cost to that.

Check out our discussion:

NOTE: Be sure to sign up for a great free report on LawMarketing.com’s home page: 15 Strategies for Attorneys to Increase Google Rank, Control Online Reputations and Maximize Content.

10 Steps to Promote Your Law Practice on Avvo

Stephen Fairley — Sun, 05 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

If you're thinking about ignoring your profile on Avvo, here's something to consider: Avvo is very good at search engine optimization. So in all likelihood, when you type your name into Google, your Avvo profile will often come up on the first page of results.

Avvo is now a major force in Internet marketing for attorneys.   Here's my advice: You don’t have to like Avvo to benefit from Avvo. They are here to stay so learn how to use them to build and influence your law firm’s Internet presence and generate more business!

Here are the 10 steps you should take to get started or to optimize your current listing:

1. Claim your profile. This process is free and allows you to update your contact information and add information about you and your law firm.

2. Put your ENTIRE resume into Avvo. This can go a long way to improving your rating.

3. Add all the seminars you have given, awards you have received, and articles you have written. These items can also improve your rating.

4. Add your photo! I have heard reports that profiles with a photo are clicked on up to 10 times more than profiles without photos.

5. Add videos. If you have videos, put them into your Avvo profile. While they won't improve your rating, it will give potential clients who are checking you out online an opportunity to see who you are, how you articulate your answers, and will position you as more of an “expert.” The production quality of your videos does not matter nearly as much as the information you include in them. It's all about education-based marketing—educating your prospects.

6. Answer user’s questions. Thousands of consumers every week ask legally related questions on Avvo. Please be sure to put a standard disclaimer on each response, i.e., that your reply does not constitute legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship, etc.

7. Create Avvo “Legal Guides” for your top 10 questions. If you're like most attorneys, you constantly get asked a common set of questions. Write down these FAQs and write a short response to each one. Make each question a legal guide. Keep the questions and answers highly focused on a specific topic. Be sure to add a disclaimer on each guide.

8. Ask your attorney friends to endorse you. This can make a big difference in your rating. Just like a referral from another attorney in the real world makes a big impression on a prospect, so having a reference from another attorney or a judge on your Avvo profile can improve your rating.

9. Ask your clients to write a testimonial for you on Avvo. Client testimonials do NOT have a positive or negative impact on your rating. However, I assure you, potential clients read them! I can't remember the last time I bought a book or other product off Amazon.com without reading a few of the user reviews. Yes, I know several states, like Florida, do not allow the usage of testimonials by lawyers. However, the Florida bar agreed to exempt online directories like Avvo from most of its ad rules because attorneys cannot control endorsements posted on 3rd party websites like Avvo.

10. Put your Avvo badge on your website or blog. Avvo allows you to create a “badge” with your profile score on it that links directly to your Avvo profile.

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Local SEO for Law Firms

Stephen Fairley — Sat, 04 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Local search is becoming increasingly important when trying to improve the ranking for your law firm website on Google and other search engines. After all, someone searching for an attorney in Scottsdale will not care about a lawyer in Scarsdale...and Google knows that. Google is all about delivering relevant search results to its users...hence, the importance of doing whatever you can to rank well for local search.

How to do this? The infographic below from The Search Ninjas lays it out for you:

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What Makes the Rainmaker Retreat Different?

Stephen Fairley — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:35:27 -0700

I’m in the middle of another Rainmaker Retreat session in Scottsdale today and tomorrow, and it’s great to see the enthusiasm for legal marketing on the faces of so many lawyers.

I’m often asked how the Rainmaker Retreat differs from other law firm marketing seminars. Here’s why:

1. Specifically Designed for Owners and Managing Partners at Small Law Firms and Solo Practitioners. While Associates, Of Counsel, and Partners at large firms (50+ attorneys) are welcome to attend and will receive benefit from attending, the Rainmaker Retreat is specifically designed to meet the needs, challenges, and financial budgets of solo practitioners and small law firms.

You won’t find any strategies that cost tens of thousands of dollars in this seminar. In fact, many of our strategies have little to no cost and with many of them we will tell you how to trade more of your time instead of spending your money if you’re marketing your practice on a shoe-string budget. Nor will you hear about generic marketing ideas that only work if you have a large staff or a separate marketing department.

2. This is an Advanced Legal Marketing Workshop. 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 law firm marketing course!

If you are just starting out or have never done legal marketing or business development before you will likely find the volume and depth of our strategies to be a little overwhelming at times.

A common remark we hear from experienced attorneys is that attending the Rainmaker Retreat is like “trying to drink from a fire hydrant” because we will provide you will dozens of time tested legal marketing strategies each day of the workshop.

At the Rainmaker Retreat, you will not hear any generic marketing advice like “just buy more Yellow Page ads” or “try to get more referrals from clients.” The Rainmaker Retreat focuses on in-depth discussions of cutting-edge strategies and revealing secrets of highly successful attorneys used by only an elite group of lawyers.

3. You will be taught How to Track and Measure Every Legal Marketing Effort! You will find a big emphasis on tracking the results of your attorney marketing efforts so if you are a numbers kind of person you will LOVE the Rainmaker Retreat!

There are 3 major areas you need to analyze and every one of your current challenges is directly related to problems in one or more of these 3 areas. We will teach you what the 3 areas are and how to use this tool to diagnose your problems and what “marketing treatment” you need to prescribe.

4. You will learn a Proven Lead Conversion System. The biggest area attorneys overlook in their legal marketing efforts is how to convert more prospects into paying clients. You will learn the 5 numbers you need to track in your law firm.

We will give you the tools and teach you how to use them so you can start tracking: (1) where every incoming lead is coming from, (2) how many of those leads turn into appointments, (3) how many appointments show up, (4) how many of those appointments retain at the initial consult, and (5) how many retain at a later date. We will introduce you to our Rainmaker Follow Up System that can be used to determine your Cost Per Lead (CPL) and Cost Per Client (CPC).

5. It is a Working Retreat. This means that several times each day you will be given specific marketing tasks to complete with step-by-step instructions. You not only come to listen, learn and discover, but also to practice and apply.

By the end of the Rainmaker Retreat you will:

Create a written 90-day Marketing Action Plan (MAP) for your law firm
Discover your firm’s Unique Competitive Advantage (UCA)
Identify a profile of your Ideal Target Market (ITM)
Have written strategies for improving your internet presence and search engine optimization
Develop your own plan for leveraging the power of blogging and social media following the Rainmaker Social Media Blueprint
Create a letter of introduction to potential Strategic Referral Partners (SRPs)

6. There is a Strong Focus on Return on Investment (ROI)! Everything about this workshop is focused on one goal—helping you achieve the best possible results by finding more and better clients in the least amount of time using the least amount of money possible!

For most attorneys, landing just 1 new client as a result of this workshop will more than pay for your attendance. But that’s not our goal! Our goal is to teach you how to gain dozens of new clients in the next 60-90 days.

Please note, ethically we cannot guarantee those kinds of results, but we work hard to provide you with all of the tools you will need to find more and better clients on a consistent basis. With that kind of Return on Investment, can you afford not to attend?

7. 100% Money Back Guarantee! We are so confident you will benefit from the Rainmaker Retreat that we offer a 100% money back 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.

We guarantee you will come out of these 2 days with a step-by-step Marketing Action Plan (MAP) to make very specific changes to your marketing and how you go about building your legal practice.

Here are upcoming dates for the Rainmaker Retreat:

May 31-June 1, 2013 – New York City
July 19-20, 2013 – San Diego, CA
August 16-17, 2013 – Las Vegas, NV
September 20-21, 2013 – San Francisco, CA

Go to www.rainmakerretreat.com or call 888-588-5891 to register now.

More from LegalTechNY: How Social Media Impacts Lead Generation

Stephen Fairley — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:27:15 -0700

In March, I participated in a featured panel on social media marketing for attorneys at LegalTech New York 2013, the top annual legal technology event on the planet.

Joining me for that session was Larry Bodine, editor-in-chief of Lawyers.com and martindale.com, as well as LexisNexis chief marketing officer Steve Mann.

One of the topics we explored was how social media can work as a lead generation source for law firms and move leads through the sales funnel from “interest” to client. Here is a video outtake of our comments on that subject:

According to the 2012 Attorney Selection Research Study by The Research Intelligence Group (TRiG), 26 percent of American consumers used one of the major social media sites when gathering information about a legal issue and more than one in five (22 percent) said they turned to a social media site to actually find a lawyer they felt might be able to help them with their legal need.

The bottom line is that law firms can no longer turn a blind eye to social media as a source for generating leads. If you’re not there, your competitors surely are.

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Free Report: 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys From Building A Referral-Based Practice

Referrals are the lifeblood of many law practices, and building a good referral program takes a proven process. Stephen Fairley unveils the 4 Myths That Keep Attorneys from Building a Referral-Based Practice in his new free report. Read and discover:

How to determine the best source for your referrals
How to explain your ideal target market to a referral source
How to get referrals from other attorneys
Whether online directories are a good referral source
How to network effectively
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How to Manage Your Reputation Online

Stephen Fairley — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:06:39 -0700

Reputation is everything for lawyers. A good reputation gets you more clients through referrals; a bad one pretty much dooms your practice. So it’s no surprise that attorneys tend to pay close attention to cultivating a reputation as effective, ethical counselors.

But is all your hard work toward that goal reflected in your online reputation?

What do prospects see when they type your name into a search engine? If it’s not much, that can often be as harmful as something negative.

Here are some tips on managing your online reputation:

Create good, meaningful content. Wherever you are online – your law firm website, your blog, your social media networks – make sure you are creating and posting valuable and relevant content that your target prospects will find interesting and helpful.

Look and listen. Create a Google Alert for yourself and your firm so you can monitor what is being said. If you find something negative on a site that allows you to comment, do so professionally and unemotionally.

Build relationships with influencers. Find the influential online voices that your target market is listening to and join in the conversation. Offer to be a guest blogger or an interview source. Contribute good comments and give praise when it’s due. Don’t create advertisements for yourself; just be helpful and relevant.

Here are some additional critical tips from a recent interview at LawMarketing.com with Cindy Speaker, CEO of Speaker Media & Marketing, who counsels some of the most successful trial lawyers in the U.S.:

Take a moment now and Google yourself. If you don’t like what you see, maybe you need to expend a little more effort managing your online reputation.

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