I get it. Consistently finding content for a newsletter or blog (et. al.) can be challenging. 

You’ve collected a backlog of ideas (and already used the good ones). You’ve encouraged clients and prospects to ask you questions you can respond to, but they haven’t sent you any. You regularly think about your current cases and client work and note what might be a good topic for your blog or newsletter. 

But the well is dry. 

You want to write something but you can’t think of anything to say. Or you’re swamped with work and don’t have time to write anything even if you have a great idea. 

I’ve got your back. Help is on the way. I’m going to give you a very simple way to create a post or article in a matter of minutes.

You’ll be done in no time. 

Actually, I’ll give you two ways. Both are simple. So simple, if you use them, you’ll feel like you’re cheating. 

And you are. But in a good way. 

The first way to create content when you don’t know what to write about is to go through your collection of reading material, articles, notes, ideas, things you’ve seen other lawyers or experts write about or speak about, and steal their thunder. 

Write what they wrote about. 

If you felt it was worth saving the idea to your notes to read or use, it’s probably worth sharing with your readers and subscribers. Do it. Write something about something they said. Comment on it, share an example of it from your life. 

Criticize the idea or applaud it. 

Describe what they said and what you think about it. As simple as that.

Your opinion will interest your readers because they are your readers. They care about what you think. When you tell them you found an article or video worth noting, they want to know what you thought about it before they invest time in it, or instead of doing that.

Tell them the article’s premise and tell them if you agree. Or think it’s bollocks. Or have anything else to say about the subject.

If you link to the original, they may go read or watch it. But you don’t have to. Either way, you’re covered. 

Because nobody owns ideas. They found the idea and wrote about it. You can, too.

Now, if you have more than a few minutes, and you want to do more than mention what someone else said (and what you think about it), take the idea and write your own article or post about the subject.

You don’t have to quote them or give them credit for the idea. Just write what you want to write. Pretend the idea is yours (because, by default, it is). I do it all the time. So does everyone who writes content. 

When you put this tool in your content toolbox, you’ll never run out of content ideas. As long as anyone else in the world is creating content, you’ll always have a way to do it.

Read a lot and write about what you read.

If you like this idea, if you thought it was easy, maybe even obvious, you might like the second idea even better. 

Becauase its even easier. And just as obvious.

Go through your files and find something you wrote in the past, years ago, even, and (drumroll) republish it. 

Yes, you can do that. 

Send it your subscribers again. Post it on your blog again. Tell the same story in your next presentation or interview. 

The people who saw or heard it the first time you said ir or published it won’t remember. Or care that you’re using it again.

Of course, many of your readers, perhaps most, will be seeing it for the first time. 

Winning!

Now, if you have a bit more time, and you want to, go ahead and update your post. Add new cites, new thoughts, new comments, modifications, or information. Reflect on what you wrote before, retract it or double down on it. 

Agree with yourself or change your mind. No rules. 

Steal from yourself. It’s good for what ails ya. 

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When a client or prospect asks you a question, about the law or their situation, when they want information or your opinion or advice, do you usually answer or do you suggesst they make an appointment, (because your knowledge and opinion are valuable and you are entitled to be paid therefor?)

Sometimes, there’s a fine line. I suggest you draw that line on the side of answering their questions, because it is a natural way to show a client or prospect why they need to hire (and pay) you. 

You can’t tell them everything, of course, but you can tell them enough to show them the seriousness of their situation, deliniate the issues, explain how long it could take to resolve their situation, and how difficult it might be. 

Questions let you say things like “it depends” and otherwise allow you to demonstrate the nature and extent of your expertise and experience. As a result, you don’t have to go into presentation mode and convince anyone they need to hire you. Your answers do the selling for you. 

Which is why you should encourage clients and prospects to ask you questions. There more the better.

There’s another reason to do that. Those questions, and your answers, give you content you can use in your newsletter, blog, articles, and speaking. 

There’s nothing more compelling than telling readers or listeners about a question you were recently asked (or are often asked), and answering it. 

There’s also no easier way to create content. 

They ask, you answer, and your post or that segment of your speech is done. 

When you create content from these questions and answers, you also get to talk about cases and clients you’ve handled, which tells your readers that you know what you’re doing and  can help them with similar issues. 

Questions and answers prompt readers to think about their own situation, leading to more inquires, appointments, and engagements. 

And more content for you. 

Which is why you should encourage clients and prospects, readers and listeners, to ask you questions. 

Questions help you build your practice.

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The problem with writing a newsletter is you’re writing a newsletter and that takes a lot of time. An hour or two every week, or every month, is more time than most attorneys have available or are willing to commit. 

Time to re-define the definition of a newsletter. 

Instead of thinking of a newsletter as something that requires hours of valuable, billable time, consider an alternative. Something that achieves the purpose of having a newsletter but can be done in a fraction of the time. 

In other words, a few minutes instead of a few hours. 

To do that, without hiring someone or delegating the task, or using ai to do the heavy lifting, think about the real purpose of writing a newsletter. It’s not (necessarily) to teach people all about the law, it is primarily a mechanism for staying in touch with clients and prospects in a way that reminds them that you are still available to help them and thus prompt them to contact you. 

And you don’t need thousands of words or even hundreds of words to do that, nor do you need to spend hours crafting those words. 

You can do the job in just 15 minutes, once a week or once a month or, if you must, once in awhile. 

If that’s true, would you start or re-start a newsletter? At least give it a try? 

Great. Here’s how to do it.

Instead of calling it a newsletter, with all the solemnity and scope this suggests, call it something lighter and simpler. Something along the lines of a “Tip-of-the-week”. 

3 paragraphs. 100 words. A single idea, piece of advice, reminder, definition, or thought.

For a consumer oriented practice, you might explain the meaning of “Comparative negligence,” report why your city changed the speed limit on your main thoroughfare last month, or offer a few worsds about why a living trust instead of a will (or why both).

Yes, as simple as that. 

Informal but interesting.Something that shows you know some things and want to share them. 

Whatever your idea or topic, it should be quick and easy to write (so you’ll write it), and equally quick and easy for your readers to read, which means they’ll do it, appreciate it, and look forward to your next tip. Oh, and maybe share your tip with friends and family, customers or clients.

And, guess what? If you ever find yourself “tip-less” and can’t think of anything to share, that’s when you could use ai (if you want) to provide you with ideas for you to write about. 

When you have a endless suppy of ideas and the writing can be done quickly and easily, you have a recipe for success. Now all you need are some email addresses. 

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They’re human, or managed by humans, and humans die. Or retire. Or get sick and can no longer run their business. Or go broke and no longer have a business.

No matter how good you are at what you do, or how long you’ve been doing it, your clients won’t be around forever. 

At least you have to assume that. 

They might sell their business. Move out of the state or the country. Or argue with you or your partner and find another attorney. 

Which means you have to replace them. 

But even when your clients love you and have lots of legal work, things happen. Laws change. Competition grows. You get tired of your practice area or niche, advertising is no longer effective or affordable, and you decide you want to or need to do something else.

Your world changes and you have to change with it. Which means you can never stop marketing. 

No matter how good things have been, or still are, nothing lasts forever. 

Except the need for marketing. 

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In my last post, I talked about 3 keys to getting more referrals, the essence of which is teaching clients and prospects and business contacts about you and your work. The more they know about how you help people, the more likekly they will be to identify who they know who would make a good referral for you, and better equipped to tell them about what you can do for them.

Educating people about yourself and your work makes repeat business and referrals more likely. 

But there’s something else that does that. In addition to educating people about what you do,  educate yourself about your clients and the people in your target market.

Study your clients’ industries, businesses, and cultures. Learn all you can about what they do and what they want and need. Not just their legal issues. Everything. Because the more you know about the people you want to hire you, the better able you are to show them why they should.

The simplest way to get people to know, like, and trust you, the simplest way to show them why they should choose you instead of another lawyer or firm, is to help them see that you understand them better than other lawyers do.

Study your clients and prospects. Learn what they know and do. Find out who they know and why they associate with them. Learn what makes them tick.

Become an expert in their world. 

Because effective marketing is more than merely telling people what you can do for them, it’s as much or more about showing them that you understand them and their world.

If you target business people, start by reading their blogs and listening to their podcasts and interviews. Sign up for their newsletters, follow them on social, sign up for their seminars. 

But just as important as studying the content they create is to study the content they consume. 

Read what they read. Follow who they follow. 

If you target consumers, pick a niche and do the same thing. 

Yep, homework. And lots of it. But worth it. Because you’re more than a professional who provides services, you’re an expert in the people and businesses and markets for whom you provide those services. 

And when people know that, you’ll get all the business you can handle. 

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Yes, of course, stay in touch. It’s the simplest and, dollar-for-dollar most effective way to get referrals from clients, prospects, and professional (and personal) contacts. 

Repeat business, too. 

It’s simple because email makes it so. 

It’s effective because hearing from you is often all it takes for someone to realize or remember that they, or someone they know, needs your help. Or at least contact you to find out. 

So, never stop staying in touch. Email often. Text, call, message, pop something in the regular mail. It’s all good. It all works.

But there’s something else you can do to make it work even better.

3 things, actually. 

1. Educate people about your work. What you do and how you do it. Tell them about your services, the law and procedure, the timeline, typical issues, objectives, and outcomes. Describe the benefits and the costs. Help them understand the benefits of getting legal asistance and the risks of delay. Tell them about a typical day or a typical case. Teach them about your work so they can see how you can help the, identify people they know who could use your services, and do a better job of talking to those people about what you do. 
2. Educate them about the people or entities you serve. Tell them about your target market and ideal clients. Their industry or background. Their problems, pain, or desires, and how you’ve helped them. The more you tell your contacts about who you serve, the more they will be able to identify good candidates for those services. It also helps them see why they should choose you instead of other lawyers or firms.
3. Equip them. Give your clients and contacts articles, links, brochures, videos, and other content that provides more information about what you do and for whom you do it, and makes it easier for your contacts to share that information with their contacts. 

Getting more referrals is simple. Stay in touch, teach or remind people what you do and how you can help them and the people they know, and equip them with information they can review for themself and share with others. 

I know you know most of this but, be honest, are you doing most of it? 

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Attorneys tend to be aggressive. We like telling people what to do,and clearly, that’s part of the job description, but it can backfire. Because nobody likes being pushed. Even if what they’re being pushed to do, or not do, is in their best interests.

If you must push, push. But instead of pushing, consider pulling.

Pushing means telling recipients of your newsletter (et. al.) to call and make an appointment, fill out a form on your website, read something or do something or pay attention to something you sent them, because they need to know it or do it. 

Pulling means showing them what’s available, what you recommend or advise, describing the benefits, and reminding them why it’s important and/or time-sensitive.

It’s a kinder, gentler approach and can be just as effective. 

One way to pull your clients, prospects, subscribers, and followers, is to put a statement, reminder, or offer in your newsletter, under your signature or in a P.S. Something simple and non-confrontational. Along the lines of, “Here’s something you might find useful” or “Here’s how I can help you…”. 

One newsletter I follow (not a lawyer) puts this at the end of every newsletter, “P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here’s 3 ways I can help you [benefit]”. He lists 3 things his readers might want to do, e.g., buy [his course], watch one of his videos, sign up for an upcoming event. 

Depending on the scope of your practice and what you have to offer, you might want to do something like that. 

For example, 

P.S. Here are 3 ways I can help you: 

1. [One (or more) of the services  you offer or types of cases you handle]
2. [Content: Articles, blog posts, your podcast, your next seminar, downloads] 
3. [Consultation, second opinion, referra, recommendation]

You don’t have to give 3 options. One or two are better than zero. 

On the other hand, if you’re shy, or too cool for school, you could simply link to your blog or latest article and/or invite them to call you with questions about a legal situation (of any kind). 

You can add something at the end of every newsletter, as this marketer does, or attach it to any content you produce. You could do it every week, once a month, or once in awhile, but do it some time because when you do, you help your readers recieve the benefits they want or need, and you get more business, calls, downloads, appointments, subscribers, social sharing, or referrals.

Without being pushy. 

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One of the best decisions you can make for growing a law practice is to write a newsletter. 

Even if nobody reads it. 

The act of writing a newsletter will not only improve your overall client development skills and (eventually) bring you a lot more business, it will also make you a better lawyer. 

Writing is the quintessential communication skill for a professional and there’s no better way to improve that skill than to put more words in the hands of more clients and prospects and professional contacts. 

Yes, even if nobody reads what you write, 

Think about it, every time you write something and send it to somebody, you are reminding them that you are still alive, still practicing law, still able to help them or someone they know. 

Yes, they might remember you if you don’t send them a newsletter, but you’ll get more business if you do. People are busy. Many can’t remember your name, haven’t thought about you in years, and don’t care about what you do if they don’t presently have a problem or need legal advice.

A newsletter let’s you stay in their minds and their mailboxes, reminding them what you do and how you can help them. And gives them a link or phone number to make it easy to take the next step. 

That’s the “no brainer” part of the equation. 

But there’s more. 

Writing a newsletter also provides you with content you can use in other aspects of your marketing. You can recycle your newsletter content into articles, white papers, handouts, presentations, videos, podcasts, social media posts, blogs, and books. 

Easy, free content you write once and use over and over again. 

Writing a newsletter also “forces” you to read and listen to content created by other lawyers or experts. I reguarly get ideas for this newsletter that way. 

Okay, you are a good writer and have something to say that’s worth reading. What if you don’t have enough subscribers to justify the time it takes to write a newletter?

Your “small” list can be used to introduce your other services, put more butts in seats at your presentations, and solicit success stories from clients you can use on your website and other marketing content. 

And, if you stay with it, your numbers will grow. And compound.

If you have 50 people on your newsletter list today, next year you might have 500. Two years from now, 5000. 

Start, or start again, and give it time. Even if a newsletter is the only marketing you do, it might eventually be all you need.

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We just had some repairs done to our roof. After the job was done, we received a “thank you” email from the owner of the company. I’m sure you send a thank you email or letter to your clients at the end of their case. 

If you don’t, you might want to get on that. Many professionals don’t and it’s not only bad form, it’s bad for business. 

Clients want to be acknowledged. A short message, thanking them for choosing them (or hiring them again) goes a long way towards strengthening relationships with them, reducing “buyers’ remorse,” and fostering repeat business and referrals. 

It also helps you get better reviews. 

In his email, after he said “thank you,” the roofing contractor said, 

“You will be receiving an email in a few days asking for an honest review. We would love to get a 5 star review from you, but if for some reason you feel you can’t give us 5 stars then please contact us to make it right.”

What does this do? 

• It tells the customer (client) another email is coming, so they expect it and are thus more likely to see it and respond to it;
• It normalizes the review process by mentioning it without hesitation;
• It “asks” for a 5-star review, making it more likely they will provide that instead of 4-stars (or something else):
• It asks the customer to contact them if there’s anything they’re not happy about, which tells the customer they care about their work and their reputation and will take care of any issues or concerns, which can only lead to more repeat business and positive word-of-mouth about the company: and
• It gets the customer to think about the work that was done–what was promised and what was delivered–which should lead to higher ratings and more detailed comments in client reviews.

One reason we chose this contractor instead of several others from whom we got bids was because he had more 5-star reviews and “better” comments than the others. 

Just saying. 

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It’s exciting. You start practicing, open an office, get a few clients, and then you get a few more. 

Some clients pay you well. Some have good cases. Some days are good. Some, not-so-much.

Your first year or two, it’s hit or miss and you wonder why you thought going out on your own was a good idea. But you hang in there (because you have no choice) and eventually, you gain some momentum and start making a living. 

In a few more years, you might take inventory and realize you’re on your way to being one of those rich lawyers people talk about. They think you were an overnight success, but you know it’s not true.

Unless it was, in which case kudos to you and/or your rich daddy who set you up. 

Most lawyers have to “put in their dues” before they make it. Five years of hard work, my law school torts professor told us it would take, but it will be worth it. 

It was for him. He earned enough in his practice to retire and teach law school for “fun”. 

Whatever your end game is, if you haven’t reached the level you want, if it’s been a lot longer than five years and you’re still not even close to your goal, there could be a lot of reasons but it might simply be this: there is no formula and everyone’s journey is different. 

So maybe you just need more time.

For most of us, it takes time to learn the business and get good enough to do the job clients demand and deserve. Even more, it takes time to figure out how to bring enough (good) business and income to cover expenses and begin to chew down some the debt taken on to get through school and open that office. 

So, don’t beat yourself up. Maybe you’re not failing, maybe you’re just expecting success too soon. 

Give it time.

It will happen when it happens. 

As a successful friend of mine puts it, “Stick and stay and you’ll get your pay”. He isn’t a lawyer but he is far more successful than most of the lawyers I know. 

My friend didn’t expect overnight success. In fact, I’m pretty sure he didn’t expect to be successful at all. He got his ego out of the way and went to work. 

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