Legal Practice Pro - Marketing, Managing and Growing Your Law Firm

Is Your Website An Earl Scheib Special?

Jay Fleischman — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:41 +0000

I remember my first car, a 1981 Pontiac Grand Prix in British racing green. Not my first choice, but my father convinced me that I should spend a pittance on a used car as opposed to blowing all of my money on a brand-new one.

With the first 90 days, I’d blown the engine, replaced the transmission, and done a bunch of other work on it. By the time all was said and done, I’d spent more than the cost of a new automobile.

Turns out my car was an Earl Scheib special, a clunker hastily painted over to look terrific.

I learned my lesson early on. Judging from the looks of lots of law firm websites out there, many of my colleagues didn’t get the memo.

Is Your Website A Clunker?

You knew you needed to get online, and that you needed a website so people could find you. You didn’t want to spend a lot of money so you hired some college kid, freelancer on Elance, or your friend’s brother’s nephew. Or maybe you went through your web host and got their freebie starter website.

It looked nice enough, but you’re wondering why none of your clients are coming from the web.

As it turns out, there’s a good chance your site is a clunker with a clean coat of paint. And just like my first car, it’s not worth the price you paid for it.

The Hidden Persuader

Let’s forget the issues of content and search engine optimization for a moment. If you want visitors to your website to hire you, you’ve got to make it easy for them to do so.

That’s called usability – the process of making your website or blog easier for a visitor to use. And without a clear vision of usability, your site will fail to produce income for you.

A Few Factors To Consider

Your goal as the website owner is to present information clearly so your visitor can understand it. We’ve talked about the robots, and this is the time to banish them from your site forever.

Take a look at your navigation areas to ensure that they are uncluttered. Studies show time and time again that giving a website visitor too many choices leads them to making no choice at all.

Decide what you want someone to do – send a consultation request, call the office, download an ebook, whatever – and make sure everything you do on the site leads the visitor to taking that action.

Carefully review fonts, colors and graphics to be sure they’re accomplishing your goals. Pay attention to the little things – after all, your visitors do.

Don’t Buy The Earl Scheib Special

Web design doesn’t need to be expensive. It does, however, need to accomplish the goal of converting visitors into clients. Without proper usability and design, a cheap site can be very expensive.

This is such an important topic that I’ve asked my personal web developer, Cynthia LaLuna, to come to St. Louis as part of the Bankruptcy Practice Workshop to teach session on usability and design concepts. Check out the entire agenda here, and I hope you can make it.

Image credit: NoHoDamon

6 Steps To Preventing A Robot Invasion Of Your Website

Jay Fleischman — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:00:02 +0000

I fear there’s been an attack, but it’s being covered up. Much as the Cylons infiltrated the human population, robots have apparently crept into many law firms.

Stilted writing seems to taking over law firm blogs and websites. It’s not uncommon to read sentences like, “Our Palm Beach bankruptcy lawyers help people in Palm Beach file Chapter 7 bankruptcy and Chapter 13 bankruptcy.”

It’s a case of robot writing, aimed at search engines without regard for the fact that it’s drivel that makes potential clients run screaming from your site.

But you’re too smart for that, aren’t you? You already know how to keep the robots satisfied without repulsing potential clients.

You know it’s not easy for the uninitiated but simple once you figure out these six simple steps.

Draft Without Editing. When you sit down to write your web page or blog post, use a stream of consciousness. No editing allowed, just write freely.
Format Using The 10-4 Rule. Sentences longer than 10 words are separated with a period. Paragraphs longer than 4 lines are broken into separate paragraphs.Shorter sentences are easier to understand. Shorter paragraphs allow for more white space. That’s easier on the eye.
Use A Keyword Density Tool. Run the page through a keyword density tool. That will tell you if your text is repetitive. Using the same word over and over is robotic. Not only that, it runs afoul of Google’s “best practices.” I like this tool, which is free to use.
Edit Harshly. Knock out as many of the repetitive terms as possible. Each time you delete a word, ask if the point of the article is lost. If not, keep chopping. Why spend 1,000 words saying what could be said in 300?
Kill The Lingo. If there’s word you didn’t know before law school, replace it with something else.
Have A Real Person Read It. Get someone to read the article and give an honest opinion. Don’t use a staff member – they won’t want to say it stinks because they’ll fear for their jobs.

It’s true that there are some robots you want on your site – the search engines. As much as you’d like it to be otherwise, those robots don’t hire you. You need to ensure that the humans who visit will find you engaging and informative.

Aside from engineers and young children, nobody finds robots engaging. That’s why it’s your job to help prevent the robot invasion of your website.

One of the sessions of the Bankruptcy Practice Workshop will cover the nuts-and-bolts of writing engaging, informative and (believe it or not) entertaining web content. Once you implement these simple tactics you’ll be able to convert more visitors to clients. You’ll also enjoy writing for the web because you won’t be so focused on the technical aspect of it. I hope you can join us.

Image credit: Dan Coulter

Here’s The Secret To Writing An Article In 30 Minutes (Or Less!)

Jay Fleischman — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:00:33 +0000

Ever sit down to write an article only to end up staring at the screen? Wonder how the big-name bloggers come up with their ideas day after day, week after week, seemingly without effort?

The truth is, there’s a lot of effort behind the scenes. There’s research, planning and a whole lot of thought that goes into creating content that’s consistently engaging. But once you know the secrets, you’ll realize how much easier – and faster – it can be.

In fact, you can get something out the door in as little as 30 minutes if you’re using this formula.

Never Stop Reading

Lawyers always need to have the most recent news and information at the ready. When the White House announces a new foreclosure avoidance mechanism, you need to know about it (assuming that’s your practice area).

Sign up for email updates from your news sites of choice, or use an RSS feed reader such as Google Reader to manage the flow of information.

Harness Your Creativity

People think great writers can sit down and call a fabulous idea into being. That’s not true. The great creative artists of our time – including Hemingway, Picasso and Van Gogh – were known the carry notebooks with them all all times, constantly writing down words and bits of stray thoughts.

Keep a Moleskine notebook in your pocket. Download and use Evernote for your iOS or Android device. Call your office phone and leave yourself a voicemail. But don’t ever rely on your memory to keep ideas for article topics at the ready.

Keep The End In Mind

If you’ve got a blog for your law firm, remember why you’re doing it. Some write for authority-building, others as a way of getting ideas into the public, and many to educate their existing and potential clients.

You need to keep that in mind, and ask yourself how to make each and every piece further that goal. If you’re writing for educational purposes, don’t start doing academic treatises filled with legal jargon.

Keep A Schedule

You’ve got the ideas and know why you’re writing. Now you’re going to want to plan out your articles weeks, in not months, in advance. Pick a few general topics and set them down into a calendar – I use the Editorial Calendar plugin for WordPress – so you’ll never have to spend time on wondering what you’re going to write.

Avoid Jazz Writing

Look at most of the posts written by the major bloggers and you’ll quickly realize they fall into a pattern. There are about a dozen variations, but most articles online have a rhythm and style.

This isn’t jazz, filled with improv. Rather, most articles have a precise framework.

Writers use these templates so they can move an idea forward quickly. Readers love these templates, though many don’t realize they exist, because it allows them to get information in a predictable way.

Put It All Together Each Time You Write

When you sit down to write, most of it has been done for you already.

You know what you’re going to write about.

You’ve collected some ideas.

You’ve chosen a template.

Now all it comes down to is setting aside 30 minutes to organize it and publish.

As my son says, “easy peasy, lemon squeezy.”

If you’re looking for the top 10 templates and quick-start ideas I use when working on my law firm blogs, then my upcoming Bankruptcy Practice Workshop is right up your alley. Cathy Moran and I are not only going to show you how to implement these powerful time-saving tools, we’ll help you create a few articles right there during the session. There are a few tickets still available, so why not join us?

Image credit: Sander van der Wel

Is Your Marketing Disconnected?

Jay Fleischman — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:00:24 +0000

Looking at most of the marketing done by law firms large and small makes me wonder if someone simply didn’t get the memo about the interaction between marketing and the actual practice of law.

Take a look at the websites many lawyers are launching and you’ll see the same story told over and over again: the bland and positive are highlighted, the true personality of the firm is eradicated. Go visit the office, however, and you’re in a different world.

Knick-knacks on the credenza, funny ties, and pictures of vacations to fun places abound. Somehow, this doesn’t square up with client expectations.

That’s a problem, for you as well as for your clients.

The Professional And The Real Person

I’ve got a colleague who has a storied musical past. For years she traveled the club scene as a DJ, playing to crowds of adoring admirers (she’s something of a celebrity, apparently). She decided to go to law school but still does her DJ thing during the weekends.

She opened her own practice and launched a website. Got cards made up and secured professional office space. On paper, she’s another lawyer in a sea of them. Forgettable.

Step into her office, however, and her past is solidly on display. She’s got a visible tattoo, a small and tasteful diamond stud in her nose, and photos of herself at the turntable in various exotic locations.

Total disconnect. And because of that, her client base is smaller than might otherwise be the case.

Marketing Is …

… everything you do professionally. Not just the website, the ads and the networking. It’s everything.

If my colleague wants to attract people into the club culture, she should be putting her personality on her website and in her social media profiles. Those pictures of her at the turntable should be findable online. And if she wants to attract non-club people, she needs to have a presence that is devoid of her past – online and offline.

But this mixing and matching isn’t good for anyone.

Her clients come into the office with one expectation and are met with something completely different. Her marketing can’t capitalize on her personality, her office staff can’t cash the check that marketing is writing (so to speak).

An Integrated Approach

Rather than allowing your marketing to say one thing and do another, look at your firm as a single operation focused on one end result – to attract and serve only those clients you want to work with. Your marketing materials, reception area, conference room, office, business cards, letterhead … it all serves to reinforce that single message to that specific person you want to reach.

By having an integrated approach to your marketing, and by reinforcing it with your operations, you’ll find that more people will hire you because you live up to their expectations. Those people will be far better clients because their trust in your marketing message is confirmed by working with you.

When you meet with clients, do they get what they expected? If not, it’s time to take a second look at your marketing and operations.

We’ll be talking about the convergence between marketing and operations in one of the sessions of my upcoming Bankruptcy Practice Workshop. The goal is to help you better understand where the lines cross and how to connect the disparate pieces of the puzzle that makes up the conversion of a prospect to a client. I hope you’ll join us.

Image credit: Stitch

Should Bankruptcy Lawyers Use Twitter, Or Not Yet?

Jay Fleischman — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:41:15 +0000

Pretty much everyone in the conference hall heard me yelp as Larry DePalma, a purported marketing expert, told 900 consumer bankruptcy lawyers that they should stay away from Twitter. “Not yet,” he said.

My response was purely involuntary, and I was glad that my friend Kurt O’Keefe was quick enough on his feet to cover by saying, “bless you,” as if I’d sneezed. Those in attendance who know me realized the ruse immediately.

My agony, however, was not at the fact that we were told to avoid Twitter.

Why I Use Twitter

Twitter recently celebrated it’s sixth birthday while also announcing that it has 140 million users and sees 340 million tweets per day. I’ve been on Twitter since March 2007, and have had the great fortune of making connections with a number of wonderful people.

I met my web developer, Cynthia LaLuna, through Twitter when I was looking for someone to set their hand to this site. Over the past few years, Cynthia has become a trusted friend as well as a steady business associate. My websites and those of my colleagues have been made all the better because of her. In fact, Cynthia is going to be one of the speakers at the Bankruptcy Practice Workshop in St. Louis on June 9, 2012.

Though I knew her prior to Twitter, I became friendly with Stefanie Devery after I joined. When it came time for me to look for an associate for my law firm, Stefanie offered up her services. I’m glad to say that she’s been a terrific addition to the firm.

Why You May Want To Use Twitter

A significant number of local and regional (not to mention national) reporters use Twitter actively, seeking out sources of information and using the platform as a means of determining the most qualified experts in a given field.

Lawyers like me who actively use Twitter have been quoted in national offline news media outlets (NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Crain’s New York Business).

Many people – consumers as well as professionals – use Twitter as a substitute for news gathering. They don’t talk much, but they’re scanning their stream for things that interest them.

Or Maybe Not

At least once a week a lawyer will come to me and ask that I help get him or her set up with Twitter. When pressed, most have no idea why they should be there. They know only that some talking head or gooroo at a conference told them that Twitter was somehow mandatory for their continued viability as a business.

This, to my mind, is just as misinformed as those who tell us to stay away from any platform in particular. Those self-proclaimed experts see only tactics, not strategies.

To figure out if a particular platform is right for you, look at your clients and those you want to inform about your area of expertise. Figure out who they are, and where they hang out. Then go there. Simple as that.

My clients don’t hang around on Twitter, but people who influence them do. Other lawyers in different fields, journalists, freelance writers who contribute to personal finance sites, and the like. Those are the people with whom I want to interact, so I need to be there as well.

Know Where To Go

Maybe you’re different. Perhaps you like a good tax delinquency case. Maybe student loan law is your thing. For each type of matter you’ve got different potential clients. Go where they are.

Your clients may be on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Pinterest. Maybe they are on one of the forum sites. For you to be absent is a shame, isn’t it?

And if someone calling themselves an expert sells any particular platform short without knowing about your practice, you should send them packing.

Image credit: _Fidelio_

How To Turn Local Social Networking Contacts Into Real Business Relationships

Jay Fleischman — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:00:38 +0000

In his post, 7 Local Business Blogging Tips, Stanford Smith talks about moving the needle locally rather than globally. It’s an interesting read, worthy of any lawyer looking to increase his or her client base.

As lawyers most of us are working in local practices. We serve the same town, city or state in which we practice with rare exceptions. In spite of that, most of the time you’re probably not keeping that in mind when you’re marketing online.

You connect with people all over the country, reasoning that social media is free. Sure, the platforms cost nothing in terms of dollars out of your pocket but there is a huge cost in terms of time and opportunity cost if you’re using them properly.

Think about it. You spend 15 minutes on LinkedIn each day, which comes to 1.5 hours a week. That’s 78 hours a year. If you bill out at $300 an hour, you’re spending $23,400 each year on LinkedIn alone.

I don’t know about you, but if I’m spending $23,400 on something there better be a positive return on my investment.

We can spin this for Twitter, Facebook, blogging, and the like. We can use it for offline networking, too.

Use Google Alerts Aggressively

Put the names of your local connections into Google Alerts so you’re notified if they hit the news, then send them a link to the story along with your congratulations (assuming, of course, the story is a positive one). Your email will remind the recipient that you’re around, and let them know you’re looking out for them.

Diversify Your Network

If you’re a bankruptcy lawyer you should connect with accountants, family law attorneys, criminal defense lawyers, and other “consumer-based” practitioners. But you should also be looking at people who work in retail, hospitality, human resources, and the like. These folks may not be sending you rafts of business each week, but people in these fields come into contact with more of the general public than anyone else.

Keep An Eye On Press Opportunities For Others

I subscribe to HARO, an email newsletter that lists reporters who are looking for sources for their stories. If something comes up that may be a fit for a local connection, I forward it immediately to let them know of the opportunity. Local businesses need all the press they can get, and it doesn’t take much for me to help them out.

Bring Coffee

Call a friend one afternoon and let him or her know you’re down the block from their office. Offer to bring them up a cup of coffee. It’s easier to take a few minutes in the office for a break than to drag yourself out to meet with someone, and there’s something nice about having something nice done for you.

As an added benefit, you get to see your contact’s office and make mental notes for future conversations. For example, if there are a bunch of photos of your contact playing tennis then you know you should brush up on the latest tennis news the next time you speak.

It’s The Neighborly Thing To Do

Remember that people send business to professionals they know, like and trust. Using these four tips, you’ll start to build a deeper bond with the people in your local community. And that’s not just good for business – it’s the right thing to do.

Photo credit: photopol

5 Ways To Get More Bankruptcy Clients Even As Filings Are Plummeting (Plus An Extra One)

Jay Fleischman — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:00:35 +0000

Remember when being a consumer bankruptcy lawyer was easy? Not too much competition, more clients, and better fees?

Those days are over.

When the recession hit, everyone got into the bankruptcy field. Not only newly-minted attorneys but also those who practiced in other areas that were suffering from the economic meltdown.

And for awhile, it was alright. There were enough filings to go around, and not enough lawyers to take on the work.

Then filings started circling the drain. In fact, we’re on track to see at least 25% fewer filings in 2012 than there were in 2011. Even places like Florida, Arizona and California – places where filings remained high even as the rest of the nation declined in 2011 – are feeling the pinch.

There’s good news, though. Most bankruptcy lawyers still haven’t gotten their arms around this whole marketing thing. So here are 5 ideas you can use (plus an extra one at the end).

Expand Your Network

The best clients come from referrals, right? If you haven’t already done so, get in touch with your professional contacts and past clients to remind them that you welcome their referrals.

Professional network a bit … underdeveloped? Using tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and your “real-world” skills, you can meet more of the right people and get yourself back on track fairly quickly.

Create Content

Blogging, podcasting and video creation put your expertise in the spotlight. Fire up a WordPress blog and start showcasing yourself.

Remember, however, that you need to optimize your content so it’s found by the search engines and readable by your ideal prospective clients. Don’t alienate readers in your quest for the top spot on Google.

Cut Costs

Saddled with too much paper or expensive applications that require never-ending and costly updates? Look to some of the low-cost and no-cost options to lower your annual operating expenses without sacrificing the quality of your work.

Increase Productivity

When you’re looking for new applications and hardware for the office, keep an eye out for those critical things that will make your faster and more efficient. The less time you spend rifling through your files looking for a key piece of research, the more time you’ve got to drum up more business.

Get Paid What You’re Worth

The increase in competition means people are lowering their fees or settling for the “no-look” in their area. That’s a huge mistake.

Rather than settling for the bottom of the pricing scale, consider establishing your value by showing your expertise, honing your skills, and (if allowed in your area) getting client testimonials. Build you online profiles with services such as Avvo and LinkedIn so potential clients know they’re getting the good stuff when they hire you.

Also, start looking to fee applications as a way to get compensated for your hard work. Flat fees in Chapter 13 cases are a losing proposition.

Come To St. Louis For A Deeper Understanding

There’s only so much you can get from a blog post – sometimes you need some hand-holding in a workshop. I’m going to be doing the Bankruptcy Practice Workshop with Cathy Moran on June 9, 2012 in St. Louis, and I’d love for you to join us there.

The price is less than a single Chapter 7 case, but readers of Legal Practice Pro can knock $100 off the cost of a ticket by entering in promo code bkmllp at checkout.

Check it out here. We’ve got 30 seats in total, and I hope you can claim yours before they’re all gone.

3 Ways To Get Into Your Client’s Head

Jay Fleischman — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:00:11 +0000

You know who you want to attract as a client, but do you know what life looks like through your client’s eyes? Profiling your client based on the pulse of their world could give you a huge leg up on the competition.

When I was first opening my bankruptcy practice, I took a long look at how my area looked. In fact, I spent about a week just walking around to get a feel for the rhythm of life.

I walked into stores, looked for gas stations, and checked out the supermarkets. In so doing, I came to understand the pressures felt by the people who I was looking to attract as clients.

That was likely the most important part of the start-up phase of my marketing because it helped me get into my client’s world. I could walk the proverbial mile in my client’s shoes, which let me understand what I needed to know in terms of figuring out how to solve his or her problems.

How’s The Food?

The cost of fresh produce was far more expensive in this particular area than in others, yet the people in the neighborhood were clearly struggling to get by. Supermarkets were dirty and cramped, produce stands weren’t plentiful.

This, in spite of the fact that the residents were largely natives of an island nation that incorporated fresh fruit into virtually every meal.

Transportation Is Important

The subways and buses were packed at 6am, empty by 8am. People looked exhausted all the time, and they rarely smiled to the bleary-eyed children they carted along with them at what I usually consider “early o’clock.”

By the same token, the cars on the street were all brand-new and expensive. We’re not talking about a street full of rotting Yugos and Pacers.

Housing Stock

My chosen area was filled with old apartment buildings that had seen far better days. Not many people lived in private homes, and those that did would likely have fared better in the dilapidated tenements that lined the streets.

Once the sun went down, the streets were empty and stores locked up tightly. If there was someone on the street, you didn’t want to invite them over for a family holiday.

Piece Together The Client’s Life

What did I learn by simply walking around? As you can tell, quite a bit. My client was poor, likely went into debt for fresh produce and used a car as a status symbol in spite of the fact that he or she didn’t get to use it much.

Housing conditions weren’t terrific, and my client was working so many hours that a short trip to the lawyer’s office meant there would be less money in the paycheck at the end of the week. With money so tight, every penny counted.

Life sucked, and they needed some help.

Talk To The Needs

Once I knew so much about my client, I could speak to their needs and fears. I could offer help in a way that recognized the issues they faced each day. My language could mirror theirs, which helped to create and maintain trust.

Image credit: Ed Yourdon