Step 1: Create a lead generating website.

Having a nicely designed website isn’t enough to generate leads. A clean design with easy-to-use navigation is a good start, but the vast majority of people who visit your website won’t yet be ready to hire you, so putting a system in place to capture the prospect’s information and get permission to follow up is key.

The best way to capture leads from interested prospects is to offer something of value in exchange for their name and email address. Some great ways to capture your prospect’s information include: offering a free report or e-book, holding an event (either a live seminar or a teleseminar/webinar delivered over the web), or giving away a physical product like a CD/DVD.

Step 2: Create a follow up strategy with prospects to nurture leads.

It can take upwards of 7-10 contacts with prospects before they are ready to do business with you, so having a keep in touch strategy in place is crucial.

A great way to position yourself as a specialist in your primary practice area is to start a firm newsletter for your prospects. A newsletter doesn’t have to be a lot of work. Simply write one article around 500-750 words each month and send it out via an email service like Aweber or Infusionsoft. In the newsletter, you can also include any recent cases you’ve won, client case studies (if your ethics board allows that), and other firm news.

Step 3: Drive traffic to your website.

Unfortunately, just because you build a website doesn’t mean people will easily be able to find it, so it’s important to have a strategy in place to drive traffic to your website. Some ways to drive traffic to your website include:

1. Optimize your website for search engines - Use a service like SEOBook’s Keyword Research Tool to do some keyword research on what keywords prospects are using to search for your website. Then, make sure those keywords are included in your website’s title tags, headers, and copy. Don’t go overboard with the keywords or search engines might see your site as spam, but make sure the keywords you want to be found for are actually on your website somewhere. For more information on search engine optimization, check out my podcast on Introduction to Search Engine Optimization.
2. Create educational content worthy of links - If you want to be found in Google’s “organic” listings, you’ll need to get other high-quality websites to link back to your site. Ask partner organizations and trade groups if they’d be willing to exchange links with you. Another way to get links is to create content that people would be willing to link to. Start a blog and post about the latest news in your industry. Or create an educational section of your website devoted to your main practice area with great articles and resources. Then, get the word out about these sections with press releases, article marketing and social media. Check out my podcast on marketing your website with social media for how to do this.
3. Start a pay-per-click campaign - One of the quickest ways to drive traffic to your website is through Google Adwords. With pay-per-click advertising, you bid on keywords that your prospects search for. Then, you create short ads that show up on the right side of the page in the Google search results. You only pay when people click on your ad. You can set up an ad campaign in less than five minutes to generate traffic immediately.

By implementing these three steps, you’ll transform your website into a powerful lead generating tool that continually brings in new business for your law firm.

Most books on professional services marketing focus on how to advertise or put up a website to market your business. Consultants August Aquila and Bruce Marcus have written a book that goes a step further.

In the preface, they establish from the beginning what this book is not about - “The professional world doesn’t need another book on how to write a press release or write a brochure or run a seminar.” Instead, they choose to focus on what a professional services firm must do to create clients and survive in the modern, constantly changing marketplace.

Client service lies at the heart of every successful business, yet firms often struggle to obtain clients and fulfill their needs. Today’s clients demand greater sophistication and skill - and application of those skills - by professionals who understand their clients’ business needs. And because clients are more informed, they no longer accept a professional’s advice without question.

How can firms attract clients to develop a thriving practice? The authors mention that there are 2 options: either firms can randomly take on clients and build their services to fit those clients’ needs or they can meticulously define their market, focus their skill set around meeting the needs of that market, and then go after clients in that particular market. Only firms that structure themselves around the latter will succeed and grow. A jack-of-all-trades firm who tries to be everything to everyone will never achieve mastery in one area - and therefore will always lose out to those who specialize.

How do you become a specialized firm? The book blends just the right amount of strategy with practical, how-to implementation as it leads you through the process of defining your market, the prospects you want to do business with, your criteria for growth, your firm’s vision and objectives, and your marketing plan. Every firm out there would benefit by reading these sections.

For larger firms, one of the biggest challenges is getting everyone in the firm on the same page. This can be especially difficult because there isn’t much of a marketing tradition in law and accounting firms - marketing one’s services has only been legal since the Bates decision in 1977 - and even now, many professionals dislike the idea of prospecting, marketing and selling.

To make matters worse, it’s extremely difficult for someone other than the service provider to close the sale and convert prospects into clients - the professional must be involved so that he or she can establish a trusted working relationship before the project begins. So how can you gain support from your associates, partners, and other knowledge workers?

Aquila and Marcus propose a three step approach:
1) Each person in the firm must know the results you are looking for
2) Management must discuss with each person what they must do to achieve results
3) Individuals that achieve their results must be rewarded.

They also endorse Robert Kaplan and David Norton’s Balanced Scorecard to measure the firm’s overall performance and success. (If you’re not familiar with the Balanced Scorecard Approach, the authors explain the overall principles and provide working examples in Appendix A.)

Finally, the authors lay the groundwork for changing the firm’s governing structure from a partnership to a more corporate like entity, which should be helpful for medium and larger firms who are struggling with management and governance issues.

With this book, Aquila and Marcus have provided a jargon-free introduction to the business side of running a successful practice in 277 pages. While much of the book is geared towards medium to larger law, consulting and accounting firms, even solo practitioners can benefit from developing a strategic framework for growing their firms.

In fact, if solo professionals and small firms were to follow the business model presented, they’d likely realize that the key to business success is cash flow - it’s not enough to simply be great at what you do. You must also be great at finding and retaining clients in an ever-changing marketplace.

However, marketing only works when you do it regularly. Plan - and make time - to do a set number of marketing tasks each week. Your tasks don’t have to be time consuming or elaborate, but you must do them. Here are some ideas to get you started today:

1. What information can you send to a contact in your network?
2. Which client can you visit at their business to learn more about them?
3. Who can you take to lunch, coffee, golf or an event? When?
4. What organization can you become more active in? How?
5. Which subject can you write an article about? Where can you publish it?
6. What topic can you speak about? For whom? Where?
7. What other types of activities might you do?

Make it a weekly practice to do at least a few of these tasks and you’ll start seeing more clients come in the door.

• Ask each prospect who contacts you where they found out about you.
• Whenever you meet a new prospect or referral partner, add them to your contact list as soon as you get back to the office along with any information you’ve discovered about them. Then, send them something they’d find valuable. Keep track of each interaction you have.
• Offer a free report on your website for anyone that joins your online newsletter so you can continue to keep in touch with them. Keep track of how many new subscribers you get each month.
• Include a different promotional code for free information in your each of your ads or direct mailings. Ask for it whenever your prospect requests that free information. You’ll soon learn which sources generate the best responses.

Analyze which marketing sources generate the most clients. Focus your resources on those that offer the highest return on investment.

Prospects
What types of clients do you want to attract? Given what you know about these clients, what is the best way to reach them? Do they read specific magazines, newspapers, or trade publications? If so, try advertising in those publications. Are they part of the same industry? If so, attend seminars, trade shows, and events where you have the greatest likelihood of meeting them. Do they search the web for information? If so, create an informative website with articles and free reports that address their top concerns.

Keep in mind that one contact is rarely enough to convince someone to hire you. How might you follow up with them to keep in touch? Can you add them to your newsletter, invite them to an educational seminar, or send them additional information?

Clients
Your current clients offer a wealth of opportunities for repeat business and referrals. Since they’re already doing business with you, they probably already know and like you. As their lawyer, it’s your fiduciary duty to provide the best service you can to your clients. That means getting to know who they are, what they do, and what motivates them. Often, as you learn more about your clients, you will see other potential legal risks and can offer additional services to further aid your client.

Also know that happy clients will sing your praises and refer others to you, especially if they believe you truly care about their wellbeing. In what ways can you educate your current client about the types of clients and cases you’d like more of? In what ways can you show your appreciation for referrals they give you?

Referral Partners
Many lawyers generate most of their business through referrals, yet this is often where they spend the least amount of their marketing budget. Look back over your firm’s history. Who is responsible for sending you referrals? How can you give back to them and show your appreciation?

The second part of this strategy involves identifying possible sources of referrals and working to build relationships with others. When you get a new client, what other firms can also do business with them? When you get a prospect who needs a different type of legal services than you provide, to whom can you refer them? How can you cultivate relationships between non-competing firms that will benefit each of you?

How can they be sure they are making an informed decision about which attorney is right for them, can do what they say, and will provide the best value for their money? In other words, why they should they pick you to help them over all the other options available to them?

For most lawyers, the answer lies in creating a niche practice that focuses on a specific practice area or type of client. There are two reasons for this. First, most people would rather hire a specialist than a jack of all trades. They want someone who can solve their specific type of problem right now. They aren’t concerned with all the other services you may be able to provide them down the road. They want you to relieve their current legal pain as soon as possible.

Second, specializing in a particular area makes it easier and cheaper to find clients. Since you know the type of client who is most likely to hire you, you can spend your marketing resources in places prospects are likely to notice. Targeting “everyone who might need my services” is a lot like gambling. Sure, you may get lucky, but the odds aren’t in your favor. How will you know what marketing tactics to use? Where to promote your services? What message resonates best with prospects?

Trying to reach everyone is inefficient because (a) the majority of people you reach won’t need your services and therefore, you’ll waste a lot of money and (b) different people have different reasons and motivations for hiring an attorney so even if they do need your services, your marketing materials won’t clearly explain why your firm is a good fit for them.

The best way to differentiate your services is to focus on who your target audience is, what common legal problems they have, and why your specific solutions matter to them. A good way to uncover the answers is to hold client interviews and ask key questions like:

• Where did you learn about our firm?
• What other firms did you consider?
• Why did you choose us?
• What do you like best about working with our firm?
• If you could change one thing about our service, what would it be?

The last question is extremely important. Client dissatisfaction and complaints are big reasons why clients leave your firm for another. If you can uncover trouble areas, you can turn problems into opportunities. You will also discover how clients view and verbalize their problems, which is probably quite different from how your firm describes its solutions.

Finally, put together a 30 second elevator pitch that clearly states who you work with, what types of problems you solve, and how you solve them. For instance:

“I help [ your target audience ] who are struggling/having problems with [ your target audience's problems ] by [your solution].”

Why do lawyers (and most small business owners, in general) hate sales so much? From talking with numerous clients - and in my own experience - a lot of it comes down to perceptions of what “sales” is and a fear of rejection.

What is “sales”?
To most people, sales is about presenting yourself in the best light possible - or saying that one “right” thing - so that your prospects will want to hire you. This makes sales sound extremely shady and unethical. And with decades of experience trying to buy cars or getting sucked into buying stuff we didn’t want or need from high pressure telemarketers or door-to-door salesmen, it’s not surprising that most people think of sales as distasteful or unprofessional or even sleazy.

In reality, the hard close - or the philosophy “always be closing” - rarely works anymore. People have so many choices and they don’t want to feel pressured into buying something they don’t want or need. They can always go with someone else.

On the other hand, people love shopping and buying things they “absolutely must have.” They want the positive experience that comes with making a purchase that will alleviate some pain they are experience or give bring them more joy. They want to buy a solution to their current problem so they can move on with their life.

Modern sales is about listening to what people really want, what problems they are currently having, and what pain they are currently experiencing. Once you know this, you can craft a solution to that problem that will help them.

As a recent article in Inc Magazine put it

“Instead of selling, I think of it as listening to the challenges that my customers face and providing them with a way to help them solve them.” - Are You Sales Phobic? March 2007

Why do we fear rejection?
As a service provider, what we offer is our knowledge an expertise - a part of us - so we’re attached to it. We believe strongly in it. When we’re rejected, it’s not just businss. We take it personally. Our prospect isn’t simply rejecting a third party product that we can detach ourselves of any emotional outcome. They’re rejecting us. They’re telling us that for whatever reason, we’re just not good enough to take on their project.

Of course, from our prospect’s perspective, it’s not personal. It’s simply that there wasn’t a good fit, or we didn’t have that emotional bond that a competitor did, or our price was too high, or that it wasn’t a good time for the prospect to move forward.

Regardless of the reason, we take that baggage with us - as anxiety that our next prospect will be just like our last and won’t want our services. It builds. And eventually we want to avoid the rejection at all cost so we shy away from opportunities to promote ourselves.

In other words, it’s classic punishment theory. We try something. We are “punished” by our own negative reaction (feelings of failure) to not getting the client. We want to avoid the pain of feeling like a failure so we avoid the activities that cause them (sales).

The same Inc article mentioned above gives the following advice for overcoming this type of fear.

“In cognitive therapy, people identify negative thoughts - those they perceive as limiting their performance - and reframe them. So, for example, if the problem is fear that a sales call won’t result in a sale, the entrepreneur would learn to treat each individual call as an interesting exercise and ultimately to bolster his confidence in the next round. He would try to see any individual rejection as part of the routine: a discrete, inevitable setback that can improve the chances of ultimate triumph.” - Are You Sales Phobic? March 2007

I tend to frame things slightly differently. Now, I see each conversation I have with a prospect as a way to better understand the current problems of my target audience. Each conversation offers a bit of market research that helps me provide better service to my current clients - because if one person is experiencing a certain problem, there’s a good chance that many others out there are also experiencing the same thing.

Develop a Niche
Today’s general practice attorneys are barely scraping by. That is because today’s clients demand specialists. They don’t want a lawyer that has done a couple of cases in every practice area out there. They want someone who handles their specific problem. They want someone who has handled cases for clients just like them and have proven over and over that they can get the job done.

From a lawyer’s perspective, there’s only so much time in the day to learn new areas of law. It’s much easier to pick one or two topics and master those. That’s why it’s in your interest to specialize. Your clients expect you to know your area of expertise cold. They aren’t looking for someone who has dabbled in their problem area, holds a passing interest in this area of law, or will have to go ask someone else or consult a legal library every time they have a question. When you’ve become a master at something, you know it and can communicate it effectively to others without the legal jargon so that clients quickly understand.

From a marketing perspective, developing a niche makes it much easier to find clients. General practitioners that take any case that comes their way rely on chance - or hoping and praying - to get clients. They never know when their next prospect might call or walk in. That’s because anyone could be a candidate and their case could be on any variety of topics.

With a niche business, you define what types of clients you want to work with and what type of law you want to practice. Then, you create a strategy. Where would you find this type of client? Where have you found this type of client in the past? Once you have some idea of that, then you focus all your marketing efforts on places where those types of clients are likely to go - specific publications, networking events, seminars, websites, etc.

Develop Rainmaker Skills
Your clients are your bread and butter. They are what bring in cash to pay your monthly bills. Without clients, you don’t have a business. You have a money pit. That means that marketing and sales - or business development or rainmaking, if you prefer - are fundamental to your business. They aren’t simply something to do when you need clients. They aren’t one time events. They are activities you must do weekly to ensure that you always have a stream of clients coming in the door.

Why are marketing and sales so important? Because without them, no one would know who you are or what you do. Being good at your niche practice area isn’t enough. Providing excellent client service and doing a good job isn’t enough. You must also educate prospects, clients, and referral sources what it is specifically that makes you different from other lawyers and why they are getting tremendous value by working with you.

Every person you meet will have a different frame of reference and different expectations. Simply because you say you’re a “lawyer,” they will form a picture in their minds of what it is they think you do. Most likely, however, that perception of what you do differs dramatically from what you actually do. It’s up to you to bridge the gap by educating prospects, clients, and referral partners in each interaction you have with them.

That’s rainmaking - there’s nothing sleazy or unethical about it. Think of it as “helping others” because that’s what it is. You’re educating prospects on what the best solution to their problems would be - you’re not “selling others on services they don’t need.” That would be unethical.

Developing Financial Skills
Finally, to run a successful business, you must have a means by which you manage your finances. That doesn’t mean dumping a file full of receipts, invoices, and purchases on your accountant’s desk once a year when tax time rolls around. That means getting a program like Microsoft Money or Quickbooks and learning exactly what comes in and what goes out.

Cashflow is the lifeblood of a business. If you don’t have enough money coming in so that your income exceeds your expenses, you won’t be in business very long. By staying on top of your finances, you can watch for trends a number of trends like is our income increasing, steady or declining? Are our expenses increasing, steady or declining? Are certain months slow for us? When will we be able to hire a new receptionist or partner? Did that expensive ad campaign net us any clients? And so forth.

Establishing a successful solo or small law practice - just like any small business - takes time, effort and patience, but by understanding these three pillars, your law firm can become much more successful in less time.

The first step is to understand why might people refer others to you? It’s not because you have a slick brochure or a funny advertisement. It’s not because you send them Christmas cards every year.

People refer others because they find what you do to be valuable and believe your services can enhance the lives of others they know. In other words, people refer those that they know, like, and trust can do the task at hand.

With that in mind, here are some strategies to develop referral relationships.

1. Target specific people. Look at where your current referrals are coming from. Now, what characteristics do those people have in common? Maybe they’re all from the same industry or do a certain type of work. Those are the people you want to focus on.
2. Uncover why they refer you. Once you’ve uncovered a group of people with specific characteristics, ask them why they choose you as their preferred provider. What benefits do you offer them that are above and beyond what others are offering? This is important because you need to be able to differentiate yourself from other lawyers out there. Simply focusing on how long you’ve been doing it, where you went to law school or which firm you work for isn’t enough. You have to uncover a particular problem them have and why they choose to refer others to you rather than other lawyers.
3. Meet people. Yes, it’s obvious, but people refer those whom they’ve met and like. How many times have you given a referral to someone you’ve only heard about or received a letter from? Now, think about who you do give referrals to - you’ve probably met them, like them, and know they can get the job done. You’re reasonably comfortable that if you refer your clients to them, you won’t be embarrassed by the shoddy service your clients received because of you.

How To Meet People

1. Make a list of people you’d like to meet. Chances are that you already know of a few companies that you’d like to work with. Make a folder for each and start collecting any information you find about the person or company.
2. Ask colleagues to introduce you. Take note of any of your colleagues who may know people within the company and ask if they might introduce you. Keep your eyes open for anyone you might meet - do they have contacts you could use?
3. Go to industry and trade events. Choose conferences, trade events, and other outings where you are likely to meet people that have clients who could refer your services.
4. Hold seminars or speaking engagements. One of the best ways to demonstrate your credibility by speaking about a topic your target audience is concerned about. Invite the people you’d like to get to know to attend.
5. Hold office or charitable events. Hold an office holiday party and invite those you’d like to meet. If you hold similar charitable interests to those on your list, get involved in a charitable event or hold one yourself.

Advice for Getting Referrals

1. Don’t talk about yourself. When you finally are introduced to someone, talk about their business, not what you can do for them. Always keep the conversation focused on them and learn as much as you can about their interests, motivations, and concerns.
2. Make it worth their while. Just like you, other people are looking for referrals for their own business. Whenever you meet someone, ask them who would make a good referral for them. Then refer someone. The best way to demonstrate that you care about this person’s wellbeing is to help them first. Give first and without expectation and don’t keep score.
3. Offer something in return. If your state bar association allows lawyers to give referral fees, consider a joint venture with this person. If not, find other ways to show your appreciation. That might be as simple as a thank you note. Or a special offer to their clients only. Or even a gift certificate to their favorite coffee shop or restaurant.
4. Keep in touch regularly. Whenever you see an article about that person or their company in the local business paper, call or write them about the article. If you see an article they’d be interested in, send them a copy. It’s important to nurture the relationship even if they haven’t referred anyone to you just yet.

Like any successful marketing system, setting up a referral system will initially take time and effort on your part. But once you incorporate these basic practices on a regular basis, you’ll start reaping the benefits.

For a fantastic book on the subject, consider picking up Bob Burg’s Endless Referrals, which I’ve recently reviewed.

That’s about what Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling is paying his lawyer, David Petrocelli, for legal fees over the last 5 years. According to BusinessWeek, Skilling put $23 million in a trust for legal fees. Petrocelli then got an additional $17 million from insurers for liability coverage. And Petrocelli’s law firm, O’Melveny & Myers, is billing an additional $30 million for the rest of the team of 12 lawyers, 5 paralegals, and at least a dozen temporary staffers.

Petrocelli bills at $800/hour. I guess we’ll see just what that has bought Skilling come Monday (Oct 23) when he’s scheduled to be sentenced… though I’d be very surprised if his last Hail Mary attempt will work.

Perhaps one might even say that Ken Lay got the better deal. On Oct 17, a federal judge voided his conviction for fraud and conspiracy since he died before his appeal was heard. That means his estate gets to keep the $40+ million that the feds were trying to seize and he has a clean record.