A robust referral network is a lawyer’s best friend. Instead of spending a lot of time and money on generating new leads, clients are coming to YOU instead.

It’s an absolute dream of an arrangement, but it doesn’t happen without laying the right groundwork. While participating in local networking events and keeping your information current in industry journals are all good starting points, we live in a digital world which means you need to think about your online efforts. In this article, we show you how to build your referral network in ways that pay off.

Ask Clients for Reviews

In today’s digital age, online reviews have become an important part of the decision-making process for consumers, including those seeking legal services. Reviews can provide valuable social proof to potential clients, giving them confidence that they are making the right choice when selecting you.

Reviews can also help you with your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts without paying hundreds or thousands of dollars in dedicated SEO work. Positive reviews can improve your online visibility, making it more likely that you will appear when potential clients search for legal services in their area.

Be Active on Social Media

Social media isn’t meant to be a passive endeavor. If you use LinkedIn, Facebook, or any other platform, do what it was designed for: interact with others.

Use social media to showcase your expertise, personality, and values to a wider audience. By sharing insights, opinions, and updates on industry issues, you can establish yourself as a thought leader in your field and differentiate yourself from competitors. This may inspire other business owners in your area to refer work to you.

Social media also allows you to connect with potential clients and build relationships with them in a more casual and approachable manner. By engaging with followers, responding to comments and questions, and sharing valuable content, you can create a sense of trust and familiarity that translates into new opportunities.

Keep Your Website Current

First impressions matter. Your firm’s website is often the first point of contact a potential client has with you. Therefore, it’s essential that your site is professional, easy to navigate, and up-to-date. 

Over time, your services and offerings may change. It’s important that your website reflects these changes accurately. An outdated website that does not accurately reflect what you do can lead to confusion and missed opportunities.

Consistently Put Out Content

Consistently publishing content can establish you as an expert in your field. When you share your knowledge and insights on the issues that your audience is concerned about, you can build a reputation as a thought leader and go-to resource for your area of practice. Not only does this help build credibility and trust with potential clients, but it can also lead to networking opportunities and collaborations with other business owners who may refer work to you. 

Conclusion

When you want to build and grow your practice, referral networks are essential. Whether through personal connections, networking events, or online platforms, you should prioritize building and maintaining referral networks as a key aspect of your business strategy. By doing so, you can continue to thrive in an increasingly competitive industry.

Go ahead, we dare you to unsubscribe from our RSS email every Sunday morning.

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Unsubscribes from your email list can sometimes feel like a blow to your ego, especially when you’ve put time and effort into crafting valuable content. However, it’s essential to rethink how you perceive unsubscribes and recognize them as a natural part of email marketing rather than failures. In fact, receiving more unsubscribes can actually indicate improved email marketing performance, particularly for lawyers who are just starting to send emails regularly.

When you first begin sending newsletters, it’s common to see a higher number of unsubscribes. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Instead, it signals that your emails are getting your audience’s attention and they are in turn effectively filtering out those who may not be a good fit for your content or services. Think of unsubscribes as a way of refining your audience and attracting those who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer.

As you continue to send newsletters and establish your presence in your audience’s inbox, you’ll likely notice that the rate of unsubscribes tapers off over time. This is because your audience becomes more familiar with your content, and those who aren’t interested have already opted out. While you may still receive some unsubscribes with each email, especially if you are constantly adding new leads to your list AND if the content isn’t relevant to certain recipients, the overall trend should be a gradual decrease in unsubscribe rates.

It’s important to remember that unsubscribes aren’t personal. People’s interests and priorities change over time, and they may unsubscribe from your list for various reasons unrelated to the quality of your content or services. Additionally, some individuals may simply prefer to receive information through different channels or have limited space in their inbox.

Instead of viewing unsubscribes as failures, consider them as opportunities to refine your email marketing strategy and better understand your audience’s preferences. Pay attention to the type of content that generates the most engagement and adjust your email campaigns accordingly. By analyzing unsubscribe data and feedback, you can tailor your content to better meet the needs and interests of your audience, ultimately improving the overall effectiveness of your email marketing efforts.

From there, you can tinker with send frequency or even the day of the week and time of day you send them. Always be testing something!

It’s time to rethink how you feel about people unsubscribing from your email list. Rather than viewing unsubscribes as failures, recognize them as a natural part of email marketing that can indicate improved performance and audience refinement. Embrace unsubscribes as opportunities to optimize your content and better connect with your audience, ultimately leading to more meaningful and valuable email communications.

Not sure if you knew this or not, but lawyers aren’t exactly the most beloved professionals in our society. You’re generally distrusted, and people are very hesitant to engage with you (as marketers, we know how that feels because we’re right there with you).

However, lawyers need to establish trust quickly. Otherwise, you risk losing business to a competitor that did so just a little bit better. Here are 4 ways you can easily make a good first impression and establish trust.

1. Have a great-looking website

If people reach your website and find something straight out of 2004, they’re going elsewhere. Your website needs to look great, but it also needs to be easy to navigate and clearly explain who you are and exactly how you help people. If people can’t clearly understand how you help them within the first few seconds of their arrival on your website, you’ve likely lost their interest.

2. Give away lots of information

Gone are the days where you hoard your expertise and charge for everything. In this content-rich era, those who give away the most usually end up on top. By providing free information—on blogs, videos, whitepapers/ebooks, and more—you position yourself as the expert fully capable of helping people solve their problems, especially when they realize that their problems are far too daunting to try to solve themselves.

3. STAY IN TOUCH!

The biggest mistake firm owners make is that they fail to stay in touch. Have an email newsletter that goes out to ALL of your contacts regularly. This is going to be your #1 driver of referrals.

4. Be active on social media

Another way to stay in touch is to be active on social media. There are five primary platforms where almost every social media user hangs out: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok. You need to maintain an active presence on at least 3 of these networks. Post some sort of knowledge nugget every day. It will position you as the expert, show people you’re engaged and active, and makes a great first impression to people doing their initial research on your firm.

Webinars are a great way to get in front of potential clients and referral sources to educate them on all the ways you can help. The downside is that people are pretty busy, and it’s easy to overlook that fact when you compare how busy you are (because no one is busier than a busy lawyer, right?!?).

When it comes to promoting a webinar, many law firms make the mistake of simply announcing it and hoping people show up. Instead, create the easiest path to show up by including a method for linking the event to their calendar. For most busy people, if it isn’t on their calendar, they’re going to forget.

Why Do People Attend Webinars?

They have a problem they want solved. As an attorney in a service-based industry, you are in a position to help them. Address the problem the majority of your attendees have. Granted, there are likely several, but pick one that appeals to the most people. The emails you send out need to address this need.

For example, don’t use a subject line like this: Attend our FREE webinar on Trusts. No one actually wants a trust. Instead, they want asset protection or the peace of mind knowing their loved ones will inherit your estate. The trust is a means to an end, so don’t sell the former. A better subject line would be this: Attend our FREE webinar on Safeguarding Your Assets from Creditors. 

During your webinar, include time for questions. Although your webinar is about one specific issue, grant your audience the time to ask you questions about other issues that are relevant to them. No webinar is genuinely free. Even when there is no financial cost, people give up their time. They won’t spend it unless there is something in it for them. They will be more likely to attend if they know there will be time for them to ask you something. It guarantees that they will get value from it.

Spotlight Branding will Help You Promote It

When our clients host workshops or webinars, we include it in their newsletter and social media. Like the calendar tip we gave you, it pays to be top of mind. Reach people through as many platforms as possible. We’ll post on a variety of social media platforms so your firm is seen by those who need your services. Contact our Business Development Managers to learn how we can increase your referrals and get you better clients. 

41% of lawyers need more time to devote to marketing. 55% of those same lawyers handle marketing themselves, which is potentially why they have a capacity problem to begin with.

Why This Is a Problem 

The first group, which said they needed more capacity to devote to marketing, understood that there was something their firm should be doing but couldn’t. Very few lawyers—if any—believe that they have too much free time.

The second group, the 55%, understand they have a marketing need but are solving it incorrectly. One of the most ironic things about being an attorney is that your time is easily quantifiable. If you charge $450 an hour, how much are you making if you spend four hours a week posting on social media, writing blogs, and creating email newsletters? The opportunity cost of diverting your resources to marketing is too great. Just because an attorney can write a legal blog doesn’t mean they should. 

How to Be More Efficient 

A simple way to do more with less is through content multiplication. A big content marketing mistake many lawyers make is that they take one topic and try to jam every single possible scenario into it, resulting in one gigantic piece of content. The reality is that one idea does not equate to one piece of content. Here’s what the process could look like:

  1. You notice you’re getting the same question from your clients. 
  2. You answer that question on a podcast. 
  3. You pull the transcript from it and turn it into a blog. 
  4. The blog is the subject of your email newsletter. 
  5. The podcast video is cut up and posted on several social media platforms. 
  6. The blog and newsletter are published on several social media platforms.

You’re getting the most out of every idea you have. This is also what Spotlight Branding for its clients. Because they know how valuable your time is, their goal has always been to generate a significant amount of educational and informative content while using the least amount of your time. For example, their copywriters have Quarterly Content Interviews (QCIs) with attorneys. During this time, they interview the attorneys about evergreen topics related to their practice areas. In 30-45 minutes, they can pull enough information to create content for you for three months. This could include writing several blogs a month, writing social media posts to cover you every day of the work week, and creating newsletters. This is content multiplication. 

The key here is to get the most distance from every marketing initiative and generate each efficiently. Spotlight Branding accomplishes this through content multiplication and interviews, but the information is yours to use. Contact them here to talk about your firm and what you’re looking to accomplish through your marketing initiatives.

There are more law firms than good spots on the first page of Google. About 60% of people will choose one of the first three organic results. The frustrating part, at least as it pertains to lawyers, is that these spots are not merit-based. They are given out to the highest bidder (the first four paid slots) or those who employ the best SEO tactics (read: spent the most on SEO to get there). 

There are several instances when the best organic searches lead to poorly crafted websites created for SEO rather than for the clients they hope to serve. Just because someone clicks on the result does not mean they will become a paying client, which is what you wanted in the first place.

Your Network Is a Better Option 

How many people have you worked with in your career, and how many of them think highly of your services? These people are your best salespeople. When most people need an attorney, they actually don’t turn to Google first; they ask people they trust and get a recommendation. 

From there, they’ll get a name (hopefully your name) and look you up. They may have no idea what you person do for marketing or whether you used SEO, but your name will be the first that appears on Google.

Each of your past clients can do this for you. 

The problem is that people forget who you are. This is the component that people miss out on when they think about their past clients giving them referrals. The fact is that you will generate referrals without marketing. Law firms get referrals and think they are all set on that front. In turn, they spend their time searching for ways to get more cold leads while investing in things like SEO instead of maximizing the number of referrals they could get. 

You need to focus on whether you’re missing out on a significant number of referrals. How many more can you get with minimal effort?

Content Closes the Referral Gap 

Instead of spending thousands on the possibility of getting on the first page of Google, send out something as simple, essential, and beautiful as an email newsletter. You can include educational content while staying in touch with the people who will most likely refer you to their friends, families, and colleagues. 

The people you like will refer you to like-minded people. This is why content also leads to better clients. People are out there selling your services and screening your potential clients because you’re spending a few hundred dollars a month staying in touch with them. If you want even more clients, go out and network, build your email list, and then nurture those relationships. When they need your services, they will already know to look for you.

You’ve built a network. For a marginal cost, you can get even more business from them. All you have to do is stay in touch. And when they look you up, guess whose name will appear first on the Google results? That may be the only way to guarantee that you land on the first page, and it can be done for $100 a month rather than $10,000.

Need help staying in touch with your network? Contact Spotlight Branding and see how they can help your firm!

Here’s a refreshing bit of content for you – cheap marketing! And here’s the best part – these ideas will actually produce results because they’ve been proven. Will these result in your phone ringing off the hook and hundreds of leads busting down your door? It’s unlikely, but these will generate results over time.

1. Place a Lead Magnet on Your Home Page

Your website is the first impression your firm will make on most of the people who seek you out (even if they were referred to you already). They’re going to land on your home page looking for information and validation that you’re the best expert for their issue. Having a lead magnet (or multiple) can make that happen.

Provide a short ebook, white paper, special report, checklist, or some other format as a download in exchange for someone’s email address. Once they give you their information, they should be added to your CRM and counted as a lead. From there, your nurturing should begin until they make a buying decision.

2. Create a Course

Having a course may not be the right fit for all law firms, but it could be a way to provide some DIY services at a lower cost all while positioning you as the expert! Some examples of law firm courses could include:

  • A Last Will & Testament workshop
  • How to set up a business entity the right way
  • How to legally structure your finances to avoid IRS audits

You can create video or written courses, offer them for free or at a low cost, and exchange access for someone’s contact information.

3. Answer ALL the Questions

Whether you use a platform like Reddit or you build up your social media presence on TikTok or Instagram with video responses, you should be answering all of the questions people have. Of course, we realize you can’t give specific legal advice to anyone, especially in areas you don’t practice or aren’t licensed, but you can easily give that disclaimer prior to providing your expertise.

Short answers in 45-60 second videos are perfect and will get people asking more questions for you to answer! From there, they can contact you directly and should be counted as a lead.

4. Get on Podcasts

Podcasting is such a popular way to produce content, and there are people all over who have their own show. Whether it’s someone in your community or a show geared toward your ideal client, find a way to become a guest on these shows to boost your expertise. As you wrap up your interview, give a short call to action to a landing page with an offer or lead magnet in order to connect your ROI to your guest appearance.

All of these methods are proven to generate leads. Even better, they don’t cost a ton.

If the blog articles on your website are 3-4 paragraphs covering a current event and telling people if they ever find themselves in that situation to call your firm…then please stop writing blogs. They aren’t actually providing value. Your blog isn’t supposed to be an SEO graveyard full of keywords that you hope will get you on the first 10 results of a Google search. It needs to provide value and actual information to your audience. Here’s how to do it:

1. Write Articles for Your Audience

Have you ever been hired by one of Google’s indexing bots? No? THEN WHY ARE YOU WRITING FOR THEM?!?

Of course, humans use search engines to find answers, but SEO is trending more and more toward rewarding quality content that answers the search queries people are typing in rather than a set of keywords.

Additionally, unless you get 100% of your referrals from other professionals in your industry, you don’t need to write your blogs for them, either. Write your articles to the people who will be hiring you!

2. Know What Your Audience Needs

What’s keeping them up at night? What questions do they have that you are qualified to answer?

Alternatively, what questions are you constantly answering from prospects? What cases are you handling most often? From there, you can pick nuanced issues/subjects from those questions and create even more content.

3. Keep It Short

Your audience doesn’t need to know EVERYTHING. They just need to know enough to see that you’re capable of handling their issue for them. Keep your content surface level and avoid getting into the weeds and every possible if/then scenario. Instead, keep it to roughly 400-600 words and explain the general concept. From there, your audience can choose to take further action.

Welcome to the first month of your best year ever. 

Not convinced? You should be because it could be. 

Here’s a plan to make this month, the month, that everything changes for you and your law firm.  Here’s how: DECIDE to market differently from this point forward.

DECIDE is an acrostic for the 6 steps you can take to make your marketing work better.  

Determine to do something you’ve been putting off that you know will take you toward your goal (like publishing your book).

Engage your audience with something they perceive as high value (like your book).

Capture the heart of your audience by being yourself – warts and all ☺ (in your book).

Impress your audience by doing marketing that’s hard (like creating your book).

Delegate tasks that someone else can (and should) do (Speak-to-Write your book).

Expand your thinking by looking outside your industry for ideas you can use.

Tony Robbins says, “Your Decisions Determine Your Future.” I agree. This month will go by regardless of what you choose to do. 

NOW is the time to decide to move a few of your “someday” items to your “today” list. Otherwise, you’ll experience another round of déjà vu as you relive your past once again. 

One of the best ways to differentiate yourself from every other lawyer is to offer a book to your audience. Share your story, your process, and how you help people like them. Give your audience some one-on-one time with you as they read your book. When you market yourself properly, you’ll see your sales cycle shorten, your conversion rate grows, and your revenue increases month after month. 

If you’ve been thinking about creating a book… stop thinking and decide to make it happen. 

I’ve done it. Spotlight Branding has done it. Hundreds of your peers have done it. Now it’s time for YOU to have done it (had to keep that ball rolling). ☺

Move “publish my book” off your wish list and put it on your DONE list. It’s faster, easier, and more profitable than you might think. Let’s have a chat to see if this is the year for you to become an author.

Let me know what you decide.

We have many faces. The way someone acts at a Phish show is not the same way they’d present themselves as the head of a law firm. How we are with our children is not how we are with our lifelong friends. While many people know and accept this, lawyers struggle with the same concept regarding what they see on social media. It’s understandable because their law firm uses social media to nurture relationships and get clients while their personal page is used to stay in touch with family and friends. So how should you present yourself when you want to attract more clients? 

You’re A Problem Solver 

Imagine coming home and finding a rat the size of a dog in your kitchen. If given the option, would you call a company with 40 years of experience removing dog-sized rats from kitchens or a company whose owner posts videos of himself skateboarding? In service-based industries, credibility and expertise attract clients. 

A future client’s most significant concern is whether you can resolve their issue. If you are ever in a position where you are questioning what kind of content you should be creating, use the following points to guide you:

  • Will one of my future clients find it valuable?
  • Will it help them solve problems or point them in the right direction?
  • Does it convey my credibility and expertise on the subject?

There’s Still Room for Personality 

That said, there is still ample room for personality. One of the easiest ways to highlight this is by how much subtle variance there is among estate planning attorneys. Like other areas of the law, it’s an art as much as a science. Though these attorneys have access to the same tools, how they combine and utilize them is as unique as the attorneys are. Allow your personal approach and passion for the law to come out. 

Some of the best family law attorneys accept that their clients deal with more than just legal complications. They provide access to mental health professionals and want to guide their clients into the next chapter of their lives.

Some attorneys have very personal reasons for wanting to support their clients in this way and are willing to share their stories. This is a prime example of exhibiting some personality, which also speaks to credibility. A family law attorney who has been through a divorce not only has the professional insight to guide their clients, but they also have first-hand experience of how challenging a divorce can be. 

In the end, rely on those questions above. If you want to exhibit your personality, ask yourself if it does any of those three things. Check out Spotlight Branding to learn more.