When I went to school it was against the rules to cheat off of your neighbor’s paper. Not sure if that’s true today. After all, if you don’t copy off of someone else, you might hurt their feelings. It’s like telling them they’re not smart enough to copy. What if they are a different race or gender? You might be guilty of racism or sexism.

But hey, I’m old. What the hell do I know?

By the way, it’s okay for me to say I’m old, but if you say it, that would be ageism. Wait. What if you’re older than I am? Can an old guy be accused of ageism for calling an older guy old?

Okay, my head hurts. I’ll stop. Wait. Did I just hurt the feelings of migraine sufferers by saying my head hurts?

Where was I?

Ah yes, assuming that cheating (and plagiarism) are still verboten, I want to point out a loophole. A way you can use what other people write to create your own content.

Here’s the thing. It’s not plagiarism to copy someone else’s idea. So if one lawyer writes a blog post about a SCOTUS opinion and says he thinks it sucks eggs, and you agree with that, you can write your own post and say the very same thing.

Don’t use their words, just their ideas.

The same goes for the post’s title. You can’t copyright titles, so go ahead and use it if you can’t come up with your own.

Of course if you don’t agree with what the other writer said, you can say that instead. (Careful, though. You don’t want to hurt their feelings.)

So there you go. You can never say you don’t know what to write about. Look at what someone else wrote and cheat off of their paper.

“Keep your eyes on your own paper!”

“I don’t know what to write.” “I’ve said it all before.” “What I have to say is boring to most people.” “I’m not a good writer.”

This is what many lawyers tell themselves. These are the reasons they offer for not writing to their clients and prospects.

No articles, no blog, no emails. Or very few and far between.

Have you avoided setting up a newsletter or blog because you don’t think you have anything to say? I’m talking to you.

Yes, time is a factor. But you’re smart enough to know that it’s worth finding 30 minutes a week if it means bringing in several new clients per month.

No, if you’re not writing, it’s probably because you don’t think you have anything to say.

You know what? You might be right. You may not know what to say and you may not be a good writer. But it doesn’t matter. If you don’t know what to write, write anything.

You don’t have to be brilliant. You can write something that’s “just okay”.

Why? Because building a digital relationship with your clients and prospects isn’t about information or elegance, it’s about engagement.

It’s not what you say or how you say it that’s paramount. It’s that you said something.

You showed up in their life again, reminding them that you’re still practicing and still interested in knowing them. You shared an idea or observation, or shared something about your practice or your personal life. You asked for their feedback, and asked them to tell you how they are doing.

You don’t need to be brilliant, or even good. You just need to show up regularly and say hello.

Tell them something you did this week, or something you thought. Tell them about a website or book you recommend. Tell them about an interesting case or client you have, or one that another lawyer told you about.

A few paragraphs, once a week, is enough to maintain your relationship.

But here’s what happens.

You keep doing it and your writing gets better. And faster.

You find more interesting things to say, and better ways to say them. You start to enjoy writing, and you look forward to it, especially when you see how it is helping your practice grow.

You don’t have to be good to start, but you have to start to be good.

Here’s what you need to start your newsletter or blog

What to write when you don’t know what to write

I’m going to write a blog post today and show you my process. I want you to see how simple it is, and how quickly it can be done.

While I was out shopping with my wife yesterday, I thought about two of our neighbors who have just repainted their houses and wondered how they chose their painters. I remembered how we chose our painter, Mr. Kim, the last time we repainted, and wrote down the topic for today, in Evernote. This morning, on my walk, I came up with the Bullwinkle-inspired title for this post.

When I got to my desk, I wrote down the topic, and set a timer for five minutes. I started the timer and wrote, without stopping. When the timer sounded, I had written 253 words for the first draft.

I set aside the first draft for a few minutes, came back and wrote what you’re reading now. I spent a few more minutes editing the first draft. The final version of the post, not including what you’re reading now, is 340 words.

This post isn’t brilliant. I made a good point, and made it interesting, I think, by referencing a personal anecdote.

Total writing time today, approximately 15 minutes. And I’m done for the day.

So, here’s the post:

====
WATCH ME PULL A RABBIT OUT OF MY HAT

Two of my neighbors just repainted their houses. As I watched the painters working, I thought about the last time we repainted and how Mr. Kim and his brother did such a good job for us. He put on two coats, and this has lasted a good ten years or more. I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find that our neighbors had one coat done and will have to repaint again in a few years.

The Kim brothers were very thorough, clean as a whistle, and very low priced. When we paint again, we’ll use them again.

I found the Kim brothers through my former secretary. Her husband is a meticulous shopper, very detailed oriented, and drives a hard bargain. He was a banker for most of his career, so I guess this isn’t surprising. He did a lot of research before hiring the Kim brothers and told us how happy he was with them. Good enough for me.

Friends ask friends for referrals. Especially with expensive purchases. We depend on referrals because they save us time and money and help us avoid the risk of making a bad choice. This is true for finding a contractor, or a lawyer.

I thought, what if I had been referred to the Kim brothers not by my secretary’s husband but by a lawyer I had hired. I’d be grateful to that lawyer for his help and I would assume he could help me with other referrals, to other contractors, businesses, and professionals. I’d go back to him when I needed a referral, and when I needed a lawyer again, he’s the one I would call.  I’m sure I would refer clients to him, too.

The point is, every lawyer should make a point of being a resource for their clients and prospects. They should go out of their way to seek out high quality businesses and professionals and recommend them. Their clients will be happy, hire them again when they need them, and send them referrals. So will the businesses and professionals he or she recommends.

Want more referrals? Go find a good painter you can refer.

Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat

I have a blog but I am not a blogger.

There’s nothing wrong with blogging, it’s just not what I do.

Bloggers focus on engaging their visitors and social media connections. They encourage visitors to leave comments and to visit their social media pages, and they spend time reading those comments and responding to them.

I don’t. In fact, I don’t get many comments. Lawyers are busy. I am, too. If I got lots of comments, I’d probably turn off the comment function on my blog.

Yes, I have a blog. But that doesn’t make me a blogger. Bloggers have lots of guest posts, interviews, videos, graphics, and links to other sites. I don’t. These aren’t important to me.

I’m not a blogger. I write emails to my subscribers, share information, teach and train, and tell stories. I communicate with my subscribers, provide value, and sell my products and services.

I do post most of my emails on my blog, however. This brings search engine traffic. I have more than 1000 posts now, all serving to attract visitors who are looking for marketing and productivity ideas and solutions.

I also get traffic from social media, as visitors share my content with their connections. (I don’t do much with social media myself.)

The content on my blog does something else for me. It shows visitors that I know what I’m doing and how I can help them. I don’t have to work hard to convince them to buy my products or services. The content does most of the convincing for me.

Having an email list means that when I launch a new product, as I just did, I send an email to my list and get a crush of orders.

I don’t spend a lot of time on marketing, either. Once I have an idea for an email/post, I write the first draft (usually) in five minutes. In thirty minutes (usually), it’s done and sent and posted on the blog.

Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to know that you can do what I do. You can build your practice by building an email list and posting content on your website (blog).

You can build a list of prospective clients and referrals sources and stay in touch with the people on that list, and use your emails as content for a blog.

If you’re still on the fence, take my “today” challenge. Write a short email today explaining what you do for your clients. A few paragraphs is all you need.

Here, I’ll help you: “I help people get/keep/avoid __________. I do that by ____________”.

Pretty easy, huh?

Now, email it to someone. And post it on your website.

Guess what? You’re not a blogger, either. But you’re doing what I do.

Marketing online is easier than you think. If you want to know where to start, or where to get ideas to write about, I’ve laid all that out for you in Make the Phone Ring.

Marketing online is easier than you think

How do you write an original article or blog post? After all, hundreds or thousands of attorneys (and others) are writing about the same things. They talk about the same laws, the same legal system, the same problems and solutions.

The good news is that what you write isn’t nearly as important as how you write it.

Prospective clients don’t read your content because they want to learn the ins and outs of your practice area. They don’t really want to learn about the law, they want to learn about you.

Do they understand you? Do they relate to you? Do they like and trust you?

So, while content is important, style and personality are more so.

Don’t be concerned with delivering the definitive word on your subject. Write something that will make prospective clients see you as someone they would like to work with.

How?

By putting yourself in your writing.

Tell them about clients you’ve helped–what you did, why you did it that way, and what happened. Talk about how you feel about the issues and about your clients. Give them not just the facts, but your advice.

Don’t hold back, either. Give them the unvarnished truth. Write with passion. Open up your heart and your mind and share what’s inside, and let people see who you are.

And that’s the best news, because there’s only one you.

If you give the same raw material to 100 attorneys and ask them to write an article about that material, most of the articles will be very similar. A few will be unique and show readers why they should choose them as their lawyer.

Only a few because most lawyers don’t understand (or are unwilling to accept) the fundamental truth that clients don’t hire your knowledge or your experience, they hire you.

Marketing online for attorneys made simple

What you write isn’t as important as how you write it

I have a very strong opinion on the gun control issue. I’d like to share it with you but I would be a fool if I did. I write about marketing, not politics or policy. Telling you my opinion on an emotionally charged issue like gun control might satisfy my need to express myself, but from a marketing standpoint it would be a mistake.

I might lose half of my readers who disagree with me. If I represented a special interest group or had a talk show or forum of some sort where “taking sides” was part of the deal, fine. But I don’t, so why unnecessarily alienate people who might hire me?

As a friend of mine colorfully advises, “Don’t shit on your money”.

And that’s my advice to you.

There is a way to talk about issues like gun control, climate change, abortion, and the like without stabbing yourself in the back. You do that by writing about those issues as though you were writing a Bar exam essay.

Present both sides of the issue–the legal arguments and the body of law–in an unbiased manner. The facts and arguments on one side, and then the other. Leave out the conclusion altogether, or couch it in terms of “if/then”.

State the facts and keep your opinion to yourself.

Your clients and prospects, readers and listeners, will appreciate you for educating them about both sides of the issue and for giving them credit for making up their own mind. You have presented a valuable service to them, and haven’t pushed anyone away.

I know, it’s hard to keep mum about what we think, especially when we have strongly held opinions about important issues. But we just can’t go there.

When I see what some people post on Facebook, I have to bite my tongue and watch cat videos to calm down. But I don’t comment. I also don’t like political posts I agree with. I don’t let anyone know my opinion.

Lately, however, I’ve taken to un-following people who reveal their foolishness through their posts. I’m not their client or prospect, so it doesn’t matter, but if I were, their opinions might cost them a small fortune.

What to write on your website or blog

My take on gun control

I’m on an email list. The owner of the list is a successful entrepreneur who offers his own products and other products for which he is a commissioned affiliate.

Nothing wrong with that. But like many marketers, the only emails he sends me are sales pitches. Buy this, watch this video (and then buy this), last chance to buy this, and so on.

Again, nothing wrong with sales pitches. Sales make the world go round. The problem is that he never sends me anything else.

No information I could use in my business. No valuable content. No ideas. Not even anything interesting to read that might make a pleasant diversion.

Just pitches.

As a result, he’s always just a hair away from losing my subscription.

If he sent educational information in addition to the pitches, he would sell more products, and not just because more people would stay on his list.

More people would read his emails, and look forward to them, because they know they’re going to read something valuable or interesting. Now, I’m guessing that most people delete most of his emails, as I do.

More people would also trust his recommendations because he wouldn’t simply be the deliverer of advertising material, he would be a mentor or adviser.

Why don’t I leave his list? Because occasionally he recommends something that catches my eye and I do go and look at it. That may change, however, the next time I do an email subscription purge, or I’m in a bad mood.

One more thing. At the end of every email, before his signature, he closes by saying, “As always, thanks for supporting our site!”

Ugh.

What’s wrong with that? Isn’t he just being polite?

Well, when you say thank you to everyone every time you write to them, it makes “thank you” meaningless. It’s a throwaway line, a marketing gimmick, not a sincere expression of gratitude.

Say thanks when I buy something. Say thanks when I pay you a compliment or do something for you. Say thanks when you appreciate something I’ve done, and show me that you mean it.

Here’s another thing he doesn’t get. If I buy something from him, I am not doing it to support his site. I’m doing it because I see value in what’s being offered. Nothing more, nothing less. Like any consumer, I do what’s best for me and mine. I care about us, not you.

But here’s where it gets interesting.

If he was sending me valuable content instead of nothing but pitches, I would be grateful to him for that. If I was also interested in the product being offered, I would probably buy it from him instead of anyone else. (I’m on a lot of lists in this niche). I would “support” him because I appreciated the benefits I was getting from his content.

It works the same way for marketing legal services.

When you offer the same services as other lawyers, more clients will choose you if you give them value, not just sales pitches.

How to bring in more client via email: Click here

Don’t say thank you unless you mean it

They’re re-paving the streets outside my house. I love watching the men do their job. Sorry ladies, I didn’t see any women on the crew. Just a bunch of sweaty guys doing back-breaking work. I can almost smell the testosterone. Okay, maybe it’s hot asphalt and diesel fumes I smell, but you get the picture.

They use trucks and machines I’ve never seen before, to do a job I don’t fully understand. But I can tell that they do the job well. Everyone knows what to do and I am fascinated watching them. In fact, I could watch them all day.

As a kid, I loved watching the new construction in my neighborhood. The sounds of big trucks and bulldozers, nails being hammered, wood being sawed, trucks backing up and dumping fill dirt. This is the stuff of childhood, at least it was for me, which is interesting because I can barely change a light bulb.

I still love watching people do their jobs, and not just construction. I love to see them do what they do with precision and confidence, like they’ve done it so many times before.

Wouldn’t it be great if people loved watching lawyers do their job?

Unfortunately, they don’t. People expect lawyers to do what they see depicted on TV. The reality, of course, is very different.

Nobody wants to see you dictate a letter or prepare someone for a deposition. Nobody wants to watch you read case law, stroke your beard, and look at the ceiling while you think about the issues in a case.

But alas, all is not lost. You can show people what you do and you can make it interesting. You can do that by telling work-related stories. The good news is that those stories don’t need to be exciting. They also don’t need to be very long. A sentence or two, a few paragraphs, are all you need to show people what you do for your clients.

But here’s the thing. Don’t talk about issues or statutes, pleadings or agreements. Talk about people.

No matter what kind of practice you have, your work helps to solve problems for or deliver benefits to people.

Talk about the people you represent and their business or their family. Talk about why they contacted you and what you did for them. But mostly, talk about them.

For example:

“Yesterday, I was hired to review a lease on a new property for my client, Charlie Booker. His company makes beer-infused pizza, and business has been great. He’s growing so fast, he needed a bigger facility. He wanted me to negotiate the lease on the new property and make sure there weren’t any ‘gotchas’.

Charlie started the company just two years ago in his garage. Just him and his wife. His two kids helped out after school, putting together the boxes for the pizzas and passing out fliers in the neighborhood. Today, Charile employs 40 people who are passionate about making the best tasting beer-flavored pizza known to humanity. I’ve eaten a lot of pizza in my lifetime, and I’ve had a few beers, too, and I’ve got to tell you, there’s nothing like Charlie’s Beerizza. Go to his website and see what they do and where you can get some Beerizza. Tell him I sent you.”

In other words, talk about the client, not yourself.

You did the lease. Fine. I’m sure you did a good job. But nobody cares. Leases are boring (to most people), so mention what you did, but tell stories about the people for whom you did it.

Sweaty men, heavy machines, pizza and beer

Yesterday’s email was about the seemingly uncontroversial topic of dressing like a lawyer. I heard from several lawyers who shared their thoughts.

Some cheered my message and deplored the way some lawyers dress today. An entertainment lawyer friend had mixed feelings about the subject. One lawyer told me he wears a pony tail and does just fine.

Another said, “Perhaps you should set aside your fatuous fashion jihad for a moment and review the fundamentals of grammar, to wit: The plural of “client” is “clients,” not “client’s.”

Fatuous fashion jihad? Hmmm. . . Something tells me he’s upset about something. Call it a hunch.

And does he really think I don’t know how to pluralize “client”? Me thinks not. That’s his anger talking.

Apparently, he strongly disagrees with my opinion that lawyers should “wear the uniform” and “look like a lawyer”. He didn’t say why. He didn’t share his preferred sartorial style, nor offer any reasons why everyone else should accept it.

But I like that he spoke up. I like that he disagrees with my old fashioned take on the subject. In fact, I wish I heard from more people who were pissed off at me.

Look, if you’re not not upsetting some people, if everyone agrees with everything you write, you’re going to put people to sleep. Lawyers tend to be especially boring and bland in their writing.

We need to stir things up.

Conflict keeps people watching TV shows and it keeps people reading your writing. So court some controversy. Push the envelope. Say things that make people go “huh?”

You’ll stand out, be read and remembered, and build a following of people who like your style. They’ll share your content, buy your products and services, and recommend you to their friends.

Of course you will also get people who think you’re an ass-hat, say you’ve gone too far or you’re too vulgar for their taste, and they will un-subscribe.

Good. You don’t want them. They’re not your fans and will probably never hire you or recommend you. They need to go. Give up their seat so you can fill it with others who like what you say, or at least like that you’re not afraid to say it.

For more on email and marketing online, go here

Have you pissed someone off today?

One reason I’m able to turn out emails so quickly is that I’m lazy. I get ideas from lots of sources but I primarily write what’s in my head.

I don’t slow down to do research, or spend time looking for graphics. I don’t stop to ask myself if I’ve addressed the subject before or worry about contradicting myself. I don’t spend time hunting down every typo.

I just write. Fast. You can, too.

It doesn’t matter if you said something before. This time, you’ll say it differently. But even if you don’t, no worries. Repetition is the mother of learning. Your readers might not have absorbed your message the first time, or the 31st time. Maybe this time, they will.

Your readership is constantly changing, too. Every day, new people come to your website or blog and subscribe to your list and they’re hearing your words for the first time.

Marketing isn’t solely about delivering information. That’s part of it, but an even bigger part is that you are regularly touching the lives of the people on your list. You know, the people who can hire you or send you referrals. Yeah, those people.

Write a few paragraphs and tell people what you’re thinking or how you feel. Share an idea or comment on someone else’s. Ask subscribers questions, ask them to do something, or just say hello.

Stay in their minds, and their mailboxes and they will hire you (again) and send you referrals and traffic and promote your events.

Write a lot, and write quickly. It will make you a better writer. Writing quickly allows you to bypass the filters in your brain that tell you what you should and shouldn’t do, or that tell you you’re not good enough.

Just write, okay? Don’t worry about what comes out. Emails aren’t briefs or white papers or reports. Nobody is expecting you to be scholarly or brilliant. Besides, you know more than your readers do and they won’t know if you left something out or got something wrong.

Stop trying so hard. Get lazy and write something.

Want ideas for blog posts and emails? This is what you need

Get better at writing by invoking your inner couch potato

In the last 30 days, how many blog posts or articles did you write, for your site or any others? If you published a video or audio you can count that, too.

So how many?

If you’re like most professionals, the answer is probably not in the double digits. It might not have any digits at all.

I know you understand the value of publishing lots of content. I mention it enough, and so does everyone else who is worth listening to. More content brings more traffic to your website, more prospective clients learning about what you do and how you can help them, more sign-ups for your list, and. . . more clients.

I also know why, despite this knowledge, you don’t publish more content.

No, it’s not that you don’t have the time. You can write something worth reading in 15 minutes. Remember the bar exam? Look at how much you wrote when you had to.

It’s not that you don’t know what to write about. Uncle Google and Aunt Bing are your friend. Type your practice area or one of your services into the search bar and see where it takes you.

If you still don’t know what to write about, look at what other lawyers in your field are writing about and write something about the same subject.

No, the real reason you don’t write more content (or any content) is that every time you sit down to do it, or think about doing it, you think you have to create art.

And you think you will be judged by that art, and found lacking. So you resist.

But here’s the thing. You don’t have to write brilliant words, you just have to write words. That’s something you do every day. Do you have any trouble writing letters and emails? I’m guessing you do not.

So instead of writing articles and blog posts, write letters and emails.

In fact, here’s your assignment: send me an email and about either of the following:

• “Three things people always ask me about [your practice area/services],” or
• “The strangest/best/worst/funniest case or client I ever had”

Don’t spend more than 15 minutes on this. A few paragraphs is all you need. Go ahead, do it now. Don’t think too much. Write quickly and get it done.

Then, go through it once and do a quick edit. One more pass to polish that puppy. And send.

Only don’t send it to me, send it to your clients. And post it on your website. Because what you just wrote will probably make some good reading.

See how easy that was? A lot easier than creating art.

Content ideas for your website: click here

Wake up the marketing genius inside you

One of the main reasons people who could refer you business don’t do so is that they “don’t think about it”. They’re busy and have other things on their mind. Unless they have a legal need, they don’t think about you or your services.

Out of sight, out of luck, me bucko.

You can change that, and get more repeat business and referrals, by doing the following:

1) Stay in touch with them

The easiest way to do that is via email. One of my subscribers, an associate in a firm that severely limits his ability to do any marketing, told me that he now emails his clients and prospects and referral sources every two weeks.

He writes about legal matters, and also about what he’s doing in his practice and, I suppose, in his personal life.

He’s staying “in their minds and their mailboxes” and getting repeat business and referrals, and lots of it.

He tells me, “It has worked like a charm. When you write email blasts “right where they live” you are reaching out to them, and many think it is personal. You establish your credibility. You establish a reputation.”

2) Talk about referrals

Another reason you don’t get as many referrals as you could is that you’re not talking about referrals. There are many ways to do that, but one of the simplest is something I suggested to the lawyer mentioned above: put a blurb at the bottom of your emails asking the recipient to forward it to their friends, colleagues, etc., who might like to receive his updates. Spell out what those people should do if they want to be added to the list.

People read your wisdom, tacitly endorsed by the friend or colleague who forwared it to them. They like what they see and want to see more. They ask to be added to your list. You stay in touch with them and they hire you and send you referrals.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

You can make this work better by using an autoresponder to manage everything and offering an incentive to join your list–a report, ebook, or a collection of some your best prior articles–but you don’t have to.

3) Make it easy to refer

Many clients and contacts come close to referring but don’t do it because they don’t know what to do. Do they tell the referral about you and give them your number? Do they send the referral some information about you, and if so, what should it be? Do they tell you about the referral? If they do that, what will you do?

Of course, when it comes to making it easy, “forward this email” is about as easy as it gets. Your contacts don’t have to refer people to you, they can refer them to your content and then your content refers you.

Get this if you want to learn how to get more referrals

Out of sight, out of luck

You’re ready to write a blog post, article, or social media post and you want your subscribers and followers to share it. What should you write that will make that more likely to occur?

We know that sex and scandal and other tabloid-esq topics sell, but that’s off the table. Humor and human interest (kittens, babies, sports, games) are highly shareable, and you can write about those things occasionally, but only occasionally.

What then? News? Opinion? World events?

Sometimes. But your best bet is also the simplest. Write about your area of expertise.

Write about legal problems and solutions. Write about the law and procedure, the timeline and processes, the benefits of taking action and the risks of waiting too long. Describe your services and the pros and cons of each.

Answer the questions prospective clients and new clients frequently ask you. And write about the questions they should ask you but often don’t.

Show people what it’s like to work with you by describing what you do and how you do it.

Write about your clients and how you have helped them. Write about people you know who didn’t get help and are now paying the price.

Educate people about what they can do themselves. Teach them when they should talk to a lawyer and what questions they should ask them.

Write about solving problems, preventing problems and mitigating consequences when problems occur.

If you have a consumer-oriented practice, you can also write consumer-related topics such as buying the right insurance, saving money, retirement, taxes, etc. You can also write about issues and developments in your local community.

For a business-oriented practice, write about marketing, management, productivity, and issues and developments in your target market’s industry or niche.

No matter what type of practice you have, you can also write about personal development because everyone reading what you write is, unarguably, a person.

This is the kind of content that people will share with friends and colleagues and co-workers and family, because they know they need it or they know they would benefit from it.

And that’s all any of us could ask.

More ideas for creating shareable content that will make your phone ring

What makes content shareable?

What’s new? Something, I hope. Because if you and your practice are exactly the same right now as you were last week and last month, I might think you’re not accomplishing anything noteworthy. If I were your client, that might make me nervous.

Your clients want their lawyer to be alive and growing and in tune with the world. They want to know what’s new.

When they come to your office, they don’t want to see an ancient IBM PC, they want to see you with the latest laptops and tablets. When you write to them, they don’t want to hear the same tired things you’ve said before, they want to hear something new.

Most law practices are staid and boring and have little news to report. Don’t be like that. Always have something new going on, and make sure your clients and prospects and business contacts know about it.

Tell them about your new services or new features or new ad campaign. Tell them about your new web page, blog post, or article. Tell them about your new client, new speaking engagement or new employee.

Let clients know that things are happening at The Law Offices of You.

Always having news to report not only shows your clients that you are growing, it gives you a great excuse to contact them. It also allows you to connect with people on an emotional level. When you have exciting news, let them know you are excited and tell them why. If your news involves a serious topic, let them know about your concerns.

But don’t get out of character. You’re still a member of an esteemed profession and you don’t want to appear to be anything but. Your clients want to know that their lawyer is stable and reliable, so avoid radical news and keep news about major changes to a minimum.

But always have news to share.

Look at your calendar and notes for the last 30 days. What did you do that might be considered news? Do the same thing for the next 30 days. What are you working on? What’s going to change?

You can almost always find news to share, but if you are finding that difficult, then, by all means, get busy and create some.

Email is the easiest way to share your news. Here’s how to do it right

Eh, What’s Up Doc?

Remember in school when you were assigned a paper to write that had to be turned in by a specific date? You were given a topic, a word or page count, and a deadline, and somehow you managed to turn in the paper on time.

You may not have known anything about the topic. You may have hated the topic and wished you could write about something (anything) else. You might have put it off until the night before it was due. But you got it done.

Because you had to. Your grade depended on it.

Today, you want to write something for your newsletter or blog, but if I’m right, too often you don’t do it. You don’t because you don’t have to.

No due date. No grade. If you don’t do it, nobody will notice.

The solution? Give yourself a due date. Decide in advance a posting schedule and put it on your calendar. Even better, announce it to your subscribers: “I post a new article every Tuesday”. If you don’t post as promised, they’ll notice.

You can also assign yourself a topic to write about.

In 30 minutes, you can brainstorm enough topics to keep you busy for a year. Start with the ten or twenty “frequently asked questions” posed to you by prospects and new clients.

You can also set up a notebook and collect articles and notes and ideas as you go about your business day. I have more than 1000 “blog post ideas” I’ve collected and stored in Evernote.

You could work with a writing partner and give each other assignments. “Okay, this week, I want you to write about that client you told me about. . .”

Another way to get ideas is to use “writing prompts”. A search on that keyword will reveal a plethora of books and websites that can provide you with an almost endless supply of writing ideas.

I went to a website this morning and was given the prompt, “Why I love to. . .” I thought I could easily write a post about why I love marketing. I would talk about how gratifying it is to be able to use my skills to help people get solutions and benefits they otherwise might not get, and make a nice living doing it.

You could use the same writing prompt. Write about why you love helping your clients.

In school, writing assignments trained us to write “on demand,” a valuable skill to be sure. If you’re struggling to do that in your practice, a writing schedule and writing prompts can help you get there.

You can get lots of ideas for article and posts with this

The paper is due a week from Friday and is worth one-third of your grade

Think about your target market and answer me a few questions:

• What is the market’s biggest problem right now? The one that keeps people up at night?
• What’s the latest news in that market? What are people talking about?
• Name three websites, podcasts, or newsletters that focus on this market.
• Who is the top lawyer, CPA, insurance or real estate professional in that market?
• Name two organizations dedicated to that market that have networking functions in your area.
• Name three profitable keywords for blog posts, books, or ads for that market.

Okay, that’s enough to make my point, which is that if you can’t answer these questions, you probably don’t know your target market well enough.

Or you don’t have one.

Which is why, when you set out to write an email or article, you “don’t know what to write about”. Which is why you aren’t writing, or if you are, your writing is too general and doesn’t stand out.

If your last blog post or article or email is written to appeal to “anyone,” there’s a good chance it appeals to “no one”.

When you know your target market well, which you must if you want to dominate it, you won’t have that problem. You’ll have plenty of things to write about, specific to that market. In fact, you’ll have so many ideas, your biggest problem will be deciding which one to write about.

Which is a nice problem to have, don’t you think?

Need help choosing a target market? Use this

How to never run out of ideas to write about

A subscriber wants to know what I think about print newsletters sent by postal mail versus email newsletters. “Is print better and worth the additional cost?”

My answer is that the dynamics of print and email are completely different and can’t readily be compared.

No question email provides an incredible ROI for any lawyer. Don’t even think about it, just do it.

As for print, the question isn’t “is it worth it” it is “is it worth it for YOUR practice?”

There are many variables, ranging from your practice area and market, how long after a prospect gets on your list will he need your services, frequency of repeat business, your margins, print and mailing costs, how often you mail, and more, especially the quality of your content. And by quality, I mean how good it is as selling you and your services.

The only way to find out if a print newsletter will show a profit for you is to try it. After a suitable period of time, add up your pennies and see if you come out ahead.

Of course, before we had email, I would have said, “Yes, do it, it’s well worth the investment,” because compared to doing nothing to stay in touch with your clients and prospects, a print newsletter is a fabulous resource. Now that we have email, the decision isn’t so clear.

Can you do both? Sure. But start with email. You may never want to do anything else.

Note, we’re talking about a newsletter, not using direct mail for any other marketing purpose.

Also note, the subscriber who asked this question referenced companies that tout the benefits of print newsletters (and sell services related thereto). If you do go with print, you might use companies like these to handle list management, printing, and mailing (although you may get better pricing if you source these separately), but whatever you do, don’t use them for content. Write your own.

How to build your practice with an email newsletter

Direct mail or email newsletters?

As you can imagine, I get to see a lot of attorney’s email newsletters. Most have “problems”. If your newsletter isn’t working for you, if it’s not bringing in business or it’s taking up too much of your time, here are 3 probable reasons and what to do about them.

You’re writing a “newsletter” instead of an email

You can call it a newsletter but you’ll be much better off sending simple emails. Most newsletters get deleted. Or they are set aside to be read later but forgotten. That’s because most newsletters (especially from attorneys) are too long and too dry.

Instead, send an email. Short and sweet. 300-400 words, not 1500. An email from you (not your firm). Tell them what you’re doing. Tell them about your clients. Weave in a few words about the law, but focus on people, not statutes and decisions.

Use your emails to help your readers get to know you better. Show them how you can help them but keep it light and interesting and personal.

And forget about making it pretty. Graphics get in the way and take time to find and use. Just send text. Like a real email. When every other lawyer and vendor is sending “pretty” emails, yours will stand out.

You don’t email often enough

Once a month isn’t enough. People need to hear from you or they forget about you. If you’re writing interesting emails and delivering value (tips, resources, recommendations, etc.) they’ll want to hear from you.

Weekly isn’t too often. Even daily isn’t too often, if you’re up to it. And if you send short and simple emails, instead of trying to cram “articles” and “news” into one long missive, you’ll have the time to email more often.

No, your subscribers might need you right now (or ever) but they know people who do. Write often and you’ll get more referrals.

You’re expecting too much, too soon

Give it time. Your readers need to get to know and trust you. They need their problems to mature and get painful enough to decide to call you. They need time to save the money to pay you or to convince another decision maker that you’re the one to hire.

You also need time for your list to grow big enough so that there are enough “ready to go” prospective clients on it at any given time.

The biggest problem with email “newsletters”? Not having one. Done right, they can bring you all of the business you can handle, and then some.

If you don’t have an email list, start one. If you have one but it’s not working for you, you can fix it.

Learn more about using email to build your practice here

3 reasons your email newsletter isn’t working

I know you don’t have a lot of time but would you write and send out a weekly email if you were paid $1000 per week to do it? How about $2000? $5000?

Would you find the time to send an email every week if it meant increasing your income by hundreds of thousands of dollars per year?

You betcha.

Well guess what? Although nobody is going to pay you that much to write a weekly email, if you write that email to your clients and prospects (and referral sources), you’ll be able to pay yourself.

Yeah, it’s called marketing. And email is about as simple as it gets.

You have to build a list. You can use your website to do that. Add a form and invite visitors to sign up.

You have to have something to say. You’re a lawyer. You have something to say about everything.

You have to be disciplined. That’s why God created the calendar.

You have to start. That’s the hard part. And the most important.

Do me a favor. And by me, I mean yourself. Send an email to some people you know and say something.

Where to start? How about telling them you’re thinking about starting an email newsletter and asking them to submit a legal question? How about summarizing (or copying) something you wrote in the past and sending that? How about wishing them Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, happy holidays, or whatever floats your boat?

Just say something. Anything. And watch what happens.

Here’s how to start

Getting paid to write a weekly email

Yesterday, I (once again) danced up and down on my keyboard in an effort to convince you to use email for marketing your legal services. I suggested that a simple weekly email to clients and prospects might bring in enough repeat business and referrals to make you a very happy camper.

A subscriber, an attorney friend who no longer practices, wrote and said my email reminded him of a time when he sent a letter to all of his former clients:

“Back when I practiced law, my New Years resolution one year was to create a new profit center for my practice. So I wrote a letter to all of my old clients – about 200 people — announcing that I was now also handling wills and trusts.

That one letter made me about $80K the next year.”

Waaay better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

As far as I know, my friend didn’t make any crazy-special offer. He merely contacted people who knew, liked, and trusted him and shared his news.

And, as far as I know, he only sent one letter. Would he have earned more if he had written again? No doubt. Because some people may not have received his first letter. Some might not have read it. Some might not have been ready to take action. A second (or twenty-second) letter may have arrived at precisely the time when they were ready to say, “take my money”.

You’re thinking: “Okay, this sounds good but what if I’m not starting a new practice area?”

Well, how about partnering up with other lawyers in other practice areas and recommending their services, in return for them doing the same for you? Know any good accountants, financial planners, insurance or real estate brokers? Business owners with products or services you like?

Yep, you can do the same thing with them. But only if you have a list.

If you don’t want to recommend anyone else’s services for some reason, just keep your name in front of your peeps. When they need your services (again), or know someone they can refer, well, there you are–in their email inbox, a click or a dial away.

Hold on. You’re thinking, “If they need me, they’ll call me. They’ll look up my phone number or go to my website. I don’t have to stay in touch with them, they’ll find me.”

Some will. Most won’t.

I know. I signed up hundreds (thousand?) of clients who, when asked for the name of the attorney who represented them in their prior matter said they didn’t remember. And that’s why they were sitting in my office instead of the office of their former attorney who didn’t stay in touch.

Email is easy when you know how. Here’s how

$80,000 with one letter