Attorney Marketing Blog

In a world obsessed with the internet, offline marketing is thriving. You can spend your next marketing campaign whittling away on your website, hoping to improve your search visibility by one spot on page three of Google, or you can make a direct offer to people who have your legal problem. I’ll let you decide which is a better use of your time. Here are four ways to dominate the offline world:

#1 – Print Physical Copies of Your Online Offers

We all know the power of educational material in legal marketing. If you’re not currently offering callers and web visitors a copy of your book, you’re missing out on a great excuse for list growth, and one of the best ways to get people to raise their hand and tell you they want to know more about your field.

Having physical copies of your books or free reports allows you to request someone’s mailing address. Once you have their mailing address in hand, you can send them direct mail, maven gifts, and your print newsletter. If you’ve never had your books printed professionally before, talk to Tom Costello at Word Association, who we use to publish all of our books at the law firm.

#2 – Physical, Mailed, Monthly Newsletter

Were I to start from scratch with my marketing, I would do three things: get a database going of potential clients, make a free report, and create a monthly, print newsletter to mail to people. If you think print newsletters are “old world” or nobody reads them, I’m telling you right now that it’s my #1 source of non-lawyer referrals for the past decade. Seriously.

You need a way for people to remember your STORY for years at a time. We include legal information in the newsletter, but people are opening it for the recipe and for the stories about my children and pets. If you want to become a local celebrity that everyone calls for ANY legal problem, a print newsletter is a huge part of that.

#3 – Welcome Packages and Goody Bags

It’s time to flip the script on “law firm customer service.” People expect so little of attorneys when it comes to customer service, that putting any kind of love and care into your client’s experience will put you miles ahead of your competition.

At our office, we fill a BenGlassLaw-branded, reusable shopping bag with teddy bears, books, DVDs, candy, mugs, you-name-it. People are so grateful and so happy that we thought of them before their visit. If you want to get 5-star reviews from people who didn’t even hire you, put some more thought into your goody bags.

#4 – Print Ads

The key here is finding where YOUR avatar client is going for information. Are you trying to reach people who have been injured and have medical bills to pay? Look for local publications that are in the waiting rooms of doctors’ offices. Want to reach the elderly? Give some real thought to advertising in the yellow pages (any other practice area, by the way, you likely want to avoid the yellow pages.)

Want more divorce cases? Get your book into local therapist offices. Want to represent children in arbitration cases with public schools? Talk to people who work with special needs or learning disabilities. Occupational therapists are a good bet.

As far as the content of your print ad, you MUST give someone a reason to respond. This usually means making them an offer, whether it’s a book or a mailed package. “Free consultation” will make you look like every other attorney on the block. Make a direct offer while you have their attention.

All that’s left for you now is to take action! Go out there and get these things done. Outworking your competition is a great thing, but it’s even better when you’re working on the right strategies.

Ben Glass

Ben is a nationally recognized expert in attorney marketing and the owner of Great Legal Marketing.

Most attorneys start their firms assuming that being a really, really good attorney should, in and of itself, be a marketing advantage. Those attorneys believe that joining a whole bunch of committees and putting their name in lawyer directories is “marketing,” and they never bother to ask if there is a better way.

Attorneys are catching on, however, and those who succeed learn to leverage their current resources to create effective (and ethical) marketing. What they discover isn’t a magic pill or silver bullet but a different approach to marketing that your competitors haven’t considered.

If you want a peek at what successful attorneys use to market their practice, the HERO Starter Kit is your logical next step.

We’ve put together a FREE (and potentially life-changing) kit for solo and small firm attorneys that will show you a better way to reach potential clients and get them excited to call your firm. Request your HERO Starter Kit from Great Legal Marketing!

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